Blake and I were always the last people to finish every test or quiz. I would usually beat him by a few minutes, but it was always close. It became something of a contest between us, to see who could finish first. But what I loved about Blake was that he never let the unimportant cares of life distract him from having fun. Grades never consumed him. I miss you, test buddy.
Once, we were taking an especially challenging physics test last period. As usual, we were the last two kids still working. At the end of class, we still needed more time to work through those mind boggling force diagrams. Gradually, I found I couldn’t concentrate anymore, due to the growing roar in the room as, one by one, more students finished. With permission, Mr. Thompson allowed me and Blake to work in another, empty room until 3:15, the end of the day.
I soon discovered that working with Blake across from me was just as difficult as trying to block out the chatter in the other room. At the most random moments, when I was trying most to gather my thoughts, he would make humorous faces at me from across the table, or suddenly just break out into an intense beat on the table and start singing some ancient, random song. I laughed when I recognized it. It was actually the catchy “Time Bomb” song from some Charity: Water video presentation our grade had watched back in like 7th grade or something. It didn’t take long for Blake to draw me in; and soon, we were both singing the entire Super Smash Bros Brawl theme song, and discussing our favorite characters in the game and the various sounds they made. When I finally glanced at my watch, we both gasped and looked at each other, wide-eyed. Then Blake was smiling guiltily, eyes cast downward. It was 3:40.