First Songs

Briggs was in high school. He had just gotten out of computer club. He walked down the yellow hallway to the front entrance. His friend, Nick, was on the stoop. He had a Casio SK-1 on his lap. He was practicing some "Great Balls of Fire."

"That sounds good," Briggs said, tapping his foot.

"Yeah," Nick agreed. "It's Jerry Lewis."

Briggs didn't know Jerry Lewis. He had never heard of him. All he knew was the stuff he got on a mix tape from a kid in his neighborhood. It didn't have Jerry Lewis.

"Can we write a song together?" Briggs asked.

"Okay," Nick said.

Briggs sat down next to Nick. He imagined himself a famous star. He would be onstage. People would take his picture. He would smile. Then they would play their song.

"What do you know?" Nick asked.

"Um," Briggs smiled. "Lets just make it up."

"Make it up?"

"Yeah."

Nick played a few chords. Briggs tapped his foot. Then he sang like he felt.

"Oh, Errrriiiiin! Oooh Oooh. Eriiiiinnnn."

Briggs had met Erin in first grade. They went out for 2 years. It wasn't until The Temple of Doom came out, that he moved. That was the last time he saw her. Now he was singing about the time she asked him to be her husband underneath the pine trees. This was what Briggs knew. It was what singing meant to him.

"You got to sing about what's most important," he explained to his mother when he got home . "That's what music is about."

"Okay," his mother smiled. "Do you want a snack?"

"A yogurt."

Briggs went to his room. He wrote 2 songs. They were about the yellow hallway in school; the way the girls looked when he talked about bugs; and his dreams to be a basketball star . He put them in his Trapper Keeper. He was going to show Nick tomorrow. They could write hundreds of songs. The yellow hallway was just the beginning.

"The Yellow Hallway"

We walked down the yellow hallway.
It was me and Nick.
The girls made faces.
We were singing.

Bugs! Bugs!
Bury them bugs!
I got a 100 bugs!

Eeeew, the girls said.
Eeeew, you're gross!

We played basketball in the gym.
It was me and Nick.
The girls made faces.
We were singing.

Balls! Balls!
Bounce them balls!
I got a 100 balls!

Eeeew, the girls said.
Eeeew, you're gross!

"The Yellow Hallway, The Sequel Like Indiana Jones"

I am good at math.
Mrs. Manila said so
Her class is next to the yellow hallway.
That's where our lockers are.

We're in the 6th grade.
We're cool.
We can play songs.
We're going to be famous.

Do you want our autograph?
You can't have it.
Not for all your Garbage Pail Kids.
Not for an A in math.

Only Erin gets autographs.
She's my girl.
She makes me happy.
I miss her.

I'm in the 6th grade.
She's in 5th grade.
She lives in New Jersey.
I live here.