each kid peeling off and going their
separate way when we reached their
house. Maylene and I lived the
farthest, so we’d always be the last
two. We’d walk together until we
got where we needed to go, and
then we’d part ways.
Maylene was cool. She was
good at tennis, smart, cute. I liked
her. I didn’t have a crush on her; I
wasn’t even thinking about girls
that way yet. I just liked hanging
out with her. Maylene was also the
only colored girl in school. I was the
only mixed kid in school. We were
the only two people who looked like
each other. The white girls were