Holy pancakes!

Am I keeping to the food theme this month? Ohohoho.

Anyway. I must say, weekends rock. Most projects I have due are being handled by my delegates (I am the kind of person who naturally takes lead, even though it is a role I particularly despise, because I'm a lazy bum), and as a result, everything is going just fine.

Since you were wondering (because I know you were), most of my crazy projects list has cleared up, leaving me with only: a radio show to invent with PB and three girls whose names I don't even know (Journalism); a training program (Gym) which is again more written work; a comic page that I will be the one to make because my partner sorely (very sorely) lacks any and all drawing skills (Comics); an expressive montage that was completed last week by one of my teammates (Movie-Making and Scenario ―more on that in a moment); and plenty of essays.

This means I am, temporarily, free of work. (Don't ask; it's too long to explain.)

Anyway, I think I found my vocation in life.

Alright, that seems cliché and seriously definitive. It's not. It's my current vocation, subject to change, blah blah blah.

But it's as serious as I've gotten in a long while where my career orientation is concerned.

I found out about my vocation in this class called Scenario-Montage, which was predictably split in two segments: the first was about script-writing, and the second was (shocking) about video editing in professional programs. Both aspects were, to me, most informative and interesting.

A lot of people, though, seemed to think scenario writing was a bore and the hardest thing in the world. Slim and PB, on their part, were above average, with grades around 80%. I was consistently the highest graded of the group at all times, with approximately 85%.

Note: Slim, PB and I were the only ones to consistently get above 80% grades. All the others were under 80% at all times.

Between kissing his girlfriend (I'll get to it) and annoying Josie, PB remarked, "Hey, CM, YOU're the one who beat me by five points!" He wasn't annoyed, though, merely giving me the I-should-have-known look.

See, that's the thing. I'm good at Scenario writing. The teacher has had no complaints. I lose points because I tend to write more than he wants us to write. I get carried away. Good points: my characterization and timing, as well as quality of dialogue and feasible ideas, are among the best he's seen.

Translation: I pwn at this stuff.

Maybe it's not completely fair to the others. I do have a lot of practice in the field of character-development and dialogue.

But get this. Pierre (our teacher and originally a scenarist himself) claims that out of every promotion, he's lucky to even interest one person in script-writing.

I guess that person'll be me. Seriously. If no one will do it, if my language and writing skills are above average, if I can write fun and good stuff, why not?

I would get to write FOR A LIVING. This would be above awesome.

Editorial aside, I don't think I've updated about PB and Slim's love lives (because I know you give as much of a damn as I do).

Well, they are both happily taken. And not by me.

OMG, CM, BUT THAT'S SO UNFAIR FOR YOU, you'll say. THOSE JERKS! WHO ARE THOSE B!TCHES WHO STOLE THEM FROM YOU?

Well, first off, chill. They weren't "mine" to begin with. Besides, as you're sure to find out soon, the irony brought about by life has soothed any possible wound I would have suffered from if I hadn't been over Slim in the first place.

As far as PB is concerned, he's dating a girl who's been hanging out with us for a while now. They're in on a bumpy road, what with their schedules being so crazy and all, but they're really sweet together, and I totally approve of them. Besides, PB hasn't gone anal-retentive in the wake of couple life, as opposed to...

Slim, on his part... Well, let's just say that this is what conversations with Slim looked like before he got a girlfriend:

Guy: Hey, isn't Drew dating this fourteen year-old?
Josie: Ugh, stop. That's almost like pedophilia. What do fourteen year-olds know about eighteen year-olds? They're worlds apart.
Slim: No kidding. It's not that they're immature or anything. It's just that there's no way they can relate. I mean, they're in the middle of high school, just learning to know about sex, and eighteen year-olds are ages ahead, going to drunken parties and preparing for uni.
Me: Well, they're losing their "innocence" sooner than they used to.
Slim: Even so. They can't relate. It's two different worlds, two different atmospheres. Fourteen year-olds aren't like eighteen year-olds, no matter how intent they are.

I'm having trouble not to laugh as I write this, because the sheer irony of his discourse is brought back to me constantly.

This is the conversation I heard, roughly three weeks ago:

Guy: Hey, did you know Slim has a new girlfriend?
Josie: What?? OMG, WHO IS IT? SLIM DOESN'T DO GIRLFRIENDS. He's married to his drumset!
Me: He has a girlfriend?

I'll admit I'm trying to be casual. My heartbreak was still a little sore, even though...

Guy: Well, you can just ask him. There he is.
(Enter Slim.)
Josie: OMG, SLIM, YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME WE'RE CHILDHOOD FRIENDS!
PB: *snickers*
Josie: PB, why are you laughing?
PB: Oh, nothing.
Me: You have a girlfriend, Slim?
PB: *snickers again*
Josie: PB, what's up with you?
PB: *looks at Slim, who has slumped into his chair and is avoiding everyone's inquisitive gaze* Well, you remember how he used to bash Drew about his fourteen year-old girlfriend?
(Long silence)
Josie: *turning to Slim* Oh. My. God.
Slim: *grabbing his head, shouting* I'M NOT PROUD, OKAY?
Me: *unable to keep an ironic smirk from coming on* Wait. How old is your girlfriend, exactly, Slim?
PB: *hooting* SHE'S FOURTEEN! *bursts into maniacal laughter*
Slim: I'M NOT PROUD, OKAY????
Josie: Wait, how come you're dating a fourteen year-old???
Slim: Actually, she turned fifteen last week. And don't ask. She got me drunk.
Me: Do you like her, at least?

I mean, this seemed like the most sensible question to ask.

Slim: Yeah, I guess. I mean, I'm not in love with her, but I do care. GODDAMMIT, I SOUND LIKE A GIRL.
Josie: *teasing* That's what you get for being a pedophile.
Slim: This is me leaving now.
Guy: Dude, you better stop bashing Drew now that you're as bad as him.

And Slim proceeds to look utterly miserable.

I should say that since then, he's had little other focus than drumming, work, and his girlfriend. All in all, no major change, save for the last detail. But it's made him cranky. Poor Slim.

And yet, on the day I heard about it, it didn't really register. Until last week, when Alex told me to warn Slim his girlfriend (who is turning out to be quite a handful for her parents) was going to meet him at the end of school. When I passed on the message, it occurred to me, finally...

Slim has a girlfriend. And it's not me. It's a fifteen year-old trouble-making prep.

And you know what's the funniest part about it?

I didn't give a damn.

I skipped on my way home. Like some sick version of the Sound of Music or something. I was grinning like a moron, thinking, "I'm free!"

And damn if I haven't been enjoying that freedom.

Now, if that cute blonde guy from my philosophy and English classes would just give me a second-look... He has begun talking to me more since last week...

;)

Love,
CM

P.S. The following setting is the basis for a oneshot I'm currently writing. Because god forbid I could focus on one story at a time or anything.