Chapter 1: Caught in the crowd

I can still remember him, the way he was before we actually spoke to each other. I was his friend, and I ruined all of that.

There was a guy at my school when I was in high school

We'd ride side by side in the morning on our bicycles

Never even spoken or faced each other

But on the last hill we'd race each other

I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock. I was in a bad mood that day, I had barely got any sleep and I had to do a bunch of chores after school. I decide to just lie in bed and see how much extra time I would get. I get about a minute before my Mum shouted, "Sora, its time to get up!" I slowly threw the covers off myself and used the same speed when dressing myself. I then when down for breakfast and got a mouth full from Mum explaining that I need to go to bed earlier and wake up earlier. Since I was in a grumpy mood I decided to argue with her, I don't quite remember how I tried to argue with her, but I did. I just ended up getting myself in even more trouble.

I stomped out of the house without saying goodbye. I quickly unlocked my bike and start riding. It was a nice day. The Sun was shining and all the birds were chirping. It would have been the perfect day if I hadn't gotten yelled at earlier. Then once I get to the edge of the street and turned off I meet him. At this point in time I didn't know his name nor had I ever talked to him before. But we would always ride side by side. He had brown bushy hair and brown eyes. Yet he would always try to keep them hidden. On the last hill we would always race each other. I would win a lot, but sometimes I got the feeling he let me win. Today I was in the lead by a lot yet he suddenly came out of nowhere and cut in front of me. He then speed along to the bottom of the hill. He won that one.

When we reached the racks, we'd each go our own way

I wasn't in his classes, I didn't know his name

When we finally got to speak, he just stared at his feet

And mumbled a sentence that ended with James

When we got to the racks we would always go our separate ways. I rarely ever saw him and I wasn't in his classes, so we never communicated. I decided it was time to talk to him. "I'm Sora, what's your name?" He starred down at his feet and mumbled a sentence that ended with "Tai."

I was young and caught in the crowd

I didn't know then what I know now

I was dumb and I was proud and I'm sorry

If I could go back, do it again

I'd be someone you could call friend

Please, please believe that I'm sorry

Well, he was quite a big guy, kinda shy and quiet

When the kids called him weird, he didn't try to deny it

Every lunchtime he'd spend walking by himself

'Round the boundary of the grounds 'til he heard the bell

Tai was really quiet and shy, he was also unpopular. Kids would always pick on him, yet he would never try to deny it or get angry. Every lunchtime he would always walk around the boundary of the school by himself. I guess he didn't have any friends.

Well, one day I found him, joined him on his walk

We were silent for a while until we started to talk

I told him my family were fighting in court

He said his step-dad and him always fought

One day my friends and I were playing truth or dare. I was dared to step outside the school boundary. Of course I was stupid enough to do so. When I came back I saw that my friends were all gone. They must have thought it was funny to walk off on me. That's when I saw Tai. He was, as usual walking by himself. I really couldn't have been bothered trying to find my friends, so I decided to join him. "Hi Tai." He looked up and stared at me. "Oh, hi Sora." He seemed to be a bit stunned that some one had spoken to him. "Mind if I walk with you?" I asked him. "Uh sure," he replied.

We walked for a bit, we didn't say anything until I decided to break the tension. "So you like school?" "Its okay," he replied. "What do your parents do?" He asked me. "My parents fight in court," I replied. "Me and my step-dad fight all the time," he said. That was the beginning of a long conversation.

We talked about music, he was into punk

Told me all the bands that I liked were junk

I said I'd never heard the songs the Sex Pistols sang

I laughed back at him and then the bell rang

We started talking about music. He really liked punk and he was into all these bands I had never heard of. I told him about the bands I was into and he said they were all junk. Then we started arguing about which bands were good and which were junk. Lets just say we never came to an agreement. Eventually the bell went and we left to go to our classes. Before he left Tai smiled, the only time I think I ever saw him smile at all.

I was young and caught in the crowd

I didn't know then what I know now

I was dumb and I was proud and I'm sorry

If I could go back, do it again

I'd be someone you could call friend

Please, please believe that I'm sorry

It was after school in the afternoon

The corridors were crowded as we came out of the rooms

Three guys I knew pushed him into the cement

Threw away his bag and said he had no friends

The bell that signaled the end of school finally went off. I quickly got my bag out of my locker and pushed my way through the crowd of kids that were trying to get out. After a lot of pushing and shoving, I finally exited the building. That's when I spotted Tai. He had been cornered by the most popular kid in school Matt, the smartest kid in school, who was also Matt's best friend Izzy, and the oldest kid in the school Joe. "What's the matter Tai, not man enough to fight us." Said Matt who then pushed Tai into the ground. Tai didn't make any effort to get up. Matt then ripped Tai's bag from him and threw it away.

He yelled that he did and he looked around

Tried getting up but they pushed him on down

That's when he saw me, called out my name

And I turned my back and just walked away

Yeah, I turned my back and just walked away

Tai yelled that he did have friends and he looked around. Finally he tried to get up only for Matt to push him back down. That's when he saw me and called out my name. And I just turned my back and just walked away.

I was young and caught in the crowd

I didn't know then what I know now

I was dumb and I was proud and I'm sorry

If I could go back, do it again

I'd be someone you could call friend

Please, please believe that I'm sorry

Please, please believe that I'm sorry

To be continued: