She used to be my only enemy,
Never let me be free,
Catching me in places that I knew I shouldn't be
The giggles rang out, as the seven year olds sat under the bridge in their hometown. They shouldn't really be there, they were supposed to be at the mall, but this was their little spot; their best friend place.
"You can feel the cars on your butt." Peyton laughed, as she sat on the concrete base of the bride that towered over them.
Brooke giggled and sat down too, taking her best friends hand. "Why don't we-"
"Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer." A voice rang out. "You are coming home right now!" Ellie Sawyer scolded her daughter, as she stood by her car, a short way from the girls. "You too, Brooke Davis." The girls both shared a guilty look, before hugging each other, then standing up.
"I'm sorry mom." Peyton stuck out her bottom lip. "We got lost."
"You didn't get lost, Peyton, don't lie to me." Ellie told her daughter, opening the car door. "In." She watched as the young girls fastened their seatbelts.
Every other day, I crossed the line,
I didn't mean to be so bad,
Never thought you would become the friend I never had
"Hey Brooke!" Peyton called to her best friend. "Look what I can do!" She waited for her best friend to look up at her, before loosening her snicker. She kicked her foot high in the air, and watched as her snicker flew high, and landed on the other side of the tall fence.
"Your mom's gonna kill you!" Brooke exclaimed to her best friend. "You better go get it!"
"What, climb over?" Peyton gulped, looking at the height of the fence.
"Uh huh. Look, I'll help." She held a hand out for Peyton to stand on.
It wasn't until Peyton was just inches from the top that they were seen. "Young lady get down from that fence before you hurt yourself!" Ellie told the nine year old. "Now!" She ran over to the girls. "Where is your shoe?!"
Back then, I didn't know why,
Why you were misunderstood,
So now I see through your eyes,
All that you did was love
Mama I love you,
Mama I care,
Mama I love you,
Mama my friend,
You're my friend.
I didn't want to hear it then,
But I'm not ashamed to say it now,
Every little thing you said and did was right for me.
Peyton crept into her mother's bedroom and slipped onto the bed beside her. "Mommy…" She drew out, in her best innocent voice. "Remember I mentioned Brooke's birthday sleepover…"
"No." Ellie said quickly, as she scanned the book she was reading.
"But mom!" The fifteen year old pouted. "I'll be the only one in the whole class who isn't there, and I'm her best friend!" Her blonde curls bounces around her face, as she smiled sweetly.
"I don't care." Ellie stood up, and picked up a large basket of laundry. "Brooke's mom isn't home, there'll probably be drinking and boys. You're not going."
"Mom, I won't drink, I'm not stupid!" Peyton insisted, with a groan of frustration.
"You know what I said to my mom when I was fifteen?" Ellie asked Peyton, who simply looked at her. "I said 'Mom, I won't drink, I'm not stupid.' Then none months later, baby Peyton came along." She smiled at her daughter. "You're not going."
"Ugh!" Peyton exclaimed, stomping loudly to the door. "I hate you! You ruin everything!" She slammed the door behind her, and Ellie smiled to herself.
"Close the door behind you." She said sarcastically, as she heard Peyton's bedroom door slam too.
I had a lot of time to think about,
about the way I used to be,
I never had a sense of my responsibilities
"An F?" Ellie looked to her seventeen-year-old daughter. "You've never gotten and F in your life, and now it's all you've had this year. What's going on with you?"
"Nothing." Peyton said dryly, walking to her room. "I suck at art, deal with it."
"No." Ellie barged into her daughter's bedroom and looked around. "Yeah," She laughed sarcastically. "You suck at art. Peyton, why aren't you doing your work?"
"Because they want me to draw things I don't believe in." Peyton insisted. "And I won't do that. I draw what I think and what I feel, and you know that. It's not like school matters anyway." She scoffed. "High school is nothing in the real world."
Back then, I didn't know why,
Why you were misunderstood,
So now I see through your eyes,
All that you did was love
"God, why can't she listen?!" Peyton listened to her daughter's bedroom door slam closed, as she had tea with her mother.
"She reminds me of someone." Ellie smirked. "What did she do?"
"F." Peyton flashed the report card. "In English, which is dumb, because she's always writing. She's an amazing writer, so I don't understand why she's failing."
"You told me that you wouldn't draw something you didn't believe in." Ellie reminded her daughter. "Maybe she's the same with writing."
"Well it doesn't matter." Peyton shook her head. "It's School, and she has to have good grades, or she'll never be able to go to college."
"I'M NOT GOING!" Came a screaming voice, and Peyton just shook her head.
"She really does remind me of you." Ellie laughed.
"Yeah." Peyton laughed. "And you forced me to go; now I'm running my own Label." She smiled to her mother. "I love you mom, you know that, right?"
"I know." Ellie smiled. "I always have."
"Good." Peyton nodded, sipping from her cup.
"She loves you too." Ellie gestured upstairs, and Peyton laughed.
"Sometimes it doesn't feel like it. She sees me as the enemy right now."
Mama I love you,
Mama I care,
Mama I love you,
Mama my friend,
You're my friend.