Breaking Free

<i>
"I love rock and roll, so put another dime in the jukebox, baby!"
</i>

My favourite song blasts through the speakers. The windows are rolled down. I'm singing at the top of my lungs.

<i>
"I love rock and roll, so come and take your time and dance with me!"
</i>

Everything's going right. I got into an amazing school. I have the world's best girlfriend. I'm not stressed about exams. Life is perfect. I just dropped Cate off at the court house. It's the last day of the hearing today. Dad reckons she'll win. I suppose that's a good thing. But I don’t think I'm ready to be a Dad. Not that I'd be a dad, but I would kinda be, right? A father figure, at least. That is if Cate and stay together.

I keep telling her it'll work out. The long distance thing. But, I'm not sure. I mean, she's my first really serious girlfriend. I love her, but...I don't know. Maybe we'll be High School sweethearts. It's possible, I guess. Our chances are limited, though. And then there's the money thing. I don't have a job. Neither does Cate. How are we supposed to raise a kid? I'm sure Dad'll pitch in. But we can't rely on him forever. I want to finish school. Become a songwriter or something like that.

And I know Cate wants to go to writing school. I can't hold her back. I probably am already.

I can't believe I'm doing this again. Overthinking everything. I wish I could just live in the moment. I stress about everything. It's gonna rain. Traffic's building up. The song has changed to some dance crap. I flick with dials. Only one other station is working. 'Beautiful Disaster' by Kelly Clarkson.

"Seriously?"

I ask no one in particular. This fits my situation perfectly. But I want to be happy.

<i>
"And if I could ho-o-o-old o-on, through the tears and the laughter, would it be beautiful or just a beautiful disaster?"
</i>

I can feel my eyes welling up and turn off the radio altogether. I am not going to let my head ruin my mood.

_______________________________________________________

I was stuck in traffic for a half hour. Some construction thing blocked the road. I turn onto the highway and see it basically empty. Thank god. Just me and the road. I'm ready to go home and sleep. I miss my bed. Granted it's only been five hours since I got up, but I miss my bed. Determined to get out of my funk, I think of the happiest memory I can…

<i>
I'm sitting in class listening to the teacher drone on about some essay. I'm the new kid so no one is paying much attention to me. The girl on my right is talking about some 'teen pop sensation' and the chair on my left is empty. It'smy first

I'm sitting in class. At the back. The teacher is rambling. Something about an important essay. It's my first day today. No one ever pays attention to the new kid. Some blonde in a pink mini dress is sitting on my right. I think her name is Jayme. She's talking to her friend about some 'hot guy'. I can already see the social cliques clearly. The bitches, the losers, I.T. geeks, metal heads and last but not least, the 'jocks'.

I don’t know where I'll fit. I probably just won't fit in at all. If there's a music geeks group then maybe. I'm not great at making friends. I had a couple at my old school. It was more of band than a clique though. We played some gigs. They kicked me out after the incident. Stupid sister. Becca is suck an idiot.

"Mr Porter? Mr Porter?"

My teacher is standing over me and must have been for some time.

"Care to share your artwork with the class?"

I look down at me desk. A large picture of a guitar fills the cover. I hadn't even noticed I was drawing it.

"No, thankyou."

"Then I suppose you can explain the essay topic to the class. You </i> were <i> listening, right?"

I pray something'll save me. I can't get in trouble the first day. Suddenly a large, bang fills the air. I turn to see a girl flat on the floor in the doorway. The whole class starts laughing. Not me. I rush to help her. She's wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Her black hair is in a messy ponytail. Black mascara is smudged around her eyes. This girl is full of imperfections. But she's beautiful. Absolutely stunning.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine thankyou."

She's avoiding making eye contact. I've no idea why. It doesn't matter though. If I make a single friend here, it's going to be her.

</i>

I laugh at myself. Thinking about how scared I was. Scared she didn't like me. I know better now. That clumsy girl from class, I've grown to love her.

Mood on a high, I crank the radio back up. I have no idea what the song is, but I love it. A few more songs pass and I'm home. I pull my car into the driveway and unbuckle. My phone goes off just as I do. It's my dad. He wants me to get bread. Yay.

I buckle myself back up and restart the engine. I back up and drive down the street in frustration. I lean over to turn the stereo off. A loud honk rings in my ears. A bright flash fills my vision and it all goes dark...