((AN: And thus, this is updated!))

"Singing"- Trent
"Singing"- Flare
"Singing"-Both

I don't remember walking back to the camp that night, let alone climbing up to the roof and falling asleep. But, alas, that's where I woke up the next morning to the sound of a door creaking open one the male side of the Screaming Gophers cabin. Who the hell would be up at... I checked the sun and realized the sky was still the gray-lavender color of predawn. What completely idiotic moron would be up before the sun? I peaked over the edge of the roof and recognized the bouncy Elvis-style hair of Trent. He had his guitar with him, the strap over his shoulder so it hung by his waist.

I admit it, I'm nosy. The hell is he doing up so earlier? I waited while he swung his head back and forth, searching for any person that would be awake. And this is why I love sleeping on roofs. No one ever thinks to look up. Finding no one, he started to head toward the dock where we all got off yesterday. I looked for a way to get down, not wanting to alert him. With nothing better to use, I climbed down the tree next to the cabin and landed without a sound. Ha, ninja Flare strikes again!

Trent was almost out of camp. I'd have to be quick to catch up, but quiet as to not get caught. If I could follow him to the dock without him knowing, then I would officially be the coolest ninja ever. I'd have to make Ember buy me a Konoha[1]headband from Hot Topic. I did my best to make my feet fall silently, keeping one eye on Trent and one eye on my path. I've seen way too many shows and movies where the tracking person gives themselves away by stepping on a twig or dislodging a rock. And people say you can't learn anything by watching tv, ha!

He stopped suddenly and I tensed, ready to dive if he turned. But all he did was shirt his guitar from hanging by his waist to resting on his back. But the motion seemed a bit too... I don't know if casual is the word to use, but it certainly didn't seem right to me! It was like he knew something was up, but he didn't want to give himself away. My guess was he'd be on his guard now. To busy myself until it was safe to follow him again, I studied his instrument.

Even to someone who knew nothing about guitar maintenance, it would be clear he took good care of his. The wood was polished to a finish that shone brightly even without the sun. The strings were shiny and slack, ready to be tightened and tuned whenever the musician wanted to play. The strap was polished as well, and was made of black leather. I couldn't see from the distance if it had a buckle, but I was willing to bet that it did.

I almost whistled aloud. That thing must be damn expensive to maintain. I thought it was safe to go now, so I crept forward with silent steps. I kept my body steady, breathing with the wind. Each time he stopped, so did I. Every time he went forward, I followed. It wasn't long until he sat down on the dock with his guitar in his lap and began to tune it.

I did a small mental jig in my hiding spot behind a tree. Mission accomplished! I'd followed him the entire way without getting caught. I am now the awesomest ninja ever! Am I good or what? I was so wrapped up in my celebration that I missed when he started to play, but my attention was caught when he began to sing.

"Every time we lie awake,
after every hit we take..."

Totally didn't see that coming. Trent has never struck me as a Three Days Grace type of guy. It's way too easy for me to picture him shmoozing to smooth jazz or Barry Manilow or even that guy people on Youtube refer to as Rick-Roll. I can never remember his name...

"Every feeling that I get,
but I haven't missed you yet..."

He's actually not that bad, at both singing and playing. A bit strained on the low notes, but that will fade with practice if he goes after a music career. Without acknowledging the thought, I moved out from behind the tree and sang the next part in my real voice.

"Every roommate kept awake,
by every sigh and scream we make..."

He didn't jump or scream or yelp or do anything to suggest he was startled. Instead, he just turned his head and smiled a knowing smile. Just as I'd thought, he knew he was being followed the entire time. Perhaps Elvis has better instincts than I'd given him credit for... Without my permission, my feet carried me forward as he continued with the lyrics. Freaking traitors, I'd cut them off if they weren't needed for walking and such.

"Every feeling that I get,
but I still don't miss you yet,
only when I stop to think about it..."

It was like, at that moment, our minds connected. Without even one single glance or noise, we both knew what was coming next. At the exact same moment, without any prompting, we sang the chorus together.

"I hate everything about you!
Why do I love you?
I hate everything about you!
Why do I love you?"

He changed pitch at the precise moment it would in the song, right after the lyrics end. I was so surprised by this because not even I could do it that I let out small exultant laugh. He gave me a questioning look, but by that time it was time for the next verse. Like a true professional, Trent just ignored it and let me take the next verse. My, what chivalry he doth show!

"Every time we lie awake,
after every hit we take,
but I haven't missed you yet.
Only when I stop to think about it...

"I hate everything about you!
Why do I love you?
I have everything about you!
Why do I love you?

"Only when I stop to think about you,
I know...

"Only when you stop to think about me,
do you know?

"I hate everything about you!
Why do I love you?
You hate everything about me!
Why do you love me?

"I hate...
"You hate...
"I hate...
"You love me!

"I hate everything about you!
Why do I love you?"

The last twang of the song floated off in the air. Trent and I sat there in a comfortable silence, watching the far-off horizon grow brighter. I broke the silence with a yawn. "What the hell are we doing here before sunrise, Trent?" I asked harshly while rubbing my eye, He raised an eyebrow and seemed about to retort when I said, "Think about your answer. The only reason I haven't already pushed you into the water is curiosity."

The eyebrow went further up, and he shied away from me a bit. "I wasn't going to say anything insulting, but it's nice to know." Thus, I lose the element of surprise. Dammit. "And it was a tradition for me and my mother to watch the sun rise. She died three years ago, and I've been keeping up the tradition to honor her." Well, don't I feel like a bitch and a half? Part of me must have shown the regret, because he shrugged and said, "We lose our loved ones, but life goes on."

I could go two ways with this. I could say something all wise and shit and ruin the image I'm trying to create, or go completely off topic and hopefully distract him. Mental coin flip says tails, distract him. "So, who did the Pansy Trouts vote off last night?" Again with the eyebrow. Seriously, I'm going to shave it off one night when he's sleeping. "Was that for the nickname or the topic?" I asked, pointing at his face.

He thought and said, "Both, probably. But I'll go along with it. I think it might have been Ezekiel, but it could just as easily have been Courtney or DJ. They were the only ones to not jump." Logic, thy name is Trent. Fucking logic. "We'll find out later, though, once the teams wake up." He played a few random chords before saying, "You're a good singer, Flare. Almost like you know what you're talking about. Any secret crushes I should know about?"

He said it in a joking manner, but I still narrowed my eyes at him. "Was that an indirect way of asking if I'm secretly pining after Juvie Brat like a love struck goober?" He grinned at me and leaned away to fend off my hit. "No, I have no crushes you need to worry about." At least, not here at camp. "What about you, Elvis? Anyone special for you? And don't say no, because I've seen the way you make googly eyes at Gwen."

Ha, Trent looks like he's trying not to fart. His face was screwed up into something that looked half sheepish, half defiant. "I don't know what you're talking about." I just gave him one of my 'don't give me that bullshit' looks and he melted with a silly grin. "Yeah, she is pretty great, isn't she? I wouldn't mind talking to her a bit more to find out more about her."

By this point, the sky had lightened up into a rosy color. The sun should be spilling over into the sky any second now. For a second, I pondered on how reversed it was. I never woke up earlier than needed. I've never seen the sunrise, only sunsets. It felt weird to watch the sky go from dark blue to lavender to rose instead of rose to lavender to dark blue. Turning away from the delightfully pretty scene, I clapped my hands together and beamed at him. "Well then, that's your goal for the day, isn't it? Interest Gwenny-dear enough to make her want to talk to you." He made a face that had me laughing. "Don't even ask, I come up with nicknames for everyone." He nodded and I leaped to my feet. "Not that this isn't riveting, but I'm gonna go back to sleep. Enjoy your dawn thing!" He didn't answer as I turned and walked away from the pier. Instead he began to play another Three Days Grace song.

"This world will never be
what I expected.
And if I don't belong,
who would have guessed it?"

Talented little bugger, ain't he? I'll miss him when one of us is voted off. I have no delusions about me winning. By the time teams are eliminated, I'll have made too many enemies to last long. Heather will most likely see me as a threat. Once I'm not needed, she'll convince others to get rid of me. Not that Juvie Brat or Courtney will need convincing, but still, my point is proven!

"You're up early." The drawl made me jump, but I recognized Noah before I went for my pocket knife again. The scholar was leaning against a tree lazily, flipping through a book. Snorting at him, I bit my thumb in his direction, knowing he'd pick up the nonverbal reference. He rolled his eyes and said, "Very mature. Do you even know what that means?" Thumb go down, middle finger go up. I caught his smirk before his face went back to bored. "'Do you bite your thumb at me, sir?'"

Noah doubts me. Time to make bite-sized scholar eat his words! "'Not at you, sir, but I do bite my thumb.'[2] Don't mess with me, Noah. I can do far worse to you than you can imagine." His turn to snort. And that was the end of our transaction. He went back to reading and I continued on my way. Still, I think I managed to gain a bit of respect from him. When I got back to camp, I almost groaned out loud. Yet another person was there to prevent me from napping, and it was one of the most unexpected people ever. "What can I do for you, Heather?"

The queen bee was sitting on the steps, apparently waiting for me to return. She looked as tired as I felt, with dark circles under her eyes, but her narrowed eyes were hard with determination. She stood as I approached, then seemed to regret showing such respect. "I have a proposition for you, Flare." Those words caused me to pause and look at her with new found curiosity. There goes my nap. "You said yesterday that we could do great things together. You said that I was the only person you could trust to be strong, to not give in to weakness." I nodded slowly, not saying anything. "I'm returning the favor by asking you to join me. I have a plan to get me and three others to the final four, and you're one of the ones I've chosen."

Interesting. "You're suggesting an alliance." It wasn't a question. She nodded, and we measured each other for a few silent minutes. "Give me until the next challenge to decide. This thing that you're suggesting is on a grand scale here, Heather. Out of 23 contestants, you expect me to believe you can take all four of us without anyone voting us off? That's a big risk, and I'm not sure how willing I'd be to take it."

She nodded. "Until the next challenge, then. But I warn you, Flare," she leaned forward threateningly, "if you aren't with me, you're against me. And those against me usually don't last very long." Then she left to go do whatever it is that evil witches do after trying their damned hardest to intimidate someone and failing miserably. I snorted to myself at that thought. Did she really think that pathetic display would scare me? I was ready to beat down Juvie Brat on day one. What the hell makes her think that threatening words would make me a coward?

Still, though, it might be better if she thought she was holding the reins. I'll need to tell Leshawna and Gwen so they don't think I'm a traitor. That side-thought brought on a barrage of different thoughts, of feelings and memories that I had to sort through. Were allies and friends the same thing? I didn't think so. An alliance was just two sides working together to work towards a single goal. You didn't have to like the other side to have an alliance, but being friends with someone you hate would be difficult. Would I be able to stay friends with Gwen and Leshawna while having an alliance with Heather? I'd have to work to make them understand, but it might be worth it. So I think that, yes, I'd be able to speak with all three of them.

Instead of climbing on to the roof, I plopped myself where Heather had been sitting and took out my pocket knife. The blade clicked in and out of the handle with every flick of my wrist. The shine of it made me smile; I kept as good a care of my weapon as Trent did his guitar. Now I had to think. Who would the other two people be? I knew Heather, or at the very least Heather's type. She'd need people who were easy to manipulate, either by fear or tricky words. Maybe Cody? All Heather would have to do is lean over a bit and he'd happily let any bears in the area eat him. But no, he has his heart set on Gwen.

So who else? I've seen the popular cliques in school. The chicks tended to draw together, whether they realized it or not. So Heather would probably feel most comfortable with Lindsey. The blond was dumb enough to do whatever she was told without complaint. So yes, Lindsay would probably be chosen as an alliance member. That left one spot open.

What would I do if I were orchestrating an alliance? Breach as many walls as I could. A male would be best, so that we could get extra votes when ever they were needed. But the only guy on our team that could be persuasive enough to convince the others is Trent, and he wouldn't vote with Heather just because I asked him to. He'd want a reason, and I doubt 'because Heather said so' would fly. In fact, if I used that as an excuse, I bet it would take a flying leap off that stupid cliff from yesterday, become a fireball from the friction against the air, and then splat on the ground because the fire around it had been so hot that it evaporated all of the water before it could put it out. That's the painful way for the excuse to die, so I'd better save it's sorry ass and not use it.

So into my imaginary splattered excuse was I that I nearly missed movement from the opposite cabin. Eva emerged from the female side, already alert and fiddling with her mp3 player. She paused when she saw me watching. We stared at each other awkwardly at first before she came over. "Hey runt. Want me to wake up DJ?"

I had a hell of a time not wincing at being called runt. I know I'm short, no need to rub it in! "No, I'm good. Thanks though! You going running?" She nodded. "Do me a favor and avoid the dock. Trent is there with his guitar, and he needs to think a few things over." She nodded and took off in the opposite direction of Trent. "Thanks Eva!" No response. Either she ignored me or she already put her music in.

About 20 more flicks of the blade later, another person came out. This one came from the male side of the Killer Bass Cabin. It was with surprise that I watched Juvie Brat stumble out into the sunlight, blinking sleep from his eyes. I don't think it worked quite as well as he'd hoped, because he walked right past me without so much as a side-glance and in the direction of the showers.

If I wanted to talk to DJ without an argument, now would be the time to get him. But that choice went against everything my instincts were telling me. All I had inside of me, from my brain to my heart to my spleen, was telling me that now was the time to prank. Not that my spleen got a say in it, I just thought it was a funny word. Who decides what our innards are called, anyway? Who discovered what the spleen or liver did, pointed at them, and said, "I name that the blah"? Maybe I want to name my kidneys Frank and Bill, who could really tell me otherwise?

I thought about my current thought process and quickly shook my head. Maybe I should go grab an extra hour of sleep. DJ would still be around when I wake up and think normally, right? And what's the point of humiliating Juvie Brat when no one else is around to laugh at him? It would just be us two, and we'd probably kill each other before we were stopped. Probably best to avoid provoking an argument until later. Let sleeping dogs lie and all that. Honestly, I thought a sleeping Flare sounded a lot better.

Just as I reached that conclusion, one of my teammates came from the male side. I don't know why I did what I did next. Just because I decided against angering Juvie Brat for now doesn't mean I can't creep out my team. Glaring down at my abdominal area, I growled, "Don't you dare start up today, Jill. I have enough problems without asking McClain to get me pads." The steps that were coming toward me stopped suddenly, and I inwardly gave a Cheshire Cat grin. My stomach chose that moment to growl at me. I instinctively pressed a hand against it and said, "Don't growl at me, Harry. I know going without food the entire day yesterday was a bad idea." It growled again, and I growled back, "Don't make me come in there to shut you up!" It growled a third time, and I snapped, "It's not my fault I'm stupid! You can blame Jackson for that!" And I tapped my head for emphasis.

A quiet cough made me look at Cody, staring at me while looking quite weirded out. I almost laughed out loud. It seemed the spirits that be have chosen Cody to be the main target of my creeper moments. "Um, are you okay Flare? You seem to be... uh... talking to your organs?" He said it with such an innocently confused voice that I had to physically stifle a giggle. "It also seems to me that you... named them?"

This time the giggle escaped, and I coughed to make it seem nervous. "Why, Cody, I have no idea what you're talking about! Maybe I'll mention that to the doctors doing the autop- I mean your parents when they pick you up." He took a step back before my stomach growled yet again, and I slapped my belly lightly and muttered, "Shut up Harry!"

The curiosity and fear that had been showing on his face gave way to concern. The change was so unexpected that I abandoned my game to blink. "Maybe you should eat today, Flare. Maybe Chef only made that disgusting stuff yesterday because we were on camera. He can't really be trying to give us all food poisoning, could he?" I couldn't tell if he was trying to convince me or himself. "Come on, we can see if the cafeteria is open! We'll have some scrambled eggs and toast, maybe some sausage."

I waved my hand and said, "You go ahead. I don't eat breakfast anyway. If the food today is edible, you can tell me. If not, I'll find a river or stream somewhere and catch some fish. Until then," I stood and stretched, my tank top riding up to show my naval and the sun tattoo surrounding it, "I'm going back to sleep. Send someone to wake me at noon if I haven't shown up by then." He nodded and watched as I jumped over the banister and climbed up my tree. "And yes, I'm sleeping on the roof."

Out of sight, I heard him give a squeaky laugh before his footsteps receded. Safe from prying eyes, I crawled to a corner of the roof and curled up into a ball. A small bit of homesickness hit me. If I'd been home, Ember and Ash would be beside me. They were the ones who got me into the habit of sleeping in the open. The fourth of my group could never see the appeal. I passed into sleep then, and my dreams were filled with happy green eyes and a beautiful smile.

It felt like only a minute later when voices woke me up. Grumbling violently to myself, I pulled my knees tightly to my chest and tried to go to sleep. The crackling of bark and leaves pervaded my efforts. More talking turned into yelling, and the yelling turned into a high-pitched shriek when there was a crack followed by a hard thud. By this time, I could recognize the voices as Leshawna and Cody.

Leshawna's voice was annoyed. "I told you not to put your foot there, didn't I?" She was answered with a short grunt of pain. "And I can't go up there, on account of mama's big tush. Yo Flare! Time to get up hon!" Time to shut the hell up and let me go back to sleep, hon. "You told the lil' white boy to wake you at noon, didn't you? It's past twelve now!"

Looks like my nap time is over. I uncurled myself from my ball with a sigh and crawled on all fours to peek over the edge, snorting at what I saw. Cody was just sitting up, his hand rubbing his bottom with a pained look on his face. Leshawna was looking up at me with her arms crossed. "For future reference, " I growled, "just get DJ to climb up. He's used to getting up trees in order to find me." She looked ready to comment when I held my hand up and scoffed. "No, wait, let me guess. You did ask him, but he's become afraid of leaves in the past six months. Why not, he's afraid of everything else."

The two on the ground shared a look at my comment before Cody pushed himself all the way up. "Right... Well, anyway, Trent was looking for you. Something about a song he decided to write." He shrugged once before turning his head slightly and scoffing. "Typical. Man brings a guitar and every women he speaks to wants him." He walked away, and his voice floated back to us as he continued to speak to himself. "No, I won't give up! I will win Gwen's heart!"

Cody's voice faded with Leshawna and me looking after him. Leshawna put her fists on her hips and said, "Huh. Last time I saw a man that depressed, his truck engine died and he had to scrap it." I sighed before pushing myself over the edge and grabbing hold of a branch. I let my momentum carry me back and forth until my swinging stopped before dropping to the ground in a crouch. She raised an eyebrow and cocked her hips to the side. "Don't your hands get all messed up doing that without gloves?"

You have no idea. I could feel my hands throbbing already, so I casually placed them in my pockets and snorted. "Only if you're a dumb-ass. I'm the exact opposite. I'm such a smart-ass that I might as well be labeled brilliant." She laughed a small bit. "Do you know where Trent went? Cody never said anything before he started talking about how nonexistent his love life is." Of course, if he'd stop being so pathetic with his flirting, that might change.

The large woman waved her hand in the general direction of the cafeteria. "Last I saw, he was headed in the direction of the cafeteria. Everyone should still be there, we only just had lunch before coming to find you." She made a disgusted face and stuck out her tongue. "Sloppy Joe that was more sloppy than joe. I hope you don't plan on starving yourself until they serve us some real food."

Unfortunately, that was exactly what I was planning on doing. Looks like that survival training Uncle Pike made me go through will actually come in handy. "Remind me to remind DJ to remind me to thank our uncle next family reunion." I said lightly. Internally laughing at her confused face, I began to make my way toward the food area. I didn't hear footsteps following me, so I assumed I was on my own. Good, that means I can think.

Why would Trent be searching for me? He knows we'll be seeing each other later. What couldn't wait for me to come find him? Cody said something about a song. Maybe he decided how he was going to woo Gwen? Good for him, but he shouldn't want or need my help. Wasn't it a male pride thing to never accept help from a woman? That's what Ash and he always said, anyway. Then again, they are always competing with each other.

Raised voices brought a frown to my face. I was still quite a bit away from the Mess Hall. Either the others were outside or people are loud. And unless I've been sleep-walking, someone has been doing my job of pissing people off. How dare they? I'm going to have to hurt someone now.

By the time the building came into view, worry was overriding my sarcastic violent side. No one was here to greet me. The yelling was definitely coming from inside. Even more startling was the fact that the voices sounded mysteriously like a certain Elvis-haired musician and cousin of mine. Now I've heard DJ yell before, but mostly in fear. The anger I heard in his tone made me wonder just what Trent was saying to cause such a reaction from my normally peaceable kin.

I hadn't realized my feet had stopped moving before a sudden howl propelled me forward. The doors swung open in time for me to catch a stumbling Trent, holding his face. DJ stood about two yards behind him, being held back by both Juvie Brat and Geoff. I was so surprised and shocked at the turn of events that I overlooked how strange the reversed position of usually snarling Duncan holding back the usually cowardly DJ was.

Trent turned to face DJ without even a word to me, and crouched down as if to lunge. The moment I saw the tell in his muscles, I grabbed the back of his shirt. Feet went forward, head came back, and gravity did the rest. Poor Trent, it must really have a grudge against him or something. The air rushed out of him in a whoosh when his chest hit the floor. He began to get up, but I placed a food on his chest, pointed at him, and said in a commanding voice, "Stay."

No nod, no grunt, no nothing. The only thing he did was fall back and lay there. Good boy, I'll get Gwen to give you a treat later. Now I just had to take care of DJ. Standing half-way between Elvis and Cousin, I flicked my hand side to side to signal releasing him. Both boys did so quickly, Juvie Brat looking slightly annoyed at me giving him an order. He probably only did what I said because he knew he wouldn't be able to hold the behemoth by himself.

DJ was probably seeing red with how angry he seemed. He wouldn't know who he was fighting. The moment his arms were released, he shot forward and cannoned into me. I let myself fall with the hit and jammed my knee into his chest, using my other foot to push him up into the air. The combined force of my knee and foot, along with his own momentum, actually caused him to sail over my body. As quickly as I could, I grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pivoted- rather painfully, mind you!- on my shoulder and flipped us so that he was slammed into the ground.

The jock lay stunned for a bit, his eyes squeezed shut. My guess was he was waiting for the bells to stop ringing. Fine with me, I'll just wait on his chest until he's stable again. It didn't take long before he blinked his beady little eyes and looked at me in confusion. "Flare? Why are you pinning me to the ground?" He looked behind me and saw Trent, lying on the ground behind me. His eyes widened in shock. "Uh oh. Did I do that?"

Well, at least he's back to the normal, cowardly, squeaky, terrified at confrontation boy I knew. I got off of him, leaving it to his teammates to pick him up. "Yes, DJ, you did. And if you had pummeled anyone besides my friend, I'd no doubt be proud of you. However, since it is Trent currently lying motionless on the floor, it begs me to ask the question... WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

He squeaked and dove behind Juvie Brat, who looked very annoyed at being used as a meat shield. Ha, as if I'd actually mind punching his pierced nose into his rain. "He started it! He came in here, asking if anyone had seen you. When we all said no, he started freaking out and saying we needed to search for you and I said that you're probably still asleep and you'll be fine and he said that I didn't care and that I was just trying to give my team the advantage and then I said-"

For lack of anything else nearby, I took my shoe and threw it at him. "DJ, breathe!" I demanded as he gasped. He'd said all of that in one breath. Any other time, I'd be impressed. Since he's trying to explain something relatively important, I think it'd be better if he didn't pass out when he was done. When he got his breath back, I said, "Here's what I got: Trent came in here, looking for me." He nodded. "Everyone here said no." He nodded again. "Trent wanted to look for me and, under assumption, tried to get you guys to look as well. You, DJ, disagreed." Another nod. "I still don't see how a fist fight could come from this."

It wasn't DJ who answered me. "Maybe if you hadn't interrupted him, you would have heard the rest of it." Juvie Brat growled. He stood with arms crossed and a glare fixed on me, but he made no movement to step away from DJ. This intrigued me. It wasn't because I thought I could beat him without being touched. Contrary to what I had convinced my team to believe, I didn't think I was going to get out of our inevitable fight unscathed. All the people I know who'd been to Juvenile Hall would leave any coward to defend himself.

However, that was a contemplation for another time. For now, I just scowled at him. "He was starting to turn blue from the lack of air!" The last time I'd seen someone that shade was when Ember had dressed her baby brother as a smurf for Halloween. Don't get me wrong, it was one of the most adorable things I'd ever seen, but that shade should never be natural! "And besides, I didn't ask for your input!"

He snorted before retorting, "You're getting it anyway! Besides, it's your teammate's fault." My eyes narrowed, prompting a condescending laugh from him. "Oh, now you want the full story? Too bad, you're not getting it from us. Now take your team and leave."

I felt my mouth drop open. The nerve of that arrogant, narcissistic prick! He has no right to kick anyone out of anywhere! I had half a mind to tell him that! Wait, half a mind? I'm going to tell him! "Why don't you try to make me, you arrogant narcissistic-"

Hands clamped over my wrists and dragged me off balance to be dragged away towards the door. I looked up to see Leshawna- when did she get here? - and Owen each gripping me. The blond boy had Trent thrown sloppily over one shoulder. Leshawna gave me a knowing glare. "Just do what he says. You can kick his juvenile patoot on air, when the whole world can see it."

I paused to ponder this before a large smile overtook my face and I nodded happily. The two largest members of the Screaming Gophers let me go and I stood, ready to follow them like an obediant woman. Then Juvie stopped me by saying, "Oi, Flare!" And like the twit I am, I turned to see what was oh-so-important that he had to stop me from doing what he wanted just in time to have my own shoe flung at my face. "Forgot this." he said with a cocky grin.

The man-eating sharks would have cowered at the enraged yell I gave.

Six hours later and I still hadn't calmed down from the afternoon's encounter. I realize that that is indeed a long time to remain angry over a single event, but I hold grudges well! I hadn't stopped ranting since I'd dragged my teammate out here. "And his mother was a hamster and his father smelt of elder berries!" I finished with the famous Monty Python quote[3]. Gotta love Monty Python, even when furious.

The raven-haired teenager looked rather bored, lounging against a tree while checking her nails. "Are you done yet?" she asked bluntly. Feh, could have left at any time you dolt. Far be it from me to knock you unconscious, tie you to a tree and wait for you to wake up to continue my rant. "Good. Now why the hell did you drag me out here?"

I stopped my pacing in fron to fher and tried to look the most serious I have been since we got here yesterday. "Isn't isn't just a competition for me anymore. I don't care if I win or lose this whole thing. All that matters is bringing Juvie Brat down. The longer I stay here, the more chance I have of doing that." I stood as tall as I could without looking ridiculous and tilting my chin proudly. "Heather, I accept your proposal of an alliance."

As I saw her lips curl into a satisfied smile, a feeling like that of doomsday came over me. Why do I feel like I just did the stupidest thing ever?


[1]: Konoha- also known as Village Hidden in the Leaves. From Naruto, which I don't own!

[2]: Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare. Act one, scene one. Biting your thumb at someone, in Shakespearian time, basically meant flipping them all. This line is basically going, "No, I'm not flipping you off, I'm just holding up my middle finger in your direction." Don't own.

[3]: Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Seriously, gotta love that line. Don't own anything.