February 23, 2005 - 10:56 a.m.

Today is story time!

Snake: Really? Cool! *runs up and sits down in front of Lara*

Yup yup yup! Because I have nothing to report yet I want to write something!

Luke: *sitting down beside Snake* Something fictional?

Nope! It's about highschool. Actually it's about a girl named Jodi..

My friends and I knew Jodi in grade school. We were all friends but Jodi got weird and we didnt hang out with her much after classes after that. Jodi got into drugs, smoking, sex at 13 years old....you know the kind of person Im talking about.

We had Environmental Science together. One day Jodi hiked up her shirt (she wasnt thin by any means..) and showed me her navel.....which had a safety pin through it. I wasnt trained in emergency medical care at the time, but I definately knew a million reasons how that was a bad idea (and now having my navel pierced I knew I was right to assume it!) She said how she boiled the pin for an hour then froze her stomach for 15 minutes, then it took her ages to shove it through. She is so wise for her 15 years... It got infected, of course. She took it out 3 days later.

In any case, that's Jodi, but that isnt the end of my story. See, Jodi had a boyfriend and went on and on about him. Then one day Jodi asked me something that even this very day makes me wince:

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

For some reason I couldnt tell her the truth. It would seem so lame to tell her I was 15 and single while she's had multiple sexual partners.

"Oh, yeah I have one," I said loudly. "He's so hot."

"Who is he?" Jodi peppered me with questions. I guess she thought she knew someone who didnt exist.

"His name...is Jonathon. Jonathon McKormick.. He's from..uh..Elmwood."

Jodi was so intrigued. "Really? Whats he look like?"

I lied and I lied and I lied. We met at a grocery store. He was 16 and went to another school and had blonde hair and green eyes and was tall and played badminton. Run on sentence... But in any case he was fab, and Jodi thought he was fab, because the next thing she said was:

"I know him!"

How could you know him if I made him up ten minutes ago?? Puzzled, I asked how she knew my Jonny.

"I see him around."

Right... I didnt have the heart to tell her I was just joking so for about 3 years I dated a guy who simply did not exist. This cracked up my friend Erica, who was there at the time. And Jodi would always ask how Jonny was and that she thought she saw him this day or that and she met his brother. I didnt know Jonny had a brother, but I guess he does!

Jodi also told me at one point she thought she was anorexic. Being the science/medical orientated one, she and my friends would come to me asking for opinions on such things. She asked me about Anorexia and I made up a shit load of symptoms like yellow dots swimming in your vision, barking cough, suddenly very clumsy, and itchy scalp. She had all of those, of course! And she came to the conclusion she had anorexia....and was proud of the fact.

Yes, Jodi was special... She could see people who never existed and took pride in being the fattest anorexic you'd ever meet. She dropped out of highschool when she was 16 or 17, and I never saw her much after that. Mixed blessing I suppose. I bet if I did see her on the street, she'd ask about my dear, sweet Jonny. Maybe now I can finally tell her we broke up...

"You are special. Keep trying." - I got this from an email from a friend. "Special" is not a compliment. At least...not around here...

- Lara

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