The Characters

It was a summer trip to Japan that led me to the twenty-nine souls.
They were from all walks of life, and we were all on that commercial flight as a high school learning experience.
One of them came up with a bet to spice up our sixteen hour flight: "Lets all tell a story. The winner who can tell the best gets fifty dollars from everyone else. It's kind of like a modern day Canterbury Tales.
We all agreed and put our hands together, vowing an oath.
That's how it began. Let me introduce to you the fine characters of this stage:

The Jock
Football, basketball, baseball, lacrosse, you name it, he played it. And not only did he play it, he excelled in it. He was the average, upper middle class prep who knew his way around the female specimen and how to sweet talk his way to A's in class. When he walked into a room heads turned and giggles erupted. You could tell something different about him though, pained, by a simple glance of his baby blues.

The Princess
Since her daddy was the CEO of Kellogg cereals, she was used to getting what she wanted. First impressions would almost always bring out the green eyed monster in anyone. She always carried, or might I say had someone else carry, at least eleven designer brand luggage bags filled with designer brand merchandise. It was then I met her stumbling out of the tinted black limousine onto the broken concrete, cell phone falling out of hand, silver crucifix peeking out of her black velvet sleeve.

Her Entourage
What was a girl to do without her two clones following her every move?

The Asian Honor Student
When you meet her, you have to look at her from bottom to top. Shoes, knee high socks, miniskirt, unrevealing tank still the while hidden under modest cardigan, necklace, hair clip, they all matched. No piece out of place. Not one. She was perfect down to the way she crossed her legs.

The J.V. Captain
Not quite up to par with his older brother, he was destined for greatness.

The Joker
He could solve anything with an unrelated remark like, "So how about the Long Island platypuses? or something idiotic. As long as there was a shower of laughs at his doing, he was in nirvana.

The Virgin
Not exactly the Asian Honor Student, she was the stereotypical prude who would rather step into a New York City street than admit having dirty dreams. She sang in her church choir, studied nonstop, donated to charities, and hung out with her gay friends after school during French Club meetings.

The Drama Star
He lead in all the school productions, and everyone who met him knew he was going to go somewhere in the future. All shyness and insecurities vanished when the glare of the spotlights glazed over him and deflected back through his eyes.

The Boy Who Liked The Virgin

The Anorexic
Everyone knew she starved herself. Most girls were just too conscious of their own bodies to care. It they did confront her, maybe they would of noticed her wrists.

The Surfer
With his coral necklace he had handmade with collected shells, he surfed day in and day out. The girls all loved his long blonde locks and his choice of words like, dude. His steady girlfriend was back in California, and he was frequently on the phone trying to reassure her he hadn't gone back to his old roots.

The Video Gamer
The only time he left the game console was when someone had to physically pry it out of his hands. He knew just about every game that had come out in the past ten years, the systems, and multiple cheat codes for each one of them. He wondered why he couldn't get a date at his ripe age of seventeen, and dreamed for one of the multiple characters to come and rescue him.

The Skater
It was all down pact. The clothes, the attitude, and the board. Days were spent in the In School Restriction room for simple things, like putting a condom in the drinking fountain.

The Real Black
Intelligent and coy, he was more than met the eye.

The Foreign Exchange Student
From a far away land, she belonged to where everyone looked like models and had names like Sven or Heidi. She wasn't that bad looking, it was just that she didn't speak English.

The Rocker Couple
Their love was pure, pure down to the vials of blood around each others necks. Dressed in vintage punk, they would each sit there a rehearse every word to every song written by Nirvana. He sang in a band, she was their official groupie. Hand in hand, you could tell they were going to last.

The Whore
She had been around the block more than once. The rumors ran through hallways as everyone talked about her latest job of the week. Bleached hair and red stockings followed her where she went, constantly trying to fit in when she couldn't find satisfaction from the boys.

The Freshmen
The youngest boy and girl seemed to defy the stereotypical upperclassman by being the most average.
The Gay Guy
He aspired to be recruited in the Fab 6.

The Band Geek
Trumpet was his life. He lived in the music wing at his high school, and dreamed of dating one of the clarinetists. Looking past the rimmed glasses that reflected music notes, there was something more than rhythm.

The Nerd
Everyone's favorite personality, he was fed up with giving answers. One day he was just going to implode.

The Goth
With pants large enough to carry a small dog in, he started off each day with his eyeliner and industrial ritual. His parents looked down on him, his teachers looked down on him, his peers looked down on him. They all wondered why he skipped classes so often.

The Ghetto Poser
He liked to pretend he was black. He almost was too, Puerto Rican. By buying the latest G-Units he felt more confident, like he could fit in with the gang.

The Drug Dealer
With a mother in rehab and a father who abandoned him at the age of seven, he sold drugs to support himself. It was all he knew how to do.

The Girl Who Wouldn't Talk
She wasn't deaf, or blind, or had any mental illnesses. She just didn't talk. She knew how to. You would find her sitting in a corner drawing the most elaborate sketches since Da Vinci.