BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! That was the sound that I heard when I first opened my eyes that morning. My alarm clock had woken me up at 7 o'clock. I let out an annoyed sigh as I lifted my face of my pillow and pushed myself into a seated position. I then turned off my alarm clock and scooted myself out of bed. I walked down the hall to the bathroom. There, I brushed my teeth and did my hair. I took me three tries to get my hair looking right. After about the second try, I was already getting frustrated. But when I finally got it right, I smiled and let out a sigh of relief. I then went back to my room to change. I wore my usual outfit: black muscle shirt, white sleeveless hoodie, black shorts, white socks, and black and white tennis shoes. I then grabbed my backpack and headed down the stairs. 

As I went down the stairs, I considered how strange it was to be living in such a large house. Our house had two stories, five bedrooms, and three bathrooms. It seemed like a lot of space for just me and my mom. Then again, my aunt and uncle needed a new place to live, so they decided to just give the house to us. Not that we really needed a new house, but I guess the lesson here is if you're rich you can go about giving your possessions to other people without it being a huge sacrifice. And in all honesty, if you saw the house my aunt and uncle were living in now, you'd understand why giving us a $300,000 house wasn't even a sacrifice for them.  On top of giving us the house, they also gave us $75,000 bucks a month. 

Oh, yeah. They're loaded. 

With these considerations, I decided that it wasn't weird for my aunt and uncle to give us a house and loads of cash. In fact, I decided that it was actually quite generous of them to do so.  

I finally made it to the dining area. There my mom greeted me with a, "Good Morning, sweetie," and a kiss on the cheek. She then set down a plate of eggs and bacon on the table. I went to grab some utensils, while she poured me a glass of milk. She set down the glass almost as soon as I sat down. I then started to scarf down my breakfast. "Not so fast, Kit!" Mom told me. "But Mom, it's delicious," said I with my mouth full of eggs. Mom simply sighed, shook her head and rolled her eyes. After I finished my breakfast, I gulped down my milk and wiped away the residue it left on my lips with my arm. 

I then got up from the table and picked up my backpack, which I had left near my chair. With my backpack on, Mom and I walked to the door. She told me to be careful, kissed me, and then opened the door for me. I walked to the sidewalk and waved good-bye to her. She waved back looking happy, but I could feel her sadness. As with most parents, she didn't want me to be away from her. She wanted me to be there with her. But, someway, somehow, you need to get educated. If it means going to school, well, then, you need to go to school. There's really no way out of it. Unless, you're home schooled. 

I finally made it to my new school. It only took me two minutes to get there. My short walk, however, gave me a chance to see the new neighborhood I was living in. Pineville Acres was nice looking town with lots of nice looking homes. There was a park not to far from my school with all the playground equipment you could imagine. There were also picnic tables and a lush, wide, green grass field. Of course, I didn't get to see everything on my walk. But what I saw made me feel a lot more comfortable where I was. And my first day at my new school made me feel even more comfortable. 

Pineville High School was quite the prestigious establishment. Only the best and the brightest got in. That, and the most respectful. When I went through the gates of the school's entrance, about seven people flocked me, wanting to know my name, where I was from, what grade I was in, if I'd be their friend... I was pretty much a celebrity at that point. They gave me quite the warm welcome. I got to know some of them right then and there. There was Sarah Peterson. Then you had Josh Voreniega(vor-eh-ni-ay-gah) and his sister Karina. Lastly, there was Daniel Reddfur. He was a fox, just like me. We talked for quite a while and eventually had to go our separate ways since the bell had rung. My new friends then told me they would see me later and bid me good-bye for the time being. And with that, I started my school day.

My first day at Pineville High was cake. All we did was go over what we were going to learn in our classes and we did some easy introductory activities. From this, I figured that my freshman of high school was going to be a breeze. In fact, I figured the entire year was going to be a breeze. It wouldn't take long for me to realize that my perception about the entire year was terribly wrong. Fortunately, it had nothing to do with school. Unfortunately, what would happen this year would make my life just a little bit harder. However, the experiences I was about to have were going to change my life entirely for the better...

After sixth period, lunch finally rolled around. I was very excited. My mom packed me macaroni and cheese from last night, so that was a plus. Now came the question of where I would sit down to enjoy such a delicacy. Well, it was a delicacy in my mind at least.  As I was thinking about where I would sit, I heard a voice call me. "Hey Kit!" I looked to see who it was. It was Daniel. He motioned to me to come over to his table. I consented to his request. As soon as I sat down, everyone at the table began talking to me. They asked questions about what I liked, what my hobbies were, and what classes I was taking. As they got to know me better, I got to know them better. Sarah told me that she was a part of the schools dance club. Josh and Karina both enjoyed singing, as did Daniel. All three of them were in the school's choir. Daniel told me that he enjoyed watching old martial arts movies. That sparked a huge conversation. Him and I had a ball talking about how corny a lot of those movies were. The others chimed in as well. We all had quite a laugh. 

Eventually the fun times had to end. The bell rang and I went off to my final class: Choir. Daniel, Josh, and Karina all followed me there. I entered the choir room with my comrades, curious to see what part they sang. Karina took her place in the soprano section, Josh sat with the basses, and Daniel and I took our spots with the tenors. When we both took our seats, one of our peers made a statement along the lines of, "Oh dear! Foxes are gonna take over the tenor section." All three of us laughed. The guy then introduced himself. His name was James Clef. The other guys then introduced themselves. There was Ryan, Chris, and Jamal. The other two tenors stuck out to me, however. First, there was Dan Ingo. He was a dingo with blue eyes. He was wearing a brown button up with brown shorts and brown boots. He certainly looked Australian. However, the thing that gave it away was his accent. When he first talked to me, he caught me be surprise with how thick his accent was. But, him and I conversed for a while and we pretty much became friends right then and there. Then there was Lobo. He was a blue wolf with brown eyes. He was wearing a black t-shirt with blue jeans and black and white Converse. There was something special about him, though. When we were both talking to each other, it seemed as if we had known each other for a long time. There was just some sort of connection between us. It felt like we had been best friends for years...

Eventually, the choir teacher, Mr. McCarthy, went up to his podium. Interesting fellow, that Mr. McCarthy. He was a green Akita with quite a happy disposition, as he was at his desk humming a happy tune. Even when he went up to his podium, his disposition did not change. You could tell, though, he had authority over us. The room fell quiet when he arrived. You could've heard a pin drop from a mile away. He then introduced himself and started talking about what we would be doing this year. He then said something that stuck out to me, "Next week, there will be small group tryouts." Anyone who is interested can talk to me to set up a time and a date to meet." The bell than rang, marking the end of the school-day.

I made my way back home. My mom had been sitting down on the front porch waiting for me. We both went into the house. It was then that I noticed a delicious aroma filling the air. "Mom, is that spaghetti?" "You know it, kid." "Aw yeah!" I exclaimed happily.  My mom than told me to wash up. Afterward, we both sat down and ate our dinner. 

Then came the part I didn't like.

"All right, Kit. I have to go work now. I'll be back at five a.m." "Okay, mom," I said in the fakest tone that could ever be mustered. The funny thing is it sounded so fake, it almost made it sound like I didn't even mind that my mom wouldn't be home until early in the morning. But, I did mind. I hated being at home all by myself. I also wasn't very fond of my mom having to work the night-shift at the hospital. But for one reason or another, I was never honest about how I felt when she was away. I guess I didn't want to hurt her feelings.

Her and I walked out the door to where her car was. She then instructed me to do the dishes, take a shower, and do my homework if I had any. She also told me not to stay up too late. She then gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She went in the car and drove off, while I walked back to the house. I then did all my chores. Since I didn't have any homework, I decided to watch some T.V. for a little while. It was then that Mr. McCarthy's words came back to me. I really wanted a soloist position. So, I decided to turn off the T.V. and head up to my room. I picked my guitar and sat on my bed to tune it. As I tuned my instrument, I thought about what song I should sing. When my guitar was finally tuned, a song came to mind. Before I sang, I checked the time. It was 7:30 p.m. "One song, then I'll go to sleep," I told myself. I then began to play the intro to the I had chosen. I opened my mouth to sing the first verse:

(I) turned on the t.v. yesterday.

So much pain bleedin' through.

I had to look away.

But inside of me the picture's just the same.

And every time I open up my eyes,

Nothing seems to change.

It never seems to change...

I strummed four chords before letting my voice fly on the chorus:

You give me faith

To believe there's a way,

To put the past finally behind me.

And hope to make through another night.

You give me strength,

Durin' these dark times,

When I'm blind,

You are my light.

When faith is hard to find.

I decided to end there. I was getting really tired. I put my guitar away and plopped myself in bed. Eventually I fell asleep...