The Cobras-Chapter 2

The parking lot at Wild Acorn High School was a collection of territories. Up front, nearest to the school, were the "Senior slots." These were highly coveted because they were closest to the school and provided the fastest exit. In the back of the lot were the "Stoner spaces." These slots were out of the sight of the yard duty supervisor and allowed for a quick burn of a bowl or two before entering the campus. WAHS was typical of schools built in the mid to late 1960's in California. It was a series of pods with courtyards and open space in-between buildings. There was abundant landscaping and grass to sit on throughout the campus. Although there were approximately 1700 students grades 10-12 at the school one would hardly know that there were that many in attendance because of the spread-out spaces of the school.

Spanky and Gator rolled through the parking lot with the windows down cranking up Sammy Hagar's "Red." It was a popular song in South County, Sammy being a local of sorts and his anthem of living life to the fullest registered well with the times.
People gave a casual eye as Spanky drove his prized machine, a 1978 yellow and black Chevy Monza through the lot. It was hardly a "headturner" given all of the flashy machines in the lot. Slowly they cruised by a Porche 911, a 69' Camaro, and a cherried out GTO which just happened to be candy apple "red." The senior who drove the marvelous beast was just getting out of the car when the "Spankymobile" passed by. He gave a nod at the music and Spanky cranked out a few more decibles in his honor.
"That's why I bought a killer stereo dude. Respect." Spanky said as he pulled into a spot just at the end of the senior section. He parked close today as they were stoned and he didn't want to go far to the smoking area.
The smoking area at Wild Acorn was a gathering place for all of the misfits, stoners, cowboys and other afficianados of tobacco. It was the hang-out for most of the members of the Cobra CB club who attended WAHS.
As they walked up they could see Rosco standing among most of their group casually smoking a Marlboro Light. Next to him was "Oakie" the President of the Cobra CB Club and about the nicest guy here. He didn't, it seemed have a single enemy in the entire school and was the genius behind the "The Cobras" a group of CB lovers who also liked to party "just a bit."
Oakie was about as plain and ordinary of a country-boy as one could find on campus back then. He wore an old baseball cap, had stringy dark brown hair that was cut just above the shoulders and olive skin. He stood about five feet eight and blended in perfectly with those around him. He wore an old colored t-shirt and a weathered jean vest with brown corduroy pants. He had an unremarkable leather belt and tennis shoes which fit his persona perfectly.
"Heard you got left on the road, " Oakie said laughing as Gator and Spanky walked up to the group.
"Yeah but Spanky was there to rescue me from a day at home watching soaps," Gator laughed.
"I knew you had some bud so how could I not pick you up," Spanky giggled as he lit up a smoke.
"And Frogurt here has been a real bitch lately. Dude you need to get laid or something you're way too tense," he added blowing smoke in Steve's face.
Steve coughed at the second-hand smoke and shook his head. "Okay maybe you are right. Sorry Gator for being a dick earlier. I got up late and its been a fucked up day so far." He extended his hand to Gator who took it and said," Yeah its cool man but you missed some good bud."
Steve looked at Spanky and Gator. They looked at each other and started laughing.
"Dude you're toast," Spanky said.
"Dude you're toast and butter," Gator said.
Just then, the bell rang and the cloud of smoke above the area began to dissipate and the smokers all moved on to class.
Gator turned right when he left the smoking area and walked past the auditorium to the Social Studies pod. He liked the class a lot and usually participated more than in his other classes. But today he would try to lay low and be "invisible." It was a trick he'd learned while in his freshman year at his other school up north. He would slouch down in his desk over his notebook and start doodling. He would just blend into the class and he was hardly ever called upon.
This class was a bit challenging though because he sat next to a girl he found pretty cute. Her name was Lynn and she was pretty nice for a "goody-two-shoes" type. For some reason Gator had always been attracted to "good girls" although he didn't understand why. He didn't want to be a "goody-goody" he wanted to be a "wild-one" and had worked hard in his freshman year to get some badboy credentials. But those credentials were useless here in this "cowtown." Moving to South County had been the best and worst thing that ever happened to him.
First, it was best because he was reunited with his aunt and uncle who had raised him when he was younger. His mom and dad had split up when he was young so he went to live with them for a while. He had liked living with them because they were kind people and they spoiled him. He had adjusted well to that environment although they didn't have much experience with kids and he was able to get his way most of the time. Just when he had settled in and adjusted to his new life his mom got a new job and he was forced to move back with his mother and little brother. It was another adjustment for him but he made the most of it and was happy to be back with his brother and mom. It wasn't long though, as a latch-key kid, before he was getting into the wrong crowd. He and his little brother had been caught smoking weed the very first time he tried it. That should have been enough to discourage him but he decided he had just been "unlucky" and when his mom sent him to live with his dad and stepmother he gave it another try. Living with his dad and stepmom had been better in some ways than living with his mom. He was closer to all of his cousins and could hang out with them more often. But he got mixed up with some bad kids up north and started to adopt their bad habits. He had just wanted to "fit in" and being the "new kid" he knew it wouldn't be easy.
He had hated smoking as a child and had begged his dad to stop. But smoking was a doorway into a group of kids who he could easily be accepted by and it soon became part of his lifestyle.
Cigarettes were easy to come by in his aunt' and uncle's house as they were both smokers. They smoked Marlboro lights though and he preferred full-strength Marlboro reds. But beggars can't be choosers so whenever he was out of smokes he would just take a pack from one of the many cartons around the house. He was suddenly amused at all the thoughts that had just gone through his head as he sat next to Lynn.  He moved his chair away from her as he became self-conscious about the smell of smoke on his body. They were located in a two-person student table. He smiled at her and she smiled back. She was cute, even with her braces. She had pretty green eyes and sandy brown hair. She was tall and athletic. He wondered what it would be like to hold her. "Whoa dude, slow down. You must be buzzed still," he thought to himself.
"Hi Noah," she said.
"Hi," he said looking down and starting to doodle on his notebook. He made a conscious effort not to make eye contact with her or anyone in the class. It was easy to be invisible in here. It was an "advanced college prep" class so most of the people in there were jocks, preps and "goodie-goodies." They didn't want to talk with him, with the exception of Lynn of course, and he didn't want to talk with them. He didn't have a single friend in the room and he was just fine with that. None of them knew a thing about him and his life, or what he'd been through. They were all living perfect "magazine" lives and he was living his which was far from that.
He liked history class and found it interesting, even with a buzz. It was something he was good at. He was always happy when he got a good grade on a quiz or test because he knew she saw his grade.
Today they were getting back a quiz from last week. Gator sat back from his doodling and watched as the teacher walked down each row handing out papers. Most of the students had received bad grades. Lynn was talking to some preppy girl on the other side of her and Gator was leaning back in his chair trying to "look cool" as the papers were passed out. Mr Carredio looked at Gator's paper and said, "nice job Noah" and placed the "100% A" on his desk. He nodded towards Mr. Carredio a thin intimidating figure with grey hair, a nose like a hawk, and thick black glasses. Gator put the paper underneath his folder and continued doodling.
Lynn got her paper back and it was a "B." Carredio moved down the row handing out papers. Most of the students hid their results from their neighbors. There was a collective groan audible across the room as reality set in for most of the students. Carredio began his usual lecture about how hard college is and that in order to make it there one had to get good grades in high school and more importantly develop good study-skills.
Gator liked Mr. Carredio and never gave him any of the "smart-ass remarks" he saved for other "less cool" teachers. Today Carredio put him on the spot though and ruined his "invisibility."
"There was one person in the class that got a 100%. Noah over there in the corner aced this quiz. All of you should try harder."
Lynn turned towards him and smiled. "Did you really get 100?" She asked.
"There went my invisibility," he thought.
"Yeah I guess I got lucky," he said trying to feign indifferance.
Somewhere in the back of the room was a group of jocks. One of them said something and they all started laughing. Gator closed his books and stared out into space thinking about the fact that tonight was Friday night and he and Spanky were going out with the Cobras. It was sure to be a classic good time.