Chapter 1

Jackson's introduction

Whistler was nothing special, just your average small town, with one high school, a McD’s, a bunch of stores and a skate park. A lot of folks knew each other, but that was because of Sunday mass, where everyone saw each other. Spring in Whistler never meant glaring sunshine or tropical temperatures. Not that it mattered actually. It had been exactly the same for the past couple of years. It was fine with Jackson, he wasn’t the person that was extremely interested in things changing. Jackson got out of bed as the first rays of sunshine passed through his curtains and hit his freckled face. He stretched and ruffled his hair and looked at his alarm clock that was displaying bright red letters. He swore as he got out of bed, it was only 8 o’ clock.

Jackson was the type of kid that didn’t really care what people thought of him. He just went about his business and did what he wanted. He managed to get decent grades in school, so his mom was happy. She still pushed him to do better, and to get to the top of the class. She has Jackson’s life planned out for him, and conversations about it generally tended to end up in fights. Jackson loved listening to music, riding on his BMX, playing bass, sketching and writing music. There was not a moment that went by without him having headphones hanging around his neck or actually listening to music. He never left home without it.

His rebellious nature came from the fact that he was always home alone. His mom worked, and dad…Jackson didn’t really remember his dad or knew what he did. His dad had left when he was 5 years old after another fight with his mom. From that time on, Jackson’s mom worked day in, day out and even in the weekends. When Jackson was younger, he would sit at the neighbors after school because his mom didn’t think he was old enough to be home alone. To avoid actually sitting at the neighbors, Jackson would ride his BMX until it was dark, then go home and go to bed. His mom tried to get some time off from work once in a while to do something fun, but that never seemed to work out. Now that he was sixteen, his mom let him off the leash. 

 Jess, Jackson’s mom, had already left for work. The house was empty, so Jackson turned on his stereo. Sum 41 started playing out of the speakers as he made his way to the bathroom. Avoiding the mirror, Jackson jumped into the shower and brushed his teeth. When he was back in his bedroom, Sum 41 had stopped playing and the grinding guitars of Pantera started shredding. Looking around his room looking for some clean clothes, he saw the results of a sleepless night. Sketches and pieces of writing were spread out over his floor. Grabbing the first shirt he could find and smelling it, he decided it was still good and threw it on. He then looked around for a hoodie and a pair of shorts in his closet, put those on, and stepped into his All Stars. Jackson picked up his schoolbag, not really caring about what he had in it. The essentials were in there; extra bass strings, picks, his cd case and his writing book. He walked to the kitchen, grabbed the cereal box and some milk and made himself breakfast. School started at 9 with assembly each day, which was mandatory.