My Life As I Knew It: Ch. 1

JADE

Jade sat in the green room of the radio station preparing for yet another interview with the hottest host Ryan Silas. It was definitely one of the benefits of being who she was. She had done this many times before but her nerves were still driving her nuts. It wasn’t so much the discussion on what she was currently working on but the craziness that would ensue after. The sudden attention given to her was exciting but scared and stressed her more than anything. She wasn’t sure if she was ready.

She sat there twirling the dirty blonde locks that cascaded just to her shoulders. Her signature brown eyeliner subtly outlined her fierce blue eyes. Her lips stuck in a beat of in and out as she bit them then smacked them. Long ago she convinced herself that this helped warm them up for a performance, but the truth was it was just a nervous habit that she had never grown out of and sort of made her look like a fool.

Her mind ran the situations that could occur in this one moment. One interview and her life would change forever, from its comfortable un-normal norm to a possible media based hell. She started to weigh the pros and cons once more in her head. This was one of the few times when she began to question if this constant silence was a curse. Normally she enjoyed it very much. It was a still in the hectic movie that was her life, giving her time to really think, reflect and sometimes question what she was being told. It was a crucial part of her life and often became a strong benefit.

Still, tonight it felt like a curse. Tonight, in this silence she was not questioning the decisions of those who surrounded her, but questioned what she was telling herself.

Was it better to be stressed almost all the time? To always have to be aware? To always be worried of slipping up and/or losing control?

Wouldn’t it just cause more stress? Would it really change anything?

As they waved her into the studio she got up, her mind still undecided.

ALEX

The sleek brown curtain swung back and forth, limited only by its top binding as Alex ran around the track. Her hair whipped at her back as the wind began to blow. She sprinted her last few steps then collapsed onto the ground trying to take in deep steady breaths.

She hated gym. She hated having to run in stupid circles for no reason like some race horse or a dog. Physical Education at Jameson King High School had only one redeeming quality: no sweaty, shared gym uniform. Still, their dress code was far too strict to allow anyone to participate comfortably when the temperature still blazed from the ending summer and they were running directly in the sun.

It was only Freshman year and already Alex was not a fan of the school, though what teenager legitimately like school?

She contemplated why this was, but could only come up with clichés. She hated clichés. She realized though as she began to gain her breath again that most of her unhappiness lied upon the classes, she was currently enrolled in. Only she would be masochistic enough to load her schedule with advanced courses and a chorus class. When she was not even able to sing.

Her computer class, Introduction to Word Processing and Internet Basics, was the only class she seemed to find joy in. This was probably because, minus slight guidelines, she had the freedom that was severely lacking from the school.

But it was high school. What else could she expect?