Extraordinary 16 year old graduates High School 2 years early

Joshua Green is not your typical 16 year old. While most kids his age are deeply involved with their myspace pages, the latest gossip, and football games -- Joshua finds himself out in the real world. And while he may not yet be a real "adult," Joshua was recently bestowed with an honor that most grown-ups likely dream about, especially as middle age creeps up and they refelct back on opportunities not taken, and dreams long since dead.

The faculty and staff of Middle Odessa High School recently decided mid semester, that they could no longer give Joshua anything of value, and he was awarded a high school diploma two and a half years shy of his natural date of graduation. This was not due to any outstanding academic achievement, Joshua actually rarely attended classes -- he only completed an average of about 10% of his classwork, and he can barealy read -- but none the less he was allowed to graduate early, because, he is, as the principal ofMiddle Odessa High Gary Shuler says "Too cool for school."

Principal Shuler recalls a fourteen year old Joshua as a freshman as " Cocky, a bit arrogant" But also stated that he really admired him.

"Joshua stood up for what he believed in. It didn't matter that what he believed in was pounding beers on the football field during first period, or smoking in the boys room. Those really aren't important things in the long run. But he did it with such style. A real eff the man attitude, you know?"

When I asked Principal Shuler how he could appreciate Joshua's "eff the man" attitude, when he himself, is in fact "the man" he responded "This goes beyond the normal faculty student thing. I mean, I consider myself a "cool principal" anyway. Josh just transended all that. He reminds me of myself at that age. Sure, I didn't have the chisseled good looks, or devil may care attitude and I hadn't banged the whole Junior Varsity cheer squad, but it was in there, that attitude. I think he's just an inspiration."

Apparently the Drama club felt this way also. Terri Contreras, the faculty advisor for the Drama Club recalls how she first met Josh.

"I was walking to my car to pick something up for third period, and Josh was leaning on my car, smoking a cigarette he had rolled himself. The teacher in me knew that I had to discipline him, but he was just so... so James Dean. He looked at me as I approached with a real dismissive look -- and it made me nervous! I can't beleive I'm telling you this! Here I am a thirty nine year old woman getting nervous over a fifteen year old." Terri's face was turning a bit red. A slight smile crept up her face as she continued,

"I asked him very sternly to get off my car" she said, shaking her head with a smile, remebering the moment with the nostalgia usually reserved for when one discusses the wild times of their youth.

"Then he said with that voice of his 'Shut up bitch' Then he dropped the cigarette and sauntered away. Joshua doesn't walk. He saunters." she said, in an almost sexual way.

Terri continued on saying this exchange inspired her to bring the idea of staging "Rebel Without a Cause" at the school with Josh in the role that James Dean played.

"The drama students were very excited about this. Unfortunately, when we asked Josh about it he said that it was really gay, and that he would never do it. Then he spit at me."

Not one to take no for an answer, and fully aware of the fact that Josh was quite simply a classic character -- one that needed to be immortalized in some form of art -- she decided to have a few of her students -- that were aspiring writers -- try to get closer to Josh so that they could gather enough information to write a play about him.

This proved very difficult.

"I had three students, they weren't following him exactly, but they had classes with him, so I knew it would be easy for them to capture his essence. "

One of them was fifteen year old Sherry Madison. Sherry had remedial math with Joshua, and sat right behind him in class. She was a shy girl, cute, though she did little to showcase her looks. Terri recalls "Sherry was really nervous about it, but she knew that his story had to be told, so she soldiered on. She was really brave. I wish she was still around but, you know things happen to kids."

Apparently Joshua took a liking to Sherry also. Not in public at least -- where he could often be seen berating her, or ripping up her homework in class -- but he did allow her to come to visit him in his basement room at his father's house. This is where their interviews took place.

Terry said it was about three months later that Sherry started showing signs of pregnancy. She came from a very strict Catholic family, so as you would imagine, her parents were not at all pleased. The last anyone has heard of her, she was at a boarding school in New Hampshire. Most likely she had an abortion. Terry says she felt sorry for the girl, but can understand what happend to her because "There is just something really appealing about Josh." Terri not knowing for sure whether or not Sherry had an abortion claimed to be curious as to what Joshua's child would look like. "Probably really hansome" she said.

The second writer Terri put on the Job was seriously beaten by Josh. One student who witnessed the brutal fracus remembers Josh shouting "Stop following me you fag" as he pummeled poor Timothy Grayson. No charges were filed in the beating.

It seems that Joshua's sway doesn't end at the school parking lot. Detective Harold Mancini who was assigned to the case stated that "Joshua felt that he was being stalked by this boy. If we had known about this earlier, we possibly could have prevented it, but boys will be boys you know. If we can take anything from this really, its that you shouldn't mess with Joshua Green. He's a real stand up kid."

In trying to get to the bottom of what it was the made Josh "too cool for school" I attempted to interview his father, Bill Green. Bill is an ex-Navy fighter pilot turned succesful real estate agent. He denied my request for an interview. A neighbor who requested anonymity out of fear that Joshua would beat up her daughter if her name was printed in this article, spoke of Josh's mother as one possible reason that he is so badass.

"She was real pretty, a stunner. She was a flight attendant. Bill met her when he was flying down to Cabo for one of those wild weekends of his. Josh was concieved at 35,000 feet over the Sea of Cortez. They got married the next day in a little village outside of Cabo. But those two, they had the gypsy gene. They were ramblers. It would have never worked out. I don't think Josh sees her much.

This infomation made sense, as Josh sometimes looked to older women to satisfy his needs. Two female teachers have been "suspended indeffinitely" over supposed trysts with Josh. Many faculty and students declined to speak on the subject out of fear of Josh. When I asked Principal Shuler how he felt about the fear that Josh struck in the students he said "Law an order among the kids is a tough thing to achieve. Josh is like the constition around here. I really wish I could know his secret. If I could bottle it I'd be a rich man."

Joshua wouldn't speak to me, except for a few choice expletives, so it is unclear exactly what he will do now that he is out of school. The ever romantic drama advisor thinks he is going to hit the road.

"Those eyes of his. They say still water run deep. I think he's going to see the world. He could probably be a model or something. I wouldn't be surprised if I open a magazine soon and see him modeling for Versace. Hopfully he'll remember us"

Not likely it seems. Joshua was a bit of a graffiti artist. He would often scrawl on the wall or lockers of his alma mater things like 'This school and everyone in it are total fags" or "Fuck this place in the ass" or even "Green was here"

Jealousy was a common emotion elicited by Joshua in the other boys at the school. Especially the Juniors and Seniors. Joshua has in his High School career stolen the girlfriends of the following: captain of the football team (JV and Varsity), homecoming king, ASB president, captain of Varsity Women's Softball, and most famously the Varsity baseball coach.

The contraversy surrounding this was possibly Joshua's most famous exploit, not only for the fact that he stold an adult man's companion, but of what it unearthed. The coach's girlfriend was a minor. She was seventeen at the time of their relationship. The coach, who cannot be named here for legal reasons, was quite upset at having been upstaged by the student. Letting his passion got the best of him, he confronted Joshua during a baseball game. Joshua, was of course, not at the game as a spectator, but just hanging out and smoking his hand rolled cigarettes -- in spite of the obviously places sign stating that tobacco use was prohibited within one mile of the school.

The public confrontation was witnessed by nearly 100 spectators. Though it is surely a horrendous offense, consorting with a minor, one would think that the coach would have excercised some degree of self preservation and at least waited for a more private moment when confronting Josh. One student who wishes to remain anonymous remembers Joshua yelling out

" I didn't even like that bitch. She was all up on my shit man. She came to me"

Principal Shuler, who broke up the school yard scuffle says "It was an unfortunate event for all involved. If only Josh could contain his animal like attraction abilities, quite a few lives could have been salvaged. Lives have been ruined. The whole thing reminded of Paris and Menelaus from the Odyssey, kind of."

Despite of this Josh was recently awarded a place in the Middle Odessa High School hall of fame where he will sit immortally with other alumni of note such as the inventor of Clear Pepsi and Jimmy Mills, who runs a local car dealer ship. A source close to Joshua says that he calls the honor "So fucking lame" and "Total bullshit."

Some may disagree with his methods, and his Iron Fist mentality, but can anyone really deny that he is at his core, a man in full, one that knows what he wants at any one moment. For all of the good and bad that Joshua has done at the school; all the lives he has affected both postitively and negatively, the hearts and noses he has broken -- there is something above all of that, small and universal at the same time -- that we can all take away from young Joshua. It is not easy to gain the respect of and entire staff of Educators, and it is not easy to navigate the shark filled waters of a High School campus. Joshua Green did this with an ease of grace. He is the dream, he is the personification of what we all hope to be. Free, dangerous, beautiful. Time may fade his influence on Middle Odessa High School -- but for now, at least, it is impossible to walk down the hallway and not see students of all grade levels attempting to affect the Joshua Green swagger, and his devil may care attitude. You can practically hold the sorrow in the hearts of all of the women, young and old, of Middle Odessa High left in his abscence. And that's what we all want deep down isn't it? T be respected, to be cool, to be at the forefront of a fleeting time and place... I salute you Joshua Green, you are truly "Too Cool for School."