Sanctuary (A Dan Smith/ Bastille fanfic)

7. Dan

I sit laughing with the rest of the class as we watch the new girl storm out of the room. Claudia is a right bitch and she deserved that more than anything. Although I wish it was anyone else that would have said that. It doesn’t seem fair that the newbie got to say that to her when I know that the majority of us in the classroom have wanted to say things like that to her for a number of years. She’s one of the stuck up bitches in college, and guess who happens to be her best friend? My lovely charming slutty bitchy sister. The thing is; everyone hates them, but they’re too intimidated by them to say anything. Instead everyone just goes along and follows them like sheep. I hope that this little outburst by newbie has meant that more people will stand up to the bitches.

I can’t help but feel intrigued by this new girl. She seems to be in the majority of my classes and I don’t know what the deal with that is. It annoys me that I don’t know anything about her. I have everyone in all of my classes sussed apart from her. I have the upper hand on every single person. Everyone but her.

By the time I get home I’m itching to start writing. I have all these lyrics buzzing around in my head and I don’t want to forget them. So as soon as I get home I go straight upstairs to sit at my keyboard to write my lyrics down and find a tune to go along with them. I find myself writing a line down and scrunching the paper up in a ball and throwing it in the bin and repeating this process, unable to find the exact words that I want to use to let out my feelings. Usually I find it so easy to write what I feel when I know it’s lyrics for a song. I know that no one’s ever going to see the lyrics or hear the song so it’s not like anyone will be there to judge me. But at this exact moment, every word I write down just seems wrong.

Soon enough, my parents are home and quizzing me about my sisters’ whereabouts. Apparently she had some swimming gala that she was meant to attend and she missed. My parents are fuming that she was a no show and missed her opportunity to compete. I wonder for a second what it would be like if my parents showed any interest in my hobbies and then laugh at the thought of it. They have never once shown any interest in my music although I guess I don’t really put it out there. It’s not good enough to put out though and I can imagine that they would just laugh at me. And again, I don’t want people to hear my lyrics, they’re too personal.

Fran turns up gone 10pm and my parents are furious that she’s missed both her competition and dinner. But as soon as they realise that she’s crying all of that anger seems to disappear and they wrap her in their arms like the baby they think that she is. She sobs into my mum’s arms as she explains that her boyfriend Bobby has ended it with her. When my mum pry’s into why they have broken up Fran says some bullshit about her not being ready to take their relationship further. I see the pride in my mum’s eyes at her perfect daughter that ‘wants to wait until marriage’. I know that Fran is lying though. Fran and Bobby are at it every moment they get and I know that she’s slept with at least 5 people before him. He must have cheated on her and slept with someone else and she’s making up something to make herself seem like an angel. Fucking bitch.

She drives me crazy. My whole family do. The whole bullshit façade they put on to make themselves seem like this perfect family. And then there’s me. I just don’t fit in.