You see that blue gorgeous hunk of SUV. That was the love of my life in high school. I had somehow worked it out with my divorcing parents to sell me the truck. That’s right, I had the title on that 4×4 beauty and I could go anywhere without the fear of getting stuck. In FFA, it came in handy, loading up fellow members, both in my grade and below, along with supplies in the back and traveling to fairs or FFA competitions. Ah, those were the days.
Oh, but this post is a confession… a long kept secret that I can no longer contain.
I DID IT.
It all started on a Saturday, maybe even Sunday… all I know it was definitely a weekend. I had been asked to head over to our Horticulture display and give the 9th and 10th graders a hand. See, even here in FFA I had been recognized as the artsy one, the girl who could visually tune things to be more appealing with even the subtlest of touches.
They had tons of flowers and plants from our greenhouses from school, making some amazing writing and even designs to complement the decorations they had brought and created. Really, I was proud of our underlings. Standing back, my hand on my chin, I took it all in and realize, Yea, something is off.
“Hey, you have a tone of yellow and orange on the right after putting that logo there…” I was waving them over, making them stand where I stood. “Don’t change that, you guys did a great job. BUT… you need some of that color to help balance the left side. In fact center it and then accent some gold on the left and right and swirl it to draw the eyes across the display and into the logo.”
The horticulture teacher was right behind me apparently, “Wow, now I see why they were so insistent on having you come take a look.”
“It’s just a talent of mine. A hobby really.” I laughed it off, trying to be modest.
“But, we don’t have any more marigolds…” One of the students fussed, his shoulders slumping.
“Oh, we have tons at the 9th grade center greenhouse.” Chimed in one of the Freshman. “But, the schools closed…”
The teacher and I looked at one another and I grinned, “I still have a key to the front gate.”
He grabbed a key from his key ring. “And now you have a key to the shed and greenhouse there. Grab me a few other things and I’ll send some students with you who should know where to find them and give you a hand.”
So, me and two freshman loaded up in my big blue Yukon and headed on out. They seemed so shocked as I pulled up to the gate and I unlocked it with ease. To imagine, a high schooler, with keys to the school. I suppose it did seem funny, but being a straight A student and always helping out teachers came with some perks.
“What if they think we’re stealing stuff…” We were unlocking the greenhouse by this point. “Don’t they have security cameras?”
I chuckled, “Don’t worry. First off, you two have FFA jackets on and I doubt thieves would willingly dress that way. And, as for cameras on this campus, that’s only by the library, computer lab, and the administrator’s office where the stuff worth stealing is kept… like computers.”
“R-really?” We were finishing loading the back of the Yukon.
“Yea, really…” Satisfied they had gotten everything, I walked the tool shed and greenhouse locking everything up. “I could do donuts in this small courtyard and they wouldn’t have any clue who did it.”
“I find that hard to believe.” Buckling her seatbelt, she scoffed. “Can’t they like match tire prints or something like that?”
“Ha!” I started the truck and leaned back over the seat to look her in the eye. “Do you really think they are going to go through that much trouble when the grass will grow back in a week or two?”
The two students looked to one another, their eyebrows rising high with the logic I had provided.
“I’ll prove it to you.” This is about the time that my angelic conscience went missing in action. “I’ll do donuts, and watch, no one will ever figure out who it was unless one of you told somebody.”
Before they could interject, I had launched the truck into the grassy courtyard. The SUV leaned hard into the circles, mud and grass splattering across the greenhouse, the tool shed, across the car rider lane. The rear end was sling back around to finish its first circle. Black clumps of first and grass painted the backside of the cafeteria, the walkway and then the portals within reach. I was cackling as we repeated this for two more full revolutions before pulling out and away. Locking the gate, closing the school off to the world again, I smiled knowing that I was bad, once.
WE NEVER TOLD A SOUL. And no, they never suspected me… I feigned ignorant… and today, while I wrote this, I called my best friend from my FFA days and finally confessed! Oh, and we did win a ribbon for the Horticulture display.. I can’t remember if we placed or got honorable mention, but I know they crew was over-the-moon for getting ribbons for their efforts!
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