I waited at the bar with a cigarette in one hand and a glass of vodka in the other. Sonny was supposed to meet me here and I was happy because it was my first night off in weeks and I was going to spend it with my best friend. I took a long sip from my glass and gave myself a small smile as I waited.

My name is Roxanne 'Roxy' Juraasaki (Ger-ä-ski) and my best friend is Sonny Grotowski. I worked as waitress with my friend Lucille, Cecilia (Lucille's daughter), and Betty while Sonny was the Lieutenant at the Jacksonville Correctional Facility. I have shoulder length black hair that was layered to give my hair volume and my eyes are pale blue. I was forced to live in Louisiana with my step-father and mom when I was fifteen and I was enrolled as a freshman at the public high school in the middle of the school year.

That's where I met Sonny for the first time. His father, Hank, is also a correctional officer, like Sonny is now. Because of his father I was first introduced to Sonny. My mother met Hank, he told me about Sonny, I met Sonny and after that, he instantly became friends. Why… because we are complete opposites.

Sonny has dirty-blonde hair, brown eyes, he's tall, and he has a real father who hates his guts. I, on the other hand, have black hair, blue eyes, I'm kinda short, and I have a step-father who loves me way too much. He actually thought he was my real father and that, I think, upsets me the most about him.

Throughout the rest of freshman year and to about the middle of sophomore year, I thought of Sonny as only my friend, but once I started to take boys a little more… interesting, I actually began to develop an ever-growing crush on him. When I found out I was Sonny's only friend who was a girl, I was extremely happy. He was one of the most handsome and popular guys in my grade and to find out that was his only friend of the opposite sex made me feel superior to the other girls who liked Sonny as much as I did.

During junior year, Sonny and I had grown very close to each other. We hung out at the diner, we went to each other's houses, and hell we even got our first job together at the local gas station. I thought that when prom came around, he was going to ask me, but to my total surprise and horror he asked out Vera or aka the school slut. This absolutely tore me apart. Eventually, I was asked to prom by a handful of guys, but I denied all of them… because I loved Sonny and he was the only guy I wanted to go to prom with.

I remember the first time I ever found the reason Sonny's father and grandfather let me be friends with Sonny. It was because I am a white female. This utterly shocked me. I found out, that if I were anything but Caucasian then I would not be allowed to be friends with, associate with, or even communicate with Sonny. That's that day I learned that there was still racism in our world. This also broke my heart.

I was friends with plenty of Caucasian, Asian, Hispanic, and African American people and to learn that my best friend's family still had the morals of a 1960's perspective made me think out of the box and into the world of reality, especially here in the deep South.

After Sonny and I graduated high school, I began to work at the dinner and Sonny wanted to become a correctional officer, just like his father and grandfather. One day, out of blind curiosity, I asked him why he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps. He replied simply with, "I want to make them proud of me, for the first time in my life; I want them to be proud of Sonny Grotowski."

I looked up at the clock on the wall in front of me and it read ten-thirty p.m. I arrived at the bar at eight o'clock, because that is when we arranged to meet, and I had been waiting for Sonny for two in a half hours. I sighed, finished my vodka, and took a quick puff from my cigarette. I pulled out a ten from my pocket and laid it on the counter.

"Keep the change." I said to the barkeep.

She smiled at me and waved, "Thanks Roxy, see ya later."

"See ya." I replied as I got up from the bar stool and making my way to the exit of the bar. Once outside I started my long walk home. I lived not to far from the bar, or the diner, or even Sonny's house. I live in an apartment building which is owned by the step-father Doug. I live on the second floor (it has four floors including the underground apartments, but the first aboveground floor counts as the "first" floor).

I didn't own a car and usually received a ride from Sonny or Cecilia so I walked down the streets most of the time. It was good exercise; it keeps me fit and healthy. I didn't do much exercise, so this was the best thing I can do for my body. I was walking past the diner that I worked at and glanced quickly inside. I saw Cecilia and her mother and I smiled at them.

"Hello Roxanne, what are you doing here this late at night?" A deep voice called out behind me.

I gasped and spun around, only to be staring at Hank. "Oh, Mr. Grotowski, you scared me." I said kindly, "I was just leaving the bar."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Alone?" He asked.

I nodded my head. "Yes, sir, well actually Sonny was supposed to meet me here for a few drinks… but he never showed up."

"He ditched you?" Hank asked, a tone of anger could be detected from his voice.

Shit, I was gonna get Sonny in trouble. I shook my head frantically. "No, no, he didn't ditch me, per se. I just bet he had something on his mind and he simply forgot. It's an effortless mistake."

Hank brought his hands to his face and he messaged his temples. "That boy's gonna get it." I heard him mutter to himself. He looked up at me. "Do you need a ride home, Roxanne?"

"Oh, that isn't necessary sir; I was planning on walking home, but thank you for the offer."

"No, really Roxanne, I'll give you a ride since that no good son of mine left you waiting for him at the bar."

I hated when he talked like that about Sonny. It broke my heart to hear a father say things like that about his own son. "Well, if you insist, sir, a ride would be wonderful."

"Well, let's hurry and get you home." He stated as we made our way to Hank's car.

I got in and buckled my seatbelt. He got in and turned on the car. After a few minutes of driving in silence, my politeness got the best of me.

"How is your father Mr. Grotowski?" I asked. "Well, I hope."

Hank turned his eyes away from the road and gave me a quick glance. "He's fine, I suppose. And your mother how is she?"

I looked out the window to avoid eye contact. "She is alright; I think she might be getting sick, so I'm going to take her to the doctor probably tomorrow."

"I hope she is alright. And your step-dad… how is he?"

"Doug is… Doug, I guess. He's the same as usual."

"Does he treat you and your mother right?" Hank asked blandly.

I nodded, "Yeah, he treats us good. He acts like my real father though and that kinda annoys me."

"Why?" he asked.

I bit my lower lip. "Because he's not." I replied. "He thinks I'm his actual daughter and that makes him think he has certain authority over me. I still respect him and all don't get me wrong sir, but sometimes he can think a little too far ahead of himself. If you know what I mean, sir."

Hank coughed and looked out of the window as we stopped at a stop sign. "Yeah, I know where you are getting at."

We were silent again until we reached my apartment building. I got out of the car and leaned on my side of the door. Hank rolled down the window. "Thanks for the ride, Mr. Grotowski."

"Anytime Roxanne." He retorted.

I looked up at the sky before looking back at Hank. "Can you tell Sonny to call me when he gets the chance? I wanna talk to him about something important."

He nodded. "Sure thing, Roxanne and don't worry I'll straighten that boy out for making you wait on his ass."

My eyes widened and I raised my hands, "That's not needed, sir, please. Just have him call me, alright?"

"Will do; now get inside before some pervert kidnaps you." He smiled dryly.

I smiled back. "Okay, have a good night sir."

I turned away from the car and ran up the steps to the entrance of the apartment. I took my keys outta my pocket and put the right one into the keyhole. I opened went inside and ran up the flights of stairs until I reached my floor. I walked to apartment room number 14 and unlocked the door before going inside. I made my way to my answering machine and pressed the play button. There was only one message and it was from Lucille. She told me that I didn't have to come to work the next day since her daughter Cecilia had the morning shift. I smiled. Good, I didn't have to work, so now I can actually sleep in tomorrow. I was too tired to get out of my clothes so I just threw myself into my bed in my room before falling asleep quickly.

(Third Person POV)

Sonny got out of his truck and hid his whisky bottle in the back pockets of his camouflaged style pants. He wasn't drunk, but he sure as hell wished he had been. It was late and Sonny had just visited Vera, one of the town's only prostitutes. Lately, Sonny hasn't been feeling like himself. Soon, he will become a man by sending another man to his death. Soon, he will execute the "cop killer" Lawrence Musgrove and the whole situation made Sonny feel nervous.

Sonny quietly made his way inside his home and up the stairs to his room. At this time of night his grandfather was asleep and his dad was at the diner getting a bowl of ice cream and a cup of coffee. He tipped toed up until he made it to his dark and isolated room in, what should've been, the attic. He closed the door and sighed heavily before turning on the light switch. He spun around only to face his father Hank who sat on Sonny's bed.

"Jeez dad, you almost gave me a heart attack!" Sonny exclaimed with a smile on his face, but he only received a scowl from his father.

"Didn't you have anything to do tonight, Sonny?" Hank asked in a deadly tone.

Sonny shook his head, "Not that I know of."

Hank sighed angrily and got off of Sonny's bed; he walked over towards his son.

Hank stopped in front of his son and frowned. "Roxanne wants you to call her."

Just at the very moment Hank said 'Roxanne', Sonny's memory of what he was suppose to do that night flooded his mind. "Shit," Sonny breathed out, "shit, I was supposed to meet her at the bar tonight! God damn it, I forgot all about it!" Sonny said as he placed a hand on his forehead.

Hank growled and then before Sonny knew it, Hank's palm had made serious contact with the side of Sonny's head. Sonny flinched at the sudden pain he felt in his head.

"You fucking idiot." Hank spat at his son. "You and Roxanne had a meeting arrange and what do you do? You go and leave her waiting for you all night long. What kind of good for nothing son did I raise, huh?"

Sonny remained silent.

"Answer me, God damn it!"

"I'm sorry, sir." Sonny replied in a soft tone.

"Don't tell me you're sorry you sack of shit. Call Roxanne and apologize to her! And don't you dare think of leaving this room because if you do, I'll beat your sorry ass so hard you'd wish I killed you instead." And with that Hank stormed out of Sonny's room and slammed the door behind him as hard as he could, leaving Sonny in an angst-like state.

Out of blind fury, Sonny grabbed the closet thing he had to him, which was a framed picture of him and his best friend Roxy, and he chucked it across the room, sending it flying towards the wall. It made contact and the glass around the frame shattered into a few chunks of pieces. When Sonny realized what he had done, he walked over to the wall and picked up the picture. He glanced over it a couple of times before stuffing it into his pant pockets.

Feeling guilty of what he had done to his life-long friend, he hesitantly made his way to his house phone that lay on a desk in the corner of his room and dialed Roxy's number. He heard it ring and so he waited.

Meanwhile, Roxy had fallen into a light sleep before she was abruptly awoken to the sound of her telephone ringing. She growled and picked up her phone from the nightstand.

"Hello?" She asked yawning.

"Hey Roxy, it's Sonny, do you have time to talk?"

Roxy sat up in her bed and looked over at the clock. She sighed. "Sonny, do we have to talk now? It's eleven forty-five at night; couldn't you have called me in the morning? It's late."

There was a long silence before Sonny replied. "I'm sorry; do you want me to call you back tomorrow?"

Roxy yawned again. "No, no, since I'm up we can talk. So why did you call me?"

"… Because you asked me to." Sonny retorted, confusing himself.

Roxy smiled wearily. "Oh yeah, sorry, the time is making me disoriented. I waited for you at the bat tonight and you completely forgot about me."

"I know and I'm truly sorry about that. I was thinking I can make it up to you."

Roxy hesitated. "How?"

"I can buy you breakfast tomorrow and we can talk, if you'd like."

"What? Buy me a coffee and a doughnut? Sorry Sonny, but that doesn't qualify as breakfast."

"No, I was planning on taking you to the diner for a real breakfast." He said sweetly.

Roxy bit her lower lip. "If it's your treat… then fine, having breakfast with you sounds great. What time should you pick me up?" She asked.

Sonny smiled to himself. "I'll pick up around eight, how does that sound to you?"

"Eight sounds just fine, I just hope you don't forget about this and remember to come and pick me up." Roxy teased.

"I wouldn't dream of forgetting. Good night Roxy." Sonny said thoughtfully, making Roxy giggle lightly.

"Good night Sonny, I'll see ya in the morning." She said before hanging up her phone and returning to her sleep.

Sonny sighed in relief as he hung up the phone. He thought for a moment before he turned to the desk behind him and he opened a drawer. Inside, there was a pile of older photos. All of them where photos of Sonny and Roxy throughout high school when they where young teens.

Sonny picked up the pile and made his way to his bed where he sat down on the edge. He flipped through the photos quietly. He chuckled at a few and some made him want to cry. Others Sonny wished he could relive, they were just that great. But some of them made him wish they never occurred.

There was one of him and Roxy sitting at a swing set and one with the teens at the beach, sitting by the water and waiting for the tide to come in. Sonny flipped through more of them. There were a couple of photos of them in the middle of the field. That's where they spent time to get away from their family. Some were of just them sitting in the grass, there was one or two with Roxy standing with her arms open, and there was one with Sonny giving Roxy a piggy-back ride.

How where these weird but unique photos taken if they where alone? Roxy had an old camera that had a timer on it, so the teens simply placed the camera on a secure place and turned on the timer. Then, they posed for their photo and it was taken. That's how they spent most of their time: taking pictures.

They took pictures, watched movies at Roxy's apartment (when she still lived with her mom and step-dad), and they listened to music in Roxy's room. That was their favorite pass time, listing to music. Sonny would bring cassettes to Roxy's place and they would spend hours just listening and discussing what they thought the song meant or how they felt about it. Sonny remembered Roxy's favorite song was "Earth Angel" sung by Marvin Berry from the movie Back to the Future. He remembered, if she was in a sour mood all he had to do was put that song on and Roxy would forget what she was mad about and smile.

Sonny placed the photos on his nightstand and lay down on his bed; he placed his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. Maybe, tomorrow will come quicker then Sonny wished it would.