Pothead, Troublemaker, or Plain Old Slouch?

You know the laid back kid in High School
who was always the last one to class and
the first one to leave?

The one that the teacher
would call on just to see if he was paying attention,
even though he never was?

Now this kid wasn’t a jock or anything,
but he made being a loner look pretty cool –
the same way lions make killing look artful.

Its kinda weird you know,
because you see kids like that and
never really know how to classify them.
You don’t really know if he’s a pothead,
a troublemaker, or just a plain old slouch.
At least until you invite him into a smokers circle
and he nicely declines like a square.

But deep inside you admire something about him.

You admire the way he makes peer pressure
look like some far-flung cliched myth.
You admire the way he can skip class
so quietly and not brag about it.

Ha!

Most kids practically sign up for suspensions just so the whole
school can hear their name being called on the loud speakers,
ya know?

Honestly,
I just wish it was more kids out there
who were brave enough to stand out;
who were wise enough to know you didn’t
have to be a stereotype to be somebody.

…Well, we’re all grown now though,
so I guess reminiscing on my petty
High School memories is futile.
They say High School is nothing
compared to the real world.

Ha!

Yeah right.