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nickjonson

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Millville, New Jersey

It was New Year's Eve. Jacklyn sat in her room, running her fingers through her hair, staring at her reflection, thinking back to all that had happened. Downstairs her parents were calling her. "The party should help me take my mind off it all," she said to herself, getting up. The New Year's Party was crazy. Music was blaring over the stereo, everyone was dancing and cheering. Jacklyn, laughing, stumbled out the crowd. For a moment, she thought she felt a warm touch on her, "You OK?" she heard someone whisper. "Will?" she asked, but she didn't want it to be Will. For some reason, she longed for someone else, even though she knew it could never happen. She looked up, it was her friend Kelly, "Wow,  you're pretty buzzed," Kelly said, laughing, helping Jacklyn up.  Jacklyn laughed, but then began to weep. Kelly sat her down, "What's wrong?" she asked. Jacklyn wiped her tears, "He's just...so far away," she wailed. Kelly tried to soothe her, "Who? What are you talking about? If this about Will, don't worry about it. Everything will be OK soon." Jacklyn shook her head, "So far in my heart, yet so far from my side," Jacklyn mumbled, slowly lulling into sleep. Kelly sighed, and lied Jacklyn down on the couch.

Pleasanton, California

Nick's alarm clock rang loudly, the buzzing echoing in the darkness of his room. "Fuck," Nick groaned as he hit the snooze button. He opened one of his eyes, and looked around. Though his blinds were down, he could see the first lights of day creeping through his windows. He pulled himself out of his bed, and walked to his bathroom. He turned on the light and looked at himself in the mirror. His brow cast a dark shadow over his eyes. His short, black, hair was a mess. His body was strong and muscular, but deep slash scars ran along his back. "Everything has a cost," he thought to himself as he looked at his scarred back. Yes, he had a strong, well built, body, but it came at the cost of self discipline at the hand of his whip.

Nick walked out of the shower, grabbed something to eat, and walked out his front door to his driveway. He took a deep breath of the crisp, late winter morning. The air was cold yet warm at the same time. The roses seemed redder than usual, and the wind bit his skin sharper than usual. He knew very well what the day was. "It's Valentine's Day," Nick said to himself as he got into his car. "I fucking hate  this day," he grumbled to himself. He pulled up his car in the school's parking lot, got out, and walked through the campus. He wore his black, synthetic fabric, fleece jacket, his hands dug deep in the pockets of his black jeans. All around, he saw girls walking around with roses, or a guy giving his girlfriend her gift. Nick shivered as the wind's frost hit him harder, but inside he felt nothing. Every year, he was alone. Every year he was cold inside and out. Every year, he fell silent on Valentine's Day. Each second that slowly ticked by was a grueling effort for him. Each time he stepped in the shadow, his mind would wander to the other years, the darkest nights he spent in his room, bleeding his emotions out. Every year on Valentine's, Nick's eyes were filled with the pain of millions of tears, and shelled by the hate of the thousands of sorrows he felt.

Every step Nick took echoed the memories of the past. He was a black specter, a banshee of sorrow and hate. With each minute of the day, another painful memory came back to haunt him. After a long day, the last bell rang. Nick gave a heavy sigh, packed his things up, and walked  out the classroom. He walked to the quad, where there was a gigantic crowd gathered around a stage set up. Every member of his band, The Fallen Angels, was there. The guitarists had just finished tuning their guitars. Nick made his way through the crowd, his face stoned to his hateful expression. Hands hailed from all directions. Nick gave them all five as he made his way through the mosh. He climbed up on stage and grabbed the mike. "Hello Amador!" he called into the mike. The crowd roared in response. "I see many of you are happy today." Again, another roar from the crowd. Nick looked through the faces, everyone had shown up. Jocks, preps, freaks, goths, emos, punks, metalheads, regulars. Everyone. Nick gave them all an evil smile, and growled into the mike, "Here we go!" He nodded to the band. Heavy guitar roars hailed from the amps as the band began to play Ruin by Lamb of God.

Nick walked along the front, viciously head banging. All the metalheads, goths, punks, and some of the emo kids came closer, cheering loudly. The preppier peoples' smiles slowly faded. Nick put up the mike and began to sing. (writer's note: it might intensify reading experience if you were actually listening to Ruin by Lamb of God while reading this).

The knowledge that seeking the favor of another
Means the murder of self.
This is the resolution
The end of all progress
The death of evolution
It bleeds all life away.
Silence speeds the path to the streams of solace that run so few and narrow.
Brooks that babble the sounds of torture the sounds of torture
You will one day rise.
To flood the banks of the chosen.
This is the art of ruin.
This is the resolution
The end of all progress
The death of evolution
It bleeds all life away.
It bleeds all life away.
I will show you all that I have mastered
Fear. Pain. Hatred. Power.
This is the art of ruin.
This is the art of ruin.
THIS IS THE ART OF RUIN!

As he sang, the preppy girls covered their faces in fear. The sky darkened, the clouds rumbled in fury of thunder. Some even began to cry in the darkness of the song. Nick smirked, he loved seeing these people suffer under the dark music. When the song ended, Nick pointed the mike into the crowd. The maddened wails and cries of the crowd rang through the amps. "Suffer!" he growled into the mike. With one last vicious cheer from the darker kids, Nick and the band walked off the stage, and began tearing down.

Millville, New Jersey

For the first time in a long while, Jacklyn signed on to MySpace. She had a new message from Will. As soon as she opened it, her heart sank. Tears flowed from her eyes as she read it:

"Jacklyn, I'm really sorry but I don't think this can work anymore. I just don't know if I can handle all of it anymore. I'm sorry, but I think this is the end."

Jacklyn whimpered and took a deep breath, I need to talk to someone, she thought to herself. At first, she thought about reaching for the phone and calling Kelly, but she didn't. She sent a message to the one person that would be there to listen. Nick.