One thing Murdoc had noticed was that people never realized how lucky they were.

He eased his foot onto the gas, the car speeding up, a trail of smog coming from the exhaust pipe of the Chevrolet Camaro he was driving. It was a bit of a clunker, but it was his. He flicked cigarette ash from the window, bringing his cigarette to his mouth and taking a draw from it, then letting the smoke billow from his mouth.

He was only 16. He was supposed to be in school right about now, not driving around the streets and smoking. Smoking! What would his mother say? Well, he could never know. And his father wouldn't care enough to say anything anyways.

Maybe that was why this started, he thought. He'd thought something similar before, many times actually, but didn't want to believe it. He'd made his own decisions. He'd chosen this... hadn't he? Or was the smoking, the drinking, the skipping school and staying out, was it all due to his father? The less-than-optimal life he'd always lived, it couldn't be what drove him towards this, right? Of course his life wasn't the best, but that didn't mean anything. It couldn't.

He took a deep breath and exhaled. He just needed to calm down.

He pulled into an empty lot, putting his car in park and leaning the seat back. He didn't have anywhere else to go, so he figured he'd just stay here for the day. He opened a lukewarm bottle of beer that sat on the floor of the car and chugged it. It tasted absolutely disgusting, but at least it'd make him numb for a while. At least long enough for him to relax. And hopefully it'd be out of his system by the time he had to drive home.

It wasn't often, but sometimes he wondered what he missed at school. This was one of those times. He couldn't care less about the academic aspects he was missing, it was more /who/ he was missing out on. He could have friends, or meet the person he'd marry.

Nonsense. He wasn't worthy of friends, let alone a soulmate.

He couldn't even believe he had the balls to skip the first day of school. Oh well, he'd come back eventually, and he'd just play it off like he was a new student. He didn't know how long 'eventually' was. He didn't have a desire to go back there. School treated him better than his home, sure, but the city and open roads treated him so much better.

He stretched out, the warm sun coming through the window, covering him like a blanket, and fell asleep. He'd figure it all out later. Eventually.