I woke up again, this time at a more weekend apropriate time.

10AM. Not too late nor too early.

I was still weary from the bizzare dream which I actually thought was more of a message that I had last night. It gave me a feeling that my dad was trying to reach me. A letter or text message would have been more useful though. Why a dream? How was an even better question.

I grabbed some jeans and a hollister shirt, and headed downstairs. I remembered that coversation that I overheard last night. I was starting to really question my existence and how it affected others. I usually felt unimportant and just another kid on the block. But the strength, the conversations behind my back, they all seemed to be connected to me. It was even creepier how it was all happening after my fathers death. I wondered if my fathers death was because of me too. I was ready to accept anything.

As i walked into the kitchen, I was expecting medellia or Odie to be sitting in the conservatory like they usually would.

"Good morning Herry."

A voice greeted me but it was not Odie or Medellia. It was Archie Brook from dinner last night. What was he doing here?

"Um hey Mr Brook. Why are you here-"

"Odie and Medellia had sudden work calls this morning and he wanted me to look after you." He seemed like a nice man, but why would Odie have him babysit a 16 year old? My dad let me stay at home by myself for a night when i was 13.

"Nothing personal, but I am quite capable of looking after myself."

Archie smiled. "I know that, but Odie insisted and besides, I want to meet you. I was a good friend of your dad back in highschool." He stopped that topic when he saw my eyes. He saw that it was one topic that I didn't want to talk about. I don't like it when people go on about it. His death would always make me question the mystery of my life.

"Anyways, it was along time since I saw you. Last time I saw you, you were a few months old. Now you are bigger and as my daughter said, strong too."

I blushed. I am a bit of a blusher. It comes with being an introvert I guess.

"Yeah you made a bit of an impression on my little Ashlynn. Well, I can hardly say she's little anymore. Shes alot like her mother with the independence and individuality." He smiled to himself. "Yeah Ryan is a bit more like me. Hot tempered and rebellious. I don't even know what the twins are. Theyre equally mad. Great at soccer though." He looked up at me. "Well enough about my family. Don't want to bore you."

I was actually really interested about his family. They seemed like a lively household with four adrenaline junkie kids and adrenaline junkie parents.

"Yeah I don't have any siblings. Just two cousins. But theyre way older than me."

He looked at me sincerely, 'You've been through alot. It must be tough without a sibling to talk to."

I smiled. "I've got Odie." Mr Brook laughed.

"Ah Odie. He is a good man and means well, but doesn't have much experience with kids. I think hes a bit too soft."

That was my turn to laugh. "He sure doesn't look soft."

"He used to be. Man, my buddy, Neil and I teased him alot back in highschool. But your dad always supported him. Did he ever tell you about our adventures as teens?"

I shook my head. "No. He didn't talk much about his past. I always felt like he was hiding something from me. Whatever it was, it seemed like it burdened him. I guess he took it to his grave." I held back a tear. There would be time for mourning tomorrow.

Archie nodded in acknowledgment. "He was a born leader." Archie started rummaging through his bag which lay at his feet. He took a book out. He reached it out to me.

"This is a book I wrote. Its on the New York Best Sellers list for teen fiction."

I looked at the title. "Class of the Titans?" I asked. I was a little confused on why he gave me the book. I had heard of the book. My buddy Sean had read it and said that it was great. The book was large. At least 900 pages.

"I based one of the main characters off of your dad. It is about a group of seven teenage heroes who save the world from monsters of greek mythology. There are actually several volumes but theyre all in that one book"

It seemed interesting enough. My dad had told me most of the stories of greek mythology already. I decided to start it later.

"Maybe it will fill in a few gaps in your knowledge." He smiled. "I sent a request to the mental institution to see if your mother could be allowed to attend the funeral. I haven't got a reply yet." His eyes looked down. "Your mother was an interesting girl. Complete Drama Queen of course, but she was a good friend. She was strong willed and aware of her surroundings. We all miss her. The only reason she was stuck in there is because she read the mayors mind and alerted the media to his plans to destroy the conservation area. The man got so scared he acused her of being mentaly unstable. And so they locked her up."

"Wait, hang on a minute. My mom actually COULD read minds?"

Mr Brook paused for a moment. "I said too much. Nobody's sure. Sorry if I raised your hopes son, but I doubt the prison will release your mother." He stood up from the kitchen table.

"Keep the book. It's yours." He sounded grim and depressed at that point.

As he walked out, Medellia walked in. She kindly thanked Archie for the babysit as he left through the doors with his head held down. Medellia walked into the kitchen. Here eyes wern't freakishly sharp at the moment. That was always a good sign.

"Hey there Herry. How was your sleep?" She sounded so motherly. It kind of scared me. She didn't sound like herself. She sounded interested and concerned over me. Then again, maybe the other Medellia I knew before was the unusual one.

"Uh, good." I was lying through my teeth but she didn't notice.

"Oh Mr Brook gave you a copy of his book. How nice! He based one of the characters off of Odie. Did you know that?" She was talking to me as she unpacked groceries.

"Actually? I didn't know that."

"Yes. Now have worked on your speech for tomorrow?"

I hadn't started. I personally didn't want to write it. I decided that I would make it later and lie.

"I'm still working on it." I decided to spend some time outside and get some fresh air. I went for a run. There were some neat trails near Odies mansion. They were pleasant to jog through.

When I got back, I showered and went to my room. I had left my phone in there that morning so I went to check it. I had a text from Aslynn.

-Hey :) Wanna jam later on?

I replied with a another text.

-Sure! Whereabouts?

-How about your house? I want to see this collection you told me about.

-OK come whenever youre ready i guess

-One hour?

-See ya then :)

I told Medellia about the jam. She didn't seem to care. She knew that the music room was soundproof so she let it go ahead.

Sure enough, one hour later, the doorbell rang. I opened it to see a bright red haired girl at the doorstep.

"Hey" she said with a happy smile. She had brought her guitar and everything.

"You didn't really need to bring that." I said. She looked confused.

"Why not"

"You'll see." I led her downstairs to the music room. The second she entered the room, her draw dropped. There were at least 20 guitars for her to choose from, and they were all priceless in value. She grabbed a gibson les paul from the rack and tested it out. I grabbed a thunderbird bass and plugged it in.

"What song do you wanna play?" I asked.

She replied: "I'm feeling some My Chemical Romance. One of the older albums."

She began the opening riff for "NANANA", I joined in and we jammed with the crystal clear sound that our instruments produced.

I'm not a proffesional singer, but I could pull of the singing part for the songs decently. I was no Michael Bolton, but I was good enough to not be completely off key. Ashlynn was pretty good herself as well. Especially as we got into the paramore songs. She actually looked a bit like the singer herself with her straightened hair and yellowcard t shirt. Her voice was nothing compared with her guitar skills. She could pull off just about any riff or solo almost effortlessly. It blew my mind. Even the original lead guitar in my old band wasn't that good.

We played for hours. Before we knew it, our voices were gone and were heads were throbbing from the cranked bass amp. We went upstairs to grab a drink.

"I have never seen someone play the guitar like that." I complimented her. She blushed.

"Well you're a pretty good bass player yourself." We both chugged a glass of water. I hadn't had that much fun since before my dad got sick. My blood was still pumping when Ashlynn got a call that was telling her to come home for dinner.

"Thanks for having me Herry." She said while we waited outside for her ride.

"No problem. Are you going to the funeral tomorrow?" That last sentace came out a bit awkwardly.

She looked down. "I'm afraid not. My parents are going but I have to babysit the tweebs and Ryan." She looked at me glummly.

"Its going to be a pretty depressing day. I'm sure you wont miss anything exciting."

She looked blankly at the wall. "Yeah but my parents always spoke so highly of your dad. He sounds like he was a respectable man. And I know how much it means to you. I guess all I can do is wish you the best."

A minivan came hurtling down the driveway. It was her mother.

"Thanks anyways." She gave me a friendly hug and walked to the car. We waved goodbye as I watched the car disappear behind the hedges.

Ashlynn was like a cancer. She was growing on me. I was glad to have her as a friend. My other friends were not much for support. They were more or less for laughs. But I felt that I could trust her. As new a friend as she was, I could see her as being a best friend.

Or more.

I had suddenly realised that it was getting dark and I had not started on the speech. I ran in, heading to my room. I was not putting up with those sharp eyes again.

Well, I sure enjoyed writing that. I hope that you enjoyed reading it and that you will review so I can know your opinion.;)

As always, have a nice day, or in this case, night. :)