The craziness begins. During the time of Troy, there were other significant characters, Paul, John, Mark, Sandy,Paula, Victoria. If you had asked me about them prior to 1995, I would have told you that I remembered them, had classes for a few years with them, even had a few light conversations with these people, but what 1995 revealed could not have prepared me.
One day in class, I showed up with a scratch on my face. Troy said he had heard that I was in a fight and that we was very disappointed in me (He often sounded like a parent). I told him that I had been pushed and was taunted relentlessly by a gal who had it out for me, and that I was simply defending myself. He listened intently,and appeared to have dropped the matter. At this stage, several incidents began to occur in which I had no answers.
Troy walked through the doors one morning and looked as though his face had been plowed by a car. "Were you in an accident?" I asked with tremendous concern. He chuckled lightly, and answered, yes. "Did you go to the hospital?" I continued with a shaky voice. With appreciation in his voice, he turned in his chair toward me, and gently nodded yes, and said, "Yes, Mia, your as bad as I am (implying he would be just as concerned if it were me). Sam, his good friend who sat to the left of him, was listening to our exchange, looked at Troy and said somewhat sternly, "If you don't tell her, I will." Troy quickly responded, "I will tell her, when I am ready." I was so confused, what did I have to do with this, and why did Sam believe I needed to be told anything. My emotions were all over the place. Confusion,a bit flattered that someone felt I needed to be clued in, I felt close to them at that moment. "What did you two do this weekend?," I somewhat demanded. They just stared at each other.
The end of the year had arrived, my female tormentor had moved away, and I felt safe and happy with my new friendship with Troy. Troy, off and on had a girlfriend named Sandy, she was lovely inside and out, and was one of the cheerleaders on campus. Therefore, I really wouldn't allow myself to dream about a union with him. I was petite, unruly curly locks, dimples, big brown eyes and long lashes. While chatting with Paul, Troy walked by in a hurry, and seemed to be sneering at us, oblivous, I yelled across the way, "Hi Troy!" he ignored me. I said, "He looks upset," Paul quickly responded, "he is mad at me because I'm talking to you." That made utterly no sense to me since Troy had a gal, and I felt in my soul that Troy cared for me as a friend and would want my happiness. I didn't analyze much at that young age. If I didn't understand something immediately, I completely moved on.
Life at home began to take a darker turn. Dad was becoming slowly unhinged. His loud and often violent outbursts increased and no one seemed equipped enough to help the situation. Meals were being thrown into the walls because he thought they didn't have enough salt, belts were wielded like lion slayers. Dad could go from zero to 100 in a blink of an eye, and the place would often look like a war zone.
Another time, Troy was blazing through the halls, his finger in John's chest forcing John to walk or rather stumble backwards. A league of students following behind Troy's fiery trail. I immediatly ran to Troy, placed my hand on his arm and asked, "What's wrong Troy?" without missing a beat,or turning to look at me, "Stay out of this, Mia," he snapped. Sandy's prettier than "she" is, Jack yelled, "She is was way prettier, Troy yelled back. Vicki and Paula approached me and asked for me to stop Troy. "Stop him, Mia, he will listen to you." I didn't know why they were asking me to intervene, but he wasn't listening to anyone. Who was "she?" I asked myself. I saw Sandy standing at her locker watching the spectacle, and felt very protective of her feelings at that moment, and said, "Troy! Sandy is standing right there, stop it! Sandy looked at me sweetly, "Thank you Mia, it's okay, I know it's true."
On the last day of school, I was ready to walk out the door, when Troy said, "Are you just going to leave without saying goodbye?" He was a year older. "I will be in highschool next year, you won't see me. he said. "Come visit me" I replied. He asked for a hug, and that is all I remembered about that summer until 1995.
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