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Chapter 9: I Am NOT Your Friend!

3:21 PM; September 3rd, 1997

Esme stared hard at herself in the bathroom mirror. She looked like a complete wreck. Her eyes had dark purple-and-black bags underneath them. Her whiskers and head fur stuck out at odd angles, clumped and matted with dirt and grass. Her ears were ragged, missing a few pieces of fur here and there. Her sweater and jeans were muddy and torn, much more than when she cut them with scissors. Her tail would probably never get rid of all the burrs it had collected in the past hours.

There wasn't much she could do in a public bathroom with a sink and lemon-scented hand soap, but this was all she could find. After entering the studio undetected, the only place she knew where to go besides the hideaway was the cafeteria, and thankfully there was an empty bathroom. It would do.

Esme ran her fingers under the cold tap water, and tried to comb out her black and white fur. It was a bit… uncomfortable, fur against fur, but she could at least get the dirt out, even if she looked a bit droopy. Her sweatshirt and jeans would be impossible, though, not unless she wanted to sleep even colder than usual.

Sighing loudly, Esme ran her hands through her hair one more time before pushing open the door that led into the cafeteria. Gunner was waiting in the hideaway. Hopefully a brick stuck in the entrance would keep him in.

Esme couldn't help but be tempted by the smell of food as she walked past the cafeteria tables (thankfully there were only a few people, being hours after lunch). Testing her luck, Esme slipped over to the cafeteria line, looking down at her feet so as not to catch eye contact with anyone. She hadn't finished her soup at lunch, and she hadn't eaten anything yesterday… she could already feel her stomach growling in protest.

"Just a sandwich." Esme whispered.

The cafeteria lady raised a brow suspiciously. "And who might you be?"

Oh. Right.

Argh... the only idea I've got...

Esme bent down a bit and tried to straighten her hair to look like whiskers as quickly as she could. "You don't know who I am?" she said in false sweetness. "I'm Dot Warner!"

...curse this...

The woman looked even more suspicious, but she passed Esme a bagged sandwich before ringing it up under the kids' account.

Ouch. They'll probably notice that… but, what the heck, it's their fault I'm like this anyway…

Esme nodded and quickly left the building. However, just as she opened the door to the outside, she was shocked to see the large black-and-red dog sitting there, a happy pant opening his mouth wide.

"Gunner!" she gasped. "How did you-?"

"He escaped," came a voice.

Esme twirled around, startled, only to see Yakko and his siblings. They all looked disapproving and… upset? Stern? Angry?

"What were you thinking?" Yakko motioned towards Gunner in emphasis, waving his hands around.

Esme stood beside Gunner and glared. "You said you wouldn't chase me anymore."

"We asked you first." Dot grumbled.

"Fine. I thought, 'oh no this little dog is alone and hungry, I'll take him with me because we get along'!"

"Little?" Dot poked a thumb at Gunner. "He could bite your head off!"

"He wouldn't!"

"That's not the point!" Yakko stepped between the two girls, eyeing Esme. "Why would you bring a human dog here?"

"Human dog? That doesn't make any sense, he's not human, he's a dog. He's not anthropomorphic in any way, unlike you-"

"No, Esme…"

"Dumber than advertised!" Dot mumbled, motioning towards Esme as she looked towards the readers.

"He's from the Human world." Wakko finally spoke up, shrugging. "There are only toon dogs here, so he isn't allowed…"

"You're not taking him away." Esme growled, standing in front of Gunner, who was sniffing at her bagged sandwich with interest. "You can't tell me what I can and cannot do. You are not in charge of me. I am my own person, got that?"

Yakko raised a brow. "We're starting to think you might need a bit of authority over you. You're a minor that lives behind a wall with a dog from another world… you're acting reeeeal reckless, ya know."

"Well, you're a minor taking care of other minors, living in a water tower, and driving people crazy is your utmost drive in life. You'd think social services would have looked into it by now…"

"That's just enough there, missy!" Yakko put a finger to Esme's lips, keeping her from speaking as she scowled fiercely at him. No one bad-mouthed how he took care of his sibs. If anyone could protect them, he could!

"I HATE you!" Esme shrieked, shoving the toon boy away. She threw her hands up in the air furiously, only to wrap them around herself in a tightly, her chest heaving with ragged breaths.

"Calm down, kid! Think straight, okay? Mostly people only hate others because they're jealous of them, or they see something in them that reminds of themselves..." he smirked at Esme knowingly.

That only succeeded in making the teen even madder. Because... it was true. Yakko didn't have to take injections every three days just to be considered 'normal'. Yakko didn't have to see freaking paper as a threat. Yakko didn't have constant panic attacks that left him gasping for air and red-eyed from crying so much. Yakko didn't have to worry about men trying to kidnap Esme in her own bedroom and take her somewhere else, he didn't have to worry about being trapped in a different body and surviving behind a wall every day.

Yakko was a good older brother who could protect his siblings through thick and thin. Had Esme ever seen their parents? No. Was anyone else there in the tower when she was locked up? No. And yet, with all the protection Esme had taken for granted in Ohio, she was horrible to Liam. Absolutely horrible.

And where had that gotten her?

"Fine!" Esme jerked away from the trio. "I won't bother you, you won't bother me…"

"There's something wrong with ya, kid, and we oughta look into it…"

"No, you don't. Just leave me alone. I'm only staying here for a bit, and then I'm gone. Ever heard the saying, 'don't fix it if it ain't broke'?"

With that, Esme stormed off, Gunner trotting at her heels, leaving three dejected toons to stare as she walked away.

PoisonCupcake101: They're not pills, they're shots. Esme takes one every three days, but it isn't for her panic disorder. That's a mental thing, while the injections are for... a physical thing. As you've probably noticed, she doesn't like bringing it up, so I'll leave you in the dark for most of the information. Glad you like the story, though! :)

AN: I am so sorry for the short chapter, you guys deserve better than this. After a bout of writer's block (don't you just hate it when you have a solid plan and several ideas but you just can't write?) I need to stretch out what I already have. I'm over it now, so I promise the next chapter will be VERY long!

So, yeah, Esme might just have gone even deeper in her disliking of the Warners. Oh, Esme, when will you learn? It's been three days in a walled-in dump, over 10,000 words at that! When will you ever start to trust those kids?

She's so sad, though. She misses her family. Gunner doesn't know her. But on the other hand, she's still acting like a cold corndog.

Ah, I'm rambling. Criticism is highly encouraged!