"...what? Are you kidding me?" I asked.

"Yeah! I'm serious, Buttercup!" answered Blossom.

"But...why me, and what's this for?"

"Well, my drama class is doing a class project where we have to choose a famous written play and to remake it. We've decided to do Romeo and Juliet. I'm in charge of picking Juliet, and I choose you!"

"Juliet?" I cocked my head with one eyebrow raised and one eye halfway closed.

"Yeah!"

"You're crazy! I am NOT fit to play her!" I yelled opening my arms.

"Well, like I said, my class is REMAKING the play. Plus, all you do is play sports and video games, and I want to prove to people that you can do more than that," she said thoughtfully while sitting herself on my messily made bed.

"Hmm…" I hummed with one finger on my mouth and still an eyebrow raised, "I guess that I can do it? WELL, do I have to wear a dress?"

"Um, it's not certain yet since we're not finished with the play, but most likely no." I sighed with relief. I placed my hands on the back of my head and leaned back on my chair, away from my computer monitor, smiling at the ceiling. Blossom suddenly stood up and walked to the door. She stopped momentarily and looked at me with a smirk.

"Well, it's possible that we might leave the kiss scene in!" she giggled and ran out. My eyes widened immediately at the word "kiss". I was about to tell her to remove me from the list of actors and actresses, but it was too late. I heard her lock click from her bedroom.

I sighed and continued to scroll through my Facebook newsfeed on my computer screen. 'I hope that she's lying. I mean, isn't that considered PDA!? I just hope that it's a cool guy who plays sports and is cute…'

My thoughts were abruptly interrupted as Bubbles entered my room and asked, "Hey, Buttercup! Whatchu' doing?"

I opened a new tab and went on YouTube and answered, "Nothing really. What's up?"

She smiles and lays on my bed despite all the clothes scattered on it. "I'm just excited about becoming sophomores! Just 2 more quarters!"

"Uh-huh" I absent-mindedly nodded my head and started playing Jet Pack Blues by Fall Out Boy. The last thing I wanted to talk about was school. I was failing my algebra class, and I didn't plan on repeating freshman year. I didn't want to ask Blossom for help, or else, she would've teased me for looking up to her for tutoring. I didn't want to increase her arrogance.

"Why are you listening to this song?" Bubbles asked with her head slightly tilted.

"Well, first of all, Fall Out Boy is awesome! Second of all, this song is a bit relaxing to me."

"Ohhh," Bubbles nodded with her lips sticking out, "Oh, yeah!" she suddenly exclaimed. "There's going to be a new kid at our school!"

I rotate my chair to face Bubbles with an eyebrow raised. "A new kid? During this time of the school year? How is she going to catch up with learning all the stuff?"

"Well, I'm not sure if it's a boy or girl, but I hope that we can be friends!" she smiles widely.

"Don't you have any homework to do?" I turned back towards my computer screen wanting this conversation to end. I needed my alone time.

"Um, yeah...don't you?"

"I already finished," I mumbled.

"What? YOU finished your homework?"

"What?" I turned back towards her to see her eyes a bit widened. "What's wrong with me being finished with my homework already?"

"Well...I mean, you usually do your homework at the last minute!"

"Hey, I can't change for the better good?" I rolled my eyes.

"I'm sorry. It's just a bit...shocking?" she questions herself. "But, I mean it's good that you're starting to finish homework earlier now!" she smiles brightly.

"Yeah, yeah. Is there anything else you need to tell me? I have soccer practice in the morning and after school, so I plan on getting enough sleep."

"Nope!" she stands up. "I'll get going now! Goodnight, Buttercup!" she walks out of my room.

"Goodnight," I replied quietly.

After about 4 more minutes of looking through the virtual Web, I turned off my computer and went to the bathroom. Using my mint-colored toothbrush, I cleaned my teeth. After I was finished rinsing my mouth, I stared at my reflection for a couple of seconds. 'Should I shower?' I asked myself as I pampered with my wild bob-ish cut. I peeked my head out of the bathroom door and looked at the black clock that was fixated on the wall the middle of the hallway. 9:38 P.M. It was late-ish. If I shower now, the Professor might yell at me. Plus, I was gonna get dirty tomorrow anyways. I faced back again to the oval bathroom mirror and ran three fingers through my bangs and convinced myself to just go to bed. I brushed my hair and turned off the lights as I exited the bathroom.

I changed into my pajamas—black with Batman's symbol everywhere; it was those kinds of pajamas where you had to button the top, and it had a collar. I pushed off all the clothes that were on my queen-sized bed. 'I'll clean it one day,' I promised myself. After all the clothes were gone, the azure-colored blanket and royal purple bedsheet became visible. I plopped down onto my matching royal purple pillow. Out of all the pillows that surrounded my head, I grabbed my Wonder Woman pillow and snuggled with it. I don't know why, but this week had just been exhausting. I sighed and covered myself with my blanket. In no time, I fell asleep.


"Hello!?" I yelled, but only my echoes answered me back. I looked around my surroundings but only saw darkness. A chill ran through my spine. I felt...different. I couldn't stand up. I could only be on all fours. I started walking, but I was afraid. I didn't know where I was going. I felt myself moving forward (or was it backwards? Right? Left?), but it looked like I was going nowhere. My head pounded with its loss of direction. I kept moving for about 1 minute or 1 hour until I saw a small circle of light ahead of me. I started running towards it. When I had finally stood in front of it, I realized that it was a glass sphere. I saw two figures inside. There was a blond bunny with two blue beaded hair ties around the base of its long ears and an orange-feathered owl with a large red bow on its head. They were asleep. They looked so familiar.

"Bubbles!? Blossom!?" I yelled with a feeling of relief. I tried to touch them but the glass barricaded me from interacting with them. "G-guys! It's me! Buttercup! Wake up! Something's wrong here!" They didn't hear me. Their chests continued to rise and descend in rhythm with their relaxed breathing of slumber. I felt the panic rise inside of me. I felt like crying, Me? Crying? I needed someone to be with. I felt so alone. I started pounding on the orb when it suddenly blacked out. Bubbles and Blossom disappeared. The orb lit up again, but instead of seeing my sisters, I saw a black cat with lime green eyes. It was staring back at me. It looked so afraid. I wanted to pick it up and comfort it, but I couldn't because the cat was me.

Suddenly, the orb popped, and everything went white. It was too bright, so I had to shut my eyes. All of a sudden, I felt a hand stroking my head. I opened my eyes, but I couldn't see whoever was touching me. My eyes couldn't readjust yet. Whoever it was was obviously a boy since the hands were a bit big. I squinted my eyes. He had ears on top of his head and a tail behind him that looked like it belonged to a golden retriever. A dog person? Then, the boy picked me up and cradled me in his arms. Normally, I would've punched him for touching me without my consent, but his warmth reassured me too much.

"Meow?" I bit my tongue. What happened to my speech? I started to whimper as tears rolled down my small cheeks. My mind was everywhere. I was so confused and didn't know what to do. I wanted to thank this person for keeping me company. Since I couldn't talk, I decided to do what a cat would usually do to show appreciation.

I stretched my head towards the boy's face. "M-meow," I beckoned. He seemed to get the message. He moved his face closer to mine, and I licked his cheek. I think I heard him chuckle. All of sudden, a cloud of smoke surrounded my body. I was able to stand on twos again. I was human again. Wait, no, nevermind. I felt ears on top of my head and a long tail swaying back and forth from my coccyx. I was still partly feline. I was just like the boy now—half human and half animal.

When the smoke cleared, I found myself in the boy's arms on the ground. My head was placed against his chest and my elbows bent with my hands by the sides of my head. I listened to his steady heartbeat. I was flustered with the sudden embrace. I tried to get up, but the boy's hold on me tightened. I wanted to say something, but no sound came out at all. What was up with my body? He pulled me up and put my head on his shoulder. He then rested his cheek on my head. My face was burning up. I wanted to move away from him, but at the same time, I didn't want to. It felt so wrong but so right. I felt like I could stay in his embrace forever...but I didn't even know his name. Everything about this dimension was so enigmatic. I couldn't absorb everything that was going on. I couldn't formulate any words; I was only half human, and now, I'm enjoying the affection of a boy I had just met. My frustration was about to overflow. I started hovering with the boy still hugging me. Except, I wasn't hovering at all. My hair and clothes flapped behind me. I was falling, falling straight to a pit of darkness. I wanted to scream. I was scared, but the boy didn't seem perturbed at all. His eyes were closed, and I felt his chest rise and descend in unison to the rhythm of slumber's breath, just like Bubbles and Blossom. He was asleep!? I attempted to fly, but I couldn't. Just like my inability to talk, my body stopped functioning properly. I kept trying and trying with all my might to muster up my super powers to get away from the hole of incessant darkness. My attempts were fruitless. We, the boy and I, continued to plunge. Our bodies had slowly rotated, and now, we were diving head first.

My hair was now flying around my face, and I saw tears receding away from me. I realized that they were my own tears. I knew that this was the end. Then, all of a sudden, the boy gently grabbed my chin and tilted my head to face him eye-to-eye. I still couldn't focus my eyesight, but my face continued to conjure a blush. He put our foreheads together and made our noses touch. By then, my face had gone on fire. Although my vision was blurred, I could see him eyeing my lips. He tilted his head a bit to the right and slowly crept closer to my lips. I was too flustered that I shut my eyes. I couldn't move my head. All I saw last was dark green in two circles looking at me. I opened my eyes again, but they acted as if they were still closed. It was too late. We were inside that horrendous dark cavity. I couldn't see the boy anymore, but I still felt his presence. His arm was around my waist, and his other hand was on the back of my head. When did they get there? I felt his breathing brushing against my lips. We were so close. Then, he gently cupped my face with his hands and...