I sighed as I listened to our Physics teacher drone on and on about the phenomena of our natural world, resting my head in my palm. There was no use in listening, really. We had a pep rally soon, anyways, so tuning her out for once wouldn't kill me.

Think of it as payback for the rest of the days I did listen, regardless of any amount of tiredness I was feeling that day.

Besides, the one thing in Physics I felt like pondering was space.

Now that was a big one.

Black holes, nebulae, red giants, supergiants, all that whatnot. I had already done some research on black holes, and found that if a human or any other object entered one, it would be "Spagettified," as they call it.

Meaning it would die a horrible, bloody death while a giant hole attempted to fluff it like a pillow and turn it into unrecognizable chunks of whatever.

"My athletes can leave for that pep thingy now," our teacher said, and in an instant, about half the class—including myself—stood up and exiting the classroom.

Yes, I am, in fact, an athlete. Volleyball was my forte. Despite my obvious "un-peppiness," I do relatively well in sports. Sure, I sucked at football, basketball, and tennis, but others were okay for me.

Don't expect me to pick up a hockey stick, though.

Kyoko, my fellow volleyball player and apparent "friend," jogged up to me, her blond-dyed ponytail swishing back and forth.

She grinned at me.

"Ready for the pep rally, Aeri?"

I loved my name. It was so uncommon; obviously, there aren't many people in the world with the name "Aeri." That was one thing I liked about myself.

To answer Kyoko's question without having to actually talk to her, I rolled my neck around, and she grimaced as it cracked.

"Well, me too! We're so gonna kick ass out there! We always look friggin' sexy in our uniforms! Yeah, we make knee and elbow pads look good, baby!"

Well she had enough pep for just about the whole school.

I gave a mental sigh as she continued on her one-sided conversation with enough gusto to make the inventor of Red Bull cry himself to sleep.

One of the other players, Yuki, a girl with curly brown hair and blue eyes, elbowed me in the ribs as I was pulling one of my knee pads on. "Oi, Aeri, you ready? You look kind of spaced out today."

I nodded. Even with my untalkative dispostion, I was even quieter today. Usually, I would put in a grunt here or a sarcastic jab there while Kyoko talked to me.

She could blame my quietness on my thinking, which I did much more than speaking.

If everyone did that, I bet we would have flying cars, trucks, and SUVs, instead of rubber bands shaped like animals.


To be honest, the pep rally wasn't that bad. Sure, my ears have officially imploded and I may have lost my eyesight from when the sluttiest cheerleader ever "forgot" to wear undergarments today, but it wasn't so bad.

Note extensive sarcasm.

That was the most horrible experience of my entire life, and if I ever have to go to one of those wretched things ever again, I will willingly leave multiple scratches on myself and jump headlong into shark-infested waters.

"Great, wasn't it?" Kyoko yelled, stretching her arms behind her. My eye twitched as her hot air balloon-sized breasts bounced at the motion.

I stuck my pinky in my ear and twisted it around.

"Seen worse," I replied offhandedly.

This was only because I had seen the movie Saw just recently.

"Well, I thought it was awesome. Except for Haruka showing off her crotch; that was just plain gross."

I nodded in agreement, shuddering slightly.

"At least she'll be expelled now!" the green-eyed sophomore chirped happily.

I sighed at the younger girl's evident jealously, most likely because Haruka had "stolen her boyfriend," as Kyoko had so blatantly put it.

This is why I hate drama.

Those two used to be the best of friends, and when that was, Kyoko didn't bother talking to me.

You'll probably see why I despise Kyoko so much in time.


We get out of school at 4:00, and taking the bus, I get home at around 4:20. I tried convincing my mom to let me walk home, but she's stone set on making me ride the big yellow bus so I don't get raped, kidnapped, both, or neither on account of they already killed me.

She even went into detail about all the different situations I could find myself in if I walked home.

Oh, Mom.

I took my seat in the 6th seat of the driver's side and pulled a book out of my plain dark blue bookbag.

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 2011.

Yes, I read dictionaries.

No, not for fun.

My reason? To widen my vocabulary so it consists more than, "I," "me," "mine," and "dude." When I get my job, I want to sound like a educated graduate, not a stoner.

I enjoy intelligent conversation.

I snapped to attention when the bus driver screeched my name. "Aeri! I said, you're here!"

I opted for a lopsided smile at my cluelessness.

Kyoko laughed at me. I would've glared at her if I felt like she was worthy enough to stop my walking and turning around to do so.

I walked into our nicely-sized house, immediately frowning as I noticed the lack of smell of cooking food wafting from the kitchen. Mom usually starts cooking before I get home, because she says that eating after 8 is bad for you.

Or something to that effect.

I set my book bag down next to the soft and fluffy couch, taking off my shoes and walking to the kitchen.

As I expected, there was a neon orange Post-It on the counter. I peeled it off carelessly and read it, rolling my eyes at my mother's use of text-talk.

Hi honey. Srry but had 2 leave quickly, got a emrgncy call frm hospital. Sumthng like a patient with a hrt attack. N Daddy's still the office, sed he wont be home til 9-10. Feed Kentucky, dont feed "Paws". Leftovrs in frig. Love u.

It probably took more time trying to figure out what letters to take out than it would've to write like a fourty-two-year-old woman and use the whole word.

Jeez, Mom.

To clarify any confusion you may have, Kentucky is our labrador retriever. He's the cutest thing in the world, with his long, soft, fluffy light blond fur and brown eyes.

Paws is an abandoned American Shorthair with patterns of grey, brown, and white on her, and large yellow eyes. Well, eye. The right eye was clawed out. She also has a scar over the opposite eye, and the ear on the same side is torn in different places.

She seems to favor staying around our house, and messing with Kentucky. Mom doesn't like her, because she might have "diseases," plus she makes Kentucky bark like crazy.

I love them both to death.

I scooped some dog food out of the large Iams bag in the corner of the kitchen for Kentucky, and with my free hand, I grabbed some tuna from the cabinet.

Walking into our backyard, I smiled as Kentucky started barking happily.

"Hey buddy. Bet you're hungry, right?"

He barked in response, and I opened the door of the pen, closing it quickly behind me. I barely managed to keep my balance when he jumped on me, paws on my stomach. The unopened tuna can was released from my hand and some of the dog food spilled over the side of the dipping bowl.

"Hold it, now! Let's reign in our eagerness for the time being, shall we?" I said, laughing lightly as I poured his food into his pan.

He barked once before digging in.

"Good boy, Kentucky," I said, stroking his golden fur. His tail went faster, now being a blond blur.

I smiled before picking up the fallen tuna and exiting the pen.

"Paws! Here, kitty, kitty!"

I heard a meow.

Then something else.

Something that startled me.

A series of hisses, followed by yowls. Then a bluish-black blur raced by my feet. Another blur, who's patterns I could make out enough to distinguish as Paws'.

I followed the direction Paws and the other unidentified animal, walking quietly instead of running. If I ran, the animal might be scared off, and Paws might follow it.

I finally found Paws, hissing up at a tree.

"Paws..." I called. I was ignored, as Paws continued hissing.

I looked up, surprised to see another cat, clinging onto a high branch for dear life. It had blue-black fur, with one eye being brown and the other closed, and it was meowing pitifully.

I frowned, glancing at Paws.

Sure, she was known to be territorial and a fighter (This would be the cause of the scars), but I've never seen her chase another cat. In fact, those scars were from a dog, believe it or not.

"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty," I cooed at the cornered cat.

It stopped its kitty whining and turned its towards me.

I reached my hand up to it, motioning for it to come out of the tree.

It meowed pathetically.

I sighed and clambered up the tall, leaning tree, my foot slipping once or twice.

The cat tried to climb higher.

"No, no, no. Shh, come here."

The cat stopped, and slowly let its claws out of the tree, sliding backwards toward me.

I chuckled as the small cat hit my chest.

"Good kitty."

It seemed to become happy at this comment.

I scooped it up with one hand, using the other to grip the branch I was previously on, and dropped about 10 feet to the ground.

Paws hissed at the cute kitten.

I frowned, holding the ball of fuzz closer to my chest. It clung onto my clothes. "No. Bad Paws. If you were a human, you'd have been charged with harassment." I looked at the black cat in my hand. "Where did you come from? I haven't seen you around before."

The cat meowed and leapt out of my hands.

Paws ingnored it in favor of trying to get the fallen tuna can open, forgetting her previous malice against the other cat.

The cat trotted off, and I reluctantly followed it.

Where it lead me, I was familiar: the small porch of our house.

What I wasn't acquainted with, however, was the cardboard box sitting on the step.

What it contained would forever change my life.


Well? What'cha think of Aeri? Yes, I know, the idea isn't original, but it'll get better, I promise.

Review, peeps.

(Btw, the cat was Tobi. The "good kitty" thing, I thought, would've given it away. XD)