Seventeen Songfics

Home Run - Vernon (Do What You Want)

"Don't step back. Don't listen to anyone. Just do whatever you want."

Vernon had always been a bit of a daredevil. He never listened to anyone and did whatever he felt like. If class was boring, he skipped. If he wanted to go sit in a field at 2 am and stare at the stars, that's exactly what he did. If he decided to go ride out to the beach so he could see the sunrise, he would. He'd always been that way since high school. He was a troublemaker with very little to show for it.

You envied him.

How easily he just did whatever he wanted, without a second thought. The worst you'd ever done was sneak out to a party once, and that was bad enough since you'd been caught within the hour and grounded for a month.

But instead of wallowing in what-ifs or what could be, you busied yourself with other things. School, a part-time job, going out with friends. You had a tight schedule usually packed with things that you had to do that day.

It was nice, in its own way.

And then one night, Vernon shattered that ideal for you. You heard the loud motorcycle coming down the street but didn't acknowledge the sound. You heard the jingle of the door signaling a new customer had entered the corner store where you worked. But you were so focused on re-stocking the shelves that you didn't notice.

Until an arm reached close by your face and you stepped back in surprise. You follow the arm up to its owner. Vernon was studying a packet of batteries that you'd just set out. He glanced at you for a second before looking back at the batteries.

"Did you need these?" he asked.

You stared at him in confusion. He wasn't that dense, surely?

"I just finished stocking them," you replied after a moment. "Take them to the register if that's all you need."

You took a few strides down the aisle to continue shelving something else. Vernon watched you with a small smile. After a minute or two, he went to the register and made his purchase.

Within the hour, your shift had finished and you were leaving the store. A familiar motorcycle revved close by and you glanced up to see Vernon sitting there in the parking lot.

"Need a ride?" he asked.

"Not from you," you replied.

"You think I'm a delinquent or something, right?" You raised an eyebrow. "You could learn a thing or two from someone like me."

"Like what?"

"How to do whatever you want without worrying about what others think. Life's too short for all that. Now," he said as he picked up his helmet, "are you coming or not?"

Vernon always did what he wanted.

And that night, you did the same. You reached forward and grasped his outstretched hand, only worrying a little about what the neighbors might think when they saw Vernon drop you off. Just like he promised, he took you home and promptly left again.

Over the next several weeks, the cycle continued. Vernon would pick you up on late nights that you were working and drop you off at home. And at some point during the cycle, you realized that you'd stopped caring about what others thought of him.

Vernon wasn't a bad person by any means. He'd just learned not to let others influence him. You hoped you could learn to be more like that too.