When the mic was set up, I turo Oprah, "The song I'm pying is ohat I wrote when I had a fight with my best friend. We haven't talked in a while because I was busy shooting, so Evan, sider this an apology from me. This is the first time I'm pying it in front of anyone, so don't be too harsh on me."

  Oprah's eyes widened slightly as I annouhat. Like any good songwriter, I needed a backstory to write a song. Adults write songs about heartbreak, or their romantic retionships and such, but it would be weird for everyone if I sang an inal song about such a topic. After much brainst, I couldn't help but think back about people in my life, and one person that I hadn't talked to in such a long time. Evan. I old anyone, but deep down I felt very guilty for what I did to him. Not initially, but when I thought about it more, I realized that the fault y at my feet equally as it did at Evan's. So here was my small attempt to mend that friendship.

  I began strumming the tunes softly.

  ~: "Oh-huh-huh…

  If you ever find yourself stu the middle of the sea

  I'll sail the world to find you

  If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you 't see

  I'll be the light to guide you

  Find out what we're made of

  When we are called to help our friends in need

  You t on me like 1, 2, 3

  I'll be there

  And I know when I

  I t on you like 4, 3, 2

  And you'll be there

  'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah

  Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

  Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

  Ooh, yeah, yeah"

  I wao sing the full song, but I decided to leave a part of it out for the studio version, so I omitted that. When I ehe song, there was a stunned silen the crowd for a few moments. I was damn sure I messed up because no one cpped or anything at first.

  Then suddenly, huge appuse erupted from the audience all at once. A feeling of etion filled me at the loudness of the cps and seeing most of the people standing. Witnessing that, I bent down at the waist and bowed to their appreciation.

  "What a wonderful surprise!" Oprah excimed after giving me her own fair share of appuse. "Not only are you a great actor, but a great singer and now a songwriter as well. , you'll tell me you are a master dancer and peting in the Olympics as well!"

  "Hate to disappoint, but no Olympie," I waved off casually, "but I did learn some dang for my movie where I py an aspiring dancer."

  Oprah looked at me gobsmacked for a moment befrinning again.

  I shut her down before she got any more funny ideas. "No, Oprah. Save that one for ter. I won't dance."

  "But people would love to see that, right?" Her question was met with thunderous appuse and a bout of cheering from the audience.

  I shook my head resolutely. "We make a deal: call me ba the show when my dance movie is released, and I'll dah you then."

  "You drive a hard bargain, young man. But you got yourself a deal." She put her hand forth, and we shook dramatically.

  We talked some more about the movie and my life before and after the movie. Finally, Oprah announced, "Troy Armitage, everyohe Sixth Sense] will be iers near you this Friday. My personal advice: book a ticket before it is all sold out, it's that good!"

  The up and gave me a fierce hug, and I hugged her back. I waved to the crowd before the camera cut off.

  As soon as the cameras were off, I heaved a sigh of relief. "Phew, finally that's done."

  Oprah looked at me strangely. "But you were so calm and fident back then."

  "I'm a good actor," I replied matter-of-factly.

  She ughed again. "That you are. So, was that song really an inal?"

  "Yes."

  "Then we'll have to sign some papers to allow us to air that si is your creation. I would also suggest you go and record the song in a studio. It will bee very popur, I tell because the song is very good." Oprah emphasized the st part.

  While she earlier said that she had watched the movie at the premiere, that was a lie. The premiere was yet to happen, and we were just rec the show in advance, but it would be telecasted after the premiere. That's showbiz for you.

  "Thank you, Oprah. By the way, did you see the movie, or was it just for the cameras?" I asked curiously.

  "I saw it," Oprah answered immediately. "I only praise a movie so much if I like it. They held a little sing here in Chicago for a few of the journalists, and they squeezed me in as well, in time for this interview. I fully io e to the premiere."

  That made sense. Not every journalist from every city in the US could e ahe Sixth Sense] in Philly.

  After making some more small talk, I waved her goodbye and started walking away when I was joined by my mother.

  "Troy," Mum called out as she came near me, "You old me you wrote a song!" Her tone was accusatory.

  "I didn't know if it was any good." It was somewhat true for most songwriters. A song that has not been heard yet makes it difficult for the audieo ect with it immediately. "I was going to sing 'Bring Him Home' as pnned but ged my mind at the st minute. If the rea was bad, I could've always gone bad sung that one."

  "Where did you evehe idea?"

  That's the big question, isn't it? To be ho, I don't kly how. Normally, I get a fsh of memories when I read, watch, or hear about some person, story, or something from the future. But this time, I was tinkering with the idea of writing an inal song about friendship. When I began writing, these lyrid tunes just flowed out onto a sheet. And only then did I remember the Bruno Mars song.

  I felt a little guilty at first about stealing someone else's future muse. Soon, I curbed those thoughts. In this highly petitive industry, it doesn't matter what you do to get above others. What matters is that you win.

  Obviously, I 't tell all this to Mum, so I just shrugged.

  "Have you written any other songs that I should be aware of?" Mum asked.

  "Not really, no. I didn't have much time, and as I told Oprah, this was meant to be an apology for Evan," I said.

  Her eyes softe that. "Sure, love. You should probably give him a heads up so he watch the show when it airs."

  I shook my head, "I haven't talked to him in months. Let him watch the show. He and his mother love Oprah, so I know he will watch it and I want this to be a surprise for him."

  (Break)

  The news of my inal song reached the ears of Buena Vista (Disney) executives very fast. Within the day, probably after getting the rec of my interview from the Oprah Winfrey Show's producers, Mum roached by [The Sixth Sense's] PR manager. And that's ere having this meeting here in the middle of our press tour.

  "We want to record your song 't on Me' as a single under Disney's record bel and even shoot a video with Bruce Willis and you showing your 'friendship,'" Robert Lewis, aive from Disney, said. "We eve as promotional material for the film. What do you say? It will be so good, I'm—"

  "No," I cut him off mid-sentence. He looked between me and my mother helplessly, but Mum shook her head and tilted it toward me, silently telling him that I had all the power here.

  "Why?" Lewis asked.

  "I don't eople to think that Bruce had anything to do with this song or to associate it with the film directly. It is a positive, feel-good song about friendship, totally opposite from the film. I promotion through association is fine."

  Robert Lewis didn't look happy with my answer. "But I've talked to Bruce, and he'd be more than willing to shoot a video, that too for free. Getting such a superstar would skyrocket the visibility of your song."

  While that was somewhat true, I didn't want that. So I shook my head. "her drop the idea of Bruce Willis from the video entirely, or I won't do the song at all."

  He seemed ready to protest, but Mum raised her hand. "I know my son, Robert. He won't ge his mind so easily. So just tell us whether we'd be doing the song with this dition or not."

  Before he could reply, I spoke again. "That's not the only dition I have. I also want to own the cht of the song in its ey. Also, I will have the final say in approving the song. The base tune and the lyrics will remain what I wrote; any modifications they make be vetoed by me. This is also noiable."

  "The higher-ups at Disney won't agree to it," Robert pointed out.

  "Then they ask for someone else's song," I said with certainty. "Let me tell you something, Robert. I wrote that song for fun. Music is my hobby while ag is my true career. I modify my career choices, but I won't promise my hobby for some corporate s."

  Mum sniggered before patting me on the back. "He's correct. I fully support my son." Theurned more towards Robert. "I don't think the higher-ups would have any problem with this, Robert. This is just otle song. It won't matter that much to Disney. It shouldn't when it is being used to promote their film, even if ily."

  Robert went silent for a few moments before nodding slowly. "Okay. I'll talk to them."

  "Great!" I said excitedly. "I already have a few ideas for the video of the song. You present it to them!"

  (Break)

  We didn't hear back from Disney for the couple of days, during which I was busy t around the US promoting The Sixth Sense with my fellow co-stars Bruce, Toni, and Olivia. I didn't have mutera with Olivia before because we didn't share any ses, but she was an alright dy.

  Now I uand why actors say that the worst part of being an actor is the movie promotions. I absolutely hate it. Unfortunately, it is a necessary evil. Even if you make the best movie in the world, it wouldn't matter if the promotion is bad or if people don't even know that the movie exists.

  That's the biggest problem with some of the indie movies. Uhey receive some Oscar or other major awards nominations, or somehow find a distributor ready to i a ton of money in their promotion, they usually fail. That could be the case with [Billy Elliot]. Hopefully, it will get as many nominations in the award season as the st time.

  As I was saying, it was on the sed day after giving out my ditions to Mum that I got a shog reply from Disney. Somehow, Disney asseo my terms and agreed to give me all future rights and creative liberties while creating the song.

  "But why?" I asked Mum incredulously, "What do they gain out of it?" I hadn't expected them to agree to record the song at all. Why would they when my terms were so eous? Even I wouldn't agree to it if I were in Disney ma.

  "Rec a song and a video would cost them up to 50-60k. That 60k would be easily recovered from current market royalties and the remuion from the song video broadcast on music els. From a marketing perspective, it's a win-win situation. Sure they won't get future royalties if you sell the song to someone else, but they agreed to sign the deal for five years, so you ot sell the song for five years straight. During that time you'll get 15% of the total royalties. After that, it's all yours. Do you agree with that?"

  I thought about the proposal iail, and truly it was a good one. When I grow up, I always create my owo produce my own musid get a major share of my music royalties. If I want to go in that dire, that is.

  "Yeah, it's a good one. Let's do it." I replied.

  "Good, we'll sign the trad tomorrow we'll be rec the song in New York. The day after that will be the video shoot, also in New York. Disney arra like this because New York has a longer promotional period. We'll fly back to Philly in the m, the day after for the premiere." She expined my itinerary.

  I sighed internally, "It's going to be a long week."

  I just k.

  (Break)

  Everything was done in such a hurry, that I couldn't believe the results myself. Over one weekend, Disney not only set up a rec session for me in a studio, but they alsed a full film crew and even cast members to shoot the video. I had to give it to the efficy of these guys.

  The final produ front of me was as good as the inal, perhaps eveer. The video was a montage of clips from the perspective of two kids. A boy and a girl. I was tempted to make it a video of two male best friends because supposedly I wrote the song for Evan, but I khat everyone loves seeing kids of opposite geogether so they squeal things like 'A!' or 'So cute!' so we made the video, which was essentially a montage of clips through the lives of two kids.

  The camera follows, a boy and a girl, arou years old, running through a park, pying tag. Let's call them Troy and Robin. (After the real name of the actors who pyed the roles.) They ugh and shout, full of joy. Troy, climbs a tree while the girl, Robin, stands below, cheering him on.

  Troy sits alone on a bench, looking sad. A group of bullies approach him, sneering. Robin steps in front of him, hands on her hips, staring down the bullies. They back off, and Troy smiles gratefully.

  Troy and Robin sit on a b, surrounded by toys and snacks. They share a secret handshake, ughing as they finish it.

  Troy sets up a projector while Robin prepares a makeshift s. They wat old movie together, the flickering light illuminating their happy faces.

  Troy and Robin riding bikes through the neighborhood.

  Troy helps Robin with her homework, both of them giggling at their own silly mistakes.

  Robin teaches Troy how to daheir moves are awkward but filled with joy.

  But then one day, Troy had to go away because his father found a job elsewhere. They hugged and cried but promised to meet again someday.

  The so silent for a moment as s turns to bck, but soon it restarts but now the kids aren't kids anymore. Troy and Robin as teenagers walk down the hallway together. Troy carries Robin's books, and Robin pyfully messes with his hair.

  Troy is pying in a football game. He looks to the stands and sees Robin cheering loudly, waving a homemade sign with his name on it.

  Troy and Robin, now a handsome young man and a beautiful young woman, daogether. Their eyes lock, filled with unspoken promises.

  Troy and Robin, now iwenties, sit on a bench. Robis her head on Troy's shoulder as Troy pys a guitar. They watch the suogether, tent as Troy fihe st note of the song.

  ~: You t on me, cause I t on you:~

  As the song ends, Troy and Robin, are back to being kids, sitting on a bench, their younger selves having repced the older ones, holding hands.

  ______________________________

  AN: Song: 't on Me' by Bruno Mars

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