Wednesday 6:10am

"Usagi!"

Rays from the sunrise were peeking through Usagi's small window lighting up her golden hair that was sprawled across her body and the floor. She had fallen asleep on top of all of her paperwork for school that was spread across her bed. Last night was another grueling night of doing her homework as well as her two step-sisters'. Of course, in order for her to get any of hers done, she had to get theirs out of the way. Her step-mother thought that they could both pass for geniuses, so they both took all A.P. classes which doubled the homework load. Usagi stirred when she felt the drool that had pooled against her cheek start to dry and stick to a social science paper she was editing the night before.

"USAGI!"

Usagi shot up. Sitting upright on her bed with the paper stuck to her face, she groaned. Peeling it off, she looked at the clock on her nightstand. 6:15am. "Ugh. And it's only Wednesday", she moaned as she threw her legs over the side of her bed and stood up. She stretched and threw on some clothes for school. Her long hair now hitting her ankles, she normally put it into a neat bun on the top of her head before bed so that brushing it would take less time. Unfortunately, she had fallen asleep after writing and editing a 15 pages history research paper. Looking at her hair in the mirror and its' many tangles, Usagi sighed. "There's no way I'm going to have time to brush this."

"UUUUSSSAAAGIIII!"

…and that was exactly why she had no time. Usagi twisted her hair up and made the bun as neatly as the tangles in her hair would allow. "I'm coming!" Usagi shouted as she gathered and sorted all of the homework papers she had worked on and put them into her backpack. She then placed her eldest step-sister's homework in a purple folder and her other step-sister's homework in a green folder.

Usagi walked outside of her door and shut it. She turned to walk down the hall and was greeted by her two step-sisters blocking her way. Usagi first looked at a tall slender figure leaning against the wall staring at her nails. "Is my English report done yet?" Pulling out the purple folder, Usagi replied, "Yes, here it is, Koan. I made sure to use the proper formatting, but I also wrote a short abstract just for you to read in case the teacher decides to ask you about it again." Koan narrowed her eyes at the word 'abstract', but decided to ignore it. She roughly took it out of Usagi's hands and looked inside. "Good. I'm getting sick of that know-it-all trying to stump me when I'm just trying to pass his stupid class!" She closed it and walked back into her bedroom.

Koan was the prettier of Usagi's two step-sisters. She had long wavy purple hair. Not just any bland purple, though, it was a deep purple amethyst that shimmered almost hypnotically when the sun hit it. Being the same color, her eyes were breathtaking and deceiving at the same time. There was no doubt why she was the most popular girl in their high school. Never mind the fact that her body was the body of a perfectly developed 18 year old, she had the fashion sense, the beauty, and most importantly, she had Usagi to keep her grade at a perfect 4.0 throughout her entire high school career. She had only 4 more months to go until graduation and she could pursue her dream of being a model.

Usagi's eyes switched over to her other step-sister who tapped her foot impatiently. "And here's your geography notes along with your physics exam, Petz", Usagi said as she handed her the green folder. "It's about time! I'm lucky this stupid teacher agreed to let me take the exam home", Petz complained as she yanked the folder out of Usagi's hands. Petz had emerald green hair that contrasted well with her complexion. She kept it in a pixie cut to frame her face and always matched her outfits to her hair color. Even though the two sisters were a year apart, they were inseparable; and thanks to Usagi's intellect, Petz was able to skip a grade and be a senior like Koan. Petz's plan was to follow Koan around when she became a famous model until she met a rich man and lived off of the luxury of his pay. Satisfied that Usagi had completed all of her work, Petz turned on her heel and walked back down the hall and muttered, "Oh, mother wants you."

Usagi quickly made her way downstairs to greet her step-mother, Beryl. "Good morning, Ms. Spectre," Usagi said as sweetly as she possibly could. She made sure to stay on her step-mother's good side so she wouldn't cause her any grief to hinder her day. "There you are. I've been calling you for the last 20 minutes", Beryl hissed as she pulled clothes out of her large bedroom closet. "Are you adding deafness to your list of faults, you unnatural child?" Beryl turned to her with a black sequined jacket in her hand. "Where's my purple dress? Did you take it to the dry cleaners? I need it for this evening." Usagi mentally sighed and put on her best smile as quickly as she could. "I put it in the car for you. It's hung up in the backseat, so you could change into it after work for your company's party. I'm sorry if it's been an inconvenience for you. I told you about it last night hoping you'd…" Beryl threw the jacket at Usagi. "Don't try to explain your incompetency to me. Take out the trash, do the girls' laundry, clean the pool, and I'll need your rent by tonight. Now get out of my sight." She turned away from Usagi and started to pick up all of the clothes that were scattered across her bedroom floor. She would've told Usagi to clean up the mess, but she was in no mood to deal with the brat.

On her way to the front door, Usagi grabbed the hidden lunch that was in the back of the fridge she had made herself the night before as well as a banana. She double checked that she had everything she needed in her backpack as well as her work uniform before she headed out the door with the house's trash in hand. After dumping the trash and cleaning the pool, Usagi got into her '97 El Camino and headed to school. She was lucky that she had her job at the Crown Arcade otherwise she'd be stuck taking the city bus like she did the first year of high school. She was now a sophomore, but had been taking extra classes since her freshman year. Her goal was to graduate by the end of the summer, so she could finally leave her step-mother's house and go to college. Her step-mother didn't know about this, of course, and neither did her step-sisters. They had always assumed that she was constantly busy because of the additional homework they pushed onto her. Usagi knew that they were oblivious and she had ensured that all of her teachers would not tell anyone about her tiresome efforts to graduate before she was supposed to. Usagi smiled to herself as she pulled into the parking lot of Juuban High School at 6:45am on the dot. Even though Usagi's life was hard and she never got the recognition she thought she deserved, she knew that it was all temporary. She knew that college would be her chance. Until then, Usagi kept her sanity by sticking to a schedule that kept her both productive and happy.

School didn't start until 8:15, but she always made sure to leave her house early so she could have peace and time to herself. She brought down her visor mirror, took out a brush from the glove compartment, brought down her golden locks from the bun she had it in and started to brush her hair. This task normally took about 20 minutes and then she was able to put it up into the two buns that she loved that allowed her hair to come down to only her thighs. She had gotten her dork reputation in high school because of her buns, but she didn't care. She loved the convenience of them and how it separated the weight of her hair onto the opposite sides of her head. She was still just 16 and was allowed to express herself unapologetically. Maybe in college I'll change it into a more mature look, she thought to herself as she put the last bobby pin into her bun. After she was satisfied with her hair, Usagi ate her banana and started reading from her Advanced Trigonometry textbook and finished up the last of her homework before 8am rolled around. Usagi gathered her school things and started for her first class. She loved school. It gave her the order that she needed to stay focused, but it also gave her the ability to see her four friends that she adored so much. They were a large part of her keeping her sanity when the hard times of her life came around.

Minako, Makoto, Rei, and Ami were all waiting for Usagi in the front of her History class. They all excitedly clamored when they saw her and she responded with a beaming smile that had the ability to brighten anyone's day. Usagi sat down next to her friends and had time to joke and giggle before class began.

BRRRIIIIINNGGGG!

The lunch bell rang and Usagi and her friends headed to sit on the grass outside underneath their favorite cherry blossom tree. Usagi and Ami were reading over a Physics problem while Makoto explained the process of making a crème brulee to Minako and Rei. Minako was drooling at Makoto's description while Rei took intricate notes. Ami was explaining how to get the solution to the velocity problem while Usagi chewed on the end of a pencil. None of the girls were paying attention when the football flew between Usagi and Ami's head and hit the tree trunk. The strength of the impact shook some of the flowers out of the tree. Usagi picked up the football and looked around for who may have thrown it. As she roamed her eyes across the field, she saw the senior star quarterback Mamoru trotting towards them with an apologetic look on his face. "I'm so….", Mamoru started to say, but slowed both his words and his steps as he looked upon the blonde angel who had flowers falling in her hair and all around her. Her face was tinged red from the heat and her blue eyes looked at him with indifference as he made his way to her to retrieve the football he had thrown. "It's no problem", Usagi said as she tossed it back to him with ease. She then shook the flowers out of her hair and giggled. Mamoru couldn't help but smile when her face lit up when she watched all of the flowers fall to the ground. "You inadvertently brought us a treat anyways", she said to him while giggling. Mamoru chuckled, "Yeah well, for what it's worth, I'm sorry and I'll watch where I'm passing from now on."

"Chiba!" His teammates called Mamoru from across the field. "What's taking so long, man? Let's go! Only 15 minutes left for practice!" Mamoru glanced back to his friends and then back to the group of girls that looked at him quizzically. They couldn't understand what he was still doing standing there. He had his ball back. What else did he want? "So, I'll…uh…see you around?" Mamoru said shyly as he stole a glance at Usagi one last time. "Well I attend this school, so I suppose so", Usagi said confusedly. She didn't understand why he was looking at her like that. She had seen him all the time at the Crown, but wasn't surprised that he didn't recognize her since he never cared to look in her direction while ordering his precious coffee. If Usagi was like every other girl at her school, she'd be upset that he didn't care to look at her. Chiba Mamoru was the school's top hottie. She didn't take any of it personally though. She had a job to do and didn't expect the world to stop every time she took someone's order. Plus, Usagi never had the luxury to think about boys or dating. She was determined to graduate and get the hell out of her step-mother's house. Dating would cause a distraction from that; plus, no one cared to speak to her outside of her group of friends anyways. She lifted her right brow as she watched him standing there with an unsure look. Mamoru then turned and went back to his friends; throwing the football to the tallest one on his way.

"What an odd guy", Ami mumbled as she dropped her head back down to the textbook Usagi and her were reading. Makoto strained her eyes to watch the guys finish their practice, "yeah maybe that Chiba guy is popular solely for his looks and not his wits." Rei laughed loudly and mused while she joined Makoto in watching their game, "At least he isn't bad to look at." Minako laid back onto the grass and looked up at the flowers in the tree. "I don't know…he's got one of the highest gpa's in the school." "Maybe he's got someone doing the work for him, like Usagi does for her step-sisters", Rei contemplated aloud. "Ugh. If he does then he's worse than I thought he was", Usagi said bitterly as she scanned the next physics problem. Ami looked over at her with slight surprise, "Usagi, you shouldn't assume the worst in someone just because of your experiences!" Usagi sighed and stuck her pencil behind her ear. "I know, but I can't help it. He acts like he's better than everyone else and it's not just me assuming. I serve the guy almost every day at the Crown, you know. His best friend, Motoki, is my boss." Rei's eyes lit up with realization, "Oh! That's right! You know, if he's Chiba's best friend, I'm not sure he's the nicest guy. I really do hate it when Motoki calls you 'Odanga Atama'." "Yeah", agreed Minako, "they all act like they have the right to call people whatever they want just because they're popular, but why did he come over here so sure of himself and then stand there like he lost his mind?"

BRRRRIIIINNNGGGG!

The bell that stated lunch was over rang and the girls gathered their things. "Who knows", sighed Usagi and they headed to their next class.

Author's Notes: That's it for now! Please let me know what you think in the reviews! I'll post the next chapter in a few days. I'm completely hooked on writing and editing this story.