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Junior high was rough. It's probably the same no matter where you go; it's an awkward age.
One day I saw a postpubescent student hold his prepubescent friend up in the air. He was walking down the hall, carrying his friend like a pizza tray. His palm was on the friend's stomach and the friend was about a foot from the ceiling. Girls were taller than boys, some kids didn't wear deodorant, and some kids didn't need deodorant.
I was skinny. Ivan was taller, skinnier that I was, and mean. One day he threw a basketball from one end of the gym to the other. Threw it HIGH in the air, into a crowd of girls at the other end. He didn't watch to see if it hit anyone.
Lots of kids were bigger than me. One day I got into a playful shoving match with one of them - BIG, dumb animal of a kid. He pushed me off balance, but still had a hold of my gym shirt. I stumbled to the side and he pulled me back with my shirt. That's when he started to understand centripetal force and its applications in bullying.
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He began spinning me in a wide circle around him, laughing like Butt-head.
"Huh-huh . . . huh . . . uhhhh-huh-huh-huh!"
As he turned faster, my toes started to leave the floor. Soon I was totally airborne. He swung me around and around - unable to reach him and unable to reach the floor, I was totally helpless. I watched his big, dumb, face. "Huh-uhhhhhh . . . . huh-huh!"
That was bad. But my most embarrassing moment happened earlier, within the first week of 7th grade.
I left Mr. Wilson's shop class and walked down the hall with my friend Craig. I noticed a suspicious group of 8th graders about thirty feet behind us. They were laughing and then they started whispering. Then I heard something hit the floor.
There was a thud and a "zzzzzzzZZZZZTTT!!!!" sound, like something approaching fast. That's when a backpack took my feet out from under me.
I went flying -- I'm pretty sure my body was completely flat when I hit the ground. They were HOWLING . . . . I heard them scream, "Bowling for Dollars!!!"
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