She took the midnight train goin' anywhere...

It's been a long day and I have only been awake for 13 hours. Thankfully, I didn't have any chores tonight. My only chores for the day were to roll my boyfriend's cigarettes for him, which isn't a big deal. It doesn't take me long to do them. However, I did wait until 7 o'clock to get them started. I had dinner going and let my boyfriend sleep in an extra 30 minutes. He wasn't too pleased when he woke up, but when I told him dinner was ready, he was excited.

I'm sitting here listening to a somewhat weird group of songs put together.

1) Don't Stop Believin' - The Glee Cast

2) Take a Bow - The Glee Cast

3) Ego (the Remix) - Beyonce ft. Kanye West

4) Number One - R. Kelly and Keri Hilson

5) Invented Sex - Trey Songs and Drake

and

6) Two is Better Than One - Taylor Swift and Boys Like Girls

Hey, at least it's not Paramore. I like to keep my options open as far as it comes to music. The Glee cast gives me chills, though. Lea Michelle was amazing in Spring Awakening and continues to be so in Glee. I never had the pleasure of seeing SA on Broadway when I lived in New York. I did get to see Spamalot and RENT, however. RENT was amazing as it had two of the original cast members back: Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal.

New York was a crazy time in my life. Growing up I knew I was going to move there. Hell, anywhere that wasn't anywhere near Plano, Texas was better. My grandmother and I have never been close. She raised me from when I was an infant. She used to tell me how I was worthless and would never amount to anything and would hit me several times. A lot of people have asked me why I moved out, because not a lot of people knew about how she treated me. Now, I always had a nice roof over my head, a comfortable bed to sleep in, and a bedroom that had been decorated to my favorite colors: pink, black, and white. It was a princess room and that's where I ended up spending most of my time.

I met my former roommate, Rachael from my best friend Naomi. She and I instantly clicked as we left the My Chemical Romance concert blaring the RENT soundtrack. I had become addicted to musicals when I had first listened to the Wicked song "Defying Gravity." From there my musical knowledge went to 'The Last Five Years,' 'Little Shop of Horrors,' 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,' 'Hairspray,' and RENT. There's more, but I just can't think of them at this time, as it is 3:48 in the morning.

Rachael and I decided that we were going to leave Texas. We were sick of it, and she knew that my situation could be dangerous if something big had happened. I got a job at Whataburger to save up money, which I got started with pretty quickly. About a month or so before we moved, I wrote my roommate a $2,000 check for my half of the rent, the ticket, bill deposits, and the security deposit. I never told my grandmother what was going on, but made the mistake of telling my friends and teachers at school. My grandmother still didn't know what was happening. The day that I left the house was hard. I had already packed some boxes and had those shipped off. I had finished packing my suitcases that evening, barely getting any sleep. Then the morning came. My grandmother had headed out early, going to get her hair done before she went to work at her best friend's house. Rachael came to my house and I had already written my grandmother a note letting her know that she shouldn't call the cops because I was 18 and I was going to be gone and she shouldn't worry about me and that I would call her eventually.

Later that day, my best friend called my roommate. Apparently my grandmother had found the note and had gone postal, calling Naomi repeatedly. My aunt Michelle did the same freaking out. My mom, however, called and left a message only saying a few sentences. "You don't have to tell me where she is. You don't have to tell me anything. I just want to know if she's okay." Naomi never responded to her.

I've always felt horrible. I had planned on telling my mom. I had wanted to. Every time I tried to, my grandmother was around. She would have just guilted me out of it anyway, but it broke my heart to have worried my mom. The next morning was the big day. I had seen Naomi the day before at iHop (yes, I have typed it like that for a while, I know.) That almost killed me. My Official Best Friend Forever cried and hugged me as tight as she could because she didn't know when she'd ever see me again. I hugged her because I didn't know if I would ever return to Texas.

I made it to New York safely, sleeping most of the way, not having slept at all the night before. We landed and my heart began to race. I was somewhere else. Somewhere new. Somewhere I had only dreamed of being. We walked out of the airport, hailing a cab: our official first act as New Yorkers. When we got to our apartment, we saw that they hadn't installed our refrigerator or our stove yet. The landlords didn't even know we were coming. They installed our stuff the next morning. I felt home for the first time in a while. I felt safe.

I'll tell you about my first job in my next post. I'm going to bed now.

- Bri

When I close my eyes and drift away, I think of you and everything's okay.