About 20 students, including myself, were sitting in a classroom in Athens, Ohio. Everyone seemed to be around 18-19 years old, except the gray-haired teacher, Marie Trowbridge (my tenth grade geometry teacher), who looked as if she were about 60 years old. Miss Trowbridge seemed somewhat out of place here, so far from Portsmouth. Did she have an apartment in Athens where she stayed during the week, returning to Portsmouth on the weekends? I didn't think she was married; so it probably didn't make much difference where she stayed.

I was somewhat concerned about my being in this class because the students didn't seem to be of the highest academic caliber. The classes at this grade level were divided up into sections, section 1 being for the smartest students, with the other sections descending downward 2, 3, 4, etc. Since this class was the section 2 class, I might not be in the smartest section. However, I distinctly remembered someone having told me that section 1 wasn't actually for the smartest people, but simply for a special group of people. I finally decided not to worry about it; I would simply content myself with where I was. Austin was in the class, and since he was smart, the class couldn't be that bad.

Also in the class were some buddies of mine, a rather rowdy lot, who clearly had no special academic gifts. Among them was Gannon, dressed in his hip black leather jacket.

Gannon and I were sharing an apartment in Athens, along with several other fellows. They were a care-free gang; I enjoyed being with them. When the class finally ended, we all went to our apartment together, talking and joking. Once we were in the apartment, I suddenly remembered that Gannon had gone to court earlier today regarding a criminal charge against him; had he been convicted? I was especially interested because I didn't know what the charge was; and Gannon didn't seem to want to tell me. My concern was particularly acute because he and I were actually sleeping in the same bed together; I told him I would like to know if he had been charged with murdering someone with whom he slept. But he still refused to tell me. He would need to be careful not to get into any trouble in the future; I also should be careful.

Everyone was preparing to go to a party which was going to be held in another town about 75 kilometers away. I was also going to the party; I was thankful I had been invited, even though I was unsure what I would be able to contribute to the party. But since I was smarter than the others, hopefully I would be able to think of something interesting to say.

When we were ready, we all walked outside. I was going to drive myself, but Gannon first wanted to show me his red jeep, a tiny little vehicle. So, along with five or six others, including Gannon's mother, I climbed in. Gannon drove through some vacant lots around the apartment, up the steep bank of a ravine, and finally returned to the front of the apartment. My Lincoln Continental, which I intended to drive to the party, was sitting on the other side of the street. I was a little disappointed to see that no one else had shown up to go to the party with us. Someone mentioned something about some girls also going to the party, but I was unsure any girls would actually show up.

As I hopped out of the jeep and headed toward my car, I suddenly remembered that although I had a general idea of where the party was going to be held, I didn't have the actual address of the house. I hollered back to Gannon, "What is the actual address of the place?"

I thought someone should leave a message on our answering machine, giving the address of the party house, in case someone called.

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