AUTHOR'S NOTES: Teenage Angst

Apologies in advance for any spelling and grammatical errors.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Walking Dead or its characters

WARNINGS: Please avoid if you think the topics highlighted below may upset you.

Mentions of death, attempted suicide, drugs, sex, abuse, violence, theft, racism and some songs in some chapters

Thoughts in Italics


Misfits - People Like Us

Chapter 2


Characters: Beth, Rick, Daryl, Glenn, Carol, Michonne, Tyreese, Tara, Eugene

Featured Song: Iridescent by Linkin Park

Rick Grimes- 17 years old

"No! No! DAD!"

I had that same dream again and I wake up drenched in my sweat.

Staring at the medals and photos that cover my shelf, I feel better remembering the good days. One day, maybe, I'll make them proud.

I can hear mom going about her morning routine. I can smell bacon and eggs frying and it brings a comforting smile to my face. It's Friday, dad's Fried-breakfast-day, it's been a ritual in The Grimes Family household since I can remember. Mom calls out that breakfast is on the table and not to be late for school, she's off to work early and shouts she loves me before she leaves, I whisper "love you too" before I hear the door slam and then her pulling out the drive. I just lay there thinking and remember the old days…

"Rise and shine champ"

I cover my head with my pillow "five more minutes!"

"The day waits for no man!" I hear his teasing voice "you leave me with no other choice - wet sponge!"

"Not the wet sponge" I'm laughing like a 6 year old, jumping out of bed, running for the bathroom nearly tripping over my trainers whilst grabbing my towel. I take cover behind the door, listening for any sign of movement and I whip out in front of the doorway and aim the wet sponge and it hits a photo frame "shit" I watch as it tumbles down, I literally jump and catch the frame. My heart is beating so fast, I thought I smashed the glass and that's a bad omen. I look over checking the frame is fine and wipe it clean of water "I'm sorry dad!"

I miss him, I always thought he was invincible like superman, how foolish was I?

It's been just me and mom for two years now. Two years and we keep to our routines because it makes us feel closer to dad.

Mom is always telling me I look like dad, I don't see it, she says give it a few more years, I'll grow into my body and my features will be more defined and I'll see it. I do have his eyes and nose though. I look at the photo, maybe I will look more like him and I can't help but smile.

I really wish I could talk to mom about thangs, stuff… so many questions I have… about life, about dad's death.

I remember it as if it was yesterday. The Sherriff at the door, mom fainting in his arms from shock, we rush to the hospital in the Sheriff's cruiser, a patrol car in front and one behind us, the sirens screaming to the drivers on the roads to get out the way. We were taken to the family room, I held mom's hand, dad was in emergency surgery, I could see from where I was sitting the nurses running in and out, dad's colleagues all waiting with us and watching.

We hear the door open and the surgeon, a friend of dads, Dr. Steven Edwards takes off his mask, his eyes lock on to mine through the glass door and I just knew then, a part of me died, my dad was gone.

Dr Edwards opens the door and everyone stands, he swallows hard and looks down, dad's colleagues, his brothers of the badge slump into their seats, a few not ashamed were crying. Dr Edwards kneels in front of mom and holds her hand and mom doesn't move just stares at him, the silent river flowing down her face. I stand, everyone watches me whilst I sit on my knees in front of her, I lay my head in her lap and wrap my arms around her waist and she screams and collapses crying on top of me and I cry with her. Uncle Jack comes rushing in and drops to his knees behind me, I can him shouting "no! no! no!" he crawls over and is holding me and mom.

"You were standing in the wake of devastation
You were waiting on the edge of the unknown
With the cataclysm raining down, insides crying save me now
You were there, impossibly alone"

After that it was a blur, the 9 O'clock news, dad's picture on the front page, the funeral ceremony, me, Uncle Jack and the Deputies leading dad's casket on foot to the church, people at the house, the overstocked shelves of the fridge and freezer with cooked meals from people, flowers and I just remember seeing a lot of black suits, how I hate that colour!

"Do you feel cold and lost in desperation
You build up hope, but failure's all you've known
Remember all the sadness and frustration
And let it go, let it go."

People still talk about that day, a lot of folks are nice and say he was a brave man, how they miss him and others just whisper and give me that pity look…I don't need that. Some of the kids from school make fun about the cop that got shot, Philip Blake's smirk, I have to count to ten and walk away before I draw my fist and ram it into his face, dad taught me better than that but I'm scared what if one day, I snap and don't hold back. I wanna ask what happened to the man that shot and killed my dad but I don't dare ask, mom's got enough on her plate and I don't want to bring back the harrowing past and upset her and make her cry. I need to protect her, keep her safe just like dad would have. I've gotta be strong.

"Dad, I wish you were here, I've got nobody to talk to, I'm worried about school, college, I don't want to leave mom on her own. What subjects to choose, girls, men things, too embarrassing to talk to mom about."

I place dad's photo back on the centre of the shelf amongst his medals and photos of important milestones of his career in the Sheriff's Department. There's one of us sitting on his patrol car and I'm wearing his Stetson on my head and I'm holding my faux Colt, the exact replicate of dads. We were both happy in the photo. The Sheriff had told me to come see him when I finish school. I think he knew I always wanted to follow in dad's footstep but I don't know if I'll be good enough, I need him to show me, I'll just fall flat on my face!

"And in a burst of light that blinded every angel
As if the sky had blown the heavens into stars
You felt the gravity of tempered grace,
Falling into empty space
No one there to catch you in their arms"

I come out of my thoughts when a ladder smacks against the windowpane and then Shane stumbles onto my bedroom floor, most likely hung-over from last night when we were drinking down by the creek. I took a sip of the vodka and spat it out, it burnt my mouth. Shane drank too much and I had to carry the idiot home. He brought along a loaf of bread, he heard his dad say if you ate a whole loaf it would absorb the alcohol and you wouldn't get drunk. We never found out whether this was true, we ended up feeding the loaf to the birds and Shane practically drank a third of the bottle by himself, guy will never learn.

"Fuck, did your house grow taller or something?" Shane moaned rubbing his backside.

"No, the house is the same height as it was yesterday, the day before that and will be the same tomorrow." I say rolling my eyes as I close the bathroom door.

"Wanna skip school today and just hang out here?" Shane shouts over the sound of the shower.

"Can't, we've got football practice"

Shane walks into the bathroom and sits on the toilet. I peep my head out of the shower curtain

"And Lori will be there watching, she's got it bad for you man, hmmm…I'd definitely give her a…" Shane is dipping his finger into his other bulled up fist.

"I'd shut up if I was you Shane! Lori's way out of your league" I had to stop Shane from continuing with his graphic narration.

"So you HAVE got a thang for Miss Legs To Her Neck?!" Shane smirked

"Lori's a lady and you're a buffalo, now get out of here so I can shower" I throw a rubber duck at Shane and it makes a quack noise when it hits him. Shane gets up but before he leaves, he flushes the toilet and I swear murder whilst he walks out laughing.

Shane can be so irritating, he shares too much information, a lot of it unwanted, he doesn't believe in being discreet or the word privacy but I love him like a brother, no matter how annoying he is, he's always there for me and I'll always be there for him.

We were at football practice and Merle Dixon rolls up onto the pitch and is pushing Glenn, the Korean kid whose plays the saxhorn, he grabbed his baseball cap and chucked it into the air laughing.

"I'll have some egg fried rice with this saxhorn to go, Chinaman"

"I'm Korean" Glenn said trembling holding on to his expensive brass instrument.

Merle stole one a couple of months ago and obviously needed money to get his next fix, the nerds were the easiest targets.

I see T-Dog throw down his helmet and run over to stop Merle stealing Glenn's instrument. Merle was up in T-Dogs face verbally abusing him, T-Dog helped Glenn up and told Merle to stop and leave Glenn alone. T-Dog was ready to walk away and then Merle opened his trap…

"I'll tell you the day Mr Yo, is the day I take orders from a nigger"

T-Dog turned and swung his fist at Merle, Merle dodged the punch and slammed T-Dog to the floor pounding him left and right. I ran as fast as I could and grabbed Merle to get off but he elbowed me in the face and I fell down losing my vision, the throbbing pain, my eyes started to water. On all fours, I see my blood covering the ground, I can hear the pounding noise, T-Dog's squeals and everyone screaming. I wipe my nose and I see blood. Andrea and Jackie, cheerleader's begging Merle to stop, I turn around my eyes narrow at the scene, at the group, nobody doing anything to stop the moron. I see Merle choking T-Dog and he spits on his shirt laughing. Merle looked out of his head, high on whatever shit he's taken. I catch my breath and before I know it, staggering, I find my footing.

"yea right, we're going to have ourselves a little pow wow, talk about who's in charge, I vote me, anybody else huh? democracy time y'all, show of hands, I'm the boss, yea, anybody else? Hum?"

"Yea" I shout and then Merle gets up facing me dead in the eyes and before I know it, I punch him in the face making him fly in the air landing on his back, he wasn't expecting that. I can feel the adrenaline running through me, I walk to him and turn him over, twisting his arms behind his back and push his face into the ground stopping him from cussing, a technique I remember seeing dad use.

I can hear shouting, Merle's younger brother Daryl comes running over and throws his bag in my face, he's about to lay into me then Shane is running and spears him to the floor and grabs a hold of him. Coach Ford and the Vice Principle Joe run over and break up the fight just catching the last couple of seconds. Merle was told to leave the premises and his Probation Officers were being called. Merle just laughs walking off. He turns round…

"Y'all dead!" he forms his fingers into a gun and shoots his fingers at me, Shane, T-Dog and Glenn "Specially you Officer Friendly, you're gonna see daddy sooner than you thought!"

"Get outta here Merle!" Daryl dragged Merle and pushed him towards the gates.

Vice Principle Joe looks at me sternly, I could see the vexed look in his eyes. He told us to go see the nurse and clean ourselves up and then report to Principle Horvath's office so we can be told our punishments, there are rules and we broke a few.

Daryl picked up his bag, looked at me with hate and humiliation because of his brother and stormed off. Shane and Glenn were helping T-Dog up to take him to the nurse, Shane was calling for me to get my nose looked at. I remember pinching the bridge of my nose kicking the grass in frustration "this is all I need!"

"Just like your father, always has to be the hero. What is it with you Grimes? You think you're going to be the new sheriff in town?" Vice Principle Joe sneered at me

"Vice Principle…Merle nearly choked the life out of T-Dog, I couldn't just stand there and watch, I had to stop him, he was out of his head, I had to-"

Vice Principle Joe moved closer to me, a little too close for comfort, I just stared at the vein bulging out on his neck, he was stepping into my personal space and I have to bite my tongue.

"Listen here boy, I'm the deputy in this place, I hate smartasses and I despise the traits that remind me of your father, just like him, your undermining my authority, when we were in school, he always had to be right and then when he became deputy in this town. This school is my jurisdiction Junior, my rules, your future rests in my hands, Principle Horvath retires end of the year and then your mine for the next year Grimes and I can make yours and your friend's lives a living nightmare!"

"Do you feel cold and lost in desperation
You build up hope, but failure's all you've known
Remember all the sadness and frustration
And let it go, let it go"

I watch him scrunch the paper in his hand and let it drop to the floor and watch him marching off back in the direction of the Principles office.

I heard of the stories of dad and Vice Principle Joe from back in the day, there was some bad blood between them, envy, Uncle Jack had said. Mom is going to be disappointed in me and Vice Principle Joe will only be too happy to tell her how much of a failure I am. "Maybe I am a failure, disappointing, empty, nothing, god this is so frustrating!"

"Do you feel cold and lost in desperation
You build up hope, but failure's all you've known
Remember all the sadness and frustration
And let it go, let it go"

I begin to walk back to the changing room but stop as I see a girl running on to the track and then she falls to the floor crying. She was obviously in distress so I change direction to go over to her. I had to squint to see and recognised her as one of the Greene Girls, the younger one - Beth, the pretty blonde one that sings in Church and sometimes I see riding her horse up to the lake where the willow tree is. She used to sit there for hours, I remember it was when her mom died. I wanted to check on her, I know she's had a hard time, she looked really upset but before I make it over to her, Coach Ford is yelling to get my ass in or else he'll skin me alive. I took one look at Beth and followed the Coach, man I feel like shit!

"Let it go, Let it go, Let it go"

Now I'm sitting in detention, thinking about what I'm going to say to mom, she doesn't need this. I'm looking at my chemistry notes and all I'm thinking about is the look Principle Horvath gave me, that dad would be disappointed in me for fighting and with Merle of all people.

Before we were dismissed, he stopped me, put his hand on my shoulder and told me to come to him if I needed to talk. I looked up at him in disbelief, maybe if I spoke to him and told him about Vice Principle, I was about to open my mouth and then Vice Principle Joe appears and then I lost my nerve so I nodded my head and left.

I'm just staring at my notes, I can't concentrate, I hear everyone's voices in my head, I have to shake my head to get the thoughts to disappear then I'm snapped out of my mental torture to hear something fall hitting the floor and without thinking I lean over and pick up the object and then I bump heads with someone. I look up squinting in pain, the vibration going down towards my nose which is still throbbing, I come face to face with the pretty blue eyes with the longest lashes I've ever seen.

"Beth Green?"

She has the same expression on her face and I can't help the laugh that comes out of me and just give her a smile and I'm now handing her, her pencil.

"Why is Beth Greene in detention? I wonder if she's ok from earlier on, her eyes are still a bit puffy."

"I'm sorry, you ok?" I ask her

She looks up at me and I have to smile, she's looking around for some reason, she looks kinda sweet doing that. Without thinking I touch her head…

"I'm sorry, you're probably gonna get a bump on your head because of me, completely my fault. We'll have matchin' bumps" I don't know why but I bend my head down to show her my developing bump.

She's just looking at me, I'm still leaning next to her chair, I don't know why but I'm holding my hand out to her, remembering my manners my parents taught me but nobody does this anymore "I'm such an idiot!"

"I'm Rick"

She's slowly putting her hand out to me and our hands touch

"I'm, I'm, Maggie's si…" she says

"Beth Greene" I answer, I know her sister, she's in a few of my classes but I've never spoken to Beth, I think she's two years below me.

"Yeah, I'm Beth Greene" she says, her voice soft and angelic which is nice and soothing

Her eyes were wide and shocked for some reason and I can't help but grin "I hope I don't look like a weirdo but she's looks so sweet staring like that"

I hand her back her pencil, her fingers touch mine, I feel something like electric shoot through my body from her touch. She's just looking at me, I want to ask her why she was crying earlier but the teachers making his way round and we both snap back in our seats looking back at our books.

Detention doesn't seem so bad after all.

Next Introduction – Daryl Dixon...