"I had a terrible education. I attended a school for emotionally disturbed teachers."

~Woody Allen

"Mr. Kalaba, if Lily would only turn in her homework…on time…she would be one of my star pupils."

Dr. Martin Howard, Waterfront Middle School's best math teacher, sat in front of the parents of Lily Alana Kalaba with a manila folder in his hand that held all the assignments that Lily had turned in late and received partial credit for in the past. He had a stern glare fixed in his brow and tapped his foot impatiently.

"Dr. Howard," Amy Kalaba, Lily's intelligent mother, spoke up after a short minute. "Lily doesn't normally have problems like this. In fact, last year, she was on the honor roll for her class."

Kai, Lily's laid-back father, just sat in his seat and nodded. "Yup. What she said."

Amy shot him an annoyed glare.

Dr. Howard sighed. "Mrs. Kalaba, I understand. I've seen her grades from her previous year at Waterfront, and don't get me wrong, Lily is brilliant. But she seems to have a large problem with turning in her work on time. Do you observe her doing homework at home?"

Amy frowned. "Of course I do. I make sure Lily finishes her homework every single night…I see no reason why she's having trouble turning in assignments this year. Why, last year, she…"

Frowning and clutching his clipboard, Dr. Howard cut in. "I know, Mrs. Kalaba. Believe me, I know. I just need for Lily to start better managing her time wisely so she can get back on track with the other students. I don't think the C-minus grade that she has in my class is going to help her much."

A long moment passed before Amy was able to speak again. She never, ever had experienced an encounter like this before, but something told her that Kai had definitely been in a position like this before. "Dr. Howard, I'll talk to Lily and make sure that she finishes her homework," she sighed. "There's not much else that I can do."

The teacher nodded. "Of course, Mrs. Kalaba, and thank you for your support. Lily is one of the brightest seventh graders I've ever seen, but her late work issue is really starting to obscure her talents. I really think it is best for her if you supervise her more often."

Amy could only agree. "All right, Dr. Howard. Thank you for letting us know about Lily's issue; I'll try to help resolve it."

Dr. Howard stood up and shook Amy and Kai's hands. "Anytime, Mr. and Mrs. Kalaba. If you need any help, don't hesitate to contact me." He eyeballed the folder in his hand. "Oh, and you should take these assignments to see how many points are being taken off because she turned them in late."

Kai received the folder and shrugged. "Thanks, man!"

"Kai." Amy clenched her teeth.

"Er…I mean, Dr. Howard…" Kai gave a weak shrug as the teacher gave him an odd look.

The Kalabas stepped out of the classroom and began to walk down the hall, when Amy stopped abruptly, placing her hands on her hips.

"Kai, Lily's just like you, I swear to God."

Kai smiled. "Really? How? Well, that's a relief! I didn't ever dream of having kids that would be just like me…"

Amy could only groan as she cut in. "Kai, she never turns in anything on time. Remind you of anyone?"

He frowned and thought for a moment. "Is this a trick question? Cause if it is, then you're doing a pretty good job of confusing me."

Rubbing her temples to prevent a headache, Amy shook her head. "Never mind. Let's just go to work. Ken texted me…a student was murdered about thirty minutes ago near Branson Technical College. He wants us to go check out the body for any fingerprints."

Kai shuddered. "I—I don't think I want to face Ken today…"

Amy frowned. "Why?"

"Well," Kai nervously murmured. "I sort of took home one of his professionally-signed basketballs to take a good picture, and he told me he'd better get it back today, otherwise I'm not gonna have a neck when I get through with him…"

Groaning, Amy stepped outside the school building and began walking to the car. "Let me guess…you forgot the basketball at home?"

"Worse…" Kai swallowed hard. "I accidentally popped it on a sharp rock when I was bouncing it in the driveway."

Amy couldn't help but laugh. "Oh my God…"

Kai gulped, thinking about what Ken would do to him. "W-what? What's so amusing?"

His wife regained composure, but flashed a large grin. "Kai, I love you with all my heart, but now I have huge proof that Lily is just like you. So, I nominate you to be her homework coach because it's your fault she never turns it in."

Kai considered this for a minute, and then frowned. "Wait, hey! Hey, that's not fair!"

But Amy was already running off.

Kai stopped in his tracks and frowned. Women, he thought quickly. They sure do act crazy when they're around me…but that's just cause I bring out the party animal in them. He smiled to himself.

Little did he know, he had a party animal of a daughter to deal with in the future.

…

I don't care what anybody else says, but I think Amy and Kai are a hilarious couple. Just experimenting with their relationship, I guess. I actually really can't wait to see how this story's gonna turn out.

Anyways, this is just a preview of the story I'm going to write about Lily and the Kalaba family. Care to review? It really does make my day. And don't worry; you will be seeing a lot more of Lily in the next chapter.

Well, I'm probably not going to update this for another few days or so because I have a fanfiction request from one of my good friends. *cough cough* Ryley, the girl who wrote "The SFPD's Halloween" *cough cough*

So, how about a review to get things going with this new fanfic? That just may help me update faster…(:

Oh, and any tips or ideas are greatly appreciated. I take every idea for a story into consideration. If you're lucky, I may add your idea to one of my fanfics.

Hey, you never know.