To a daydream believer

The last day of Homecoming Week was Thursday. The seniors were supposed to wear gold, but I didn't have anything that was gold, so I wore a brown shirt. It soon dawned on me that brown is simply what we call dark gold. That's what I told the many people who chastised me for not wearing my class's color. (It seems that brown is actually dark orange, anyway, so I stand corrected.)

Yes, I could have gotten a class shirt. It was gold, and it said "W.W.S.D. What would seniors do? Get crunk!" Apparently the slogan "Kiss our class goodbye" was rejected by the administration, but because they don't know what "crunk" means yet, they let that one pass. In fact, nobody really seems to agree on what "crunk" means or how it came about -- it has to do with partying somehow -- but I think it's no coincidence that it rhymes with "drunk."

Anyway, I'm glad I didn't get a class shirt because they listed the seniors' names on the back, and they grossly misspelled my name. My name is Jordon, okay? Spelling it "Jordan" is not gross. Spelling it "Ordon" is gross. Ordon Kalilich. And of course, Luke and Brian won't let me hear the end of it. I shouldn't have told anyone.

On Thursday afternoon we had another pep rally, where they announced the winning people of the homecoming court... except for the King and Queen, of course. That would have to wait for the homecoming game. On Thursday night, I went out with some people, and we happened to meet Brittnay, who told us who had been voted Homecoming King and Queen.

And yesterday was the homecoming football game. Well, it started with a parade in the late afternoon, and that was pretty interesting. The band was there, of course, and so were some of the clubs and things. Each being driven in an individual car were the principal, the mayor of Pompano Beach, and the county superintendent of schools. There weren't many people there to watch the parade, but more people started coming later for the tailgate party. I also happened to notice that there was a car by the field that was painted with our opponents' colors. Ah yes, a homecoming tradition.

That's when I ran into Andrew and Tyler, who wanted to go to a McDonald's a few blocks away. We did that, and then we sneaked under the bleachers so we wouldn't have to pay for a ticket to the game. There was only one problem: we were an hour early. I got kind of bored around there, and I didn't want to get caught sneaking in when I could have paid for a ticket, so when the football teams and the cheerleaders were warming up out there, I nonchalantly made my way back to the parking lot where everyone was.

There I saw Kelly, a girl in my English class who had run for Homecoming Queen. A few weeks before, she had asked me to vote for her, and I said I would, even though she said it was a long shot. But I didn't vote for anyone, and I had just found out that she hadn't won. So it was kind of saddening to see her dressed up so nice and smiling.

Eventually, the football game started. I sat with Andrew and Tyler, who said that they got caught by a teacher after I left. He asked if they were drinking, and they said no, they were just working the concession stand. So he told them to go to the stand and followed them there. Then Andrew excused himself to go to the bathroom, and Tyler, who actually used to work at the concession stand, handled things smoothly. It turned out that someone had gotten caught drinking earlier, which made the teacher suspicious.

The game was exciting at first because there was a chance that we could win. About halfway through, I looked into the distance at the car that was painted with the other school's colors. It was upside-down now, and people were whacking at it with sledgehammers. I think they were also slashing it with knives. But the antics weren't limited to the area outside the track. At one point, a couple guys streaked across the field, but I think they were wearing Speedos or something, so I wasn't completely scarred. It was fun to watch all the school administrators go after them in their golf carts.

And of course, after they crowned the Homecoming King and Queen during halftime, there was no chance of our team winning. They were down by 20 then -- it was 20-0. In the second half, the other team scored another 10 points, but they let us get a touchdown within the last 90 seconds of the game, so the final score was 30-6. It was the fourth time I've seen my school's team play, and I have yet to see them win.

Overall, it was a fun experience. I think I said I'd never been to the homecoming game, but I remember now that I did go two years ago. One thing I haven't done, though, is go to the homecoming dance. That's tonight. I don't really know what to expect, but I'll find out soon enough.

The best of YouTube: Weatherman vs. cockroach.

Could you pass the US citizenship test? Have a look at some questions (and answers).

One year ago: "Now, I present to you the first monthly interview."
Three years ago: "It's a laugh-a-minute, feel-good, insert-other-cliché-here type of film - probably one of the best comedies of the year."