My noodle

Electricity filled the air of the cool cafeteria, as thousands of crazed leadership students surrounded the enemy state of Pennsylvania, like a schoolyard bully.  With so many multi-colored shirts from every state, I tricked my eyes into believing I was trapped in a box of Fruity Pebbles.  Though we were in an air conditioned school, the thick Texas air brought a slight dampness to my bandanna, as I was bumped back and forth in the enormous pit, teeming with leadership kids.  As I stood in the presence of seemingly countless pubescent teens, their scents, both tantalizing and repulsive, tingled my nostrils, from cheap cologne, to a mezmorizing perfume, and all the way to eye-watering odor.  My ears rang like a doorbell, as the chants echoed through my head, as if we were in a deep canyon.  “West coast! Midwest! West coast! Midwest!” will forever be branded in my ear drums as the war call of my home states.  I could see the so- called enemy state was confused, looking to unify the mob, rather than to degrade.  Knowing what would have been the disappointment of my father, a South-Philly-bred boy, I knew I had to do something to tame this beast.  I grabbed the damp, broad shoulders of a large Philadelphia black man, and used them to boost me to a standing position on the cold, hard cafeteria table.  Like Moses, on the side of Mount Sinai, I raised my arms, and raised my voice.  The beast’s growls calmed to a silence as I yelled,  “Don’t you see, Pennsylvania is just trying to unify the states as one, and you’re simply spitting in their eyes!  What can you say about yourselves?  We are all leadership kids and should work as one, as a whole  -  the United States of America.”  My stomach folded like a Lazy Boy chair, as I waited alone on the ice-cold table.  The colors were even more brilliant from this higher viewpoint, and I noticed the silence turning to smiles, followed shortly by cheering and clapping.  Around my legs, I felt many sweaty hands grab me as I rolled across the top of the crowd, just like I was “hanging 10″ on the big wave.  People cheered and shook my hand, as “USA! USA!” echoed through the halls of the school.