Chapter 44

SMOKIN’

Some people have video games, some have bad reality television, and I have homeroom with Laurence.

There’s nothing wrong with escaping from reality sometimes. It’s not like I’m a heroin addict.

Well, I might be a heroine addict, or in Laurence’s case, a hero addict, but that’s not as dangerous. So I don’t hesitate to imagine up a lovely date with Laurence. Dating him is way easier than dating in real life. Real life is complicated.

Laurence’s only flaw is that he doesn’t exist.

“Your only flaw is that you do exist,” Laurence tells me. Sigh—high school boys never come up with such witty repartee!

I can’t tell you how much I love thinking about Laurence and writing down our story. With Laurence, I can have our first kiss take place under a rainbow or in a cave hidden behind a waterfall or up in a hot-air balloon. Whatever I want—I’m in charge. I’m not in charge of much these days, but I am in charge of that.

Laurence and I go for a stroll in the summer countryside. It’s warm and smells like hay. Dust motes float on golden sunshine as he tells me that he loves me. He says that he wants us to be together forever, in a comfortable house with a small garden in the back.

Everything is beautiful and wonderful for fifteen minutes. Then the bell rings, and I have to plunge back into the daily grind.

Reality is way overrated.