Neon

I met my best girl friend playing saxophone in our high school band. She played sax too. We both sucked but since there were only 27 in my graduating class they let everybody in. In fact they begged.
What can I say, I was a bit quirky and Jean Uh was a bit shy. I spewed nonsense, she grinned. The perfect friendship.

Second year of high school band, enter Neon, a tall skinny, very quirky guy who played snare drum. Friday night football games we three became inseparable.

We knew all the cheers and screamed them like no one else could. When Neon laughed he fell all over the place grabbing himself, then anyone within reach (this was always Jean Uh and me). We laughed constantly at the inane things only teens can find funny. Pretty much everything. Neon even saved Jean Uh from getting her rear sqashed by a very large, very mad senior, what she did to cause such wrath I can't remember. Neon yelled at the large, mad girl and swatted at her fly-like until Jean Uh was safe.

During the rest of the time at school we went our own ways but fifth period band you better watch out. One day we dressed like pirates and put a shower curtain ring on Neon's ear. We stared at the ceiling with our tongues out in our formal band picture for the year book. We turned slow motion doughnuts in the school parking lot.

During History class Neon and I made plans for what dorky things we were gonna do during band and especially at Friday's game. Once our jabbering got us sent to the office (this is 10 th grade mind you) and we got licks with a paddle drilled full of holes. The History teacher was cool though and didn't inform the parents. Neon's parents would not have taken it well. We weren't exactly from the same side of the tracks. Neon's house didn't even have electricity some of the time.
By senior year we had all discovered the opposite sex so didn't hang around as much. Neon even quit band. I graduated before Jean Uh and left for college. She kept me informed of Neon's gentle slide to trouble.

Fast forward several years. I'm at work and a tall guy runs up to me, lifts me off my feet, yells and falls all over me laughing. Yep it was Neon. He was filling in at my work place as a temp. He told me how he had been in jail for theft and hinted at some other stuff. He was currently at a halfway house getting himself back on track. We talked and laughed and relived high school. It was like no time had passed.

That night someone left a window open and stole all the computers on our entire wing, except for mine. it was untouched. BFF Neon.