OKAY, second chapter is up!

I never knew how long other fanfics are, since the chapter in mine just looks so short...

I'll try to write more, like 2,000 words next time...if I have the motivation.

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Geez, the alarm woke me up at 5:30 today. I'm supposed to be at school by 6:20 and classes begin at 6:30. Ughhh….and I'm NOT a morning person. But anyway, I took a shower and got dressed in the uniform.

My parents were downstairs having breakfast. It wasn't until then that my dad told me he wouldn't drive me directly to school, but to a train station. I got nervous there. I've been on trains before, but not the kind they have in Cocoon. Those things go reeeeal fast.

After breakfast, my dad drove me and Laris to the station. It wasn't a long trip, but Laris still managed to tease me. He thinks I'm such a country girl. Well, I am, but I'm used to the city too. Kinda…

"Wait till you see the trains here. The tractors back in Pusle are nothing compared to them!" he told me, making a zooming motion with his hands.

"For your information, we don't ride on tractors to school. We drive there or walk if the school's close enough. Some people take city busses and we even have some trains." I defended my hometown as best as I could.

"Pshyeah, ones that go twenty miles per hour."

"No! They go um…faster than that!"

"Sure…but seriously, your mind will be blown when you ride one of our trains!"

Okay, so I knew they were fast, but not that fast! We watched a couple of them zoom by,

going at least twice as fast as the car, and we were on the highway. I squeezed my eyes

shut when one roared by.

Laris….I'm scared" I whined to him when we got to the train station.

"Hehe…how come?" he said with a hint of amusement in his eyes, already knowing the answer. But I answered anyway to humor him.

"Look how fast the trains rush in!! I can't ride in that…"

"You'll be fiiiine. Besides, you got me" he said, grinning away.

"All right, all right..." I finally said, giving up. There was no use arguing with Laris. He smiled his haha-I-won-you-lost smile and held up two fingers representing victory. I sighed at his obnoxious gesture.

After waiting for what seemed like hours for our train to arrive, Laris decided to get us something to drink. He rambled away about this specialty soda found only in the train stations of Cocoon.

It took me a while to realize that I was waiting all alone there for the train. Hundreds of people were bustling by me and my claustrophobia kicked in. I whisked myself away from the crowds of people to get some air.

It was hard to move through the people. I wasn't used to this kind of thing since Pulse is twice as big as Cocoon and half as populated.

It was really strange how many different kinds of people were there. Some people were all important-looking with their business suits on while others were dressed in baggy, ripped clothing and had multicolored hair and bizarre hairstyles. I wasn't sure if I was frightened by them or intrigued. It was really hard to decide.

Somehow, in the mix of trying to escape from the crowd and staring at the various people that formed the crowd, I was pushed down and separated from my messenger bag. Panicking, I reached over for it, but it seemed to get kicked away from me more and more. N-no…

Even though it happened in merely two seconds, my mind stretched that little time so that it felt more like two minutes. One minute I was on the ground, reaching for my bag, and the next I was in the arms of a person who was carrying me away to an empty bench. This person even had my bag around his elbow. The person then set me down on the bench and laid down my bag next to me.

I gazed up at the sweet prince who had so bravely rescued me. He was facing me also, although his features were unclear. The sun beat down on the back of his head, making his strawberry-blonde hair appear to sparkle.

"…are you all right?" he said, half mumbling.

"Y-yes…" I managed to choke out, "Thank you…"

"Don't thank me. Just be careful next time." he said in a voice that was not quite cold, but not quite warm either.

I managed to sit up to get a better look at him. He wasn't smiling, but he had a look of concern for me which made my heart pound harder in my chest and my face redden.

His face was absolutely beautiful. His skin looked so soft and clear. My emerald green eyes locked onto his sea green ones. His lips somewhat parted as if he wanted to say something, but they closed in an instant. His hair fell onto his shoulders from one side. He was just like a bishounen from a manga.

Some of his hair brushed against his cheek. How I wanted to touch that cheek…

And I didn't even realize that I was lifting up my hand.

I didn't even notice that I was touching his cheek until I felt his smooth skin against my hand.

His eyes widened at my touch and he pulled away from me, flustered. It was then that I noticed "his" uniform. It was just like mine! And when I mean "just like" my uniform, I mean skirt and all. Not to mention "his" legs were absolutely gorgeous…

Who am I kidding? My sweet prince turned out to be a girl…a very handsome, prince-like girl. Maybe a princess? Nah, more like a knight…a female knight…in shining armor....

A girl…

But she was still backing away from me. Her cheeks seemed to burn red and her eyes were wide. Then I realized Laris standing there behind her. She turned around and met his gaze for a split second. She then gracefully stormed off, still looking confused.

Laris stood there with two sodas looking completely shocked. He looked over his shoulder to the girl walking away, back at me, then to the girl, and then back at me. He smiled a bit, clearly amused.

"What did you do to Lightning?! Haha I've never seen her look like that!" He laughed and sat beside me, handing me one of the sodas. I was still in shock.

"Hey, hey, Vanille…what did you say to her? What happened, huh? Huh??" he persisted, trying to look at my face that I was trying so hard to bury in my hands.

"Nothing…" I mumbled. I was so embarrassed.

"Hahaha are you blushing? You're blushiiing…Something happened with Lightning, didn't it?"

Lightning…is that her name?

"Her name is…Lightning?" I looked at him, kind of dazed. He stopped laughing but still had that amused tone in his voice.

"Yeah. She's always so calm, cool, and kind of unapproachable. I dunno her that well. Some of my friends do. She hangs out at our lunch table."

"Oh." Is all I said. Laris seemed to give up for now, but I know he was gonna ask me about it later. But that wasn't on my mind right now.

Lightning.

I want…to talk to her…

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Well, there you go!

Chapter 2...Lightning makes her appearance

And you gotta love Laris XD