653289528350

only two. It’s your responsibility.” It was like our species was going to die out if we didn’t
mate and carry on. Which I’ve learned in life is something that white people do without even
realizing it. “You two look the same, therefore we must arrange for you to have sex.”
I honestly hadn’t thought of asking Maylene, but when the girls brought it up, that thing
happened where someone plants the idea in your head and it changes your perception.
“Maylene’s totally got a thing for you.”
“Does she?”
“Yeah, you guys are great together!”
“Are we?”
“Totally.”
“Well, okay. If you say so.”
I liked Maylene as much as I liked anyone, I suppose. Mostly I think I liked the idea of
being liked. I decided I’d ask her to be my valentine, but I had no idea how to do it. I didn’t
know the first thing about having a girlfriend. I had to be taught the whole love bureaucracy
of the school. There was the thing where you don’t actually talk straight to the person. You
have your group of friends and she has her group of friends, and your group of friends has to
go to her group of friends and say, “Okay, Trevor likes Maylene. He wants her to be his
valentine. We’re in favor. We’re ready to sign off with your approval.” Her friends say, “Okay.
Sounds good. We have to run it by Maylene.” They go to Maylene. They consult. They tell her
what they think. “Trevor says he likes you. We’re in favor. We think you’d be good together.
What do you say?” Maylene says, “I like Trevor.” They say, “Okay. Let’s move forward.” They
come back to us. “Maylene says she approves and she’s waiting for Trevor’s Valentine’s Day
advance.”
The girls told me this process was what needed to happen. I said, “Cool. Let’s do it.” The
friends sorted it out, Maylene got on board, and I was all set.
The week before Valentine’s, Maylene and I were walking home together, and I was
trying to get up the courage to ask her. I was so nervous. I’d never done anything like it. I
already knew the answer; her friends had told me she’d say yes. It’s like being in Congress.
You know you have the votes before you go to the floor, but it’s still difficult because
anything could happen. I didn’t know how to do it, all I knew was I wanted it to be perfect, so
I waited until we were standing outside McDonald’s. Then I mustered up all of my courage
and turned to her.
“Hey, Valentine’s Day is coming up, and I was wondering, would you be my valentine?”
“Yes. I’ll be your valentine.”
And then, under the golden arches, we kissed. It was my first time ever kissing a girl. It
was just a peck, our lips touched for only a few seconds, but it set off explosions in my head.
Yes! Oh, yes. This. I don’t know what this is, but I like it. Something had awakened. And it
was right outside McDonald’s, so it was extra special.
Now I was truly excited. I had a valentine. I had a girlfriend. I spent the whole week
thinking about Maylene, wanting to make her Valentine’s Day as memorable as I could. I
saved up my pocket money and bought her flowers and a teddy bear and a card. I wrote a
poem with her name in the card, which was really hard because there aren’t many good words
that rhyme with Maylene. (Machine? Ravine? Sardine?) Then the big day came. I got my