I woke up a few minutes before seven when Monday morning came along. Slowly, I recalled my little promise with Ari-Rachel to not get on Panarena for a week. My face slightly twitched. A whole week, huh? I thought to myself with a sigh as I got up. Maybe it won't be so bad... I guess we do need to focus a bit more--ehh, a lot more--on real life for now... it's only a couple weeks until the musical happens, after all, I mused. That would definitely be asking me for my attention moreso than anything that could happen in the game.

“Well... let's do this!” I said with determination, and got myself ready to head for school.

***

As I stepped off the bus later that morning, Ty, instead of flicking me, gave me a friendly punch to the shoulder as we walked into school. I looked over with a brief surprise, but he only grinned back.

“We've got those Hitherlands carved up pretty well, Dans; I kinda expected there to be some sort of civilization there, but we ain't seen any so far.” he told me.

“Hmm? You mean it's completely wild?” I wondered.

“That's what Jans thinks; she's gonna scout it out with a few people later to make sure. Hrrnn, still can't believe those pirates decided to get lost after all that...” he remarked, and I let out a bemused smile in agreement.

“I can't believe it either. It won't surprise me if they turn back up just to make trouble, or if that cat's information doesn't pan out...” I said.

“Cat?” he gave me a look. “Ohh, yeah, that Sylvester-critter or whatever it was,” he then nodded back.

“More or less,” I grinned, wondering how the Silvestri would react to that name.

“And you got pulled out of the whole thing for a week! Well, that'll give the rest of us some time to catch up and get some wild tricks before you do!” he then said with a cheesy grin, giving me a clap on the back as he headed off to his locker with a wave.

“Yeah, yeah,” I returned with a shake of my head, still smiling when I reached my locker. Rachel, of course, was waiting for me. She seemed to be in a more upbeat mood than usual, giving me a hug before I got my books ready for the morning.

“You ready for this week?” she asked with a faint smile on her lips.

“Hmm? Yeah, I'm ready,” I said to her.

“Good!” she beamed back. “Because two weeks from now is hell-week, as they like to call it!”

“Ah-heh...” I returned with a wry grin.

Half the reason she's pulling us from the game is probably to acclimate us to being in-the-moment for the play itself and not off in fantasy land wondering if this guild or that guild is getting ahead of us, I realized as we headed in for homeroom.

“We need to get ourselves back on track with our lines and the songs,” she said as we sat down.

“You're right,” I agreed.

“Still though... you're crazy.” Rachel then said in a soft voice, smirking at me.

“Ehh... okay. Yeah.” I grinned back.

“I can't believe you actually made it off their ship alive, let alone on to it to begin with,” she said.

“Dumb luck,” I shrugged.

“With them? I bet,” my girlfriend agreed. “You think the pirates will really stay away?”

“Ehh, they might swing by again just because, at least...”

“You think so too, huh?”

“Hmm? You too?” I wondered.

“Nope, Ellie thought so.” Rachel told me. “Of course you two would think so, being the gamers you are,” she said with a smile.

“Heh, I guess so!” I said with a nod. “But for now, I guess we have to focus on the real.” I then said, and she smiled at me, nodding back. As if on cue, the bell then rang.

“Speaking of which,” she said almost inaudibly, and I grinned as we came to attention for morning classes.

The time seemed to pass even more slowly than usual as our first four classes came and went. Mathematics, in particular, seemed to have ground time to a halt as the equations appeared on the board before my eyes, looking for all the world like some black arcanity in a spell-tome that I was supposed to destroy in order to defeat some dark lord or another.

Science was a relief when it came along; our teacher decided to let us watch a video on basic astrophysics (which was something we had been discussing in the past weeks) that was narrated by a Doctor Tyson, who had been a household name back in the day for that particular type of science. That was a fun fifty minutes of time. I was almost disappointed when it ended, but it was also a relief to head for our hideaway to enjoy lunch.

“That was fun!” Rachel remarked as we made our way to lunch.

“Science?” I said, and she nodded. “For sure it was,” I agreed.

“Even though it was pretty far above our heads,” she added with a grin.

“For sure. Though I bet it's not above Christina's.” I said.

“Oh def.” Rachel nodded back. “It's probably part of her coursework at uni.”

“I'll take a 'nope' on it myself.” I quipped, and she giggled, nudging me playfully as we got to the club-room. We found Mary already inside; she smiled as we settled in to our usual seat. Anhe arrived just after we did, and the others turned up after her.

“It's gonna be weird without you two on,” Mary remarked, “But you have more important things to focus on for the next few weeks, after all.”

“I might not be on as much either, come to think of it!” Anhe realized, recalling her position as our fight-coordinator.

“True!” Mary nodded.

“Blehh.” Ellie sighed. “Which one of you two brats decided to try out for the musical anyway?”

“Ahh...” I began, a hesitant smile on my face.

“I did!” Rachel said indignantly. Andrea took up for us at once.

“Don't give them a hard time now, Elisabeth; you were all for it a few months ago!”

“Andiiii! We didn't have the guild-competition heating up a few weeks ago!” the blonde girl replied to her with a disappointed look.

“You should be fine for at least the week we'll be gone,” I found myself saying.

“Eh--?!” Ellie gasped.

“My!” Anhe remarked with surprise. “Sean is actually supporting the idea of not being in-game!”

… I did kind of imply my support for it, didn't I... heh. Heh-heh-heh-heh-hehhh...

“Oh I'm sure it won't last.” Rachel said, patting my head. “And it is only Panarena we're banning ourselves from.”

“Ooh, good caveat!” Thomas nodded.

“Right?” Rachel smirked.

Hahh... you didn't think I could last a week without playing a game or video-game of some kind or another, huh? I mused to myself wryly.

“We'll probably be at that one cafe a lot in our spare time, the one with the holographic board games,” she continued.

“To go over lines and stuff when you're not at school, right?” Mary winked.

“Of course!” my girlfriend winked back.

“It's gonna be a dull week on the forums, I guess.” Ellie said with a faint grin.

“Maybe!” Thomas laughed.

“Anyway... that Anna Belle was really enthusiastic about everything, even after you left,” Ellie told us. “I wonder how many chapters are in that quest you found?”

“Did you get to the second already?” I wondered, kind of disappointed I wasn't there to see it happen.

“Nah, we're still on the second part of chapter one.” she shrugged back. “I'd guess we'll have to find the items your Ragamis friend specifically wants in order to advance the story again,” she noted.

“Hmm... that's the most likely scenario...” I agreed with a nod.

“Seeaaan...” Rachel said, poking my cheek a few times.

“Ahh...” I returned with an uncertain grin.

“Right!” Mary said after finishing off one of her mini-sandwiches. To my surprise and Rachel's, she pulled out a complete script and songbook for the musical. “Act Three, Scene Two: go!” she told us, and after a moment's hesitation we began reciting our dialogue.

“Leave it to Mary...” I said with a sigh after lunch was over, and Rachel smiled over at me.

“Right?!” she agreed.

“I think you both did fine.” Anhe remarked.

“Th-thanks,” I replied.

“And with that, I will see you in language class!” the younger girl smiled as we parted ways.

“See you then!” Rachel said as we continued on our way to our next class.

In sharp contrast to morning classes, the afternoon ones passed all too quickly. World Cultures was a blur, Theater was a repeat of lunch -- minus the food, and for language class Mrs. Liang decided to show us a few short films in Japanese to help us get a better hold on what we had learned thus far. As that class ended, I heard her reminding us that we had a test coming up some time in the next couple of weeks.

Gyeck, I softly grimaced to myself. And I can't even use my cheat-technique for studying until next week. Panarena was not good for nothing when it came to studying.

“Ah! Daniels, Danes, will you please stay a moment?” she then called, and the two of us halted to turn around and head to her desk. Anhe was there too, quietly grinning.

“Mrs. Liang?” Rachel asked when we got there.

“I was talking to my father about Anhe's request for your summer plans; he suggested that, for a good summer vacation and experience for young people such as yourself, it would need to be at least two weeks in Japan and then two more in China.” she said to us with a smile.

“Two--?!”

“Weeks?!” the two of us exclaimed.

“Wait, that's--”

“A month,” Rachel said in realization. “Wow!”

“Like really,” I agreed.

“Time enough to see some good sights and to get the most out of your learning experience in class, yes?” our teacher said to us.

“I have to say yes to that,” I replied with a smile.

“Good! Oh, please tell your friends--this is for you also, Anhe--that we will make all the arrangements, and we will have your basic itinerary, tickets, and all other reservations made for you in three weeks.” she told us, and Rachel and I, along with Anhe, both bowed to her as we said our thanks. She smiled at us, and then clapped her hands. “Now, off with you! You have a musical to get to!” Mrs. Liang said, and after thanking her again we headed out.

“Wow,” Rachel said as we made our way to our lockers first.

“Right?!” I returned, bristling with excitement. “Go Anhe!”

“Totally!” she nodded back vigorously in agreement. “Ahh! We have to tell the others! Three weeks, three weeks...” she said, pulling out her phone to send the message as we packed the books we would need for our homework after rehearsals.

As we made our way to the theater, I thought about that specifically for a moment; three weeks would be just after we had gotten through the musical's first weekend. Oh right; I may not have mentioned this before, but we were doing two weekends of shows; two Friday nights, two on Saturdays (matinee and evening), and two Sunday afternoons. Giving us a real musical experience, huh? I thought to myself as we turned the final corner before the auditorium.

Miss Andrews and Miss Holly were there at the doors talking to someone who was so fancily dressed that he almost didn't seem real. Rachel and I both exchanged a glance with each other, wondering who it was.

“Ah-ha, there they are! Our stars!” Miss Andrews said as her eyes alighted on us. “Sean, Rachel, this is Mister Saint-James, one of the people whose opinion on our performance this year will dictate the future of funding for the arts in education.” she said with a veiled sarcasm which, fortunately, was lost on the man whose name I had heard before.

“Maximilian Theodore Arnold Saint-James the Third, to be precise.” the mannequin from an eighteenth-century costume shop come to life then said.

“Yes, yes, of course,” our teacher replied in a semi-deferential tone; I could see Miss Holly biting her tongue as she turned away, ostensibly to see what the others in the auditorium were doing.

“Hmm!” the pompously dressed man remarked as he came over to examine us. “Yes, yes; I can see how they got their parts... in the right sort of costumes they'd be the classic image of the iconic Flynn and de Havilland!”

“I'm glad to hear you say so,” Miss Andrews said in a more pleased tone.

“How do you do, youngsters? Are you feeling duly prepared for your upcoming performances?” the man said directly to us.

“Very much so, sir; pleased to make your acquaintance,” Rachel replied to him, and I nodded in support of the answer.

She probably knows better than I do how to handle people like this, given her mother's job, I said to myself internally.

“I'm sure; and you, young man, nothing to say?” he said as he turned to me.

Hmm... what do I say here? … Oh, might as well poke him just a bit...

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I'm looking forward to it as well, sir; barring any more ninja attacks on my way home,” I replied. He raised his eyebrows at the words, slowly nodding. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Rachel trying hard to keep a straight face, while behind the man himself our teachers exchanged a look with each other.

“That, my good lad, will be the least of your worries in the next couple of weeks; well then! I'm gratified to have made your acquaintances; I look forward to seeing you in all your glory when the time comes, Mister Daniels, Miss Danes! And now I think I shall sit back in the balcony and watch as you ready yourselves for this truly monumental task!” he said in a near-condescending manner as he shook our hands lightly, then briskly turned to head into the auditorium as he had said. Miss Andrews came over to me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

“Now Sean; I know about the attack that happened a couple of weeks ago. But I don't think it was a good idea to... hint at the idea that our guest might know something about it,” she told me.

“I was just making conversation, Miss Andrews,” I said with an innocent look.

“I'm sure.” she nodded, a soft smile on her face. “Whatever gave you the stones to say that, of all things?”

“Ehh...” I returned uncertainly, not sure myself why I had decided to say it upon reflection. She gave me a dissatisfied shake of her head a moment later, but patted my shoulder anyway.

“Never mind it; let's knock his socks off with our rehearsals, all right?” she said, and the two of us nodded back. They headed in first, and Rachel and I exchanged a glance.

“If they can be knocked off with all those buckles and laces on them,” Rachel quipped, and I snorted as we entered the auditorium a moment later.

After going over several scenes in our individual groups, we came together for a full run, dialogue, songs, choreography and all -- including our school's orchestra. We had been practicing all of it for so many weeks, like painting pieces of a puzzle that we were going to put together; it was this trial run that made me feel, finally, as if I really could pull this off. Everything fell into place naturally, and we only had about ten glitches with dialogue or choreography, which was apparently the least amount of them the theater kids had experienced for a few years now when they got to this point of the process. And for every second of it, I could feel the eyes of our guest fixated upon each and every one of us, as if he was willing us to screw it all up.

When we finally finished out with the finale, Miss Andrews, Holly, and the orchestra clapped their hands enthusiastically, praising our efforts. And, coming down from the balcony with a slow-clap, Mr. Saint-James strode towards us with at least the image of a smile on his face.

“They're good, aren't they?” our teacher said to him.

“Yes, yes, thoroughly entertaining; though there are a few things that might need some, ah, 'polishing', as it were.” he said aloofly.

“Oh trust me, we'll have it all worked out by opening night.” Miss Andrews assured him.

“I'm sure! Thank you for allowing me to witness your rehearsals; I look forward, as I said before, to opening night. Good night to you all!” the man said, heading out of the auditorium. When he had gone, we all breathed a sigh of relief. Even Joanna, who usually maintained a stoic composure anyway, let out a hefty sigh. Her brother gave her a pat on the shoulder, and then headed out to their car.

“He even rattles you, huh?” I asked her.

“More than I care to admit,” she said darkly. “His... son... is going to be my... if I fail...” she said in an even quieter voice. I could see her hands trembling. Rachel tapped her on the shoulder, and gave her a warm hug, which she returned a moment later as tears fell from her eyes.

Well *this* just got a lot more intense, I thought to myself. That weirdly dressed rich guy has a son, huh? Heh... if he's anything like his old man, it's no wonder Joanna's shaky, never mind her preferences... a bemused look came to my face as this thought ran through my head. I saw Rachel and Joanna exchanging a few soft words before they let go, and then the other girl smiled, heading out to catch up with her brother. Rachel came over to me, laying her head on my chest as I placed my arms around her.

“We can't do anything to help with her fencing issues. But let's make this musical the best thing we do this year.” she said to me softly.

“Not Panarena?” I said with a laugh.

“Can't quite help her there.” she replied with a hint of amusement.

“Eh. I guess not.” I returned. “But yeah; definitely the musical.” I agreed wholeheartedly. “So... homework?”

“You're coming over.”

“Ahh--'kay.”

“No cousins this week, thankfully.” Rachel told me with relief as we let go of each other.

“Well that sounds peaceful,” I said, and she smiled.

“Def!”

“Hey! I'm heading out!” Thomas called to us.

“We'll be there in a minute!” Rachel said to him, and he gave us a thumbs-up. Anhe came over to tell us goodbye as well, giving us each a hug.

“Remind them tonight about what my mother said!” she said as we parted again.

“Got it!” I replied as we headed to Thomas' car while she headed for her mother's. As we got settled into the backseat, Rachel told him what was going on, and he nodded.

“You'll have to find your own way home after, Sean; I have to run as soon as I drop you off -- they called me in to work to cover for someone!”

“I'll manage,” I told him.

“Just don't walk!” he said.

“Ehh...”

“You're not walking.” Rachel poked me. “Oh! Joshy was in town tonight! I'll call him over!” she said, pulling out her phone to send a message his way.

“Heh? Oh, he's in town again, huh? Nice!” I smiled.

“Ohh, right, your brother!” Thomas recalled.

“Yep!” Rachel beamed.

“Oh, Sean; I couldn't help but notice, but every time you were out on stage, our 'guest' seemed ve-ry fixated on you.” Thomas then said to me.

“Heh, I kinda figured... I didn't really look, but I didn't really have to.” I returned.

“I totally get it, man.” he nodded back.

“You really think he was the one behind it, huh?” Rachel said to me a moment later.

“I mean, Sabrina knows about him, and said that he's not above using aggressive tactics to get his way, or something like that... so maybe,” I said with a shrug.

“My uncle said something like that once,” Thomas recalled. “'It's better to cross a cat as a mouse than to cross a Saint-James as a human being', or something to that effect.”

“Heh.”

“That sounds pretty wild.” Rachel remarked.

“Right?” Thomas agreed. “But I'm sure some of the things said about him, if not most of them, have to be exaggeration and rumors.”

“I hope so,” my girlfriend said.

“Same.” I nodded.

Though I can understand the gist of that expression... the cat will only kill the mouse, but Saint-James might do worse things to people he dislikes...

We reached Andrea's house a few minutes after that, and he let us out before heading off again to the mall where Fun Castle was for his emergency shift. Andrea smiled as we both came in, and we settled in to have some dinner and to do our homework.

“Thomas was texting me nearly the whole time about having that guy watching you all tonight; how was that experience?” my hostess asked as Rachel went upstairs to change out of her school uniform into something more casual.

“Ehh... it was something,” I replied.

“That good, huh?” Andrea remarked as she began setting out tonight's repast, a cheesy pasta with chicken, and a side-dish of buttery rolls.

“He seemed pretty intense, despite how he looked.” I said with a shrug.

“Oh yes. Tommy told me all about the Revolutionary Peacock!” she said with a laugh.

“That's a good description!” I said with a snap of my fingers.

“Back!” Rachel said as she hurried over, taking the seat next to me in one of the oversized shirts she liked. It took me a moment to realize Andrea was wearing a similar outfit.

“Welcome back!” the redhead smiled. “We'll just have this before we get into our homework.”

“Oh, your parents will be home tonight, right?” Rachel then said.

“They're out having a fab-ulous time at someone else's house, so they won't mind us finishing off this little feast of ours!” the other grinned. “Dig in!” she said, and with that the three of us began eagerly devouring the supper before us.

Afterwards, we got into our homework, managing to finish it all off by ten, by which time Joshua had come over. He even helped us with some of the math when Andrea had exceeded her mental-limits on the subject for the evening, grinning as she commented upon this. When the homework was over we were all treated to a dessert (vanilla chocolate cheesecake--a family recipe of hers), and then after saying our goodbyes I went with Joshua to his car so he could drop me off at my house.

“Everything seems to be going well on your end, minus the ninjas!” he remarked as we drove through the quiet neighborhood.

“Ah-heh,” I smiled wryly. “I'd say so, yeah. What about you?”

“Same old, same old, partner.” he shrugged. “Heh, I'm almost considering getting one of those Dream Machines myself, just so I could have a more satisfying place to work out some of the work stress!”

“It is good for that,” I admitted, thinking back to a certain incident where Rachel and I had gotten on in the middle of the night and she had vented her own stress upon some boss that we had unwittingly conjured.

“Glad to hear it! Maybe I'll see you all in game soon, huh?” he said with a grin.

“As soon as you get on, yeah,” I returned with my own grin.

“Right!” he laughed. “Hey! We're here already; hmm? Is that your mom's car?” he asked me as we got closer to my house, and I looked out at the vehicle in question.

“That's not her car,” I immediately knew. “I don't know whose car that is,” I then said.

“I didn't think it was hers, even though I've only seen it once or twice... oh there's her car--in your driveway, duh,” he noted as we came to a stop in front of me house. “This guy's parked here like he knows you all, though... no lights on in that thing, but I can see a person in it,” Joshua said quietly.

The car was about eight meters ahead of us, facing our direction. I could feel my senses prickling again, as they had on that night the “ninja” came after me. Suddenly I didn't want to get out of the car.

“Hey... Josh... where are you staying tonight?”

“Hmm? If you're going that far, I should just take you back to Ray-ray and Andrea's,” he said, guessing my thoughts.

“Maybe that's not a bad--” I started to say, and then our porchlights came on. A second later, my dad came out of the house, some kind of weapon in his hand.

“Hey! You in the Chevy, who the blazes are you and what are you doing out in front of my house?” he shouted in an unusually loud voice to the car in front of us. Immediately the car came to life with a roar, and began barreling towards us.

“Whoa!?” Joshua exclaimed, quickly driving his own car up on to the sidewalk and into the yard to avoid being hit-- just in time, I have to say. The other car hadn't even swerved away; it breezed right past us, then continued on down the street with a shriek of the tires as it turned to avoid hitting another car. He jumped out of the car at once when they had gone, as did I, my dad coming over to join us as we watched the mysterious vehicle continue heading away.

“If I find out who in the blue these jerkwads are and why they're coming after my son...!” my dad growled like a bear.

“Whew! No ninjas tonight, buddy!” Joshua patted me on the back.

“Y-yeah...”

“You two all right?” my dad asked us.

“I'm fine, and he missed the car, thankfully,” Joshua reported.

“One good thing...”

“Right?”

“I'm... gonna go in, and grab a ginger-ale... thanks, Josh,” I said, my mind and body just now reacting to the fact that I had almost been hit by a car.

“No problem, buddy; hey, you take it easy, yeah?”

“You too, pal,” I said as I went to make my way inside.

“Man, he's shaken up,” I heard him say to my dad as I entered the house. I stopped by the fridge to grab a ginger-ale, and then headed upstairs, first showering and then getting into casual clothes before I sat down to have my soda.

I turned on my computer to check and see if I actually had any emails, and finding none, as usual, I loaded up the Panarena forums. There were several huge threads about the Hitherlands now, as well as a few posts about the Utmost North which I assumed were from members of the pirate confederation. Well if they actually found it and found something worthwhile to them up there, then they can have it, I thought to myself with a soft smile. I wondered if Venomheart would manage to strike up a deal with them to recuperate from their losses on this wild journey we had all been on. A knock on my door then interrupted those thoughts.

“Hmm?” I turned, seeing my dad come in. He let out a sigh, and sat down on the other chair.

“Joshua's pretty sure he can remember that vehicle's tags, so the police will most likely catch those maniacs, at least.” he told me.

“Well that sounds good.” I said.

“You all settled down?” he then asked.

“I guess so,” I replied a moment later. He nodded at me.

“I'll hold off telling your mother about this for now. She'd lock you up in this room if she found out right now... though I'm sure you wouldn't have minded it a year ago, this year's... a lot different, huh?” dad said to me with a smile.

“Yeah... yeah, it really is,” I returned, a smile coming to my face as well.

“It's good to see.” he told me sincerely, and I nodded back. “Well, you'd better get to bed... oh, and if you do happen to end up staying out at someone else's house in the next couple of weeks or so, just make sure you let us know.”

“I will, dad. Thanks.” I replied, and he gave me a pat on the head before heading back downstairs to the living room.

Mom would definitely lock me up... Rachel might too, come to think of it... hahh, I let out a sigh as I turned back to the computer, preparing to shut it off. A post then caught my eye.

Third Quarter Rankings to be released on Friday.

“Third Quarter, huh... that means the competition is almost over,” I said as I briefly scanned the post, then clicked out to continue turning off the machine. It was basically just an announcement with some speculation from the GMs about who might ultimately come out on top in this whole thing.

I headed for bed once I was sure the computer was off, and then fell asleep the moment I laid down upon my bed.

***

Tuesday morning began with a rain-shower that started just as I went out to wait for the bus. Oy... you're taking Monday's thunder, I grumbled inwardly at the offending precipitation. Fortunately for me, the bus arrived quickly, and I hopped aboard eagerly, taking my usual seat. Ty was not on for once. I wondered if it had something to do with that special course he was taking. Boy, this feels weird without him here, I thought to myself as the bus wound its way through town.

“No buddy today, huh?” a girl in the seat across the aisle said.

“I guess not,” I replied.

Heh, I guess we are buddies at this point.

“Personally I like having the seat to myself.” she said with a shrug. “I'm Gina, by the way.”

“Sean,” I returned, and she smiled back.

“I know. You're pretty famous this year. Although certain rumors...” she grinned.

“Hahh... I don't have a harem,” I said with a tired sigh.

“I figured.” she giggled. “It's stupid, right?”

“Totally,” I nodded back. “Are we in a class together?” I suddenly wondered.

“Ah! He recognizes me. I'm in World Cultures with you, though I'm a year ahead of you.” Gina replied.

“Ahh... gotcha,” I said.

“How's that essay coming along?”

“Eh? Oh, that essay...” I recalled, shrinking into my seat as she grinned over at me.

“That good, huh?”

“Ehh...”

“Well here's a better question; how's your girlfriend?” she subtly winked.

“She's doing good,” I replied.

“Good!” Gina said.

She's always been on this bus, right? This is the first time someone besides Ty has talked to me here, I thought to myself as the conversation lulled.

“You two are all anyone's talking about; well, except for Mary being valedictorian this year. But everyone's definitely excited to see the musical. The quiet boy and the new girl suddenly become the stars of the spring show--it's quite something!” she then remarked.

“I guess when you put it like that, it does sound intriguing,” I had to agree.

The 'quiet boy', huh? I don't mind that.

“Of course!” Gina nodded. “You're definitely easier to talk to than most people say.”

“Eh?!”

“Don't worry about it. Just more stupid stuff.” she assured me.

Well sure, I can get that; but it's nice to know these things, you know?

“Ahh... I guess, with me, it's all in the approach,” I said out loud.

“I definitely get that.” she nodded. “Oh! Here's a question for you... are you two slipping into the prom this year?”

“Hmm?” I blinked. “We can't go, right? Only juniors and seniors can,” I said.

“Juniors, and seniors... and their dates.” Gina said to me in correction. “How did you think Allie was getting in with Malcolm?”

“Heh...?” I said with interest. “Come to think of it, I think Rachel was planning something... though I don't know what yet.”

“Pfft!” she giggled. “Good luck!”

“Y-yeah,” I said with a wry grin.

“Looks like our stop is coming up,” she then said, and I turned to see the familiar school-building rising to meet us up ahead. Somehow, it didn't look as prison-y as it usually tended to do in my eyes.

I wonder what that means, I pondered as the bus came to a halt a minute or so later. I got off the bus as usual, and, for a final surprise, Gina gave me a flick on the shoulder, smirking at me as she headed off to wherever her locker was.

Ehh...? I wondered to myself with a blank look for a few seconds, and then a raindrop reminded me that I had to get inside.

As usual, Rachel was waiting for me at our lockers. She smiled as I approached, and then I halted. The events in front of my house last night flashed through my mind. I felt a shudder run through me, and I made my way over to her, laying my head on her shoulder this time. She seemed surprised for a moment, and then wrapped her arms around me.

“You okay?” she asked me with concern.

Joshua didn't tell her yet, huh?

“I'm...” I started to say, cutting myself off as my voice faltered. Rachel held me a moment longer, and then patted my back.

“Tell me at lunch?” she said.

“Yeah. I promise.” I told her, and with that I got my things ready for morning classes.