A/N: Well here we are! The rewrite for TLA: Hello's and Goodbye's! To those of you who are new to this: Hello and I hope you enjoy! For those of you who aren't: I hope this lives up to your expectations!
First off, I'm rewriting this series because I've grown a lot as an author and want to make my first story as best as it could possibly be. So here goes. I'm diving in head first, as per usual.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC's and my imagination. Tite Kubo did the rest.
Just a forewarning: This story is not for the meek or weak of heart (and/or gut). Crappy fight scenes, slight angst, and bad cliffhangers ahead.
Something strange is happening to me
Though I've no idea what it may be
A slice of cake that says "Eat me!"
The tiniest sip of a cup of tea
Don't worry love; there's no need to fear!
Just take my hand and follow me to Wonderland, my dear!
Something Strange
You know that kind of foot-tapping, mind-numbing nervousness that runs through you when you're about to take a huge exam or get scolded for doing something seriously wrong?
That's what I was feeling.
It's just a sleepover Casey, it's just a sleepover.
Yeah, keep telling yourself that.
I scowled to myself, my foot-tapping intensifying. Damn, why was I so nervous? It was only a sleepover; it wasn't like I hadn't been to one before! And these were my best friends for God's sake! It's not like they were going to jump me or anything!
So then why was I. So. Damn. Nervous?!
Truth be told, I had been feeling a bit antsy all month, though I would never admit it to myself. No, I was Casey Matzen; I was too proud to admit stuff like that to anyone, myself included.
Maybe it was the fact that AIMS (Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards in case you don't live in the lovely dust bucket known as Arizona) were lurking just around the corner or that winter's pent up energy and the many sleepless nights were finally taking their toll on me. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Whatever it was, it was starting to piss me off. Not even downing way too much adequately named comfort food could calm my nerves.
This had to stop. I needed a distraction.
I think it's safe to say that getting linebacker tackled by all of your friends who, by the way, happen to be four inches taller than you- at a minimum!- which is totally not fair considering my temper, was distraction enough.
"CASEY! OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD!" Molly squealed, acting like it had been years since we had last seen each other and not just a day.
I made this fact known to her as politely as I could.
"Ummm...Molly it's only been a day since we've seen each other."
"WELL, YEAH! BUT IT'S ALWAYS DIFFERENT THAN SEEING EACH OTHER IN SCHOOL!" Alexis chirped, bouncing from foot to foot excitedly.
I stared at her, not blinking. Alexis was never that...hyper? Could you even count that as hyper? For a normal person, that would be excited, but Alexis was a bit... mellow.
I looked behind her, at Margaret.
Coffee, she mouthed, rolling her eyes slightly and offering me a small smile.
I frowned playfully at the blonde.
You're such a bad mother, I mouthed back before smiling back. The brilliant dirty blonde had always secretly been my favorite of my small group of friends.
I brushed my dark-and-copper bangs out of my face in slight annoyance before grinning broadly.
"Is Abby in?"
Maragaret sighed, sea green eyes rolling in exasperation as she pushed her red glasses up a bit. "Yeah."
I smirked. I loved that kid.
"Well, then? What are you all waiting for? An embroidered invitation?" I asked the ginger, the blonde, and the brunette. Huh. Sounds like a crappy spin on The Wizard of Oz.
Alexis and Molly paled. "Oh God no!"
I snorted. We all knew that pencil sketches were as far as I would go with artsy stuff. The one time I tried to knit or embroider anything, I ended up almost beheading Molly's chihuahua with a needle and had to go to the hospital to get six stitches in my arm. I still have the scar. Though I would occasionally paint...even that was a stretch, though. Not like I made anything good anyway.
Suffice it to say that my patience and fiery temper (though hidden behind a layer of disappointment and cuteness according to everyone around me) didn't help much with my complete and utter failure to art. I didn't have patience for much of anything time consuming really.
"Casey."
I turned back to blink at my dad.
"Yeah?"
"I want you to call me at nine. I don't want to hear anything about you getting in trouble when I come and pick you up tomorrow. Is that understood?"
"Yeah, I got you."
It was hot outside. Or maybe I was just nervous. Probably the latter. I couldn't think for a second.
I caught my little sister's eye through the window and smiled slightly.
She waved a bit.
"C'mon Casey!"
I spun around.
"Eh? Oi! Wait for me!"
"Casey are you talking about anime or manga or whatever again?" Margaret asked.
I shrugged. "Guilty as charged, and you're pronouncing it wrong. So what do you guys wanna do?"
It was true. Seeing as my nerves hadn't calmed down a bit since setting foot in the house, I had taken to babbling nervously about one or another of my anime obsessions (most likely Bleach though. It always came back to Bleach in the end.) to the other girls, who were probably bored and annoyed out of their minds by my senseless rambling while I mentally berated myself for opening my mouth in the first place. When I was antsy, I didn't talk much, but when I did, you couldn't get me to stop.
Somehow we started up baking which, eventually, according to the others, came full circle with us sitting in the Sichrovsky family living room and talking about the single most cliche teenage girl thing ever that just about made me want to gouge my eyes out and vomit due to sheer boredom too.
The topic of the evening, as a few of you might have guessed, was boys.
Which basically spelled death to me, as the whole entire concept was kind of uncomfortable.
"So who do you have a crush on Casey?"
I thought about it nervously for a second and then smirked.
"Ichigo Kurosaki," I answered shamelessly, not a hint of hesitation. If I was being serious though and limiting the answer to my world I would have to say no one.
I blinked and fought back a shiver at the darkness behind my eye lids. No, all men here were disgusting.
Margaret narrowed her eyes in mock irritation. "Is that a-"
"Yup," I replied cheekily, my smirk growing, though I internally sighed and frowned.
Alexis giggled, brushing a strand of ginger hair out of her face. "Oh Casey. What are we going to do with you?"
We all laughed.
"But seriously," Molly said. "Who do you have a crush on? Like, in real life?"
I snorted to hide my unease. "Please. No one here is good enough for me."
That sent Margaret into a series of giggles and muffled snorts which soon had us all doubling over in laughter.
"I personally like Mikey King," Abby called from the kitchen. "Especially his ass."
Margaret gasped and looked at her eleven year old sister. "Abby, where did you hear that word?!"
"Ass! Ass! Ass! Ass!" Margaret's twin baby brother and sister chanted happily.
"What is an ass?" Tommy, her kindergarten brother asked.
"Nothing honey," she replied. "Take the twins upstairs to go snuggle with Mommy and Daddy now, okay?"
"Okay!"
Once they were gone, Margaret got up, walked into the kitchen, and flicked her little sister in the head.
"Ow! What the hell?!"
"You can't curse around the kids, you idiot! And besides, you're eleven."
Abby stuck her tongue out at her and blew a raspberry.
Margaret rolled her eyes. "Whatever, butthole. It's getting late, you should probably go to bed."
Even though it was directed towards her sister, we all heeded her words because we were pretty damn tired and the anxiety was starting to come back from earlier.
As I curled up on the couch I heard the sharp tik tok of the ages-old grandfather clock pricking at the edge of my consciousness before it stopped altogether, leaving an eerie silence lurking in the room.
Of course I realized that the clock had stopped at the last possible second.
Logic told me to get up and see what the hell had happened; clocks don't just suddenly stop ticking. But my mind was telling me to sleep. Besides, it was probably broken anyway. How old was that thing anyway? Hundreds of years?
Yeah, hundreds of years. It was so tiring thinking about how old the clock was, how many lives it had seen end and begin, how many timelines it had gone through, that I think I needed a nap. Yeah, I was so tired... Sleep would do me some good.
The last thing my eyes drifted over to was the large clock on the wall, the second-hand paused and not moving, and I bolted upright, every notion of sleeping gone.
I felt the ice-cold fear gripping me like a vice.
"Guys..." I called out, more than scared.
There was no answer.
I looked around the room and felt my stomach sink to the floor.
There was no one there.
I was alone. The only signs that my friends had ever been there were the blankets crumpled up on the couch and floor.
I opened my mouth to scream, to call for help, but I was getting tired, oh so tired.
Where had the door gone? The room was just fading into one big blur; it was an oil painting: I could see Wheatfield with Crows.
The terror still tore away at me, and I fought to cling onto it, that last shred of awareness.
But I was so tired...
I felt something claw its way around my foot and pull me down deeper, plunging my into an ice-cold lake.
My eyes opened in shock, and my mouth opened to let out a loud, watery scream. I watched as bubbles floated towards the surface of the lake where the full moon shimmered, blueish from the water.
It was truly beautiful, a funny thing to think of when dying.
I felt the water coursing through my lungs, but instead of hurting like I thought it would, it felt comforting. Still cold as ice, but comforting nonetheless.
I was vaguely aware of time passing, but at that point was it passing or slowing down? Or going back or speeding up?
I should really go to sleep... I have to wake up early in the morning or else Dad's going to yell at me again...
No...I had to stay up...I had to watch the moon...there was something to do with the moon...something I was...
I felt my eyes begin to slip closed.
After all, just a short nap would be okay, right?
Something I was missing.
The first thing I heard was the sharp trilling of birds.
And then the first thing I thought while in my sleepy, half-witted state was "Oh, hey I'm not dead."
And then it was "OH HEY, HOLY SHIT I'M NOT DEAD!"
And then it was "How the fuck did I get here?"
At which my friends came bounding up to me, screaming my name.
I looked at them from my spot under the nice, shady tree.
And I burst out laughing.
"AHAHAHA! OH MY GOD, YOU GUYS LOOK SO WEIRD!" I cried, tears of mirth streaming down my face.
"Yeah, well you don't look much better yourself, retard!" a now golden-eyed Molly snapped. Hmm...same dark brown hair...they got the length wrong though...bit too long, though...and in a ponytail too...
What the hell am I doing? I thought, vaguely amused before the gravity of the situation came crashing down on me. What the hell am I doing here?
"You had the same reaction," glasses-less Margaret-but-not-Margaret muttered under her breath, green eyes sparking a bit in irritation. What the fuck was up with these people and ponytails? Dear Lord.
The not-Molly looked at her sharply.
"Hey!" the not-Margaret cried. "Just sayin'! No need to give me that look!"
Molly grabbed Alexis's cell out of her hand and shoved it in my face.
"Wha? What do you want me to do with this?" I asked.
"Front camera," Molly stated curtly.
I took the phone hesitantly.
I believe that I read something once that described the feeling one had when you open your phone camera and it's on front camera and you look like shit. That was what I was feeling now.
I stared at the screen in surprise. Same sliver-and-brown eyes and coppery-dark hair. Olive skin and eyes that were WAY bigger than they should've been...and...
"My hair is still short," I said, frowning slightly.
Alexis blinked her now tawny eyes at me. Oh good. At least she didn't have a fucking ponytail. Her hair was redder though. Dammit. And curlier.
And I was still as short as ever.
"Sooooo..." Molly started. "Now that we've all learned that we look like Casey's doodles from math class... What do we do now? I mean...where are we?"
I saw the thrill of fear ripple around the group, and, not liking the situation we were in right now, decided to be the ass of the group by injecting some fake cheer into the atmosphere.
"We walk!" I cried with happily, hiding the fact that I was a little bit pissed that I was still a midget and still had short hair. I mean, if someone had to throw us into what seemed to be a completely alternate world, they could at least be kind enough to make me look okay. Hahaha never mind, I just realized that what I just asked for was impossible. Thought they could at least have made me look like a fourteen year old and not an angry fifth grader.
In hindsight, chopping most of my hair off was one of the worst ideas I had ever had.
"...You know, I would never want to be lost in the woods with you," Margaret deadpanned, before mimicking me in a high-pitched voice: "'We're lost in the woods surrounded by wild animals, Casey! What do we do?!' 'WE WALK!'"
Alexis gave a very unladylike snort. I frowned again, finally having calmed down from the complete and utter injustice of the situation.
"Well what do you want me to say?" I asked quietly. "Standing here won't get us anywhere. We have a lot of questions that won't be answered if we don't do something so... Like for one, why do we look like walking, talking anime characters? We've gotta do something, you know?"
"...You're enjoying this aren't you?" Molly asked accusingly.
"Just a little," I admitted, smiling a bit to myself.
And to tell you the truth, I was enjoying it just a bit once you got past all the shit that was wrong with this situation. No more home. Depending on where we were, that seemed like a pretty fair deal to me. Hell, I'd be happy to be in feudal Japan if it meant getting out of the fucked up American schooling system.
But-and there was always a but- at the same time, I was worried. And that was one thing I wouldn't let the others see. Because I was really truly scared. In fanfictions and stuff, you read about how cool it is to be in an anime universe and how you're immediately accepted despite your differences and yada yada yada. But now that this was real, it was truly and properly scary. Because if one of us died here, who knew what would happen to us. And that was a scary thought indeed.
And with that happy though, I set off, leading the other girls through a town that looked oddly familiar in an at-the-edge-of-your-mind-but-not-quite-there sort of way.
I stopped suddenly.
"Hey guys?"
"Hm?"
"Yeah?"
"What's up?"
"Didn't..." I shook my head to try and rid myself of the thought floating around in my head. "Didn't that look like a soccer field to you...?..."
"Depends. What exactly makes up a soccer field?" Margaret asked. "Why?"
"Nothing," I said, shaking my head again and frowning even deeper. "Let's just keep moving."
You know, I really should have stopped daydreaming and watched where I was going because I ran right into something very big and...cushy.
"Wah!" I yelped, springing away from the lady. The apology I had been sputtering died on my tongue.
Margaret recognized her too, from the pictures I had shown her.
"Is that-"
"Uh huh."
"Are we in-"
"Uh huh."
"...The chances we get to live in this situation are slim, aren't they?"
"Uh huh," I squeaked, my voice rising an octave.
"Fuck."
"Uh huh."
The girl stared at us with large greyish eyes before giving an "eep!"
"Eek! Take whatever you want! Just don't hurt me!"
A/N: First chapter done! What do you think so far? Hope it met your expectations!
Loved it? Hated it? Review and I'll give you Ichigo!
~ KAi