A/N-I've been asked what songs I'm using. The last was Family Portrait, by Pink. This is Breakaway, by Kelly Clarkson. Name of the song is the chapter title. And, of course, I don't own any of them, or any of the Laby characters.
Grew up in a small town
And when the rain would fall down
I'd just stare out my window
Dreamin' of what could be
Andif I'd end up happy
I would pray
Sarah Williams, now twenty-two, stared out the window of her apartment in downtown Hollywood. She'd come here to act, and had ended up selling her body instead of her talent just to survive. She'd slowly turned her little efficiency into home, decorating it in her favorite colors-blue, purple, black. Your basic shades of bruise. But it was what Sara liked.
Trying hard to reach out
But when I tried to speak out
Felt like no one could hear me
Wanted to belong here
But something felt so wrong here
So I'd pray
I could break away
Sarah thought back to when she was fifteen. She had made her first real friends at that point, but hadn't spoken to them since coming here immediately after high school. It wasn't as if she wanted to end her contact with them. But for some reason, she couldn't. And even if she could, she didn't really want them to see her like this. It was so wrong, what she was doing.
I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
Do what it takes until I touch the sky
And I'll make a wish, take a chance, make a change
And break away
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget all the ones that I love
I'll take a risk, take a chance, make a change
And break away
It had been a huge risk, she'd known, coming out here with no college degree to fall back on. But she had taken it. And now she was slowly saving up what little bit she could to start taking classes part time to be a hair dresser, or something. She could dig herself out of this mess she was in. After all, she would have Toby's memory to keep her going.
Want to feel the warm breeze
Sleep under a palm tree
Feel the rush of the ocean
Get onboard a fast train
Travel on a jet plane
Far away
And break away
The rain began to let up, and Sarah sighed. On one hand, she was grateful she'd be able to go out tonight. But on the other, she wasn't sure she wanted to do this, anymore. It was evenings like this, she thought as she dressed, that she just wanted to leave this place for somewhere friendlier. Like home, perhaps. But there was an old saying, that you couldn't go home again. And that saying was so true. It really was. And, as she carefully picked out her clothes and make-up for the night, her mind went back to her senior year of high school.
I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
Do what it takes until I touch the sky
And I'll make a wish, take a chance, make a change
And break away
Outof the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget all the ones that I love
I gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change
And break away
She had been in the middle of her final exams when it had happened. Her father and Toby, her dear brother whom she loved so much, had been in a wreck with a drunk driver, and had been killed by it. Karen had been in the wreck, as well, but had only been injured enough to be put in the hospital for a week. This had not made Sarah happy. After all, no matter how hard she tried, she and Karen had still never been close.
Buildings with a hundred floors
Swinging 'round revolvin' doors
Maybe I don't know where they'll take me
Sarah had used up most of her savings to make sure Karen pulled through, and to pay for Robert and Toby's funerals. Every cent she had made from her part-time job at the book store had gone to either hospital or funeral bills. But Karen hadn't exactly appreciated it. Instead, she had blamed Sarah, in the firm belief that she wouldn't have lost her husband and son if her ungrateful step-daughter hadn't just had to stay after school to put up decorations for a 'last-day-of-finals' dance.
But gotta keep movin' on.
Movin' on
Fly away
Break away
Karen had told her expressly, as soon as she'd gotten out of the hospital, that she wanted Sarah out. That day. And so Sarah had taken what few savings she had left, purchased a plane ticket to LA, and flown out to make her attempt at spreading her wings and living on her own. It hadn't been easy, especially since all she'd brought with her were a few clothes and a couple of pictures of her father and Toby. But she was still alive, wasn't she?
I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
Thought it's not easy to tell you goodbye
I gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change
And break away
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget the place I come from
I gottatake a risk, takea chance, make a change
And break away
Break away
Break away
A/N-And there we go. Chapter 2. And this is where I hope this goes over as well as the first one.