Earlier that week, Evan Cooper, no relation, had invited Seth to attend his band's first gig during Chem. Seth was flattered that the black-haired thrash grindcore Bassist, who sat in front of him, had actually thought of Seth as someone he would want to be there. He later found out that Evan needed to sell the tickets in order to win the Battle of the Bands. Seth gladly paid for two tickets in advance and though Ryan made a face at Seth's proposal he still agreed to go.

Now, Seth is alone and The Smith's Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now is blaring as the Range Rover speeds down the freeway. About thirty seconds into the three minute song came a line that Seth could relate to:

In my life, why do I give valuable time to people who don't care if I live or die?

Seth sang along, bobbing his head to the beat. All of the four windows were down, letting the wind slap against his face and arms.

He was a little panicky about being so social as he pulled into the parking lot. Kids with Mohawks and bondage pants flooded the streets of downtown Corona and he never felt more out of place with his collared shirt and pressed blue jeans.

Almost immediately, he spotted Evan and his band unloading the equipment from the back of a beat up truck and he quickly made his way over to them.

"Evan, hey!" Seth called, waving his arms around like an idiot.

"Cohen... you came." Evan replied dully with a hint of astonishment in his voice, "I thought you paid for two tickets?" He said after exhaling smoke through his nose.

"Oh, yeah, well, my brother made other plans..." Seth explained with a sad smile on his face.

"Fuck him then!" Another dark-haired boy shouted as he pulled out his guitar from the back seat.

Seth let out a weak laugh and nodded his head in agreement, "Right... f-fuck him"

All of the five boys clipped Seth on the back as they headed into the building called The Showcase Theater.

The small room was dark and humid and everyone seemed to know one another, only making Seth feel more alienated.

During a bands set, a girl dressed in black stared at Seth oddly for a good five minutes until she finally approached him. She motioned for Seth to come closer and for some reason he obeyed. She kept saying something to him but he couldn't hear her. The girl seemed absolutely infuriated that she was inaudible to him so she just shook her head and walked passed him, shoulder checking him in the process. Seth almost wanted to follow her but decided not to when he saw her meet up with some not-so-friendly-looking people.

As the band finished up, Seth made his way through the crowd so he could be up front where he could get a better view of Evan's band, "Humans Decomposed", coming up next.

Seth saw a member of the band leaning against the wall, talking to a couple of girls. He hesitated but then he realized that it was either talk with the drummer or pretend like he was looking for a non-existent friend in the crowd for another twenty minutes.

"Hey!" Seth said loudly.

The pale-skinned boy turned slowly to Seth barely acknowledging him at all.

"Sup, Keith."

"It's Seth actually...." He corrected, trailing off towards the end.

"What'd ya say, man?"

"Nothing" Seth shook his head, and went back to looking for his "friend" again. He could here the girls giggling at him, as he vanished into the crowd.

As he reached the middle of the packed room, he heard "Humans Decomposed" being announced and before he knew it he was caught in a Mosh Pit.

Fists were flying everywhere and despite his arms covering his body and face, he was still getting pretty fucked up. After what seemed like forever, the song finally ended and people started to calm down.

Seth felt like a walking bruise as he stumbled his way out of the Showcase.

Breathing in deeply, he slowly made his way back to his vehicle where he slid into the driver's seat and sat there for a good ten minutes.

His limbs felt like steal and his head throbbed.

After dropping his cluster of keys twice, he finally managed to stick the car key into the ignition, and pulled out of the parking lot.

Seth absentmindedly drove around not knowing where he was going or when he would stop. He ended up somewhere in Riverside where he pulled up and onto train tracks nearby, making the Range Rover uneven.

He turned the radio volume up, and made himself comfortable in his seat. He even slipped his shoes off.

The cell phone in his front pocket started to vibrate and he cursed himself for not turning it off sooner. He unhurriedly pulled it out to see who it was, even though he knew it would be Ryan and sure enough, it was. After turning down the music and flipping open the phone, he pressed the cell phone to his left ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey, I've been trying to call you."

"Oh, well, I must have been having so much fun I didn't realize anyone was calling."

Silence...

"Right, well, um, when are you gonna come home?"

"I don't know, man. I'm really having a good time."

Seth was a liar and he was good at it.

"Oh, well, okay then. Have fun."

"Yeah, later" Seth rushed out, quickly slapping the cell phone shut.

He turned the power on the cell phone off, tossed it into the back seat, and turned the volume back up.

Breathing heavily, he rested his head in the hands. He was nearly crying now.

"Stop it..." He told himself and bit down on his quivering bottom lip.

"STOP!" He screamed, slapping the side of his face powerfully.

He hated crying though lately he'd been doing it a lot. The way tears tasted made bad memories play out in his head and he didn't like that.

His eyes wondered around aimlessly and landed on a small monument on the other side of the tracks, which was lit by the headlights of the Range Rover. For a moment he imagined his own name inserted across the middle section of the cross-shaped memorial.

Looking away, he rested his head against the cold car window and closed his eyes, letting himself sink into the comfortable seat.

The sound of a car horn beeping madly made Seth's body jolt. He quickly twisted around to see what was happening, only to be blinded by flashing headlights.

"What the-" He muttered to himself as he opened the car door and stepped out onto the ground, involuntarily shielding his eyes from the light.

"What the hell are you doing, kid?" A deep voice called out.

"I-"

How was he going to explain this one?

"I'm a pledge, uh, for a fraternity..." He clarified to the shadowy figure and hoped to god he wouldn't ask anymore questions.

"They must not like you..." He began, "Pull off them tracks before I call the cops." He said simply, never moving from the spot next to his truck.

"Okay..." Seth said softly and then cleared his throat, "Thank you!"

He let out a shaky breath, and settled himself back into the SUV.

After fastening his seatbelt, he peered up into the rearview to see if the man had left and not to his surprise he hadn't.

Sticking out his lower lip like a child, he started the engine and pulled off the train tracks like the guy had ordered, however the truck still remained in its spot.

"Goddamn redneck...." Seth mumbled under his breath, as he drove passed the truck and back onto the street where he started to head home.