Like most teenagers, girls took over his thoughts and fascinated his body. His mind was filled with ideas and he began to get lost in the smell of their hair or the wonder in their eyes. Their eyelashes touched his cheeks, no longer red from the wind but from the delicate breathing of the girls. She appreciated the curve of their hips and imagined his hands holding her in place. Their lips, soft and coercive, revealed him and he experienced the same electrifying thrill he had once known in kindergarten. Until one night, when his new girlfriend opened her lips and uttered the words, "It's like I don't even know you anymore." As he contemplated his realization, his lips suddenly felt chapped, distant, and numb. Jackson wondered if his entire personality was built on the perceptions of others; if the idea he had of himself was a lie. These words took root in his heart and remained in his mind until he was no longer the “cool kid.” Jackson left the track the next morning. High school destroyed the personality he had struggled to build throughout his childhood, but he ultimately looked to these memories to find the precious, innocent, and authentic parts of his life.