Innocence Lost – Becoming Myra McQueen
I wrote this fic way back in 2007 and 2008 so some of the things in it have later been contradicted by the show itself, and may seem far-fetched by now. Still, I like it and hope you guys here enjoy it. I have to admit, I'm actually quite proud of it! :)
1) Great Expectations
'She's gonna be somebody, our Myra!' had been the family motto for as long as Myra McQueen could remember. And Myra was determined that that was exactly what she was gonna do, she was gonna be the McQueen who would break the mould, she was gonna go to college, study English and become a teacher.
Ever since her first day at school, she'd known that she belonged in the classroom. She loved the smell of the chalk and the blackboard, she loved the sound of her classmates stuttering with their reading and quietly practicing their writing and their adding and subtracting. She even loved the noisy disruptions, the boys running after each other and the fun she had with her girlfriends on the school grounds.
Celebrating her sixteenth birthday, Myra was still at the top of her class, and earlier that week the head teacher had approached her, asking whether she had started thinking about college. She had of course said "yes," she'd been thinking about college for years, but she also knew that her family would never in a million years be able to send her to any of the top colleges in the country. They would even be struggling to send her to the local college, but that was a struggle they were all willing to take on.
Hearing this, the head teacher had told her that she wasn't just the top of her year, in fact she was the best pupil he had ever met at their school. That's why he'd done some research into funding available for students like her and he'd told her the surprising news that with the grades she'd been receiving through the years, she might even be eligible for a full grant at some of the top colleges, which would cover both tuition fees and halls accommodation.
She excitedly told her parents what the head teacher had said and they were as excited as she was, but still tried to keep calm as they didn't want to be too optimistic. College was after all three years away and the McQueens knew that money didn't grow on trees, especially for people like them. But Myra was certain she would get this grant, she just knew it in her heart.
Her parents had organised a big party for her birthday, her mother had baked some cakes and her entire family and her best girlfriends were there. After the cake had been eaten, her dad went down the pub with her older brothers and other family members and surprisingly her mum had decided to join them, leaving the girls alone in the flat.
When the grown-ups had left, her friend Shirley told them that a boy in the year above was having a birthday party at his place and that his friend had told them that everyone was invited. Myra was uncertain whether they should be leaving her place as her parents hadn't told her she was allowed to go out for the night, but her friends pestered her and finally managed to convince her to come along – it was after all her birthday!
At the party, it turned out there were only boys there, all of them older than they were, and most of them were drinking. Shirley introduced Myra as the 'birthday girl' to the entire party so all of them were really friendly, and after a while, she found herself sitting on a sofa in the living room talking to a handsome dark-haired boy, well a young man really. His name was Michael and he was the older brother of John, the birthday boy. She was handed a drink and believing it was lemonade, she took a sip. When she tasted it she winced at the surprising bitterness. Michael laughed and asked whether she'd never had a G&T before. She smiled shyly as she shook her head and took another sip.