Holy… 228 hits and 11 reviews. Is this thing on! That's awesome! Thanks to everyone for reading! You're all awesome! Now for the must do's.
Writingcat730: Make things worse? You have no idea. :evil chuckle: As for how she found out, I'm thinking she's gotta be pretty sharp if she's the Huntsgirl. It's her job to stay one step ahead of her prey, and I'm pulling out of the air that since she's young, she probably jumps to conclusions a lot, being pretty sure of herself, and all. Like she's so certain that Jake's not the dragon, you know? Love the question! Any more:Puppy dog enthusiasm:
Fudogg: No prob. I put the next one up too soon. My bad. I liked both of those parts too. I wanted to show that things had suddenly gone in a very different direction from what they were. I mean, finding out her identity really shook the roof, you know?
Warning I have a feeling I'm going to get yelled at because Mr. Rotwood's in this and he doesn't have his "accent." I'm very sorry. I tried to get it in there, but my computer's on auto correct and it changes the words that aren't in another language to their "proper" spelling and I don't know how to turn it off. Sorry.
Note:
Lian means lotus, Jie means Pure and Le means Joy. If you put that in the Chinese way a name would be said it would be Jie-Le Lian; Pure Joy Lotus. I just thought it would be nice to tell you what that means. Befitting, don't you think? LOL I pretended Haley gave her that name, since there was really no point to putting that into the story.
STORYTIME!
The secretary looked up after a moment. "Yes, yes. Lian Jie-Le+. Your exchange name is Lily Kim. I've got your profile right here. It was a bit short notice, you know, for an exchange student. But I guess with grades like yours we can make an exception." She hit a button on the phone in front of her.
"Sir, the exchange student is here."
Lily heard movement in the next room before a man walked out with a cheerful smile on his face.
"Why hello there, Miss Jie-Le! Welcome to New York Central Middle School. I hope you'll find your time here very educating and enjoyable." He handed her some papers. "This is your class schedule. I'll show you to your first hour. Ah! You have Mr. Rotwood now. This way."
"Is Lily in the same class as Master Jake?"
The man looked at her with a strange expression for a moment, then looked at the paper in his hand. "I believe so, yes. But there are other children in this class. How big were the classes in your old class, Miss Jie-Le?"
Lily shrugged. "Just Lily and a few friends. Never many people around."
"Ah. That explains your grades. A lot of one-on-one teacher assistance, huh? Well, we might have a good bit more people, but if you need anything at all, the teachers will be glad to offer you any assistance you need. " He stopped in front of a door. "Here we are. Good luck, Miss Jie-I mean Miss Kim." He began walking away, leaving Lily to go in on her own.
Lilly knocked on the door. "Enter!" She slowly opened the door, uncertain of what to expect. She first noticed all the desks. She then noticed all the people. It occurred to her that the people had noticed her because they were looking at her. Instinct screamed 'Run! Run now!' but her eyes settled on a nearly-snoozing Jake and all instinct fled. She walked in shyly.
"Ah. Hello. You must be our new exchange student. Everyone, please welcome Miss Kim of China. She's joining us from the Himalayas. Please take a seat next to… MR. LONG! STOP SNOOZING AND PAY ATTENTION!"
Lily glared at the older man. How dare he! Ordering around Master Jake like that!
"Lily does not believe all that is necessary." She said it in a confident tone. Mr. Rotwood thought she was trying to look brave. He didn't realize she was trying to passively reprimand him.
"Fine. Please take your seat." Lily walked calmly to where he indicated and sat down with a small flourish, as if she didn't need him to tell her that. Several of the students began whispering and Lily felt a strange heat in her face that she wasn't used to. 'What's this? Lily doesn't feel sick… why is it so warm?'
Then he handed her a book and began a lecture. Jake hadn't really woken up through the whole thing. He was still a little out of it, but he stared curiously at the new girl.
'She looks familiar… and she talks familiar… she kinda reminds me of… No. No way. It couldn't be. I told her to stay at home.' His worst fears were confirmed when the new girl turned and looked at him. She smiled for a moment, then winked.
'…I'm gonna kill her.'
Jake wasn't the only one who'd noticed this exchange. Rose could feel her insides start to boil. 'Who does she think she is! Jake is mine!'
-:-
The bell rang and Lily jumped. A few people giggled and Lily blushed again. A couple of boys were offering to walk her to her next class, but she didn't have time to answer.
Jake grabbed her arm and began pulling her out of class.
"What are you doing here!" They were now in the empty hallway near the janitorial closet.
"Lily came to watch Master Jake."
"I told you to stay at home!"
"Master Jake told Lily to stay out of trouble, not stay at home. Lily's not getting into trouble, see?" She held up her hands as if he could literally see that she was innocent.
"You will be if anyone figures out who or what you are!" he hissed. "Go home, Lily!"
"But-," Suddenly, Rose was coming toward them.
"Jake! What's going on? Oh! Hi! My name's Rose!" The last part was directed at Lily. Rose was now standing next to Jake, one of her arms around his. Her eyes turned icy for a moment before she smiled again.
"…So you are Miss Rose?"
"The one and only." She held out the hand that wasn't python-ed around Jake's to shake with Lily. "Has Jake said anything about me?"
"Master Jake did say you were the…"
"Master?" Rose stared at her, then Jake. "Jake, is there something you want to tell me?"
Lily smiled and began answering. "Lily is Master Jake's…"
"She's staying with my family as a part of the exchange program!" Jake cut in. "She's from China. She calls everyone in our house 'master'. We told her not to, but…" He shrugged his shoulders. "Apparently, it's a sign of respect. I bet she got the words wrong. You know, from Chinese to American?"
Rose cast a final suspicious glance at Lily before smiling down at Jake. "Oh. I didn't know you were taking in an exchange student!"
"Heh. Neither did I. It just sort of happened."
"Oh! Don't you hate it when parents spring surprises like that on you? It's like, the least they could do is warn you. So anyway, we're still meeting later, right?"
"Yeah. Sure." He waved at Rose as she disappeared around a corner. Then he turned back to Lily.
"How DID you get into school, anyway?"
"Lily promised little dragon a wish if little dragon would help Lily." She smiled at him as if expecting praise.
"Little dragon? Little… dragon… H-HALEY? What did she wish for?"
"Little dragon hasn't decided yet." Jake groaned.
"What next?"
-:-
Rose found Courtney and they headed to their next class. Courtney kept trying to get Rose's attention, but Rose kept spacing out.
She kept thinking about what made her realize that Jake knew her secret. She thought back on the ski trip and realized how she hadn't been as careful as she usually was, and of course, when she disappeared, Jake would've come looking for her, right? That's when she figured he'd found out. He probably didn't realize what he'd found out, the loveable goofball, but he knew she was keeping something.
'I'm not gonna loose him because he thinks I'm keeping a malicious secret. It's better to get this out in the open now. Besides, I know I can trust Jake.' She sighed contentedly with her conclusion. 'You can't trust anyone if you can't trust Jake.'
-:-
Jake led Lily through the next two classes like a puppy on a leash. She was an adventurous spirit, and she wanted to explore, but Jake wouldn't hear of it. When they finally made it to lunch, Jake began receiving more than a few death glares from a few boys.
He sat down with Trixie and Spud, plopping down with an exhausted sigh. Lily sat down next to him without question, holding the tray he'd helped her get.
Trixie looked from her to Jake. "Jakey? Who's this?"
Jake looked up with a questioning look on his face, then remembered he hadn't introduced them to Lily.
"Oh. Guys, this is Lily. Lily, this is Trixie and Spud."
"Yo."
"What's up?"
"Nice to meet you, Master Jake's friends Trixie and Spud."
Spud was so surprised at that last part he squirted milk out his nose. "Bro, she just called you master." He began wiping his face.
"Jakey, is there som'n goin' on that you ain't tell'n us?"
"It's nothing you guys will like and nothing you won't know all about later." He glanced at the rest of the lunchroom for emphasis. It was basically code for "Not here, not now."
Trixie nodded. "A'ight. So when are you gonna tell us?"
"Later."
Lily was poking something that the menu said was supposed to resemble mashed potatoes.
"Master Jake? Is this stuff edible?"
"No, but they like to pretend it is." Jake motioned towards the kitchens.
Lily continued to poke it.
"Man, I wouldn't do that. You poke the dreaded sludge, it might poke back, man." Lily promptly dropped her fork.
"Lily needs food, but not poisoned." She stuck her tongue out.
"Hey, what class you got next?" Trixie asked Lily.
Jake picked up the paper before Lily could. "She's got Art. Oh, man! We're in different classes! There's no way I can keep an eye on her from across the school!"
Trixie lifted one eyebrow.
"I said later, remember?"
"Oh. Right." She thought for a minute. "Hey, Spudinky. Don't you have art next?"
"Yeah." She looked at Jake as if to say, 'Problem solved.'
"Hey, Spud, can you keep an eye on Lily next hour? Just make sure she doesn't cause trouble or draw too much attention to herself."
"Dude, you can count on me, bro."
"I can't wait to hear what the explanation for all this is." Trixie muttered.
"You and me both." Jake replied. "Thanks, Spud. I could use the break."
-:-
The final bell finally rang. Jake met with Trixie, who'd watched Lily last period.
"Thanks, Trixie."
"No prob-lamo. Just tell me what this is all about. Is it… Rose?" Jake shook his head.
"No, but thanks for reminding me. She said she wanted to talk to me after school. She's probably waiting for me right now." He looked at Lily who was watching all the bright colors cross the hallway. She'd really become interested in what people where wearing that day. No two people where the same.
"Listen, Trixie, I hate to ask you guys again, but could you…?"
"Take her to the skate park with us?"
"Please?"
Trixie sighed. "Alright. But I ain't no babysitter. If she's coming, she's gonna havta learn to skate or sit and watch."
"Fine by me. Maybe that will keep her occupied." Jake watched her observe everything that day. He didn't understand why taking in every detail in every classroom was important, but he didn't understand why she'd followed him, either, so that was nothing new.
They all left together and split up at the door. Jake spotted Rose next to the bus stop. He turned around to make sure Lily was gone to see her disappear around a corner, being led by an invisible force. She kept looking at him. He didn't get it. Why did she have to always be with him? 'What a weird creature…'
Rose waved him over. "Hey, Jake! Wanna go to the park?" He just nodded and they began walking.
END CHAPTER 7: SCHOOL DAY OF CHAOS
Well, this chapter is one of my funnier ones. I realize I'm probably a little off on Trixie's and Spud's characters. Forgive me. That's why this story is JaRo. I don't know as much about Trixie and Spud as I do them. My apologies.
If you want chapters in the new,
go ahead and review.
