The Piss Song

There was a kid named Felix Snyder in our civics class who was different. He slept through most of the day, painted his nails black, and most importantly, played guitar like there was no tomorrow.

He got everyone in our class to record ourselves at the same angle on the roof with that blue couch. He told us to look like we were falling off the roof. Most of us were too scared, but a few goofballs made it look pretty real.

Then one day he got up in class and left to use the bathroom. When he brought the blue couch with him we knew something sick was going to happen but didn't follow.

He went to the bathroom and played the song - only guitar notes. Because he didn't stop the recording to pee, we named it "the Piss Song". He never gave it a real title.

Then, he went to the roof of the building and set the camera up the same way. He sat on the couch, back to the edge, and leaned back. That day Felix Snyder killed himself.

We all had a hard time living with it. Looking back, he was giving us a sign. He literally asked each of us to pretend to kill ourselves in the same way. But we just thought it was super badass and rock n' roll.

One day, a few weeks after, Kat came to my house and was crying in my bed. I didn't know how to comfort her, I missed the guy too and felt guilty. But she mentioned something that, I guess, we should have thought of already.

"All those videos of us on the roof, don't you think we should make that a music video?"

And dammit, she was right. Those were all clips for the music video for the Piss Song. If that wasn't his final message, I don't know what was.

It was a hassle getting his camera and computer, (which may have had pre-edited parts), from his mother. Felix Snyder didn't have any friends, so no one would appeal to his mother more than the other. So I stood there with my crying friend watching from the car and talked to Mrs. Snyder.

He was different. He was weird. And he must've been mentally sick. She told me all about him and how she kind of knew what was coming. She showed me his room. To this day, I'm the only one who's seen it besides his mom, because no one cared to visit. It felt empty and dead like him. It was obvious no one was living in it.

I asked again for the camera and computer and she wanted to know why. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I was making a music video of her son's final moments. So I left out the word 'final' and pretended the two of us were already working on one. In tears, she lent it to me and I left quicker than I should have.

Kat wanted to help, but I knew Felix more than anyone now. I felt like his life and existence were in my hands, and that room was the key to making the video perfectly. I allowed her to stay in my room but I would wear headphones and face the screen away from her.

As suspected, I found a somewhat edited version on his computer. It was all the clips of us pretending to fall, ranging from those not even trying to one kid hanging by his arm. They were not in chronological order, since I knew Andrew Castillo went right after me, and in the edited version his video was a few before mine. There was an intended rhythm to this. The only things missing were the song and his shot. So I imported them from the camera.

We all heard the Piss Song in school. But it was different now. In the assemblies, there was no visual, and the piss stream was edited out as best as the computer editing teachers could do. We could still tell, though, bringing the name. However, now, it was real. He started the footage as soon as he walked out of the classroom. I could hear the class' and, god dammit I could hear my stupid voice making jokes when I should have left with him. He walked to the bathroom as the couch he was bringing screeched on the ground, and set the camera on a foldable tripod he hid in his backpack. He took out his guitar next.