Prologue:
My moment. This was supposed to be my moment. My life has been building up to this point. The day I would finally get my license. The day I would finally become free and get to leave this awful town.
The wind surrounded me in the parking lot on a frigid winter day in December. Actually, two days before Christmas.
I zipped up my grey hoodie and shoved my hands in my pockets, taking long slow steps into the building. I pushed open the cold metal door and let it close behind me, immediately taking in the warmth of the room I had just entered.
I stood in line behind a girl who looked maybe a year or two older then me, maybe because she had a small toddler in her arms and she was speaking mindlessly to him as they waited in line. The man in front of her was talking to the receptionist with a smug look on his face. A moment later, she pulled out a slip of paper, jotted something down on it, and handed it to him with a flirty look. My face twisted in disgust and he stuffed the paper in his back pocket, walking down the long hall. As soon as I heard his footsteps disappear the woman in front of me was gone also and the receptionist's mouth was moving, but no words came out.
I turned my attention back to her and suddenly I heard her piercing crackling voice.
"Sir!" she shrieked angrily. Geez woman.
"Oh erm, sorry. Hi" I stepped up to the counter slowly and she responded by huffing and shoving a clipboard with paperwork stacked on top of it in front of me.
"Fill it out in the waiting room and bring it back sir" she replied groggily.
I gave her a short nod and headed to one of the small, worn out brown chairs. I picked the most decent looking one, which only had one hole in it.
In about five minutes, I completed the tedious paperwork and handed it back to the receptionist. She told me to wait in front of room 2A and I walked down the green carpeted hall until I reached 2A. I opened the door and a man who looked about- 76 sat in a chair with a newspaper.
I coughed to get his attention and he lowered his newspaper slowly. He smiled and pushed himself out of his chair, squinting in pain as he stood. Part of me was worried this man would have a heart attack during my test.
He walked over to me in slow steps and shook my hand. Firm grip. His hands were clammy and rough, and he was wearing a red plaid shirt and khaki pants. his glasses were so far down his nose I thought they would fall off, and his big white beard made him look like the ideal Santa Claus.
"I'm Eddie, and son are you ready to take your driver's test?" he asked opening the door.
I smiled slightly. "Sure am" I said in a small voice and followed him back down the hall.
"So how old are you son?" he said while still walking.
"I'm going to be 17 in two months" I said proudly.
"17 huh. I don't even remember when I was 17" he confessed, leading me out to a parking lot of banged up cars, all identical.
I stifled a small chuckle and we got into the closest car to the building.
He ruffled his papers on his clipboard and smiled at me, a real genuine smile. Boy, I haven't seen one of those in months.
I put the key in the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot, heading onto the mostly empty road. Frost dusted the side of the windshield wipers as they swished back and forth against the glass. I came to my first stop sign and looked both ways, before starting to move again.
The man turned on the radio as we drove and I didn't even pay attention to what song, all I did was concentrate on the road.
Trees and shrubs went by quickly as we drove passed them.
My mind slipped into its own thoughts and I looked at the old man next to me to see his face completely red and turning purple. The sounds of rough coughing pierced through my head all at once and I let go of the wheel, turning toward the man, his harsh coughing grew worse and blood came out of his mouth. A million and one thoughts rushed through my head and when I finally got the chance to look where I was going in the car, all I saw were a pair of blaring headlights and glass, and then I blacked out.
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I needed to escape, get out, something, of this wretched town. The boys were all druggies, the girls all sluts or runaways. At home, at home I could be protected from these people. At school I wanted to drown. Because everyone knew that my mom cheated on my dad, and she left us, they called me good for nothing, but I knew not why.
A slut? No they never called me that.
One day in detention I made a list of things they called me. Here it is:
Good for nothing loser.
Buzz kill.
Smart ass.
Emo.
Ugly.
Fat.
And maybe I believed some of these things they called me, but I had never hurt myself because of it, I ignore it. Ignore them all.
I like to keep to myself, so people like to judge me, and it happens everyday. It hurts, but who am I to show it?
The only reason I have a social standing that is not at the very bottom of the food chain is because of my brother, Jackson Anderson. The junior star football player, and the prey of most girls at my school. I'm not lying when I say I don't know everyone at my school, because I don't. And we only have a little over 300 in our grade.
I'll tell you that I'm not a shy person at all, but I'm not exactly student body president or anything. Nothing like that.
Jackson is my only brother, and my mother is gone, so it's just me, my dad, and Jackson. I might not get the best beauty tips so I could agree with the ugly name calling part. But fat? Well, pretty much all we had to drink in our house is protein shakes and salads, and the occasional frozen pizza.
I always throw my hair in a bun because I haven't cut it since my mother left, and that was three years ago. It is the dumb color, brown. My least favorite color, in fact.
I've lived in Columbia, Tennessee for my whole life and trust me, it's hard to not want to leave. This town is crap. The schools are small and rundown and the houses are large and hollow. But somehow, we haven't left.
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News spreads quickly around here.
The latest news was that River Landings was in the hospital. And it wasn't looking too good for him.
Now I never really knew River. I knew that he ran by my house every morning before school. Didn't matter if it was raining or snowing, he ran. And I watched him. It wasn't like I watched him in a creepy way, but just seeing him run every morning calmed me down, and I couldn't figure out why.
I think once in history he asked me for a pen. I gave him one.
Other than that, I always saw him eating lunch out in the courtyard, headphones in ears, with maybe five other guys, and they would sit there against the wall, the whole lunch. I'll just say I never fully understood River Landings.
But I mean I didn't know a single person that didn't feel bad for him.
And that poor man he tried to save, died in the crash. Turns out he had a heart attack just before the crash happened.
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I'm back:)
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