Angela woke up the next morning at 6AM, just in time to water her crops and get her supplies ready for school. She rubbed her eyes and let out a yawn. She then swung her legs over to the right side of the bed and stood up slowly, stretching as she did so. After she quickly got dressed, she walked over to her tool box to grab her gardening tools. She opened her front door and took in the scenery; a dark cloudy horizon.

Outside, she quickly watered her flax and herb seeds. After, she took a quick look in her refrigerator and after seeing nothing that particularly appealed to her morning palette, she just decided to leave to school. Her bike was no where to be found.

"Oh no! I left it at school cause Dr. Jin drove me home..." She muttered, a curse soon following. The thought of missing school two days in a row gave an empty feeling in the pit of her stomach. It would mean that she would be far behind in work, which she never approved of.

_______________

Jin slipped on his shoes then grabbed his briefcase. He thought of what had happened the previous day and had looked forward to seeing the girl at lunchtime. He smiled to slyly to himself. She was cute, polite, and young. "Yes. Too young for your old self." He thought. Then he remembered exactly what she had said: "I have a bike..."

"Oh my Goddess. She left it at school!" He shouted, not believing that he was so careless.

On his way out, he quickly ripped his coat off of his computer chair and nearly tripped over the door step on his way out of his house.

_______________

Angela screamed in frustration. She knew that she shouldn't have, she knew better from all of the manners she had been taught as a young girl. But she couldn't help herself. There was no hope of getting to school on time. She was so determined when she had woken up in the morning, but now all hope was lost.

She threw her backpack off of her shoulders and unknowingly into a sewer drain on the street.

"Oh GREAT!! Just what I need! Anything else??" She asked fate. She plunked down on the curb and started to cry softly. Ever since she had moved to Waffle Island, her life had gotten worse. She had no family any more, the Mayor seemed to gossip about any little thing that happened, and to top it off, she had a crush on her school's doctor.

"He can't be that old..." She thought to herself. The wind started blowing harder. She decided to quickly climb down into the sewer drain to retrieve her school things. As she lowered herself into the drain, it started to rain and as she tried to grip the bars on it harder, her fingers slipped apart and she fell on the hard, musty ground.

She sat there for a few minutes, not reacting instantly to the pain. The rain fell softly on her through the top of the drain. The inside of the sewer was dark and slimy; a coat of mildew lightly covered all surfaces.

"...Owww....." She murmured and closed her eyes.

She sat there alone for a few minutes, until she heard a familiar masculine voice.

"Angela, where are you?"

She looked up in hope. "Dr. Jin, I'm down here!" She shouted.

Jin peered through the bars at the top and saw Angela sitting on the ground. her face was stained with tears and mud. She looked like she had taken a good fall, at least ten feet.

"I'll get you out of there... somehow... How does this drain come off?" He asked, fiddling around for a way to pull it off.

"There's a latch on the bottom that you pull, then it lifts right off."

Jin did so, but had no idea how to get her out of the sewer without climbing in himself. "Can you stand up and grab my hand?"

"I can't stand, I fell on my back end and it really hurts..."

Jin thought quickly. He looked around for a sign of hope.

"There is a rope in my toolbox inside that should work." Shouted Angela from below, her voice hinting despair. Jin nodded and headed inside.

Inside, Jin carefully rummaged through her tool box for the rope. He felt wrong by going through her possessions, but it was for the best. Once acquired, he ran out in the rain to the sewer and lowered it in there.

Angela grabbed it with both hands, her backpack on her shoulders.

Within five minutes, Jin had her out of the sewer and into his car. He handed her a towel to dry herself off.

"You need to be more careful. Once we get to school, I want to inspectt you for any possible injuries." He demanded, concentrating on the road ahead of them.

Angela was eternally grateful yet annoyed at the same time. "Thanks... If you didn't come, then I would have been stuck there..."

"You're welcome. Say... How would you like to work in the doctor's office as an aide?" Asked Jin, changing the subject to avoid silence.

Angela looked over to him. "Wha- Really? Is that allowed?"

Jin nodded. "Yeah if you get my and Irene's permission. You could work with us for an entire period. But that's entirely up to you of course."

"Oh would I! If I had the choice, I'd work with you guys 24/7!" She shouted happily.

Jin chuckled. Angela blushed, not even realizing what she had said. "Well, I'll have to talk to Irene about it but... We have our own family clinic that's open on weekends. I'm sure if I'd ask Irene you could get a part-time job on the weekends..." He trailed.

"Well... you should probably ask her first. I mean, it is up to her mainly."

Jin smiled to himself.

"WHAT are you DOING?! Getting yourself involved with the welfare of a minor is strictly forbidden. If Irene knew, you wold never be able to be in a medical job." He thought again to himself. His conscience was trying to keep them apart.

At lunchtime....

Angela walked out of her Agricultural class taught by Liz. Apparently in this country, there was no such thing as a last name and calling them by their first name was a must. Liz was a young teacher in her late twenties with bright pink hair.

She walked out with a full load of books in her arms. Most of it was homework from the day before. As she made her way to the Doctor's office, she made sure to pick up some lunch from the cafeteria. The menu said "Grilled Cheese with a small apple, milk, and a slice of cake. It sounded delicious to the small-framed girl who had not had a thing for breakfast.

She clumsily tripped over an untied shoelace and crashed into a boy of similar age. "Watch where you're goin'." He said. He brushed his short purple hair aside and glared at Angela before storming off.

"Jeez..." She muttered and picked up her things. She scrambled back in line to get her meal.

After ten minutes, she ran over to the Doctor's office before time for lunch ran out. She only had five minutes before the bell was to signal the break before 5th period.

As Angela came limping in, Jin looked up at her from his work.

"Hello." He greeted. He pulled a chair up next to him and offered it to her. She gladly accepted and sat down, panting.

"I signed you up for 5th period aide in here.... is that okay?" He asked politely.

Angela smiled. "Of course!! That would be awesome."

Jin took a look at Angela's lunch. "School lunches lack proper nutrition." He said. Angela took a bite of the grilled cheese as he talked and cringed. "It is also very unappetizing." He quickly added.

"I can... tell that..." She said in disappointment and discarded it in a nearby trash can.

Jin grinned. "Care for something? We have a fridge full of fruit."

"Only if it's not to much trouble..." She said shyly.

"Of course it's not a problem. What do you want?"

"I'll take an orange, please."

Jin nodded and walked to the other room.

Irene gave him a curious look. "What are you doing?"

"I'm getting our aide an orange. Is there a problem?" He asked, not meaning to sound rude.

Irene let out a heavy sigh. "Yes there is Jin, yes there is." She thought to herself. She was desperately afraid of upsetting him due to his past tragedy.

Jin opened the fridge and took out a rather large orange then returned to Angela's side. "You still have a few minutes before break. Then after that we have to get to work." He said in a serious tone. Angela gratefully took the orange from his hands, peeled it, and gobbled it up before break was halfway through. Jin noticed this.

"How often do you eat, if you don't mind me asking."

Angela swallowed her last bite and wiped her chin with a napkin. "I usually miss breakfast and dinner because I'm busy with farm work and school....yeah." She replied nervously. She was expecting him to give her a lecture about nutrition.

"You need to eat at least breakfast if you want to be healthy... How early do you have to leave usually?"

"I'd have to leave at 6:45AM so I could get to class on my time with my bike."

"Oh. Say...."

"Yes?" She looked up at him.

"Do you think if I drove you to school, that it would give you enough time to eat?" He asked, obviously concerned about her health.

Angela's eyes widened. "I can't ask that much of you... but it would definitely give me time to at least get in a fruit or two."

"Consider it done. Is it okay if I pick you up at around 7AM every day?"

"It's a date! I-I mean, deal..." She said and turned away, her face as red as a cherry.