’ ‘It’s a very old tradition.’ ‘How old?’ I asked. He looked at his watch. ‘I’d say it started in about three hours.’ He estimated i... correctly. We were trying not to be too obvious, so we each slept at home. Sandy let me in around ten, as always with the big hug. ‘Jeff’s in the kitchen.’ She sang it. The beans were boiling and he was skimming off some foamy white stuff with a big spoon. ‘What is that?’ I asked. ‘The farts.’ ‘Jeff! That’s not you. Where did that come from?’ ‘That’s what Sam. This all began to change in the Fall of his senior year.There was an upcoming dance, and Richard was determined to ask a girl to go. His target was Ashley Summers. A girl he had known since kindergarden. They had been friends in the past but had naturally grown apart. She was perhaps the only girl in the school he could bring himself to ask.Richard knew where her locker was, so he planned to intercept her there and pop the question before he chickened out. The time had come. Everything was. Come in. Do you need a drink?” He said.“Thanks maybe a glass of water?”“Ok, I meant something stronger but you can have water if you want”“Just water please” I replied. He seemed happy with me and I was happy with him but in truth I wasn’t there for anything other than what was between his legs and my eyes kept revealing that by sneaking involuntarily peeks at his crotch. I drank the water quickly and was conscious of my swallowing. “Ok, are you ready?” he said.I gulped. “Yes I think so” I. She, however, had not been so lucky. I sat there with her as she cried in my lap. I had never felt so powerless in my life. What the fuck had I done to deserve this? What had she done? What had her brother done? I had no answers. As I tried to move on with my life I realized I could not focus on the real world anymore. What had been there for me was not there anymore. After the accident, I had somehow lost my ability to socialize. I couldn’t talk to people. I couldn’t be around people. And I.