Anime Wars

Chapter 4

The Two Sides of Life

The cold pavement outside was topped with a layer of delicate snow. Soft flakes dropped from above and slowly collected on the ground below. The naked trees swayed slightly as another gust of wind tore through the air. The familiar roaring gales skidded and twirled along and finally sat calm again, allowing the snow to collect peacefully on the chilling grass.

"Squish squish, poof poof," Victor said, and he trudged through the sidewalk. The crunching flakes smashed against the bottom of his shoes as he continued to tread down the sloping hill. "Pretty clouds, you're so gray… cheer up ol' pals… it's only snowing!" He quickened his pace and fell silent as he waited to cross the street. The backpack and gym bag on his shoulders swayed as he took his last rushed step. His large shiny eyes went dull, the normal beautiful brown that shimmered like polished wood, became glazed as he spaced out. The road up ahead was lined with restless cars; all headed on their way to various jobs and schools… the usual morning commute. The traffic light suddenly "pinged" signally the also busy people to cross the street.

Victor awoke from his trance and continued his walk, not noticing that the light was green by the time he was halfway across the road.

"Hey man, walk faster. Get out of the road," someone said, honking like a mad man.

Victor turned around and just stopped. He thought for a second, replied "Blehhhhh…" sticking out his tongue, and running away as fast as he could. The sound of traffic faded behind, like the gentle ending of a ballad. He hummed quietly to himself, his train of thought lost; trying to remember what he was going to do that day. Another gust of wind ripped through, the small trees around seemed to be bowing down, their tops almost touching the floor. The numbing chill hit all of his limbs, and his hat was now flying across the street, into parking lot of a busy restaurant.

"Dammit… this sucks. Why do I even have to go to school when it's snowing? I'd be happy to have just stayed at home, or fail… dammit what the hell. Stupid snow, stupid wind, stupid hat!" His steps turned to stomps as he paraded across the street like an elephant. The hat landed on the rear-view mirrors of a truck; it was now covered with snow, inside and out. Victor shivered as he placed it back on his head. Drops of water began sliding down his neck to the back of his shirt, causing him to shiver even more.

"God it's cold," he thought. Victor could see the top of the school observatory up ahead. It would be only another fifteen minutes until he arrived.

The roads up ahead were barely plowed, and thick layers of snow had frozen over from the frigid air. The ground below him seemed to crack every time he took a step, causing his foot to sink four inches.

"Fuck the snow…" he thought.

Victor lifted his foot one more time and ran as fast as he could until he reached a shoveled area on the side walk. His shoes and the bottom of his jeans were now drenched in melted snow. A small grin appeared when he looked back at all the holes that were stomped into the ground. Victor fixed his scarf and shoved his red hands into his jacket pockets.

The small shops were all lit and almost empty. The only busy store on the street was the town bakery; which was releasing its hearty aroma across the block. Victor could not help but look over to where the smell was coming from. Some people inside were enjoying their breakfast, chewing slowly and enjoying every bit of their muffin or bagel. Others were busy yelling at someone on their phones while they struggled to mix their coffee. And then there were the employees trying to keep a happy face while serving what Victor thought was a mob of chaos.

Victor quickened his pace and kept walking up the street. Houses all around him were all busy shoveling their drive way so they could go to work. The next five minutes of walking was filled with the sound of shovels scratching pavement. He occasionally had to stop walking when a car pulled out of the. By the time he reached the end of the street, his feet were numb from previously being wet.

"I hate this, why can't my dad trust me to drive in the fucking snow? It's not like I'm gonna swerve into a building. It's not like he can control me like a slave." Victor kicked a mound of snow pushed against someone's fence, scattering small snowballs across the frozen road.

"Hey man, don't kick snow into the road. Cars have to drive there ya know…" someone yelled from behind him.

Victor kept walking and lifted his left hand to his ear, they were cold and numb. "If you haven't noticed, it's still snowing… snow's gonna pile up there anyways," Victor yelled. He turned around and did a short wave, then spun around and kept walking. He had now reached the street of alleys.

This particular street was filled with tall apartment buildings that were connected to small cafes. Every twenty feet there would be a small gap between the buildings filled with trash, and occasionally teens smoking weed, or whatever they could get their hands on. He began to walk slowly with his chin buried in his scarf.

Whenever Victor passed an alley he would look down and peer into the emptiness. It was a filthy type of emptiness, alone because it's too dirty, too smelly, too lewd, too unappealing.

"Good morning son," said a sick, raspy voice. Victor looked across the street and saw a short old woman holding a cigarette. "You braving the cold?" she said after a loud coughing spasm.

Victor smiled and gave her a friendly wave. "Good morning, I'm doing fine, just freezing my ass off."

The old lady did a loud and violent cough or laugh, whatever it was, Victor couldn't tell. "Good luck dear," she shouted.

The snow began to fall faster, and the wind began to blow violently. He could feel the world around him suddenly close up and retreat back home. The shoveling noises behind him faded away completely, and he could here the complaints of many fathers trying to get to their jobs.

Victor looked around as everything grew quiet. Even the wind was unusually soft for the current weather.

A small clacking noise suddenly grew louder and louder. It sounded like claws on tin. Suddenly the trashcan to the right of Victor tipped over.

"Holy shit," Victor said. He could feel his heart suddenly jump and then begin to beat really fast.

The trashcan began to bark at him, but it wasn't a violent bark. They were friendly barks followed by soft breathing.

"Hello?" said Victor.

Out came a small puppy with chestnut brown fur. The dog shook wildly to get all the snow off it's body. Its ears perked up when it saw Victor. Slowly it began to approach him.

"Hey there, what're you doing here buddy?"

The puppy suddenly stopped and turned its head. It barked a few times, and then ran to Victor's legs.

It barked again and then backed away. Victor looked down at it and smiled. Suddenly his eyes widened and his smile grew larger.

"It's a shiba!" he said in a happy tone.

The puppy sat still and stared at Victor. Around it's neck was a shiny blue collar filled with gold tags.

Victor knelt down and looked at the puppy. As he reached his hand out to pet it's head. The dog bowed it's head in anticipation.

"You're a friendly doggy aren't you boy… or girl," Victor said happily. He brushed his hand across the dog's soft head a few more times and then began to look through the tags.

"You're owners are probably going crazy after losing such a cute puppy," said Victor. "But they didn't even write their address on these things?"

Victor was now really confused. The tags all said odd things. The first one had "Meow MEOW KITTY!!" written on it; and the second tag said "Fast, Swift, and Sleek" the last 5 tags were all blank.

"How weird," Victor thought. "How am I supposed to find your home then?"

The shiba got up and walked behind Victor.

"Whoa where ya going?"

It ran back to the garbage can and laid down inside.

"Hey, you can't sleep here doggy. It's too cold." Victor walked over and gently tapped the trashcan. "C'mon doggy get out."

The puppy didn't listen to him, it stayed inside.

"I'll give you food if you come with me!" said Victor. He opened his backpack and took out his lunch. Carefully, he ripped part of his sandwich off and held it in front of the dog. "Still not coming?" he groaned. Then it suddenly occurred to Victor. What would he do with the dog while he was at school?

"I could always explain it to one of the teachers and have someone watch him…?" Victor thought.

"Ok fine, you can stay here but not for long. I'm coming to get you after school." Victor said softly. He petted the puppy to check and make sure it was still alive. He then took off his scarf and put it around the dog's neck, while draping the ends over its body.

"Hopefully this will be enough to keep your warm," said Victor. He could suddenly feel how cold it was outside without his scarf. It must have felt five degrees cooler to him now.

Victor attempted to escape the cold by walking faster and faster. For the rest of his walk to school, he stared at his shoes the whole time. When he finally got to school, he saw a group of people he knew standing out front.

One of them waved at him from across the street. "Hey Victor, come here and wait for the good news with us," one of them yelled.

Victor waved back and quickly made his way up to join the group.

"What are we waiting for?" he asked.

"Mr. Dawson just announced that they might let us out from school early because of freezing in the English and History wing."

"Seriously?" asked Victor. He took off his hat and fixed his hair, shaking water onto the people next to him.

"Hey watch it, you're getting me all wet man," said a girl next to him.

"Oh sorry Ashley I didn't mean to get you that excited," Victor said with a perverted grin.

"Shut UP you perv that's not what I meant…" she said while slapping his arm.

"Ok ok whatever you say," Victor said amongst the laughter.

"Wait wait Victor why are you so late today, did you sleep through your alarm because you were dreaming about getting a lap dance?" someone asked.

"Whoa that was only once, and it was a very pleasant dream in fact; she had a nice ass," Victor said smugly.

"Nice man… nice"

"No, I had to walk here today cause my dad wouldn't let me fucking drive since it was snowing," said Victor.

"Oh right, I just noticed that you didn't come in your car today," someone said.

"Right right," said the rest.

Victor continued his story. "He's afraid that I'll swerve on ice and then hit a building or an orphan or something like that. What bull."

"Man that sucks, if I were you I would've just drove to school anyways."

"Yeah, I was gonna do that. But my dad took the keys from my room and put them in his pocket." Victor put his frozen hands into his sleeves.

"What an ass," he added.

"Oh damn that's extreme. He must be serious about it then."

"No shit…" Victor replied.

"If it were me I would've been like 'you'd rather have me get hit by a car then let me drive? What a great father' and then grabbed the keys from him," said Ashley.

"Yeah yeah Slutty, why don't you just screw your dad to get your keys back?" someone yelled.

Victor couldn't help but laugh at that comment.

"You guys are all asses, what did I do that's so slutty?" she asked.

"Yeah I don't really wanna answer that," Victor replied. "So you can just have fun thinking whatever you want."

"Fine whatever, I don't wanna talk about it anymore," said Ashley.

"So when are they gonna fucking tell us if we can leave or not?" someone complained.

"I'll kill the principal if the school collapses on me while I'm in class," one girl said.

"Just shut up and wait," said Victor.

Everyone seemed to have nothing to say anymore, and awkward silence hung over all their heads.

"If you guys have nothing to say, I'm gonna go inside," said Victor. "I'm so fucking cold." He rubbed his hands together to emphasize his coldness.

Nobody said goodbye when he left, they just stayed in their silent circle. He walked into the school and found an empty window with a heater.

"Ahh this is better," he said while leaning his back against the chilled glass. Victor closed his eyes and waited for a voice to tell him he could leave.

"You're gonna roast your balls if you sit there too long." A tall girl with long, black, curled hair came up and sat on him. "How are you today Victor," she said.

"Julia… you're crushing my foot with your twenty pound shoes," Victor said, with his eyes still closed.

"Hold on a second, I have to tell everyone that I found you." She took out her phone and then closed it within a few seconds. "Ok done."

Julia got up and pulled Victor up from where he was sitting.

"C'mon big boy, lets go somewhere quieter."

Victor stood up straight and stared her down. "I don't really feel like doing that now, call me back later when I'm in the mood," he said.

Julia walked closer to him and got right up into his face. "No silly, somewhere quieter so we can hear if we can leave or not."

Victor pretended to look shocked. He shrugged and said, "I thought you were coming onto me. My bad."

"Yeah well it was a little bit of both," she quickly replied. She said it so quickly that it was almost incomprehensible. "Now let's GO!"

She dragged Victor into an empty hallway which connected the English department and the Tech. department, and also led to the library.

"Isn't this better?" Julia asked rhetorically.

"It's a little… private don't you think," Victor said with a smirk. "I think I know why you brought me here now."

"Good, cause Mandy and Jay and Shelly are on their way!"

"Hmm… you seem a little too hyper right now, did you get drugged?"

"Who knows, I did eat a really good muffin this morning at the bakery though," Julia said while cracking up.

Victor held both her shoulders so she couldn't move, and looked her straight in the eyes. "You sound like you haven't had enough to drink," Victor said in a serious tone.

That made her keep laughing until everyone arrived. They all stared at her, until they did their usual hellos. Jay was the first to say something. She put her hands on her hip and gave Victor a funny look.

"Victor… what'd you give her?"

"She was already like this when she found me," said Victor. "I just said something funny."

"That's the thing Victor," said Shelly. "You're not funny."

They all started laughing, when suddenly Julia stopped.

"Ahaha so funny," Victor said sarcastically. "Now that everyone has finished being hilarious, let's get on with whatever we're gonna do."

"Yeah, what ARE we doing here Julia?" asked Mandy.

Julia stood up and fixed her hair. "Ok so I was thinking that if we get to leave early, we should all hang out together and do some fun shit."

"Ooh what kinda shit we talking about?" Victor asked.

"The kind that you like, lazar tag and movies and loitering at the mall!" Julia exclaimed.

"Aha funny story," Jay said awkwardly. "I have double chem. next and Dr. Wallis swerved into a building or something. If we can leave early I'm spending the day with Joe."

"Jay!! You ruined everything… wait, which Joe?" said Julia.

"Uhmm… Joe my boyfriend?"

"Fine, Jay you're excused."

"Ok Julia it's my turn I guess," said Shelly. She looked over and Mandy and made a nervous smile. "Unless Mandy wants to go first!"

"Not you guys too!" Julia moaned. "You guys take the fun out of all fun days, for me at least…"

"Sorry Juju Randy made me his slave for today," said Mandy.

"Oooh Mandy that sounds fun," said Shelly.

"You'd think so, but it's actually not. He's probably just gonna drag me across the city to look at stores and go shopping."

"So you mean you guys wont…?"

"Nope."

"Ok Shelly I'm ready for ya," Julia said depressingly.

"I have to uhh tutor my neighbor."

Julia crossed her arms and gave a look of disbelief to Shelly. "Honey… he's in college. What could he possibly learn from you?"

"Hey, I'm at the top of our class. But I'm hoping nothing," she said with a wide smile.

"Can't you spend the afternoon with your own boyfriend?" asked Jay.

"Who do you think I asked first?!" said Julia. She banged her fist against the wall and prepared to tell her story. "But apparently he has pick up his grandmother from the hospital and bring her home safely or whatever."

"Aww," said Jay. "It's always got something to do with his grandmother doesn't it?"

"I KNOW!" Julia exclaimed. "She needs to hurry up and die or something."

Victor finally stepped in. "Ok you hoes have fun with your afternoons, I'm gonna go and find something to eat." He stretched his arms and began to walk away. "Yeah and Julia, I don't really wanna be your plan B so good luck with that."

"Alright, at least I know Victor isn't going to sneakily run off to another guy instead of hanging out with me!" Julia said happily. "Unless there's something you want to tell us Victor, do you have some unknown 'buddy'?"

Victor sighed and stepped back into the circle. "If you must know, I have a date with my fridge and then I have a nap waiting for me."

"Aww c'mon Victor you really want to hang out with Julia don't you?" asked Julia.

"Yeah Victor, don't be so cold hearted. Don't abandon your friend!" said Shelly.

"Isn't that what you guys are doing too?"

"Dude what does she have to do, buy you lunch?" said Jay.

"That would be perfect!" said Victor. "How about it Julia. Lunch date today?"

"You guys are so mean, you know how much he eats. It'll cost like all the money I have just to feed him for lunch," Julia cried.

"Do you don't want me to hang out with you today?" asked Victor. He hugged her for a second and then waved goodbye. "Then I'm leaving, see ya."

"Ok fine I'll buy you lunch, but you have to pay for whatever we do after that. Got it?" said Julia.

"That sounds fair I guess."

"Ok you two have fun," said Jay. "I'm gonna go meet up with Joe and wait for the announcement."

"Have fun Jay, don't do anything you'll regret," Victor said.

"Don't worry I will," she replied.

"Julia, there's always the chance that we'll have to stay in school all day," Shelly said to try and comfort Julia.

"Shelly are you retarded… there's practically an ice storm in the right wing. Someone will probably die in their."

"Yeah you're right, so I'm gonna leave before you get really depressed or angry," said Mandy. "Let's go Shell."

"Ahh good idea, buh bye guys have an awesome time!" Shelly said before running off.

"Aww Julia you wont really become a mood swingy monster will you?" Victor said in a cute voice.

"I might," she replied while sniffling.

"Alright this wont be worth it," said Victor. He turned around and headed the direction Shelly and Mandy went. "I'm out, have fun hoe."

"Wait Victor, I was only kidding!" Julia yelled. "Don't make me hurt you."

"Yeah ok, good luck with that," Victor said. He didn't turn around, and just gave her a wave goodbye.

Victor could hear quick and heavy footstep suddenly chase behind him. Julia jumped up and put her arms around Victor's neck while locking her legs around his waist.

"I told you to come back Victor, you better listen to me ok?"

"Ok whatever you say." He kept walking with Julia still on his back.

"Damn, why'd I have to be so skinny," said Julia.

"Whoa whoa whoa, don't flatter yourself. It feels like I'm being crushed by an elephant. I'm just so awesome I can walk with an elephant on my back."

Julia put her lips right next to Victor's ear and whispered, "Haha if you weren't so funny I would've thought you called me fat. You're lucky I'm in a good mood right now."

"I bet I could make it up the stairs," Victor said confidently.

"Oh really, so there's some muscle under all that fat of yours."

"Ahaha funny," said Victor. "If I had low self-esteem I would've killed myself just now."

"Just go already," said Julia.

The speakers suddenly "pinged" and the principal's voice came up. His voice was deep and overfriendly.

"Hello students. Right now is the end of first period. For those of you who had history or a language class, I hope you enjoyed your free period. As for the situation in the right wing, the crew working on it feels that it's too dangerous for students to be there. Now we could do the usual and assign you guys to different rooms for free periods--"

"Oh damn, he better not do that," Julia yelled.

"But in order to fix this problem they will need to cut off power and water throughout the school. Along with that, the heat will also stop working in a few hours. Therefore the superintendent decided that it would be impossible to have classes here today.

"Yes yes yes!!" Julia yelled again.

"School will be let out at third period. That is the lunch period, and busses will come and take you guys home. As for students with a history or language class second period, your teacher will assign you to a room for a free period. That means for seniors, you are free to leave right now if you have a class in the right wing next.

"Please be careful on the roads, they are very slippery. Please be especially careful leaving the parking lot and remember not to drive too fast. Thank you."

"Well isn't that wonderful," said Victor. He looked up at the long flight of stairs and took a step back.

"Don't die if I fail horribly at this," said Victor. "Here I go."

"Wait wait Victor, on second thought, this is really dumb. I'm getting off," Julia said nervously.

"Too late," Victor said with a wide grin. He began running up the stairs as fast as he could, trying not to tip over. At the same time, Julia began screaming very loudly.

When they made it to the top, Julia jumped off of Victor and slapped him across the face. "You idiot, that was an extremely horrible experience."

"Was it? You were screaming so loud I couldn't think," Victor replied.

"Because of that, you're not getting a drink for lunch," Julia said boldly.

"Aww c'mon that's not fair, what am I supposed to wash down all the food with?"

"Toilet water should suit an ass like you," said Julia.

"You're impossible to deal with. If we weren't going out for steak I'd be very annoyed."

"What steak?!?" Julia cried.

"Yeah, that's what I'm craving, and it's easy to eat without a drink so…" Victor patted her on the shoulder and took her hand. "Let's go."

"Oh fine you get a drink."

"Sweet, now let's get out of here. Somebody probably thought you were getting raped or something," said Victor.

Julia took Victor by his jacket and dragged him to the main entrance of the school. They looked out the window and saw that the parking lot was a mess of cars all trying to get out at the same time.

"Ok we'll wait here until it clears up," said Julia.

"Fine with me," said Victor, while taking his usual position on the heater. "Wake me up when you're ready to leave."

"Hey, don't really fall asleep. You're impossible to wake up," said Julia.

"How would you know?" Victor asked, with his eyes still shut.

"My thirteenth birthday party. I lied to you about the time so you could come over and help me set up," said Julia.

"Oh yeah, I remember that. You made me clean the area around your pool and hang streamers in your house," said Victor. He smiled and crossed his arms. "What a bitchy thing to do; and why was it only me?"

"Hey, Mandy and Marvin came over too. You were just outside."

"What's with Mandy and matching named boyfriends?" Victor said mockingly.

"I have no idea," said Julia. "It must be like an OCD or something. Anyways, I remember you fell asleep on my couch. My mom found you and didn't want to wake you up; she thought that it would be weird."

"That would've been extremely weird to find your mom waking me up. That's like being molested by your mother," said Victor.

"Hey shut up, that's why she didn't want to do it. So my mom told me to wake you up since the party would be starting soon. I went up to the couch and I tried yelling at you, shaking you, tickling you, everything…"

"Whoa, so you felt me up while I was sleeping?"

"Don't say that," said Julia. "It's not exactly like that."

"Just tell me how you woke me up already," Victor said impatiently.

"Well nothing I did woke you up, and you were just so adorable back then," said Julia. "Not nearly as cute as you are now though."

"Why thank you."

"So to wake you up," Julia said in a hushed tone. "I kissed you." She stepped back and smiled. "And you woke up, just like in Snow White."

Victor opened his eyes and saw Julia heading out the door. He got up and followed her into the snow.

Victor stared at the back of Julia's head as she walked away. It was very awkward for Victor to actually think about, once he imagined the scenario in his head.

"It was a nice kiss, even if you weren't conscious. I enjoyed it a lot," said Julia.

"Now I find that really hard to believe since you cut out your heart and sent it to those fags in My Chemical Romance," Victor finally said.

The two had reached the parking lot, and were now on opposite sides of Julia's small white Honda.

Julia sighed and opened the door. "You can believe what you want," Julia said in an overly sarcastic tone. "As long as only I remember it, I can use it to tease you for the rest of your life."

"I knew you sexually assaulted me before," said Victor. He put on his perverted smile and reached his hand towards her menacingly. "And it was while I was sleeping too. That's kinda kinky ya know."

"Oh dear, I had no idea two kids kissing would turn you on so much," said Julia.

"Well it did, you better be ready for me," Victor retorted.

They both got into the car, and Julia pulled out of the parking lot. She quickly turned on the radio; which made some grungy song blast from the speakers.

When she finally found the right station, she turned down the volume and buckled her seatbelt.

Victor just turned to his right and stared out the window, watching people still try and plow their driveways.

"Well this is gonna suck, my mom's gonna make me shovel the front yard when I get home." He kept his attention on what was happening outside the car.

"Well your parents are getting old. Be a good son and help them out a bit."

"I don't see you doing it, yeah that's right… so don't bitch at me."

"Alright, sorry."

The car stopped at a red light. Julia took her hands off the wheel and pulled down the mirror. She took out the clips and hair extensions; all that was left was disheveled hair. Julia took out a brush from the cup holder and slowly began to brush out all the knots in her hair, until it was back to its usual straight appearance.

"What are you doing?" asked Victor. He turned around and scratched his head, picking up the hair extension after he finished "Why is there a mob of hair right here?"

"Shut up, I'm trying to fix my hair for our lunch date," said Julia. She didn't take her eyes off her reflection, and continued to fix her hair.

"You don't have to get all pretty just for me," Victor said with a hint of perversion. "It'll just get messy again later, right?"

"Ahaha funny," said Julia. "But a date is a date, and I take my appearance seriously if you didn't notice."

"And I'm supposed to let you drive while you're doing your make up?" Victor took the brush from Julia and put it between his thighs (Author's Note: What I really meant was crotch, but it sounds weird to put something in your crotch no?)

Julia grabbed the brush back without hesitation and continued to brush her hair. "This light is a little over five minutes. I have plenty of time to do this."

"Whatever just stop wasting your time then."

The light turned green right when Julia put down her brush. She took another few seconds to run her fingers through and check if everything was perfect.

The mirror hit the top of the car with a slight thump, and Julia quickly followed the cars ahead of her.

"About time," said Victor. He was looking at his hands and fingers out of boredom, carefully scanning over for anything cool.

"So where do you want to eat?" Julia asked cheerfully. "Try to keep it under fifty bucks cause I really can't afford to blow more than that on lunch."

Victor pretended not to hear and continued to look at his fingers. He was now sunk back all the way into the seat, with his head below the head rest.

"Hey, I'm asking what you wanna eat you fat-ass. Tell me now or we're going to McDonalds."

Victor sat up and fixed his jacket hood. "We'll eat wherever you want to," Victor said in his cool voice. He sat back with his arms behind his head and smiled.

Julia laughed. "Oh dear. What am I going to do with you."

"So where are you taking me eh?"

"Hey hey, I'm taking you out for lunch. You get to choose!" Julia said enthusiastically. "I know, we'll go get Thai food. My dad got take out from this Thai place last week, and it's not that far from here."

Victor let out a deep sigh and started playing with the strings on his jacket. "Look, I already said that you can choose. So just choose already; please… I'm starving."

"Ok ok if you say so," said Julia. She put her hand on her chin as though she was going to go into a state of deep though. "I got it. We'll go to Greek Fire. I haven't been there in years."

"That place doesn't even serve Greek food," said Victor.

"Dude I hate Greek food, so that's a good thing."

"It's pretty upscale though," Victor said mockingly. "You sure you can afford taking me there?"

"Hey, if I make my dad pay for gas one week, I'll be good."

"Alright, let's go then," said Victor. "Just so you know, if you couldn't come up with anything, I was gonna say Friendlys." He patted her on the shoulder and shook his head. "But this works too."

"Bitch… you say that right when we get here," Julia said with friendly annoyance. "But whatever, I'm the one who chose this place so let's go eat!!"

The restaurant was full even though it was snowing. Most of them were business lunches, or coworkers trying to escape the heat of work by indulging in expensive burgers and fries.

The people were quietly chatting amongst themselves, making sure not one drop of their conversation leaked to the table next to them.

"You know, in this place you can pick up on a lot of hot gossip and scandals," said Julia. She cupped her mouth and leaned over to Victor. "That woman at that table over there," she said while pointing. "The one with the red streaks. She just said that she's having an affair with the wife of the owner of the Chip-City Creamery."

"Eh, that's hott," said Victor. He smiled back and kept close to listen to what else she had to say.

They walked up to a podium and were greeted by a tall and well built man with a shaved head. "Hello welcome to Greek Fire. How can we serve you today?"

Victor leaned over the podium and took a look at the man's silver nametag. "Hey 'Brichard' table for two please."

"Right this way please."

Victor and Julia followed him to the back of the restaurant where a small, dimly lit, table waited for them. He placed two menus on the table and pulled the chair out for Julia.

"Enjoy your meal."

When he left, Julia shot a cynical look to Victor and kicked him under the table. "How can you be that obnoxious at a restaurant like this? I mean… what the hell was Brichard?"

Victor shrugged and leaned in to see Julia's face clearly. "Hey don't bitch at me, his fucking name tag said Brichard, so that's what I called him." Victor leaned in even closer. "I can't fucking see here, did they take out the lights to save money or something?"

"They just turned on the lights back here, they should be on in a few minutes," said a waitress passing by. She was wearing long heels and a skirt that only a waitress would be wearing. In her hands was a stack of large and heavy-looking plates.

"Thank you Miss. Please excuse my friend here," Julia said embarrassingly. She sat all the way in her chair and began looking around at all the other tables.

There weren't many couples in the restaurant, but the ones that were there were either being very intimate, looked like they didn't want to be there, or looked like they wanted to take their clothes off.

Julia glanced at her watch, and then scanned the restaurant again. "Maybe we shouldn't have come here."

Victor looked up from his menu and gave Julia a funny look. "Why, the food looks really good," said Victor. He turned around to admire a plate of chicken being brought to the table left of theirs.

"I don't know, just something about the atmosphere, the ambience. It's unsettling." Julia picked up here menu and began to flip through it as well.

"We might as well eat since we're already here," said Victor, while stuffing his mouth with bread. "Or we can leave after snatching some more rolls."

"I guess nothing can stop you once you start eating."

Victor put another roll onto his plate. "That is not true."

Julia shook her head and sighed. "You don't even know how long the bread has been on the table for. It was here before we got to the table you know."

"Nah, they're fresh."

"And how exactly do you know that mister?"

Victor took Julia's right hand and placed a roll into it. "Feel how warm they are, that means that they're fresh right?"

Julia stared at the bread and felt it's heat radiate throughout her palm. "It's also warm where he's touching my hand too," she thought.

"So like I'm thinking about ordering the savory pork chops, but the name and description seem suspiciously misleading," said Victor. He flipped over the page in the menu and continued to browse. "But I'm also not sure what this house seasoning is supposed to be either."

"Victor, calm down. It's just food."

"Wahh this menu confuses me, and is it getting hot in here or what," Victor said while taking off his jacket. "They must've just turned on the heat on this side of the restaurant too."

Julia put down the menu and took a nibble of the bread. "I think I'm in the mood for fried calamari. Wanna split it with me?" She looked up and saw Victor rolling up his shirt sleeves; he was having a hard time getting his right sleeve to stay up.

"Wow you retard, need me to help you?" said Julia.

"Nah, I got it."

A waiter in a well tailored suit appeared at their table with two glasses of water. "Sorry about the delay, can I get you anything to drink?"

Victor sipped his water and put on a look of dissatisfaction. "Could you get me ice water with a lemon?"

"Ok, and for you Miss," said the waiter.

Julia smiled and opened up her menu for a reference. "I'd like a diet coke, and could I get this fried calamari for us to share?"

"Ok, and what would you like sir," said the waiter.

Victor grabbed Julia's menu and flipped to the last page. "Alright, I'm interesting in this double chocolate fudge cake. Is it really heavy and rich in chocolate?"

The waiter gave an awkward look at Victor, but caught himself before Victor noticed. "I'd say that it is a bit heavy," said the waiter. "And the chocolate is very rich and uhmm creamy."

"Sounds good, I'll have that with a scoop of that uhmm hazelnut ice cream on the side."

Julia kicked Victor's shin as hard as she could under the table. The impact made the floor vibrate for a second, causing people to look over at their table. She put on a nervous smile and shrunk into her seat.

The waiter picked up Victor's water glass and faced them one more time. "So one ice water with a lemon, a diet coke, fried calamari, and a fudge cake with hazelnut ice cream on the side."

"That sounds about right," said Julia.

The waiter was about to leave when he remembered one more thing. "How spicy do you want your calamari?"

"Oh, I didn't know it was spicy," said Julia. "I guess medium would be fine."

"And you sir, would you like to have your cake served the same time as the calamari."

'That would be… delightful. Thank you," Victor said mockingly.

The waiter left and went into the kitchen. The restaurant suddenly grew really quiet, even the background music was hard to hear.

"You're just enjoying being obnoxious today aren't you Victor?" said Julia. She had a face that looked pretty angry, but her voice seemed a bit calmer than she looked. "So you had me take you here just so you could eat cake and ice cream?"

"Hey look, I couldn't think of anything else to order. Would you rather I get something that I won't even eat?"

"This whole time I thought you were really hungry, but I guess I misjudged you."

Julia put her elbows on the table and slowly began to eat through the rest of the bread. "Well this isn't how I expected."

Victor put a mint in his mouth and relaxed in his chair. "I know this is so boring; the service here sucks."

"It's only been three minutes, be patient."

The waiter came out and placed their drinks on the table. Behind him was girl in a white blouse and an unusually short skirt with a plate of cake.

"Here's your ice water with a lemon, and your diet coke," the first waiter said. He stepped out of the way and let his coworker put down the dessert.

As she stepped back, she looked at Julia and mouthed something to her. Victor wasn't quite sure what happened, but Julia replied with a "Thanks".

The two employees stepped away, from a distance, Victor could hear a small bit of their conversation.

"That's the guy I told you about," the waiter said.

The girl looked back at their table and giggled. "He's cute. But a guy like him has to be kept on a tight leash; his girlfriend seems to have a lot to deal with."

Victor paid no mind to their comments. He began to dig into his cake and soon found himself with chocolate of various parts of his face.

"Could you try to eat a little neater?" Julia complained. "Unless the chocolate on your ear and chin are for later."

Victor lifted his fork from the plate and glared at Julia. "You just let me fully enjoy the cake that you're paying for, and I'll play good boyfriend afterwards."

"Fine, but could you at least clean yourself up, it's embarrassing."

Victor picked up the napkin and smudged the chocolate on his face into various places. He then continued eating until Julia grabbed his fork.

"You need me to wipe your face for you?" asked Julia. It was clear that she was annoyed, but something about the situation made her unable to feel angry.

"If it'll make you happy, then be my guest."

Victor threw down his fork and spoon onto the table and took a sip of his water. He took his napkin and handed it to Julia. "Here you go."

Julia took the napkin and attempted to scrub the chocolate off with force. Little of the chocolate came off, and what did come off dropped as chocolate skin flakes onto the table.

"You're squishing my face, it kind hurts."

"Just hold still and turn your head this way."

Julia took the napkin and wet it with Victor's water. She began to dab the chocolate with the wet napkin, so it would un-harden and come off when she wiped it.

Meanwhile, people at surrounding tables were distracted by this small scene.

"Isn't it adorable how she looks after him like that?" one of them said. They couldn't help but smile and feel a comforting warmth.

Julia got back into her seat and placed the napkin in a ball by her coke. "I swear, sometimes you're just like a child."

"What's wrong with that?" Victor said between chewing and swallowing.

"Nothing," Julia replied, feeling defeated. "It's just that; I dunno… I thought we were all adults by now, that's all."

She sat back as the waiter placed the calamari in front of her. She could immediately feel the steam rise and hit her face.

"I guess we're not quite adults yet, but just… special children."

Victor began to notice the mood dip towards depressing. Something about what they were doing did not feel quite right to them, or at least Julia didn't seem right.

"Have a bite," he said, sliding his plate towards Julia. He watched her as she took a small scoop of ice cream and a chunk of cake all in one swoop.

"It's actually really good," said Julia.

Victor smiled and sighed. "You know, at this point, I'm not sure titles like child and adult should really matter. Everyone will still be a bit immature or very immature for a while. We will still be ourselves when we're adults."

Julia could final feel that Victor was being serious about something. She put down her fork and looked up at Victor. "And what are you trying to say?"

"Well I meant that Victor should always be Victor, and Julia should always be Julia. We shouldn't change because we're supposed to be adults or whatnot." Victor took his plate back and put it to the side.

"Sure we'll definitely be different fifteen years from now, but while we're here, we shouldn't be looking ahead that far. Let's just enjoy the benefits of being not quite a child, but not quite an adult."

Julia didn't say anything, she sat still not knowing how to respond. This was a side of Victor that occasionally came out, but on a whole other level.

"Bah, I don't know what I'm saying. C'mon and try that calamari." Victor took his chocolate covered fork and stabbed it into the calamari. He chewed on it for a bit, and when he finally swallowed, he went for his water.

"It's actually pretty spicy," said Victor.

Julia took a piece and put it in her mouth. She could immediately feel the spiciness.

"Whoa that's hot, just the way I like it." Julia followed up with a huge scoop of calamari, and then a sip of her coke.

"I think you're right Victor. Although I'm not sure if what you said had much relevance to what I was feeling."

Victor shrugged and picked up his fork. "I tried my best." Victor lowered his fork to finish off his cake, but just before the fork made contact, Julia snatched away the plate.

"You know Victor, as a child, you're hard to deal with. But as an adult, you're even harder to deal with. It's a bit scary."

"Why thank you, I think you should award me with some hot steamy sex," said Victor.

"Alright time for you to be mature again," said Julia.

Julia handed the empty plate back to Victor and sighed. She waved for the waiter to come over and then brought her attention back to her friend.

"Aww c'mon, you know you want some," said Victor.

The waiter came up and stood up straight in front of their table. "Yes, how can I help you?" he said.

Julia pointed at her plate and then looked up at the waiter. "Yes, I'd like the check, and could you wrap this up for me."

"Certainly, I'll be right back with this," he said while picking up the plate.

"You better not run away when the check comes, you're my ride home," said Victor.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea, but I won't do that to you again," Julia said slyly.

The waiter came back with a small box inside a plastic bag, and a small black bill holder. "Thank you and I hope you enjoyed your meal. Please come again."

Julia took the bill and scanned through all the items listed. "Hmm, a lot less than I thought it would be, since I planned on you eating a lot."

"Hey hey, let me see it," Victor said, trying to grab the bill from Julia.

"Fine," said Julia. She handed him the bill while she searched for her wallet in her bag.

"Oh, almost thirty-seven dollars," said Victor. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill.

"We'll split this one," he said while slapping down the money.

Julia took the bill and handed the money back to Victor. "I said I'd take you out to lunch, so I'll pay for it. Don't worry, I have money."

Victor wiped his lip and then got up to put on his jacket. "Let's just split it and leave already."

"Ok you win this round," said Julia. She threw another twenty and a five in and closed up the black booklet.

"Hurry up and put on your jacket," said Victor. "I'm bored of this place, let's go do something interesting."

Julia slipped on her jacket and followed Victor towards the exit.

"Alright, let's go," she said while grabbing Victor's left arm.

They made their way through the tables back to the front entrance. Most of the people had left already, but there were a few people just walking in as they were leaving.

They finally got to the front and made their way to the door.

"Good bye, have a wonderful afternoon," the man at the podium as Victor was holding the door for Julia.

Julia stopped to take a good look at him. His teeth were somewhat crooked, and he needed to shave a bit. He was wearing a white tuxedo with a black bowtie, along with a shiny silver nametag. Julia smiled and waved good bye.

"Good bye Brichard," she said as she left.

The two walked out into a heavier storm. Julia's car was covered by a half inch of snow, but the wind wasn't acting up so it was quite nice outside. Julia unlocked her car and got into the driver seat, while Victor got in the other side.

"Where are we headed to?" asked Victor. He pulled on his hat and buckled the frozen seatbelt over himself.

"I think we should take a walk down Beat Street," said Julia.

Victor furiously rubbed his hands together to warm them up. He shoved them in his pockets and shivered. "That sounds great," he said in a frozen breath.

"Alright here we go then," said Julia.

They drove for ten minutes in the snow, and came up to a large parking lot filled with cars. Even in the midst of a storm, Beat Street was still bustling with business. The two got out and headed towards a wide street filled with people.

Beat Street was essentially an area were street vendors sold CDs, original and pirated; drums, gongs, and other musical instruments. There was also the occasional palm reading stall, and psychics trying to pull you in with their tarot-card fortunes.

"Let's check and see if they have any new CDs," said Julia. She pulled Victor up to a stall with racks and racks of CDs and began looking through.

"Ayumi Hamasaki's new album came out not too long ago, so they should have it. I just love the song Glitter."

Victor browsed for a bit, but quickly got bored when he couldn't find anything he was looking for. He began to drift to the next stall.

"Hey wait up Victor," Julia said while chasing after him. "Don't just leave on your own; I get worried when I can't find you."

"Oh sorry, you looked like you were enjoying yourself, so I didn't want to bother you." Victor began walking away when he felt Julia take his hand. He slowed his steps and began to glance around for anything interesting.

Julia trailed behind while almost being dragged by Victor. Her left hand began to feel really cold. "What exactly are you looking for Victor?"

"Nothing in particular, just browsing I guess?"

They kept walking and walking, not stopping for long at any of the stall. They stopped at a drum stall and played with the tambourines and maracas. They stopped at a DVD store to search for cheap anime. They were stopped three times by palm readers who were trying to sell them their future; they refused. After about fifteen minutes, they were almost at the end of the road. They hadn't let go of each other's hands the whole time.

"What now?" asked Julia. She looked to the left and right, stalls on both sides were the same as the ones up ahead.

"I guess we turn around," said Victor. "Unless you don't want to." He turned and looked down to meet Julia's eyes.

"I uhh, am not quite sure," Julia said weakly. She felt her face get really hot and let go of Victor's hand. Her palms were all moist and sticky. "What am I doing," she thought.

"Soo what do you wanna do?" Victor asked.

"Oh right, yeah we should probably turn around." She pulled her jacket sleeve over her hand and began to follow behind Victor.

"Wait hold on," someone cried out. "Come back here."

Victor turned around and saw someone waving at them from a booth.

"What do you think she wants?" asked Julia.

"Maybe she wants me to hook her up with a good time," said Victor.

They walked up to where the person was waving from. The backdrop of the stall said "Fantasy's Fortune", and there was an old lady sitting behind a crystal ball.

"Thank goodness you came back, I saw something very interesting in your future," the old lady said with a creepy smile. "Come come, sit sit."

Victor and Julia stayed outside the tent, they looked at the old lady, and then each other.

"Sorry lady, we don't wanna have our fortunes told, even if they are very interesting," said Julia. "Thanks for the offer though."

Before they could even think about leaving, the lady cried out again.

"Wait!" she said. "This fortune is particularly interesting, so peculiar that I will give it to you free of charge."

"Should we go in?" asked Julia.

Victor walked in and sat down without responding to Julia. He looked around and saw nothing special about this psychic. Suddenly it occurred to him.

"Hey, you're the old lady that was smoking this morning!" Victor exclaimed.

"Wait, so you know her?" asked Julia. Victor gave her a tired look and put his attention back on the psychic. "Well it's just for clarification, no need to give me retarded looks."

The old lady closed the curtains and the tent was suddenly dark, illuminated by a few strings of Christmas lights.

"So we have met before," said the old lady. "And its fate that has brought you back to me at this moment!"

"Do you say that to all your customers?" Julia asked sarcastically.

"Well if you must know, then yes, I do pretty much say it all the time. But this time I mean it!"

"Hey, just cut to the fortune. This is free so you're not trying to sell us anything," Victor said in an anxious tone.

"Ok ok, what an eager boy," said the old lady.

"Tell me about it," Julia added.

"I am Madame Ga," said the lady. "And right now I will share with you this most interesting future which I have foreseen for you."

She dimmed the lights and pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen. Slowly, she began drawing lines on the paper, while waving her other hand over the crystal ball.

"What is it that you want to know the most?" Ga asked. "You want to find out about love, wealth, happiness, test answers perhaps?"

"Didn't you say that you've already foreseen a future for us?" said Julia. "So why don't you just tell us what you saw already?"

"Ahh but that's where you're mistaken, you said 'us' when all I have predicted pertains to him," she said while pointing at Victor.

"What'd you see about me?" Victor asked curiously, trying to peek at the crystal ball himself.

Madame Ga kept her head down, with her eyes on the paper, even as she spoke. "It's a most tragic future you can say, one filled with choices. Not difficult choices, but the true answers become most easily shrouded.

Julia grew tense, she was beginning to feel drawn into the mysterious atmosphere. "What's going to happen to him?" she asked.

Ga picked up Victor's right hand and placed it on top of the crystal ball. It felt cold and icy, but also very fragile. "Pick it up boy," Ga said.

Victor held it carefully with both hands. He tried to move the puffs of darkness inside by shaking it, but the smoke still continued to flow mysteriously.

"It seems that you are quite an unlucky boy," Ga said slowly. She was still scribbling away on her paper, but now Victor could make out some images.

"A head? Possibly a person," Victor thought.

"You will have to make choices," Ga repeated. "You will either find love at the cost of success, or success at the cost of love. Quite a predicament, don'tcha think?"

"Does that mean that I'll either have love or success, not both?" Victor asked.

"That's precisely what it means," said Ga.

"But Madame," said Julia. Madame Ga did not look up, so Julia spoke. "What if he finds love in success, and success in love?"

"Darling, that is quite a bright way to look at this situation," said Ga. "But do you realize how almost impossible your words are?"

"I don't think they sound that impossible," said Victor. He touched the crystal ball again, as if it would change what has been said.

"Well boy, first of all, do you believe in what I've told you?" asked Ga.

"I kinda do," Victor said nervously.

Madame Ga finally stopped her pen, and looked up. She gave the same scary smile and laughed. "Well then believe in what that girl has said too boy, and you might just have a chance."

"What?" Victor asked. "You're starting to confuse me."

Madame Ga flipped over her paper and began to scribble again, this time even faster than before. "Boy, I will give you a gift for your words here. I shall add you to my story." She put down her pen and pushed the paper a little towards Victor. He could see people on the paper, the same person in many different panels.

"Are you a mangaka too?" asked Victor.

Just when Madame Ga was about to speak, a phone rang.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," said Julia. She took out her phone and checked the caller ID. "It's my boyfriend."

"Greg?" Victor asked.

"No my other boyfriend," said Julia. "I'll take this outside real quick."

She pushed through the curtain and let in a gust of cold air.

"All this time I thought you were her boyfriend," said Ga.

Victor looked at Julia's empty seat and responded. "Really, did you really think that?"

Madame Ga laughed and slapped the table. "Of course not, what kind of psychic would I be to get even relationships screwed up."

Victor laughed along nervously, and waited for Julia to come back.

"I can see that she likes you though, a lot in the friendship kind of way, but also a bit of her feelings are more than that," said Ga.

Victor looked at Madame Ga carefully, and then back at her drawing. "Do you really think that?"

"Of course I do, and you do too. You have very similar feelings to her, you probably don't realize how much you like her."

"Are you sure?" asked Victor. He could feel himself begin to blush.

"Alright maybe I was exaggerating a bit, but I can feel it. It's definitely there."

"I guess that's something new to hear," said Victor.

"Don't worry dear, Madame Ga has found another woman for you. One that will cherish deeply and carefully covet."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" asked Victor.

Madame Ga lifted the paper and held it up to her nose. "My decision is unquestionable, my words are final, and your destiny is sealed." The paper burned almost instantly, leaving behind a lavender scented smoke.

"I don't understand anything you just did," Victor asked. "What was the meaning of all that."

Madame Ga took out a silver chain from her pocket. "She has already begun to search, and this will help you find her."

"Hold on, I need an explanation!" Victor yelled. "Please?"

Madame Ga finally stood up, she looked frightening in the dim lighting. "Be thankful that I changed your destiny for you and leave. You have someone waiting for you outside."

Victor picked up the chain and left; Julia was just about to walk in and get him.

The crystal ball on the table began to clear, and an image of Victor walking down a sunny street appeared.

"It seems I have successfully added you to the cast of my production," Madame Ga said to herself. "Let's see how well you fare in my world now."

Victor's image disappeared into the smoke and mixed with all the other faces in the ball; two young adults just beginning their lives, brought together by research and bound by passion; a young girl trying to figure out which ways is up, and which direction points straight to hell; a teen boy engrossed by shadows; a soulless business man who never misses his target; a graduate blessed by a fallen angel; a beautiful face surrounded by ugly hearts; an outgoing quiet-girl who can't keep things in place; a proud musician that's lost in dreams; and many others suppressed in the mist.

Madame Ga smiled as she saw all the faces disappear back into the darkness. Slowly, she lifted her pen and held it to her nose.

"It seems old characters are bringing in new faces," said Ga. She took the pen and stabbed it into the crystal ball. The crack seemed to moan as all the darkness was absorbed into the pen, leaving just a broken glass ball.

When the last of the darkness was gone, Madame Ga began to change. Her wiry gray hair grew long and dark, hanging just above her butt. Her wrinkly skin tightened and changed to a pale tan color, and her body grew tall and slender. After a few minutes, Madame Ga now looked sixty years younger and twenty times more sinister.

"As mangaka of this world, I'll try my best to create an entertaining story," she said to herself. "I've set the rules and boundaries, now it's up for you guys to write in yourselves."

"Greg called to check if I was still out. He says that we should get home soon since the storm is going to get ten times worse," said Julia.

"What a caring boyfriend," said Victor. He wasn't exactly happy to be out in the cold again, but he did really want to go home now.

They began to walk back when Victor felt something pulling on his jeans. He looked back to find a small fluffy dog wrapped in a red scarf.

"Oh shit I totally forgot about you," said Victor. He leaped down to pick up the dog, who didn't feel cold at all.

"It looks like the scarf worked," Victor said happily. The dog licked his face and gave friendly barks.

"Victor don't pick up random dogs, it could be someone's pet," Julia complained. "You don't know where it's been"

Victor held the puppy gently in his arms and began to walk.

"Victor! Are you listening to me?" asked Julia. She caught up to him and stayed on his left side.

"Don't worry Julia, this is the dog that I found this morning on my way to school. Although I have no idea how it managed to track me down to here." Victor looked at the puppy that was now asleep in his arms. The dog heated up his chest and made the snowy air feel more comfortable.

"Oh, well do you plan on bringing that dog into my car with you? Cause I know someone else who would say otherwise," Julia said sternly.

"Aww c'mon Julia, he's got nowhere to go. And you just said the storm is gonna get ten times worse."

Julia thought for a second, but gave in when she thought about it rationally. "You're lucky I have a heart, and a soft spot for cute puppies."

Victor smiled and gave Julia a shoulder bump. "Alright, you rock Julia. I will never forget the day you saved a puppy."

The puppy stayed asleep for the rest of the way back to the car, and for the whole ride back to Julia's house.

"I need to stop at home to pick up some stuff," said Julia. "Shelly felt bad and said I should stay over her house tonight."

"Am I not invited to this sleepover?" asked Victor. He opened the car door and secured his grasp on the dog. His eyes were fixed onto the black clouds that began to seem over the city.

"Maybe next time," she replied. Julia went up to unlock her front door and waited at the door for Victor. "Hurry up, you're letting all the heat out."

Victor kicked the snow off his shoes and walked inside a brightly lit house. The radio was playing softly in the kitchen, and the sound of running water came out from the bathroom.

"I need to go up to my room and get some stuff, I'll be right down." said Julia. She walked up the stairs and disappeared behind a coat rack.

Victor sat down on the couch and gently rocked the dog that was beginning to wake up.

"Hey there little guy, you still tired?" Victor said gently. He could feel the dog begin to stir and fidget so he put it down onto the floor. "Don't pee on the carpet."

Small bits of ice began to blow off the ground and hit the window, causing it to clatter. The wind began to push the gently falling snow into chaos. It blew so wildly that the house across the street became obstructed by the snow.

Julia's mom stepped out of the kitchen and placed the plates onto the table. "It's really coming down out there," she said.

Victor moved his attention from the dog to his friend's mother. "Hey Mrs. Wei," Victor replied. "This is just the beginning of the storm, it'll get a lot worse in an hour or so."

Mrs. Wei took a seat by the coffee table and picked up her coffee. She took it with her to the window and pressed her head against the cold glass. "It already looks really bad, any worse and the whole town will be buried in snow."

Victor stood up and went to the staircase, he looked up at a small wooden table with a stick up bamboo standing by itself in a vase.

"You know Victor, I almost didn't recognize you. You haven't come over in years, and you've grown a lot," said Julia's mother. She placed her mug back onto the coffee table and began to search through the stacks of books over in the corner. She started by taking a heavy load from the top, and made her way down to the books at the bottom.

"Well I haven't really had to chance to hang out with Julia much since we started high school," said Victor. "But it's not like we don't see each other a lot at school."

"That's good to hear," said Mrs. Wei. "You're a good kid, very friendly and a very caring person." She finally chose a book and wiped off all the dust.

"No, I'm a lot worse than I appear to be," Victor replied. He somehow felt embarrassed by what he just heard.

"Everyone has a side like that, a part of themselves that indulges in the darkness in life," said Mrs. Wei. "But nonetheless you are a very sweet boy, and I have something I'd really like to show you." She opened up the book, which turned out to be a photo album, and began flipping through the pages. It was filled with happy faces and warm smiles, feelings that could not be captured anywhere else.

"Here it is," said Mrs. Wei, finally stopping on a page. She took out the picture and took a good look at it.

"As a mother, this is just something you remember forever," she said. Julia's mother handed Victor the picture and waited for a response.

He held it in his hands and carefully examined the photograph. It was a sunny day, the house was decorated in pretty colors, and a boy was asleep on the couch with streamers covering his legs. Right next to him was a girl in a pink and green dress, hovering above his face. They both seemed to be smiling at something.

"Do you recognize this?" asked Julia's mother. "Well of course you don't, you were asleep."

"So it's true then?" asked Victor. "She kissed me?"

"Well I can't say for sure, I don't know what happened," said Mrs. Wei. "I had just fixed the camera, and I was going to see what was taking so long for Julia to get you. I heard her saying 'hey hey wake up wake up' and hitting you with a pillow."

"She's always been really violent," said Victor. "One time she threw a tape dispenser at me because I wasn't paying attention to her story."

Mrs. Wei smiled and continued speaking. "So anyways, when she couldn't wake you up I was about to step in, when I saw her scan the room for people. I didn't want to walk in on something intimate, and I sorta knew what she was going to do, so I hid. By the time I checked to see what had happened, I was too late. She had already done it, and she was probably now lost in that adorable sleeping face you see in that picture."

"So as her mother, you felt you needed to take a picture of it?" asked Victor. "Not to be disrespectful or anything, it just seems kind of awkward."

"Well, when I saw you two together, I had one of those fantasies. I saw what every Chinese mother wants the most for their daughter, and I was sort of lost in the moment you see," said Mrs. Wei. "I had thought for sure that you two would be together, but something tells me that your paths have separated."

Victor touched the pendant in his pocket. The cold metal made his fingers numb, but something about the feeling seemed familiar to him. "You know, I probably liked her for a long time, but never realized it."

"But now you've found someone else?" asked Mrs. Wei.

Victor thought for a second. He didn't want to say anything that would mislead her into thinking one thing or another. "I have no idea, it feels like everything is upside-down today," said Victor. He watched the puppy jump up against the window. It seemed anxious and started barking very loudly.

There was a sudden gust of wind against the window, followed by a large booming thunder.

"That must be the sign that the weather is going to get worse. I've never seen lightning in a snowstorm before," said Mrs. Wei.

"Yeah you're right, I should be getting home. As soon as Julia is done that is," said Victor.

Mrs. Wei went to the staircase and turned on the hall lights. "Julia," she yelled. "Hurry up and drive your friend home, the weather just got really bad."

"Alright, I'm ready. Get ready to leave Victor," Julia yelled.

Victor put on his jacket went to give Mrs. Wei a hug. "It was nice to see you again, good night."

Julia ran downstairs with a pink duffle bag and her car keys. "Sorry about that Victor, I couldn't find a few things."

Victor went up to the window and picked up the restless dog. "Are you hungry or something?" he asked. The dog resisted him at first, but calmed down after a bit.

"Bye mom," said Julia.

"Bye Julia, don't drive too fast ok," said Mrs. Wei.

The two slipped on their shoes and jumped out the door. The snow hit them almost immediately, and they covered their face with one hand as they tried to get to the car. About three inches of snow had already piled up since Victor arrived at Julia's house, and his shoes were now all wet again.

Victor struggled to open the car door while trying not to drop the puppy. He couldn't seem to grasp the handle while his hand was in the sleeve.

"God dammit," said Victor. He finally just pulled his hand out and yanked on the door. It flew open and snow started to collect on the seat.

The car was cold, and the seats were now moist, which made everything feel uncomfortable. Julia buckled up and started moving as soon as Victor got adjusted.

"This side of town is always last to get plowed," complained Julia. "So fucking annoying."

The windshield wipers were furiously swiping away, pushing all the snow to the side. Up ahead, the roads were free of cars, and the storm seemed vicious.

Another crash of thunder broke through, and this time Victor could see the lightning too. It hit in the small forest area up ahead, just a few blocks from Victor's house.

"My god, that struck really close to us," said Julia. "Did it hit a tree?"

Victor held the dog close to him and closed his eyes. "Something feels really uncomfortable," he thought.

They made it past where the lightning struck and were now almost at his house. The car kept sliding on the frozen slush, giving an uncomfortable swerve every now and then.

A huge flash suddenly appeared behind them, immediately followed by a deafening rumble.

Julia looked back and zipped up her coat. "I swear, that just struck in the same place."

Victor pressed his head against the seat and adjusted his position so that he could exit easily.

"Run to it," said quiet voice.

"What'd you just say?" asked Victor.

Julia didn't look over at him. "I didn't say anything."

He heard it again, in the same hushed tone. "Run to it."

The car pulled into a large, recently shoveled, drive way. The car gave a small screech when it came to a complete stop, and Julia unlocked the doors.

"Good night Victor, if you need me, just call me," said Julia.

"Thanks for the ride," Victor responded. He pulled up his hood and lifted the dog. Carefully, he opened the door and stepped outside. He could begin to feel the puppy squirm in his arm, but he kept his grip tight so that it would not run loose.

Another blast of thunder ran through the sky, and was beginning to fade away by the time Victor got to his door.

"Bye Julia," Victor yelled. He waved good bye, and watched as Julia drove away and disappeared into the snow.

The dog finally started barking, causing Victor to drop it onto the snow. It rolled over and shook rampantly.

"C'mon doggy, get in," said Victor as he opened the door.

The dog didn't move, instead it sat still, staring at Victor.

"You sure are difficult to deal with," he said. Victor stood there staring back at the dog, hoping it would follow him in after a bit.

Finally he heard it, loud and clear inside his head, the words "You're being tested."

"I must be getting sick," thought Victor. "Why do I keep hearing noises," he Victor.

"You're not hearing noises," Victor heard. "It's me, down here."

Victor looked at the dog funny, and laughed. "You're a talking doggy eh?"

The dog got up and ran towards the mailbox. "I don't talk like you're talking right now, but you can hear what I'm saying."

"Wait what?" said Victor.

"I'm Pikachu, I'm Pikachu… and you're being tested," said the dog.

"This isn't making any sense, first of all you don't look like a pikachu. And second… I shouldn't be able to hear your thoughts or your voice or whatever. And lastly, I don't understand what you mean by test."

"Run to it," Pikachu said again.

After a few more minutes of standing in the cold, the dog finally ran off towards the forest.

Victor slammed the door shut and took off after it. The only thing he could see through the snow was a bouncing tail.

"Wait up, I can't keep up in the snow," Victor yelled.

They kept running and running, they turned into the forest. Pikachu didn't slow down at all, he kept weaving through the trees until they reached an empty plot of land.

The ground was icy instead of packed with snow, and the air pressure seemed to increase once he stepped through.

"What are we here for?" asked Victor.

"I already told you, you are being tested," said Pikachu.

"You didn't explain anything to me… Pikachu," he replied.

"You must not remember, you were added to her collection," said Pikachu. The dog shook off the scarf and stood in the center of the ice ring. "She made you a character in her story, but is now regretting her decision. Therefore you're being tested."

Victor wanted to run from there as fast as he could, but something in him kept him still. "By she, did you mean the fortune teller earlier?"

"I don't know who you're referring to, but the person that created me is willing to write you into her world," said Pikachu. "You'll just have to pass this test, and I'm telling you now, you don't have a choice."

A bolt of lightning came down and landed right behind the dog. Victor jumped down and covered his ears. He could feel the vibrations spread throughout the ground.

"Get up," he heard.

Victor was still deafened by the hard thunder. He stayed on his stomach, sprawled across the ice.

"I said get up!" Pikachu ran up and began to scratch at Victor's sleeve. Victor didn't move. "Actually it's better if you stay down, this way you wont be anticipating anything."

"What?" Victor asked as he began to regain his hearing.

"I'll try to explain this to you in as much detail as I can," said Pikachu. "You'll become a main character in the story as soon as you pass this test. The main characters are specifically chosen to shape the plot of the tale, with the world being the setting."

Victor got onto his knees and looked up at the sky. It looked like the darkness within the crystal ball. "What exactly must I do for this test?" asked Victor.

"That's easy, you just have to survive." Pikachu jumped on his back at sat down. Victor suddenly felt a humongous pressure on his body and began to lose feeling in his hands and legs. His vision began to go and soon all he was left with was his hearing.

The sky sounded like it was gargling, Victor could no longer hear the howling wind, or the scraping ice.

"So all I have to do is survive this?" asked Victor.

"Oh no, this is just to make sure you don't run away," said Pikachu.

Victor suddenly felt really tense. There was an endless cycle of chills running all over his body, and sweat was beginning to form on his forehead.

"Have you done this before?" Victor asked nervously.

Pikachu was silent for a moment. "There were two before you, those two I chose myself. But this time is different, you chose me instead."

Victor suddenly thought back to when they first met. All he thought was that Pikachu was a cute little puppy. "So you were waiting for someone to find you?"

"In a way, yes," said Pikachu.

"So in a way I pretty much screwed myself over?" asked Victor.

"You can look at it that way," said Pikachu. "Anyways, stop talking it's about to begin."

The silence lasted for 3 minutes, it was shattered when Victor sneezed.

"God it's too cold out here," said Victor.

This time, the thunder came before the lightning. Victor's hearing went out before he was impaled by thousands of volts of energy.

"I think you're doing well," Pikachu said after the lightning faded. "You haven't screamed yet which is a good sign I think."

Victor began to feel a warm sensation spreading over his back. Slowly, the darkness around him began to show itself, and the numbing died away.

"When you can move your hands again, tell me. The last two died right about now," said Pikachu.

"Is it supposed to smell like hamburgers?" cried Victor. He wiggled his fingers and attempted to get on his feet.

"Good job Victor, it seems you passed," said Pikachu while jumping off his back. But this time the voice was different. It was friendly and heart warming. It made Victor not feel alone out in the forest.

"Pikachu, what just happened?" Victor asked. He got on his feet and examined his reflection in the ice. "I still look normal."

"Unfortunately, your destiny has now been sealed," said Pikachu. "But you will find many good things coming up soon. Thanks to you I have been reborn from your feelings."

Victor looked down at the dog and smiled. "I don't know why, but I feel really good right now."

"I don't know why," said Pikachu. "But I can hear the voice of your inner child telling us to keep moving forward. It's a feeling of immense strength."

"Interesting," said Victor. "So as a main character of this world, what do I get?"

"Close your eyes and imagine me," said Pikachu.

Victor closed his eyes and began to imagine an adorable puppy. His mind began to focus.

"No no," said a voice in his head. "I'm Pikachu remember, that's not pikachu."

Victor took a breath and tried again, he imagined an adorable yellow pikachu. He felt a sensation in his stomach which spread to his arms. It tingled in his forearms until he could feel small sparks, stinging his palms.

"Thundershock," Victor yelled. He opened his eyes, and two large sparks of electricity shot out fifty feet in front of him.

"That's sick," exclaimed Victor.

"That was cool," said Pikachu. "It seems that you yourself have become a pikachu like me."

"So does that mean I have all the attacks that pikachu has?" asked Victor. He cracked his knuckles and prepared to jump.

"I guess so?" said Pikachu. "I've never done this before so I wouldn't know."

"Agility!" yelled Victor. He ran forward at godly speeds and then leaped into the air, soaring hundreds of feet up. He seemed to stop moving in the air for a few seconds, and then continued his arc downward.

When Victor landed he was right in front of his house again. Sixteen inches of snow had gathered from the blizzard, and now there was a large snow crater in the front yard.

Pikachu showed up at his feet not soon afterwards. "That was amazing," said Pikachu. "You were like a blur, definitely too fast too be seen."

Victor smiled and picked up his dog. "So will you be staying with me little buddy?"

"I'm sorta stuck with you either way," said Pikachu.

Victor walked into his house, and got the carpet all wet.

Victor's mom met him with a cold glare. "Where have you been?" she yelled.

"Out with friends," Victor replied.

She looked like she was just about to yell again when she saw the dog. "Oh my gosh you took our adorable little dog with you?!" She ran up and snatched it from Victor. "Did Victor hurt you buddy? Cause if he did I can punish him for you?"

Victor stared at his mom in shock. He had expected her to put up a large fight on whether to keep the dog or not. "What's up with that?" asked Victor.

Pikachu escaped and chased Victor to his room. "Your destiny has been rewritten," said Pikachu. "Whoever brought us together must have also rewritten your reality."

Victor took his jacket off and jumped onto his bed. He got creeped out when he realized what Pikachu was saying. "So anything in my life can be changed just like that?"

"Pretty much."

Pikachu jumped up and snuggled under Victor's arm.

"So tell me what you know about this person who supposedly created you."

Pikachu put his head down and thought for a while.

"I guess it begins with creating the cast and choosing the characters. Then it goes to creating a plot and a climax, and then choosing a fitting conclusion."

"So you're saying this person controls the world?" asked Victor.

"Not the world, but reality," said Pikachu.

Victor slammed his fist on the bed. "What gives this person the right to change whatever he wants, any way he'd like," Victor said while yawning.

Pikachu cuddled into a ball and closed his eyes. "She can do whatever she wants, cause she's the mangaka."