I first met Brad Renfro in sixth grade English class. Someone had written, “Brad Renfro is my honey” on the desk I was sitting at.

I didn’t know who he was so I wrote, “Who is Brad Renfro?” Next class I found my answer, “Brad Renfro is so fucking sexy it makes my insides hurt.” I thought this was very odd because the only person who made my insides hurt was Suzie Cushing and it wasn’t because she was sexy. At least, at that point in her life, she wasn’t someone I would call sexy. Still, she had a certain flare to her. She liked to suck on watermelon blowpops in science class with Mr. Woodward*. I liked to eat that kind too. She would always have an extra one for me if I let her copy my homework. I didn’t hesitate. At some point, whether it was after she began passing me notes with funny pictures of Mr. Woodward or when I caught chicken pox from sharing an orange soda with her, I fell in love with Suzie Cushing. Unfortunately, we were a little young to start a family and by the second week in April other girls were giving me candy and things to copy my homework. There was this one girl named Jen and she was always giving me baseball cards she stole from her older brother.

Anyway, Brad Renfro is now dead. It took me a few years to figure out who he was, but by the time Apt Pupil came out I knew who “my honey” was.

*This is a little confusing. I did not mean that she like to suck blowpops with Mr. Woodward in science class. No, I meant that she liked to suck blowpops in science class which was taught by Mr. Woodward.