The Incubator

It was exactly one year after my appendicitis attack before I was able to meet up with Kayla again. I looked for her at the next January youth rally, but she wasn't there, so it wasn't too hopeful that I would see her this time. But that didn't stop me from searching. It was the first night of the March youth rally and everyone was meeting in the chapel for a short worship service (at least it was supposed to be short). I scanned the crowed over and over again in hopes of seeing her, but to no avail.

     Saddened, I walked back to the dorm room I was going to be staying the weekend in. I dragged my luggage into the room where five other guys around my age were hanging out. Six people. Two bunk-beds. It looked like I was going to have to sleep on the floor. One of the guys in that room I remember better than the others. Probably because he was about 6 ft. 8 in. tall and weighed about 80 lbs. The guy was a toothpick. His name was Evan and he would be my arch nemesis. . . But not yet, right now he was just a toothpick in a room that was way too crowded.

     It was claustrophobic in there with all those people, so I went out into the hall for some air. While out there I struck up a conversation with a guy named Nathan. We talked awhile and it somehow came up that all the rooms were really crowded this year. I said, "There are five guys in my room. That's not including myself."

     "Wow," he replied, "that's the most I've heard yet. Listen, it's just my brother and me in my dorm. You can stay in our room if you like." That sounded great to me. The less people in a room, the better I would be able to sleep, so I accepted his offer and moved my luggage over to the new dorm where Nathan and his brother were staying.

     Like any group of teenagers, we didn't go to sleep at "lights out." We stayed up pretty much all night making jokes and watching Youtube videos. Somehow the topic of girls came up. At first we all just talked about generic stuff (girls are hot, boobs, etc.) but soon the conversation turned to the specific girls we liked. "Well," said Nathan, "I really like my girlfriend. I mean, otherwise I wouldn't be dating her would I?"

     Then his brother (of whose name I cant think of for the life me. I think it was Josh? Jacob? Something with a "J".) said, "I just like chicks. Don't care who, I just like chicks."

     "Well then," Nathan replied, "let me get you an incubator and you can have all the chicks you want." That got a sarcastic laugh from Josh (?) and then he turned to me and asked, "What about you? What girl do you like?"

     "You probably don't know her." I said.

     "Probably not, that's why you can tell us."

     "Her name is Kayla," I replied, "Kayla Doles."

     "Really? I think I know her! She's hot."

     Oh great. I thought to myself.

     Even though I got teased the rest of the night, I'm glad I stayed with those two. If I had been staying in my original room, I may have picking my teeth up off the floor. Because I would have been staying in a room with Kayla's new boyfriend. . .