Star Shower

Star Shower Nightmares I placed the arrow to the string of my bow. How long had I been out here? However long, it didn't matter now. The wind let out a single strong gust. Flattning the brittle grass to the earth. The grass made a slight rustle as it gave way to the wind. A single braid of my jet black hair blew into my face. It didn't bother me. I was to busy concentrating on what I was doing. A twig snapped to my left. I spun, releasing the arrow in a graceful movement, the arrow just missed the young man standing a few feet from me, on the top of the hill. He stumbled as it wizzed past him. He forced air into his lungs, as he recollected himself. I sighed. This was the second time I lost control of my arm. I fell backwards onto the parch-ed grass, causing it to crunch under my weight. The bow fell to my side as I let it go. "Alryana you don't have time to relax, it's nearly time for dinner," the boy called out to me. I rolled my eyes and sat up, gathering my bow in a swift gesture. I took a deep breath, the smell of hay and moss captivated me. Alryana, this is who I was. This is where I wanted to be. I curled up, the grass tickling my bare feet. "Tell father...I mean Shonen that I'll be home in a while. I just need a minute alright Asurah," I replied, but not directly at him. It was just out there for anyone. He nodded, though he knew I didn't notice and walked away, slowly dis-sapearing behind the hill. I watched his back blankly, eventually I smiled. My twin always knew what I wanted. When the time it was I made it obvious. I sighed and shifted, ending in a kneeling position. Knowing it would be just ten short minutes before my older brother, Shonen, came looking for me. Why can't I just stay here longer? I asked myself, though I knew the correct an-swer. Hesitantly I stood, I began to make my way to the hill, as my feet carried me up the slope, I looked at the ground. Nearing the top I spotted my shoes, I scanned my mind trying to remember why they were sitting on the hill. Right I left them here two days ago, when I started hunting in the Dreds. The Dreds were the woods that Kronos, my home, backed onto. No one entered them for fear of what lurked, in their depths. I didn't believe any of it, I hunted there all the time not a single misfortune had occured, except the one time that I broke three ribs and my arm. Although that had nothing to do with misfortune. I didn't eat the meat but my brothers did, they didn't hunt because the only good place, that deer and other game lived, was the Dreds. They left it to me and I was fine with that. I bent down and picked up my shoes, one by one I placed them on my feet. Continuing on my journey up the hill, I paused at the top and looked at the city displayed infront of me. The town, or more village was Kronos. I, along with my brothers, were the wealthiest family living in the village. I began to walk down the hill. Getting bored I began to run, the bag I wore hit my side, the food inside hitting my hip painfully. The pain didn't

phase me, I was free...at least until I got home. Then my brother would be all over me. I stumbled at the bottom of the hill, thanks to my voyages in the Dreds mountain passes, I corrected myself. I weaved between the crowd. A young boy, very thin for his age tugged on my sleeve. I knew him, not personally though, I had just seen him around the village. He looked up at me, his brown eyes big and sorrowful, "D-do you have any spare food?" he asked shyly. I cou-ldn't help but smile. I began to remove my bag, the young boy removed his hand from my arm. In my bag I had enough food to last him and if he shared, his family for about three days. I also had enough money to buy his family a house, and keep it. With money to spare. I handed the bag to young boy. "Here you go. Take it all I have more at home," I said softly. He took it and opened the bag. A smile formed on his face, he looked at me gleaming. "Thank you Alryana-Senou." Everyone in Kronos knew me. They called me, and my brothers "Senou". I didn't understand why, I guessed it was a respect thing. I nodded at him and continued on my way. My home came into veiw. It was large structure. Larger then the rest of the homes, I felt ashamed walking to it everyday after I left. Oh well, what will be, will always be. I walked up the ebony steps to the cherry wood doors. I lifted my hand and placed it on the hand-le. Twisting my wrist, I turned the golden knob. It didn't turn all the way. I let go of the knob and placed my hand in my pants' pocket. I lifted my hand, drawing out a set of keys. Search-ing through them I found my house key. I placed it into the key slot and turned. The door opened, I stepped inside and took of my shoes. Before I could take off my jacket it started. My older brother walked into the entrance and looked at me. "Alryana look at you! Your a disgrace. Your feet are filthy. What did you go hunting without your shoes? Nevermind. I'll call Marian. Before you eat I want you neat,clean and sparkling!" And with that he stalked off into the kitchen. "Marian!" Shonen called from the kitchen. "I need you to help Al-ryana get ready for dinner!" In less then ten secons Marian came running into the entrance way. "My lord child look at you. You always come back in a bigger mess then the day before." Marian was the maid and housewife. She took care of Asurah and I after our father's death. "Come now come now. Off with that jacket. I w-ant you upstairs in three minutes." I nodded and Marian headed upstairs. I began to take off my jacket, when Asurah walked by. He stopped and looked at me. He shook his head and continued into the living room. I sighed and made my way up the stairs. I turned left in the upstairs hall, walking towards the last door I pushed it open. Steam flooded out of the open door, hitting my face with little drops of water. When the steam subsided I walked in. The large inground tub was full of bubbles and hot water. Marian was standing near the other door, ready to exit when told to. "Thank you Marian I can handle it from here." The maid left the room and shut the door behind her. I tested the water with my hand. To me it was warm, others might take it as boilin-g. It will have to do. I thought. I undressed and stepped into the tub. Heat flooded through me as I sat in the water. I sa-nk lower in the tub, only my head was above the

boiling water. I began to sing softly to myself. It was a lullaby my mo-m sang to me, before she died. After about ten minutes I soaped and rinsed. I stood up and exited the tub. My green towel was hanging over the edge of the door. I yanked it off the door and wrapped it around myself. Walking towards the door, puddles of water were left on the floor after each step I took. Noticing this I just shrugged. Shonen would give me an earfull later, and I was used to that. I pulled opened the door and walked down the hall. My room was the biggest in the house, my broth-ers let me have it since I was the only girl. My footsteps echoed in the hallway. My room was the last on the right, I stopped infront of it and opened the door. I entered my room, the large closet was at the other end. I walked towards the closet, each step purposely slow. I didn't want to go down to dinner, not with Shonen there. Placing my hand around the knob I yanked the closet door open. I took a single step into the walk-in closet, clothes were hung over rods on each wall. Marian came running in. She walked right by me and to the back wall, where all of my dress up clothes hung. Marian hummed while searching through the rack of clothes. I stepped out of the closet, and threw the towel onto my bed. Walking over to my dressing table I picked up the lotion bottle. Squirting some into my hand I lotioned myself. Marian had left my outfit on the bed. I walked over and exammined the dress. It was an orange dress, tighter at the top then the bottom...but not tight enough to suit me. It also had swirling designs of a darker orange on it. Each one different from the last. I slipped on my under garments, picking up the silk dress with gentle fingers I slipped it on over my head. Under the dress was a topaz and pearl necklace alongside topaz earings. I put them all on and left the room. The folds of the dress rubbing against my legs. I turned down the hall, stopping at the head of the stairs I took a deep breath in. After this I stepped down the stairs slowly, each step seemed faster then the last. I arrived at the foot of the stairs earlier then I wanted, I walked straight ahead into the kitchen. Seeing my place at the table set up as usual, I sat not bothering to flatten my dress. Shonen walked in and beamed when he spotted me, dressed as a noble should. "Well little sister you look rather fabul-ous! Finally realise that you should dress like this all the time, instead of like that middle class low-lander you hang out with?" he asked. I forced a smile, though my emerald green eyes flared with anger at the comment he made about my best friend. "Yes sir, I have finally stopped to realise how miserable life was without all these stupid expensive articles," my smile turned into a smirk. Sarcasim was heavily heard in my voice. Shonen's smile ran off his face. He sat at the head of the table, dressed in a black suit made of silk. You'd really think with that with that suit he'd be gleaming with pride. I thought. My twin came into veiw. My face was graced with a real smile at the sight of him. He was dressed in an oran-ge silk long sleeve top and black pants. He never over dressed, like me. I bought all my dresses, though made of silk they were the simplist I could find. Asurah sat on the opposite side of me. He looked at me and gave me a smile. Sho-nen called for the waiters to serve the meal. Out one by one they came holding platters. The ones containing meat were placed near the boys. Placed before me were silver platters filled with fruits and vegetables. Asurah said grace and we all began to dig in. My plate was filled with all types of fruits and vegetables. Each one that went into my mouth was prepared perf-ectly. Each bite was a little taste of the freedom I felt when

I wasn't under the watchful eye of Shonen. After dinner I ex-cused myself and flew up the stairs. I made a sharp turn around the corner. I fell, landing on my arm painfully. I got ba-ck up and ran right into my room and shut the door. I tore off the silk dress, and tossed it into my dirty laundry pile. I to-ok off the earings and neckalce, placing them on the vanity. I streched, finally free of my brothers glare. Suddenly my phone rang. Walking over to it I picked it up and placed it to my ear. "Hello?" I said, in a questioning voice. The person answered. "Alryana it's me Keoh." I smiled. Keoh was my best friend ever. He was the only one I co-uld really have a nice long conversation with. "Keoh! Oh my god I'm so glad to hear from you. How was your day?" "It was fine. It could've been better. I wish you were with me." "You have no idea how I long to hang out with you Keoh. My brother continues to disapprove our friendship. Right now I really wish I could stab him." "Don't do that. H-he's only thinking about your best needs. I mean I-I'm sure he never hangs out with middle class people. Maybe he just feels proud." "Don't tell me about him feeling proud Keoh! I hear it come out of his mouth to many times!" A wave of fustration towards my friend came over me. Why did he have to suddenly join my brother's side? He made ill comments about him. And yet he defends him. Keoh remained quiet for a while. "I'm sorry Anah. I didn't mean anything by it. I-I'm s-sorry. Really sorry," Keoh managed to say. Easily scared, his best way to deal with it was to apologize. When I heard him call me 'Anah', a chill ran up my spine. I really frightend him this time. He only calls me Anah when he's really nervous. "K-Keoh don't apologize. It's me who should be sorry. I had no right to snap at you like that. Please forgive me." "Alryana you didn't do anything. I understand why. I will always forgive you," he said comfortingly. I couldn't help but smile. No matter what I did or said, Keoh would always forgive me. I heard Marian call my name. It was time for bed, and I was half undressed, talking on the phone to a friend my brother didn't approve of. "Keoh I-I have to go. I'm sorry. Bye." I hung up the phone and started to get dressed. The minute Marian walked in, I had finished tugging on my silk pj shirt. Marian smiled at me and walked out. I sighed with relief. I had just gotten away with that one. I twirled a braid of my hair with my index and middle finger. I think I'll get Marian to un-braid my hair tommorrow. I'll look good with waves. With that I lay down under my blankets, shut my eyes, and fell asleep within moments. A small smile on my lips. I had a nightmare that night. The worst I think that I'd had in years. I tossed and turned, my side hit the side table, causing my clock to fall to the ground with a loud smash. It wasn't loud enough to wake me from the nightmare playing in my head.

I was walking in the field behind the hill. Suddenly I heard a scream. Running towrads the source. Reaching the place where the sound emitted from, I saw my brother Shonen standing with his back to me. He seemed to be standing infront of something. Grasped in his hand I saw the golden handle of the hunting knife our father had given him. The sparkling silver blade was no longer silver, instead bright red blood stained it. He turned towards me and said, "It is done. No longer will you have reason to act like a women whom is not a noble." He walked away. Lying on the cold ground was Keoh. His eyes were shut, as if he was only asleep. Blood surrounded his form, a small hole peirced in his gut. I knelt beside him, tears flowed down my cheeks. I touched his forhead, my hand shaking uncontrolab-ly. I removed my hand hand and turned my head watching my brother walk away calmly. Rage washed over me, I stood while pulling out the golden handled blade with emeralds incrested in it that my father had given me. I ran over to him, he turned, the blade connected with his heart... I woke up with a start. I went to look at my clock, but it was on the ground. I crept out of my room and walked towards Asurah's. Opening the door I peered in. He was sleeping peacfuly. Why should I have to drown him in my nightmares? He didn't deserve it. I shook my head. He's the only one I can talk to. He said I could tell him anything. But I just don't want to wake him. He'll forgive me sooner or later. I opened the door all the way and walked in. Placing a light hand on his shoulder I shook him. "Asurah...Asurah. Wake up." He stirred but didn't wake. I slapped him on the cheek. He sat up immediatly. "Huh? What?" He turned and saw me, standing there above him smiling. "Alryana?! Why are you here? What's going on?" Asurah looked at his clock. "It's 5:30 am. Why are you waking me up at this time? Whatever it is. You better have a good reason." I nodded and sat beside him. "Well it all started when I was walking through the feild behind the hill...in my dream of course..." And from there I told him the entire dream. From begining to end. He listened patiently, knowing it took a lot of nerve for me to open up to anyone. When I finished he sat silently for a moment, the fustration he felt now turned to guilt. "Alryana I'm sure it was just a dream. He's never going to kill someone just to make him happy." His words weren't as strong as he hoped. "Asurah, It was to real. I could feel the blade hit him. I felt the anger and rage, sorrow and guilt." "Why guilt? It wasn't your fault." "Because I couldn't save him from Shonen. I couldn't save Keoh." Tears stung my eyes, but I wiped them away quickly. Asurah took my hand away from my face. "If your just not crying because you don't want to look weak, it's looking pretty weak to me." he smiled. I looked at my twin and chuckled. "Ok. Next time I'll just pour a river of tears all over you and hope you don't drown. And if you do, I'll come to your funeral." "Now lets not go that far. I meant cry, not 'Drown Our Twin Brothers In A River'."

Now he couldn't help but laugh a bit. After a while we were both laughing out loud. Marian came into the room, after being woken up by our laughing to see what the problem was. She warned us not to wake Shonen and the laughter was surpressed some. Marian left and shut the door behind her. "All right now that you've woken me up. How am I suppossed to sleep?" I didn't bother to answer. I got off his bed and walked towards the door. He followed me, not trying to fall alseep agian. I left the room, Asurah trailing right behind. As I went back to my room, he went downstairs to get a drink. "Waking up at 5:30 am is not a good start to a morning." Asurah walked into the kitchen. Looking in the cuboard he grabbed a glass. Placing it in the sink under the tap, he turned the cold water on and watched the crystal clear water fill the glass. Walking into the living the living room with his glass, he sat down on the sofa with a sigh. Would he ever be able to cure me of the Shonen curse? The better question to him was. Will he ever have the nerve to set me free? He had freed himself before, but he wasn't as cursed as I was. The Shonen curse wasn't really a curse. It was just a saying he and I used for his obsession about being a noble. He had gotten out of it by hiding the fact that he had a middle class girlfriend, and some other friends. I was cursed to maximum. I couldn't hide it now. I guess as her twin brother, I'll have to help her hide Keoh, permanently, He thought. But how would he do that? Placing the cup to his lips, he tilted it taking a few sips of the cold water. I came down the stairs after what seemed like ten minutes. I walked into the living room and sat beside him. Taking the glass from his hand, I took several sips. "I would love if you would ask before you start drinking my water." I gave it back to him. "I'm terribly sorry. May I have some?" He shook his head and didn't answer. I rested my head on his lap. Like I use to when we were younger. Asurah stroked my head lightly, he felt me shaking. Probably still shaken by the nightmare, he thought. We remained there. He enjoyed the silence, no Shonen yelling at us, no Marian rushing us off to do something Shonen told us to do, nothing. Just us and silence. He shut his eyes. I was already ligh-tly sleeping. Asurah smiled, if only everyday was like this one moment. I woke up an hour and a half later. I sat up and looked at my brother, he was sleeping. And you said you would-n't be able to fall asleep again. I stood up and stretched. I heard the chefs preparing breakfast already. The smell of pa-ncakes hung in the air. Mmmm pancakes and chocolate chips. Oh and there's also pancakes with strawberrys, Asur-ah's fav. And just plain pancakes...Shonen. Marian came into the living room. Marian spotted me standing in the living room, then my twin sleeping on the sofa. She walked over to me. "Sho-nen want's to see you right away Alryana." I sighed, my shoulders dropped. Shonen wanting to see me wasn't a good thing. I slowly walked across the hallway towards the kitchen. Man what did I do now? He's probably found out about the water...or...damn. He found out about the call from Keoh. Oh man. I stopped by the large island in the centre of the room. Shonen turned to look at me, I didn't like the smile on his face at all. "So sis how was your night?" I looked away from him, I didn't want to talk to him. "Hmph, ok then. I'll tell you why I want to talk to you. You got a phone call from Keoh last night didn't you?" I kept my mouth shut. He didn't deserve to know. "Alryana I want you to answer me right now. You don't want me to get angry." I turned and glared at him.

"I did. What buissness is it of yours? If I want to talk to Keoh I'll talk to Keoh. You don't run my life. You can nev-er take fathers place." I said. Turning I saw Asurah. "Did I wake you up?" He nodded. Asurah walked over to me he wr-apped his arms around me, pulling me into a hug. He whispered in my ear. "I'm very proud of you sis. No need to apologize for waking me." He let me go and wa-lked to the table. I smiled and followed behind him. My smile faded as I walked past Shonen. Sitting at my normal place at the table, the pancakes were served. I filled my plate with chocolate chip pancakes. I watched Asurah grab the ent-ire strawberry pancake plate, he poured maple syrup over the stack. My pile wasn't even close to the height of his. I p-oured maple syrup onto my pancakes as well. I ate my pancakes slowly, my eyes on Shonen. Just as he turned to gl-are at me I turned away. "I'm going out today." I proclaimed. Shonen dropped his fork. "Where to?" Shonen asked. I looked down keeping my eyes on my plate. "Why does it matter?" "Because as your gaurdian I need to know where your going." "Shonen leave Alryana alone. You don't need to know," he said, "you just want to know so you can prevent it." Shonen glared at him. Asurah calmly continued to eat, ignoring the peircing stare he was getting from his older broth-er. "All right then. If I may be excused." Shonen got up and left the table. I looked at my twin, the calmness of his voice just then scared me. He never used that tone with Shonen, but now he was using it to defend me. I placed my fork down gently. Getting up from the table I walked over to Asurah. He looked up at me, placed his knife and fork down and stood up. At six feet three inches he was six inches taller then me. I wrapped my arms arou-nd him. His arm wrapped around my shoulders, his head lowered upon mine. "What's all this for?" he said into my hair, "I didn't do any-thing special." I looked up at him. Disbelief and anger touched my features. "Nothing special. Nothing special! You nearly yelled at Shonen and you call that nothing. Asurah I am just as mad as I'm greatful and proud and...and..." My voiced cracked after that. He was tense, slowly calming down. He didn't smile though his saphire eyes showed all the joy he contained. I regained my voice. "Asurah I just want to tell you that I love you so much. I don't know any better brother then you." I buried my face into his nightshirt again. He stood there stunned. It had been years since he heard me say those three words. He felt to many emotions at that point. Confusi-on, joy, anger and tenseness. I let him go. "I'm going now ok. I wont be back until tommorrow." he nodded. I walked out of the kitchen. My thoughts wondered all over the place, finally concentrating on meeting Keoh. It had been four days since our last meeting. He called me only once, the night before. He knew not to call, I couldn't blame him for calling anyway. I would of too. I was pushed out of my daze when I tripped over the bed.

Though I had made it to my room many times without paying attention, I was always moving my bed around. No matter what the bed always managed to trip me. I sat up and looked around, Marian was standing over me with a pick comb in her hand. I sighed and got up. How could I forget that she's unbraiding my hair. Probably to many thoughts about my best friend. I wonder if he's up. Oh there I go again. I sat down at my vanity. Marian walked over and stood behind me, her hands busy working the comb through the braids. "Never before have I seen a girl who falls over her bed constantly. Girl you are more like more mother then I thought." Marian said. I shivered at the mention of my mother. The only thing about her I knew was that her name was Akilah and she died three days after Asurah and I were born. Shonen would not tell me what father had told him about her. He had told Asurah, but made him swear not to tell me. Damn...why am I the only one in this house who doesn't deserve to know my mother? I'm the only one who's most like her. I hate Shonen, I deserve to know just as much as anyone! "Alryana!" "Huh? Who? What?" I turned to see Marian sitting ever so quietly on the bed. It wasn't until now that I realised that my hair was done. I turned gracefully, my jet black waves spun with me. My hair settled, cascading over my shoul-ders to my chest. Some strands remained on my face. I smiled, I was absolutly gorgeous. Marian walked over to me, her gentle footsteps echoed through the room. I stood up and faced Marian. "Oh Marian I look wonderful. Thank you thank you." Marian shook her hand. "I had to take your hair out anyway. Just looking at you brings Lady Akilah back to my memories." I turned away from Marian. The smile on my face faded into nothing. "I see you wish to be alone." With that Marian strolled out of the room.

Un-Approved Meetings

I walked over to my closet, my backpack clutched in my hand. I had already dressed in a white v-neck tee, a thin black zip up sweater and some dark blue jeans. I was looking for a pair of pajamas to carry with me. Looking thro-ugh the racks, I found a pair that looked just right. The pajamas I chose were dark blue, the shirt a size to big along wi-th the pants. I folded them and shoved the pj's into my backpack. Next I scanned the closet for an outfit, to wear the n-ext day. I later found a dark green hoody, a black t-shirt and some jeans. These should last. I should be going to school ... but right now I don't care. I zipped up my backpack and headed to the open window. I knew that Shonen knew I was leaving, but this was way more fun...for me of course. I threw the bag out the window. Stepping out onto the roof, a violent gust of wind hit. My hair was whipped around me tickling my nose. The wind stopped, my hair still blew around me not as violently tho-ugh. I looked below me, calculating how to get down with breaking anything.

Eventually I threw all math out the window. I'll just jump and hope I don't die. I walked to the edge of the roof, taking a deep breath I jumped. A gust of wind blew, t-hrowing me off course. I landed on my back, a jolt of pain running through me. I rolled a few feet before stopping on my stomach. "Ow." I grunted. "That wasn't the smartest thing to do." I stood up and dusted off. Shaking my head to get all the loose stuff out. "Okay now to get going." I picked up my backpack and began running. I stopped running in the middle of the town. My hair swayed gently as a slight breeze blew. I placed the loose strands behind my ear lazily, knowing very well that it would blow into my face again. The Shino Crystal fountain came into veiw. It was the most beautiful fountain I had ever seen and probably will ever see. The water that poured from the top, and settled in the pool was crystal clear. I sat on the rim, the water casting a light reflection on my hair. Mist hit the back of my neck and ran down her back causing me to shiver, though I wasn't cold. I turned head and looked at Keoh's house. It was normal sized, not small but not huge like mine. I weaved between the crowd, heading for the house that belong to my best friend's family. Stopping right infront of the door I lifted a fist and knocked. Keoh opened the door. At first he didn't realise who it was, when he noticed it was me he smiled. "Alryana y-you came?" Keoh said. "I-I didn't think y-your brother would let you out." I smirked and slid past him, entering the living room. I laughed a little. "Who said anything about him 'letting' me out?" I turned to face him. My hands crossed over my chest. "So y-you snuck out, wi-without permission." He looked worried. "I-I'm sorry for making you s-sneak out." I wal-ked towards him. He hid his face in his hands. I placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Keoh there's no need to apologize. I chose to sneak out." Keoh looked at me and nodded. As always he was wearing his hat. I sometimes took his hat, waving it infront of him. We both knew I would always give it back. "Hey lets go for a walk." Keoh walked out the door first, I followed. Keoh placed his hands in his pockets. I had my hands in my sweater sleves. The weather was cool, but not cold. Keoh was wearing a zipper sweater. I lead the way after a while, we climbed over the hill to the feild behind Kronos. We often came here since no one else but my brother would come. Keoh stopped walking, his gaze was caught by a shed near the edge of the meadow. I smiled. Keoh was always afraid my wolf companion Shanorah. I left Keoh standing there, making my way to the shed. The grass crunched under me. Each step made the tattoo on my right shoulder glow a darker jade green. Once Shanorah and I were close, it would glow a pure jade. My hand connected with the wood. I glanced back at Keoh. He had turned away, his head was tilted downwards. "Sorry Keoh." I whispered under my breath. I used magic to open the door. A black wolf came running out. Shanorah jumped up and touched my bare hand with her nose. The tattoo on my arm burned my sweater off. "Konnichiwa Shanroah." Shanorah growled happily her hyperactive tail in a non-stop motion. I smiled and let her run off. My gaze was caught by a movement in the woods. The smile left my face as the movement continued. When it stopped I shrugged and turned to look at Keoh. He was quivering as Shanorah sniffed him curiously. I ran over to them, kneeling by Shan-

orah I captured her attention. I heard Keoh sigh thankfully. "How are you today Shanorah?" The black wolf nipped my hand playfully, her tail wagging at top speed. I scrat-ched Shanorah behind her ears. When I stood the wolf ran into the Dreds. Keoh was looking at the hill, his coal blue eyes full of fear. I walked infront of Keoh. He looked at me and blinked. I leaned closer to him, my hand slowly reaching up to grab his hat. Keoh began to flush lightly. I snatched the hat right off Keoh's head. "Hey Alryana give that back!" I was running from him, the hat clutched tightly in my hand. "Alryana." I laughed, the sound echoing in empty field. He refused to give up, though he knew he would never catch me. I stopped running once I was behind the first row of trees in the Dreds. Keoh stopped, he glanced around to see if anyone was around. I shook my head. "Keoh no one cares about your mop. Why should it matter?" I called out to him. He glared at me. I turned away from him, whistling as I clamly strolled deeper into the dark woods. Keoh hesitated before following me. I sidestepped and hid behind a thick trunked tree, my whistling ceased. Keoh stopped in his tracks, looking around the dense woods. "Alryana where are you?" he said. "You know I don't like these woods. Come on give me my hat." I sighed. So far only I knew that his hair was a mop plastered on his head. He trusted me with his secret, yet I was to much of a coward to share mine. I stepped out from behind the tree and looked around. My eye sight adjusted to the pitch black darkness. Keoh was no where in my range. I turned, Keoh was probably wondering deeper in the Dreds. Shanorah came over to hme, she clamped down onto my tee and pulled. "What's the matter girl." Shanorah tugged harder. "Alright alright." The wolf let go and trotted off, I followed. I saw Keoh sitting with his knees to his chest at the base of a large willow tree. I knelt next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He jumped and turned to me. Keoh punched my arm. "How could you do this?! Leave me in the Dreds by myself. Now give me my hat." I placed the hat on his head. He turned away from me and stood up, his arms crossed over his chest. I looked at his back hopelessly. Ok I get hit a lot but that punch hurt. Wait why am I thinking about that? I really freaked Keoh out and all I can think of is pain. Boy I am pretty stupid. No wait I'm not, am I? I placed my right hand over the spot Keoh had hit me. It throbbed under my touch, though I knew I deserved it, anger towards him coursed through me. Keoh had be-gun to walk away from me, not even giving me the honor of a second glance. Shanorah sat beside, she whined softly. I placed my right hand on Shanorah's head, stroking the wolf absently. After five minutes Keoh was out of my sight range. I stood up, Shanorah stood with me He had made it to a clearing, his eyes on me. They no longer looked angry, but quilty and sorrowfull. I sat down beside him. I lazily put my hair into a ponytail. They remained quiet, only the padding feet of Shanorah and the crunching grass could be heard. "Gomen Anah. I-I didn't have a reason to get mad at you. It wa-was a joke and I took it to s-seriously." He let his head hang. His bangs covered the look on his face. I let my shoulder's drop the moment I saw a tear fall down his cheek.

Unable to resist I wrapped my arm's around Keoh. He was shaking, only a little though. "Keoh you don't need to say sorry. I was being stupid when I came here. Gomen Keoh." I felt him turn his head, moving back a little I watched him. He was blushing, only a light pink tinge was visible. I let him go and hugged my knees close to my chest. Keoh turned his head. "So how are we going to get out of here?" He had trouble keeping a straight tone in his voice. I thought for a m-oment. I could get Shanorah to carry him...but Keoh is terrified of her. I could use magic to put him to sleep as we ride. I'm sorry Keoh but our only way out is by you riding Shanorah. I stood up and stepped a few paces away from Keoh. "Shanorah we need you." The tattoo on my shoulder glowed. Shanorah was sitting at the far end of the cleari-ng, keeping a good distance from Keoh. I walked over to my friend. He stood slowly, his gaze captured by the black wolf. Though he was terrified, I could tell that he couldn't help but notice how perfect and silky her fur was. I placed a careful hand on the back of Keoh's neck. Whsipering non-audiable words a green spark left my hand and entered Ke-oh. He collapsed forwards, Shanorah catching him on her back. "I'm sorry Keoh." I strapped Keoh to Shanorah using a strong vine. Shanorah set off at a quick pace. I ran behind her, tripping over a few roots. Keoh's head moved side to side along with the wolf's pace. I looked at him worried, praying he didn't wake early. We reached the field, Shanorah lay down patiently. I untied the vines that were holding Keoh to her. I lay him down on the grass, when I stood I saw Asurah walking on the top of the hill. He stopped and looked at me, his chestnut hair ruffling in the slight breeze. I glanced back at Keoh's sleeping form. A quick meeting with my brother couldn't hurt. I ran towards him, forcing myself up the hill. He was standing there waiting, "Hey. You tired?" I hit his arm. "How dare you insult me so. Me Alryana Shino Akanatstu tired?! Stupid." He shrugged. "Whatever." he said. "So I see your still having un-approved meetings with Keoh." "Oh don't act like you haven't" I said sarcasticly. "Well not with Keoh but Trinah." Asurah opened his mouth. "Yes. I know about your middle class girlfriend." "She's not my girlfriend." he argued. "Oh so what is she? Your friend who just happens to be a girl?" "Yes." "Don't lie. I've seen the way you two look at eachother. And it isn't the friend look." When he went to reply I held up my out streched hand. "No no. I know when I've won. There's no need for you to answer back." Asurah placed a hand in his pocket. I glanced down and saw his pistol. "Why have you got your saber with you?" "The same reason you've got your BB Gun and Pistol." He said as if to as if it was obvious.

"You'll gladly notice I have neither of those with me at this present time." I gave him a look that forced him to continue. "Ok fine I'll tell you, just stop giving the look." I smiled contently. "I'm going to visit Trinah. We were planning on going to the beach. I brought it along for protection." I shrugged and walked off. Asurah happily continued on his way. I knew it, I knew it. He likes her...no wait he loves her. Yea yea that sounds better. When I reached Keoh, I sat next to him. I looked at him. He seems so peaceful when he's asleep. To bad he's going to pissed as hell when he learns what happened. I can take it. Keoh groaned, finally waking from the spell. He sat up rubbing the back of his neck. "Wh-What happened? How did we get here? You used magic on me didn't you?!" Keoh stood up quickly, a sharp pain drove down his neck. "Ow." I reached up and placed a kind hand on his arm. He looked at it then back at my face. I smiled apologeticly, a wave of guilt flowed from me. Keoh smiled. Sure I used magic on him, probably for his own safety. "Nevermind."

Confusion

Keoh lead us both back to his home. We both were silent the whole way, only the sound of moving cars could be heard between us. Shanorah had remained in the field to hunt in the Dreds. I watched Keoh walk infront of me. Not once had I asked if he had any siblings. So far I had only met Kiokoni, his pet cat. So I dared to ask then, "Keoh do you have any family? You know, parents, siblings." He stopped abruptly, causing me to stop. Keoh turned to face me, his expression un-readable. "Y-yes. His name is Kino. He doesn't like being talked about though." We had stopped near his house, a gold Seirra was parked in the driveway. Keoh followed my gaze, when he saw the car his breathing stopped. "Uh oh." He walked to the door to his home, he gave me a quick smile and entered the house. I sat patiently on the stairs, my elb-ow on my knee, my hand holding my head up by my neck. I watched cars drive by blankly, the only one that caught my eye was a black convertable. As it turned the corner I saw the silver sheen, and a quick glance at the driver. I didn't kn-ow that soon, the driver of that car would be more important to me then my own life. Keoh exited the house right after I began to space out. "You can come in now, but please don't let him know that your a n..." I turned towards him. "A noble? Why?" He nodded then shook his head. I stood up and followed him into the ho-use, I looked around the familiar place. Seated on the couch was a man with the same dark hair as Keoh. I stopped and looked at him, he stood up and turned. I bacme frozen to the spot, Keoh watched us worried. He panicked, "Kino th-this is Alryana. Alryana this is Kino." Kino walked over to me his hand held out politely. I shook the offered hand, not wanting to be in-polite. His baby blues eyes captured mine for a while before he turned to his brother. He looked

back to me. "Well its a pleasure to meet you Alryana.", he smiled politely, "Keoh has told me so much about you." shock to-uched my features for a moment, only to give way to a relaxed vibe radiating from Kino. "Well I hope you have a good night." With that he left to the room Keoh had forbid I enter. It must be Kino's room. Keoh tugged on my arm, I followed him dazed. He lead me to the guest room. Keoh offered to take off my backpack. Only then did I realise that I even had it on. I took off my bag absent minded and let it drop from my hand. Keoh had left to turn on the television in his room. I sat down on the queen bed and ran a hand through my hair. All the calm feeling left me, leaving me tense. What had just happened? Why do I suddenly feel tense? When I was in the room with Kino, I felt really calm. Now I just feel all the tenseness that left. I got up from the bed, still confused and dazed I made my way to Keoh's room. He looked at me, I guess the blank look I had set him off. "Alryana are you okay?" I looked at him, but I wasn't really seeing him. I nodded to assure him that everything was fine. He sat down on his bed his attention caught by the television. I shook my head and look-ed at the t.v. He was watching some pointless comedy, it didn't really clear my mind of everything. Keoh laughed at some parts that were on the border of funny for me. My hands were clentched into fists, he looked at them then my face. "A-Anah are you sure you're ok?" "Huh..oh yeah I'm fine Keoh. Nothing to worry about." He shrugged and looked back at the t.v. I got up and left to go to the bathroom. Without turning on the light I turned on the cold water, letting it pool into my hand. I splashed the freezing water onto my face, letting it drip down and soak my shirt. I sighed greatfully, maybe I didn't have to understa-nd why. "Okay Alryana just calm down, no need to freak the hell out." Saying that helped...a little. I left the bathroom an-d entered the dark living room, I sat down on the sofa. I placed my head in my hands, my hair forming a curtain around my face. "Damnit I'm losing myself here." Keoh entered the living room looking for me. He sat next to me and tapped my shoulder. "Hey I was wondering, we should go to school instead of stay here." I lifted my head and looked at him. "It's better then staying here in the dark, don't you think?" I nodded, not in the mood to disagree. "Good." He smiled and went into his room. He called out, "You can run home and get your car, along with your books. I'll ride with you today." "Alright. Wait outside if I'm not back by the time your done." Without waiting for an answer I ran outside. The sun hit my skin with all the warmth I expected. I ran along the sidewalk, not stopping for anything. Using the best short-cut I knew I made it home in record time. Just as I expected Asurah's dark blue mercedes was still in the drive. Right next to it gleaming a pure jet black was my V12 Vanquish. I pulled my keys out of my jean pocket, and pushed the aut-omatic door opener button. I walked over to the car, opened the door and jumped in. Sitting on the passenger seat was my school bag. I had done my homework right before I left to go hunting. I started the car and backed out of the drive-way. "Man why did I agree to go to school?" When I reached the end of the driveway I had just realized the Shonen's r-uby red Mustang Convertable wasn't there. Putting that aside I drove down the road, making my way to Keoh's house. Like I expected Keoh was sitting patiently on the porch steps. I opened the door

for him, "Get in." He ran over to the car and got in, shutting the door in one motion. I stepped on the gas, turning around the first corner near his home. "You get everything?" He nodded. I gripped the wheel a bit to hard, my nails sinking into the palms of my hands. It was just not very easy for me to get my mind out of a jumbled mess. I braked at the first red light, the only one. After that it was a straight break away to the school. "Keoh? Does your brother have magic?" He looked at me shocked. I kept my eyes on the road, when the light turned green I hit the gas. Quickly going above the speed limit. "No. At least I don't think he does. Why would you ask?" I shook my head and looked at the spe-ed I was going. We were going eighty miles per hour in a sixty miles per hour zone. Well I was going eighty miles per hour. We arrived at the school half past noon. I circled the parking lot looking for a spot. I found one and reversed into it, stopping the car. Keoh left the car, I stayed still gripping the wheel. "Alryana you coming." I didn't answer, he hesita-ted then left me to my thoughts. My grip on the wheel relaxed, I let go. I looked at the palms of my hands, little cresent marks showed where my nails had dug into the skin. A few were bleeding, not badly though. I sighed. I opened the front zipper in my school bag and took out some bandages. Slowly I tightly wrapped them around the middle of my hands. Should stop the bleeding for now. I got out of the car, just then I noticed I was parked beside the black and silverish convertable that caught my eyes earlier this morning. I shut the door and locked them with the remote. As I got closer to the main office Keoh was leaving, a green slip grasped in his hand. "Alyrana hurry up! They said lunch is about to start." I ran the rest of the way, my knapsack swung loosely in my hand. I pushed open the door and strolled in, forcing myself to breathe calmly. The lady at the front desk looked up at me. "Ah Alryana. Your late along with Keoh I see." I nodded without look-ing at her. "Well if that's so.." She was filling out my green sheet already. "Here you go. I hope your teachers understa-nd that your absence was caused by an appointment." My eyes flashed to her, she smiled sweetly and handed me the slip. I nodded to her and left, my god everyone was acting weird today. "Hey Keoh!" He was standing by the lunch doors, obviously there was no point in going to class. "You lied to Ms. Casidy?! Why? Your usually the one who tells the truth." He looked at me confused. He crossed his arms over his chest, an angry flush on his cheeks. "Oh so I'm not aloud to lie once in a while! Well just so you know I didn't have to say that you were at the appo-intment too!" He looked away from me. I leaned on the wall next to door, my thoughts struggling to find a topic to settle on. The bell rung and we both entered the lunch room. I went to the table nearest to the back of the room. I wasn't fee-ling very hungry today. Keoh arrived at the table with a tray full of food on it. "Hey aren't you going to get anything to eat?" I lay my head on the table, he sat down quietly...so quietly I thought he had left. The lunch room soon filled with students, a couple of friends of ours came to sit with us. "Hey! What's up you guys?" Naomi, the always positive, never once negative...on my record, girl. Her natural lavender pink hair, with complimentary blonde streaks sat next to Keoh. Her hair was naturaly that colour, I asked the first time I met her. "Aly...?" I cringed. No matter how namy times she said it, the name 'Aly' made me sick. "You ok?

Your not looking to good." I looked at her always bright with a smile face and nodded. "Ok." Naomi began to talk with Keoh, to my great satisfaction. My head suddenly felt heavy, I rested it on my arms again. "Oh my god!" My eyes dart-ed upwards, this could not be good. "Chris!" Yes, there he was. Orange and blonde headed, lightly tanned, six feet tall Chris. He slid to sit next to me. "Hey." Chris wasn't the kind of guy to say many words. He opened his lunch bag and took out a chicken fajita. He looked at me, while bringing out a bright red apple from his bag. "Alryana you want it?" I looked at the apple then Chris. I reached out and took it from his hands. "Arigatou." He nodded and turned to his lunch. I looked at my reflection in the apple, the girl looking at me look-ed just as confused as I did. I took a bite from it, each bite deliberatly slow. I swallowed then cleared my throat, "It's go-od Chris." He looked at me and smiled. I smiled back half-hearted. Chris blushed lightly and turned away, I continued to eat my apple. "Hey Naomi what do have after this?" She looked away from Keoh to me. She put down her fork, "Uhhh I think we have chemistry, though I'm not sure. Let me check." I rolled my eyes as she pulled out her agenda. I swear she never went anywhere without it. "Yep we have chemistry." I looked at the other side of the lunch room, everyone was seated with who they normaly sat with. Sighing I took another bite from the apple. People switch who you sit with once in a while. I know I sat with the same people, but I really didn't care who I sat with. "Hey Keoh we have gym together right?" Keoh nodded and Naomi bounced in her seat. Ever since I could reme-mber Naomi had the biggest crush on Keoh. I was just shocked no one else saw it as much as I did. The bell rung, I was the first one out of the gym. I walked reluctently to chemistry, as I entered the room I saw Mr. Gareth talking to a golden haired boy. I took my seat at the back, the teacher nodded and the young man walked towards the empty seat next to me. As he walked closer I noticed he was the driver of the convertable. He sat down and looked at me, he was incredably handsome. "Hello." I opened my mouth then shut it again, his breath smelled like vanilla. He smiled, his teeth were pearl white. "I'm Miquelle Makoto. Whats your name?" I blinked, "Oh I'm Alryana Shino." "So your one of the Shino's who seem to be popular around here." "Who told you that? I don't know why anyone who would say that." "Just becuase you haven't heard it doesn't mean it's not true." He smiled again, I had to turn away. The class room was full and Mr. Gareth talking. Only now did I start to get into the flow of things. I took out my notebook and bagan to take notes. Mr. Gareth strolled to the back and lingered by Miquelle. Miqulle let his eyes trace upwards. "Mr. Gareth I assure you I'm doing fine." He let his glance capture mine. "I have Miss. Shino here to help me. I'll be fine." I flushed lightly, only the slightest trace visible under my tanned skin. He flashed a smile at me, our gaze broke and I whipped my eyes back to my notebook. I felt him lean closer to me. "You know, everytime you cringe away I just might come closer."

I stared at him, "What's that suppossed to mean?" He chuckled while turning to the board. I pouted, "You su-ck." Miquelle continued his chuckling. "Hmph." Mr. Gareth began to explain, in lavishing detail, our chemistry projects. To my saddening dismay we had to work in partners. "This sucks.", I mummbled angrily to myself. Mr. Gareth began to partner up people. I shut my eyes tightly, wishing for someone other then Miquelle. "Alrya-na!." I groaned and opened my eyes, glaring softly at him. "You shall be partnered up with Miquelle." I glared at Miquelle as he snickered lightly. "You are the only one without a partner, and as one of the students with the highest grade ave-rages, I believe you are best to be with him." The bell for next hour rung, Miquelle stood and tapped my shoulder. "Will it be your place or mine?" I placed my index finger on my temple, shutting my eyes tightly. "Alright your place. I'll be there at five. See ya Anah." I glared at him. "Dont you ever call me Anah. That's only a priviladge people of my chosing can have." He shrugged and left the room. I held my head in my hands, I didn't care if I was late for my next class. "Stupid people trying to be friends with strangers on sight. I hate those kinds of people." As I trudged towards my next class my mind darted to everything that had happened that day, every thought I had collected. "Just like twilight, a mass of everything."

Projects

I kept to the speed limit on my way home. Keoh had decided to get a ride with Naomi, he asked if I was okay with it, I told him yes half-heartedly. I tried my best to hide the fact that I was over-joyed to be going home alone. My cell-phone's familiar ring tone played. The begining to my favourite song. I slid up the screen, it lit up showing the number. I answered, "Hey Chris. What's up?" "Oh hey, I have question." "Yea. I'm listening." "Did Mr. Gareth really partner you up with Miquelle Makoto for the chemistry assignment?" I sat there silent for a moment. "Yea." Another silence developed. "Who told you that? And what's so important about him? He's just some other guy in our school." "Just some other guy. Alryana I'm shocked at least you dont know about him. He's Miquelle Makoto Ogawa, he's a noble from Talia. His family is almost as rich as your's." He paused for a moment. "Oh Naomi told me. She wanted to be with him. He had the second highest grade average in his old school. Didn't he tell you this?"

"No." I said it bluntly. This was the last thing I was saying on this topic. Thanks to Chris more stuff added to the jumble. I parked in my driveway, Chris' questions had blocked me from noticing how long the drive was, about the only good he'd done in the time. "I've go to got to. I have to start my chemistry project." "Don't you have to do that with Miquelle?" I stopped dead in my tracks. "Bye Chris." I slid the phone shut, hanging up on Chris. "Gomenasai Chris." I pushed on the door, the knob turned in my hand. Its clicked and swung open, introducing me to familiar front hall. "Marian I'm home. Shonen, I have a friend coming over." I called him though I didn't know if he was even home. Marian exited the kitchen covered in flour. I nodded at her and rushed up the stairs, flinging myself into the bathroom. I shut the door as soon as my feet hit the tiles. I slipped, tumbling to the ground. I lay on the floor in a crumpled mess. Why bother get up? It would only mean I would have to get the chemistry notes ready. I breathed in the scent of wild flowers, Marian had just cleaned the bathroom. I started to pull myself up with difficulty, my knee had hit the tiles with enough force to damage it severily. I managed to make it to my feet, I swayed dangerously. A deep painful throbbing in my left knee. I surprisingly made it to the sink walking with equal pressure on both feet. My eyes had adjusted to the darkn-ess, I turned on the tap and splashed the scalding water onto my face. To my deep dread I snuck a look at the time on my cell. It was four fifty. Only ten minutes till he shows up. I thought to myself panicing. I left the and ran into the spare room, slaming it un-wanted force. I turned on the light looking around franticly. If I only remembered where I put the chemistry set. Asurah barged into the room. "Alryana?" he called. I jumped and turned around, looking at him sheep-ishly. "What are you looking for?" I opened my mouth, shutting it right after. I thought for a moment. What was I looking for? "Uhh umm. Hang on a sec." I looked at my phone again. Five minutes. I began hyperventilating. "Chemistry set." I said, a pause between each word. He sighed and walked over to the cuboard leaning on the back wall. Asurah opened it and with a sigh might I say the longest and loudest I've ever heard - pulled out the chemistry set. He handed it to me. "Arigatou." He nodded and left the room without a word. I sighed and drggaed myself to the table near the right wall, two chairs set up on the side nearest to me. I set the chemistry set down while looking at my phone again, it was five o'clock on the dot. The door bell rang. My breath caught in my throat. There was no way he could get here at the exact time he had said he would. Marian had answered, her soft voice asked who it was. I heard an answer, it was him. He told Marian why he was here, she let him off without asking another question. I let my breath go, he would have to search for a while to find me. The door opened. I looked up from what I was doing. There he was, standing with his notes clutched in his hand. "Hey." The smell of vanilla surrounded me again, making my head churn uncomfortably. Butterflies battered into the walls of my stomach, making me feel slightly sick. "How are you?" I shrugged and went back to what I was doing, ignoring the sickly feeling consuming me. Miquelle strolled over silently and placed his notes on a chair. Not only his breath smelt like vanilla, all of him did. "Let me help." I stepped aside as his hands professionaly set up the beakers, flasks and graduated cylinders. "There." he said, "You want to decide what were going to do." It

took me a while to hear him. His voice had a sort of melody etched into it. I sat down, still swimming in the scent he had brought into the room. "I was thinking we..." he broke off as he looked at me. I felt dizzy, and I'm sure my face betrayed my orders to stay straight. I collapsed, falling to the floor. "Alryana!" I barely heard his voice. I blacked out, quickly falling into unconsciousness. I felt something cool pressed onto my head, a soft voice called my name. I groaned as my eyes fluttered open. Sitting next to me, his face twisted in a worry, which was now relief was looking at me. "Mi-Miquelle...what happened?" He let out a sigh of relief, again making my head spin. My hand flew to my forehead, a cold rag was on it. I sat up to quickly, sickness caused to my reel over clutching my torso. His hands felt warm on my shoulders as he forced me down. I struggled under his hands uselessly, knowing I was to weak to fight back. "Stay down." He said sternly. I stayed down, knowing defeat. I glanced around, taking in my surroundings. He had carried me to my room, I was laying on my bed. "I'll explain everything when your accually conscious." A hint of laughter touched his words. Was he about to laugh at me? I crossed my arms and turned my head, a gesture that caused the pounding to return. I winced. He glanced at me, I refused to look at him again. Each look at his face made the churning in my stomach to grow to it's full tendency. It was a pain I could handle. No one else was in the room with us. He saw the confusion on my face. "I asked Marian if you might have any medication for headaches and stomach cramps." The melodic sound of his voice was entrancing. My eye lids dropped. He chuckled, "Go to sleep." I shook my head, the throbbing that had just ceased, edged its way back. I ignored it, "You need to." I looked puzzled. "If you don't sleep, you can't work. If you can't work I can't work. If I can't work the project doesn't get done and we fail. If we fail..." I was sleeping soundly. His incredably long speech of why I should sleep, put me to sleep. I woke up. He looked at me and smiled. "So you stayed. Very stalkish." He laughed this time. I looked at my clock. "It's only six." He nodded. "So I've only been sleeping for forty five minutes?" Again he nodded. "It seemed a lot longer." I yawned and sat up, my head no longer hurt excrutiatingly though it did hurt. I held my head in my hands, holding it to my knees. He placed a gentle hand on my back. "Your hair is soft." He said quietly. His voice sounded close, as if he was right next to my ear, whispering for only me. I didn't dare look up, for fear that my assumption might be true. Miquelle stroked my head softly. It calmed my headache, but boosted my defence. I lfted my head, he stood up, so he must of been next to my ear. "Feeling better?" I smiled at him. "Alright come on. We have a project to start." He helped me get off my bed, the arm he placed around my shoulders helped my walk to the study room. I sank into the chair he led me to thankfully. I was still unable to get thinking straight, but I was glad to have a topic to force myself to think on. "So what are experimenting?" He looked at me. Obviously he had something. After all he had plenty of time to think it through. "Well I was thinking we experiment the effect certain materials have on a substance..." He started. "Such as water or something heavier." He looked at me. Surprisingly I had a substance in mind at that very time.

"Vanilla." He blinked twice then looked down at the liquids infront of us. I picked up the vanilla bottle, opened it and held it to my nose. I breathed in deeply. I was right he did smell exactly like vanilla. He thought deeply. "Vanilla." I repeated. Miquelle glanced over at me then to his notes. He wrote down that single word, using the black pen that came with the set. 'Vanilla'. I glanced at his writing. It was very neat, it put my penmanship to shame. He saw the look on my face and laughed. It was melodic like his voice. "What?! I can't feel bad becuase my writing is put to shame by yours." He shook his head, his golden hair ruffling with the quick motion. "No. I'm just happy that I finally have someth-ing better then you." I pouted and let my eyes wander over the table. He had already poured the vanilla into a beaker. "Vanilla. One hundred millilitres." I looked at his writing again, angry blush crept over my face. "Is my writing putting yours to shame again?" Miquelle asked slyly. I inched away from him. He his his laugh, though I could hear the effort in his words. "Remember everytime you cringe away, I just might come closer." He actually did move closer. "But if you don't like it, I'll just move away." Miquelle moved back to his original spot. I took out my own black pen and wrote down what he had began. 'Vanilla. 100 millilitres. "Your writing isn't so bad." I saw him looking at my notebook from the cor-ner of his eye. "It's neater then some of the writing I've seen." I really noticed his eyes then. They were a piercing gold. Not even topaz or butterscotch, just pure, bright, full, beautiful gold. Like his hair. "Well thanks." I replied. "I'm glad at least someone disagrees with me." I had to surpress a laugh this time. He sighed and shut his notebook, looking at the watch I just saw on his wrist. I looked at it over his shoulder, I tried to be sneaky, but I'm sure he knew. "Eight. Wow funny how time flies isn't it?" At that moment, I really felt as if time had flown while we were frozen in a certain zone. Miquelle's eyes darted to mine, holding my gaze with the intesity of his stare. "I better go. I have a lot of stuff to do at home." He packed up and left the room, with me quickly following beh-ind. While he walked down the stairs, I slid down the hand railing. Meeting him at the bottom of the stairs. "I'll definitly be back tommorrow. I wouldn't want to miss any time with you." I hit him. "Alright alright. No more jokes you don't find funny." He moved swiftly, getting outside before me. I ran after him, my socks the only things protecting my feet. Miqu-elle laughed his melodic laugh when he noticed my ignorence towards my shoes. "You might get hurt." I laughed with him. I saw him turn away, he was tense. I stopped laughing. He slid into his convertable. I tapped on the glass, he rolled it down. I leaned my elbows in the edge on the door. "Nice ride." Without his permission I yanked open the door and hopped in beside him. "Leather?" Miquelle became more tense, but nodded. I hadn't closed my door fully, the light on the ceiling of the car caused his golden hair to shimmer. I snuggled into the seat, to his great annoyance. He crossed his arms on the steering wheel, looking out the window right past me. I felt small, insignifigant in the car with him. The expression on Miquelle's face was unreadable, his gold eyes looked lost in thought. I didn't dare to call his name, in fear that he might snap at me. His car had the scent of vanilla too. And the strange thing was, he still hadn't told me to leave. I sighed deeply, from the corner of my eye I saw him inhale deeply. I had to say something. I had to break the silence. It was driving me nuts. "Do

you want me to go back inside now?" He didn't respond. "Miquelle? Do you want me to go inside?" His gaze shifted to me, a mocking look in his eyes. "If you really want to." I glared at him. He was testing me! Of all the idiot things he could of said. A simple yes or no would have been nice, but no he has to go and test me. I shuggled deeper into the leather seat, bringing my knees to my chest. I lay my head on them, making no progress to leaving his car. "Alright then." The M3 purred as it came to life. "I'll just have to take you home with me." He began to reverse out of the driveway, I still made no effort to exit. "Hmph. Stubborn aren't you?" I had a smug look on my face as he said it. I had always been stubborn, and I wasn't going to stop now. "Right. So to my house we go." We drove down the dark side road. "Don't you care that I'm kidnap-ping you?" I shook my head. "I'm not a kid so technically your not kidnapping." He smirked, I held my breath. "Alright then." He said an amused look on his face. "I'm not kidnapping. I'm noblenapping." Miquelle turned to me, the smirk still on his face. I stared out my window, I wasn't letting him get to me. I caught a glimpse of the speed dial. He was driving at ninety miles per hour. Probably the same speed I would be driving at. "So your family won't be worried that the only girl in the house is missing?" I shook my head, still staring out the window. "Not at all. Infact I'm sure most of them would be quite pleased to hear that I've been noblenapped." I extended the word. "Also I'm not the only girl. I'm the only sixteen year old girl. I'm turning seventeen on May fifteenth." He looked interested, I kept talking. "My older brother Shonen, I give him the most trouble, will be delighted to hear that I'm gone. Asurah I can't say anything about. He's my twin, but you'll let me visit often. Even if you don't I'm still going to. Marian will not be pleased but it will make her work life ten times easier. Now instead of three kids she only has to take care of two. I'm accually quite happy that I finally have a chance to leave that wretched prison." I smiled sincerely. "I'm glad I got noblenapped. At least it wasn't by some weirdo I have never met. Besides whats the worst you can do? "I'm sure I have nothing to worry about in this here car. I know I have nothing to worry about because I can defend myself quite nicely." I stopped there and watched his face. The street lights never stayed on him long enough for me to see what he was thinking. "Hey have I bored you to tears? Or better yet...have I bored you to boredom?" He broke out in laughter. I couldn't surpress a laugh this big. It escaped and we both sat in his car laughing. He wiped a tear from his eye. "Wow I haven't heard something like that in a while. 'Bored you to boredom.' I have to remember that next time I make an incredably long topic to blab on about." Miquelle glared over at me. "No offence to you though. That was very interesting. Tell me though how can you trust me? How can you know that I'm not going to harm you? I know you can defend yourself but what if I have a knife stashed in my belt loop? Anah I won-der, how can you claim such things without gathering all the facts. Anah I could very much be planning to cause you harm. "Did it ever occur to you that not all people who put a kind act on, are in fact kind?" I nodded. "Then tell me, why don't you think I'll cause you harm?" I gave him a sharp look and giggled a bit. "If you really must know why I'll tell

you." He glanced at me, his gold eyes burned with curiosity. "At least once in my life, I want to have a near death experiance." I wasn't lying. I always wanted to know how it feels to be near death. I felt him go tense beside me. "You were the one who really wanted to know." I made every word linger in the air. We had reached our first red light, he was gripping the wheel so tight his knuckles went white. "Miquelle are you okay?" "You shouldn't say things like that." I looked at him puzzled. "You should never want to feel death." Shrinking into my seat, I felt extremely guilty. Sorrow filled my eyes and I looked down and the floor of the car. I felt him staring at me. Miquelle placed a hand on the back of my head. It felt infinately hot, to even me. I tensed under his hand, he tangl-ed his hand in my hair. It felt very comforting. I now realised what had happened, I was becoming friends with Miquelle. At any time before now I would of denied it. "Gomenasai Alryana." I quivered under his hand, though I wasn't crying. I was hiding the fact that I was losing to him. I forced my head to shake. "It's my fault. I didn't know that my wish was going to affect you." The car died as he parked it. I was startled as I glanced out the window. We were in the Dreds, he had drove here secretly. "Why are we here?" Miquelle took his hand off my head and left the car. I stummbled behind him. He had began to walk down a pa-th, I followed him blindly. "Miquelle I demand to know where we are going and why we are here!" He still didn't answer. I began to get furious with him. I opened my mouth, shutting it moments after. My hand was gripped around something in my pocket. It was my cell phone. I pulled it out and looked at the time. It was nine thrity, and Miquelle wasn't going to take me home soon.