Fate Reloaded

Fate Reloaded--Part III, Chapter Four

He shook his head. “Nope,” he said. “Me and my buddies go to Archbishop Alter High School over on Bleeker.”

“You go to a Catholic school?” Jordana asked, shocked.

“Your face right then was priceless,” Tyler said, laughing. “But, yeah, I go to a Catholic school. Why is that so hard to believe?”
            Jordana let her head drop to the side and looked at him blankly. Tyler was wearing a pair of ripped up jeans, a white tee and was still sporting the spiky black and blue hairdo. And once again, Jordana swore he was wearing eyeliner—and by the looks of it, Tyler could probably give Jordana a few pointers on how to apply the dark liner.

 “Well, you don’t exactly look like the church-going type.”

“Just because I go to a Catholic school, doesn’t mean I don’t have my own personal style outside of the required uniforms,” he said, slyly. “Besides, it’s not that bad.”

“I guess I’ll just have to take your word for it,” Jordana said, smiling.

“OK,” Tyler said. He got up and crossed the room, picking up his guitar and walking back over to her. “So, can I show you the tunes I’ve got so far for our song?”

“Sure,” Jordana said. “But shouldn’t we come up with a name for it first?”

The room grew quiet as they both thought of names.

“How about ‘One Moment of Clarity?’” Tyler asked.

Jordana shook her head. “Sounds too much like a Celine Dion song,” she answered.

Tyler made a face, repulsed at the thought of being compared in any way to Celine Dion.

“How about ‘Waking Up?’” Jordana suggested.

“I think there’s already a song out there with that name,” Tyler said, still thinking. “What about ‘Life Gone Wrong?’”

“Too defeatist,” Jordana said.

Jordana watched as a smile crept across his face. “How about ‘The Song I Made Up With This Chick at Mike’s Diner?’” he said, excitedly. “Tons of artists are picking long titles for their songs right now.”

Jordana just laughed. “I just don’t think that’s quite it,” she said, watching his face fall. “How about ‘Living Life Half Asleep?’”

Tyler sat there silent, as he thought about what Jordana had just suggested. “What if it was just ‘Half Asleep?’” he asked her slowly.

“I like it,” Jordana said, shaking her head. “‘Half Asleep.’ That’s totally the title!”

“Cool,” Tyler said, picking up his guitar. “Now, let me play you some of the music I came up with for ‘Half Asleep.’”

Jordana sat there and watched as Tyler strummed on his guitar. The music started off kind of slow and mellow, but then got louder and more intense after a few minutes.

“See, that part would be the chorus,” Tyler explained, still playing. “That way we could rock out and stuff.”

“Cool,” Jordana said, nodding her head. “Start at the beginning again, this time with the lyrics.”

“OK,” he said, starting over.

As Tyler played the music, Jordana began to sing the song they’d written. Her voice was barely above a whisper as she played around with the guitar tunes and tried to match their lyrics up with the music. After the first few lines, Jordana asked him to start over again.