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“I Go Places Sometimes”

It began the night we died on the Kamikaze

I should have known the night was jinxed when Quinn lost his hat on the Raptor I wasn’t sure where on the roller coaster he lost it because I didn’t ride with hiie, did I had volunteered to wait in line for Icewater Rapids

“What a nice guy,” Maggie had said, giving uy or not, I had my own reasons

The loss of Quinn’s hat was the first traualaxies of traumas revolved around my brother I kneouldn’t part with his hat easily; it was one of his prized possessions—a black baseball cap with a very distinctive design on its face Not the insignia of a sports teao—that wouldn’t do for Quinn No, his hat featured a rude cartoon of a hand with its er up He loved that hat because he could flip everyone off on a continual basis

He was still gruie, and Russ joined me in the line for Icewater Rapids

“There should be catch-nets beneath the ride,” Quinn coht it—he was behind me!” As if the whole world were to blame

“Ignore hi his beefy arht call a disenfranchised jock He hts, but never lasts more than a month in any of the sports he’s tried, because he loses interest too quickly Maybe that’s because so irls, while Russ had no need: He and Maggie had been dating since the beginning of recorded tiht

As for Maggie, she couldn’t have cared less about Quinn’s ravings She checked herself out in a tallline to break up the monotony “Tell me the truth, do I look fat to you?” she asked me

“You’re kidding, right?”

“No, seriously”

Russ just laughed

“Maggie, it’s a fun-house mirror Of course you look fat That’s the point”

She sighed “I know that, but fun-house mirrors never usually make me look this fat”

“Scootch down a bit,” Russ said, “and you’ll be fat in all the right places”

She poked hiie was sli Smart, too But to hear her talk, you’d think she was duirls in school

“Congratulations,” I told her, glancing once ot a distorted view of yourself Now you really do”

She threw rin was ie’s waist I soot bruises froet away

You’re probably wondering how I fit into this little high school equation Well, I suppose if the others are variables, I’, constantly busy, constantly shuttling froularity of a celestial clock

“That’s what I like about you,” Russ once told ot a level head—and I don’t mean just the haircut”

As far as the equation went, I’d be out of it soon, on account of the way I tested out of high school Not that I’ I’m just a , and a knack foret a scholarship to New York’s Columbia University at sixteen I was scheduled to leave nexth school entirely

“Columbia?” Russ had said “Wow, I didn’t even know you spoke Spanish!”

Maggie had told , but we both kneasn’t Let’s face it, if y saver But that’s okay He had other things going for hiie

Me, I was between girlfriends So e took our little road trip to Six Flags, instead of a date, I ended up with Quinn

I turned around, noticing that Quinn had stopped gruone

“Forget about him,” Russ said “He’ll turn up eventually, and even if he doesn’t, no great loss”

I shook et ejected from the park” Which happened once before, when Quinn took an M-80 and blew up an animatronic mime

“You know that’s what he wants,” Maggie said, “to make us all look for him”