When I was 12, I took the school bus with all the neighborhood children. As an introvert, my favorite part was walking to and from the bus stop alone. I went to a school that may have 3% of black kids in attendance. Consequently, there were slim pickings of kids who looked like me at school, or in my neighborhood. As to not stick out any more than I already did, I hid my idiosyncrasies like a bomb ass game of hide-and-seek. To protect myself, I was quirky when I walked alone. I would dance to the music in my headphones, that connected to my anti-skip disc player. Looking up to the sky as Britney Spears sang to me, I'd marvel at the clouds and the birds flying by. Sometimes, I'd stop walking and sing out loud imagining I was on stage. I loved being alone. At this time I was free. It was when I could calm the noise in my mind to a settling 10 decibel. After school was a different vibe. Walking back home brought me a sense of anxiety because it required social inte...