Like Father, Like Daughter

Chapter 1: Being a Bowie

2013; Janie's POV: I waited outside the school for my dad to pick me up. Once again, Claudia and her group beat me up. I had a few bruises, but the most obvious was the black eye. I had my sunglasses on to cover it. I live in L.A., so it's not like I look out of the ordinary. My dad pulled up and I got inside. "Hey baby girl, how was your day?" He asked as he started driving. "How do you think it went?" I quietly said as I stared at the ground. "They did it again didn't they?" He said, clearly upset. "Mm-hm." I said. He let out a sigh. "Janie, I don't know what to do about this. Your principal is a complete cunt about this." He said. "Pull me out of school. Homeschool me, cyber school me, please, I hate it there!" I said. "I just don't know Janie. I put you in public school so you could have a normal life." He said. "Well if feeling like shit is a normal life I guess it's working." I said. We were silent the rest of the ride home. You would think that being the daughter of David Bowie, a rock legend, would make people like me. Instead, people call me a freak. They constantly bully me because if it. It's caused me to have depression, anxiety, and anorexia. Well, not full-blown anorexia. I only skip about 3-4 meals a week, basically when I don't feel like eating. I don't hate my dad because of all this though. He's the only person who makes me feel better. I have a better relationship with him than my few friends. We got home and I went to my room. I rummaged through my drawer for my blade case. I went into my bathroom and went at it. My thigh was being slit more and more. This is the only way I can get my pain out. I wiped away the blood and went and laid on my bed. I started texting my friend Devan. I haven't told my dad I'm talking to him because I feel like he'd get really overprotective. I met Devan on Instagram and we've been talking for about three months. He lets me vent to him all the time. He actually lives in the area, and we've been thinking of meeting, but again, my dad would get really overprotective. There was a knock at my door. "Janie, can I come in honey?" My dad asked. "Yeah." I said. He opened the door. "How are you feeling?" He asked. "Still bad." I said. He walked over and sat on the bed. "Janie, you got a black eye?" He asked. "Yeah. I don't wanna talk about it." I said. "I know you don't. I decided to pull you out of public school and cyber school you." He said. I smiled the first real smile in a while. I gave him a hug. "Thank you so much!" I said. "It's ok honey. I'm really concerned for your safety, and this seemed like the best option." He said. "There's actually something I wanted to talk to you about." I said. "What's up?" He asked. "Um, I've been thinking and I—I really want to audition for 'America's Got Talent'." I finally said. He looked at me weird. "Ok, um, what do you plan on doing?" He asked. "I really want to sing." I said. "Janie, I've never heard you sing before, are you sure? I just don't want you to be upset if you get rejected." He said. "I know dad, but I really want to do this. I feel like if I can sing in front of a crowd like that, I can get over my anxiety." I said. He let out a sigh. "Ok, you can audition." He said. "Thank you daddy! They come to L.A. next week." I said with a smile. "Ok, just make sure you're ready." He said before leaving. I got out of bed and looked for instrumentals of songs on my computer to practice. Luckily, my room is soundproofed because I have a YouTube gaming channel. That's why my parents have never heard me. I practiced Aerosmith's "Dude Looks Like a Lady", which I plan on singing at my audition. I can't wait...