Where Will I Go

3||In one ear

Now I know I'm not a saint
I've been a sinner all my life
I ain't tryin' to hide my flaws
I'd rather keep them in the light
They want to criticize, scrutinize
Cast another stone
Burn me at the stake
And sit and watch it from their throne
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So have you always lived in Detroit?" The slightly familiar blond asked, looking at Alex as he took a bite of the apple pie he ordered.

"No. For a while we actually lived in Maine, but we moved because of my mom's work." Alex answered, taking his own bite out of another slice of cheesecake.

"Oh cool, what does your mom do?"

"She's a defence lawyer. So she's basically the reason murderers don't go to jail."

Ran laughed while the brunet smiled, and a short lived comfortable silence fell over the two.

"So like, I know you said your family doesn't have enough money to support you going to college and all," Alex started, "but if they did, and if you were in college, what would you be studying?"

Ran looked up, basically looking at his own forehead, as if to say 'hey, brain, what do I say now?'

He put his fork down and finished chewing before he spoke, "can I tell you something?"

"Sure."

"Truth be told, college, and a future in general, kind of intimidates me. Hell, I always thought the school system was bullshit. They treated me like dirt for 4 years and never took me seriously, and then by the end of June in senior year they expect you to know what you wanna do, where you wanna go, how many kids you wanna have, etcetera etcetera, when I'm still trying to figure out who the hell I am."

Alex looked Ran dead in the eye at that. He could not have agreed more than he did in that moment. Everything that came out of the elder's mouth resonated with Alex in so many ways that he wasn't sure how to handle it.

"I know right?" He joined in, "and they always act like because they're older, that we automatically have to respect them and shit. Like bitch, no. You have to earn that shit, and your age isn't what gets you respect." He ranted.

"Yes! Oh my god, yes! And they say shit like 'I have more experience then you,' and I'm like, bitch, I have not had the same life as you. I've probably been through more and experienced more in 18 years of my life than you have in more than half of yours."

"And then they accuse us of being 'know-it-alls' when we try to defend ourselves or tell them the things we know or our opinions. Then we end up having to go to the extreme, like graffiti and drugs, because they won't pay attention to what we're saying any other way. And then they sit there in their office chairs, scratching their heads, wondering why teenagers act this way."

"Afterwards they try to turn us into boring ass people with 9/5 jobs, 2 kids, and a wife who I would've fallen out of love with 3 years ago."

"It's the last generation's way of trying to make us like them. Because they can't stand that times have changed, and we're done putting up with their dumb ass conservative rules."

Suddenly, there was an uninvited presence of one of the waitresses. They looked at her expectantly, confused as to why she was paying attention to them. "Excuse me boys." She spoke delicately.

"Yes?" They both said in unison.

"Could you two please keep it down? People are getting annoyed." She said, seeming to be nervous. She was quiet and timid, and didn't seem like the type of person who would scold a customer. Alex's face heated up with slight embarrassment when he realized that they were loud to the point that this unlikely waitress had to tell them off.