I Miss Video Games Where The Jump-kick

And Like I Said, I Didn't Know Him Very Well, But My Ears Perked Up Whenever I Heard His Name. I Guess I Wanted To Hear Something - Anything - Juicy. Not Because I Wanted To Spread Gossip. I Just Couldn't Believe Someone Could Be That Good. If He Was Actually That Good... Wonderful. Great! But It Became A Personal Game Of Mine. How Long Could I Go On Hearing Nothing But Good Things About Clay Jensen? Normally, When A Person Has A Stellar Image, Another Person's Waiting In The Wings To Tear Them Apart. They're Waiting For That One Fatal Flaw To Expose Itself. But Not With Clay.

And After I Dropped Him Off, I Took The Longest Possible Route Home... I Explored Alleys And Hidden Roads I Never Knew Existed. I Discovered Neighborhoods Entirely New To Me. And Finally... I Discovered I Was Sick Of This Town And Everything In It.

‎because If I Hadn't Been So Afraid Of Everyone Else, I Might Have Told Hannah That Someone Cared. And Hannah Might Still Be Alive.

Half Of Them Kept Repeating My Name, Trying To Get It Right, While The Other Half Laughed. But They Were Harmless. Fun Drunks Make A Nice Addition To Any Party: Not Looking To Fight. Not Looking To Score. Just Looking To Get Drunk And Laugh. I Remember Those Guys. Like The Mascots Of The Party. "clay! Whatcha Doon Here? Bah-ha-ha-ha!

I Wanted People To Trust Me, Despite Anything They'd Heard. And More Than That, I Wanted Them To Know Me. Not The Stuff They Thought They Knew About Me. No, The Real Me. I Wanted Them To Get Past The Rumors. To See Beyond The Relationships I Once Had, Or Maybe Still Had But That They Didn't Agree With.