That's Trouble Martin, school's sweetheart, ambling down the corridors like he held the elixir of life. Yes, his name was indeed Trouble, shortened to Trob, and then shortened to Rob. What a way to get out of a mistake. Condense a problem into a solution. Sometimes I admired him.

I squeezed a dot of siracha on my hot dog, hoping none of my running buddies saw me. As a rule they had a grudge against anything spicy; and I wasn't ready to give up my spice-religion. Never understood the logic of why. They always sort of made bold statements without reasoning. Personal vendettas creeped their way into our working lives.

"Did you see that weird gorilla meme?" A man named Charlie asked. He sliced a hot dog with the edge of his fork he had used to eat chicken curry with earlier. Don't ask me why- just accept it.