I remember... @NJStanley94

By Nicholas StanleyI remember screaming into Mrs. Greene’s lap. on my first day at Unicorn School.I remember the terrifying tyre tower in the playground.I remember Will and Callum saying I could be Misty in their Pokémon game, and not knowing that was a girl.I remember Mrs Walcott telling us our hair would blow off if we didn’t dry it after swimming. I remember scoring my one and only goal against Harrodian.I remember stuffy mornings filled with sound of rummaging through the Lego box.I remember being the only kid in the class without Nike 90 trainers.I remember palmfuls of VO5 wax and sticky foreheads.I remember Molly Carr telling me she liked me in the Wendy House and not knowing why that was so exciting.I remember balcony cricket and stubbed big toes.I remember Adam being sick down the front of his lifejacket in Portsmouth Harbour.I remember the fog of Lynx Africa hanging in the air in the boys changing room.I remember kick of death in room 17.I remember school blazers for goalposts and black Clark’s shoes that could curl a football round corners.I remember missing lunch because it was last goal wins.I remember stealing Pernod and Fruit Shoot Orange from the drinks cabinet and running down to Silver Beach.I remember vowing to never drink again. Again and again.I remember banging our cutlery on tea trays when someone dropped their plate in the lunch hall.I remember every person in detention having been put there by Mrs Roberts. I remember stealing FHM from James’s brother.I remember getting my KD on COD to 0.99 then quitting.I remember the smell of Maoams on Sophie Williams’s breath.

I remember counting seven stars lying on the “comfy concrete”.

I remember Via Cesare Buono being the loneliest place in the world and Carrer del Carmé being a haven.I remember the hot air that comes out of the top of a wetsuit.I remember Quadrapop on a Sony Ericsson Walkman Phone.I remember Come On Eileen at 11 o’clock every Thursday night.I remember wearing my Bestival wristband for a whole year until it began to rot, and still not throwing it away.I remember Samir Nasri scoring at Villa Park.I remember spin the bottle and sand in my pocket.I remember sending the Soulja Boy ringtone via infrared.I remember the Guinea Pigs being stolen from their cage by a fox and not being able to tell Emma because she was too young.I remember reading a eulogy.I remember telling a room of strangers a story about myself that even my family had not heard.I remember missing a phone call. And I remember returning the call later. I remember another first day of school.I remember everything that has come since.