by Elizabeth Copas

Created on: September 11, 2007

Ellie woke up late for school again, if she misses many more days, she won't pass her Junior year. All Ellie wants to do is sleep. She probably wouldn't have waked up at all, if it hadn't been for the arguing she heard in the kitchen. Peeping with her head out of her bedroom door, she over heard her parents conversation. "Ryan has been arrested again, Hal. They found marijuana and a loaded pistol in his glove box, he tried to out run the law again". "Gwen we've been through this, Ryan is twenty six years old. Why do you worry yourself to death everyday, can't you let him go?" This was all her parents talked about anymore. Gwen was consumed with Ryan, she had forgotten that Ellie even existed. Ellie didn't want to hear anymore.

Throwing on a pair of jeans, a tee shirt and her favorite boots, Ellie slipped out the basement door. Jumping in her old pickup truck, she lit a cigarette and sputtered down the road, to get Dawn, her best friend. Looking in the rear view mirror, hoping to put herself together, before arriving at Dawn's house, she groans her hair is a mess. She hadn't even had time to brush it, so while steering with her knee, she pulled her blond locks into a ponytail.

Coming upon Dawn's driveway, Ellie comes to a screeching stop. Seeing Dawn, waiting on the front porch laughing, Ellie feels the need to stir up a little gravel. The truck backfires, as if someone had fired a shotgun. This always embarrassed Ellie, but Dawn is doubled over with laughter. This has become a morning ritual for the two of them.

Trying to prepare herself for the interrogation and stares she will receive at school, she questions Dawn, to see if she already knew the gory details of Ryan's latest arrest. "He got arrested again last night, I over heard mama and daddy going at it pretty heavy again this morning." "Yeah, I know. Heard it over the scanner last night, you know we listen to that thing like it's the Ralph Emery Show. Don't worry about it, they'll all be talking about someone else by this evening. Like last week when I was the talk of the town. Isn't it funny how one little jerk can ruin your reputation, by trying to boost his own." Ellie looked over at her friend. "Dawn everyone knows you are as pure as the white driven snow." And she was just that, a humble and modest teenager, trying to survive everyday in a cruel, pathetic town.

Pulling into the parking lot of the school, Ellie reached for another cigarette. "Want to share this one with me, Dawn?" "I have the same answer

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