“Lay back, it’s all been done before/ And if you could only let it be/ You would see/ I like you the way you are/ When we’re driving in your car/ And you’re talking to me one-on-one/ But you become…” The guitars rise, and Avril’s wearing a white tank now, her black bra straps showing. “Chill out, whatcha yelling for?” sings Avril. But this isn’t Mandy Moore’s “Crush” or Jessica Simpson’s “I Think I’m in Love with You.” This isn’t just a song about a boy - it’s a song about appearances. Her name is Avril Lavigne, she’s 17, and she’s singing about a boy. Then the song starts - bright guitars and an “Uh huh/ Life’s like this.” And the girl, as though she knew what she wanted to do before being asked, answers, “Dude, you wanna crash a mall?” The guys are into it. “So what do you guys wanna do today,” asks one of the boys. “What’s up boys,” she says, and crouches down with them on the ground of a parking lot. A girl in a black tank top and black Dickies and a very loose red plaid tie is riding it. It’s called “Complicated.” The first sounds of the music video are the wheels of a skateboard.
Crushes, drama, homework, the new MTV reality show Made, the goofy chapter of the sex ed book we have to read, what’s on TRL and whether we like it or not. There is somehow nothing and everything to talk about. We communicate largely via AOL, which we access via dial-up, hogging the family landlines. Degrassi: The Next Generation airs for the first time in the U.S.
#Black gay fucking skateboard punk series
We’re reading Princess Diaries and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series - stories about teen girls feeling out of place, figuring themselves out. We are constantly singing “Pretend to Be Nice” in the hallway outside our homeroom and crying about crushes in the locker room and trying to convince our parents we’re old enough to do stuff on our own. In this last half of fifth grade, my BFF and I are still obsessed with the soundtrack from our favorite movie, Josie and the Pussycats, about a spunky pop-rock band controlled by nefarious record execs - although it’s soon to be tied with The Lizzie McGuire Movie. Last year, it was all “Thong Song” and “Smooth” and “What A Girl Wants.” This year will be a bit different. Shaggy’s “It Wasn’t Me,” Eve and Gwen’s “Let Me Blow Ya Mind,” Usher’s “U Remind Me,” and Janet’s “All For You” are fighting to throw Lifehouse’s “Hanging By a Moment” off the charts. The tabloids are all Britney and Justin and Christina - now Xtina (since the “Dirrty” video). George Bush gives his “Axis of Evil” speech and signs the No Child Left Behind Act, but I’m eleven and my friends and I are mostly talking about Crossroads and Big Fat Liar. The dot-com bubble has burst and the stock market’s crashing.