¡Hola y Adiós, Señor Rodriguez!

¡Hola! Sr. Rodriguez. I've been thinking about him lately. In a most innocent way, of course. I remember a time in which I didn't like him. I found him conceited and annoying. That little booger was the vain of my existence. That was when in middle school, however. I remember him and I getting into an argument sitting at the same table at lunch. Those were the days.

Things were so good that for about a period of three months, we were in an ensemble. Him and I walked through a west Dallas neighborhood for like three hours. It was fun... but it was hot. We got hired by some drunk guys... worst gig ever. Ha-ha-ha.

Things deteriorated my freshman year of high school. We had an advanced English class and we didn't talk. I'm not sure why, but we just didn't talk. No acknowledgement, nothing in the least. I'm not sure why he acted towards me like that, but I did give him a few jabs here and then. There was this one day in English. I believe I was sitting in front of him and he was pushing my chair with his legs. Well, I struck back and with my legs on the chair ahead, I pushed back, pushing him and the people behind him back. I won that round. 

Sweet, sweet victory.

We didn't talk much that year nor the next. I was in an ethnic music ensemble at school, and he played the violin in the group. In a piece that had long instrumental solos, he was one of three violins that played a solo. When the person before him played, I would cheer. When he played, nothing. He wasn't talking to me, and I wasn't going to cheer the S.O.B. on. But then again, no one did.

Towards the end of my sophomore year, we talked a little more and saw a bit more of each other. Things thawed and we became better friends. We started seeing more of each other. I've been over to his house a couple of times, mainly just to repair his computer. It's failed like five times, and I've told him to upgrade, but not much has come of it.

Other times, we've seen each other and those had nothing to do with his computer. Those are the times that mean so much to me. He comes not for my repair skills, but for me. To hang, with me. As a human being, when someone wants to hang out with you, that's a big deal. It gives you a satisfaction that you're not weird and the someone enjoys your company. It's awkward, but it's great.

I feel that much of our friendship stems from that. We don't have much in common. He's part of the 1% of our school (which in reality is the top 10%, something I complained about in The Princeton Blues), and I'm the 99% (more like top 15%). He's an outdoorsy (not in the "Hey, let's go camping and fishing!" way) and I'm an indoorsy-guy. He's AP, and I'm regular (except in mathematics). My point is that although we're great in person, we share very little in common.

And things have gotten worse since his girlfriend came into the picture. You think I'd learn. I have never met her personally, but this has led to a riff between him and me before. As I mentioned last year, I would be his ride to school in the morning. Well, one day, he began chatting me up on Facebook and I responded with the following:

Hey sexybuns
You know
when I saw you with [withheld]
this mornign
*morning
I felt like ripping you out of her
arms
and saying
"Bitch, dis [sic] is my MAN!
"BACK THE FUCK UP!"

My mistake. I laughed my ass off. But he found it distasteful. And then he un-friended me. But we've kept in touch since, and I've made many a blog post that mention him or are named of him.

That's not creepy, right? Nah.

But now that school has ended, I've concluded that I won't see much of him as he goes off to university out-of-state. And I guess this is my hello and goodbye to him. I'd hug him, but he hates human contact.

And if you read this, I'll pay you back for that library fine one day.

Adiós, Señor Rodriguez.