CLOSER • Wattys2016

T

Summer '17

Holden

What I loved about my sister is that you cannot depend on her a lot. She was sixteen years old, and last week was the last time my mom ever let her walk home alone. She nearly got raped. I swear, she's just too innocent.

So, now I'm in charge of bringing and picking her up from her review classes. When mom and I discussed this, I kept on saying 'No', but because she is my mother, I had to say 'Yes' before she eats me alive.

For the first day of review classes, mom brought Tillie there. I was in charge of bringing her back home that day. I arrived fairly early, around fifteen minutes early- I hated it.

Eight minutes of sitting in the car later, I decided to wait by the hall where Tillie's classroom was. There was a bench, so I chose to sit there. The moment I went there I noticed the headphones light up with music.

Now please don't go
Most nights I hardly sleep when I'm alone

I heard this song on the radio once, I thought it would be some sappy love song that made girls cry their hearts out, so I changed the station. Hearing it now, realizing someone else is also listening to it, it made me smile.

Anyway, that was what kept me going whenever I had to pick up my sister.

There was one time, though, when I went there and the song suddenly changed to Wrecking Ball, then I heard Tillie's class sing the same song at the top of their lungs. That caught my attention. She must be part of their class. The song stopped, and so did they- and so did my heart (metaphorically).

Later that same day, I asked Tillie why they were singing Wrecking Ball. She replied, "Because we don't live under a rock, unlike you who listen to Nirvana and other old songs."

She annoyed the hell out of me. She was right though, I always listened to old songs from old bands like The Beatles or Queen. And these 'new' songs coming from this bluetooth headphones seems like a breath of fresh air for me. She's a breath of fresh air for me.

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Please Don't Go - Joel Adams
Wrecking Ball - Miley Cyrus