Keep. In. Touch.

I remember his mom calling my house looking for him.

We still had a landline at the time. It's been a long time since we've had one of those.

I wonder if she just went through his autograph book.

"Good luck! Have a great summer. K.I.T. love Kastle."

What was his name?

"Bushy" is all that comes to mind. That wasn't his name obviously. But Mrs. Martinez gave us all nicknames. Bushy had really thick eyebrows.

Poor kid.

I think she gave him a complex. At some point during our eighth grade year he got them waxed for the first time. He came in the next day with really sharp eyebrows and really red skin.

I got the name "Kastle," with a K though, to differentiate me from the other Castle in Mrs... (What was her name again? Something with a K I believe now that I think about it. I hadn't thought of these people in 15 years) K's class.

I've been Kastle for nearly 16 years no one ever questions it.

I remember a few other nicknames, "Barbie," "Spikey," "Elfie," "Peanut Butter Girl," it seems odd to grown up me that an adult would give some mildly offensive nicknames based off of physical traits to her young teenage students and get away with it.

But Bushy's mom called me one summer night not long after we graduated. I think his name was Ricardo. Somewhere in the back of my mind that name stands out.

She called the house, my sister was the one who answered the phone. She'd asked for me. My sister handed me the phone.

She told me she was Ricardo's mom and that he hadn't come home and if I'd heard from him or seen him.

We were never that close, but I'd told him to KIT!

I told her I hadn't but that I'd call around.

A few days later he called me. Told me he was home. That he was fine. A misunderstanding.

We were 14.

"KIT! have a good summer! Good luck in high school! I hope you don't run away from your mom's house!"

I don't think I spoke to him again after that.

But for some reason driving down Laramie, I thought of that boy and wondered what ever happened to him.