"Dude! When are they coming?" Duo started pacing around the living room
"Duo, if you've already forgotten, they came to work on the global project first. You're going to have to wait awhile before you even get an opportunity to kiss Donna." Quatre smiled at him
"What are you trying to say? You've never been kissed outside of that one time we forced you to play truth or dare."
"I can't believe that Heero did that to me." Quatre sighed "It's always the quiet ones." He grinned over at Duo "That's the one reason why I know I don't have to be worried by you."
"Did you just insult me?" Duo asked Quatre before he walked out of the room "You've been hanging around that Andi girl too much already. You're starting to sound just like her."
Quatre turned, the smile still on his face "Just like you and your Goddess of Death." He walked out and up the stairs
Duo paused for a moment, letting the last comment sink into his head "Quatre! You have a crush!!! And on the one girl that torments you!!!!"
Quatre laughed "Strange but true."
Duo was about to follow him to probe for more details but the sound of the doorbell made him jump and fall flat on his ass. "Come in." He yelled, trying to pick himself off the floor but sliding in a puddle of grape juice and landing right back where he was.
"Duo, I knew you were anxious but you can get off the floor. I'm not going to give you anything...yet." Donna, Andi and Lauren walked into the room "Nice house. Where can we change?"
Duo eyed the short skirts and matching t-shirts "Where did you girls come from?"
"It all started when my mommy and daddy decided to get married and have sex." Andi started out
"Shut up!" Lauren interrupted her story "We just came back from a tennis match in Beaver River. We brought our clothes with us, do you have a place where we can change."
Duo grinned evilly "Lauren, Heero's room is the first room upstairs on the left. Andi, Quatre's is the first on the right. Donna, since they're going somewhere else, you can strip down right here."
"In your dreams pervert!" She shouted, "Where's your bathroom."
Duo laughed "Right through that door over there." He gestured to one next to the refrigerator in the kitchen.
They all took their clothes and walked to the different rooms. Donna opened the basement stairs and walked down them to where she found Wufei lying on the floor, his eyes closed, his arms folded over his chest and his posture like a board. "Holy shit!" Donna yelled, bringing him out of whatever trance he was in and made him jump up quickly.
"Who let you down here?" He demanded, "How dare you invade my room?"
"Duo told me this door would take me to the bathroom, I need to change, could you leave for a minute?"
"This is my room." He argued, "Go find somewhere else. Maxwell's room is on the second floor, the second door on the right."
"Well, I'm here and I'm not leaving until I'm dressed." Donna retorted, "If you don't want to watch, I'd turn around or leave."
Wufei groaned and turned to face the wall. A few seconds later, Donna spoke again "It's okay." She said shortly
"I take it I better go find Andi and get that report done with so we can start your game." He followed her up the stairs and into the living room to wait for the other girls.
Lauren stood in Heero's bedroom, wearing her bra and jeans and trying to figure out how her pale green tank top got stained with something purple that looked a lot like grape juice. She couldn't decided whether or not to put it on and ignore the stain or leave on her tennis shirt when the door opened before she could say anything and Heero walked into the room, oblivious that she was in there. He took one look at her kneeling next to her bag and a stream of blood came out of his nose. Lauren quickly pulled on the tank top, stain or no stain. "What happened?" She asked, "What made your nose start bleeding like that? Is it stress or something?"
"It's nothing." Heero replied, grabbing a tissue and holding his nose to stop the blood "It's nothing serious and that can't be fixed. Do you want to work on the report now?"
Lauren grinned sheepishly and pulled a stack of papers out of her bag, "Read through these and tell me what you think. I figured we could get to the game faster if I wrote it in between matches."
Heero stared at her, in shock "You really want to do this, don't you?"
She nodded "Besides, it's not like this is any of our first times. I'm sure you've had quite a few girlfriends in the past."
"None if you want the truth." He replied, letting her see into his personal life without even meaning it "I have been kissed before though." A faint smile seemed to touch the corners of his mouth before fading away "If we're done then let's go down and wait for everyone else. Did any of you bother to bring a calculator?"
"Andi has one in her bag. It's the LIB MR Ducks calculator."
"Huh?" Heero gave her a strange look
"MR Ducks, MR Not Ducks, SMR, CM Wings, LIB MR Ducks." She rattled it off "It's kind of stupid, like saying them are ducks, them are not ducks, yes them are, see them wings. Well I'll be, them are ducks. You just read the letters like the words they're supposed to represent."
"Interesting." Heero replied, keeping his eyes fixed on her "Do you know any other cute little tricks?"
Wufei sat next to Andi on the coach, reading over what she had written earlier and adding in other things and fixing her awful spelling and grammar. "That wasn't too bad." He commented, giving her as close to a compliment as he was ever going to. "At least you didn't try to hide all of the dark facts."
"It happened, as much as this countries officials would want to pretend that it was one of those actions backed up by justice, they know as well as anyone else that it was stupidity and paranoia that caused a lot of innocent people grief." She smiled "I love bringing out the stuff that people try to get others to forget."
Wufei didn't smile but his eyes seemed to soften a little bit, she wasn't as bad as most woman, or maybe it was just that he was getting used to the culture and the facts that girls here were rather up front and rebellious. "Are you okay with it then?" She asked, "We still have the time to write a new one if you want to."
"No, this one is good." He replied "I'm not very creative and writing isn't my thing when it isn't based on hard core facts. I like this one."
"Good, let's just wait for everyone else to get down here." She leaned back against the couch; her hands behind her head "Your house is nice but its kind of bare. There isn't anything lying around that makes it feel lived in."
Wufei shrugged "We just moved here, we really haven't worried about it, I'm sure after some time, Quatre will have the house filled will all sorts of interesting things."
Heero and Lauren walked down the stairs, Lauren's face still pink and Heero still holding a tissue stained with blood. Wufei shot him an odd look but said nothing. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Lauren asked him
"I told you," Heero replied "I'll be fine, it isn't serious."
Wufei snickered quietly and his black eyes gleamed over at Heero. "When is Amanda supposed to get here again?" Heero asked, trying to get away from the topic
"Soon." Lauren replied, and as she did, the doorbell rang "Or maybe now will work."
Amanda popped her head in "Am I too early?" She asked
The four of them shook their heads "We're just waiting for Quatre and Donna to finish up with their project and for Duo and Trowa to come downstairs."
"Okay. Are you sure you want to go through with this?" She asked "You can always put it off until another day. I mean, we just met today and this is starting the friendship out on a strange foot."
"We said we would and we're not going to back out of it." Heero replied, "We accepted the mission and once it's accepted, you can't back out of it."
"Well, this isn't a mission." Lauren put in "It's a game and you can back out of it."
Heero shook his head "We never back out once we accept."
"Whatever." The three girls shrugged
Donna was upstairs, walking around the hall, peaking in everyone's room while Quatre finished up the report she had started earlier. "Hey Donna!" Duo ran up behind her and grabbed her waist "What are you doing?"
"Just looking around." She replied, "Some medieval weaponry would go along way here, ya know."
"You're so cool!" Duo exclaimed, "Will you go out with me?"
"Whoa!!!! Back off!!!!" Donna held up her hands to keep him away from her "You move way too fast for your own good. You're an okay guy but I'm not about to commit myself to anyone. Besides, we've known each other for less then a day."
"It's been long enough for me!" Duo replied
"Wait awhile, ask me again in a month and I'll give you an answer then." She promised
"Donna, I'm done!" Quatre called from his room "Tell me what you think of it."
"Coming." She yelled back. She flashed Duo a smile and then walked back to where Quatre had finished their project. After reading over it, she gave a nod of approval "Let's go and play!" She said, "I've got to be home by nine thirty anyways."
Quatre smiled at her "A little anxious are you? Anyone in particular causing this impatience?"
"Shut up before I deck you." She threatened, her face turning red
"Let's go and play." He said chuckling "Your knight in black clothing awaits you my lady."
She punched him and walked downstairs ahead of him. Quatre combed his hair out quickly before following her down. The eight of them waited a few more minutes for Trowa to get out of the shower before he joined them in the living room where they were sitting in a circle around the coffee table. Andi reached into her bag and brought out the calculator with the duck sticker on the back. "Who's going first?" She asked
"I am." Donna replied, taking it and spinning it on the table and then watching it land on Heero. She leaned over to give him a quick kiss, grimacing after, "You know, you probably wouldn't be so bad if you'd just put some feeling into it." She commented, "You're about as passionate as a rock or a dead squirrel or something."
Heero glared at her "It hasn't seemed to bother anyone but you." He shot back looking around the room "Trowa, could you hand me a tissue, I've got some spit left around my mouth." Her jaw dropped, Heero looked stonily back at her "How anyone can drool that much during a kiss that fast is beyond me."
"Guys, that's enough." Lauren butted in "Wufei, it's your turn."
He shrugged and spun it. After it stopped, he leaned in to kiss Amanda "Not bad." She giggled
"I was married once, remember?" He reminded the guys who were giving him a curious look
"Oh, Okay. My turn!" Duo took the calculator and spun it, watching it eagerly as it landed on Donna "Woohoo!!" He raised his hands up in the air "Yeah baby!"
"How the heck did you get it to do that?" Donna demanded, "I don't know how but I'm sure you cheated."
"Oh well, pay up!" Duo leaned over Wufei and wrapped his arms around Donna, kissing her deeply and holding her tightly to him and not stopping the kiss even when she struggled to get away.
"Damn, that could beat Heero any day." She said when he finally let her go
Heero just glared, still convinced that it was her fault, not his.
Andi took it next and eyed Trowa suspiciously before shrugging and leaning over to kiss him. She smiled a little bit when it was over "It really is always the quiet ones." Trowa blushed and began to study the ceiling tiles intently
Lauren took it next and looked in shock as it landed on Duo. "This is just wrong." She muttered, "If you try the same thing on me that you did on her, I swear you'll be the first one to experience my violent side." Duo just grinned and kissed her softy "Okay." Go Amanda." She said
Amanda spun it and watched it land on Heero. She kissed him quickly and pulled away just as fast "Donna, it must have been you." She joked weakly, not really use to that kind of thing.
"How could you tell?" Heero asked, "I couldn't feel anything."
"Redo!" Duo shouted
Amanda blushed beat red at that point and bent back in to kiss him again. Heero held her there a little bit longer before letting her go "See, it won't kill you." He replied
"Donna, now I really know it was your fault." She replied still kind of shaky
"Shut up!" Donna yelled
"Go Quatre." Lauren said quietly. He took it and watched it land on Trowa.
"Not again!" He exclaimed, making himself and Trowa blush
"What do you mean, again?" Donna asked
"Truth or dare, the two of them were stuck kissing during that game too." Duo laughed
"Can I spin again?" He pleaded
"Go ahead." Amanda replied, looking at him, her eyes full of something but no one was really sure what.
Quatre spun again and it landed on Andi. Duo let out a small snicker and Quatre's face turned red. "Go Q-man!" Duo cheered as the two of them leaned in to kiss
Quatre's face turned even redder as he handed the calculator over to Heero who spun and watched it land on Duo. He was about to spin again when Duo hopped over the table and glomped him "He-Chan!" He exclaimed, planting a sloppy wet kiss on the other boys cheek "I love you He-Chan!"
Heero threw him off and wiped off the spit "Omae o korosu." He muttered, spinning it again and watching it land on Lauren. He forced back a nosebleed and leaned over a few people to kiss her, a few seconds later they separated and Heero was finding himself closer and closer to another nosebleed
"Donna, you have another vote against you." Lauren replied, "That was great." She made herself and him start to blush.
"Will you guys leave me alone!" She yelled, "I swear, it was him and not me!"
"Baka." Heero muttered, "Everyone knows you're the only one sitting here without much experience, especially from the way you give the kisses out. You can receive them by faking the experience."
"Excuse me?" Donna stood up "If you have a problem with me, just bring it okay."
"I don't fight girls." Heero replied, staying where he was "If I fought you, I'd end up killing you and since we just met, I don't need that on my conscience."
"What about Relena?" Wufei brought up "You were threatening to kill her, the first time you met and every time you've seen her since then."
"Make good on your promise." Duo pleaded "The wench is driving me insane."
"That makes two of us." Quatre nodded his agreement "But she isn't so easy to get rid of. That's what makes her such a powerful leader in the colonies."
"What colonies?" Lauren asked, "What are you talking about?"
"They can't tell you." Donna replied sarcastically "It's not written in their mission to let us know anything. Remember, they're only here to kill everyone that they run into that doesn't meet their standards."
Heero jumped up suddenly and pulled a gun out of his spandex shorts and aimed it at her "What did you say?" He asked, his cobalt blue eyes wild "I'm going to have to kill you if you know anything."
"I don't." Donna glared at him "I was just making fun of you all. You're always talking in these weird terms about things and places that you've known about which we're totally oblivious to."
Heero stuck the gun back into the shorts and sat back down, still keeping a suspicious eye on the longhaired girl.
"Are we going to play anymore?" Duo asked, taking the calculator
"I guess." Everyone settled back down and waited for him to spin. This time it landed on Amanda. She still kissed him quickly and backed away nervously, squeezing her hands together to make an annoying squishy noise. Duo just laughed "Babe, lighten up. It's not like you're going to get pregnant or catch some rare and deadly disease from a kiss."
"Look, I'm not used to this kind of thing." Amanda butted in, still squeezing her hands together and blushing "The last time I really kissed a guy was in kindergarten."
"Well, with the way you try to cover up the facts to fit in with the rest of your friends, no guy ever will want to." Trowa spoke up for almost the first time that night "Guys don't want their woman to be fake and act like they've done more then they have. There are many people out there that will love your innocence as long as you don't let them take advantage of it or as long as you don't either."
"What do you mean, me taking advantage of it?" She asked
"I'll let you know if you start to do it." He replied "For now, you don't need to worry."
"There he goes again." Heero muttered to Wufei "Him and his standards for all females."
Wufei just shrugged "At least he has some." He replied
"I take it we're done here then." Donna said, getting up "It was fun and all but I think I better get going home. I've got the homework Mrs. O assigned and I don't feel like getting on her bad side this early in the year."
"Good point. I'm going to get going home to do it too." Andi stood up "I'll see you guys tomorrow." She smiled at them and walked out the door and for a while, they could see her walking up the street from the front window.
"I've got to wait here for my mother." Amanda said, sitting down on the couch, "She should be here within fifteen minutes or so." She looked over at Lauren, "If you don't feel like walking home in the dark, you can wait and I'm sure she'll let you ride home with us."
Ten minutes later, the two of them had been picked up and the five pilots were working on the little homework that had been assigned to them. Duo walked into Wufei's room, holding his chemistry book and his notebook "Wu-Chan, I think I'm going to need some help with this." He grumbled, "I swear, if any of these teachers are supposed to be from OZ, she's the only one evil enough to pull it off."
Wufei looked up at him, not smiling, but oddly enough for him, he wasn't really frowning either. He studied Duo for a moment "Come on, what don't you understand?"
Duo stared at him in shock "You mean you aren't going to blow me off this time and tell me I'm just ignorant or lazy or something?"
"Look, do you want my help or not?" Wufei demanded "I'm willing to explain what you need, don't push it."
Duo hopped onto the bed next to him and opened the book and the two of them began to do the homework together until about two in the morning* * *
Heero began to tap a few other keys in the computer. The school files had been too easy to break into, it was degrading to his skills. He copied down the names off all the staff that had transferred into the school within the past five years. Some had come in and then right back out again but he wrote down their names as well, if needed, he was sure that they would be easy enough to track down and destroy. "What are you doing?" Mr. Turdsac, the homeroom teacher walked over to him and stared at the screen
"I'm doing some research for a music history report." Heero replied sarcastically "What does it look like?"
The teacher glared at him "Don't get mouthy with me." He threatened, "All I wanted was an answer to make sure you're not trying to do anything illegal." He turned around to walk back to his desk, where he could continue to stare at the girls in the room.
Heero shook his head and continued with his research until he had almost fifty pages of information printed out and stored in his chemistry binder.
"Hey!" Lauren came over to him, positioning herself behind him so her body was safely away from Mr. Turdsac's gaze. "What are you doing?"
"Work." Heero replied shortly "I can't tell you anything so you might as well forget about asking me."
"What do you do?" Lauren asked, "Are you working with the government or something? Is that what all this secrecy is about?"
Heero processed her question through his mind and finding it safe enough gave her a reply "I guess you could say that." He answered
"You're a odd person, do you realize that?" She asked him "You're so strange, even compared to us."
He didn't respond, all he did was gather up his books in time for the bell to ring. "I'll see you around." He said shortly
"Come on Lauren." Andi walked over to her "Math, remember?"
"Damn it." She swore
"What's the matter?" Amanda asked
"Why does he have to be so good looking?"
"They all are." Andi pointed out to her "Just feel lucky that they're hanging out with us instead of...." She glared over to where the clown-faced girls were drooling over both Heero and Quatre. "Let's go and save them before Heero pulls out his gun and gets suspended."
She and Lauren walked over to the two boys with Amanda following behind them. Andi smiled sweetly at Quatre, grabbed his arm and led him out of the room into the hallway. After a moment, Lauren got Heero out the same way. "Thanks." He said, "I was afraid that they were going to ask me out or something. I don't want to be mean to them or anything but they aren't my type at all and they don't seem like very nice people."
Heero nodded in agreement, still loosely holding onto Lauren's arm. "We owe you one." He replied
"We better hurry up and get to class." Amanda reminded them "I have to ask Mrs. Zubriski something anyways."
"Did we have any homework last night?" Andi asked her
"Girl, yesterday was the first day, I thought you said you were going to be more organized this year."
"I am." She protested "I've got my social calendar up to date, in fact, most every day is blank so there wasn't that much to worry about. My dating calendar on the other hand." She giggled a little bit "That was even easier to get together, it's completely empty."
Amanda sighed, "I'm not supposed to be your assignment notebook." She reminded her
"You've been saying that for the past three years and I've yet to have you tell me to buzz off instead of telling me what I need to do."
"Why don't you just write it down?" Quatre asked
"One, it just wastes trees. Two, I'd probably lose it, Three, why bother when I have her for a friend."
"Let's just get to class." Amanda reminded them
"We'll be along in awhile." Lauren promised her "We've still got a few minutes." She turned to Heero "Did you guys see the posters up about the dance?"
He nodded "What about it?"
"Do you guys want to make it a group thing?"
He shrugged "There are four of you and five of us." He reminded her
"So, we'll get Jess to come for Trowa." Andi put in "That would make five and five."
"Sure, I guess." He shrugged "When is it again?"
"Two weeks from Friday." Lauren smiled sheepishly "I just thought I'd save you guys from everyone else who wants a piece of you."
Heero gazed at her for a moment, the beginning of a smile playing at the corner of his mouth before walking away.
"Let's get going." Andi sighed, "Another day in Hell begins in about 45 seconds."
"Kumbaya...IO sucks, kumbaya." Lauren sang loudly, swaying back and forth until the two of them broke down laughing and had to run to make the late bell.* * *
"Okay now here are the instructions for your chemistry lab." Mrs. O said, "Now whatever you do, don't mix the HCl and the NH3 together or we're going to have a problem. Another thing, don't touch either chemical or it will burn your skin off."
Duo watched Donna measure out the different chemicals and start performing the experiment "You know you could do something." She said with a sigh "I'm not the strongest student in the world you realize and if you actually want to pass, then you might want to move your hands over here and help out a little bit."
Duo grinned slyly, waited until the teacher and Donna had both turned away from him before sneaking over to the other side of the lab table and grabbing Donna's butt. She jumped up in the air, turned around and glared at him "Pervert!" She yelled, "That's not what I meant."
"You left the possibilities wide open." Duo replied with another smile
"Don't ever do that again." She threatened "Or I'll tear you apart."
"Babe, face it, you loved every minute of it."
Mrs. O walked over to them "Is there a problem over here?" She demanded "Are you done with the lab already because I'd love to see your results."
"No problem, everything is okay." Donna turned back to the experiment "I really hate you." She told Duo
"No you don't." He challenged, "You know that as well as I do."
"You're so egotistical." She sighed "Now just go and wash these beakers so we can start writing down the data. I can't have another failing grade."
"Don't sweat the small stuff." Duo replied, "Wufei can get you caught up easily. God, he got me to understand the stuff last night."
"He's just a human being, not a miracle worker." Donna shot back "He has limitations."
"Not the Wu-man. He's a fucking genius!" Duo exclaimed only to have the room go quiet "Uhhh...what did I do this time?"
"Bad potty mouth!" Ashley shouted from across the room
"You're in for it now." Tyler snickered
Mrs. O came over to them, her hands on her hips and Heero's "glare of death" on her very unhappy face "You do realize that kind of inappropriate language is strictly prohibited. It's written right in your student folder. I'm afraid I'm going to have to write up a referral for you."
"No!" Donna shouted, "I don't want him to share my detention time!"
"Then maybe you should tutor him on the schools rules before the two of you spend every night there for the rest of the year." She marched off; her heals clicking on the floor
"That doesn't sound too bad to me!" Duo grinned cheerfully
Donna groaned and sank down to the floor "This is going to be a very long year." She moaned* * *
"Hey everyone!" The perky blonde English teacher said with a big smile "How are you all doing?"
"Fine." Lauren replied, "The summer was kind of boring but we tried to make the best of it. We did a lot of swimming, and writing. Just like normal."
"I see you've got some new friends." She smiled at Heero, Duo, Quatre, and Wufei. "What are your names?"
Heero glared at her, Duo was gaping at Donna in her spaghetti strapped tank top, Wufei had his nose in another thick book and with a sigh, Quatre answered, "I'm Quatre Raberba Winner." He answered and then pointed to each other pilot in turn "Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell and Wufei Chang."
"I love your names!" She exclaimed "So unique."
"Seems like everything around this area is." Wufei muttered, his nose still behind the book."
"Nope, just us!" Donna and Andi laughed
"Another reader, huh?" She noticed, looking at Wufei "Have you met Ashley yet, you two would probably get along very well."
"We've already met." He replied shortly
By that time, the other students, the same ones that were in their Global History class the day before, had pooled into the room and were sitting down in their different cliques. "Okay." The teacher assumed her professional stature "This year we're really going to be concentrating on the essays that you'll have to write for the regents exam you'll have to take next year. We're also going to be doing a big Holocaust project that when we do it, will count for a large part of your grade. Any questions?" A sea of heads shaking answered her "Good, then we're just going to jump right into things. We're going to start out the year by analyzing poetry but I figured it would be easier to do this by analyzing song lyrics instead. You guys analyze my favorite song today and next time we meet, I want each of you to bring in the lyrics of your favorite song and we'll go through them all." She proceeded to lead the class through her favorite song of all time "All Star" by the group Smash Mouth "Now remember to bring in your lyrics next time." She reminded them five minutes before the bell rang "Make sure they are appropriate, no adult topics, no adult language. Make sure that whatever you choose won't get me fired."
"Why are the main people you hear using adult language normally youth?" Andi asked her sarcastically
"Fine, no language above a PG rating. If you wouldn't hear it in a Disney movie, then don't bring it here." She grinned "Better?"
"Nope. Have you seen what they put in Disney movies?" She asked
"Okay...anything you wouldn't say to a two year old."
Crickets were heard in the room as all the students just gave her a 'duh' expression. "Anything you wouldn't say to a two year old stranger when their mother was standing right there holding a cinder block over your head?" She attempted one more time
"Gotcha." Andi replied with a smile
"What if you don't have any song lyrics you like?" Heero asked
"Then just bring in the most interesting lyrics you can find." She replied, "I'm sure you'll be able to find something and if you can't, you've got some friends that are quite interested in music. I'm sure that they'll be able to help you out."
Heero nodded, fixing his cobalt gaze on Lauren who in turn, began to blush. "Will you give me a hand?" He asked her
"Sure. If you want, just come on over after school today, we'll go through my CD's until you find a song that you like."
"What if your favorite song is in another language?" Quatre asked
"See if you can find a translation into English or else find a different song." She replied, "I don't know much of anything outside of English, that's kind of why I'm teaching the class." She replied as the bell rang "See you all on Thursday!" She called as they exited the room.
"What songs do you guys have in mind right now?" Duo asked
"Well...since most of my other choice have been nixed because of an adult language content, I think I'm going to have to go with something by Savage Garden." Donna replied, "Either "Promises" or "Carry On Dancing."
"Right now I'm thinking either the New Radicals "You Get What You Give" or Natalie Imbruglia's "Don't You Think." Both songs are really good." Andi said
"Probably something by either Matchbox 20 or Third Eye Blind." Lauren added, "I don't really know, maybe I'll just bring in "The Blonde Song."
"Something by either Hanson or the Backstreet Boys." Amanda spoke up
"Eww!" Duo stuck out his tongue "Pansy-assed boy bands!"
"They're very talented." Amanda protested
"Yeah, it may seem that way if you're about seven years old and have no idea what talent is." He shot back "Boy I just lost all respect for your taste."
"Well, if you judge people on their musical choice, then maybe we shouldn't bother hanging out together anymore." She frowned "I thought you were more mature then that."
"Me being mature?" Duo snorted "Look who's sitting here listening to the music with the lyrical capacity that even a three year old would be able to analyze. Excuse me Miss. I may be 16 but I'm really no more mature then a 10 year old teeny-bopper, I've got some work to do for chemistry next period."
"Dude!" Donna exclaimed after he had left them "He must hate boy bands more then I do!"
"Well...there's kind of a reason behind it." Quatre said in his friend defense "It seemed funny to the rest of us but he was really offended by it."
"Please, do tell." Donna smiled evilly
"Well...before we came here, we ended up getting stuck in the middle of a town where some boy band was playing that night. I think it was Hanson or something, are they the ones that really resemble females?" The girls nodded "Okay then, but anyways, their manager came over and gave us tickets to their show and backstage passes. We had some time before we had to get here so we decided to check it out. The show basically sucked and when we went backstage to tell the group that, one of them was drunk and began to try to grope Duo thinking that he was one hot chick. Duo got pissed off, socked the guy, security got after us and we had to split kind of quickly. The whole experience made him despise any boy-band but especially that one."
"Hanson would never drink." Amanda protested, "They have morals."
Heero took out a photo of one of them wearing a baggy shirt and leather pants with his hands touching Duo in rather inappropriate places and leaning in for a kiss. "Hate to disappoint you." He said solemnly "But here's your evidence."
Amanda took the photo and when she gave it back to them, her face was white and tears were running down her cheeks. She turned around and ran down the hall
"One less teeny-bopper in the world." Donna remarked, "She needed that break on reality."
"Oh well...she'll get over it." Andi shrugged "I mean, I like BSB, 'Nsync, and 98 Degrees and everything but I'm not nearly as obsessed with them as she is."
"Better get to class." Wufei remarked as the bell rang "This is about the third time today that we've been late."
"Good point." Heero remarked as they split up to go their separate ways.* * *
"Ready?" Lauren asked Heero after the last bell had rung, dismissing them for the day.
He nodded "Let's go before Duo decides that he wants to tag along."
"You don't really have to worry about that one." She replied with a smile "He and Donna are both in detention until about five. Something about him swearing in one of Mrs. O's classes."
"What did Donna do?" He asked
"What hasn't Donna done?" She countered
"I guess that's a good enough point." He said, shutting his locker and hoisting his dark-blue bag over his shoulder.
"Okay, I've got all my books already, let's just leave, it's a bit of a walk but it's still nice out so I'd rather walk then take the bus. If you mind though, we can take the bus."
"I can walk." He said quickly "I'm not in the mood for putting up with any obnoxious menaces."
"I hear you there." She laughed as they walked out of the school and down the street. "If you don't mind though, would you mind telling me where you're from? I barely know anything about you."
"How about if I make you a deal." He replied "For every question you ask me that I'm able to answer, I get to ask you something."
"Fine with me." She replied, "Now where are you from."
"Don't ask me where it is but I was born in a place called L-1." He replied
"Is it like an army base or something?" She asked
"Not exactly but I can't get anymore specific." He replied "Now for my two." He thought for a moment "How many people are in your family?"
"5 altogether." She replied, "There's me, my mom, my dad, my brother, and my sister."
"Okay." He said making a mental note "Do you love them?"
"Well...we get on each other's nerves an awful lot but yes, I love them." She answered, "Why, don't you have a family?"
"No." He replied shortly "Never have, never will at this point. Who do you like being around more, your family or your friends?"
"That's a tough one." She said as they turning a corner and headed out of the village "I have fun with both but I think I'd have to say my family just because I've been around them more and even if for some reason our little group splits up, I'll still have my family. Last night, you said that you never had a girlfriend but you had been kissed before. Who was it?"
"Well...once it was this girl named Relena whom I'm planning on killing eventually. I was unconscious and had started to fall on the floor. She went nuts, caught me, started playing with my hair, and kissed me while I was still unconscious. If I would have been conscious, you can bet that it would never have happened. The other time it was Duo as a joke. Do you have a boyfriend?" He asked shocking her
"Not at the moment. Do you have a girlfriend?" She fired back
"Not on your life. I'm moving around too much and I don't have the time to get a serious relationship going. That and the fact that all the females I've been around so far have either been twice my age or annoying as all hell. Why aren't you dating anyone?"
"There isn't anyone around here that I'd think about wasting my time with that would actually want to waste their time with me. What about you?"
"I already told you." He replied as they turned into her driveway "They were either too immature, too pushy, too old, or I didn't have the time."
"You've got a question coming to you." She said as she unlocked the front door and let them inside. "David and Karen are both at soccer practice and Mom and Dad are at work until about five. I'm going to have to get rid of you by then so they don't flip out or anything."
"That shouldn't be a problem." He said following her up the stairs into her room. "What do you have?"
"Do you want to go through my CD's first or my MP3 collection?"
"Whatever you feel like." He replied, sitting down at the foot of her bed
"Well...let's start with the MP3s, I've got a bigger variety of them and I've got a lot less to go through."
"Okay." He replied as she hit play "Could you tell me the artist and title of each one so I can write down the one I want to find for later. I can get the lyrics online back home."
"Okay, this first one is "Du Hast" by the group Ramstein. It's in German but I've got the English translation as well."
He listened for about 30 seconds before shaking his head in the negative "It's too repetitive." He commented
"Okay then. What about "Clumsy" by Our Lady Peace?"
"Who's Mary?" He asked, "I don't think so."
"'Memories are Designed to Fade" by Savage Garden?"
"Too popish." He remarked
"Enrique Iglasius, "Be With You?'"
"No."
"Eminem "Stan?'"
"Nope."
And so it continued until he had nixed all of the music she had on her computer and the majority of her CD's. "I'm not sure that I have anything that you'd like." She said when she was down to the last CD that she slipped into her player.
"Well...Like I said, I'm not really sure about what I like so why don't you just play something that you like?" He suggested
"Well...I guess I could play you my favorite song." She shrugged and switched over to track five "This one is "Crash and Burn" by Savage Garden
Heero listened intently at the first verse of the song "When you feel all alone, and the world has turned it's back on you. Give me a moment please, to tame your wild, wild heart. I know you feel like the walls are closing in on you. It's hard to find relief and people can be so cold. When darkness is upon your door and you feel like you can't take anymore...let me be the one you call, if you jump, I'll break your fall. Lift you up and fly away with you into the night. If you need to fall apart, I can mend your broken heart, if you need to crash, then crash and burn, you're not alone." The lead singer wailed on
"Can you?" Heero asked her suddenly
"Can I what?" She asked looking confused
"Can you mend my broken heart?"
She looked at him startled but then her eyes softened and she smiled up at him and blushed a little "I can't guarantee anything, but I'd like to give it a try." She said quietly
The corners of his mouth twitched and threatened to turn into a smile but before she could see it progress any further, he leaned forward and kissed her softly. They kissed again and again and again before breaking apart and gazing into each other's eyes. "I think I'm going to use that other question now." He said with a coy smile finally showing through "I know this is kind of sudden and kind of soon, but will you consider going steady with me?"
"You're right, it is soon but I'd love to." She smiled "Now shut up and kiss me again." She leaned in and wrapped her arms around his neck
"Mission accepted." He murmured before leaning in to obey her command
