"Emma Tanaka! You are not to go near that girl ever again!" That was my Mom, screaming at me. Why? Maybe 'cause she's a homophobe, and my BFF's bi.

"NO! Red is my friend and you can't make me!" That's me, screaming back at my Mom.

"You aren't going near her!"

"I AM!"

"Emma!" That's my *perfect* sister, Yoshiko.

"Stay out of this, you poisonous *****!" And that's my opinion of her.

"DON'T TALK TO YOUR SISTER THAT WAY!"

"Of course! After all, her life is so perfect! Look at Yoshiko, with her perfect grades and her perfect friends and her perfect fiancee, and her inability to do anything wrong because she's Yoshiko, and face it, you'd rather have her than me, with Red and my Cs and B-s and my not liking any of the boys in the school, because they all treat me like ****! But you don't give a dang, because you have Yoshiko, and as far as you're concerned, I could go to-"

"十分なエマ! あなたの部屋に移動します!" Mom screamed. For those of you who don't speak Japanese, for those of you that do and are too lazy to read kara, and for those of you who hate kanji (like me), my Mom told me to shut up (not really) and go to my room (really).

So the whole thing ended with me stomping off to my room, Mom standing there ticked off, and I really don't remember what Yoshiko was doing.

"And don't think for a second that I'm letting you go back to that school!"

I responded to Mom's last words by slamming my door and swearing very loudly, then locking my door before Mom could burst in and spank me like the kid I was acting like, the bratty one that Yoshiko brings out in me. Even though she's moved out, I still couldn't get less than an earful when, say, it's report card time, or Prom. Come on, who wouldn't hate their sibling if they were constantly being compared as the inferior one? I try, but nothing short of perfect, no, nothing short of Yoshiko, satisfies Rin Tanaka.

So, while Mom banged on my door and told me to open up, (Not ******* likely!), I put in my earbuds, flipped on my iPod, and packed my backpack. I'd had enough of that, and decided I might live with Baa-San, my maternal grandmother. She's probably the only one who understands me. Thankfully, she moved over here after the tsunami/blowout, and now lives in NYC. She's not all tea and flowers. She actually practices at a Dojo, and even though she's currently a yellow belt, she was a third-degree black belt in Japan! She's like one of those old grandmas who can level an army in ten seconds. Huninozuka-San, eat your heart out! (Yeah I watch Ouran, don't judge.)

After dumping my textbooks and packing my favorite clothes, a kimono, cash, a pocketknife, snack bars, and various other odds and ends, including all my iPod accessories, I grabbed my black Pirates of The Caribbean hoodie and threw open the window. Our house is two-story, but after shimmying along the roof for a while, I came across an apple tree that the neighbors had planted up against the fence. I may have slipped and pulled a couple Isaac Newtons, (Man, those apples hurt!) but I made it unscathed. Then I ran, and I didn't look back.

I made it to the bus stop in less than half an hour, a nice achievement considering I was on foot the entire time. There was a bit of a setback in the fact that I only had enough money on me to get a ticket to Baltimore, but I figured I'd walk the rest of the way. Then of course, they wanted ID. I decided to buy at the last minute. The bus didn't arrive until 10:00, so I had time to burn. Unfortunately, the smoke from that would attract the cops, who'd probably heard an earful from Mom already and would be searching for me.

I turned on my iPod and listened to music while I watched the clock. The minutes went by like I was in math class, slower than molasses. I vaguely noticed a man in a weird tan suit with celery on his lapel argue with a boy about my age wearing barf-green pants and a long-sleeved shirt, with a puke-yellow sleeveless shirt over that, and then there was something on the shirt, a blue pin shaped like a star. I figured they were coming down from Oregon or something for a convention, it was about time for that anyway.

Finally the man tossed up his hands and stormed off, while the boy sat beside me. I ignored him, watching the clock. If the bus loaded at 9:45, then I should buy my ticket at about 9:40ish. Maybe later, so they couldn't call the cops.

"Couldn't call the cops?" Asked the boy beside me. With a sickening lurch I realized I'd been thinking out loud.

"Er... It's part of the song that I've been listening to." I lied, holding up my iPod.

"It says it's playing the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic soundtrack." He said. I sighed, leaning against the wall.

"I'm running away." I muttered after a few seconds.

"Why?" He asked, leaning in a bit.

"Because my Mom thinks she should have complete control over my life, and she wants me to be someone I'd spit at." I answered.

"What's in Baltimore?" The boy asked.

"It's the closest I could get to NYC." I answered. "I'll walk the rest of the way." The boy stared at me. "What?"

"Are you really going to walk the rest of the way?" He asked incredulously.

"Yeah." I said. "It's not too far."

"The distance from Baltimore to New York City is... 157 miles." He said. "Considering the average human can walk about three miles per hour, if you walked at three miles an hour, non-stop, it would take you about 52 hours and 20 minutes. In real time, it would take you about a week to walk over to New York City." I stared at him.

"What. The. ****?" I finally asked. "You some child genius or something?"

He winced at my language and nodded.

"Well, nice." I muttered, glaring at the ceiling.

Just then the guy with the celery rushed in.

"Adric!" He said, wide-eyed. "There's something very wrong outside!" The boy got up and I ran after them, and gawked at the scene before me.

BloodLily: YUS! I published this, and finished Season Two of Supernatural! Only twenty-something more eppies to go until Cas! Can I get a 'What, what?'

Emma: What, what!

Unicorn Plushie: No, no!

BloodLily: Also, my kid sister's B-day is coming up, so I may post something for that! Reviewers will get a piece of Oreo-peppermint ice cream pie!

Emma and U.P: *run off to review*

BloodLily: Don't own DW! Bye!