18 is the worst year to be alive. What? Don't believe me? Don't you remember your senior year of high school? See, I told you...
Mom and Dad fought through most of my childhood, at least what I remember. My sister, Fallon, was four years older than me and we stuck up for each other, the way it's supposed to be. My sister was often more of parental figure than my parents. Dad worked third shift at the factory and slept all day. Mom knew more about what was going on with her soaps than with her children.
I'm not sure if the whole mess got better when they divorced. I was 16 and my sister had just turned 21, taking night classes at the local community college. Mom didn't have Dad to distract her from the soaps anymore and it was almost impossible to pull her away from the TV, Melodramatic B*tch.
A year later, my junior year, my sister met Mike... I didn't think too much of him, but my sister adored him. He played the drums in a weekend band led by a bartender. He swore the whole thing was much better when they were younger. I didn't believe him, but that's how I met Allysa and fell in love with the drums.
Allysa Jackson was this infamous bartender with the Texas accent and the magic fingers. Mike swore she could play or paint anything that caught her attention. But that's not what I liked about her.
The first time I met Allysa, she took one look at the bite marks on my bicep and quietly accepted me without question. What bite marks? Let's just say I fell in with the wrong crowd and got into a mess of trouble. I might tell you about it later. I liked spending time with the band. Mike taught me how to play the drums and his garage, where they practiced, was a second home. (Much better than the other one I had.) Mike became my big brother and Allysa my older, older sister.
The band broke up a few months later, Mike and my sister announced their engagement and moved on. Of course I miss them, but they're making their own life and believe me, my sister deserves the happiness. I still play with Allysa some weekends, but she's been really busy lately... I think she's met someone, but she won't say...
As for me, I turned 18 and made it to my senior year of high school. I still live with my mother, but I'm not sure if she even notices I'm there half the time. She (and Allysa) insist that I finish school and I'm going to. I want to make more of my life than she did. I used to spend my weekends with my sister and Mike, but that's much harder now that they've moved to Seattle. Mike is playing for some big new band, I hear they're doing really well... They still come to visit sometimes. But the time in between is pretty boring. I started working part time, I'm still trying to convince Allysa to let me help at the bar. I'm trying to save up for my own apartment, it's definitely time to move out...
