She

The Musician

I absolutely love remembering the day I met Maddie and realized my love for art. I guess I really had my mom to thank, because if she hadn't made me go to that camp, I never would've found my best friend or my true joy.

I enjoy drawing so much. I just get really happy when I do it. It's kinda my thing. I go into my own world and feel like nothing can upset me. Like I'm actually good at something, like I can do anything, all it takes is for me to imagine it. It makes me forget the bad things in life and focus on the beautiful things humans can accomplish.

I know this seems a little extreme to most people, but I've been drawing for 10 years, and I've enjoyed it since I started when I was 7. I went to a camp for the arts because my mom wanted me to make friends. I found my other half there. Maddie. She was practically my sister. Not only was she beautiful and into the same nerdy shit I was, she understood me. Even if I couldn't explain how I was feeling, she always knew what to do. She had my back when times got tough.

My mom was not the biggest fan of Maddie, however, because she was rather rebellious. She had been kicked out of my house multiple times before, for things like breaking stuff, cursing my mom out, or smoking inside. She had white belly-button length hair, with half of her head shaved. She had a lip ring on the right side of her mouth and multiple tattoos. She had a sleeve on her left arm, that was made up of skulls, roses, and miscellaneous music related things. She had "Rules were meant to be broken" tattooed around her right thigh, which was my favorite of her tattoos. She also had various other tattoos on her chest and neck.

My mom has always told me she was a bad influence. And even me, her biggest supporter out there, has to admit she has made some questionable choices, like getting into smoking. But what can you do? She can do what she wants. Her life is exactly that. Her life.

She did influence me, but I think it was for the better. She convinced me to dye my hair red and, to quote her, "take shit from no one." She also convinced me to get a nose ring.... Which my mom hated, obviously.

She helped me break out of this shell I had set for years, trying to protect myself from getting hurt, but she made me realize what's the point of living without conflict? You'd never appreciate anything if there was never anything wrong. Problems make the world turn because we are that much happier when they end. She taught me that I shouldn't hide from my anger or sadness, and just release it in a good way. She does this by playing music, and I do it by drawing.

Now that all that emotional crap is out of the way, let's stop whining and get into what I was doing now. It was around 6 am, I had just woken up to get ready for school. I hopped into the bathroom and took a quick 15 minute shower. Then I blow dried my bright red hair and let it remain wavy.

I heard a text alert and a vibration come from my phone on my computer desk. I got up to look at it. It was a text from Maddie saying, 'Heyyyyy! You ready?'

I replied with, 'Yep, how bout you?'

'Ye'. That was her weird way of saying yes. She does that a lot.

'Aight, meet you at the bus in 15?'

'Mhmm. Cya Babe'

'Bye, you weird ass ;p' Our conversations like this made me smile. Tiny little things like this, is what made me happiest. I'm not a fan of huge, extravagant ways of showing affection. This is really corny but it's the little things that matter most to me. Yes, I know, I'm so original.

As I walked out of the door, I saw the gross, smelly, loud, shitshow we call a bus turn the corner down to street that intersects with mine. When she made it to my house after picking up a couple other poor souls, she opened the door and I hopped up the steps to the back of the bus. The back of the bus was always empty because not a lot of people ride my bus, and those that do are mostly junior high and freshmen, and Maddie's reputation kind of turned them off, I guess. I started walking down the aisle until I saw Maddie's face, and when we made eye contact, she scooted over in her seat to make room for me and greeted me by saying, "Sup bitch?" while smiling slyly.

"Life's good. I had this realization of just how awesome life is, and I have you to thank for it." When I said 'you', I poked her arm and smiled brightly.

"I had that realization a while ago." She said with a smug grin, as she propped her feet up on the seat in front of us and put her arms behind her head.

She wore olive shorts and brown combat boots with a white tank top that she'd obviously had for years, judging by the holes and worn out seams that were dangling from it. She had her gold lip ring in, and let her white hair fall over her right shoulder, leaving her left one bare.

I giggled and asked, "So, how's your guitar lessons coming?"

"Eh, my teacher smells like babies and rubbing alcohol but other than that, it's pretty sweet. How about your art classes?"

"They're great. It's basically, 'draw whatever you feel like and I'll put a grade in for it', but it's not like I'm complaining."

"So, yesterday in music class we got to write a short song about someone important to us, and how they make us feel. I pretty much wrote-" She was interrupted by the screeching of the brakes and her involuntarily lunging forward due to the sudden force. "Jeez! A little bit of warning would be nice next time!" She called up to the front of the bus to the driver. "Whatever. Let's go." We grabbed our bags and headed into battle.