At age five, my dad sent me to a private school for gifted students.

Just how I got admitted, was something I still could not explain.

All I knew was that my dad had money and could throw me anywhere he wanted to. But my school education there didn't last very long.

As soon my mom left us, I started acting up in first grade.

My classmates started calling me names such as 'Mommy's boy' or 'Preppie misses his Mommy', and was known to give my tormentors a black eye. I was soon expelled for my actions, and my father was outraged.

I was only seven at the time and my old man hated me! So, could a young child that age know his own faults? I wouldn't think so.

I didn't even know what I was doing, and hated the fact that I was called a wimp! I just had a mean temper.

Thus, my father tried again by placing me into a public school called Oakwell Elementary. This time I behaved; but as soon as I met a girl named Gretel Blanchet, she irritated me. She was my classmate from my third thru fifth grade classes, and hated every minute of it.

Don't get me wrong because I enjoyed doing my own work, but had a difficult time concentrating once Gretel came into the picture. It was as if she was stalking my every move; but think it was partly my fault that she took our relationship the wrong way.

I learned that Gretel was always picked on, when I was introduced as the new student in Oakwell Elementary. Boys and girls would tell her that she had the 'cooties' (whatever that was) and that her mom was stupid. Gretel would cry when she came to school and because I could somehow relate to her sadness; I comforted her.

However, as soon as I became her friend, she wouldn't leave me alone. And when she learned who my father was, I believe that was the reason why she wanted me to become her boyfriend. She assumed that 'money could buy her love'!

So, I used to pay her a nickel out of my allowance every week in order to leave me alone ... but she always came back for more. Gretel kept annoying me and as soon as I kept avoiding her, rumors soon flared up.

Usually, gossips that run through the rumor mill would ruin a girl's reputation and not of a boy's, but when you are accused of kicking or pulling the person's hair, a student could seriously be punished.

So, once my fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Jolene, asked me if I actually hit Gretel, I panicked!

I had a hunch who the culprit was behind this scheme, but no one believed me, not even the guys in my class! It was like everyone was on Gretel's side for some reason. You either had to believe the girl or the boy was right ... and 100﹪ of the time the girl wins, which isn't fair!

Gretel had no right to do what she did, but I didn't have any hard evidence to back that up. So, since I was appalled with what I was accused of doing, I yelled at the teacher.

Soon my reputation in Oakwell went downhill after that fiasco, and all of the faculty vowed to expel me!

To make things worse, Gretel would come to school with a black eye or have bruises upon her face, and would always tell the school nurse that I did it, when I never touched her!

I swear she either did that to herself or someone else did that to her. But with all the chaos going on, you might figure out what happened next.

Yes, my dad punished me again and this time he called me a total fool! I tried to explain to my dad that the rumors caused me to yell and have temper tantrums, but he refused to hear me out.

~~

"You are going to boarding school young man, whether you like it or not, whatever you did to Mrs. Jolene was the last straw!" announced Mr. Thomas.

"But Dad ... !"

"No buts about it Owen Mitchell Thomas! I wasted enough money on you! I sent you to the best private school in Texas and you blew it! Next, I sent you to the best distinguished public school, and after three years of silence, I have to hear about my mischievous son acting up again! You are a menace to society!"

I held my disappointment inside me that night. I believed I was a bad person inside who didn't deserve to live. My dad hated me, schools wouldn't accept me and I was pure bad luck! I wanted my mom to console me, but didn't know where to find her.

And most stories said that this only happened to girls, but they are wrong! These stories must be rewritten, because boys go through the same thing too!

~~

The following school year I was sent to an all boys boarding school in the upper Manhattan district of New York.

I didn't like this idea at all, because I would miss the company of Jerome, Edna and the other servants. But because I lived by myself in a dorm on campus, and my dad was approximately seven states away from me; I was self- assured that there wouldn't be any way I could be punished by him again. But that would be short-lived.

Being the new kid in the school wasn't that bad, even though I didn't make any friends the first and second weeks.

I didn't really like the uniform either. We had to wear a black blazer with the school sigma over our plain white polo shirts and were given khaki pants to match it. I looked like the bark of a tree that had just been burned in the forest, if you asked me.

These colors did not fit Owen Thomas at all!

However, I did not have a choice. I wish I was back at my former public school, where I could wear my crazy attire, which consisted of jeans to suspenders. But then again, I'm glad this was an all boy school, so crazy Gretel didn't have to bother me again.

Boarding school allowed me to learn more about myself and my talents. I was given an opportunity to test my skills here and become somebody who was well-known.

I found a way to release my anger and become one of the 'boys', but it came with a price!

My dad pampered me with the best accessories, and took me to the prestigious schools, but that's not me.

I wanted to be 'Owen' without the attached doggy tag my dad held.

I wanted to be popular and edgy, instead of being defenseless. I wanted to be the new me! But because of peer pressure, it changed my attitude in order to be qualified as one of the cool 'jocks' in school.

~~

One day, I folded the cuffs of my blazer, for it was a hot day as I went outside during our lunch break.

Okay, maybe I wanted the attention, but I was dying for companionship.

Ever since my mom and dad divorced, I felt like a total washout all these years! I needed to be part of the laid-back crowd.

Walking along the playground with my hands in my pocket, I began to daydream about my past.

My thoughts were soon interrupted when a bunch of boys hollered towards me.

"Hey kid, catch!"

One of the guys threw a small ball towards my direction. So, I quickly placed my hand in front of my face, before the ball could hit me.

And I caught it right in the nick of time!

A curly haired boy ran towards me and asked, "Hey, how you do that so fast?"

I tried to think of a simple explanation, but couldn't, so I just shrugged and replied by saying, "I guess reflexes."

"Reflexes, my butt! Buddy, you're good. Want to try again?"

I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do, but told myself what the heck; I should go for it. After all, maybe these boys could butter me up. "Sure, why not?" I replied.

So another boy took the ball away from me and went farther away this time. He threw the ball and I observed how fast it went and what direction it was heading to. I quickly put my hand high up in the air and jumped to catch the ball.

As in the previous situation, I caught the ball instantly. However, it did hurt a bit as I caught it, because the ball was traveling faster this time. I let go of the ball and saw the markings on my hand and cringed.

Soon four boys came running towards me.

"Hey, kid that was real good. What's your name?"

I winced and shook my hand around to ease the pain.

"I'm Owen. I just transferred here."

The first guy who spoke up smiled. He had curly blonde hair with tan skin and was rather chubby, but looked like he was more outspoken than the others.

"New kid huh?"

He shook my hand.

"I'm Xavier. This is Neil, he was the one who threw that fast ball. And the other two are Max and Levi."

I looked up at Xavier and shook his hand as well

Neil was Canadian and had red long hair that went past his shoulders. Except for his freckles, his skin was pretty fair unlike mine.

Levi was Xavier's cousin, so his appearance looked similar to him except for his pointed nose and genuine smile.

Last but not least, I was introduced to Max. He came from Australia and had a thick accent, but assume he got used to the American way of life after living in New York for at least seven years. The color of his dark hair was similar to the midnight sky , since I yawned once I looked at him. He had a round nose and was slimmer than the other three. He must have known how to work out to keep that body trim!

They probably were the 'hip' crew in this boarding school I was looking for.

Xavier observed the new markings on the palm of my hand and told me to get a baseball glove for the next game.

"So Owen, would you like to join our team?"

It took me a while to answer him, but as soon as I agreed to join them, it would change my life forever.

I gave up my nerdy old self who couldn't speak up to his father, and instead became a clever, smooth talking and sneaky person!

~~

Hello dear readers,

In this chapter, Owen is about eleven years old and is in the sixth grade, so around this time is the stage of puberty in adolescence. You do know how crazy it can get at that stage if you are a woman like myself, so I can imagine how hard it may be for a man. Peer pressure happens. And sometimes you just want to 'fit' in, if you are not already accepted in a clique, a club or just with a simple group of friends.

There's a picture of Owen above and he is played by Tyler Blackburn.

This chapter is dedicated to fellow Wattpad author Monrosey. Her story "Fast Lane" describes how the real celebrity life behind the scenes is. And people sometimes don't think first on what they do.

Please remember the phrase "Actions speak louder than words!" Sometimes, you just don't know who will get hurt in the end.

That episode is just like what Owen is going to learn in my story. And if you have read the precursor to the book, we know that Marlene had some impact on that.

The song embedded in this chapter is "Fighter" by Christina Aguilera.

Please vote and show me some love! Thanks!