This chapter is long over-due and I apologize for that. I had writers block on it for weeks and I was working so hard on Prophecy that I momentarily pushed this aside. But I realized that, as I start to reveal Prophecy's secrets, they will make more sense if this too is out there for the readers. This chapter is a little slow and far too short for the amount of time I spent on it but rest assured the action will pick up next chapter.

Chapter 2: Friends

"Alright students," The teacher called to the class. "It's time for lunch! Please put down your materials, grab your lunches and go outside to the playground!"

Becky put down her markers and stared at the bland drawing before her. It looks kind of like a book….. right?

She turned to the girl next to her, a blonde girl with dreamy eyes who was still sketching something absentmindedly in a notebook in front of her.

Becky cleared her throat nervously. "Excuse me, can I ask you something?"

The girl turned her wide eyes on her as if only just realizing she was there. "Sure I guess so…" her voice was remote and distant.

Becky held up her drawing. "What does this look like?"

"ummmm….. ummmmm…." The blond girl's eyes went from the drawing to Becky's face several times as if she were trying to figure out what she should say.

"It's very nice!..." she said finally.

Becky gave her a polite smile then turned to pull out her lunch. When she looked up again, the shy girl was gone, already out the door heading towards the playground.

As she stood up with her lunch in hand to follow the rest of her class, something on the other girl's desk caught Becky's eye. Her companion had left her notebook open and several colorful flowers and butterflies jumped off the pages towards Becky. She stared in amazement. The sketches were amazing. So lifelike…..

"Becky? Come along." The teacher was calling to her. Everyone else was already out the door. Becky blushed and hurried to catch up.

The playground was loud, colorful and crazy.

Becky hugged herself anxiously as she gazed out over the crowds of children. This was worse than the bus. Everyone seemed to be moving in every direction at once. Second graders drew stick figures in chalk on the pavement, fourth graders gathered at a rowdy table, swapping sandwich halves, fifth graders threw a bright red ball around, yelling at each other. There were no familiar faces. How could she possibly fit into this?

In a stroke of luck, Becky noticed an empty table at the edge of the mob, close to the bushes and trees that bordered the playground. She carefully made her way around the other students to reach this haven.

Once she was finally seated at the table, Becky looked around a little. The mob looked less scary from here. What had once looked like blurs of color distinguished themselves as boys and girls. She even thought she recognized one of the boys in her class, chasing a soccer ball past the swings.

Feeling better, Becky opened her lunch bag and let out a small groan. She pulled out her sandwich and stared at it blankly. She must've gotten T.J.'s lunch. The pungent odor of cashew butter assaulted her nose and she winced. Mom must've grabbed the wrong bag this morning… she thought. Poor T.J. is probably starving because he can't eat my peanut butter sandwich…

There was no point in wasting a perfectly good sandwich. Even if it made her gag. Becky sighed and unwrapped the sandwich. As she opened her mouth to take a bite, she heard a whimpering sound. Startled, Becky closed her mouth and turned her head. It seemed to be coming from the bush next to her. Curious, she peered into the leaves. A pair of bright, beady black eyes stared fearfully back at her.

"Hello?" Maybe there was a shy kid hanging out in there.

The eyes blinked and the bushes let out a strange chattering sound.

"Why don't you come on out?" She asked the eyes, starting to pull a branch aside to get a better look. She was lonely too; maybe they could be friends…

There was a rustling sound and the eyes disappeared. Something landed on the table with a thump. Becky spun to face it, and then smiled in surprise.

It was a monkey.

He was covered in soft brown fur and a friendly smile shone from his face. Becky found herself smiling back.

"Hi there!" She said cheerfully. "What are you doing around here?"

Understandably, the monkey did not reply. His eyes dropped to the sandwich in her hand.

"Are you hungry?" Becky asked him.

He nodded, licking his lips as he stared at her sandwich.

"You can have this if you want it. I don't really like cashew butter anyway."

The monkey looked from the sandwich to her several times, as if weighing his options.

Becky placed the sandwich on her open hand and extended it slowly towards him. "Come on…" she coxed. "I'm not going to hurt you…"

Slowly, the monkey approached her, eyes dating from her face to the sandwich in her hand

He placed his hand on top of the sandwich and looked up searchingly into her face. He chattered briefly. Then, in one swift motion, the sandwich was in his mouth and he was swinging away into the trees.

Becky sat there, hand still frozen in its outstretched position. Had that monkey just…?

"Oh wow! Did you see that!" A loud, Asian boy was suddenly standing next to her. Several leaves were falling out of his raven-black hair.

Before Becky could reply, he turned on her with curious furiousness.

"How does it feel to be attacked by a large squirrel on school grounds?" There was a small tablet clutched in his hand and a pencil stuck out at an odd angle from behind his ear.

As their eyes met, Becky felt her tongue tie itself in a knot. "What?" She managed to choke out.

"That thing that stole your lunch!" He was staring at her…

Becky fumbled to talk. "Umm… oh.. it…. He didn't steal my lunch. I gave it to him."

"Oh…" the boy seemed disappointed. After a second, he shrugged and held out his empty hand to her.

"My name's Todd. Todd Ming. But I'm trying out a new name: Scoops. Whaddya think?" He said all this rather quickly as he grabbed her hand and pumped it up and down several times.

Becky found her voice again as he let go of her hand. "Any… any particular reason…?" She asked him wondering why on earth anyone would possibly like the name Scoops….

"I'm a reporter! Every reporter gets scoops, get it? What's the scoop?" He laughed heartily at his own joke. Becky found herself faking a chuckle to match his.

"What's your name?" Todd/Scoops asked suddenly, like he was trying to catch her off guard.

Becky felt her heart catch for some inexplicable reason. "I'm…. I'm Becky." She said and pulled a small, nervous smile. "Becky Botsford."

Todd leaned forward. "Maybe you'd like to be my assistant?" He asked her. It almost sounded like a request.

"S…sure…!" Why was she stuttering?

"Great! Come by the newsroom sometime and ask for me! I'll take care of you!" The way he said it was so compelling…..

A loud bell rang, signaling the end of recess and lunch. Todd walked away, casually throwing a wave over his shoulder at her that made Becky's knees go weak.

Becky followed the other students back inside. Her heart was still beating unnaturally fast from Todd's actions but her thoughts refused to focus on anything but the strange monkey. What had scared her most was the noise the monkey had made as he had scampered away. It hadn't been a scary noise or even a loud one. No, what scared Becky about the noise was that it hadn't sounded like a monkey noise. She had understood it. Like it was speech.

The monkey had said thanks.

I will try not to take so much time on the next chapter. I have a much clearer idea of how that one goes than this one. Please review!