You may have won this time, but I shall have my revenge!
The first girl that I ever had a really serious crush on was named Stephanie. I had mostly worked up the nerve to ask her out, and was waiting for the right moment. Before it came, she started dating a guy named Ray. Ray Rude. I learned from various sources that one year after high school, he proposed to her. She wasn't ready to marry, but that's the last I heard of either of them.
This was not my first experience with him. For those readers who are unaware, my name is Michael Rude. I am in no way related to Mr. Rude, Raymond. In fact, I've only met him once, and then only exchanged the most common sentences of introduction. But since elementary school, I have been overshadowed by him. Always, people wondering if I'm his little brother. Every teacher I had, other students, random people who happened across my last name, all would inquire fervently of my relation to Ray. And all seemed so disappointed that I wasn't. Like I was less because of it. He had a band, a fairly successful one as local Alaskan bands go. Even made the newspaper with it. He wasn't just popular, he was popular with all the groups that I wanted to be popular with. He is my doppelganger. My nemesis. And like any good nemesis, he has returned. He's here. He's in Portland.
I must prepare.
"How wonderful to live with one's nemesis! You may be miserable, but you feel forever in the right." - Erica Jong
This was not my first experience with him. For those readers who are unaware, my name is Michael Rude. I am in no way related to Mr. Rude, Raymond. In fact, I've only met him once, and then only exchanged the most common sentences of introduction. But since elementary school, I have been overshadowed by him. Always, people wondering if I'm his little brother. Every teacher I had, other students, random people who happened across my last name, all would inquire fervently of my relation to Ray. And all seemed so disappointed that I wasn't. Like I was less because of it. He had a band, a fairly successful one as local Alaskan bands go. Even made the newspaper with it. He wasn't just popular, he was popular with all the groups that I wanted to be popular with. He is my doppelganger. My nemesis. And like any good nemesis, he has returned. He's here. He's in Portland.
I must prepare.
"How wonderful to live with one's nemesis! You may be miserable, but you feel forever in the right." - Erica Jong