she got a friend to do it, in the hallway. i think it was before algebra class, because i remember it was in the c building, the old building at pius, which was still haunted by the ghost of dan akroyd (and who you gonna call when it's the ghost of dan akroyd?) from the days when it was a real catholic school, with nuns and priests, and i don't remember taking any other classes in the c building that year.

hopefully, the remaining aura of dan akroyd's sense of humour is helping the dead souls of the people that were killed there, years ago, by an angry child. this was all years before my time.

finite math was in the portable. calculus was in the new building, which was what? a? b? i don't remember. so was english, physics, bio & chem - although i think i took bio & chem the year before. computer science was downstairs. and that's the eight i took.

most people took 6 pre-university courses; i took 8 because i didn't know what i wanted to study, and i wanted my options open. clearly, i was leaning towards a science-based education. that said, i would have liked to have taken a music course as well, but there wasn't really an option. a lot of people took geography, but i felt this was pointless. i somewhat regret not taking history. were there other options? i think economics was an option. the only mandatory course to graduate was english.

so, it was definitely algebra class.

i remember coming in after i told her friend 'no', and she was shaking and distraught and embarrassed and...not exactly crying, but clearly on the brink of it. again: still a teenage girl, and on some level the smart ones are the manic ones, right? she was visibly very upset.

so, i tried to be rational, and i think it worked.

"listen, i don't want to go to prom. i have my own reasons. that doesn't mean i hate you. i'm a little surprised by the request, but i'm not going to get weird about this. and, we can keep it between the three of us. so, let's just be rational about it and move forwards. i'm sure you'll find somebody else."

she was a smart kid, and she instantly perked up and went back to her normal self - stoic, distant, introverted and kind of barely there.

but, i don't remember actually speaking to her again after that.