Night Hereos

Season 2 - Episode 4

2008-09-04T19:59:00.009+02:00

Tyrone

Making my way to the beach, I think it was indeed a lucky thing that I had learned to master my motorbike riding skills, otherwise I don’t think we could have made it that morning. I was going through the motions, just like I did everyday, my eyes were on the road, and my feet were on the pedals – but my mind was very far away.

I was feeling Michelle’s arms wrapped tightly around me, and I could feel her warm body against mine. A part of me wanted to push her off the bike onto the oncoming traffic, and at the same time I wanted to pull up along the side, and take her into my arms, and hug her close to me till she begged for release. I had never felt such mixed emotions about a person in my whole life, not even towards Lynn. But ever since that day I had walked into the school cafeteria, and sat down beside Michelle, I have been feeling this way most of the time. I never knew how to act or behave myself around her. And the reason for all of this was, that never before in my life had I met someone like her.

When I was with Michelle, I felt utterly exposed, and so totally out of control – and at the same time I could talk to her – and that was also new to me. I had never been able to open up to anyone, not even Mandy. Me and Mandy had grown up together, and she always taken care of me, and tried to clean up my messes. But I could never talk to her the way I could talk to Michelle. Michelle understood everything that I did, she always knew exactly what I was thinking, and she also knew what I was going to do, even before I had decided myself. And this made me feel so scared of her, because I felt that with her I had no place to hide. She had discovered that secret place that was Me, and was slowly becoming a part of it in a way that no one had ever done before. But at the same time I felt so secure around her, because I felt that she was the only person in the whole world who could really understand me, and with her I could not be anyone else, except myself. I did not feel this way with anyone else.

With everyone else around me, I always tried to show how self-confident I was, how totally in control I was. But with Michelle it was different. With just one look she would understand exactly what I was thinking, no matter what my mouth, or my body-language was saying. I had always had this feeling around her, but last Friday at The Magic Lounge, she had looked in my eyes, and said,

“I always knew you’d be wasting your life as a lawyer. This is what you should do for real.”

She had pretended she was teasing me. But she had looked right in my eyes when she said it, and I knew that she had meant it. She had understood exactly what I was thinking right at that moment. And then on Saturday, I pretended I wanted to go back there as a joke, and when the others didn’t want to go, I was going to give up. But she had seen right through me, and persuaded the others to go there.

And when we were singing the song together, she had looked right in my eyes when she sang her first verse. I knew what she was telling me. She was using the song to tell me not to give up on my dreams – those dreams which I had kept hidden from everyone else, and that she had invaded with just one look at me.

But none of this even came close to what had happened today. On Monday, I had gone to Lenton School for Performing Arts on an impulse, collected an application form, and the brochure. I had been going through that brochure for the whole week. It was hard to get in – I knew I didn’t have the guts to try out by the first time I had gone through the brochure. But I had kept going through it, turning the pages, and every time I opened that booklet, I felt this voice inside me screaming, and calling me a coward, and trying to push me in that direction. But I couldn’t even bring myself to answer that voice inside my head, except to tell it to shut up and that this was not for me.

And then Michelle walked in the garage, and within a few moments she had managed to turn my whole reasoning around – again. She voiced out my deepest fears, and it was one thing having a voice in my head telling me that I was going to miss out on life, and it was quite another having one of my best friends saying that directly to my face.

I turned to her at that moment, and shouted over the drone of the motorbike,

“So you’re sure you’re going to apply, or what?” She laughed softly, and shouted back,

“Yes, of course I am. Aren’t you?” I was still feeling unsure, and so I shouted back,

“I don’t know. April is such a long way away. I’ll decide when the time is right.”

She didn’t say a word then. But after a few seconds, I felt her sliding closer to me, wrapping her arms tighter around my waist, until she was almost squeezing me, and rested her head on my shoulders. She started humming softly to herself. At first I tried to ignore her, but then she slowly turned her head, resting her chin on my shoulder and softly started singing in my ear. I stiffened as I realised what song she was singing. It was the Alan Parsons’ Project song – Limelight.

“I can see the glow of a distant sun,

I can feel it inside,

Maybe this day could be the one,” she sang. I listened to her voice as she went on more purposefully this time,

"I can hear the roar of a distant crowd,

They are waiting for me,

Calling my name, Shouting out loud.”

She stopped because we had arrived at the beach.

I parked my motorbike, and we both got off.

She stood before me, smiling, with that knowing look in her eyes. And I suddenly knew the answer. I took both her hands in mine, and as I looked right in her eyes and nodded my head, I said softly,

“Yeah Michelle, I can hear them too.”

She smiled at me, let go of my hands and started walking away.

I looked at her beautiful, young person as I followed her, and shook my head silently.

She had done it again.

Season 2 - Episode 3

2008-07-01T11:46:00.006+02:00

The following Friday was a public holiday, and Steve was still sleeping when I got up.

I tried to call David, but his cell phone was switched off, which could only one thing – David wasn’t going to wake up early on a holiday.

As I had some cereal, I pondered on what I was going to do that morning. I looked out of the window, and I could see the sun shining in the blue sky. It was a perfect day to go and hang out on the beach with my friends. But it seemed like University was taking too much out of them, and unlike the summer days, when they were usually full of life, and keen on living it to the fullest, now that it was winter one holiday meant only more sleeping hours.

I thought about Tyrone. I figured that Tyrone wasn’t one to sleep in late, unless he had spent the previous night drinking and partying somewhere. But the night before, Tyrone had stayed in with Lynn watching some old movie, because she had told me so herself, so I figured that he would be up early this morning, and if he was there was only one place where he could be found. So I decided to go and look for him, and maybe together we could get the others to wake up.

I got dressed, and walked to his garage. As I drew close, I noticed that although the door was closed; the aroma of fresh coffee was drifting through, therefore I knew that I had been right, and Tyrone was up early, probably tinkering with his motorbike.

I walked in, and saw Tyrone sitting on the tattered sofa, studying the contents of some kind of book he was holding in his hands. This picture of Tyrone being actually interested in a book was so weird and so funny at the same time, that I couldn’t help exclaiming,

“I do believe that the world is coming to an end! What’s that you’re reading?”

“Oh hi, good morning. You’re up early, everyone is still sleeping.” I nodded and said,

“Yeah, I know. That’s why I came down here, so maybe we could and wake them up, you know, maybe go to the beach or somewhere.”

I looked at the discarded book, and asked again, “What was that you were reading?” Tryone shrugged, and answered,

“Oh nothing. It was just some piece of trash that came in the mail. But I was waiting for the coffee, and was just leafing through it.”

I smiled, and said,

“Well, the coffee is ready now, and it seems like it has been ready for quite some time, so maybe you could make me a cup too.”

Tyrone walked over to the little stove, turned it off, and started preparing two mugs of coffee. I walked towards the window, and looked out. It was indeed a bright, sunny day.

As I was going to get my coffee, my foot came in contact with the booklet Tryone had discarded earlier.

Purely out of curiosity, I picked it up. It was a brochure of some sort, I could tell, from the glossy cover. I turned it over, and looked at the organization’s name – Lenton School for Performing Arts. The name hit me suddenly. Lenton School for Performaing Arts was one of the most prestigious private colleges on the island. It took in a very limited number of students each year, and apart from being too hard to get in, it was also a very expensive school. While this college requested high academic qualifications from its students, it was a school unlike any other. Common lessons were taught in this school, such as English, and Math, but other than that the main focus was, as its name implied, Performing Arts. This was the school that made the stars, and its common nickname was The Stairway, because this school was definitely the stairway to stardom for the few lucky ones who managed to get in. Everyone knew about this school, many dreamt of being there, some actually had the courage to apply, but very few actually managed to get in.

I looked up at Tyrone.

“Lenton School for Performing Arts, huh?” I asked. Tyrone shrugged and said,

“Like I told you, it came in the mail. I was just leafing through it.”

I was silent for a few minutes, as I leafed through the brochure, and sipped my coffee. I paused at the drama section, and as I read through it, I felt my breath literally sucked out of my lungs. They had the most exclusive classes, and the best teachers – and students actually got to write their own plays, and movie scripts, and they got to perform in a play at the end of every semester, and by the end of the three year course, they would even do their own movie. This was a dream come true. Not to mention the fact that talent scouts were always looking out at these students, and quite a good number of ex-students had become stars even before they graduated.

I stood up and went over to Tryone.

“Ty, I have heard all about this school from some guys in my drama class. They had actually applied, but didn’t make the final list, and so had to make do with the course at University. This is the most exclusive college in the whole continent, and they have long waiting lists every year. They don’t have to advertise by sending their brochure in the mail. This brochure can only be obtained from the school, together with the application form.”

Tyrone did not speak. I reached out and took my hands in his. “Ty, look at me. I know exactly how you feel. You want to do something with your life, and you know that it’s not the law. I feel exactly the same way too. I want to be an actress, but with this drama course I am taking, I’ll probably be extremely lucky if I ever manage to land a part in some B-movie. But this college could be the answer, right?”

He let go of my hands, and turned away.

“Ty, look at me. I guess I am right, no? This is what you want to do.”

He turned and laughed softly, and said,

“Yeah, maybe in my wildest dreams. Michelle, do you know how hard it is to get in this school? Do you know that every year there are about 500 people who apply? And only 50 get to make it. And even if I did get in, how on earth am I going to pay for the lessons? Do you know how expensive this school is?”

“I don’t know. Maybe get a job, or something. If you really want something so bad, then I’m sure you will find the means to get it. And this is what you want, isn’t it?” He looked at me,

“Isn’t it what you want to?” I looked down, and said,

“Yeah, it is. And Ty, you know what? I’m going to apply. I don’t know if I will be good enough to get in, and I don’t know how the hell am I going to pay for the classes if I do get in, but I’m going to give it a try. I know I just can’t live through the rest of my life, knowing that maybe I had the chance to be what I want to be, and lost that chance because I was too chicken to try out.” Tyrone looked at me for a few moments, without speaking a word. Then he picked up the brochure, handed it to me, and said,

“Here, read this. It explains everything in detail – all the rules, all the necessary requirements needed to apply, the tryouts, the waiting lists, the fees – everything. Good luck.” I smiled at him.

“You should have said “Break a leg”. That’s the right theatrical jargon in wishing someone good luck.” I paused, and then asked, “How about you? Aren’t you going to apply? I mean, if you are, you will need this brochure too. I can easily go and get one from the school, when I get my application form.” Tyrone smiled again, and said,

“I’m still not so sure about what I am going to do. But even if I decide to apply, I don’t need that brochure. I’ve been going through it for the past three days, and I know every word in it by heart.”

“Some junk mail!” I laughed.

And I sat down to go through it one more time. Tyrone prepared some more coffee, and then he came and sat down beside, and together we went through the brochure once more. We spent the next sixty-five minutes discussing everything in detail, until David called me on my cell phone, and we left the garage to go and meet him and Lynn down by the beach. On the way I called Steve and he said that they will be over too.

It was such a beautiful day, and I felt so happy as Tyrone’s motorbike neared the beach, and I saw the blue sea. But I knew that the real why I felt so happy was because I knew that this was the chance of a lifetime, and now that I had found my purpose in life, I was not going to let this opportunity pass me by. I was determined to try my hardest to get in The Stairway, and no one was going to stop me.

Season 2 - Episode 2

2008-05-06T12:20:00.024+02:00

It was a Friday, and we were sitting in the school cafeteria, during our lunch break. There were only a couple of hours to go, and school would be out for the week.
Tyrone sighed, and said,

“I’m so sick of this shit! This week has been so hard. I just want to go out and shake loose tonight. Where shall we go?” David shrugged at his comment and said,

“We’ll probably just end up at Neverland as usual.”

Tyrone sighed again.

“No, I don’t want to go that bar again tonight. I’m getting tired of seeing the same faces every weekend. I want to go somewhere different.”

“How about The Shack?” I asked.

He shook his head.

“No, I don’t want to go there, ever again. That was a place where I used to go every night to drink the bad memories away, and wondering about you guys. That club is history.”

Mandy looked up.

“I know. I’ve heard of this place in Pennsburgh, it’s called Teen Grove. We could go there and have a bite to eat in the diner downstairs, and then party upstairs in the club.”

Tyrone smiled.

“I’ve heard about it from some guys in my Media Law class. They all said it was fun. Maybe we should go and check it out, right?” We all agreed on that place, and so that evening, we called a cab, on Mandy’s insistence. She knew we wanted to release all the week’s tension from school, and drink a lot, so she would not let us drive.

We arrived there at Teen Grove at around nine in the evening, and ordered some very unhealthy, greasy junk food from the diner downstairs, and then at around eleven we climbed upstairs to party in the club. We had a really wild time that night, drinking and dancing. We drank a lot, and by two in the morning, we were totally drunk, and laughing at the silliest things. Our feet were getting tired from all that dancing too, and so we staggered our way downstairs.

"That was awesome guys. I love this place. I’m sooo worn-out now. But I don’t want to go home yet. I just want to go to some quiet place and chill out.”

“Let’s go to Uncle Phil’s bar,” said Lynn. We looked at her, and Steve asked,

“Where? In Claryton Beach Resort?”

“Nah!” said David. “That’s closed down for winter. But Uncle Phil has this other place in Claryton called The Magic Lounge. It’s usually full of old people, but plays some really good old music, you know, Beatles and stuff. But it’s a cool place to chill out.” So that was it. We hailed a cab, and went down to Uncle Phil’s The Magic Lounge.

It was true what David had said – this bar targeted an older clientele, but we all loved good music, and after all the blaring noises of Teen Grove, we all agreed that this was a good place to chill out. We ordered a bottle of wine, and sat down at a table, laughing and talking with each other. There was a Karaoke machine, and people were getting up there and singing, or making fools of themselves. We laughed at them, and sang along with them at the tops of our voices, and in general were having a good time.

At one point, Tyrone looked at me and said,

“Hey, you take voice lessons, don’t you? Why don’t you go up there, and show us what you can do?”

I laughed and said,

“All right I will, but only if you promise to sing a song afterwards.” Tyrone was really drunk now, and he accepted my challenge.

So I got up, and chose a song that I knew by heart, because I knew that there was no way that I was going to see the lyrics on the screen, in my drunken state. They all cheered and hooted after I finished singing.

I went back to Tyrone and said, "It's your turn now, or are you going to chicken out?" He stood up, and said,

"Who me? Chicken out? Ha!" and walked towards the stage. David hooted.

“Hey, are you going to allow a girl make a fool out of you?” he asked.

Tyrone laughed, and as the music started, he pointed the mike at me, and said,

“You owe me big time for this.” I laughed and sat down with the others, as the music started. We were all laughing out loud by now, and cheering Tyrone.

But as Tyrone started singing the first verse, our laughter died down, and we stared at him.
Tyrone’s singing was so good, that even in his drunken state, he managed to hold everyone’s attention. We listened to the rest of the song in silence, and when he finished we clapped and cheered him hard.

He came back to the table and sat down, a wide grin on his face. The others fussed around him, and complimented him on his vocal skills.

“Hey, man, you never told us you could sing,” said Steve. And Mandy laughed along too, and said,

“I hear him singing in the shower all the time, but I never heard him sing along to music. You were awesome, Ty.” Tyrone sat back, sipping wine, and tried to make-believe he was flattered.

But I did not speak a word. I just looked at Tyrone in amazement. It was like I was seeing him for the first time in my life. And the reason was that although he was pretending it was all a joke, I had seen the look in his eyes as he was up there singing, and I could see the look he had in his eyes now. I knew I was drunk, but I also knew what I was seeing. Tyrone plainly loved singing. I decided to give it a shot, and so I pretended to laugh along with the others, and said,

“I always knew you’d be wasting your life as a lawyer. This is what you should do for real.”

“Yes, you’re right. Hold on tight guys, because here I come – the biggest star of the century.” He had joked about it, but I could see his eyes were not laughing. My statement had hit home, but Tyrone was too embarrassed to admit it. In fact, he changed the subject immediately, and started talking about his bike.

The next night, we all decided to go to Teen Grove again, and although we could not drink much after the previous night, we still had a good time.
When it was time for us to leave, it was Tyrone who suggested we go back the The Magic Lounge.

“Why do you want to go to that old place again?” asked Mandy.

“Yeah,” said Steve, “It’s not as if we’re drunk tonight.” David laughed at this, and said,

“He wants to sing again. He loves the attention, and I guess that’s the only time he’s going to get it.” Tyrone laughed at this, but he still looked embarrassed.
So I decided to come to his rescue,

“No, guys come on. Let’s go there. I want to sing too.” After much jeering and joking, they all agreed to go there.

We sat down at the table, ordered the wine, and started chatting, and singing loudly to the songs. I was seated next to Tyrone, and after a while I looked at him, and said in a low voice,

“Aren’t you going to sing tonight?” He shook his head, and answered,

“No, I’m not going to sing tonight.”

“Why?” I asked surprised. He shrugged.

“You’ll all end up making fun of me again.” I looked at him seriously.

“I wasn’t making fun of you last night. I meant what I had said.”

He looked at me, and I nodded my head to show him that I really meant it. He still didn’t answer, so I said, “Come on. I’ll sing with you, if you want. We can sing a duet.” He smiled.

“Which song?” I thought for a while, and then said,

“I know, we’ll sing I want to spend my lifetime loving you.” He shook his head.

“No way. That’s a difficult song. I can’t sing that.” I wasn’t going to let him give up that easily, so I said,

“Yes, you can, and you know it.” I took his hand, and almost dragged him off the seat. And turning to the others, I said in a loud voice, “Come on Ty, let’s show them the stuff real stars are made of.” He laughed softly, and allowed himself to be pulled towards the Karaoke stage.

We chose the song, and started singing it. Everyone in the bar stopped what they were doing, and just listened to us.

He started the first verse of the song, as the other sounds dimmed in the background:

Moon so bright, night so fine, Keep your heart here with mine, Life's a dream we are dreaming.

It was my turn to sing next, and I looked right in his eyes, as I sang the next words of the song:

Race the moon, catch the wind, Ride the night to the end, Seize the day, stand up for the light.

He nodded at me, as if he understood exactly what I meant by those words

There was not a single sound to be heard as we sang the song together, except for the sound of music, together with the sound of our two voices, mixing together in perfect harmony. And as our voices rose together in the chorus, I could see the bliss in Tyrone's eyes, as he held that mike, and sang his heart out.

We finished the song, and everyone in the bar cheered and clapped real hard, our friends the most. We sat back with them, and this time there was no joking or jeering. They simply looked at us in admiration, and the only words they had for us were those of praise.
Tyrone looked at me; it was as if he knew what I had been thinking, and he wanted to tell me that I had been right. I could understand Tyrone, because deep down, I too felt the same way. I had really felt alive, as I had held that mike in my hands, and felt the music, and just let my voice follow it, slowly at first, and then stronger and stronger, till it was the only thing that mattered.

* * *

On Monday we were back in school, and went on with our lives as usual. For the others it had been just another weekend; different from the others, but still another weekend to look back on, but to move on forward from. But not for Tyrone. I could sense that something had happened to Tyrone that weekend, because he was not his same old self that week. During the rest of the week, he was fidgety, and on edge.

Once I tried to ask him if something was wrong, and he just huffed, and said,

“You know what’s wrong? This pointless life I am living – that’s what’s wrong!” I wished I could help him, but how could I? I sometimes felt the same way too, but then I looked around me, and saw my friends, my brother, and David – and everything seemed all right again. So I decided not to give it much more thought, and maybe in time, he will find his way too.

Until the following Friday, I walked in on him holding that brochure in his hand…

Season 2: Episode 1

2008-04-08T11:39:00.006+02:00

It had been almost three months now, since we all got together again. The first few days had been awkward for all of us, because it was still somewhat difficult to erase all that had happened in the past year, but as time went on, and we caught up on each other’s lives, we became more relaxed with each other, and before long, the happy days were back again. We were together most of the time.

The other students at University thought that we were just another three couples hanging out together because of the links between us – that is, David and Lynn were siblings, and so were Steve and I. But we knew it was much more than that, and that there was something greater than us that was binding us together – the same forces that had worked so hard to bring us back together that summer. Me and my brother left our house, and moved to a small apartment in Claryton, so that we could be closer to our friends.
Winter was coming fast, and the beach was just a memory now. But the good thing about Lenton was that winter never really came to this island.

The temperature went down, and it was somewhat chilly sometimes, and there were a few days filled with rain, and strong winds, and grey weather, and some thunderstorms would hit the island too. But none of these lasted long, and the sun always came out shining again.
The only drawback living in a summer place such as Claryton was that it got quiet in winter, but this suited us fine. While in summer, the beaches were full of laughter and happy people, we could now enjoy the solitude that winter brought with it. On sunny afternoons, we would take a picnic basket, and spent the day playing, eating and lazing about on the deserted beach. We did not need other people. All we needed was each other’s company; and we were happy. Those days of the beginning were blissful and innocent ones, and I often wonder what happened to change it all.
We were still going to University everyday, and trying to do well at what we did. But now there were other things to look forward to, and so studying became just another chore that we had to do, before we moved on to the more exciting things. So it was not very long before we started getting restless. David looked unhappier than ever with his choice,
and Tyrone never bothered to open one single book after school.
Lynn was regretting her choice of subjects too, because now that David had gotten better, she was seeing Psychology as a pointless path to walk.

And although I had chosen Drama because I wanted to become an actress, the University course was nothing much like I had expected. Mostly it was just theory and theory, and we never even got the chance to write our own play, let alone have a part in one.
It seemed like the only people who were not regretting their choice, were Steve and Mandy, because music was such a great part of their lives, that they were happy meddling around with it, whether it was at home, or at school.
But we just didn’t know what else we could do. We just sat down sometimes, exhausted after another day at school, and simply talked about wanting to quit. But we never did. Because we didn’t know what else we could do if we quit school.

Until that night.

That night when we went partying out of town, and got drunk…

That night set in motion all the events that followed, which led to all that we are now…

Season 1: Episode 20

2007-12-13T16:40:00.001+01:00

I dialled the number, and listened to the tone. After a few seconds, I heard my best friend’s voice on the other side,

“Hello.”

“Hello, Lynn, it’s me. Listen, I am calling you from Tyrone’s garage. Why don’t you come over as soon as you can, because I’m sure that Tyrone has something to say to you.” I heard the hesitation on the other side. “Lynn?” I asked. She answered,

“I can’t. You know I can’t. What if David finds out?” I smiled in the phone.

"David was here only minutes ago. Maybe he and Tyrone are not best friends yet, but I’m sure that things are going to be much different between them now, isn’t that right, Ty?” I asked as I looked at Tyrone. Tyrone smiled to let me know that I was right, and I heard a click on the phone. “Lynn? Lynn?” No answer. She had hung up.

I put the receiver back in its place, and turned to Tyrone.

He came over to me, and hugged me really close.

“You’re so wonderful, Michelle. You always know the right thing to do.” I hugged him back, and laughed as I said,

“Oh no, Ty. I hardly ever know what to do. And many times I end up doing the wrong thing. But this time I know that I needed to do this. I know that you still love Lynn, and that she loves you a lot. It was only David that was standing between the two of you. And now that you and David are going to try to get along, I want Lynn to be happy. She is my best friend after all.”

Hardly ten minutes had passed, when Lynn walked in the garage. She smiled, and said,

“Sorry I hung up on you. But I wanted to get here fast, and I had to change because I was still in my pyjamas.” I laughed and walked over to her, and told her everything that had happened that morning. She walked over to Tyrone.

“Ty, is true that you and my brother are going to try to get along?"

Tyrone nodded and said,

“More than that, we’re going to try to get to know each other again, and try to be friends like we used to be when we were kids.”

Lynn turned to me, and as she hugged me, she said,

“You’re a real friend, Michelle. I can’t believe that everything is right again. I never thought that things were ever going to be right. But now…” I smiled.

“Nothing will go wrong again. Never again.” With those words, I started walking out of the garage. As I was walking out I heard Tyrone say,

“Lynn, I’m so sorry about every wrong thing I have done, and for all the pain I have caused you and your family.”

And Lynn replied,

“None of that was your fault, Ty. It’s just the way things had to be. Oh, I love you so much.”

I turned, and looked back for a brief moment, before I walked out of the garage,

and I saw Lynn and Tyrone locked together in a loving embrace – and I could see the happiness shining brightly on Lynn’s face. I smiled to myself, and walked out.

* * *

And that’s how that summer ended – and the rest began. That evening we all met up, and went to the park. We talked about a lot of things, and we found out that in spite of all that had happened in the past, we still had a lot of things in common, and we still liked each other very much. As we lay down on the grass, I found myself thinking about those days back in the woods in Sherwood, and I smiled softly.

At that moment, I was not seeing us as the almost-grown-ups we were now, but I was seeing as six little kids, running around a bonfire in the woods, and laughing about the silliest things. After all, that’s what we had been doing all evening – enjoying each other’s company without the complications that life can bring with it.

As I lay down there in that park, and looked at my friends, I remember thinking,

“I can’t believe that such happiness can exist. Nothing will go wrong this time. We’re so great together. We’re really going to live happily ever after.”

Like I said, that was just the beginning…

Season 1: Episode 19

2007-12-07T22:02:00.001+01:00

We walked in, and Tyrone was there. He looked up as David and I entered through the door.

He didn’t speak, but it was obvious that he was waiting to hear what David had to say.

David looked at him, and said,

“Ty, we need to talk.”

Tyrone nodded his head.

“I know,” he said. “You probably have figured out it was me who killed your brother, and I know you’re right.”

David shook his head.

“No, Ty, that’s not what I want to talk about. You didn’t kill Danny. I was the one who pushed you, and if there is anyone to blame, then it is me. But I do realise now that it was an accident. I’m not saying I don’t feel guilty. I’ll probably feel guilty for the rest of my life, but there is nothing I can do about it anymore.”

Tyrone looked puzzled.

“So what do you want to talk to me about?” he asked.

“About everything that’s happened this past year.”

Tyrone laughed sarcastically, and said,

“Yeah, right!”

He moved over to a small counter, and took up a bottle. He opened it, and put it to his lips. David looked up angrily,

“Yes, that’s the right attitude. Keep running away from your issues, and try to drown them with alcohol! But you know, Ty, that’s not going to make them go away.” I put my hand on David’ s arm, and said softly,

"No, David. Let him drink. In fact, I think we could all use a drink right now, you included. This has all been too much for us, and we need to be calm, if we are ever going to get to the end of this story.”

Tyrone looked up at me, smiled, and poured us all a drink

After we sipped quietly for a few seconds, David spoke again.

“Tyrone, I’ve just realised that back in Sherwood, the last time I had spoken to you, was when I pushed you down, and you know what happened afterwards. I don’t want to happen again, ever again. I don’t want us to part again on bad terms. I don’t know what’s going to happen, and honestly right now, I don’t really care. But I do want us to try to get along.” Tyrone looked surprised.

“But our fighting has never had anything to do with what happened back in the woods. We seemed to get along fine when I first moved here. It was you who suddenly decided I shouldn’t see your sister. It was you who started this cold war, not me.” David nodded his head.

“I know, Ty. It was me. But the problem was that when I started hanging out with you, I started having these nightmares. I used to dream about that day every night. In my dream I used to see you that day, holding the gun, aiming at the bird, and in my dream I knew that I was going to do something terrible. I didn’t remember my past, but I guess my subconscious did – and it was affecting me terribly. I knew that I had to avoid you, to be ok. The problem is that I never got better. I changed into a different person. And now I realise that the person that I have become, is the person I always wanted to be, before I forgot who I was. Am I making sense?” Tyrone shrugged.

“Yeh, I guess you are. But are you ok now?”

“Yes, I am ok now, and I will be. Because I know that however messed up things might end, I know who I am, and there’s a little angel somewhere, called Danny, to think about. I guess that was the worst part, realising that I had forgotten all about my twin brother.” Tyrone took another sip, and asked,

“So what happens now?” David shrugged, and replied,

“I don’t know. But I want us to try to be friends. We might discover that we actually can’t stand each other, or we might realise that deep down we’re still those little boys playing in the woods. But if we don’t give it a try, we’ll never know.” Tyrone smiled and nodded his head.

“I agree. So, friends then?”

“Friends,” replied David. And they both raised the glass to their lips, and drank in toast to their long-lost friendship.

We chatted for a while about a few trivial things, and then David told us that he had to go, because his uncle needed him to run some errands for him. He asked me if I needed a ride, but I told him I will be all right, and he left. When he left, Tyrone looked at me, and said,

“You know something. I have the feeling that things are going to turn out right this time.” I smiled at him, and said,

“Me too. And I’m really happy. Because although all we have been doing since we met is arguing I really like you, Ty – and I want to be your friend.”

Tyrone walked over to me, put his arms around my waist, and pulled me towards him in a warm embrace.

“You’re an amazing girl, Michelle. All this has happened because of you. Other people would have simply given up, and walked away from this sorry excuse for a guy – that’s me. But instead, you held on, you persisted, and you managed to make things right for all of us. You know, David is one lucky guy to have you.”

I smiled at him, and said,

“Actually, I haven’t yet put everything right the way that it should be. There’s just one more thing for everything to be perfect. And that’s what I intend to do right now.”

I let go of him, and walked towards the phone I had seen earlier. I picked it up, and started dialling the number of that one person who was the missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle, in order for this whole picture to be perfect and complete the way that it should be.

The Pact - Season 1: Episode 18

2007-11-22T20:59:00.001+01:00

I arrived at David’s house, and Lynn opened the door for me. She told me that David was upstairs in his bedroom, and I went up. He was lying on his bed, lost in thought. It was obvious that the strain of the memory had been a little too much for him, but he smiled softly at me through his tears as I walked in.

I sat down on the bed beside him, and immediately he asked,

“How’s Steve?” I shrugged.

“I guess he’s coping. Mandy is with him. I’ve also been to see Tyrone. He thinks that you guys blame him for what happened.” David shook his head.

“How can I blame him? I was the one who pushed him.” I took his hand in mine.

“David it was an accident. You definitely did not want your brother to die, let alone kill him. You all have to stop blaming yourselves.” David nodded his head, and said,

“It’s not going to be easy, but I guess now that I know the truth, I have to move on. Danny would want us to move on. I guess that’s why I forgot – from wherever he is, he made me forget so that I could move on forward with my life, until it was the right time for me to remember. And that time was now – now that we all got back together. This was all supposed to happen, Michelle.”

I looked at him, not quite understanding what he meant by that.

He pulled me close to him, and softly kissed my lips. I kissed him back. I didn't know if this meant that he had forgiven me, or if he wanted us to be together still. But it didn't matter at that moment, because I knew that he needed to feel someone close to him at that moment, and I needed the same thing just as much.

He let go of my hand, and got off the bed. He walked towards his desk, and picked up a book from it. He handed it to me. It was a photo album.

“Take a look at this. This is a photo album of when I was a kid. There are a lot of pictures of Danny here. My parents and Lynn have kept this album hidden from me, knowing that if I saw them my memory could come back. But now that I can remember everything, Lynn has given it to me.”

I opened the album, and started going through those pictures. Like David had said, it was full of pictures from his childhood, starting from him and Danny as babies, and toddlers, and of them as little children. I recognised most of the landscapes too - and I wondered how I could have forgotten so much of my own childhood. Tears welled up in my eyes as I saw those pictures of Danny. He had been such a cute child. David and Danny had been identical twins, but as I looked at those pictures, I could recognise which one was David, and which one was Danny - we had always been able to tell them apart somehow, and now even after all these years, I could remember exactly which one was which.

I suddenly stopped at one particular photo. The tears that had been threatening to come out, now streamed down my face.

David saw me staring at that picture, and he gently pulled it out of the album.

It was a picture of all us together, in our backyard.

“See that picture? Do you remember the day that picture was taken?” I looked at the picture again, and was suddenly whisked back in time to that day. It had been a beautiful day, at the beginning of spring. It had been only a few days before Danny’s tragic accident.

Danny had been sitting on the swing, and we were just lazing about in our small backyard.

Suddenly Danny had looked at us all seriously, and said,

“Have you guys ever thought about what you want to be when you grow up?”

We all looked at him, and as he joined us on the grass, we started speaking of our dreams. I had said I wanted to be a movie star, and Steve had said he wanted to be a rock star. Tyrone had said that he wanted to be someone famous, and David had said that he too wanted to be Someone when he grew up. Mandy had said that she wanted to be a fashion designer, and I remember that Danny had said he wanted to be a famous reporter, and write in the most popular magazines.

Then I remember Tyrone had said,

“This village is so quiet, nothing ever happens here. No famous person has ever come out of this place. We will be the first famous people to ever come out of Sherwood.”

Danny had shaken his head at that remark.

“No that will never be possible. There is no way that we can ever get the skills needed for our dream jobs here in this village. We will have to move away to become famous.”

“But that means we might never see each other again. If everyone goes their own way, we won’t be able to remain friends.” And Danny had said,

“We will move away together. When we finish High School, we will be eighteen, and then we will move to some other place together, and follow our dreams. What do you think?”

We all agreed with what he was saying. We were still kids, and we could not realise how Fate sometimes has a way of interfering with the plans you make for your life. So Danny went on,

“We will make a pact, here, today, that the summer after we finish High School, we will move away together to some other place – a place where we can become Somebodies. And we will also make a pact that we will always remain friends – and will never break that pact.”

We all hugged each other, and took that picture, as a promise that we will remain friends forever. We did not have any doubt, and we did not even realise how hard it was to keep a promise like that. Well, we did not give it much thought, and as from the next day, we were back to playing in the woods, and hunting rabbits, and making tree-houses. And then, just a few weeks later, Fate had intervened, and we all had gone our separate ways.

“Do you remember?” he asked. I looked at Danny's pictures in the album again, and nodded my head, and said,

“Yes. That day we had promised to move out together the summer after we finish High School, and that we will always be together, no matter what.” I stared at him, as a sudden thought occurred to me, “Do you think…?”

“Yes,” he interrupted. “We were taken away from each other. My parents brought me here, your parents took you and Steve to America, and Mandy and Tyrone stayed behind. Last year was the year when the rest of us turned eighteen, and we ended up here together on this island, in the same University. Last summer was the summer after you finished High School, and you too chose to come to Lenton. And in some weird way we all ended up connected to each other.”

“That’s so incredible, isn’t it? It’s just like a story out of a book,” I said.

“Yes, it is weird. But I do have the feeling that it was Danny who wanted us to be together, just like we had promised.” I smiled at that thought. I was hard to believe that it was some dead entity from the beyond that was behind the strange occurrences of that summer, but it was such a comforting thought. And I knew that it meant a lot for David, because if he could actually believe that his brother was looking after him, maybe it would help him to get rid of the guilt.

“So what do we do now?” I asked. David shrugged.

“I don’t know yet. I don’t know if I can face Tyrone after all that’s happened between us in the past year. I know I want to be with you, because I love you. But as for the rest, I need some time to think about it, I guess.”

I smiled at him, and kissed him.

“I love you too, David. No matter what you decide to do, I will always love you.”

He pulled me closer to him, and held me tighter. He slowly started taking my clothes off. I wanted him badly that night. I always wanted to make love to him, but that night it was more important than ever. I wanted him to know that I loved him, and only him, and whatever stupid mistakes the alcohol had made me do, there shall be no place in my heart for anyone else, except for him.

I pulled him closer to me, as I said,

"David, I love you so much. I have always loved you, and I am so sorry for any pain I have caused you. I want us to be together forever."

He silenced me with a kiss, and then pulled away long enough to tell me,

"Shh, that's all passed now. I wasn't exactly the perfect boyfriend either, with all the strange things in my mind. We will be together forever. We had promised each other that, right?" I smiled as I pulled him in another kiss. Well, we hadn't known that me and David would be going this far, I smiled to myself, but I certainly had no problem with that.

I slept at his house that night. David didn’t get much rest, because I could feel him tossing and turning all night long.

At the break of dawn, I felt him get out of bed, and I looked up groggily.

“I have come to a decision. There is someone that I need to talk to. And I need you to be there with me.”

I got out of bed slowly, and went to the shower. David had showered downstairs, and was getting dressed when I walked in his room.

"There is no other way to do things. I've been thinking about this all night, and this absolutely has to be done." I hugged him, and said,

"You must do what you feel is best for you." He smiled as he hugged me back.

After we got dressed, we had a cup of coffee, and walked out of the house. We got on David’s bike, and he drove us to Tyrone’s garage.

SEASON 1

2007-11-21T10:55:00.000+01:00

Six teenagers. Six University students. Six strangers. Six different characters. One connection between them.

Siblings Michelle and Steve Taylor move to the promised land - Lenton - a sunny, tropical island, where life is one party all the year round. They move there with one purpose only - to study at the University, while having the time of their lives. But Fate has other plans for them. As Michelle meets, and falls in love with obscure David, she starts to learn about a dark secret in his childhood - a childhood that he cannot remember. His symptoms are so similar to those of her brother Steve, that she cannot help but feel intrigued. Complications arise when her brother starts dating Mandy, and everything reaches a climax when she meets "the bad boy on the block" - Tyrone. Lynn knows, but she wouldn't tell.

What is so horrible about Sherwood - the little village lost in the middle of nowhere? What dark secrets lie under the trees in the woods behind the stream? And what is it that connects these six teenagers together?

[Note: The first chapter is The Prologue]