Mr. Munroe’s Freshman Experience


Fiction / Sunday, October 18th, 2009

Sept 3
Dear journal,

Hi, it’s Kevin. I don’t want to write in this by Mr. Munroe is making us write for fifteen minutes in homeroom every day. I don’t know if I like him yet. He keeps talking about us recording the freshman experience. I don’t like it. Why should I be forced to write if I’m not a writer? I think tomorrow I will see if I can get away with drawing instead of writing, he said he isn’t going to read what we write and that we are writing for us. That’s what I get for having an English teacher for homeroom.

-Kevin

Sept 4

[Picture of a ninja fighting Darth Vader]

Sept 5
Journal,

It’s Friday. I can’t believe how slow this week went. It turns out that I can get away with drawing. Mr. Munroe kept looking at me but he didn’t say anything.

Tommy and Mike have the Home Ec teacher for homeroom. They say that she doesn’t make them write in homeroom. They said that yesterday they turned on the gas for one of the burners on the stove and waited until she was out of the room to ignite it. I guess there was a huge fireball. Good thing the alarm didn’t go off.

-Kevin

Sept 8
Journal,

My mom told me this weekend that Aunt Carol and my cousin Christina are moving in with us. She said that Uncle Ray was cheating on her. I like Uncle Ray, he always tells good jokes.

I don’t know how Aunt Carol and Christina are going to fit in our guest room, there’s hardly any room for a bed in there. Maybe dad will let them move into his study.

-Kevin

Sept 9

[Picture of a logger chopping down a tree in a forest]

Sept 10
Journal,

Tommy said that he and Mike used the burners yesterday in homeroom to burn a couple of their hairs. They said it smelled awful. I want to know now. My. Munroe only has book shelves. Nothing fun, only paper and words.

Aunt Carol and Christina are supposed to be moving here this weekend. That sucks, Mike was going to have us over to play video games but instead I have to help them move. I haven’t seen Aunt Carol or Christina in years, it’s not fair. Plus, they never send me birthday presents.

-Kevin

Sept 11
Journal,

Mom said that I can go to Mike’s on Saturday but I have to take Christina with. That’s dumb; she’s a girl, why would she want to play video games.

I’m going to go but I won’t like it.

Mr. Munroe is starting to grow a beard. It looks dumb.

-Kevin

Sept 12

[Picture of a man hanging himself with a video game controller]

Sept 16
Journal,

I’m so pissed. Christina has to stay in my room. MY ROOM! That’s not fair. It’s not my fault that she had to move in with us. Why should I be punished? I don’t want her brushing her hair all over the floor or her girl clothes in MY room. She’s going to make MY room smell like a girl.

Mr. Munroe’s beard is even longer after the weekend. He is drinking his coffee real fast too. Maybe he thinks it will make his beard grow faster.

-Kevin

Sept 17
Journal,

Tommy and Mike keep asking me about Christina. They keep saying she’s hot. Why would I want to talk about that with them? She’s my cousin. Gross.

-Kevin

Sept 18

[Picture of an arrow stuck in the middle of target]

Sept 19
Journal,

That stupid girl walked in on my last night! I was changing into my pajamas. I think she did it on purpose. I hope they move out soon.

Mr. Munroe brought his coffee from home today. He keeps telling us it’s so he doesn’t have to walk all the way to the teacher’s lounge to get more. He keeps adding creamer to it. My dad drinks his coffee black. I don’t like the taste of coffee.

My stomach isn’t feeling too goo today. Maybe I’ll go to the nurse’s office.

-Kevin

Sept 30
Journal,

Sorry I’ve been gone for a week. I had the flu. I gave it to Christina too. All last week the two of us lied (layed?) in our beds and played video games together. She’s really good at Tetris.

Once my nose cleared up I was glad even to smell Christina’s girl perfume. I hate being sick.

Mr. Munroe forgot to tuck in his shirt today.

-Kevin

Oct 1
Journal,

I can’t believe its October already. What happened to September? The whole month passed without anything exciting happening.

It’s homecoming next week. I’ve never had homecoming before. It’s going to be so cool. There’s dress up days and class competitions and a pep rally and a football game and a dance.

I’ll keep you updated.

-Kevin

Oct 2

[Picture of Frankenstein throwing a little girl into a pond]

Oct 3
Journal,

I have a math test today. Algebra. I didn’t study. Christina wanted to play video games last night.

She started talking to me about her dad. I didn’t know what to say. I think that bothered her and she just went to sleep. She acted like nothing was wrong this morning so I guess it’s cool.

Mr. Munroe gave us the Great Gatsby yesterday to read for English class. Its long and it looks boring. I don’t think I’m going to read it.

-Kevin

Oct 4
Journal,

Aunt Carol wants to go apple picking tomorrow. She wants to bake some pies ad make applesauce. She’s making Christina and me go with her because the two of them always go in October. Tommy asked if he could come. I was glad because he can make the trip bearable.

I started to read The Great Gatsby last night. Christina has to read it too. She thought it’d be easier if we each read a paragraph out loud to each other. That way we only have to read half of the book. It isn’t as bad as I thought so far.

-Kevin

Oct 7
Journal,

Tommy did not make the trip to the apple orchard any better. He hardly talked to me. He was always walking next to Christina. I think he likes her. I am not okay with this.

Mr. Munroe doesn’t look so good today. He looks like he’s gonna throw up and he keeps rubbing his head. I hope he didn’t catch what Christina and me had. I bet he’s forgotten what a month of teaching is like. I heard he spend the summer in Florida on the beaches. I had nothing to do all summer except go to stupid trumpet practice.

-Kevin

Oct 8
Journal,

Tommy asked me if he could ask Christina to the dance at lunch yesterday. I told him that I didn’t care and he asked her after seventh period. I kinda do care. I just thought us guys would go it alone together and Christina might come with. Kinda like we were all going as each other’s dates.

I guess I’m on my own. Maybe I will ask Sue Harbrooke. She sits in front of my in math.

Oct 9

[Picture of a man with his limbs being torn off by ropes]

Oct 10
Journal,

I asked Sue yesterday if she wanted to go with me to the dance. We, I sorta asked. I was going to ask her but I found out that she was already going with Steve Kidnaid.

I got the second highest score on my math test. No more studying for me. Ever.

Today is superhero day for homecoming week. Mike said I should show up naked and claim to be an invisible man. I wore a Green Lantern ring instead. Christina’s costume is great. She wore some really short shorts and a halter top and made her hair real big and now she looks just like Wonder Woman.

Mr. Munroe wore his bathrobe and claims to be ‘bathrobe guy’. He looks ridiculous because he is also carrying around his mug of coffee and creamer. I saw him dump some water into it too. Gross. I think I am going to call him out on bathrobe guy not being a real superhero.

-Kevin

Oct 11
Journal,

The homecoming game is tonight. Mike, Tommy, Christina and me are wearing shirts that spell ‘WIN!’ I’m not a fan of football but I’m going because everyone else is going.

Christina was trying on her dress last night, she looked amazing. And to think, two months ago I hated her. Now she’s one of my closest friends (that could have to do with us sleeping in the same room, but whatever).

Mr. Munroe just told us what we should and shouldn’t do this weekend. We’re supposed to be ‘good fans’ and be nice to the other team (we’re playing the Prairie Town Phoenix). It had something to do with representing the school. He also told us that if we go to any homecoming parties that we shouldn’t drink and we should stay out of cars where people who have been drinking are driving. He said he hopes to see us at the dance (he’ll be chaperoning) and he’ll want to see us again on Monday. Mr. Munroe is a good guy. I just wish he didn’t drink so much coffee; it makes his breath smell bad.

Oct 14
Journal,

Mr. Munroe isn’t here today. He was in an accident after the dance. No one really knows anything else.

Tommy is a jerk. He asked Christina to the dance and when he hot there, he just ignored her. Then he went and danced with Mary Stevens. I found Christina on the floor in the hallway by the lockers crying. I sat next to her and she started crying into my shoulder. Tommy doesn’t know what he was missing. She looked beautiful Saturday with her hair up and her makeup on. She even smelled good. We sat there and she shook as she sobbed into my shoulder. I gave her my coat to keep her warm. After a bit, she stopped crying and wiped the tears from her eyes. Her makeup was smudged and it had dripped down her cheeks alongside the tears.

We went back to the dance. Tommy was still with Mary Stevens. They were playing a slow song when we got in and Christina just grabbed my arm and made me dance.

After that, I called my mom to come pick us up because Christina didn’t want to stay any longer.

-Kevin

Oct 15
Journal,

Mr. Munroe is still out today. It doesn’t sound like he’ll be back soon. No one knows yet what happened. Mike heard he fell asleep while driving and hit a deer. Tommy says he heard from Mary Stevens that hunters were out really early in the morning and one of their stray bullets hit his tire and he lost control of the car. I don’t believe Mary Stevens.

-Kevin

Oct 16

[Picture of a white circle in the middle of a page colored black]

Oct 17
Journal,

Principal Fields just announced to the school over the PA that Mr. Munroe died last night. They suspect that he had been drinking at the dance and because of that he was unable to drive and drove off the road into a tree.

I was shocked when I heard this. I felt the blood drain from my face. I just stared are the speaker that projected Principal Fields’ voice.

-Kevin

Oct 18
Journal,

We got a long term substitute for homeroom and English today. She said she wasn’t going to make us write in our journals anymore be we could if we wanted. Mr. Munroe’s funeral service is tomorrow. I think I am going to go.

I want to put something on paper before I never write in here again, just so I can know that it actually happened.

I didn’t tell you the whole story on Monday. After I called my mom to come get Christina and me, we waited outside the door. We stood there hearing the music from the gym and feeling the bass thump in our bones. I was watching for headlights to turn into the school lot when Christina leaned over and kissed me.

Is it wrong that I wasn’t disgusted like I should have been? That I didn’t throw her away? I enjoyed it, my stomach floated away. I leaned into it and I was sad when it ended. It only lasted a couple of seconds but to me it seemed like a lot longer.

Now Christina acts like it didn’t happen and I don’t know what to do.

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