Jonathan Hobbs, Age 18. Location: Null, CA. If this keeps me out of medical school, I will never speak to Jeremy again. I swear on my Stanford college application, it was not my fault.
It all started that summer afternoon. July, I think it was. Late July, at the peak of summertime. Jeremy and I were hiking through the Sierras. I had been observing specimens with my portable microscope as Jeremy tore through the brambles like a maniac, whooping to scare the poor forest critters out of their homes. I remember when we paused by a brook that I was taking samples from, to eat lunch. Jeremy was talking about some joke that he was planning, and how much of a blast it would be if he could pull it off.
Of course, I wasn't listening all that much. I was too busy calculating the chemical compounds of the water. Conclusion: brook water has a high concentration of cyanobacteria, pH of 6.8, slightly salt-soluble, temperature of 59.68 degrees Fahrenheit. I reported my findings to Jeremy. He paid no attention at all.
Jeremy's rambling never got my full attention, but I'll admit that I did catch a few bits and pieces of information. For example, I happened to hear that the joke was going to be pulled on a member of our neighborhood -- or, as Jeremy described it, "some boring oldie." In addition, he disclosed, rather secretively, that a certain schoolmate of mine was also involved. (Jeremy is home-schooled. He refers to every other youth on our street as one of my "schoolmates." Plus, it is rather odd for him to be homes-chooled -- of all people, energetic, mischievous Jeremy must be cooped up at home all day. The poor guy needs a way to release some energy. Rather like a spring stuck in a tiny box -- as soon as the lid is removed, potential energy is released into kinetic, and it shoots up. But back to the story.) Of course, I still wasn't listening. Now that I think about it, for all I knew, the victim could have been anyone between my own mother and old Mrs. Peterson, who hides in her dark little house all day. I remember realizing with a start that this joke could be more serious than Jeremy had made it seem.
And then, but only then, was when I wished I had payed more attention to what he had said to me.
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