This one's from when I was a kid.

It's not something I talk about much or even think about, really.

Whenever I do, it gives me an icky feeling inside, hard to describe.

Maybe writing it down will give me some measure of release or whatever, but who knows?

I went to a boarding school out in the suburbs.

I was there starting in eighth grade, and I ended up staying through most of high school.

I shared a room

with this kid named Weston. We weren't close at first, just kind of thrown together like everyone

else, but over time we got used to each other. The room itself was basic, two beds, two desks,

and a tiny shared closet. After a few weeks, I started picking up on some weird stuff about Weston.

For starters, he gave me a list of items I wasn't allowed to bring back to the room,

completely out of the blue, too, like he just walked up to me with a folded piece of paper,

as if it were some customary thing to be expected of a roommate. As if that wasn't strange enough, the

list itself was even stranger. There were a bunch of random things on it that didn't even remotely

make sense. I can't remember all of it, but apparently I wasn't allowed to bring frogs into

the room, as if I ever had any intention of doing that. I didn't even know where anyone would

even find a frog,

let alone why they would bring it into their room. But the strangest thing on the list by far was

salt. You don't eat salt, so I couldn't imagine why he'd feel the need to tell me that. What,

did he think I'd just bring a salt shaker to the room for no reason? That was absurd. Plus,

it was frowned upon to bring any food items back to your dorm, which added to the room for no reason? That was absurd. Plus, it was frowned upon to bring any food items

back to your dorm, which added to the mystery. And beyond that, what kind of problem could

...