Clowns to the Left of Me

Senior year is often wins the cliche award for its consideration as the best year of high school. I must admit that I, a person who moves far from cliches, consider it the best year of my high school career. 

I had been pursuing my dreams of becoming a filmmaker in my Television Production class with my best friends. The summer was scorching hot and Graduation Day was approaching quickly. Reservoir Dogs found its way to our collective attention, and it became an absolute must to watch the film. I was the first of the group to experience it one hot afternoon; the Stealers Wheel song latched onto my soul, paired with the infamous image of Michael Madsen as Mr. Blonde shuffling his feet to the rhythm. I was suddenly struck with an uncanny courage to sign up for the Senior Talent Show. I felt invincible.

Day and night, I fiddled with my acoustic guitar, learning the chords with great fervor, in spite of the choking heat. It was quickly becoming my anthem, as I did not know what my place was going to be in the universe, as I was surrounded by the "clowns" and "jokers" of the high school world. I felt that the end was very near and the beginning of a strange unknown was approaching. I did not act accordingly, however. I acted with the strange upbeat attitude found in the song; I was scared out of my mind, but I kept smiling.

Talent Show Day came, and I was shaking like a leaf. I could not eat or drink. I practiced behind the makeshift curtain in the air-conditioned gym, the murmur of about 1,000 students rushing to me. I knew there were those way more talented than me performing that day. I knew I would not win a single prize. I was scared out of my mind. And yet, when my time finally came, I stood up and sat in front of those faces.

The sound system was not working, so I spent an excruciating 3 minutes waiting for the sound guy to fix it. The clowns and jokers just stared at me. Finally, the mic was fixed and I spoke:

"Any of you guys know this guy named Quentin Tarantino?" the crowd cheers, to my delight, "Well this song is from a little film he made a while back, and I think it best fits my situation."

I began, desperately trying to ignore my quivering legs. I sang my heart out, and nearly lost myself at the sound of the crowd clapping along. My smile grew bigger with each verse, the clowns, jokers, and friends having a great time with it. I thought, "Tarantino would be proud."

I finished and received such an uproar I never expected. I thought I had very few friends, very few people who liked me. The cheers and screams and applause proved me wrong, at least just for that day. It was my first and only time I played guitar and sang in front of an audience. Although I did not win a thing, I cherish that moment of odd situational glee. It was a moment that defined my entire High School career. I was "stuck in the middle" of it all and came out alright.