Monday; the worst day of the week. Forgotten weekend assignments due, eyes that wouldn't stay open due to sleepiness, and worse, grouchy teachers. But this Monday would be the worst of all. Both Ino and Sasuke are in my first period class, which happens to be my worst class: chemistry.

First day of the week, first class of the day, first class I would choose to never take again, and first people I would choose to never see in my life again - my boyfriend and my best friend. Well, that's weird to say. But I'd have to face them sooner or later, and sooner is always better than later. Unless you're talking about dying or something like that.

I crawled into my beloved yellow Volkswagen Beetle. I did a shitload lot of work to be able to pay for this baby. But she's so worth it. Though it was slightly annoying when people constantly questioned my choice of color. Apparently, I was expected to get a green or pink car. Whoops.

The school building today looked especially malicious. I felt like I was about to be eaten alive by the giant front doors and hungry teachers. The walk to my locker was lonely. Normally, I would walk with Sasuke. However, with the current circumstances...

"Hello, ugly."

My locker door was blocking his face, but I knew who it was immediately. "Hello, Sai." I closed my locker door and started walking to my class. Sai followed me.

"You look especially ugly today. What happened?"

In a weird way, this was Sai's way of showing he cared... Kind of... So I didn't take it too personal. "You try going most of the weekend without sleep," I retorted, "and we'll see how you look."

I was torn getting ready this morning. Part of me just didn't have the energy for my morning primping. The other part of me wanted to look beautiful to show everyone that I'm just fine without Ino or Sasuke. The second part of me won. I guess I just couldn't hide the dark circles enough.

"Now, if you'll excuse me..." I side-stepped into my classroom. Out of the frying pan, into the fire. I escaped Sai asking me why I didn't get any sleep, but ran right into the reason. Literally.

"Oof."

I looked up to see Ino stumbling backwards, long blonde hair following behind her. We both hit the floor with a thud. For a mere moment, our eyes met. Her baby blue eyes looked down and away, her eyebrows pressed together. She was biting her lip.

My heart skipped a beat, and my mind went totally blank. Of all things, I was definitely not expecting this. By the time I stood up, I was both numb and feeling electrons racing throughout my entire body. I could only look at her face for so long, and eventually looked away. And then I followed my instinct. Without a word, without a helping hand, I turned and walked towards my seat.

Here's the thing about me and Ino; we've been such good friends for so long that something as simple as a bump without exchanging any words is considered taboo, and is immediately noticed by anyone who saw the incident occur.

Commence the whispers.

I ignored everyone and made my way to my seat. I briefly wondered why everything seemed so cold today, but quickly decided it was because I'm just a horribly negative person. My heart was still beating so hard I was sure everyone could hear it. They probably could- everyone's eyes were on me.

"Everyone, take your seats."

Our droopy teacher walked in. I call him Droopy because no matter how much you stare at his face, you won't be able to find a millimeter of taught skin. It all falls off in rolls. When he speaks, he reminds me of a dog begging for food. I swear I've even seen him drool before.

"Now, turn to page three-hundred and ninety four..."

I opened my book and laid my head down while I waited for Droopy to finish reading the useless chapter introductions. I was planning on paying attention, really, but those dumb introductions just make you so sleepy...

I was in a college dorm, studying, when my roommate walked in. She had platinum blonde hair and baby blue eyes. I greeted her cheerfully and we left the dorm together to go someplace else.

We were in a club, the girl was insisting I put my drink down so I wouldn't puke later. I felt a great deal of affection for the girl for watching out for me.

We were back at the dorm, I was sick. Really sick. Sweating, feverish, unable to move and with bad cramps. The girl stayed by my side the entire night, giving me fresh towels and medicine until I got better.

We were at an ice skating rink, and the boys...

"Miss Haruno?"

My head shot up. "Yes, Sensei?"

He held up a small, brightly colored red piece of paper. I knew already what it said. "Send –insert random student's name here- to the office immediately." The class collectively "awwww"-ed, as expected. But when I looked in the doorway, I smiled.

Inuzuka Kiba, my long-time friend, spent his free period running errands for the school office. He claims he does it because he likes to see who gets in trouble. But really, who cares? I'm just glad he could get me out. I grabbed my bag and got to the door as quickly as possible.

"You are such a troublemaker," he said to me, giving me a little pinch on my arm.

"Says the boy who stole a red slip from a government building," I shot back.

"Well. I figured you would want to get out of there. Sorry to interrupt your dream though, it seemed like a good one. You were even smiling!"

"Dream? No. More like a nightmare. I would kill myself if I ever ended up in that situation." I stuck my nose in the air like a brat. But it was true, I would never in a million years share a room with that slut, much less consider her a friend. "Wait, what made you think I needed out of there?"

"Well everyone knows what happened." He scratched the back of his head and looked away.

"Everyone!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Sakura. No wonder you keep getting all these red slips. Shouting in the halls and all." His finger waved back and forth in my face. "Besides, by 'everyone,' I only mean everyone that we're friends with. No secrets, remember?" He held up his ring and pinkie fingers, crossed together.

Yes, I remembered. The oath we made freshman year. No secrets within our group, whatsoever. Ino broke that one. "You scared the crap out of me, Inuzuka," I said, letting out a sigh of relief. "Where are we going, anyway?"

"As for me, I'm going back to the office. If I get caught skipping one more time this grading period, I'm suspended. You can go wherever." He gave me his signature half-wave as he walked away. "See ya."

Kiba was always the "cool" one in our group. The one who got all the girls, the one who never missed a beat. It's not that surprising, either. He's cute, clever, flirty, and fun. I've just been around him too much to even think about falling for him.

I turned around and headed the opposite direction towards my locker. If a teacher walks out, I like to be productive. So I started organizing. Major organizing, as in a clean-out. By the time I was finished, it was next period already. Yeah, I'm that good at wasting time when needed. Should I go back to my class? Nah. It was way too nice a day to stay locked up in a school.

Jacket in hand, I made my way out the front doors.

Really, it was too easy.

The area around the school was very ghetto. There was graffiti everywhere and everyone that walked by were like those creepy people who always wore black jackets with their hoods up - even in the summer heat. Creepy, right? So as I walked, I kept my chin up and my eyes moving.

I saw a moving shadow out of the corner of my eye. Heart racing, I turned around. Nothing there. I walked faster. Where was I even going? I decided on stopping by a nearby coffee shop. The coffee wasn't the best, but it was a public place - just in case. I heard fast footsteps.

"I have pepper spray!" I shouted, realizing how dumb it sounded. I should've said I had a black belt. Nevertheless, I grabbed my wimpy bottle of cheap pepper spray and held it out in front of me, looking all around. The only thing that moved was a dead leaf across the road.

I jumped back when I felt a pressure on my foot and froze. What I saw shocked me. It was so unexpected I could only hang my mouth open and curse myself for my stupidity.

A small, golden retriever puppy was staring up at me with wide, dark eyes and a huge smile.

"Hey there, sweetie," I cooed while putting my pepper spray back in my bag. "Where do you live?"

I ran my hands through it's - wait a second - his fur to look for a collar. His fur was tangled and messy and oily, but there was no collar. He barely even had a stomach, it was so thin.

"You're coming with me, alright? I'll get you all better." I turned to walk, holding out my hand as if to tell him to follow me, but he stayed sitting where he was. I bit my lip, trying to think of a solution. I had put a box of poptarts in my bag a while ago in case I ever forgot breakfast. I unwrapped one and held it out to the puppy.

He ate it in less than five seconds and stood beside me. I broke the other one in quarters and gave him one piece at a time. If he ate too much too much too quickly, he would throw it all up. Soon enough, the puppy was following me everywhere I walked.

I made my way back to the school, where my car was parked. I picked up the fragile dog and placed him in the passenger seat of my car. Unfortunately for me, scared puppies in new places tend to... Well... Urinate.

Awesome.

"I need to give you a name so I can start scolding you." what was I even going to do with a puppy? There's no way I'd take him to the pound. He'd be put down after three days. But I seriously doubt my parents would ever let me keep a puppy I found right off the street.

I studied his golden fur. "Sheesh. You're more trouble than you're worth already." I shook my head side to side and made my way to the nearest Petsmart.


"Alrighty, Buster. Green, or brown?" I looked at his puppy-dog face, currently residing in a shopping cart. Well, it's not like I could set him down in the middle of the store without a leash, much less without a collar. Which brings me back to my question – a green collar, or a brown one?

I held both collars up to his fur. "Aggh. It's no use. You're too dirty to be able to tell what color would go with your fur better!" I put one hand on my hip and waved a finger in his face. "And I was planning on not spending all of my last pay check here. Shame."

The whole time, he simply smiled up at me and wagged his tail as if he had no idea I was scolding him at all. Giving up, I rolled his shopping cart-seat to the back of the store.

"Hi!" I greeted. "This little pup needs a wash and a groom."

The woman behind the counter examined Buster with her unusually long nails. "Where's 'is colla'?" She smacked her gum.

Not knowing their policies on stray dogs, I blurted "Lost it. I'm getting a new one right now. But he's just so dirty I wasn't sure which color would look best." She only stared at me with half-lidded eyes. "So, um, how long will it be?"

"Thirty minutes… give or take." She lifted Buster out of his makeshift seat, fake nails digging into his joints. Poor dog… he must've thought I was abandoning him right then and there, judging by the look on his face.

"I'll be back, sweetie!" I promised. "I just have to pick up a few things, 'kay? Be good!"

I waved goodbye and walked through the birds section to get to dogs. I would have to decide on the color of his collar later. I spent the thirty minutes shopping for things such as a dog bed, food, bowls, squeaky toys, treats, and a small bell to hang on the door. I would teach him to ring the bell to let me know when he needed to go out to use the… well, the outdoors.

Oh, and a little doggie-jacket, of course! It was still chilly out!

After the short period of time, I returned to the back of the store to pick up Buster. He was unrecognizable! Instead of his fur being a dull color and rather matted together, he was almost white-gold, with sleek fur. He was still skinny, but otherwise looked like any puppy with a good home. His face lit up when he saw me, and he started prancing around the tabletop with a wagging tail, knocking all the bottles over.

"Eighty-six dollars, and hurry up! He's destroying the place!"

I quickly handed over my debit account card for her to ring up and took my sweet puppy back from fake-nails lady. His puppy breath was left all over my face in slobbery licks. "Settle, boy, settle!" I said, but I couldn't help but giggle.

I paid for my things and headed straight home. Mom and Dad were still at work. Man, they'd be furious with me once they found out about Buster. Ah well, I'd deal with them when the time came.

"Ready to see your new home, buddy?"

He stared at me blankly. Well, here goes. I scooped him up and carried him through the front door with me. He really was much more pleasant to hold after the bath.

"Go explore," I said to him, setting him down on the floor. He sniffed around awkwardly with his tail between his legs.

I moved forward into the kitchen, where I found a pile of books on the counter. A hastily-scribbled note rested on the top.

Sakura,

Here's your homework for tonight. Sorry you missed so much!

There was no signature, but only one person had a key to my house along with my locker combination to get the books.

Ino.

I tore the note in half, scoffing at the pathetic attempt to win my affections over. Nevertheless, I read over the list of homework. Not too much. I attempted to read an excerpt from my English textbook, but my mind kept wandering. Was Ino truly sorry about what she did? Well, of course. I saw her face when I confronted her about it. But why would she do that? I know she liked sex and all, but more than her best friend? Ha. It would be horribly funny if she lost all of her close friends and then Sasuke ditched her too. Horrible, but still funny from my perspective.

I didn't dare let my thoughts travel to Sasuke.

Buster. How would I deal with my parents about it? Countless lies piled up in my head. I'm just watching him for a friend… I bought him from a pet shop… No, he wasn't homeless, are you crazy? Just then, a thought popped into my head.

How could I be so dumb! Buster was homeless!

I poured him a bowl of dog food from the store and a bowl of water. He eyed it suspiciously, but eventually came and ate. As I watched him eat, making sure he didn't gulp down food too quickly, I thought about some more common problems. What if he had some sort of diseases? Fleas? Did he have all of his shots?

I think I finally knew what my parents meant when they said having a dog was just too expensive. Nevertheless, I made a note to myself to take him to the vet after school the next day. No matter the cost, he was way too loveable to give up.

"Fuck this!" My anger surprised even me. I slammed my books and papers onto the floor, but that didn't completely alleviate my frustration. Tearing into my forearm with my teeth, I let out a shriek of pure, raw emotion.

"Sakura! Stop that this instant!"

Oh, no. Not mom. Not now. My whole body froze in terror, and my ears twitched, listening for her footsteps coming near me.

"What in the world," she said from behind me, "was that about? I know I raised you better than that."

My first instinct was to defend my ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend with every lie or excuse I could think of. But then rationality took over. They did the crime, they have no right to be defended by me.

"Sasuke cheated on me with Ino."

My mother was silent for a moment, absorbing what I said.

"So you resort to acting like a barbarian?" Her words made my heart sink. "Sakura, I'm very sorry about what happened to you but in this household, ladies act like ladies." She put a firm hand on my shoulder. "Now clean this up. I also expect the entire first floor to be clean by tomorrow. Consider this your punishment for your foul behavior."

Tears welled in my eyes as she removed her hand from my shoulder. She said all that without even a glance at my face. Where was the sympathy? Where was the pity? Where was the comfort of a mother? I had tracks of moisture down my cheeks by the time I bent down to pick up my discarded papers.

It was going to be a long night. She hadn't even seen Buster yet.

If you noticed the Harry Potter reference, hit me up. If not, shame on you.