It's unfortunate that when we feel a storm

We can roll ourselves over 'cuz we're uncomfortable

Oh well, the devil makes us sin

But we like it when we're spinning…

In his grin…

Angel worked diligently as the music flowed through her ear buds. After fishing her AP English book out of her backpack, she was thankful to find her iPod still inside. Although she hadn't given it much thought, she figured Hiten would've confiscated it as soon as he had gotten hold of her bag. She loved music and hadn't had any sort of musical freedom in two days. Now that she had it, she had an escape.

She never noticed the eyes the kept flicking toward her as others grew distracted by either her beauty or her loud music. Her English teacher had always allowed her students to use MP3 players in class, as music is always a creativity booster. Her rule, however, was to always keep the volume down. Of course, Angel ignored that rule in spite of herself.

Seeing the wrinkles that littered Mrs. Davis's forehead, Nina, who was sitting beside Angel at the same table, nudged her. This startled Angel, and she took out one of her Skull Candy ear buds out.

"What is it?" Angel asked, looking at her with concern.

"Well, as much as that song that you're listening to kicks ass, you might wanna turn it down before Mrs. Davis kicks yours," she whispered amusedly. Angel gave a small blush and looked over in said teacher's direction, being met with a knowing look. Angel just smiled sheepishly and turned down her music.

"Please excuse me, Mrs. Davis. I really didn't mean to," she stated quietly. Mrs. Davis just gave a small grin and nod before returning to her paperwork. Nina giggled at the odd exchange.

"Do you guys have telepathy or something? I swear, we say whole sermons to her and she'll just stare. But you? She shows signs of intelligent life!"

Angel giggled in response. "Yes, well, I guess unique people have unique connections, right?"

"True, especially when of those connections is between you and E.T."

Both girls giggled again before being shushed by Mrs. Davis. They silenced the noise instantly, not wanting to upset the aloof instructor any more than they wanted to. Nina was having too much fun to stop talking, though. She took out a sheet of paper, jotted down a note, and passed it to Angel.

Wats up with ur phone? We called u during most of the time u were gone! :/

Taken off guard by the out-of-the-blue question, and just how truly it rang, Angel scribbled out a response.

Wat do u mean?

I MEAN u never answered but ur voicemail always had sum creepy guy saying u were unconscious!

Angel's heart nearly jumped out of her chest as her eyes scanned the message. She looked over at Nina, shocked. Nina's face held a mixture of worry and confusion, with a hint of aggravation. Angel always recognized that look. Nina had one of the biggest hearts in the world, but it never masked her fiery temper. ESPECIALLY when one of her friends could be in trouble. Angel knew for a fact that Hiten's voice was the one Nina had heard on the voicemail. Her loins cringed in disgust as she thought of what he might have cruelly said- how debased and open he must have been about his misdeeds to have even locked her phone and recorded the message. But that was the part she was failing to decipher as rational- If you had kidnapped someone and didn't want to gain attention, why would you make a message on a voicemail that could be heard by all who called the phone? People would notice something was wrong, and then the police would be on your trail before the second person could even hear it! There were seven people who called her every day- Bankotsu, her parents, Nina, Janet, Scarlett, and Isla. There were many others who called her almost as often, from club members to friends to teammates to her "big brothers" Renkotsu, Inuyasha, Jakotsu, Suikotsu, Koga, and Miroku and their wives or longtime girlfriends (excluding Renkotsu, Jakotsu, Suikotsu, and Inuyasha). There were enough people calling her to have the FBI on Hiten by now, so why was no one looking for her? The only reason that wouldn't happen by now is…

Could some of them actually be in on this?

Angel's throat burned and her head swam in all the harsh realities and painful possibilities. She leaned forward on the table, resting her head back between her hands in a desperate effort to dissuade the sickening haze. Anything to anchor her head back to a solid mind. Nina noticed Angel's sudden unrest, scooting closer to her and resting her arms around her. She slowly rocked her to calm her and relieve her stress. She felt her begin to tremble under her touch, her breath hitching repeatedly as she held back relentless tears.

"Ms. McCarroll, what's going on back there?" Mrs. Davis asked in a concerned tone. Anxiety was revealed in her eyes as she removed her eyeglasses and proceeded toward the girls in the back of the room. Nina looked up at the now approaching teacher cautiously. She glanced back down at Angel's weeping frame before answering.

"Er… something's wrong with her stomach… and she's got a really bad migraine. I think I may need to take her to the infirmary, Mrs, Davis."

Mrs. Davis nodded quickly before turning her attention back to Angel. She slowly, gently placed her hands on Angel's arms, the hands of which were still holding her head. The middle-aged woman tenderly pulled her arms from under her head, treating her arms as though they were pieces of delicate porcelain. At the sight of Angel's reddened eyes as she lifted her head and looked at her teacher sorrowfully, Mrs. Davis asked her, "Angel, do you need to see the nurse?"

Angel shuddered, then nodded quickly. Though she had no intentions of seeing a nurse, speaking to Nina had always calmed her spirits. She decided she needed that now more than ever. She stood abruptly and gathered her things. Angel was already on her way to the door when Nina had gotten permission to accompany her

Outside the school, on a shady lunch table, Angel freely cried the rest of her tears as Nina cradled her, shushing and cooing to her gently. She supplied countless tissues to her to dry her eyes and nose, both slightly pink under the brown of her skin. Nina watched her worriedly, pity and concern etched into her features because she could not properly console her friend.

"Angel, sweetie, what's the matter?" she asked, almost afraid for an answer. They way she was crying now, you would think the girl had two weeks to live!

Angel, registering her friend's voice, sniffled and flipped her wavy black ponytail over her shoulder. Nina watched in awe as it landed, illustrious and perfect. Nina's forehead wrinkled slightly, somewhat envious of how this angel could be a pink, sniffling, red-faced mess and still be so perfect.

"I-I'm just… I don't know- I c-can't even tell y-you, Nina-"

"Sweetie, you know you can tell me anything. We've been cool since kindergarten- you know I wouldn't tell nobody anything you don't want me to," she pressed soothingly. She was determined to see what was distressing her friend- or, for that matter, who.

Angel's earthen-sea orbs met Nina's fern green ones in a tense moment. Angel deliberated whether she could possibly tell her something of this magnitude. Especially when there was the ever-present promise that harm could come to her. Nina wondered vehemently about what the unworldly young woman in front of her could've gotten herself into. Angel took a quick look around as if trying to see who could be in earshot of the conversation. Finding no one she looked back to Nina, who took Angel's shaky hands into her own and offered her a reassuring smile. Angel smiled back halfheartedly as she was still nervous and anxious to tell her.

Angel took a deep breath and started quietly, "Nina… you know I trust you and care about you 100%, so I can't stress enough how crazy my situation is…"

"Honey, you know you can trust me and you know I'm here fore you no matter what, okay? Just tell me what the hell's going on so I can help you!" Nina pressed, anxious to rescue her best friend.

"Please… please, please, please don't tell anybody about this, Nina!" she begged, her eyes misting.

"No one's going to know, sweetie. Not Scarlett, not Isla, not even Janet. That means nobody."

"Okay…" Angel consented, taking a much needed deep breath. "Nina… I'm in a-aaaAAAHH!"

Angel suddenly screamed and jumped to her feet, unknowingly snatching her hands from Nina's warm grasp. This sudden excitement startled Nina, who stared in bewilderment at her.

"Er… oookay? What the three and a half hells was that?" Nina asked, giving her a strange look.

"Er… it's, um… the birth control pills! Yeah!" Angel rambled, "I'm on birth control pills now! I - er- my mom, she's, like, really paranoid about me and all… but I told her I don't do anything but she secretly thinks I'm really… er…"

Nina seemed a little skeptical of Angel's rambles, however. "That doesn't explain the voicemail!" she retorted.

"That was… my uncle Jamie! Yeah, he said that if I even THINK about running of with any boys, he'll knock me out! Haha, funny huh? He just recorded that voicemail so that every boy who called me would know it and everyone else would just laugh…"

Nina sighed, seemingly relieved- and believing that blatant lie that Angel was desperate enough to make believable. "So that's what you've been nervous about! Your mom's probably just worried about guys chasin' that hot little body of yours! You're soooo cute, Angel!"

Angel sighed in relief and couldn't help but giggle to herself. She wasn't too far from a virgin, and her "little body" still had much to learn as far as lust and desire went. She was glad the Nina laughed this off instead of questioning her further.

"Yeah, silly, huh? I was just as nervous about the mood swings at stuff that I heard about and I got upset…"

"It's okay, Angel, I understand! Look, I'm here if you're ever upset about anything else, okay? Stop worrying it'll all work out," Nina reassured her warmly.

Angel suddenly looked like a weight fell off of her shoulders. She smiled generously, showing both rows of her pearly white teeth and her faint dimples. She grabbed her friend up into a sisterly hug, an embrace they shared until the third period bell rang a moment later. Gathering their things from the table, the pals chattered absently as they made their way back to the building they camp out of so they could get to class. Angel allowed Nina to enter first, but she herself entered inside, she looked over her shoulder cautiously. Her breath hitched when she caught sight of Hiten's Mercedes. The window was cracked and a pipe-like object protruded from it. Angel squinted to see what it could be. Then, the window began to roll up slowly, but not before said "pipe" was turned to the side. It revealed a sniper barrel and Angel's eyes widened as the large weapon was pulled back inside the vehicle before the window fully closed. Feeling a startling mixture of relief and fear, Angel turned and followed the waiting brunette inside. She chattered with her as calmly as possible…

making sure not to mention the flickering red laser on the girl's heart that scared the perfect liar out of her.