Where Life Takes Us - 6. Chapter 6 - Call Me

School had been going on for a few weeks. Kayla had ignored Wyatt the entire time. Wyatt had been getting along with Alexander though, spending most of his time hanging out with his new friend.

Alex had spent the night a few times since their first meeting till now. Talon had enjoyed him as well. Ultimately the inclusion of Alex was not hard since he was in the Luis family.

Wyatt and Alex found themselves sharing half of their classes. As grade eights their classes were identical but where the classes were placed in their schedules was different. They shared 3 classes on day 1 and only 1 on day 2. So they either saw each other all day or only a bit.

On this particular day Wyatt was in his English class and met what was to become another friend. His teacher paired him up with another boy in his English class named Owen to work on a project. Owen sat down beside Wyatt.

From Wyatt's Notes:

My first impression of Owen is an odd one. Owen came over with his... Well I don't know, Normal boy hair? Anyways it's like just in the middle of his eyes or something and brown. But ya he came over with this little swag. He sat down and looked at me with his blue eyes. To me he wasn't everything he was showing.

He started off with a “What's up dude?”

To which I responded, “Nothing much. Just siting here...”

He let off a smug laugh, “So I guess we're stuck working together. I hope you're smart.”

So ya my first impression of his was that he was an ass. He kept talking about how smart I was gonna need to be. He kept saying that I was needed to do all of the work.

Owen... is he actually smart?

“Why do I have to do all the work?” Wyatt asked meekly.

Owen leaned in to Wyatt and whispered, “I'm not exactly smart.” Wyatt looked at him questionably. “I'm a year older than you and I'm still in your grade.”

Owen went on to explain what happened. Owen had had trouble learning in his elementary school and ended up having to repeat a grade. He tended to keep it a secret so he wasn't made fun of.

“Well, let's make a deal. If you at least help me then I'll help you through the school year. We can be study buddies or something,” Wyatt concluded with a smile.

“If you plan on helping me, I don't see a problem with helping on one project.” They then went hard to work. The project was due in a week's time. So the pair decided to get the layout of the project and save the rest for the weekend.

Wyatt and Owen agreed that they would work at the Luis Home. Wyatt confirmed this when he was picked up that day and asked. He made sure to inform Owen as soon as he got home.

The days in the week passed quickly and it was Saturday afternoon sooner than both Wyatt and Owen realized. They met up and made their way over to Wyatt's place. They spent a few hours working on the project and had almost finished.

When they had printed out everything Wyatt made his way to the printer. “Hey buddy what are you printing out?” Kenneth said behind a newspaper.

“School project stuff. Just printing the final pictures and writing.”

“Sounds good. How long is Owen over for?”

Wyatt stopped as he made his way up stairs, “He was gonna be going home shortly after us finishing the project.”

Kenneth looked at his son, “He can stay for dinner if it's okay with his parents.”

Wyatt smiled and made his way upstairs shouting, “I'll ask him!” Wyatt ran down the hall to his room. Talon and Owen were on the computer. “You can stay for dinner if you want Owen.”

Owen looked up from the computer, “Cool. I'll call my dad then.” Owen and Wyatt went to the phone and he called his father. “Hey, Dad, can I stay for dinner?... I know but Wyatt just got the okay... Next time it will be sooner I promise... Okay thanks.” Owen hung up the phone. “He said okay this time. Next time though I gotta get the okay earlier.”

Diana came into the room just as Owen finished. “So we will have an extra seat at dinner tonight?”

“Yes ,Mrs. Luis. Thank you for having me.”

Diana smiled. “It's not a problem dear. Go and get washed up. Dinner will be ready shortly.”

Wyatt and Owen made their way upstairs to where Talon was waiting. “He's staying over for dinner!” Wyatt shrieked!

“Calm down there, Wyatt. It's not like it's a big deal.”

Talon rolled over on the bed laughing. “Why are you so excited?”

“Owen is the first friend I brought over and on the first day your parents said it was okay for him to stay for dinner!”

“Our parents,” Talon corrected. “When are you gonna start saying our parents?”

“When he feels comfortable about it,” Owen said matter of factly. “Would you call someone by a name you didn't feel comfortable using?”

Talon thought on it for a moment. “No, I guess not.”

The boys spent the next half hour or so finishing the project. Wyatt had to make sure it looked perfect in his eyes before putting the finishing touches on it. As they finished they got called down for dinner.

The Luis family dinner was just as active as ever. Caitlyn and Talon did most of the talking. That is until Kenneth asked Owen, “So tell us a little about yourself, Owen.”

“Ummm... What do you want to know?” Owen looked over at Wyatt who shrugged.

“I don't know. Maybe what you like to do, your last name and your favorite subjects,” Diana answered with a generous smile on her face.

“My full name is Owen Grant. I love sports in general and I would say my favourite subject is gym cause I don't do well in the rest.” Owen shrugged.

“Favourite sport?”

“Definitely hockey. My favourite team in the NHL is the Flyers. I could talk about hockey for hours.”

Wyatt shyly smiled. He's very sporty and I'm nerdy. How did we end up as friends? He thought to himself.

“Grant...” Kenneth pondered, “Are you Josh Grant's son?”

“Yes, I am.” Owen swallowed heavily.

“He works for me you know.” Owen nods. “He's a very good worker.”

Owen smiled and he stopped talking for the rest of dinner. When dinner was finished he called his dad again. Wyatt and Talon waited for him to finish. “Hey, dinner's done. When do you want me home... Okay see you in a few.”

“You gotta go right now?” Wyatt pouted.

“Ya, sadly. He wanted me home for dinner for something.”

They went upstairs for Owen to gather his belongings. Once they finished the group found their way to the front door just in time for Owen's father to arrive. “I'll see you guys.” He waved as he made his way to the car.

Owen, on his way home with his father, got asked, "Did they ask anything?"

"No."

His dad looked over at him. "No, seriously, did they ask anything? I wont have you costing me my job!"

"They only asked about me. When I said my last name Mr. Luis asked if I was your son. I said yes and he mentioned that you work for him and that you were a good worker. That's all I swear!"

"You better hope so."

Owen thought to himself, If you would stop doing and selling drugs you wouldn't worry all the time. You work for a lawyer’s agency god dammit!

When Owen and Wyatt presented their project they did so flawlessly. They ended up getting 100%, mostly due to Wyatt's influence. None-the-less Owen enjoyed the grade as much as Wyatt did.

Over the next week Owen was not the only friend that Wyatt had found. After everyone in the class had presented their projects, Mr. Robin, their teacher gave them another, much smaller project.

"This project will be much easier for you to do. As a result you only have until Monday to do it." The entire class groaned. "This project is going to be about poetry again but you'll like it a lot better. You are to showcase your favourite song to the class."

Owen's eyes went wide with excitement and his hand shot up. "Mr. Robin?"

"Yes, Owen?"

"Can we choose any song we wish?"

The teacher laughed, "Yes you can, under guide lines of course." The class groaned yet again. "I will not permit swearing in any of the songs. Also if the songs have anything to do with getting drunk or doing drugs they will not be allowed."

Wyatt raise his hand this time. Unlike Owen he waited to be spoke to. Mr. Robin pointed to him and waited, "What about the radio versions of songs?"

"Ahh yes, good question Wyatt. If there is an alternate radio version of the song it's fine. It's made for public listening anyways." The class was chatting away at this point. "Okay, I'll let you get to work. I will hand out the sheet with everything that must be presented. Good luck, have fun.”

Owen and Wyatt just looked at each other and smiled. They immediately went to their respected ipods and went to look for their song of choice. Owen found his first and decided it was a good idea to blast it off his ipod's speaker. Suddenly half the class heard “The Last Night” by Skillet.

Mr. Robin shook his head, “Not now, Mr. Grant.”

“Sorry, Sir.”

The next couple of days were focused more on learning poetry. Little time was set aside for the project. That Friday though, time was spent in the library. Owen and Wyatt sat beside one another, Wyatt helping his friend with proper grammar.

When there was about 10 or so minutes left in class a girl walked up to the pair, her dyed pink hair flowing down to her chest. Only her right eye could be seen behind her hair. She smiled at the two boys so deep in conversation they were oblivious to her presence.

She spoke, “Wyatt?”

Wyatt and Owen both looked towards her. They knew who she was. Meagan Freedmin was her name. She had never spoken more than a hello to either of them though. “Yes?”

“I was wondering if you could check over my paper for grammatical errors as well. I'll give you some money if you want.”

Owen was flabbergasted. Meagan was one of the more popular kids in school and she was talking to them. “I don't need money. I will help if I have time though. I just finished proof reading Owen's paper.”

“You're still doing 'The Last Night'?” Owen nodded, “It's a very pretty song. What song are you doing, Wyatt?”

“'Call me' by Shinedown.”

Meagan sat down with a smile on her face. “Well, you both chose very pretty songs. I chose 'Read All About It Part 3' by Emeli Sandre.”

“What song is that?” both boys said simultaneously.

“It's okay. It's not all that famous. I'm going to be singing it instead of just letting it play.” The conversation continued until the class ended.

Over the weekend everyone did their final adjustments to their projects. Meagan emailed her report to Wyatt for a grammar check. He set back the file not only correcting her but explaining the corrections. Wyatt was more than happy to help.

Then the time came to present the projects. Not everyone was ready. Such is the norm for school projects. Mr. Robin had everyone's name on the board and a magnetic dart in his hands.

Wyatt was called up first. “What was your choice of song?”

“'Call me' by Shinedown. I chose this song because of how it makes me feel when I listen to it.” The entire class was quiet and listening. “If you don't already know, I was adopted at the beginning of summer time. This song is one of the songs I first heard when I got out of the orphanage. It was merely coincidental but it fit how I felt at the time.

“The opening lines 'Wrap me in a bolt of lightning, Send me on my way still smiling, Maybe that's the way I should go, Straight into the mouth of the unknown' describes how I felt at the time perfectly.

“The song itself is about leaving someone. For me it represents leaving the orphanage. The kids and staff there can call me anything but it'll never change what happened. The second verse says 'I finally put it all together, But nothing really last forever'. It means that you can figure out what went wrong but you can never go back. With that I'll play my song.” Wyatt had to stop. He was beginning to get teary as he was speaking. It wasn't only him though. There were several students in the class with tears in their eyes. A couple of girls even had let a couple flow.

When the song played it was silent. The entire class listened to the song. Wyatt hadn't chose to show the original version but the 'Itunes Session' version. The song was done acoustically and added even more emphasis to the situation.

After his presentation was done no one wanted to go up. Meagan took this as an opportunity to go up. “Mr. Robin, I would like to go next.”

“Go ahead the floor is yours.”

Meagan made her way up and erased her name off the board. “My song is called 'Read All About It Part 3' and is preformed by Emili Sandre. It's about not speaking up.

“The song is about sticking up for yourself and showing you have a voice. It's a song for those who don't have the strength to speak up for themselves. I also am not going to show you the original version of the song, as I am going to sing it myself.

“Mr. Robin, if you may.” The music started and Meagan closed her eyes and started to sing.

You've got the words to change a nation,
But you're biting your tongue.
You've spent a life time stuck in silence,
Afraid you'll say something wrong.
If no one ever hears it how we gonna learn your song?

So, come on, come on,
Come on, come on.
You've got a heart as loud as lions,
So why let your voice be tamed?
Maybe we're a little different.
There's no need to be ashamed.
You've got the light to fight the shadows,
So stop hiding it away.
Come on, come on.

Once again the class was filled with tears. Her voice sang with so much emotion not even Owen could hold back a few tears. She was crystal clear in the singing. Wyatt was stunned.

I wanna sing, I wanna shout,
I wanna scream 'til the words dry out.
So put it in all of the papers.
I'm not afraid.
They can read all about it,
Read all about it, oh,
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh.

At night we're waking up the neighbours,
While we sing away the blues,
Making sure that we're remembered. Yeah!
Cause we all matter too.
If the truth has been forbidden,
Then we're breaking all the rules.

So come on, come on,
Come on, come on,
Let's get the TV and the radio
To play our tune again.
It's 'bout time we got some airplay of our version of events.
There's no need to be afraid.
I will sing with you my friend.
Come on, come on.

I wanna sing, I wanna shout,
I wanna scream 'til the words dry out.
So put it in all of the papers.
I'm not afraid.
They can read all about it,
Read all about it, oh,
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh.

Yeah, we're all wonderful, wonderful people.
So when did we all get so fearful?
Now we're finally finding our voices,
So take a chance. Come help me sing this.
Yeah, we're all wonderful, wonderful people.
So when did we all get so fearful?
And now we're finally finding our voices.
Just take a chance. Come help me sing this.

Wyatt shakily sang along. He felt that the song itself had power. It had the power to show all the people who did not have the strength to do it alone that they had enough strength to do it together. Wyatt felt power in singing, as quietly as he did.

I wanna sing, I wanna shout,
I wanna scream 'til the words dry out.
So put it in all of the papers.
I'm not afraid.
They can read all about it,
Read all about it, oh,
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh.

I wanna sing, I wanna shout,
I wanna scream 'til the words dry out.
So put it in all of the papers.
I'm not afraid.
They can read all about it,
Read all about it, oh.

The entire class was once again speechless. What everyone but Meagan had realized is that the principal had heard the song and come in to listen. He walked over, “You my young lady have an amazing voice. The song itself was powerful enough but you gave it some steroids or something.”

“Thank you, Sir. It's a song I listen to when I get sad about stuff. It makes me feel a lot better.”

“If I may, may I stay for your class today Mr. Robin?”

“Go right ahead, Mr. King.” For the rest of class the pressure was on. With one more set of peering eyes on them, the students found themselves standing straighter and doing their absolute best.

At the end of class Mr. Robin called Wyatt and Meagan over and asked the principal to stay for the talk. “You two are the only ones today that chose a song for what it is to you, instead of your favorite songs. Did you learn anything from researching the songs?”

“I learned 'Read All About It' was originally a rap song.” Meagan smiled, Wyatt shook his head.

“Well you two received perfect marks for this project. I thought you should know that.” Both gave each other a high five and walked out of the room.

“I think we are the perfect team!” Meagan gave a playful punch to Wyatt.

“Who, you and me?”

“And Owen of course.” Owen had just joined the pair as they continued down the hall. “So guess what I think!”

“You think we should be the best of friends,” Owen said in a mocking tone.

“Well, yes!”

“No!” Wyatt shouted. “Well, not just us three. Alex has to be in on it too.”

“Alex Micheals?” Wyatt nodded, “Well, let's go find our fourth musketeer then!”

Owen sighed, “I hate French though!” The group laughed and went in search of their fourth companion. Needless to say, Wyatt's new life was in full swing.

Chapter end