Always and Forever

When I heard about him, about Brendon Urie I imagined this massively tall muscular guy, covered in tattoos and battle scars from previous fights. I expected him to be loud, shouting at people to move out of his way, threatening people from across the hallway.

That was not Brendon Urie.

Brendon Urie was of average height and rather skinny. He had short black hair and was obviously a big fan of the bed hair head style. He wasn’t an imposing figure, and at first glance he looked harmless. The main word in that sentence was first glance.

At second glance, when my eyes met with him I felt my insides turn cold. His glare was cold, angry and dangerous. All of a sudden he seemed like the biggest, strongest person in the world and I felt like the smallest. I had to look away as they say; if looks could kill I’d be dead by now. I couldn’t help but look back repeatedly over my shoulder that day, to see if he was following me. I had believed everything they had said, and Brendon Urie positively terrified me.

That was another thing about him he didn’t even have to speak to terrify someone. One glance sent them running in the opposite direction, even the teachers seemed frightened of him. Deanna told me that she heard that he punched one of the PE teachers one year; the teacher was so terrified that he wasn’t ever able to teach again.

I could imagine him beating someone to a pulp but for some reason that wasn’t what terrified me about him. What terrified me was that stare and what terrified me the most was that now, working in the local photography studio on a Saturday afternoon I was still thinking about it.

“Alright Holly” my boss Carla smiled “You’re free to go, not that you were ‘here’ today.”

I smiled apologetically at the woman in her mid twenties “Sorry, it’s just that I’ve started school and well...yeah there’s just been a lot going on.”

“Okay, who is he?”

“What?”

“Well you’re at high school right? There has to be that one really hot guy” she said in an exaggerated valley girl voice.

I laughed “No, there really isn’t anyone who caught my eye.”

“Then who are you thinking about?”

I glanced around automatically checking if he was around “There’s this one kid, he’s really...scary. Apparently he’s a druggie and killed some kid, and then the way he looks at you, it’s really scary.”

Carla frowned “Sounds like this kid’s bad news”

I nodded quietly; even talking about him terrified me.

“Alright, well off you go missy, I’ll have some cash for you next time you come in. Oh and don’t be afraid to bring in some of your own work, we love supporting out budding young artist” she smiled.

I thanked her and left.

I love working at the World of Frame and photography studio. It was my dream to eventually own my own studio in Vegas filled with my own work but until then Carla and her husband Frank’s studio would do.

I know I have a guaranteed job here for as long as I want, and the pay is pretty good so I can’t see myself leaving anytime soon.

I pulled up into the driveway of my average suburban home to be greeted by the smell of a roast flooding from the house. I smiled opening up the door and being greeted by my family.

I was the oldest of three children at seventeen years old I had a younger brother and sister, they were twins and were approaching their fifth birthday. I was as they like to call it the ‘test’ child. My parents had me much before my brother and sister testing the waters of parenthood by raising me before deciding to increase the family.

I smiled lifting my brother and sister high in the air and spinning them around much to their pleasure.

“Holly, someone called for you today” Dad said over a delicious dinner that night “Uhh, I forgot her name, Delilah, Dana...”

“Deana?” I questioned.

“That’s the one, she just said that they were picking you up tomorrow at ten thirty to go shopping.”
“Oh, okay.”

That was one of the things I noticed about this group. You never had an option; I always had to agree with them. Being new, I was fairly low on the ‘food chain’ of my group but then again, the group that I hung around with were at the top of the food chain. Let me rephrase it, I was at the bottom of the highest food chain, if that made sense.

Sometimes all I wanted was someone to talk to; someone to share my thoughts to, but my group wasn’t those types of people. After spending only one week with them I knew that there were no secrets. Everything you said, in public or in confidentiality could and would be used against you and that was just something I was going to have to deal with.

Just one more year Holly, just one more year.