Summer Reading Review: Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher

This past summer, I read a book called Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher, which includes six short stories in which are incredibly tense. The one story that caught my eye the most is called A Brief Moment in the Life of Angus Bethune. The main character Angus Bethune, is a very self-conscious and embarrassed senior high school student, who would do anything to dance with the girl of his dreams, Melissa Lefevre. Sadly for Angus, Melissa has a boyfriend named Rick Sanford who is a very irritating and vulgar guy to everyone, even Melissa. Both Angus and Melissa got elected as King and Queen for the Winter Ball dance and now they have to dance together. There was a conflict between Angus and Rick which left Melissa angry at Rick. This all resulted with Melissa liking Angus because she realized that Rick is a very rude guy, and Angus was a very nice person to her. This story can relate to real life in many ways. Angus thought that nobody liked him and that he was not good enough for Melissa, but when he actually talked to her, he got to know her and become close. Angus states, "I want normal. I want socially acceptable" (9). Meaning, that he thought he wasn't good enough to talk to anyone or even dance with Melissa but it turns out that he actually was. In reality, many people think that they are not good enough to talk or make friends, but if people made an effort to make friends, you get a better result of friendship or relationships in the end just by trying.

While I was in my first year of high school, I thought that I couldn't make any friends out of school or that no one liked me, but I never tried to talk to anyone to get to know them, or even make an effort. From reading this short story, I learned that if you think that you are not good enough for someone or nervous to talk to them, just be like Angus, and try even if you are scared because you don't want to regret the risks you didn't take.