Jane Turnblad has no future, but she used to. She was going to be a teacher, an English teacher, to be exact, but after her rape she left her school in Washington DC, and decided that she was too scared to go back. For three months, she laid on her couch, watching television with either her sister, mother, or father, but once they came in she felt uneasy. She refused to tell them what happened to her, she did not want their vision of her to change even more than it already did. To them, she was different. Because someone beat her and took advantage to her and nearly killed her, she was a stranger to her family.

After four months, her mother gave her the inspiration to get off of the couch and go outside. One night, as she sat with her mother watching the television, her mother told her that she needed to put this behind her; she wasn't going to forget what happened, but she shouldn't let the pain of the past turn her into a zombie. Edna Turnblad used herself as an example; because she was so afraid of how people would think about her, she didn't leave the house. She told her oldest daughter that she didn't want that kind of life for Jane, and after that, Jane took her mother's words and lived by them. She wasn't herself, but slowly, she was getting there.

Going outside again after the rape was harder than Jane thought it would be. She was constantly afraid, and she saw his dark, shadowy face everywhere. She felt his hands cover her mouth again and again, and she didn't trust those around her.

She sought refuge in the library she grew up going to, the one her father took her to everyday before Tracy was born, and while Tracy was a young baby. It was the place where she and her father could be alone together, to get their father-daughter time in. After Tracy was old enough to start reading books, Wilbur brought her along with them, but clearly, Tracy was not fond of all the books and knowledge in the library, and soon after, Tracy stopped going. When she was about thirteen, and could start going to places on her own, Wilbur stopped going also, so he could work more hours at his shop.

At first, Jane sat at the tables, reading a large amount of books, feeling depressed. Her high school peers started their sophomore year of college, while she remained in Baltimore, timid and afraid. After a few weeks, Jane was offered a job at the library, and soon began helping with everything. It was now her dream job; she was safe and secure with the old librarian and the books.

It was Thursday afternoon, and Jane was sitting on the couch, helping her mother package clothes. She glanced at the clock, which read 3:58, and at any moment Tracy and her friend Penny would come barging in to dance and sing to the Corny Collin's show, which was on at four.

The door slammed open at 3:59, and Tracy, who was practically dragging Penny in the living room, turned on the television and started jumping up and down lightly. The Corny Collin's show was now starting.

Hey there, Teenage Baltimore!

Don't change that channel!

'Cause it's time for the Corny

Collins Show! Brought to you by

Ultra Clutch Hairspray!

Jane had the Corny Collin's theme song memorized, for every day in those four months she stayed on the couch at home Tracy would watch and dance along with it. At first, Tracy was hesitant about watching the Corny Collin's show around her sister, as if the dancing and singing would make her feel worse, and after Jane insisted that it was fine for her sister to watch it, Tracy would finally give in. Jane could tell that her sister worried, though, because as she would dance, she would suddenly stop to look at Jane, to see if anything was wrong, and numerous times each day Jane had to convince Tracy that she was alright. But after a few weeks, everything was fine, and Tracy stopped hesitating to see if her sister was all right, and just kept on dancing.

Deep down, Jane liked watching Corny Collins, there was just something about his grin that drew her into him, like a magnetic force, and his voice was deep and smooth.

Everyday, Edna Turnblad would complain about the volume the girl's had the TV on, and how the music and dancing was melting the girl's brains into mud. Tracy and Penny were explaining to Edna about the new dance, that had something to do with chickens, when Prudy Pingleton, Penny's mother, walked in to get her pants. In a desperate rush, Penny almost knocked Jane backwards as she jumped behind the couch.

Before she was afraid of the entire male gender, she thought that the only person who would truly scare her was Prudy Pingleton. There was no one on the Earth like her, and deep down, Jane thanked God for that. Prudy was strict and stern, and limited her daughter from everything, and frankly, she was just plain frightening. The angry look on her face seemed permanent, and never once did Jane see the woman smile.

Tracy tried to save her friend, but as she told her mother not to let Mrs. Pingleton know that her daughter was at their house without her permission, Edna, shocked that her daughter would think that she would lie to a client, let Prudy know where her daughter was, and the two of them left; Penny was now banned from the Turnblad's house.

Jane had a feeling that Tracy and Edna were going to fight, again. So, grabbing her sweater and putting it on, she said, "I'm going to the library." And left.

She hated it when her mother and sister fought, it was all because Tracy, unlike their parents, and now her, did not see past Baltimore; she saw the world and all of the exotic places, and sought fame, glamour, and fortune. Edna, however, was afraid that her daughter, who was obviously not the thinnest girl in her class, would get hurt when she finally went out to get her big break.

The library was only a few minutes from the Turnblad's house, which made it an easy place to go escape to when she didn't want to be home. She opened the large glass entrance door, and walked towards one of the bookcases that held fiction books. Sometimes, she picked books she had never heard of before, but most of the time, she would pick up old pieces of fiction that she loved dearly, and had read many times.

Swiftly, she walked up and down the aisles, her finger brushing against the spines of the books as she walked. She stopped every once in a while to put a book in its proper place, because it was what she was used to doing during the day.

It was warm in the library, and Jane regretted bringing her sweater with her, and it was then when she noticed that the sweater didn't even match the dress she was wearing. Quickly, she took it off and draped it over her arm as she continued to look around for something to read. Finally, she found something that had always interested her, Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell. She took the old book in her hand, and sat down at one of the tables that was scattered nearby the bookshelves, and began to read.

If someone asked her to, she could recite most of Gone With the Wind, she knew certain parts line by line, and others she knew only a little bit, but if someone asked her for the summary of the book, Jane would go into a whole tangent about the book, it's beauty, and what it is about.

She was on chapter three when the head librarian called her to the front table. Frowning slightly as she closed the book, Jane went up to see what the old woman wanted. "Yes?" She asked sweetly.

"I know you're not working right now," The librarian said. "But this young man here needs help finding a book." The librarian pointed to the person standing next to her, and looking over, Jane realized that it was Corny Collins himself. Quickly, she looked up at the clock on the wall, which read five o'clock.

Thinking about Corny Collins being away from the Corny Collins show was like thinking about teachers having a life outside of school. It was rarely thought about, and once you saw your history teacher, or Corny Collins, outside of their "territory" it was strange.

"What are you looking for?" She asked him, expecting him to tell me the name of a biography of a dancer or singer.

"The Catcher in the Rye." He responded, and without even thinking, she blurted out:

"You read?" She covered my mouth quickly. "Oh golly, I'm sorry- I was thinking about your theme song…" she bit down on my lip as she slowly moved her hand away from her mouth.

"Follow me," She sighed as she led him to the bookshelf that held the book that he wanted.

"I rarely read, actually," Corny said as she knelt down to get the book. "So you watch my show?"

He was standing close to her, and whenever she felt that someone was standing too close to her, she started to shake slightly. It was a good thing she was on the ground, because if he noticed that she was shaking, he would think it was because she was trying to balance herself. When she breathed in and smelled his cologne, she could almost smell an after smell of sickly sweet cherries, of alcohol.

"Actually, I don't." She replied as she picked up the book and gave it to him. "My sister does every single day. She watches it so much I've memorized the theme song. Here, I'll come ring that book up."

"I have a problem with that," He said as she stood up. When she stood up she found herself inches away from him, and she had to move back before she started to shake even more.

"Why? Are you suddenly angry that I indicated that I thought you were illiterate, or because I don't watch your show?" To some extent, she was being serious, but in actuality, she was joking.

"I don't have a library card," He said, a bigger smile growing on his face. "And you don't watch my show."

"Well I'm sure that Mrs. Johnston can help you about the library card," She said.

"What? You're not going to give me a library card?"

"I have to go. I'm not working tonight I was just reading. If I were working, I guess I could've helped you with the card. But, if I stay here any longer, my mother will kill me."

"Well, when do you work?" He asked.

"Tomorrow from seven 'till twelve, why?" She asked.

"Well, I'll go put this back, and come back tomorrow at eleven thirty so you can help me again," Corny smiled, her heart jumped in her throat. "Then by the time you're done helping me, you'll be done work, and we can go get lunch…? I know a nice hamburger joint."

"Oh, well, but… Mrs. Johnston can help you now with that…" She said as she placed her hand on the back of her neck. "You don't need to waste thirty minutes here to do something that will only take five minutes…"

She chuckled nervously. "You don't even know what my name is." She added.

"Well I will when I ask you," Corny replied. "What is your name?"

She hesitated, and looked down and her black, scuffed Mary Jane's. "My name is Jane."

"I'll see you tomorrow at eleven thirty, Jane." Corny smiled as he put the book on a cart. "I can put that there, right?"

She swallowed. "Right."

And he left, smiling.