Hi! I know you hate these, believe me, I do too, but I would feel guilty if I didn't do it.... Disclaimer: Sadly, I do NOT own dragon ball z or any of its characters!

Chapter 1

I can't remember why it is that we came. All that I can remember is hurting and sadness--And the smell of death. I remember waking up to it and falling asleep to it like an awful lullaby that won't stop playing in my mind. I remember being scared. But, even with all of these little memories, I can't piece them together, it seems almost like this puzzle will forever go unsolved. Even as I know this I can't stop pondering over them day in and day out. The painful memories seem filled with purpose, almost like a warning.

•••••

"Miss McLaine!" With a gasp, I yanked my head away from the desk almost as if it had burned me. At first my vision was blurred, but as soon as it cleared I found myself staring straight into the angry eyes of Mr. Karl, my science teacher.

"Ahh. Welcome back, Miss McLaine, to our quaint little world of logic and reason. I'm dreadfully sorry, but seeing how this class discussion is full of nothing but scientific theory, I'm afraid that we just don't have any room for the…crazy talk…of Lucian and Roth." His words were heavily laced with sarcasm and indifference.

"But Mr. Karl, I—"

"Therefore you shall escort yourself to the principal's office, where you will be told how many days of detention you will receive this time." I would have argued, but it seemed pointless. Mr. Karl's' word is law. I gathered my textbooks and papers and put them into my Invader Zim messenger bag and, keeping my eyes downcast, I shuffled out of Mr. Karl's science classroom. Fortunately, I had been ordered out of his classroom so many times that I no longer suffer the humiliation of being the figure of ridicule.

The classrooms are supposedly sound-proof, but even so, shortly after I closed his classroom door, Mr. Karl's booming voice yelled, "CEASE IT!" and the roaring laughter coming from my juvenile "fellow" students did just that.

Now the only sound in the hallway were the clicks on the floor coming from my sister's stiletto boots as I walked down the hall, and the sound of my bag bouncing off of my hip with every other step I took. There were many halls in Orange Star High—Hell, there were about seven floors as well!—but this particular corridor was practically bare except for five classrooms and a single water fountain. The majority of these classrooms had their doors open, and I felt the stares of the students burn holes through my back as I advanced through the hall on the way to Ms. Oshii's, our principle's, office.

Mr. Karl's science is classroom was, however, cursed with the misfortune of being all the way on the seventh floor, but three elevator trips and four flights of stairs later, I finally arrived to my destination. I reached out and timidly knocked on the colossal wooden door.

"Come in."

The words were muffled by the thick door, but they were still menacing. I took a deep breath and began to open the door. I could only hope that she wouldn't be angry with me for whatever reason, or, if I'm lucky, she won't be angry at all. Sometimes you could never tell with Ms. Oshii. 'Here goes,' I thought before opening the door all the way.

"Hello, Ms. Oshii!" I exclaimed. She glanced at me, and after seeing the identity of the voice her smile matched my own. She stood abruptly, making her short, sleek black bob bounce and fly.

"Miss McLaine! How are you this fine day?" Her words were sincere, her black eyes sparkled. What can I say? Our principle, Ms. Oshii, is my best friend. On her good days anyway…

"Oh, just peachy! Thanks for asking! And how are you, Ms. Oshii?" I put on the best smile I could and I leaned forward a little to seem more interested.

"Everything's just—"She hesitated and took in what I was wearing. "Umm, so where exactly is your usual dark ensemble, silver jewelry everywhere, and dirty sneakers?"I was surprised at first, but, then again, she has a point in asking. Today I was wearing my preppy sister's clothes, not to mention barely any make-up and my hair was perfectly wavy when it's usually perfectly straight without a single wave in sight.

"Okay, well….I'm wearing these annoying boots because Gracey trashed all of my good ole' sneakers while I was sleeping, and yesterday it was her turn to do everybody's laundry, but she 'forgot' to do mine. Plus she hogged the bathroom this morning and somehow managed to hide my straighter and the majority of my good make-up. I love her, but she can be so evil sometimes…it's the cheerleader in 'er I'm tellin' ya."I finished with a stupid grin, seeing as how I thought the situation was rather funny. My smile vanished and I found myself staring at the mahogany carpet. Apparently, Ms. Oshii didn't see the humor in today (and yesterday's) events. She sighed quietly and looked away from me before getting up and busying herself by shuffling through loose papers, letters, and detention forms.

"You two should really learn to accept each other, Stacy. Now I assume that you're here for detention, yes? One week." Now, her back was facing me, and she didn't say another word. Her words were no longer warm and kind, but firm and slightly angry. I know I shouldn't, but I couldn't help but argue.

"One whole week? You usually give me three days! Wha—"

"You are dismissed. Arrive to your next class on time, because I am not writing you a late note. Good day, Miss McLaine."

At first, I began to trudge through the thick crowds on my way to Mrs. Luke's English class, but, then I figured, 'Oh, what's the point? She won't miss me.' So I decided to hang out in the school garden. It would be a good place to let off some of the steam.

The clean, crisp air was refreshing. I was in the middle of the school garden so I was surrounded by the abundant cherry blossom trees and crimson rose bushes. I sat on the stone walkway and slowly eased against one of the pink trees. I sighed and tossed my mid-back length, light blonde hair behind my shoulders as I tiled my head back and closed my eyes, allowing my pale face to bask in the soft sunlight. I had never thought highly of the school's garden before, but now I see that it's beautiful and actually quite relaxing.

Or…at least it was, until I heard the high pitched giggles of one of the ooh so popular cheerleaders. I considered getting up, but when she started talking, I realized that I couldn't get away without being noticed.

"Really, Trunks! You should totally come and sit with us at lunch today! We'd love to have your company!" She wasn't in my sight, but I could easily pick out Amy Perkins's voice anywhere. I could just see her batting her thick, mascara covered eyelashes (not that I'm not wearing mascara either, but on her it looks tacky.) and flipping her short auburn hair every which way. And, of course, she would be asking Trunks Briefs to hang out with her and her cheerleader friends at lunch today. Go figure. Everyone knows that Trunks is the hottest, smartest, and strongest, not to mention richest guy in the world. Maybe even the city. She's just after all of his money.

"Sure, Amy. I'd love to…but…I really do wish that it was just you and me. That way we can be alone." His deep husky voice filled the air, and his last comment rewarded him with another round of high-pitched giggles from the size two Queen Bee. I figured he probably had her up against a tree a few feet away (I could hear their conversation pretty well and it sounded like they were whispering…they had to be close by.) and he was probably running his hand through his silky lavender hair with his smiling blue eyes and—unfortunately—sexy smile luring her in. I heard the repulsive wet sound of them kissing before they left to get to class.

I have one word—scratch that—THREE words to describe what I just overheard. Repulsive. Grotesque. Horrifying. I don't think I really want to hang out in the garden anymore.

X X X X X

My original plan was to sneak past Miss Manderline without her knowing, but, unfortunately, that woman has eyes at the back of her head.

"Child, I don't know why you even try. You know that I can sense your ki, yet you seem to want to ignore that fact." She turned from the store and crossed her arms, then she leered at me. To be honest, I thought she looked a little ridiculous. Her red hair was frizzy from the heat of the kitchen, and her brow was lined with little bead of sweat. Not to mention the fact that Miss Manderline is of…well…ample proportions, and her chunky apron did nothing but beg for ridicule like the unflattering thing that it is. But in the end none of that really mattered. She is my guardian/housekeeper and she's also the closest thing to a mother I've got. In the long run, what I mean to say is that, I love her. No matter what. Unless she takes her voodoo dolls out in front of guests again. That would be a problem.

I didn't say anything in response to her comment, nor did I allow her stare to intimidate me. Instead, I set my bag on the tile island, and I began unpacking. I could feel Miss Manderline's eyes studying me, but she remained quiet.

"So. I take it that you aren't here for a lunch break?"She inquired. I could smell the food that she was cooking burning, but she didn't seem to really care about it anymore, so I didn't mention it to her.

"Hope. I have had enough of school for today." I slammed the next textbook I'd unpacked against the table to emphasize my meaning. But, she just didn't seem to get the message.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Her voice softened and I heard her take a couple of steps toward me.

She just doesn't get it.

"No. I'm fine. I just need some time alone!" My tone was a lot harsher than I'd meant for it to be, but it was too late to take it back now. I had far too much pride to do such a thing.

Without another word, I went upstairs to my room and I slammed my door as hard as I could without breaking it. Before Miss Manderline could come up here to bother me again, I turned up my stereo as loud as it could go and surrounded myself with My Chemical Romance and I am Ghost. I glanced at all the posters on my pale gray walls. Avril Lavinge, Marilyn Manson, Evanescence. They were all there. I lay against my Invader Zim comforter and closed my eyes and thought about everything that had happened today. My thoughts traveled from Ms. Oshii's comment about my attire to my unknown encounter with Trunks and Snooty Amy. then my incredibly and undesirably known encounter with Miss Manderline.

Hopefully that was the end, but maybe it won't be. I'm just going to have to wait until the next day, I guess.

X X X X X

I'd drifted to sleep while thinking of the days prior events. My head ached and I felt like I was suffering from a hangover, even though I only drink that much at parties. And to make things worse, in the midst of all of this thinking I had multiple calls from the school. They were all, of course, unanswered, but I have a feeling that I would be hearing about it at school tomorrow.

There was a loud impatient knock on my door, and it sounded as though whoever was knocking had been standing there for a long while.

After turning off my music, I yelled the excepted, "Just a minute!" Then, figuring that it was Miss Manderline, I took my time getting off of my soft bed—I even took my time thinking about getting off of my bed—and slowly made my way across my dark room. Now, all that was in front of me was a Slipknot poster, and behind that my door. I stood there for a couple of minutes, hoping to annoy her, and then I slowly opened the door.

Well…I did annoy the person behind the door, but said person was not Miss Manderline. In fact, it was none other than my "beloved" sister, Gracey. Gracey has a short fuse, and now I could see that she was enraged and her anger was, no duh, focused on me.

"I cannot believe you! This is the fourth time you played hooky for the end of the day! I figured this time that maybe, just maybe, something might have been wrong, or maybe you were sick. But, no! I come home to check on you, and here you are locked in your room being all emo—"I folded my arms and interrupted her.

"Please, do not categorize me." My voice was completely monotone and indifferent, and she just got madder. Her bright blue eyes began to twitch, and I could swear that there were a few slivers of silver mixed in with her thick, shoulder length chestnut hair. Then again, it could just be the poor lighting taking effect.

Apparently, she had said a whole lot more while I was trying to decide if she was sprouting little gray hairs on her pretty little head or not. Now her pixie like face was red and formed a scowl meant just for me. How sweet!

"Are you even listening to me?!" she shrieked.

"No…no, not really," I shrugged and walked towards my bed again and I hoped she would get the hint. I sat down and looked out the window even though there was nothing to look at. Just trees, trees, and more trees. I heard her begin to close the door but then she surprised me by saying,

"I love you Stacy, you mean the world to me. I wouldn't replace you with anyone else, even if I had the choice. You really are one of a kind. But…this bad girl charade has to end." Her voice was quiet and she sounded disappointed. She closed the door a little more. "It's time for you to learn to make a place for yourself in society, and, most importantly, it's time for you to start trying to fit in." Then the door closed all the way with a click.

:) I hope you liked it, this is my first story to post on here, so I'm pretty excited! :) Please comment and review! Suggestions are always welcome! :)