Edward & Jeni
In fourth period, Jeni and Edward were inseparable — and impossible. “Me and Jen-ay are like peas and carrots,” Edward used to say. That’s a line from Forrest Gump, a character Edward loved to imitate. His favorite, though, was the dull-witted Charly from Flowers for Algernon. When I assigned students to write a poem about something important to them, Edward wrote an ode to Charly. When I asked students to write in their journal about whatever was on their mind, Edward would write “Charly” over and over across the page. At these things, Jeni laughed. And laughed. And laughed. That, of course, was all Edward wanted.
“I had a crush on Jeni,” Edward says now. “But she just thought we were friends.”
At the time, Jeni was dating someone else, a boy whose number has long been replaced on her speed dial. She lived with her dad and played in the band, which she quit two years ago. After attending three different schools over the past four years, Jeni will graduate where she began, at Connally. What happens after that, she’s still not sure.
Edward is the eldest of five children and the son of Mexican immigrants. “I learned English in first grade,” he says. “It was frightening, just going to school. I used to say ‘aguer’ — that was water for me.” When he came into my class, he had already failed freshman English once. So at the end of the year, when he asked for a recommendation to 10th-grade honors English, I thought it was another joke. But Edward — class clown — was taking something seriously. He spent the rest of high school raising his GPA, and next year, he will attend Southwest Texas State. He hopes to become a doctor.
Edward: Jeni and I met in middle school. She and this other girl would call me “immigrant.”
Jeni: I told him we were gonna call immigration patrol if he didn’t leave.
E: I wasn’t insulted by it. I knew they were kidding around. Our personalities were similar. We laughed at a lot of the same things.
J: He’s fun. We just click.
E: Charly was our best friend. He’s a fictional character from Flowers for Algernon. We just thought he was funny because of the way he wrote. Charly was fun. He was lots of fun.
J: He wasn’t real.
E: Oh yeah, he wasn’t real. But things changed when Jeni moved. As good of friends as we were, we didn’t have each other’s numbers or anything. So we never kept in touch. I missed her. I miss her. For some reason, our friendship’s not as good as it was freshman year.
J: I went to Anderson because I didn’t like Connally. And then my mom moved to Dallas and I went to Allen, north of Plano. And I said, I’ll just go back to Connally cause I hate it here.
E: I thought you moved back cause you missed me.
J: That too. I hated high school, period, though. I hate everything about it. I think they treat us like we’re five, and I don’t like it. I just wanna get out of here. I wanna go somewhere where nobody knows me, and I get to start all over. I wanna move to New York. I wanna have a studio by myself and work somewhere.
E: I used to be a bookworm in sixth grade and stuff. In seventh and eighth grade I was a little wannabe gangster. It was dumb. I almost got the courage to get jumped in, but I backed out. They beat you up. It’s an initiation, to show how tough you are. I laugh now, cause it’s so stupid. Then in ninth grade, I became the slacker. Then it progressed to, I guess, nerd.
J: We have totally different lives now.
E: I have a girlfriend now. It’s a serious relationship. Her name’s Erica.
J: He has this shirt with his girlfriend’s picture on it, and it says: “She loves me.”
E: Freshman year, I would get jealous when Jeni talked to other guys, ’cause I liked her so much. But now when I see her talking to guys, I question her. I’m like, “Do you like this guy?”
J: Yeah, you do.
E: You noticed that? Jeni’s more outgoing than she used to be. I just think she should have better peers. She’s lived life more than I have, even though we’re the same age. I messed up freshman year and I had to make it up, get into all the pre-AP classes. I’m more focused on achieving my goals and dreams than I used to be.
J: When I left, it was “do-whatever Edward.” And I came back, and he’s like really smart and everything. I’m so proud of him.
Edward’s eyes cross and he speaks slow and garbled: the Charly imitation.
E: Thank you, Jen-ay. 
This article appears in May 25 • 2001.