Just Listen

I am in no way nearly as great as the author of this book: Sarah Dessen. I completely recommend it to those who haven't read it yet, it's my favourite of all her books. It's amazing. Note: some content might not match up to the book, but most of it will.

"What about this?" I picked up a CD labeled All the Right Reasons and held it up. Owen didn't even look up from the rack of CD's he was flipping through. He picked one up and flipped it over in his hands, a disgusted look pasted on his face.

"Owen?"

"What?" He finally glanced up and looked at me. Then he put down the CD he was looking at and walked towards me. "Who is it this time? Please tell me it's not some mass-produced pop crap."

I gave him a surprised look. "Don't just assume like that!" I defended myself, even though the last four I had shown him had been up-beat pop music. He took the CD from my hands and looked it over.

"Nickelback. They're a good band. You heard any of their songs?" I looked at the song title list on the back of the CD case. Follow you home, Fight for all the wrong reasons, Photograph…

I shook my head.

"Really," he put the CD back on the shelf and walked towards the doorway. Clearly he was ready to leave. I followed him out of the store.

"I thought you loved music," I said, only half-joking, because I knew it was true. I just wasn't sure why he had wanted to leave so early. You'd think a music lover, such as Owen, would be in heaven in such a place.

"Of course I love music. But I don't particularly enjoy CD stores that only sell songs that play on the radio 24/7. Nothing in there is going to enlighten anyone," This is what I had grown to know. Owen and music; the two were definitely inseparable. Owen had a very big opinion on all of music, and was not afraid to put it out there.

We walked around the mall for a little while. However, Owen made it quite clear he was not here to shop with his girlfriend. Not for clothes, at least. He said that was something Clarke and I could do.

Over the past few months, Clarke and I had started to become friends again. Maybe not as good friends as we once were, but we were definitely not enemies any longer. In fact, we were doing a lot more things together lately. Clarke was the one that convinced me to do the talent show.

The Lakeview talent show was held once a year and no auditions were needed to get in. The judges were always a few random citizens picked out from the audience just before the show. It was just something that was held every year. I had only been to one. Kirsten had decided to join it one year, always excited because talent agents scouted the shows occasionally. That was before she became a model. Not once had I entered.

"Hey, Owen? Are you doing anything this Saturday?" When I looked over at him, he seemed to be deep in thought, his ear phones hanging loosely around his neck with his iPod volume low. I poked him in the arm.

"I've got it!" His voice suddenly excited, and he immediately pulled out his iPod, flipping rapidly through his music library.

"Got what?" I asked. He turned to me and grinned. I didn't know what to think.

"Now I know you don't like techno…" he trailed off, waiting for my expression. I rolled my eyes. Since he first found out I hated techno, he had always been looking for a song to break the ice. A song to cure the hatred I had for the genre.

"But this is a good song. It's not really one of my favourites, but its up-beat, and its techno! This song will change you, Annabel," He pulled his earphones off of his neck and handed them to me. I put them on and waited for the music to come on.

'I still hear your voice when you sleep next to me, I still feel your touch in my dream…forgive me my weakness, but I don't know why, without you it's hard to survive. Cause every time we touch, I get this feeling...'

I pulled off the earphones.

"Well? What did you think?" The excitement glittered in his eyes. You could tell he thought this would be the song to change me.

"I don't like it," He gave me an annoyed look and grabbed back his earphones. "Hey, being honest here!" I protested.

This was another thing about Owen. He never lied. It was something I never really believed at first. How can you just go without lying? But he manages to find a way. In fact, since I met Owen, I've actually picked it up as well. It's pretty rare that I'll cover up the truth these days.

We walked towards Owen's car. I walked around to the passenger side and pulled open the door. As usual – the passenger seat was covered in CD's, both burned and bought. I stacked them all up and threw them onto the back seat.

Owen didn't start the car. He started rummaging around the back seat. I assumed it was for a CD. A few minutes later, he found what he was looking for. It was a burned CD. The case labeled, 'Radio Show Mix #5'. That was incredibly original. He put it in the CD player and hit play. Then he skipped down to #6.

"This is that band you found in the store; Nickelback," He sat back and listened to the music fill the car. His face was completely calm – as if he didn't have a single worry in the world. Maybe it was contagious? I leaned back into my seat and listened too.

I can't explain what went through me when I heard that song. By the time it was over I knew what I had been feeling though.

Owen glanced at me for my opinion.

"I feel…enlightened!"

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