What You See…

Hey pplz!!! Thanx so much for the reviews! Ok, I know some of you are wondering when Leggy is going to show up and here's my answer. He's going to show up eventually, but I don't want to rush the story too much. Rushing would totally mess up the plot. I've gotta establish the character a little more first before rushing her into middle earth. And in answer to Kelly: don't worry, you're not the only person who's stupid. I know that a mary-sue is someone who's overly perfect and that, yes, Legolas is going to be in this story. But I myself am not very sure what flames are. I think, well I assume, that flames are review that basically say your story sucks. OK PEOPLE, FOR IGNORANT PEOPLE LIKE ME: WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN YOU FLAME A STORY???

            Well, on with chapter three!!!! ^_^

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter Three: School and Best Friends

I glanced at myself in the mirror. After coming back to my room, I had taken a shower, carefully picked out a set of clothes to wear, and done my hair. Hey, being popular meant looking great everyday and wearing "in" clothes. I was wearing a pair of waist-hugging but loose and easy-to-move-in flared jeans with a not-too-low-cut white shirt that had large and flowing sleeves. "Angel" was written on it in baby-blue, script-like letters. I had dressed carefully as not to bump the cloth into any cuts or bruises from last night's "lesson." Weekend training was even tougher than weekday training. My feet were bare and my hair was up in its usual braid. Most people liked to leave their hair down, but I, personally, couldn't stand it. Whenever I let my wavy, almost waist-length silver hair down, it always ended up in my way until I became so frustrated about it that I was ready to cut it off. My friends all said that I should leave it down more because I looked good that way, but I just ignored them. Besides, loose hair would just get in the way of training that came right after school.

I wouldn't care that much about my looks, but being popular was one of my parents' requirements in school. I had to get straight A's, join in extracurricular activities, and be one of the "popular people." After tucking a wisp of hair back into my tight braid, I was satisfied with my appearance. I grabbed my bookbag and made my way down the stairs into the kitchen. My parents weren't around. I never saw them in the mornings, only during the afternoon training sessions. I grabbed a bowl and a box of Fruit Loops out of the pantry, poured some milk, and promptly began to eat breakfast. The house was still completely silent but for the sound of me crunching fruit loops. The silence unnerved most people who came over, but I was used to it. Finishing breakfast, I checked my watch. 7:40. Good, I thought, just in time to catch the bus. Throwing on my bookbag, I put on my usual pair of soft shoes and headed out, locking the door on my way. I never wore the sandals or flip-flops that so many others did. You can't train with sandals on.

I made my way to the bus stop at a leisurely pace, enjoying the scenery around me. The small town of Northborough where I lived was rather peaceful, or my neighborhood was, at least. Then again, I lived in a pretty rich neighborhood. I reached the stop as the bus was pulling in and walked in. Everything was noisy and disorganized as usual. Some people were silent, staring out the window. Others were happily chattering with their friends. The seniors in the back were pelting the freshmen in the front with bits of paper. I made my way to the middle of the bus, where the popular group of freshmen sat. I greeted my friends and quickly sat down, just missing being hit by a wad of paper. I had felt it coming. I was always on hair-trigger. (~Lady of Dreams~: Hair trigger is like being really, really sensitive. You notice things before they actually hit you. It comes from having to be alert all the time.)

Jamming on my headphones, I let the harsh rap music of Eminem wash over me. He was one of my favorite artists. His music comforted me, though it is kind of a strange type of music to listen to for comfort since his songs are so filled with anger. But listening to other people's anger helped calm my own. No one tried to speak to me. By now, people on my bus knew me well enough to know that I never talked in the mornings. Not even the seniors tried to throw paper at me, knowing who my parents were and knowing that I took martial arts with them. I had never had to show my skills for which I was grateful, seeing as how I might seriously hurt someone because of the harsh "lessons" my parents gave me in the afternoons. I closed my eyes. Weariness wrapped me in a blanket, tucking me in. I could feel sleep settling over me and quickly snapped my eyes back open. It would not do to fall asleep and possibly sleepwalk on the bus. No one knew I sleepwalked except for my parents(I'm assuming) and my best friend.

The bus rolled into the parking lot and everyone got out in a jumble. The crisp air of winter fading into spring struck me. I stopped for a minute, just looking at the two-story building of my school. Another day had officially begun. I heaved a sigh and stalked in.

The halls were filled with people. People laughing, people talking, girl whispering about boys, boys bragging about what had happened on his date last night. I made my way to my locker slowly; it was impossible to move fast in this crowd! I waved a hello to some people along the way, not saying anything. I hated Monday mornings. It meant the beginning of another week. Finally reaching locker, I punched in the combination and flipped it open, getting my books together without very much enthusiasm. School was such a bore sometimes.

"Well, someone looks gloomy this morning," a cheerful voice said to my right. I turned, knowing who it was—my best friend, Lillian Monro.

Now, if you thought I was perfect, then she was even perfecter, if there even is such a word. She had shoulder length layered hair that framed her face and was black. I mean like pure black. For those who say there's no such thing as pure black hair, that it was just a dark brown, they are wrong. Amethyst eyes graced a face that had flawless skin and was pale but not too pale, always with a natural blush to the cheeks. She has the perfect figure, though I don't know how cause she eats like a pig and as much as one too. To sum up Lilly in one word—perfect.

"You know, sometimes you're so perfect you disgust me," I grumbled back, slamming my locker shut.

She laughed, a clear musical laugh. She looked perfectly groomed, as usual, wearing a pair of faded jeans with a black shirt saying "Devil" in flaming red letters. On the first day she had arrived at Morris High, everyone's jaw had dropped, literally. Everywhere she had gone, it had been just a procession of silence with jaw-dropping and gaping. Even the girls had stared on at her beauty and felt despair sinking into their hearts, knowing that they had just lost whatever attention they might have received from guys. Even I had felt my jaw go slack, though I had quickly closed my mouth as to not look like a fish. Seeing this, Lilly had seemed very grateful. She had looked very nervous as she walked down the halls, a new transfer student, and everyone had stopped and gaped at her as if she was some display at the museum.

"Well, you're the same, aren't you," she teased.

"Oh, shut up," I snapped back at her. She wasn't offended. She had known me long enough now to know that I was useless on Monday mornings.

I had been one of the first to break the silence that had filled the usually noisy halls. Even the teachers who had come out to see why it was so quiet had reduced to staring with their mouths hanging open. I had welcomed her to our school and offered to show her around. She had accepted, in that ringing, musical voice of hers which just left more people gaping, looking extremely relieved. As if that had been a signal, everyone began rushing towards her. Guys crowded around her asking, even begging for her number. Girls had tried to get close too, to be her friend so they could know her secrets of success. Other girls, though, had huddled into groups, whispering to each other and shooting evil looks at the beautiful stranger that had caught every single guy's attention. I had felt rather sorry for the poor girl. I mean, here she was, on her first day of school in a totally new town, and she was swamped by people. She tried valiantly to make her way out of the crowd, but it was a hopeless case.

So then I, knowing how she felt in this situation since I had gone through it before though at a much, much lesser degree, created a distraction. I made my way through the crowd, whispered a few well-chosen words to a few of the guys crowding the new student and managed to start a brawl all within a minute. As fists flew and curses rent the air, I grabbed the new girl's arm and dragged her out of the mess, making my way to the small pond behind the school which no one except me and a few friends knew about. Since that incident, we had become fast friends. Eventually, the reactions stopped, though people did still stop and stare once in a while. And she was blind to her own beauty! She thought that it was a normal reaction for a new student to receive and ignored anyone who told her otherwise. She seemed to have made friends with almost the whole school by the end of her first week. There was something about her that attracted others like flies to honey. And to top it all of, she just had to be perfect at every, single thing that she did. You name it, and she could do it. Sometimes it just drove me crazy! And I must admit, there have been a few times where I had been rather jealous, like that time with that really cute senior… Oh well, I won't get into that event.

On the other hand, Lilly ate tons. I don't know how she eats so much and still keeps her figure! And she seems to have a goal to break every single school rule ever created, constantly getting into trouble. None of the teachers ever seemed to have the heart to suspend her or anything. I always accused her of using the puppy dog eyes on the teachers, but then she would just give me that "What? Me?" look, and I would give up. Of course, guys still threw themselves at her feet, but she had learned to ignore it eventually. After going through a few days of trying to explain to guys why she couldn't go out with them, she had just given up.

"So, are things still stable at your house?" I asked as we made our way to homeroom, greeting people occasionally.

"Not really," she replied, strain beginning to show in her voice. "They're thinking of getting a divorce."

"Oh, honey, I'm sorry," I said sympathetically, giving her a quick hug.

"It's okay, Aria. There's nothing much I can do about it anyway. They've been leaning towards this direction for quite a while. Josh is doing everything he can to persuade them not to, for us, for me, but I think they have their hearts set on it. Josh is being really sweet these days." She gave me sad little smile, and we walked on in silence. I knew that there weren't any words I could say to make it better. Better to let her organize her thoughts, I thought. But my heart ached for her. Normally, she was so cheerful that it annoyed me, but now that she was so down these days, I thought that sadness didn't suit one who was always so happy.

We were birds of a feather. Both of our personal lives held more than people saw. The way we acted in school each day was different from our actual selves, only a mask for other people to look at and enjoy. Lilly's parents had always argued a lot, starting around eighth grade, she told me. They had tried to settle things out to make it work for Lilly and her brother, Josh, but now it seemed that they couldn't keep it up. They had awful arguments at home, Lilly told me, where they would throw things at each other and scream and yell. Not very many people knew about her family troubles. Then again, we were best friends, sharing all secrets. Well, almost all. No one knew about my family, and I hadn't tried to tell. Who would believe me anyway? I have no evidence, no proof. There were times when I almost spilled the beans to Lilly, but I always held myself in check. She wouldn't believe me, and my parents…they might somehow find out that I had told someone. But excluding my not so little secret, we were the best of friends. Actually, she was my only true friend. I hung out with others, of course, but had never confided in anyone other than her.

We made it to homeroom just as the bell rang. I sat down at my desk. A pair of hands closed over my eyes, and I had to restrain myself not to attack, since that would've been my natural instinct.

"Guess who?" a deep voice rumbled in my ear.

"Ryan, I know it's you," I replied with a hint of laughter in my voice. The hands vanished, and I turned around to look at my boyfriend, Ryan McCoy. We had been going steady for about two months now. He's the star of the basketball team. He has wavy, deep brown hair and warm brown eyes. He's funny and polite but rather shy at times. I don't trust him enough to confide in him yet. Trust does not come easily for me.

"You always know," he said, grinning. We smiled at each other. Ryan could be such a sweetie sometimes.

"Oh, please," Lilly told both of us disgustedly, "You guys are making me sick. How can you act so cuddly all the time?"

"You're just jealous," I retorted, knowing that I was wrong, but needing a retort. She snorted. She was currently dating the captain of the football team, Michael Williams, who was totally hot and very sought after, though probably not as much as her. Besides, she never seemed to be jealous of anyone. And it's not like she needed to be. Ryan was staring at her…shirt, which was very low-cut, mind you. I just grinned to myself, knowing what would happen next. It happened rather often, and I was used to it.

"Uh, hello?" Lilly said, "I believe your girlfriend's that way." She turned his head around to face me instead. Ryan blushed beet red and muttered what sounded like an apology before hurrying to his seat.

"You're evil, Lilly," I told her, trying not to laugh.

"I know," she said simply with a wicked grin in Ryan's direction. We giggled together some more, talked a little about her date the past weekend with Michael before the bell rang. I settled into my seat with a sigh. Another day of school had just begun.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Oh my god. Can you believe the amount of homework Mr. Stein gave us today? I'm gonna be up all night working on this piece of s—"

"No need to get all worked up over homework, Lilly. Just don't do it. You can probably talk your way out of it tomorrow anyway," I told her. Classes were over, and we were heading to the buses.

"No," Lilly sighed, "I should probably do it. It'll give me an excuse to lock myself in my room and avoid my parents, at least." Her voice became subdued at the end of her sentence.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked.

"No, not yet," she replied, scuffing the ground with her foot, "but thanks. I don't know what I'd do without you." And she gave me a hug all of a sudden.

"Hey, are you gonna get all sentimental on me?" I asked teasingly, trying to lighten the mood.

"No, of course not," she said, with a little laugh. "Oh, by the way. Here." She pulled something out of her backpack. It was a copy of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

"Thank you so much!" I squealed. "I've been looking for a copy of this forever! Where'd you get it?"

"Oh, I was just cleaning out my room yesterday, and I found this under my bed," she replied casually. I could see that what she had told me wasn't true, though. For one thing, it was a brand new copy and if it had been under Lilly's bed… Well, believe me, it wouldn't have looked like this. She didn't like to show her soft side to others, but she was always giving people random presents that they wanted but didn't have the money to get or couldn't find it. She would always deny it, though, if someone accused her of doing so.

My part-obsession with Lord of the Rings had begun two months ago, after I had gone to one of my friend's sleepover and seen the first movie. I hadn't read the books before, but after seeing the movie, I was eager to read the books. I had gotten my hands on the first book easily enough, but it took me a long time to get through it because I didn't have much time to read at home. After the first book, though, I just couldn't find a copy of The Two Towers anywhere! So I was kind of behind, but oh well. I would try to find the time to read…somehow. "You have got to go see The Two Towers with me this weekend," I exclaimed, after carefully packing the book away.

"I'll see if I can," she replied, starting to make her way towards her bus. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Bye!"

            "

Bye!" I waved back, heading toward my own bus. I worked on homework on the bus, though I longed to read The Two Towers. I resisted the temptation, though and concentrated on homework. After getting off the bus, I walked to the library near my neighborhood and proceeded to finish up my homework. After three hours, I was finally done. I glanced at my watch. 7:19. Good, not too late, I thought. Maybe I'll be able to have dinner before eleven today. I walked quickly back towards my house. I stopped in front of it, staring at its five stories and forbidding entrance. I hardened the essence of me, my heart, my will, my resolve. I made sure that I was fully alert and that my clothes would not get in the way. Then I stowed my stowed my bookbag in the basket of the pulley that I would use later to pull it up to my room. Finally, I carefully took my weapons from behind a bush at the side of my house.

Today would be archery training. I took up my bow and arrows, strapping the arrows to my back. I sheathed my sword, hanging it on a belt at my side. Any type of training always ended up in swordwork. I felt for my daggers and small knives which I had hidden in many places. Good, they were all there. Okay, I'm ready, I thought to myself, or as ready as I'll ever be. Finally, I walked up to the front door and slowly began to turn the doorknob.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

WOW!!!! I wrote that pretty quick. Only two days since I last updated! Ok, you might be wondering why I wrote so much about her best friend, who I know is mary-sue, but please don't trample me for it Well, for one thing, Aria doesn't make close friends very easily, and Lilly's basically her only true friend. Also, she's gonna play a part in the future. Questions for today: IS MIRKWOOD A VERY GLOOMY AND DANGEROUS FOREST OR BRIGHT AND CHEERFUL? Well, thanks for reading and PLEASE REVIEW, DON'T FLAME, AND ANSWER MY QUESTIONS!!!! Thanx! ^_^