Going into school after everything that had happened, this mindset and need for connection reflected in him being an outgoing person who made an effort to be friends with everyone he encountered.
He deliberately built up a personality designed to make people love him and want to be around him, which they did, genuinely enjoying his company. Although this approach made him come across as a class clown who was always cracking jokes, but even the teachers loved him and found his antics endearing rather than disruptive.
It was around when he was 15 years old that he started to look into his elder brother's life, wanting desperately to reconnect with the person who had shown him kindness… but that's when he found out the devastating truth that his elder brother had been dead for years, gone long before David ever thought to search for him.
He had been running to the store on an errand, crossed a street without looking both ways like he should have, and was hit by a speeding car, the impact taking his life instantly.
The news completely broke David, the screen showing the sight of him clawing desperately at his face until it bled, his nails digging into his skin, trying to wake himself up from what had to be a nightmare.
Why did his brother die? The answer was unbearable—it was because of him that his brother was running to the store in the first place, rushing to buy him ice cream to make him feel better after his dad beat him.
"Let's skip this." David suddenly had a remote control appear in his hands, the device materializing from nowhere.
He didn't want to see or relive the complete mental breakdown he had experienced during that time. So, he pressed the button and skipped forward to the next part in his life, where the screen showed him beginning to express his emotions through music, pouring his pain into songs.
That's how he eventually healed from the crushing reality that he was the murderer behind his brother's death, even if it was indirect and unintentional. That's how he got over the fact that his father knew the truth all along, but in his own weird and complicated sense was protecting David from the full weight of that reality.
"Isn't that your ex-wife?" The voice asked from behind David, noticing the woman on screen. The scene showed how David first met with his future wife, the moment captured perfectly.
She was a transfer student arriving at his school, and from the very first moment David laid eyes on her, his soul was taken away by just how beautiful she was, how perfect she seemed.
But David knew his looks all too well; he wasn't good-looking in any sense of the word, just painfully average or even below that. So, he who normally had friends with every single group at school, who could talk to anyone, deliberately stayed away from the new girl, keeping his distance.
But that didn't mean he wasn't writing love songs about her late at night, playing out a fantasy in his lyrics that would never become reality in the real world. But that changed one day when fate intervened.
"Everybody knows the way to a girl's heart
Is what you say
So what you say about us talkin on another level?
If you like what you hear then you can holla back (yeah)."
The scene shifted to show David sitting on his bed in his small room, where he could be seen writing out another song, his mind completely consumed by thoughts of the girl of his dreams… but it would always remain just a dream, wouldn't it?
How could someone like him, average and unremarkable, date someone as perfect as her? His mind raced frantically to all the small moments he had shared with her, brief interactions that probably meant nothing to her.
Moments where she looked his way in the hallway, her eyes meeting his, causing him to quickly look away in panic, unable to meet her gaze directly.
There were moments where she tried to talk to him, approaching with a smile, but all he could do was completely freeze up and look desperately for any chance to get away from her before he embarrassed himself… it was embarrassing just thinking about it, how pathetic his behavior was. All he could do was play out fantasy moments of them talking and connecting in his dreams at night, conversations that would never happen in reality.
"You got me sayin, hello, hello, hello, hello
Lemme get that info, show you what I mean
I can make it worth your time (time)
If I can get you on the line (line)
You got me sayin hello, hello, hello, hello
Lemme get that info, show you what I mean
I would never waste your time (time)
If I could get you on the line (you'd be mine)."
The song played in the background of the memory, the music accompanying and showing various moments where David would be blankly staring at her from across the room, his eyes fixed on her, just to quickly look away in panic or act like he was looking at something else entirely before he was caught watching her. But the song slowly came to an end as the scene shifted dramatically to show David standing on the stage. It was a talent show being held at their school, and he was performing with a group of his friends… and together they were putting on one hell of a show that had the whole auditorium captivated.
The group was dancing in perfect synchronization, all wearing matching headpieces which had a microphone attached, allowing them to move around freely while dancing without worrying about holding anything.
"Wh-wh-wh-where is Mrs. Right? (Ay), I gotta see her
Travel all across the world just to meet her
G-g-get me on a flight (ay), I gotta see her
Travel all across the world just to meet her
Travel to L.A. (ay), maybe to the Bay (ay)."
The one currently singing and taking the lead looked completely different from David in every way. This was David's best friend performing; he was a handsome teen with natural charisma. One could say without exaggeration that he was everything David wished he had been blessed with, but then again, they were genuinely good friends, so David kept those envious feelings hidden away deep inside where no one could see them.
Behind the performing group was a large screen, displaying and showing the various locations the song was speaking about, making it look like they were really traveling to these exotic locations to find her, adding a visual element to the story being told.
"From the Chi-Town, yo, she might be out the States (ay)
Book a flight to London, book a flight to France (ay)
Can we go to Switzerland? Can we hit Japan?"
But as David's best friend finished singing his part of the song, the music suddenly cut off abruptly as David fell through a trapdoor hole that had been built into the stage while he was dancing and moving. For a brief moment, everyone in the audience paused, their expressions shifting to concern, looking to see if David was alright after the fall. Only for David to suddenly rise back up from the hole, now wearing dark sunglasses with a sharp black suit that he had carefully prepared and hidden down there. Instantly, the whole base and foundation of the song changed dramatically, the melody shifting and going bass-heavy with a completely different energy.
"Light skinned-ed, uh, da-dark skinned-ed
Long hair, don't care, 'long as your heart's in it
Looking for my misses, enough to drive me insane
Matter fact, ayo, Prodigy sang."
David sang… well, it was more like rapping than traditional singing, but his part was surprisingly short, lasting only a brief time, which confused the person behind him watching.
"Why was yours so short?" the voice asked with genuine curiosity, causing David to laugh lightly at the memory.
"It was my first time ever trying hip hop, and I didn't really like it. So, I decided to sing those parts instead of having someone else sing it… I didn't expect it to get such a massive reaction from everyone." David said, his eyes looking at how the crowds of students had reacted to the whole performance, their faces showing excitement as they cheered.
At that time, captured on screen, he had completely frozen in place, because he saw his dream of being a rock star right there before his eyes, the crowd loving what he'd done… but he froze even harder when he saw the girl of his dreams amongst the crowd, standing there looking directly back at him. In that moment, the crowd and all of the noise and excitement disappeared from his awareness, fading away, because in his eyes and heart, she alone was worth more than his dream of being a rock star could ever be.
"How did you and her even start dating?" the voice asked with interest, and with that question the scene shifted forward in time to a different memory. It showed David sitting outside on a soccer field, bent over and fixing his shoes, tying the laces. That's when someone he had never expected in a million years sat down next to him on the grass.
He instantly got up to flee without thinking, his instinct to run taking over, not even caring that his shoes were still untied and loose on his feet. In his panic and haste to get away, he tripped over his own laces, falling forward and landing hard on his face.
"Why are you always running away from me?" she asked, getting up from where she'd been sitting and walking over to where he lay with an honestly confused look on her face. David said nothing in response, just standing up slowly with a completely blank look on his face, too utterly embarrassed to do anything or say anything that might make this worse.