Mikan glanced at Jamie's alarm clock, watching the numbers flash as it started beeping annoyingly loud.

Last night she and Jamie had left the hospital area, but not without the doctor scolding Jamie about falling down the stairs-even though it was Natsume's fault- and Mikan was looked at suspiciously and unsurely.

They awkwardly got to the special star dorms, Mikan half supporting the limping Jamie, though they had to walk by Natsume, who was standing a little ways away from the door. Natsume's eyes followed her, but she didn't acknowledge, instead, by little choice, she and Jamie fell over.

They made it with only that one fall, and Mikan spent the night there, not knowing where to go since her room was changed.

Jamie's eyes snapped open and he glowered at his alarm clock as though it was at fault for all of his troubles. "Mornings are the devils way of making contact with the earth." He said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He looked down at them, suddenly remembering the splint on his foot. He shook his leg in annoyance and turned to her. "Go out in the hall, I gotta change."

Mikan hopped off the couch she had bunked on, striding over to the door with a small wave of her hand. "Yeah, yeah, I know."

"What, wanna stay and watch?" he teased, laughing lightly as he pulled a uniform out of his closet.

"You're actually going to wear the uniform?" she asked. He nodded. "Well… don't forget the tie."

He rolled his eyes and she walked into the hall in boredom. She rocked on her heels, then turned to Jade's room to make sure she was up.

She knocked first this time.

"Changing!" A voice sang from the other side.

"Kay." Mikan replied, sighing. "But I'll have you know that Jamie is too, and now I have nobody to bug."

"Bug Jamie while he's changing. Wouldn't surprise me if you've seen each other naked." The last line was supposed to be a joke, but it made Mikan think of Natsume, who she was now aware was sitting in the shadows by his bedrooms door.

She ignored that he was there and let out a mock scream of terror, then laughed. "Just hurry up."

She rocked on her heels again, then turned to the room she had had for only one night. Her name was printed on the door, but when she opened it, it was empty of her things. 'So he really did it.' She mused to herself.

Purposefully ignoring Natsume, she walked back to Jamie's door again. "Are you done yet?"

"Nope."

"You girls take a long time…" she said tauntingly.

"Screw you."

"You would like to, wouldn't you?" she continued mockingly.

"I hate you."

"Love you too."

"…Seriously, don't mock me."

She laughed and turned to Jade's door as it opened. "Jamie, you must be really feminine. Jade finished before you."

"I hate this freaking tie." Came the annoyed reply.

"Come out here, goof, I know how to put them on, I'll help." Mikan said to his door. It opened a moment later. "…How do you get a tie to look like that?" Mikan asked as Jade turned away, laughing.

Jamie's tie was tied in multiple knots, everywhere, and was flipped over his head, backwards. "I don't know. You said you could help?"

"I think I'd rather you went to class looking like that."

"Fix it."

Laughing along with Jade, she tidied it up, making it look a lot more presentable. "There." She said, stepping back.

Jade rolled her eyes. "He still looks stupid with a tie. He looked better with it flopped over his head."

Mikan turned to look at Jamie. She looked him up and down before nodding to herself. "Are you kidding? Jamie looks smexy in a tie."

Jamie quirked a smile and Jade laughed again.

"Seriously, Jade, he doesn't look half bad." She grabbed his tie and pulled so his head was tilted over hers and their noses were touching. He smirked flirtatiously down at her and she smirked back.

Then she shoved him away as if nothing had happened. "Anyway, I want to head out early to tell my uncle I'm going to class."

"You guys are such flirts," she scoffed at them.

"Yup. Get used to it, we've been doing it for almost four years." She paused. "Hey, do you have a ponytail or something? My hair bothers me."

"Sure." Jade replied, skipping into her room.

Mikan turned to Jamie. "How can she be so happy she can skip? It's weird. Especially because…" she trailed off, glanced at Natsume, then at Jade's door. "Well, your guys pasts."

He shrugged. "She repressed them really well. If she doesn't like something, she doesn't remember it."

Mikan glanced towards Jade's room enviously. "You guys should read the Wildflowers series by Virginia Andrews. The people in it have completely awful family problems. And one of them is named Jade." She grinned wickedly. "It's so screwed up. She was like the master of writing incest, rape, evil grandmas, crazy mothers or fathers, dead siblings. It's so twisted!"

"All the things Jade hates." Jamie hmm-ed. "We should probably not tell her." His gaze flicked past her too her room. "Did Kuonji really move your things out?"

Mikan followed his gaze. "Yes. Looks like I'm really go back to where the nightmare started."

"Mikan…"

She turned back to Jade's room just as she walked back out, twirling a black ponytail on her finger. "Sorry, it was in my bag." She excused herself for taking longer than usual.

"It's fine. Thanks for getting me one."

"No problem. So," she started. "You going to tell me what happened to Jamie?"

"I fell." Jamie said simply.

"Down the stairs." Mikan added.

"…He fell… down the stairs…?" she paused thoughtfully then burst into laughter. "Well, what happened to you, Mikan?"

"I hit my head, got a concussion, went into hysterics, and tried to commit suicide. Multiple times."

"…Oh."

"Yeah, well…" Mikan glanced at her watch. "Well, I forgot we were helping carry baggage." She pointed at Jamie. "So my uncle won't be aware that we'll be in class. I'll tell him later, or something."

"Great, maybe we can go for the whole day without embarrassment, accidents and break downs." Jamie snapped impatiently.

"With your ankle, I can guarantee embarrassment and accidents." Jade quipped.

"Great…"


"Seriously, I'm going to get you Life Alert – Help, I've Fallen and Can't Get Up!" Mikan snapped at Jamie when he fell over for the fourth time.

He rolled over so he could glare at her. "Shut it and help me back up, we're already late for class."

"Gee, I wonder who's fault that is." Jade retorted, rolling her eyes as she helped her brother to his feet.

"I'm sorry I'm injured. God, you guys are mean."

"Indeed we are." Mikan agreed, allowing Jamie to lean on her so he could hobble along easier. "At least we're almost there." She reminded. "See, just one more corner."

"I can't believe we're late – again!" Jade exclaimed, picking up her pace. "Seriously, we've been here what, three days? And on the two occasions for getting to class we've been late."

"So? Who cares, it's not like we're being taught something we don't already know."

"But I haven't even go to meet all of our teachers." She whined. "You know them all, even if it was years ago…"

"Trust me when I say you don't want to meet Jinno-sensei. How is he even alive still?"

"I don't know. I don't know him!"

Mikan sighed in relief as she opened the door to the classroom, stepping in awkwardly with Jamie still balancing himself on her.

Narumi was the first to look. "Mikan!" he jumped to his feet, and the class noticed her appearance. "Why aren't you in the hospital?" he demanded worriedly.

She cracked a small smile, trying not to show her happiness at having him worry. "I'm fine, Narumi-sensei. Kuonji doesn't like me being in the hospital too long. He thinks they'll send me to a mental house."

He looked at her oddly. "A mental institute? Why would they do that?"

"Yesterday I had four hysterical breakdowns and attempted suicide seven times. I think that's enough reason to have them worry about my sanity."

His gaze flicked away from her, and some of the kids gasped and muttered amongst themselves. "And Jamie?"

"He fell."

"Down stairs." Jade added.

"Anyway, we'll take our seats." Mikan said, helping Jamie to his seat beside Nonoko, who luckily sat near the front of the class, then hurried to her seat, which she was regretting having, because it was by Natsume.

She didn't look at him, still furious with him, instead sitting quickly and directing her attention out the window, trying to ignore the stares of the other students –and Narumi whenever he was at the right angle to see her. It seemed like the only three people that didn't bother watching her were Jamie and Jade, who had no reason too, and Natsume, who was still fuming.

She sent one glance at the wall, catching the time: 9:30 a.m. This class would end at 11:30 then Special-Abilities class with Tsubasa-sensei for an hour and a half, lunch for an hour, then Utau for an hour, and last Misaki-sensei with gym.

'Great, just two hours to go.' She thought dryly, already getting tired of the stares.

Hour one: Done. Almost nobody paid attention to the teacher. Not even the teacher knew what he was talking about. Now she was watching Jamie's back, finding it somewhat entertaining. 'I must be bored.' She realized, turning to look out the window again.

Hour two: forty-seven seconds left. Ruka fell out of his chair again. Narumi tripped multiple times while not paying attention. Jamie threw a note at her head, and Natsume burned it before it could reach her. Natsume still won't acknowledge her besides for burning the paper. Hotaru aimed the baka-gun at her, and Mikan accomplished dodging it; Natsume, however, did not, and was thoroughly embarrassed, even though he didn't show it.

Ring!

'Thank God.' Mikan thought, hopping instantly to her feet and zooming out of the room, leaving Jade to help Jamie. She ducked behind the door, and slowly her classmates left, going to whichever alice-type class they belonged in.

When she was sure almost all of them were gone, she stepped back in, glancing around warily. Jamie and Jade were still there, waiting for her. Narumi was at his desk, shuffling things around distractedly. Hotaru, Ruka and Natsume were at the back, Ruka and Hotaru talking, and Natsume still looking annoyed.

She walked over to Jamie and Jade calmly. "So, special-abilities next. Though I think latent would've made more sense for you two." She shrugged. "But we're together, so who cares." She sat on Jamie's desk and crossed her legs. "Let us sit for a moment, and relish the fact that there isn't thirty people watching our every move." She paused and glanced around. "There is however, four others watching us…"

Jamie stood up awkwardly, and Mikan grabbed his should to keep him from falling backwards onto Jade. "Well, lets go." He added in a whisper. "I'm getting a death glare."

Jade stretched and got to her feet and grabbed Jamie's other shoulder. "If you fall again, I'm following Mikan's advice and getting you Life Alert."

"Help, I've fallen and can't get up!" Mikan added with a laugh. "So suitable."

"Ah, S-Sakura-san…"

Mikan turned quickly and Jamie fell to the ground. She looked down at him, smiling impishly, "Sorry."

"No you're not."

"No, I mean for finding that so funny."

Jade helped him to his feet, muttering something about perfect timing and getting Life Alert.

Mikan turned to Ruka, smile flicking off her face quickly. "What?"

He looked down awkwardly and shuffled his feet. "I… just wanted to say it's nice to see you again…"

She smiled again. "It's nice to see you again, too, Ruka-pyon." His face lit up with relief. "Don't act so nervous, gosh." She helped support Jamie again, and waved a small farewell. "I'll see you later, I guess."

He sighed with a mix of relief and sadness, but she kept walking and supporting Jamie.

"I fell just so he could say that…" Jamie grumbled unhappily.

"You're just upset cause your ankle hurts."

"No, I'm annoyed because when I fell, Natsume looked rather happy about it."

"…Should I ask why you were watching Natsume?"

"I just wanted to see if he'd say something…"

"You have ears for that."

"I think he's pretty happy that he tripped me down the stairs…"

"He tripped you?" Jade exclaimed. "I thought you fell."

"He did." Mikan stated. "After Natsume tripped him."

"Jealousy?" Jade asked.

"Jealousy." Mikan and Jamie confirmed together.

They were silent for a few moments.

"Don't be surprised if there's a surprise party in this class." Mikan warned as they approached the special-abilities room.

"Well, we can't be now." Jade grumbled, reaching for the doorknob.

Pop!

"Told you."

Confetti rained down on them, and Mikan brushed it off her in annoyance.

"Welcome to the special-abilities class, people-that-I-wasn't-told-the-names-of!"

Mikan face-palmed.

"So, why don't you tell us your names, and we'll eat cake!" Tsubasa exclaimed, eyeing the cake.

"I'm Jade Swift! You said cake?" Jade greeted chirpily.

He pointed to the table in the middle of the room that had a big cake spread out on it, plenty of pieces already gone from the other students.

"Jamie Swift." Jamie said simply and limped over to sit beside his sister.

Tsubasa's eyes turned to her, and something that looked like recognition flashed through them.

"What, can't recognize your own bratty kohai, Tsubasa-senpai?" she snapped, arms folding in front of her. "That's okay, when I look in a mirror, I don't recognize myself either."

He sputtered out nonsense for a moment, and she was almost sure he was going to start foaming at the mouth, before he hugged her tightly. She bit her tongue to keep from screaming and hugged him back awkwardly. "Mikan! Why are you back? Where have you been? Misaki's going to have a heart attack! What happened? Well?" he asked without taking a breath and holding her arms-length away as he examined her.

"I came back because Kuonji told me too." She answered first. "I've been in America. Lot's of things I don't care to share happened. A well is a shaft stuck in the ground to contain a fluid of some sort."

He laughed then darted towards the emergency phone that hung on the wall. "Misaki, come to my classroom." He paused. "I don't care if you're teaching! Get down here, woman!" he hung up before she could reply, then turned to her, smiling widely.

"You do realize she's going to kill you, right?" Mikan asked.

He nodded excitedly. "But she's coming here! See, if you say something insulting, she'll come just for the sole purpose of causing pain – but when she sees you, she'll forget… briefly."

The door opened and Tsubasa flinched, probably thinking it was Misaki already. Instead, Natsume walked in, not sparing a glance at anything and leaned against the wall in boredom.

Mikan looked at Tsubasa curiously. "Why's Natsume in the special class?"

"Dangerous was cancelled," he said quickly, still very excited. He draped his arm across his her shoulders and dragged her towards Natsume. "Natsume, why aren't you stalking my kohai like you used to?" he demanded. "Aren't you happy to see her?"

Natsume turned to them, eyes narrowed. His eyes watched her, expecting her to say something, and when she didn't, he turned quickly away and walked off.

Tsubasa watched him curiously. "Lovers quarrel?" he suggested, smiling down at her.

"We're not lovers." Mikan snapped in embarrassment. "I don't care for him anymore."

Tsubasa's eyes widened in shock, "What? Whatwhatwhat? No, no, no, you care about everything and everyone!" he didn't wait for her to say anything. "Why didn't you come visit me and Misaki as soon as you got here? You should've! How long have you been here?"

"Three days or something." She shrugged.

"And you didn't visit! What kind of blasphemy is this?"

"I was in the hospital for two of them…"

"What? Why?"

She frowned, eye's going to Jamie, who was watching her out of the corner of is eye. "I'll… talk to you about it later."

He followed her gaze. "What? Is he your boyfriend or something? Should I teach him a lesson?"

Mikan laughed. "No, Jamie's not my boyfriend! Also, he's got a fractured ankle, so hurting him wouldn't be nice."

He laughed again, though she didn't think she had said anything funny, and picked her up and twirled her around in the same fashion her uncle had.

The door burst open again, this time followed by an angry snarl. "Tsubasa! You did not call me 'woman'! I'm going to k- put down that student this instant! She'll think you're a pervert or molester or something!"

Mikan flinched slightly, but neither of them noticed, and Tsubasa put her down quickly. "Misaki," he drawled. "Look at the student!"

Misaki's attention flipped to her, and she did a double take.

"Seeeeeee? Do you know who she is?"

"No, but she looks like the bratty kohai we used to have." She said uncertainly.

"Misakiiiiiiiii, she is the bratty kohai we used to have!"

"Hey!"

"Mikan! Really? Is it you? Or should I kill Tsubasa?" she paused. "Hey, I'm not finished with you!" she threatened Tsubasa.

"Yes, really, it's me, don't kill anyone, Misaki-senpei." Mikan laughed.

Misaki let out a squeal and tackled Mikan into a hug. "Mikan! When did you get here? Where were you?" she let out a list of questions just as Tsubasa had.

"How about I catch up with you and Tsubasa after school?"

"After school? Why not now? I'll cancel the classes I have to teach!" Misaki offered.

"Me too!" Tsubasa added.

"No! You guys have work to do and I'm expected at Utau-sensei's class."

"The new music teacher? Just skip! We need to hang out now." Tsubasa commanded.

"Oh, no, I couldn't skip music class!" Mikan exclaimed.

"What?" Tsubasa asked at the same time Misaki asked, "Why?"

She looked down awkwardly. "Utau needs to know I'm out of the hospital…"

"You were in the hospital?" Misaki exclaimed in shock. "Why? And don't you dare lie to me! Did somebody hurt you?"

Mikan froze. "L-look it doesn't matter."

"Someone did, didn't they?" She persisted. "Who was it? I'll hurt them!"

"R-really, it doesn't matter, I'm used to- I… just drop it!" she snapped, backing away a step.

"Mikan, if someone hurt you, you have to tell us!" Misaki insisted. She froze. "You're used to it?"

"I didn't say that! Please drop it! I… Can we just meet up later to talk, please?" Mikan begged, glancing at Jamie desperately.

Misaki sighed. "Fine. I'll cancel my last class, and we can hang out then, 'kay?"

"I'm in your last class."

"I know, you're the new student, but instead of exercise, we'll meet up… in Tsubasa's room!" She nodded to herself. "After your music class, just come here and Tsubasa will bring you too his room! Okay?"

Jamie got to his feet and as quick as he could with his splint, went over. "You're scaring Mikan to death, you know." Jamie snapped, wrapping an arm protectively around her. "Couldn't you see her shaking? Don't ask her so many questions at once, she's already overwhelmed just being back here."

Misaki returned his glare. "And, who are you?"

"I'm Jamie Swift. I'm Mikan's… I don't know. Best friend?" he shrugged unknowingly. "Whatever. Just give her a chance to catch her breath and answer properly instead of sending question after question at her." Misaki didn't say anything. "She'll meet with you two, but I'll be coming with her."

Misaki glared at him, looking like she was going to scream her head off at him, but Mikan interjected quickly. "Ah, yeah. Jamie and I will come here later. Um, I'm just going to step in the hallway and, you know, try to breath." She bolted out before they could reply. She sat on one of the few benches that were placed around the Gakuen.

"You're such a freak." Jamie muttered, limping into the hallway and sitting beside her. "Misaki is scolding Tsubasa for scaring you…" he rolled his eyes.

"That figures. She'd blame someone she didn't know before taking the blame herself."

"She blamed me, too. So I believe you."

"Well, you blamed her, too."

"Yeah, but she's the one that did it…"

Mikan shrugged.

"So, what are you going to tell them?" he asked, watching her closely. "Clearly they don't think you've changed."

"I'm going to tell them the truth; some of it anyways."

He blinked in surprise. "You're going to tell them?" he asked incredulously.

She nodded then sighed, "If I don't tell someone, I'll explode."

"Then tell Natsume."

She glared at him. "Like hell I'm going to tell him! If he has a problem with you, he has a problem with me!" she caught his shadow lingering right inside the door. 'Tsubasa-senpai, you were wrong; he's still watching me.' "Just… when I do tell them, comfort me when I break into tears. Again. Cause we both know I will."

He nodded, his eyes flicking to the door to, a sign that he saw Natsume too.

"Well," Mikan began, getting to her feet. "I think I'm just going to go to the music room. It should be empty."

"Want me to join you?" Jamie offered, already starting to get up.

"No, I just… need some time to myself." She replied, catching his look of disappointment. Tears pricked at her eyes again, and she turned away quickly to hide them.

"C'mere," Jamie said, patting the seat next to him, telling Mikan to sit. She did so hesitantly. "What's bothering you so much?"

Instantly she burst into tears. "What's wrong?" she repeated, "Everything's wrong!" she sobbed into his shirt, and his arm automatically went around her. "I hate it here! I want to go back to America, I want Arden to call me babe, I want Mitsuki to jump out of nowhere and scream to try and scare us, I want you to greet Claire, and see her look up, blushing horribly because she likes you so much!

"I want people to stop looking at me like I'm an alien, I want to hug Hotaru without being scared, I want Ruka to not look scared talking to me, I want Natsume to love me but understand I can't give you up for it!" she paused breathing shakily. "I want to tell someone what happened to me, I want to stop being depressed and suicidal! I want everyone to forget I existed and stop comparing me to how I used to be! I want… I want to disappear!" she tore away from him before he could reply, running towards the music room, the sanctuary where she could let herself out in her singing.

She heard the door slide open, and Jamie hissed to whoever walked out, "I hope you're happy."

She ignored the footsteps that followed hers, slamming into the empty music room with relief.

She moved to the closest instrument, a grand piano that had a couple of boxes of Utau's on it. She moved two of them off quickly then cursed when the third one's bottom collapsed on itself. She shoved the contents aside, only pausing to exam a book she had let Utau borrow: Flowers in the Attic.

"'For I think of us more as flowers in the attic. Paper flowers. Born so brightly colored, and fading duller through all those long, grim, dreary, nightmarish days when we were held prisoners of hope, and kept captives of greed.'" Mikan recited from memory, staring down at the cover.

She set it to the side then sat at on the piano bench, testing the keys warily. When she heard nothing wrong with it, she positioned her hands, one song coming instantly to her mind.

"I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish you would just leave
Your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone,
"

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Natsume open the door and slide into the shadows, but she ignored him. She wasn't there anymore, she was swimming in her memories, good and bad, singing the tune that seemed so fitting right now.

"These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just to real
There's just too much that time cannot erase,
When you cried I'd wipe away your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand for all of there years
But you still have
All of me,
"

'Never will my wounds heal,' Mikan told herself, not believing they ever could, and thinking of Flowers in the Attic again. There were just certain things you could never recover from.

Being raped, being locked away, was there that much of a difference? Her memories would always come back, and she'd wish for revenge, just like Cathy insisted on wanting so badly she hurt the ones she loved.

"You used to captivate me
By your resonating light
Now I'm bind by the life you left behind
Your face it haunts
My once pleasant dreams
Your voice chased away
All the sanity in me,
"

'Would I hurt the ones I love for revenge?' Somehow she knew the answer was yes. If they loved her, too, they would forgive her.

But could one who couldn't forgive be forgiven?

Cathy lived with it, was forgiven. She got her revenge, but did feel bad.

She had left her nightmare behind, but it still followed her everywhere she went.

"These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just to real
There's just too much that time cannot erase,
When you cried I'd wipe away your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand for all of there years
But you still have
All of me,
"

'It's scary.' Mikan thought, eyes floating towards the book. 'How one person could describe horror's and anguish that people could relate to and feel the awfulness of it, even if their story is different.'

'How you can know the feeling she's talking about, even though it hasn't happened to you.'

"I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me

I've been alone all along,"

'How such hatred can lead you to ruin somebody's life, just for the purpose of revenge.' Though she was on the piano, Mikan heard the burst of sudden guitar and drums that was actually in the song.

'How such hatred actually exists in the world I used to think was a fairytale.'

"These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just to real
There's just too much that time cannot erase,
When you cried I'd wipe away your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand for all of there years
But you still have
All of me,
"

'How you can be the character - maybe not physically locked up, but mentally; you change without realizing it and slowly your world of magic crumbles.' She trailed her fingers across the last few keys. 'And trust for those you used to love disappears without a trace.'

She reached down and grabbed the book, eyes examining the picture on the front, of what Cathy was supposed to look like.

Burning hatred coursed through her as she held it. She threw it against the wall bitterly. 'Enjoy your freedom, Lady Cath-er-ine.' She taunted in her head, using Chris's nickname for her. 'Have a fairytale ending like all books do, and I'll suffer and die without revenge.'

'I can't believe I envy a book…'

She sighed, looking back down to the piano. 'I'm supposed to distract myself from the pain!' she scolded herself. 'Sing and forget the world!'

She started playing the next thing that came to mind.

"I am outside
And I've been waiting for the sun
And with my wide eyes
I've seen worlds that don't belong
My mouth is dry
With words I cannot verbalize
Tell me why, we live like this
Keep me safe inside
Your arms like towers
Tower over me, yeah
,"

'We are Broken? This is supposed to distract you?' she spat to herself.

"Cause we are broken
What must we do to restore
Our innocence
And oh, the promise we adored?
Give us life again
Cause we just wanna be whole…
"

Though she did start feeling better.

She watched her fingers glide across the keys, mind finally calming.

"Lock the doors
Cause I'd like to capture this voice
That came to me tonight
So everyone will have a choice,
And under red lights
I'll show myself it wasn't forged
We're at war, we live like this
Keep me safe inside
Your arms like towers
Tower over me,
"

Then she paused, breath catching in her throat.

"Cause we are broken…
What must we do to restore
Our innocence
And oh, the promised we adored?
Give us life again…
Cause we just want to be whole…
"

She stopped, voice cracking away into nothing, tears already blurring her vision and falling down her face. "Because I'm a flower in the attic," she whispered to herself, but loud enough that she was sure Natsume heard it. "A paper flower. Born so brightly colored, now fading duller through the nightmarish days." She took a shuddering breath and picked the book up once again. "Held a prisoner for hope, and kept captive for greed. Not a single day colored yellow, because that's the color for hope, and the sun and happiness I'll never feel nor see again…

"Waiting for promises to be fulfilled, though I know they never will be. Because even if I say I can, I can't wait forever…" the bell rang overhead, announcing lunch had started. "And just because I escaped once, doesn't mean that I can do it a second time…"

She walked over to the window and peeked out, pinpointing her location, then opened it and slipped one leg out.

She was about to climb out the rest of the way, but Natsume snapped into action, lunging at her and grabbing her before she could. "Are you crazy? We're two stories high!" he snapped, dragging her back into the room against her will.

She slapped his hand away from her. "Why do you care?" she practically spat, backing towards the window again. "I know how to land on my feet! I've fallen from higher heights!"

"Why don't you just use the door?" he demanded, ignoring her question, pulling her away from the window again. "It's dangerous."

"It's dangerous," she sneered. "I've leapt five stories down before! I can take this measly fall!"

A small flicker of shock jolted through his eyes.

Mikan continued before he could, "Let me guess, why would I jump five stories down?" she paused as he nodded. She yanked away from him again. "They didn't cancel the dangerous ability class for nothing! What did you think, they'd just stop caring about the missions that had to be done?"
He froze, eyes widening. "You were the one that got that class cancelled? You've been doing the missions!" he reached out and grabbed her again as she tried to slip through the window once more.

"Stop it! Stop touching me!" Mikan shrieked, slamming the window shut. "Look, I won't hop out, I'll stay here, okay?" She went back and sat on the piano bench again. She turned and glared at him, pretending not to notice the pain in his eyes at her not allowing him to touch her when just yesterday they had been a millimeter away from kissing.

But that was the exact reason she didn't want him to touch her.

Every time he touched her, she could've sworn she could feel electricity jolt through her.

"I'll just stay here and sit, sing, dance or play an instrument, and you can fade back into the shadows and I can pretend you're not here!"

She turned without waiting for him to reply and started dancing along to a song she could barely hear.

And Natsume faded back into the shadows, but every time she turned at an angle that she could see him, she caught him watching her longingly.


Twelve pages.

Over 5,000 words.

That is pretty freaking good, if I do say so myself.

Oh wait – this author's note just made it thirteen pages.

Ha!

Anywho.

Did you like it? Well then review! Cause I didn't even get one review for my last chapter. Are you guys spiting me for not getting Mikan and Natsume together? If so, you're mean.

The songs: My Immortal, Evanescence, and We are Broken, Paramore.

Yes, multiple times I brought up VC Andrews and Flowers in the Attic. I just finished Petals on the Wind, and some things seemed to fit so well together…

SO NEXT::: Utau gets Mikan to sing in front of the class. Tsubasa, Misaki and her get together, with Jamie supervising. She shares what she feels she can to her senpai's. They give her advice and stuff. Any Kuonji comes to take her away…

Also, review, or I'm never getting Mikan and Natsume together.

That's right, I went there.