Shawn Spencer lay idly on his back and stared up at the ceiling. Wondering what to do with his life from this moment onward. Of course, seeing as it was one thirty in the morning, the logical thing to do would be sleep. But Shawn found he couldn't sleep. Not yet. Not now.
Like every kid, he'd had big dreams through school. Oh yeah, he'd grow up and cure cancer. Be a private eye. Save the world. Become president. Become the guy everyone wanted to be.
Instead he'd become the guy no one wanted to be.
High school had been a struggle and he'd graduated by the skin of his teeth. Part of that was his insistence on doing fun stuff rather than applying himself. The other part was the fact that if he screwed his school work, he didn't stand a chance of ever getting into the Police Academy. That sent his dad through the roof. Which was why he did it.
After he graduated, reality hit. What now? More school? Get a job flipping burgers somewhere? Join the military? God forbid; that'd be too much like being a cop.
School was out too. He'd just gotten out of there and he sure didn't want to let himself back in for four years of mindless drudgery. And for what? A piece of paper for all his work. Granted, it was a piece of paper that would get him a better job, but would it be fun?
Shawn's life had always revolved around fun. Was it fun? Is it awesomely cool? These questions drove his actions. Seldom did he think long term and when he did, it was rarely serious. He seemed allergic to 'real work' and could never finish a job unless he was absolutely interested. That happened less often than everyone else would have liked.
In some ways, this suited Shawn just fine. It was his life, he should have a say in how it was lived. If everyone else thought he was a failure, well, screw them, right? But he also felt that in failing them, he failed himself. If he didn't live up to his potential (and he had to admit, he had some pretty amazing potential), wasn't he letting himself down? Couldn't he be better than this if he tried?
Did he want to be better than this?