• It was during winter, right when the rain seemed to never end and the cold could be felt down to your spine with every breeze. I was on my way home from school that day. Damn car trouble, left me with no choice but to walk the 2.6 miles down Mission Boulevard. I guess you could say it was more of my own stubbornness to not ask for a ride rather than car trouble, but I digress.

    The day was pretty average in terms of classes. It was a green day that day, meaning I only had to go to my odd day classes. I go to a catholic school and we run on block period schedule which means we split a full days of classes down to evens and odds. Upside is that we usually get two days to finish homework but the downside is that 85-minute periods can get boring really quick. I usually spent my time daydreaming or messing around on my laptop that I got loaned from the school. The school requires that we each have a Mac laptop for school, it’s pretty nice actually. I’m never really bored in class… unless the connections lagged which gets annoying really fast.

    I got a little side-tracked there, sorry about that. Like I said, it was an average day. I got a little late to class cause the rain was really bad in the morning and traffic was terrible. At least that was my excuse to my teacher. My first class was Campus Ministry, which was more of a job then a class. The period itself is more of a free period than anything, unless our instructor is feeling a little moody that day. Trig goes about the same, I sit in my desk in the back corner of the room. Right next to the window to feel the breeze and see the view but also far enough back to not be noticed by my teacher. Lunch is usually spent with my friends just hanging out. We do buy food in the student center but not until the line dies down with all the freshmen jam-packed to get their lunch specials. I usually buy some kind of sandwich varying from salami, turkey, chicken salad, egg salad, or tuna salad but I do get a cheeseburger occasionally. I only had 3 bucks left today and felt like splurging for the chicken nuggets with barbeque sauce. It wasn’t bad but definitely not filling enough. Lunch passed by fast; it always does when you’re having fun joking around with friends.

    For seventh period Essay As Lit, we’ve been working and a compare and contrast essay for about a month now, and that’s what we did today as well. I passed this period by doing what I always do, opening my iTunes and letting the music take me away. I’ve always loved were music takes me. One more period to go and my last class of the day was Economics. It really isn’t a bad class but it can get hard to focus at times. I find myself getting lost in my daydreams a lot. I do like the class, our teacher is one I’ll remember forever. His intelligence is above par and he’s got on hell of a sense of humor. Still, that can’t always make up for the non-electrifying experience this class can be for the most part. Still, another period passed and another day done.

    It was raining really bad that day. The morning had it already way passed a shower and the wind felt pretty fierce against the back of my head making my hood sway hard and violently. As the day went on, it only got worse. By the time school let out most of the campus grounds were covered by more than an inch of water and the wind grew harder with the rain to the point where it looked as if trees, poles, and fences were going to drop like when the wolf huffed and puffed and blew the first two pigs’ houses down.

    I really reconsidered walking once I got outside and saw just how bad things were and thinking of how worse they could get. I usually get a ride home from my girlfriend but she went to Disneyland during the Columbus Day weekend for her sister’s birthday. I really missed her during the day since I didn’t get to see her in-between classes during our passing periods. She got to miss a day and would be back that night. I was really looking forward to calling her that night and hearing about he adventure away. Even more, I couldn’t wait for the next day, when I would be able to see her and grab her up into my arms and kiss her. It’s been 4 days but I feel like I miss the way her body feels in my arms, her tiny arms wrapped around me, and our lips pressed up against each other. Not to mention the fact that I was going to surprise her with the Ninja Turtle Mickey Air Freshener, she’s a fanatic about them, and it was the day I was going to ask her to Homecoming. Yeah, I still need to ask her even though we’ve been together for two years and two months. I’m a lucky guy, at least cause I have her. Maybe that’s why my luck ran out that day.

    I took a minute to breath and set myself up for the walk home. I’d never walked home under these conditions and I knew that this was going to be like trying to light a match underwater. As I took my steps down the driveway to get into the school’s parking lot, I felt that this maybe wouldn’t be too bad. I could deal with the cold and my clothes were thick enough to handle the rain. The wind was tough though. It blew hard and relentlessly like a barrage of invisible fists thrown by Manny Pacqiaou. Still, despite this I walked and pushed through. The only thing I could think of was getting home to play my guitar. The one thing I felt let me be free and put me on a plane where no one else could be.

    I made it to my designated halfway point, the 4-way intersection where the old Holiday Bowl is. I thought to myself, just another leg to go and I’ll be in my warm room playing the cold away through the warmth that comes of a bass beat coming from my fingertips. It may sound weird but when I play, the heavy sound waves always get a rise out of me. It wakes up my soul and set’s my body on fire. A burning passion I guess haha. It was my dream to become a musician, actually a bassist. I’ve always felt that the bass was something special and that no real band would be without one. If I had to, I’d even try to make it in the music industry as a solo artist, singing and playing bass guitar. It’s not exactly all to common but I felt like, it was my calling. In a world where I didn’t really stand out in anything, through my bass I could.

    I’m by no means an amazing bassist but I’m not terrible. I remember I’ve always been fascinated by stringed based instruments but the bass was always different compared to others. I was always curious about the guitar but the fact that it’s so widely played made me feel less inclined to be a part of it. I’m not going to lie and say that I didn’t just want to be different cause it’s true. I think the real thing that made me sure about the bass, is that whenever I hear those heavy notes being played, I can’t help but feel as if it’s reacting and synching with my soul. I wanted to recreate that feeling and send it out to others like me.

    Sidetracked again, sorry it was so lengthy this time. As I was saying, I had made it to my halfway point and the conditions we’re only getting worst from this point on. I thought for a moment before moving on, maybe I should call for a ride? I could wait out and grab some food? I looked at the Burger King to the right of me. All I would have to do is cross the intersection that way instead of going straight towards my house. I don’t know why, but I wish I had.

    I shook my head and pressed on. I saw that light where the white stick figure representing a walking man had just switched out the flashing red hand telling people to stop walking and wait for the next passing opportunity. I picked up my pace and dashed for the other side. It’s funny when I think back to that moment, cause even though I picked up my pace, that’s when everything slowed down.

    *CRASH*