As I ran, I saw this gray haired man with a crooked nose kept yelling at me for shattering his window.

We had our uniforms on, and were exhausted by the time we reached our dormitories.

The man, who I would later know as Mr. Bob Sanchez, saw the other three nitwits running after me; so he immediately knew we were from the Wingham campus.  

But little did we know, that an enraged Mr. Sanchez marched right up to the school entrance with my baseball in hand, and asked the secretary if he could talk to the headmaster.

Once he told Dean Williamson about the broken window incident, the headmaster walked into his office and spoke in the microphone of the PA system. He  wanted all of his students to come out of the dormitories and enter the auditorium immediately, even if some were in their pajamas.

Since, Xavier sensed that this meeting might be related to the previous mishap, he told us to change our clothes as soon as possible.

It took us some time to do this, and I was still mad at him and the boys for treating me unfairly.

Thus, a pout upon my face remained there, but I gradually went with the flow.

~~

When we eventually entered the auditorium, we noticed that a lot of our classmates were already lined up.  Mr. Williamson saw us arrive and put on a stern facial expression. 

He stood in front of the podium with Mr. Sanchez; observing our every move.

Our headmaster stood in front of the microphone and sarcastically voiced a few words to us.

"Welcome gentleman!  I'm so glad you can join us - Mr. Xavier Green, Mr. Neil Murphy, Mr. Levi Turner and Mr. Owen Thomas.  What took all of you so long to come here?  (He was walking back and forth now.)  I announced my warning 15 minutes ago and expect all my students to come in pronto!"

I was rather uncomfortable at the time, and didn't know what to say, but I hoped that the other guys would save me from this catastrophe.  But things eventually did not turn out that way.

As usual, Xavier spoke up and explained to the headmaster that he called us just at the wrong time. He was supposedly in the bathroom, and we were playing a board game in his room; so it took us some time to put everything together.

What a laugh!

However, Dean Williamson had this skeptical eye, and didn't believe a single word coming from Xavier's mouth.  He walked towards us with his hands behind his back, and tried to read each of our faces like a sergeant.  We all tried to keep a straight face, and when Mr. Williamson left, I broke into a sigh of relief!

~~

That evening, the headmaster introduced us to Mr. Sanchez, and explained why this gentleman came to the school. 

Dean Williamson wanted to know who was responsible for tossing the ball into the window, and reiterated how he did not allow any baseball games on the premises.  He also took my ball from Mr. Sanchez's hands and showed it to all of us.

I almost made a sound when he turned to me, since I wanted my prize possession back, but kept quiet and pretended to sneeze instead.

When no one wanted to admit that they were at fault, the Dean stated that everyone could not leave the campus, until the guilty party would come forward.

I assume that when we left the auditorium that night, Mr. Sanchez was very angry and didn't like the way Mr. Williamson handled the situation, for he threatened to sue the school.

Nevertheless, as Kyle saw us, he started feeling the guilt running inside of him.  I guess he couldn't keep the secret anymore that he helped us 'Outfielders' get away with playing baseball, and the hideout we once had.

~~

Outfielders exposed

The next morning, I learned that Kyle had turned us in.

Well, he didn't exactly give out our actual names – he gave the team's nicknames. 

However, Watchdog as Kyle was known, couldn't keep a straight face, when he was being interrogated by Dean Williamson.  The fifth grader was ashamed of his actions, but when Mr. Williamson placed the yearbook pictures in front of Kyle, his facial expressions gave us away – on who Neo, Metallic, Nitro, Epic and Titanium actually were.

Our punishment?  We were suspended and placed in Juvenile hall for vandalism and theft.

~~

I was furious as if an inferno had hit me, and knew I didn't deserve it.   But eventually my dad fully paid for Mr. Sanchez's window, and soon the lawsuit to sue the school was finally dropped.

But I will give you a synopsis of what happened that very day.

Each of us – Xavier, Levi, Max, Neil and I were handcuffed by the police, and were placed behind bars for two days.  The guard told us that we could make a phone call to one person for help, and as much as I hated it, I called my father to bail me out.  I would have called my mother, but I don't know where she was.

It took my dad some time to agree with me, but eventually he gave his consent.  He wired the money to nearest credit union.  Unfortunately, it was only enough to bail one person out, and originally I asked him to pay the whole $500 to bail everyone out.

But as always he didn't care about what I wanted, it was only about what he needed to do.

Therefore, I concluded that he only wanted to wire the money to punish me even further if I left .  But I  didn't, since I learned my lesson from the past. 

I decided that if he really loved me as he said, I was going to make him come to New York.

I also didn't want to leave the rest of the imprudent guys in this dreadful place, so I stayed there with them.

I didn't really like those acquaintances anymore, but because their group were the first ones to give me a chance to succeed; I couldn't leave.  I felt that if I left, a guilty part of me would remain in my heart.

My father called the school that night to find out if I was released from the correctional facility, but when he found out that I refused to leave without my so-called 'entourage' for backup – father flew on his private jet just to see me.  So, as I predicted, my plan was precisely going well.

I still loved my dad even though he has treated me like 'dirt' in the past.  I wasn't the 'perfect' son, and he wasn't the 'ideal' father either.  But now I wanted to teach him the 'lesson'. 

We have to somehow make amends.

After his arrival, Father quickly went to the juvenile hall and demanded an explanation on why I refused to leave. I told him everything that happened and that even though the 'Outfielders' were no longer my close friends, we still had a 'brotherhood' bond that stuck with me.

~~

My Dad went up to the probation officer and yelled at him.

"Let my son out this instant!"

"Sir, I don't know who you are, but if your son is one of the Wingham boys, please state which one it is. So just calm down, and we can get this straightened out."

"I will not calm down!  Do you know who I am?  I am Oliver Thomas, CEO of Thom Food Corporation, and I need to see my son Owen right now!"

Father had quite a temper, which might also explain why I also have a terrible tantrum.

And yes, he made it his duty to let everyone know who he was, since he was rich and famous.  He was definitely a showoff!

The probation officer then unlocked my cell, and forced me to get out.  I didn't want to leave the guys alone, but my dad forced his way in, took my hands and led me out of the cell.  He remained silent all that time, but knew I had to obey him.  Dad was my only hope back then.

I yelled back at the guys and told them I was sorry that I couldn't help them out, and to this day I don't know if they ever forgave me.

My dad took me out of Wingham School for boys, and I managed to say goodbye to the girls before I left.

That wasn't really part of my plan, but I had to deal with what my dad wanted me to do.

Father didn't like Dean Williamson either, because he did not like the headmaster's mannerisms.

However, I did have a one on one talk with my dad that night, because as a teenager, I knew if this damaged relationship was not going to be mended at all, Oliver Thomas would soon regret it.

~~

Hello readers,

Well, we're almost near the chapters where Owen will eventually meet the Brennan sisters again in Glaston High, but he still needs to finish one more year before he can enter high school. And he's going to have the coolest private home school teacher around, who will teach him a thing or two.

Father and son will also soon see eye to eye; I hate to see it when family members never get to resolve that problematic issue, before it's too late.

I might have surprised my readers there, because this is coming from a woman's point of view. Owen had a bad relationship with his own father, and I think he shouldn't pass that opportunity to make amends. 

What do you think?  Maybe it would be different if I made Owen hate his father for life, but the author doesn't see things that way.

Dedication goes to my new Wattpad follower you_ just_ don't_ know. Thank you Abagail for seeking me out.

Next chapter is coming up real soon, so please stay tuned!