The new student
As Jacky kept running along the rooftops of some old, deserted buildings she just couldn't stop thinking about Ray. The way he gazed at her, with those fiery eyes. The way he was so determined to get her out of the alley. For some strange reason, Jacky felt as if she saw Ray before, not in cartoons but reality, but decided that it was her own mind playing tricks on her. When she spotted her own house, she jumped down, and went inside as quiet as possible. The hall clock rang 11:30pm.

" Kinda early, but whatever."Jacky whispered to herself.

Her uncle spotted her out in the hall, and told her to get to bed right away. She was too tired to argue, like she usually did, so Jacky turned straight upstairs. Her aunt and uncle watched in surprise as jacky did exactly what she was told.

Jacky sat on her bed, looking out the window at the dark night sky, without any stars, but a full moon.Her aunt knocked on the door, and slowly entered the room.

"Hmph." Jacky said

"Are you alright dear? You seem to be so down on yourself today." Her aunt asked.

"Just fine. I'm always like that, so whats the problem?"

In a response her aunt just smiled.There was a minute of silence before anyone spoke.

"Don't you ever feel sad and lonely, when you want to talk to a friend to cheer you up, but there's no one around?"

"Not really.Who needs friends? The only thing they'll do is depend on you, and then dump or betray you."

"That's not true, and you know it!"

"Then there is no truth.Only the strong survive, and they are ones who only depend on themselves, not others."

" I think I know whats making you talk all this craziness. Ever since you started to play with that toy of yours, your beyblade, you didn't make friends with anyone. You should give up on it."

"Aunt Margharett! Me? Give up on my beyblade? I've had it ever since I could remember! It was a present from my parents! It's the only memory I have!"
"Alright.But at least think about what I said to you.Get your mind away from that toy of yours.Maybe you'll even change your mind about that attitude that you have in your dreams."

Aunt Margharett smiled one last time and walked out of the room.Jacky was very surprised, when she actually remembered that it was a present from her parents.

" Or my nightmares." Jacky said.

The next day in the school turned out to be more, than expected.Much more.Her math teacher gave the class a surprise quiz, and most of the people failed. The day kept going so slow, that every second seemed to become an hour, but at lunch time it changed. Jacky was slowly walking to her empty table, when she heard a group of guys from her class talking.

"That new student Tala is really weird."said some boy.

"He's so quiet"Said another.

" Hey guys, I heard that Tala is supposed to be some super-powered, beyblader...."

"Jerk!"

They all started laughing out loud, at their lame joke.

"Hey..I know someone who's just like that."

"Who?"

"Jacky of course"

More roaring laughter filled the lunch room.

"Hey Jacky, guess what? We've found your long-lost brother!"

The whole room was laughing like crazy, all looking at Jacky now. But she wasn't worried.

"Why thank you Doug, it's *soooo* nice of you to actually say something to me."

The boy's face turned red, and he stopped laughing.

When Jacky walked over to her table, she peacefully sat down, staring at the warm mushy potatoes and cold meat, but noticed a boy whom she never saw, looking at her with his cold blue eyes. She couldn't believe it. The boy looked exactly like Tala! This was her second time seeing a character from beyblade. She thought she started seeing things, but changed her mind. When he saw her look at him he turned around and walked away.

Right before the end of the day, when the bell rang, Jacky was about to walk out the doors of her school, when she saw a crowd of kids, gazing at the news board. She usually didn't pay attention to it, but this time it was different. It was hard to see through the enormous crowd of kids, but jacky pushed herself through to the front. A large, colorful poster hung tight to the wall. On the poster, it read in large black letters: "Regional beyblade tournament."Under that in smaller letters it said:''The four final competitors will advance to other tournaments in Europe, Australia, and America. The world championships will be held in Asia." Under that, it showed the date, location and time of the Regional Beyblade Tournament.

When Jacky walked out of the school building, she pulled her beyblade out of her pocket, and quietly said:

''Looks like we have more practicing to do."