Thank you so much for waiting so long for this next chapter! [Insert usual disclaimer] :) Enjoy!

Chapter Six

That night, Gracey fell asleep beside me. Every once and a while, I could hear a soft hiccup, muffled by my thick sheets. I was glad that she was finally sleeping peacefully--earlier she had been whimpering and tossing and turning. Now, as i looked at her she was the exact picture of tranquility. Her small hands were comfortably tucked beneath the pillow and her thick, dark eyelashes fluttered slightly as she dreamed. She breathed softly through her barely parted lips. I smirked and turned so that I was facing away from her.

I, on the other hand, could hardly keep my eyes closed, much less sleep. The fact that my mother was still alive blew me away! And I still couldn't stop thinking about what I heard Miss Manderline say. I didn't mention it to her, and once I was finished blubbering, I ran to my room for some well-needed music therapy.

Miss Manderline mentioned later that Mother would arrive around the time of my birthday. I don't know why, but I just couldn't feel happy--it just wasn't there. I'd shoved the emptiness aside and faked enthusiasm. I think she believed it--or, if she didn't, she at least pretended to.

I rolled over so that I lay on my back and stared at the ceiling. Unfortunately, final exams are tomorrow and I have--I glanced at my clock--a little less than two hours before my first class began. Time to get up, I guess.

I didn't bother with breakfast, but I mainly focused on my appearence. I took great care in combing my hair and i made sure that there wasn't a single smudge in my eyeliner. I picked my newest, cleanest sneakers (the majority of them are horribly dirty and they're falling apart) and, instead of a band t-shirt like I usually wear, i picked a light blue formfitting shirt with stars that were a slightly darker shade snaking down the side of my torso, and the sleeves went down to my elbow. I paired this with a scruffy pair of jeans--hey, you can't be perfect all of the time. I tugged at my short sleeves secretly hoping that they would suddenly shoot out to fit normal wrist length, and I fought the urge to grab one of my baggy hoodies. I slid my silver-studded belt through the loops of my jeans and studied myself in the mirror. Perfect.

I could faintly hear Gracey call out, "Stacy! Time to go! We don't want to be late!" I groaned and trudged down the stairs. Since when did she care if I was late to school or not anyway? She usually just let when she left and if I wasn't awake and ready when it was "time to go" I was abandoned.

"Gracey waited for me at the bottom of the stairs, impatiently tapping her fingernails on our wooden rail. Her expression softened when she saw me and she stepped away from the staircase while averting her eyes from my gaze.

"How much sleep did you get last night?" she laughed softly before continuing, "I'm sure I must have slept like a baby, but it feels like I didn't actually sleep until the last five minutes!" She flashed an embarrassed smile and awaited my answer.

I considered telling her that a professional insomniac probably had more sleep than I did last night, but, for some reason, I decided to lie.

"Yeah, I know what you mean! I got eight full hours and I still feel a little heavy. So are you ready for final exams?" She snorted and rolled her eyes and began heading to the door.

"Ready as one can be. Let's head out now. We'll be late, plus we can't just keep him waiting there."

"Him? Who's him?" Even though I quite obviously failed to understand her meaning, she still chose to ignore me like I was a dead stick in the mud. Well, as dead as a stick can get anyway...

I followed her out the door to leave and the minute I exited that lovely doorway of ours I saw him. Yes, that's right. The him. And that particular him that we all obviously should know just by using the pronoun "him" is...well...Goten.

"Hey! Thanks for agreeing to pick me up! And my sister too!" Gracey turned her head briefly in my direction as a way to gesture toward my existence. Hmph. "We both appreciate it very much--"

"Yes, thank you," I made my way to his car and got in in the backseat--something tells me that the passenger seat is reserved for my sister. I got all my stuff settled in the back of his car leaving just enough space for my body to fit on at least half of one of the seats. Once I felt satisfied with accomplishing my goal of taking up as much room as humanly possible I looked up to see Gracey glaring at me. So much for that sisterly love, huh?

Goten was staring at me with a puzzled expression on his face, but after a few moments of silence he burst out laughing and took his place in the driver seat. Gracey followed reluctantly behind, but she sat in the passenger seat, of course--I told you it was reserved for her.

We arrive at school safe-and-sound and perfectly on time. Gracey leaned over and gave Goten a peck on the kiss and I knew that that was my cue to get the hell out of there. I grabbed my belongings and shut the door and hurried away from his car. I was almost to the front door when I heard Gracey call my name. The first thing I saw was Gracey hurrying toward me with her hand in the air like I was some taxi driver or something. The second thing I saw was Trunks. He was on the sidewalk conversing with Goten. If I weren't so goddamn fascinated with this boy, that would have been all I had noticed, but I kept looking and I noticed that they were looking at me. Luckily, for the perspective they had of me, it seemed like I was looking at Gracey, so there was no fear of them watching me watch them. They both glanced at me quickly again and again, then after each glance they would go in a little huddle and whisper then pause to peek at me again. Something Goten said made Trunks smile. They looked at me again. They straightened up and quite looking as suspicious before and Goten patted Trunks on the back and they were both laughing. Trunks grabbed Goten's hand for a handshake then, before it ended, pulled Goten in for a friendly hug. When they pulled apart a few seconds later Trunks, still with a smile on his face, nodded at the still grinning Goten and jogged towards the gym.

"--but that just doesn't seem right does it?" I moved my eyes back on Gracey who was now standing by my side digging through her purse. When I didn't answer she stopped looking for whatever it was that she was looking for and stared at me.

"Um...you're right. You're totally right. It doesn't." Damn. I stumbled over my words a little bit, and I expected her to ask me about it--she hates it when she finds out people weren't listening to her when she was talking to them--but instead she smiled and continued digging in her purse until she pulled out her cell phone and a silver black pen.

"I know. I know." She met my eyes once more and giggled. "I'm always right!" At just that moment Amy pranced by with her irritatingly perfect strut.

"Come on, Gracey! We're going to be late to first period!" She really stressed the word "period" with her nasally voice in that whiny tone that I hated. Besides, I honestly think that she would probably do better in that class--which is geometry, by the way--if she didn't show up. That or she would do just as good.

I rolled my eyes and walked on, hoping to leave them behind. I dialed my locker combination, so stuck in the rut that was my daily routine that I didn't notice him standing next to me.

"Hey,"

"OH!" My reaction was quick but sloppy. I jerked back while also managing to turn around to face him but, at the same time, I dropped all of my crap on the floor and made my locker door slam against the other lockers so hard that it sounded like thunder echoing down the now empty hallway. I was breathing and my heart was beating so hard that it felt like that with each thump a vibration was sent throughout my entire body. Trunks' hearty laughter replaced the thunder and he leaned closer to me with a huge grin smacked across his face.

"Did I scare you, Stacy?" He struggled to stop laughing and backed away from me to bend down and scoop up all of my dropped items. I sighed and let out a little chuckle before shutting my locker door and answering him.

"Nah, not at all. I saw it coming." He stood up and handed me my books, but all of the enthusiasm and laughter was gone from his face. He avoided my eyes and shifted his weight to the left then to the right and to the left again. The tardy bell rang through the halls with deafening volume.

"Shit. Well, I guess we're not showing up for first period today," He stopped and ruffled his his lavender hair with his huge hands and like touching his hair triggered some kind of idiotic hair-switch, the playfulness was back in his features. "Let's go to the garden, 'kay?" He held out his hand and smiled. At first all I could do was stare at it; did he want me to take it? I guess so because it's still hanging there in the empty air. I chuckled to myself before placing my smaller more feminine hand into his bigger masculine one.

"Okay,"

We entered the garden hand in hand. Through the whole way there we had been silent, but it wasn't awkward at all like some may think. It was just peaceful...and...lovely...and special. It was a special kind of silence. A kind of silence that I don't think I've ever felt before. We approached a stone bench where he plopped down and gestured for me to do the same. I eased my body onto the cool surface and closed my eyes. I let the refreshing scent of the blossoms in the garden fill my heart with warmth accompanied with the comforting feeling of Trunks rubbing my palm with his thick thumb every couple of seconds.

"Are you busy later today? Like, this evening?" I opened my eyes and faced him. He wasn't looking at me, but instead kept rubbing my palm, almost like a ritual. I knew that I had nothing important to do today. Sure, I had homework, but that could be done in the early afternoon as soon as I got home.

"Nope. I'm free," His face turned pink with this response. I could hear him swallow and he took a few deep breaths. Now he turned and it felt like his sky blue eyes just penetrated right through me.

"Well...it's just that...I was wondering if maybe you would want to go have dinner with me tonight at the burger joint. It would--it would be just the two of us..." he looked away from me and quickly added, "If that's okay with you, that is..." He was asking me out? I felt my heartbeat quicken and pure excitement and bliss swept through me.

"Yeah! I mean, yes. Of course! That sounds fun!" I don't think I've ever smiled so big in my life. It hurt like hell, but it wouldn't go away. I had a date with Trunks Briefs!

Yaaaay! Sorry it took me so long to put up this chapter! I've been really busy lately and i just immediatly began spitting out chappie's right from the beginning and it stopped being fun... :'( But I gave myself a long--much too long really--break and now it's fun again, so hopefully you'll be seeing more chapters soon! :) Please comment and review and constructive criticism and suggestions are more than welcome. :) Thanks!

-xxASecretAffairxx