"Let me run through a field in the night, Let me lift from the ground, til my soul is in flight..."
Those were the words that echoed in my head that morning as I lay in my bed, my headphones in my ears. I was thinking about my life, and everything that had happened to me for the past few months. Life had not been going well for me lately, and I was getting fed up with everything. I didn't really have any friends, no one at school ever seemed to pay any attention to me, and I seemed to fail at almost everything I tried to do. Nothing I tried ever seemed to work out for me, and I was wondering if it ever would.
I looked down at my phone, which was acting as an iPod at the moment. Music was one of my only escapes from this world, and at the moment I was listening to one of my favorite songs of all time: Flight by Sutton Foster. I loved it because it felt so... relatable to me. I always felt like I needed to get out there, needed to be noticed. I needed to fly away from here, escape from this humdrum life and get myself out there. I sighed, knowing that dreams like that would have to wait for now, and got up to get ready for school.
As I got my stuff together, I suddenly felt something brush up against my leg. I looked down and saw my cat, Coco, staring back up at me. "Hey there, Coco" I said, reaching down to pet his soft, brown fur. My family had gotten Coco a few years back, and I immediately felt a special bond with the animal. Sometimes, I felt like he was my only friend, my one companion in this world. I watched him follow me to the front door, then opened it to let him out. "Bye, Coco! See you when I get home!" I yelled, as I began making my way to the school.
As I walked in the front doors of my school, I couldn't help noticing all of the people surrounding me. They seemed to all be huddled together, talking in groups.... all of them being social and outgoing. I sighed, knowing that I couldn't even hope to be among them. I was basically the very definition of a loner, making it a habit to keep to myself. I never really talked to anyone, mostly because I didn't really know what to say. Clearly, I wasn't born with social skills, so I never really knew what to say to others.
Sitting down at a nearby table, I reached into my backpack and pulled out a small, battered notebook, hoping to work on one of my stories. Writing was one of the few things that I could actually do with myself, and it was another way for me to escape from my life. I was currently engaged in a story about a girl like me, a girl who desired nothing more than freedom and a chance to do something exciting in her life. Only, this girl had wings. It may seem like a bit of a Mary-Sue concept, but I tried to make it a little more deep than most people would expect, using it as a source of conflict between her desire for freedom and her duty to her loved ones at home.
"Hey. What are you doing?"
Startled, I quickly looked up to find a boy standing over me. He was pretty tall, with short brown hair and a long, narrow face. "Um... nothing much" I said, slightly flustered. "Just... writing."
The boy smiled. "Really?" He looked down at my notebook. "What are you writing about?"
"Well..." I said, feeling a little nervous. "It's about this girl... who has wings. I know it seems a little cliche, but I'm trying to expand on the concept a little, so it's not as... you know..."
"Don't worry, I know. And I think it's a great concept!" said the boy. "I'm Jon, by the way."
I smiled. "I'm Katherine" I said.
"That's a great name" said Jon. As he said it, he happened to glance down at my backpack. "Are those earbuds?" he asked, pointing at one of the pockets.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah" I said, pulling them out of my backpack, and my phone along with them. "I was listening to some music before school, and I guess I was in a bit of a hurry to get that into my backpack..."
