Chapter 2; Living the Dream, Well Almost

I was on my way to work when I met her.  I had missed my carpool and I wasn't in the mood to pay for a cab so I decided to walk.  I had never made a better decision.  As soon as I saw her I had an overpowering urge to go and talk to her, so I did.
     "Hello, the weather is lovely today, but not as lovely as you are," I grinned cheesily.
     "Damien Grey, right?" she said.  "I'm going to pretend that you never said that."
     "Wait how do you know my name?"
     "Your name has been floating around town Damien, you're a bit of a celebrity you know," she replied.
We continued to talk for a while longer until I really needed to get going again.  I didn't want to be late for work.  I did manage to find out a bit about her though,  her name was Leah French and she was new to Sunset Valley.
     "Leah I have to go to work now but I would appreciate it if you dropped by to vist my apartment later.  If I'm as famous as you claim you should have no trouble finding it," I said.
     "Fine, I think I can mange," she said.

After work I was pleased to see that Leah had actually came.
     "So did you have trouble finding the place sweetheart?" I asked her playfully.
     "Not really, it's the only apartment in town that's big enough to suit your ego," she said.
     "Well you're here now so let's go upstairs, shall we?"
     "Actually I'm really enjoying the music down here, can we stay?"
     "Sure, I'm a virtuoso myself," I smiled.

We talked about our interests and likes and dislikes for a while and it turned out that we had a lot in common.

     "Well Damien I have to go run some errands now but I actually enjoyed talking to you," she said.

     "Aw, alright Leah," I replied sadly.

She scribbled something down a piece of paper and handed it to me.

     "Here's my number, try not to call it too much," she winked.

     "Okay, well bye," I smiled, nervously accepting the slip of paper.

She came over again the next day, and I didn't even have to ask her.

     "Hey Damien, I was jogging past so I decided to drop in and visit," she greeted after I buzzed her into my apartment.

     "Well I'm glad you did," I smiled.

Just the sight of her made my stomach turn to butterflies.

    "Well Damien I actually came here to make something clear to you.  Obviously, you're interested in me.  I'm not saying that I'm not interested in you too, but I can't handle this Damien.  You're famous and I don't think that I could date a celebrity.  There would be too much pressure put on us and Damien you'll be seeing so many beautiful girls and I'm not sure if I'd be able to trust you.  I'm sorry Damien," she said.

    "If that's what you want Leah," I sighed, lowering my head.

    "Thank you, I suppose I should be getting back to my run now.  Please don't call me unless you're interested in just having a friendship, okay?"

I nodded, it felt like my heart had dropped through the floor.

I decided to disobey her words anyways and I invited her over the next day, just as a 'friend'.  She accepted.

I had a trick up my sleeve though, my guitar.  There was no way she'd be able to resist me after the song I was going to play just for her.

And it worked, I took her hands afterwards and she didn't pull them away.  The look in her eyes told me she was under my spell.

     "Leah, I promise I won't let fame get in the way of us.  I'll be completely faithful to you," I said.

     "Damien I don't kn-" she managed to say, before I cut her off.

I kissed her before she could say anything else.  The sparks flew like fireworks and I could tell she felt the same way I did.

We spent the rest of the night cuddling on the couch.  Everything was perfect, except for the argument with Shanna that was still fresh on my mind.  I didn't want to worry about that though, I wanted to enjoy every second with Leah.

     "Damien, do you really promise not to let the fame get to your head?  I'm really stepping out on a limb here," she asked, the fear in her eyes scared even me.

I wasn't sure how I'd handle the fame, I wasn't a huge celebrity yet but it was coming and we both knew it.

     "Leah, of course I promise," I replied confidently even though on the inside I was completely unsure.

Chapter 1; Welcome To My Life

Being a teenager is hard.  You're treated like a child but expected to act like an adult.  The kids you're sent to school with are vicious and judgemental.  Teachers make you do mountains of homework each night and the tests are harder than flying a plane.  Who cares about math and science if you're going to be a famous musician someday?  Seriously, highschool is the most pointless excuse of an education ever.  That would be why I did what I wanted to instead of waste my precious lifetime being a straight A student and going to sleep at exactly 8:00 PM every night.

Shanna had ditched me.  Her life was her education, pathetic right?  I apparently no longer met her 'friend expectations'.  I never knew Shanna could be such a bitch.  She didn't seem like that when we were kids.  Whatever, I didn't need her anyways.  I had new friends now and it was way more fun hanging out with them.

Yes, I'll admit there were times when I would look in the mirror and hate what I saw.  There were times when I hated what I had become, but I was having too much fun to stop and go back to the way I was before.  This was the new me, and this was how it would stay.  The music industry doesn't want some boring straight A nerd.

Whenever mom would pass me in the house she'd always throw me a supportive smile, and it made me sick to my stomach.  It was obvious my parents had stopped understanding me as I soon as I turned 13, I wasn't falling for her stupid gestures and acts of support.  Dad was a complete jerk and wouldn't even speak to me when he saw me, but it doesn't matter since he's dead now.  I didn't even waste my time attending his funeral, I was out drinking with my friends and having fun.

As soon as I turned 18 I moved into my own apartment.

It was perfect.  It was expensive as hell, but perfect.  There was a room downstairs for band rehearsals also.

The only downside what that it was so lonely, but I was a loner anyways so it wasn't that bad.  It was just a little odd owning a 4 bedroom apartment and being the only one living there.

I made quite the profit playing guitar at the park.  I had also been offered a job in the music career as Fan, which I gladly accepted.  This job was just the beginning of what I wanted to be someday, a famous Rockstar.

One night as I was sitting in my apartment lobby listening to a band practice my phone had began ringing.  I answered it and it turned out to be Shanna.

     "Uhm hello Damien," she said awkwardly.

     "Yes?" I replied.

     "I'm having a party tonight and I was wondering if you would like to attend.  It starts at eight."

     "Uh well I'll have to sneak out of work a little early, but sure."

     "Ok!" she said, then hung up.

Weird, why would Shanna invite me to a party of hers?

So at about 6 I snuck out of work.  I know that seems early, but I stopped at the local club to get a few drinks before I went to the party.

I left the club at about 7:30 and went to the party.  I was actually really glad to see Shanna again, it had been such a long time.  I smiled and greeted her, but she didn't say anything.

The look on her face was serious, she seemed a bit angry.

     "You haven't changed at all, have you..." she sighed disappointed.

     "Uh excuse me?" I said confused.

     "Damien stop pretending that this is you.  The Damien I remember would never act like this.  You skipped your own father's funeral Damien.  I can smell the alcohol on you.  Damien, why?" she asked, she seemed almost close to tears.

     "Who do you think you are, my mother?!  Shanna I'm not a kid anymore, I've grown up now.  What I do is none of your concern or business, don't tell me how to live my life!" I growled angrily back at her.

I could see the tears forming in her eyes and she quickly turned her head and walked past me.

     "Whatever, sorry for caring," she whispered.

I didn't say anything, I just stood there.  

I didn't see Shanna for the whole rest of the party.

Chapter 8; An End

It was my son that had gained a new reputation around town, and it definitely wasn't a good one.  People would whisper, gossip and rumors flew all around town about him.  He was constantly being arrested for many things.  Whether it was staying out past curfew, doing drugs, sneaking into private property, sneaking into concerts etc.  I was starting to grow ashamed of calling him my son.  Cesar was beyond that, he pretty much denied even knowing his own child.

It all began after he started befriending a new group of kids.  He would stay out late and hang out with them.  Often after being with them he would come home (driven by police) smelling of alcohol and other illegal substances.

He had even drifted away from Shanna, his 'old' best friend.  The two never talked anymore and I never saw them together.  I had hoped they would stay friends and she'd be able to talk sense to him, but no such luck.  She wouldn't even associate with him.  She was a good girl, it was understandable that she wouldn't want to have anything to do with a bad influence like my son.  I just don't understand what happened to him, he used to be so happy and innocent.  Where did it all go wrong?

Though almost everything about him had changed, one thing stayed the same.  His love for music.  At least there was one part left inside of that body that reminded me he was my son.  The rest of him was unrecognizable to me.

Though nothing I feel is important any longer, for this is the end of my chapter.  I have achieved all of my wishes and there is nothing left for me to do.  Damien is now in charge of carrying on the family name.  I wish him luck, I really do.

Chapter 7; My Little Rockstar

     "Would you mind cleaning up a bit Damien, Diane is going to be coming over soon," Cesar said to his son.

     "Er sure Dad," Damien replied with a hint of distaste in his voice.
     "Thanks."
Damien wasn't fond of Diane either, it was like he could tell it made me upset when she came over.  He was a smart child.

Damien would try everything he could to ignore when Diane was around.  He was suspicious about his father's intentions with her as well.  Was she really just a friend of Cesar's?  She did come over pretty often...

After Damien finished his homework and left the room, Diane began to flirt with Cesar.

Except, Cesar really was a changed man after all.  He turned down all of Diane's signs of affection and tried to change the subject.

But she continued to try to win him over.  Eventually, Cesar grew very annoyed and uncomfortable.
     "Look Diane, I want to be your friend, that is all.  Nothing more.  I'm married, I have a son!  If you're looking for a relationship, try someone else," he growled at her.
She was very angry and stormed out of the house without even saying goodbye.

And soon Cesar had joined me in elderhood as well.  He was still very handsome of course.

Our love continued to stay strong even after all these years.

He also retired.  We were making enough money already between my job and all of the money I was getting from discovering stars.  He was miserable from working in his old age and we decided that it would be best for him to just retire and relax from now on.

My little boy grew up into a very handsome young man.

He was still best friends with Shanna of course and I was very pleased to see that their friendship had made it this far.  Some things never change after all.

Damien developed his own style and though Cesar and I didn't really understand it, we supported him nonetheless.

But Damien was becoming more and more distant from Cesar and I.  The door to the open communication we had once had with him had shut, and he would rarely even greet us when he came home from school.

Eventually he started wearing darker eye makeup, he got a few facial piercings, and his grades began to drop significantly.  We grew extremely concerned at that point, and it felt like we had no understanding of who our son was anymore at all.

Though he chose not to express himself to us, he expressed himself through his music.  He was amazingly talented at playing guitar.  I honestly believed that we had a prodigy on our hands.  He loved music, and when he did talk to us, it was about how he was going to be a big rockstar someday.  We encouraged him to follow his dreams, and we promised to support him no matter what.  However I was scared for him, the music industry could be so cruel.  You had to have certain looks, style, skill, and behavior.  Making a living as a musician could be extremely rough and risky.