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An extraordinarily short ARSE, not much of anything happened in this tale. I only include it because of its semi-relevance in the tale of the the Stalker. I was in my senior year of high school in Cedar Park, and I was midway through my ill-fated relationship with the Stalker. I was gradually teaching myself to be more outgoing, so I made a point of introducing myself to new kids, at least ones who looked they would need friends. Of course, sometimes the new kids turned out to suck, which caused me to eventually retreat right back into my shell. This story was one such case. The New Kid was a boy in our class or perhaps the year below, and he wore glasses and a trench coat. He gravitated toward our group of social outcasts fairly quickly, and I was quick to welcome him. It did not take more than a couple of weeks for me to change my mind, though, for he proved somewhat annoying and slow. I began gravitating away from him. Despite that, the Stalker remained jealous of the New Kid. I rolled my eyes and informed the Stalker that I was not interested in the New Kid, but, the Stalker being the Stalker, nothing calmed him. The event of this story is probably why. One day, nearing the end of our lunch period, I stood up to walk to the trash can. As I did so, the New Kid approached me from the opposite direction. I tried to pretend I hadn't seen him. "Hey, Lauren," he said. Crap. "Can I talk to you? Alone? For a minute?" Double crap. I panicked. "Uh, sure." I was curious but not exactly in a hurry to talk to him, nor did I even know when we might meet alone. I never found out what he wanted, but I felt with near certainty that his reason for wanting to talk to me would be to ask me out, even though he knew I was with the Stalker. That was all the more reason to avoid the New Kid. The Stalker, I think, had overheard the entire conversation, for he sulked a great deal when I returned to the lunch table. Then again, he sulked whenever I talked to a guy, or indeed anybody who wasn't him. Like I said, the story of the New Kid is hardly noteworthy, except I learned three things:
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