Misery Loves Company

Track 32: The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot

If it makes you less sad,
I'll move out of the state.

You can keep to yourself.
I'll keep out of your way.

And if it makes you less sad,
we'll start talking again.
And you can tell me how vile I already know that I am.

I'll grow old and start acting my age.
I'll be a brand new day in a life that you hate.

A crown of gold.
A heart that's harder than stone.
And it hurts a whole lot,
but it's missed when it's gone.

Call me a safe bet.
I'm betting I'm not.

I'm glad that you can forgive.
I'm only hoping as time goes,
you can forget.

The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot
Song & Lyrics by: Brand New

***

Misery Loves Company

By: theinkslingerr

Track 32: The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot

"Whoa, he's almost as good as Dom," Sienna breathed incredulously. She looked up at the ceiling. "Please do not smite me, oh gods of rock."

I would've laughed if I wasn't so enthralled by what I was seeing; which was Josh behind a drum kit in the corner of Beechmill High's music room playing his black heart out.

OK, it probably wasn't black anymore, but what did you call a reformed black heart?

Gray?

A work in progress?

God, I couldn't tear my eyes away. Every frenzied bang of a drumstick, each clash of a cymbal reverberated throughout my frame and kept me in anticipation of the next thunderous sound. I didn't know if Josh was drumming to his favorite song or making it up as he went. I just knew I'd never seen him like this before; eyes closed, arms pumping, lost in a blissful cacophony of his own making.

For some reason, I suddenly felt like I was caught in the undertow of a powerful wave. Thoughts of him shoving my face in that puddle, along with the other horrible things he'd done resurfaced and overlapped with the times he'd helped me. Hot sauce balloon ambushes, cushioning my fall down concrete steps, placing thumbtacks on my chair, saving me from getting trampled to death...

Josh had done a lot. Some good, mostly bad.

At what point did one cancel out the other? When his rights began to out-weigh his wrongs?

Or...were they supposed to be jumbled up like this? I frowned, remembering Paula's words about no one being all good or all bad. According to her, everyone was a mix of the two, and it was up to us to decide whether someone's "good" was worth putting up with their "bad." At the time, I had a feeling she'd been referring to Edwardo, so I'd zoned out. Nothing could sugarcoat how awful of a father he'd been to Enid. Especially since he'd never tried to change.

Not like Josh had.

"Yo Bonham!" Sienna shouted over his shoulder. "Earth to baby Bonham!"