Chapter 115 - Payew

June 3, 2012 – Sunday 10 am – Okuba, Nabla

""""""Dear Payew,

Congratulations! On behalf of Rinowra School of Ouigab, I am pleased to inform of your admission into the 12th grade for this coming 2012 – 2013 school year.

The academic achievements you have achieved in your current school reflect what we value, respect, and expect from our students. Ambition, compassion, and curious intellect are the foundations of the Rinowra School experience. Be proud to have joined a select group of students.

For 72 years, students who have entered Rinowra School have left prepared for success in their college education. Rinowra graduates gain a clear advantage among their peers and boast an admission rate of over 90% into the best universities around the world. We believe that the personalized education we provide and are still striving to improve, allows our students to thrive both in the campus and in their future studies.

Payew, we are excited that you have been accepted to join the Rinowra School Class of 2013. Please review the enclosed 'Checklist' for the next steps needed to make our school a part of your future. If you … """""""

I'm accepted. I'm surprised. Even though I'm the top of my grade in my high school, it's a fact that public schools in general are lacking compared to those high schools for the rich. However, I know I deserve it. Even though I'm from a public high school, I've given extra effort to study and read outside the curriculum to be number 1.

I actually don't care about being number 1 in my school; I just followed Tayaw's advice. Before he went off to college, he said 'Don't just study hard for the sake of studying. Make sure that every lesson on the textbook; know how to apply them in real life.' It was hard at first. If it was how I studied before, I would just memorize things and I'm good. But when I started studying and researching on each subjects, my reading basically multiplied.

Thankfully, knowing how to apply them to practice made the stuff I read go down easier. The amount of information I also process while studying made me realize I've become smarter. I can connect information easier, and my memory improved as well. While I reduced the time of reading, my time applying the knowledge increased.

"That's the admission letter? Congratulations man." Tayaw said when he saw the letter on my hand. He came for a visit again after coming from Italy as an acclaimed movie director. I can't believe a world famous director is still sleeping in a bunk bed in my bedroom.

"Yeah. It sounded braggy." I said. "Well. They have the right to. That's why I chose it for you." Tayaw said.

Instead of applying to the Preparatory High School near dad's auto shop like the family talked about, Tayaw instead had me apply at Rinowra in Ouigab. It's not a boarding school, but still one of the best private high schools in the whole Northern Teungeb.

"mm. That's good. It actually won't make a difference what you study. Just study the way you're doing, and you'll be fine." Tayaw said. He's assuring me, but I'm honestly anxious.

"Hah. Easy for you to say. I heard they're full of snobby kids from rich families." I said. "Hey. That school is different. They only care about grades. Sure, there may be a lot of rich kids there, but if they worked hard in studying, I bet they did not have the time to learn to be snobby." Tayaw said.

"I'm jealous of you man. You didn't study hard in high school and now, according to dad, you can now retire if you want to and go for vacation for the rest of your life. I wish I'm an author too." I said. Sincerely, but I hid it in a jesting tone. I know though that I'm not an artist like him. Writing songs, writing books, and making a movie, and I don't even know how to do them even if I'm given millions of BGCs to start. I can say for sure because since Tayaw became a famous author, I've tried writing songs and stories in my spare time.

"Hey. Play to your strengths. You're book smart and you can apply what you learn in real life. Just look at your garden in the backyard. I would not believe you grew that from just the knowledge you read from books. Look at your old game boy, you fixed it yourself after looking it up on the internet. Not everyone can do that." Tayaw said, which consoled me.

"Strength. Is that why mom and dad don't care if Agew don't get high grades? Making good vases is his strength?" I asked.

"Exactly. And painting stuff too. He's good with his hands. Now. Do you like learning things?" Tayaw asked. "Yes. It was fun measuring the area of our lot, how much of it is occupied by the house, how much is spare for other stuff. You know that whe-" "Alright. The point is you're having fun doing it. As long as you're having fun doing something productive, it's good." Tayaw said and went back to fiddling with his laptop.

Why is he always busy? He's already rich and he just finished a movie. "What are you doing?" I asked out of curiosity. "Oh. I've wrote a lot of songs, but I can't possibly perform them all. I'm writing them down to sell. " Tayaw replied. 'Possibly'? "Just how many songs have you written?" I asked. "I don't know. Thousands? I'm sorting out the best ones." He explained as if it's no big deal.

"thousands… Then that's hundreds of albums, huh?" I read on the internet that an album at least have 7 or 8 songs as long as they're 31 minutes or more combined. "No. It's not that simple. Most of them are not good enough." He said. "So aside from writing books you wrote the lyrics too? How did you write lyrics for thousands of songs?" I asked, overwhelmed by the amount of work it will take. "What? Ah. I've misspoke. The songs I'm talking about are just the music. I've not written lyrics for them yet." He said.

Still, that's a lot of work. "I see. Is that American band the only people you've sold songs to?" "Sold-.. Yes. They're the only ones for now. Hey. How's your English by the way?" Tayaw asked me suddenly. "It's going okay, I guess. I'm listening to recorded radio shows. I'm making some simple poems to practice too." I said. Whenever I do gardening or walk to and from school, I've recently gotten into radio shows. Aside from that, I also listen to Tayaw's English songs.

"Poems? What type of poems?" Tayaw asked, showing interest, which he usually doesn't. Now I wish I had not told him about the poems. "They're just for practice. They're not anything special." I said. "Why?" "Well, because it's not formal English. I'm just writing casual stuff to remember new words I learned." I said.

"That's good. That's good. Do you write Teungebian poems too?" He asked, thankfully not insisting. "Yeah. I use them to memorize stuff so they don't really form … coherent stories." I explained. It's fun doing them. Since elementary school, long before I studied using Tayaw's 'apply into practice' style, I always wrote poems to memorize stuff easier instead of acronyms that I always forget. "That's good. Let's say you don't have to use formal writing, and you form coherent stories, can you still write poems?" He asked. Can't he just ask if I can write actual poems?

"Yeah. I think so. I don't know if they're good though. Why?" I asked. "Well, can you let me take a look at your poems?" He brought it up again. I know he will insist or bribe. But I feel guilty whenever he bribes using stuff that are much more valuable than the simple things he wants from me. I also know he doesn't like embarrassing people, so I guess I just have to show him. "Alright."

A minute later, *flip* *flip* *flip* "hmm… mmm.. mmhhhmm.. hmm? Hmm." basing on his expression, at least he doesn't seem to hate it. "You wanna move in my house at Ouigab?" He suddenly asked. "On August?" I asked. "On August. My bed room is large enough for two beds." He explained. So, he has a house too in Ouigab? He can afford it but he never told mom and dad he bought one.

"Yeah? Why can't just get a spare room then?" I asked. It's a valid question. If he bought a house, then he definitely bought a large one just like the one he bought in New York. "Well. You know the band I played with in my YouTube Channel? They live with me. We make music." He explained. It makes sense now. At least I know now that he's at least not living alone. He's even living 1,2,3 … 6 people! He's living with more people than he did when he was living here. He's not lonely.

"Alright! I'll go." I'm excited. It's only two months and I can't wait.

"You're 16 now. Had your driver's license yet?" He asked. "YEAHP. But.. Dad doesn't allow me to drive by myself when I drive here to and from his workshop in Jebung … He gets yell-y too, but I get why." I said. "Hmm? That's a long drive. SO you're driving to his workshop now huh." He said in surprise. It is understandable. 65 kilometers, more than an hour drive on zig zags is tough. "At first, I would always feel spent. But now, I don't feel as tired." I assured, when I saw the worried look on his face.

"Alright. Be careful. If you can drive safely without even leaving a scratch on dad's van, I may even buy you a car when you get to Ouigab." He said. I'm gob smacked. I don't even know what to say.