Like many girls my age, I dabbled in Wicca in high school. My parents weren’t particularly religious, and I considered myself an atheist in middle school. But it was hard to deny the appeal of the Goddess. American culture is unkind to teen girls.

Even if I hadn’t slept much before that, I slept okay. I could sleep on pretty much any surface, and remain undisturbed by noise and light. But after a few months of him, of this, the slightest noise would wake me. Falling asleep became much harder: always waiting for the other shoe to drop. He was worse to his next girlfriend and I don’t know where he is now. Stumbling through a hazy half-awake twilight, I hope.

We all now knew how to be safe in a fire. What a great day! Until the screaming began.

The adults chuckled over their coffee as she continued. “The spaceship crashed in Kansas.”

Which came first, the music or the misery? Some songs that have haunted me for over twenty years.