Punctuation is the same as last chapter, except in this one, there will be messages transmitted through minds. Those messages will be marked with - -'s. Don't want anyone getting mixed up! Oh yes, thank you my first 2 reviewers: GothicBlacre and Jess! You're reviews meant a lot to me. Thanks for your support. Now onto the story...
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I sighed as I let myself into the house and closed the door behind me. Thoughts were running through my head. Was I just a sign for bad luck or something? Because nothing good ever happens to me anymore.
"Bra honey?"
I warily turned my head in the direction of the living room and frowned. Mom was with dad. And Burro was... you know, I could reallly care less about where that little brat was.
"Yes?" I called back.
"Oh, just making sure it was you," Mom returned.
I shook my head when I realized my eyelids were drooping. Boy was I tired. And I didn't do much today either.
"Where'd you go?" Mom went on.
I widened my eyes in ignorance. "I... just needed some air," I half- lied. It was part true – there was no way I was going to tell her that I needed to get away from dad also.
"Oh okay, Vegeta told me you had left," she called back as I started walking towards my room.
'Wow, he actually cares?' I thought coldly as I walked slowly up the stairs and down the hallway. All I wanted to do right now was take a nice, relaxing bubble bath and then get into bed.
I walked into my bathroom and started up the water. I stood there for a few minutes, just watching the water slowly fill up the tub, thinking. 'Why have things in my life suddenly turned against me?' I asked myself. 'Things used to be fun when I was smaller – heck, even the times of Bebi, Super 17, and those dragons were better than this!' I sighed as I walked over to my counter where the towels were. 'Is this part of growing up?'
I opened a counter door and groaned. "No towels?!" I exclaimed, slamming the door shut and stomping out of the room. "I could of sworn Mom brought up fresh towels last night..." I murmured as I walked down the hallway and into the nearest bathroom, which happened to be Burro's. First I looked around for him, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Hmph, like I could care where he is," I mumbled as I opened his counter door and gasped. It was overloaded with towels!
"Oh my god, if that little brat took all of my towels..." I started as I searched through his cabinet for any of my special towels. Sure enough, they were in here.
By now I was very pissed. I grabbed all of them and started walking back to my room. "Burro!" I yelled. Why would he do that to me?! Oh wait, that's right, he tries to make my life miserable. But... this was too easy. Maybe he was trying to distract me from something...
I gasped and ran to my bathroom. Sure enough, there was Burro, pouring a white substance into my bathtub.
I looked on in horror for a few seconds – my ki must have drained since he went on, not noticing I was there. Suddenly, anger got the best of me.
"GET OUT!" I screamed at him, making him jump and almost dropping the tube of the substance. He turned to look at me and cowered in fear.
"YOU BRAT!" I screamed again and tried to kick him, but he dodged my attack and ran out of the bathroom, grabbing his phone that was on my counter.
I wasn't done. I ran out after him.
Through the halls, down the stairs, through the kitchen, through the living room –
"Kids?!" Mom exclaimed as we flew past her and dad. They both stood up and ran after us. Dad grabbed me and put me in a deadlock while mom fought with Burro for a while but then held him still. Seeing me put in a deadlock must of helped him calm down. We're almost equal in power – I hate to admit that – but I'm much more stronger when I'm mad. And he knows it.
I was having a fit – this was all too much for me. I needed to fight someone, and the person closest to me was dad.
I started kicking my legs and throwing my arms all about, but to no avail. Dad held a firm grip on me, even though he kept shifting his weight trying to keep balance.
"Bra honey, please stop!" Mom begged, seeing what was going on. I slowly stopped, feeling tears drip down my cheeks. I could feel dad's cold eyes staring at the top of my head.
"What is going on?" Mom went on, looking from me to Burro, who had slithered out of her grip and now stood beside her with his arms crossed, still holding his phone. I once heard ChiChi say that he inherited that trademark stance from dad. And the more I paid attention to the two, the more I believed her.
I pulled myself together to answer her first before that brat made up something. "He was putting some type of white liquid in my bath water!" I answered, still very upset. I noticed that Burro's eyes had widened and he opened his mouth to say something, but mom cut him off.
"Did you Burro?" she asked in a calm voice, but clearly angry.
He looked from dad to mom a few times before blurting out, "Vigo told me to do it!" Then he pointed to the phone, indicating Vigo was on it.
Mom lifted an eyebrow and I glared at him. If mom lets him off the hook this time...
"Give me your phone," mom suddenly stated, holding her hand out in a gesturing motion.
Burro just stood there and looked at dad, probably expecting him to do something.
"GIVE IT TO ME NOW," mom repeated, raising her voice. Burro's eyes suddenly widened with fear and he stepped back once before reluctantly handing her the phone. Mom held the phone up to her ear and asked, "Hello?... Is anyone there?..." Then she hung up and looked at Burro sweetly.
"This phone is mine for three days now," she said, smiling. "And all the other phones in this house are off-limit for three days too."
Burro's mouth dropped open. I found myself smiling. 'Finally they decide to do something!' I thought happily. EVERY bad situation I find myself in with Burro, I always get the blame. Sometimes he would get blamed, but never punished. I always got punished when I was blamed. Unfortunately, my latest punishment was a slap to the face from dad. 'I wonder what that looks like now...' I pondered.
"No buts mister!" Mom said, cutting him off. Then she pointed to the stairs and said, "Go get ready for bed."
He sighed quickly before giving me a glare and walking up the stairs to his room. I smiled sweetly.
Once he was gone, dad let me go and seated himself on the sofa. I turned to leave, but mom stopped me.
"What was he putting in your tub Bra?"
I put my eyebrow down in confusion. "Um, I don't know what it was, but it was white and a liquid and was in a pretty big white tube. I think there was a name written on one side of the tube, but I couldn't read it," I answered truthfully. I was too angry to care about what it was. I knew it was something bad.
"Well, let's go see what it was then," mom said as she headed for the stairs and I followed. Dad stayed on the couch, probably thinking about how his little brat could have done anything wrong.
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I sighed and rubbed my eyes as I walked to the kitchen to find some small snack to eat. I opened the fridge – nothing but yogurt. I grunted and yelled to mom, wherever she was: "MOM! YOU NEED TO GET MORE FOOD!" Sometimes I really regret being a Saiyan with a Saiyan appetite.
"YOU CAN MANAGE!" Mom called back.
"Hmph, maybe for tonight, but I better get a decent breakfast," I mumbled under my breath as I grabbed the yogurt and some silverware and walked back to my room. Along the way I saw Vigo in his room suddenly gasp and hang up the phone. I stopped walking and eyed him suspiciously.
"What's going on?" I asked slowly, making him jump in surprise.
"Oh uh, hi Pan!" he said, faking a smile but returned back to his panic state and looked at the phone.
I shut his door behind me as I walked into his room and put my hands on my hips. Usually, him and Burro plan things over the phone to do to either one of us, and I was guessing it was Bra's turn.
"Alright, what have you done now?" I asked firmly.
He sweat dropped and gave me the best display of his puppy dog eyes. I blinked a few times but then gave in. I hate to admit it, but Vigo is very cute. I often hear my dad complaining about how he's "just like how Goten was when he was younger" to get out of trouble – put on a cute face.
"Fine. I won't tell mom or dad," I said, making a deal with him. He pouted briefly, but I raised an eyebrow. Finally, he sighed.
"Burro did something really bad..." he started off. He looked up at me, obviously thinking that was enough, but when I glared at him, he went on. "He said his mom made this new thingy that if you pour onto or into something, it will change it to a different color..." He looked up at me again.
"Please go on," I said sweetly. I knew I had him where I wanted him.
"Well, he said that Bra usually takes baths so he would pour it into her bath water," Vigo continued. "and she wouldn't notice because the stuff is clear-ish and doesn't turn color until after about five minutes. So I said he should do it -" He glanced up at me worried, but I showed no emotion, "-but he needed a way of distracting her first. So we thought and then he said he'd take her towels, so he did and put them in his counter. He said she would probably look for them there and then have a fit there, so he'd have time to pour the stuff in."
"What color was it?" I asked suddenly.
"Umm... I think it was purple."
"Would it make her whole body turn purple or –"
"Yeah, her whole body. That's why it was such a great plan..." Vigo answered, "... until Bra caught him doing it!"
I lifted my eyebrows in surprise and let a smile creep across my face. 'Go Bra!' I cheered in my head. I don't know how Burro and Vigo thought they'd get away with this one – Bulma would know that Bra didn't want to purposely dye herself purple, so the blame would have to go to Burro. Oh well. I do give them credit for thinking up these... mischievous ideas.
"I heard her screaming at him!" Vigo went on dramatically. "She was screaming, 'Get out! Get out!' And then I heard Burro say, 'She caught me! She's chasing me! Look what you've done!', even though I didn't do anything! So I hung up the phone because I know Burro would blame it on me, since that's what he always does."
I nodded, standing up. "Well thank you for sharing your horrifying story with me, I greatly enjoyed it," I said, trying not to grin from ear to ear. Vigo sucks at keeping secrets – I could get him to say anything.
Vigo grinned. "No problem!" he called as I walked out the door and shut it. I had to run down the hall quickly before I burst out laughing.
"He's so stupid!" I managed to say as I opened my yogurt, still laughing. 'I'll have to tell Bra about this at school tomorrow,' I thought as I took a bite.
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"So Ms. Briefs, are you ready to pay attention this class?"
I stopped walking and turned to Mr. Wilch. He was lucky he caught me in a good mood. Pan told me what Vigo told her last night in homeroom. Her little brother is so cute at times.
"Yes Mr. Wilch," I said, smiling sweetly.
His eyes softened a little, but tried to keep his firm figure. I almost started laughing, but bit my tongue to stop myself.
"Good," he merely said and marched into his classroom. Marlene giggled and I smirked before following him.
Once again Marlene has either forgiven me from yesterday's math class or has forgotten about it. I can never figure out which one it is. She'll yell at me and then later on, act like nothing happened. So I just go along with it. I don't have many friends here, and she's actually a great friend, despite her teacher's pet fault.
'Aw man I forgot to tell Pan about the homeless camp,' I thought as I unpacked my math binder and the other supplies. 'Oh well, I'll just tell her at lunch.'
Class went smoothly. I managed to at least look like I was paying attention. We finally moved on a little to some harder concepts. I was quite pleased with him after class, and I could tell he was with me when he nodded his head at me after the bell rang.
I walked over to the lunch table that Pan, Marlene, and I usually sit at. Pan was already there since her classroom is closer to the cafeteria, eating her sandwich. Marlene sat down next to her and I sat across from the two.
"Ew, is that meat?" Marlene asked, pointing to the sandwich.
Pan rolled her eyes and quickly swallowed. "Of course Marlene, I'm not a vegetarian like you," she responded.
Marlene made a sickening face, but then proceeded to hunt out her own lunch.
I laughed at the two. Marlene always gets grossed out by what Pan eats, even though I eat just about the same thing. Although, I noticed that the two haven't seemed to be getting along as great as they were before Pan got put into the Discipline class. Maybe it's because math was the only thing they had together. Oh well. Pan only has one more week of that class, so soon they'll all be together again.
I spotted Uub walking past our table with his friend Perry. Perry's such a cool kid – he's really nice and is popular. But he's not too swift when it comes academics.
"Hey Uub! Perry!" I called to them. Both stopped walking and looked our way. Uub smiled and Perry grinned.
"Hey Bra-chan!" he returned as he slid into the chair next to me, nearly falling over in the process. I laughed. Uub took the seat next to him in a more... civilized manner.
I felt Pan kick me under the table. I looked up at her, only to have her smirking at me.
-Someone's got a crush on little Bra,- she sent to me through our minds. Unfortunately, I can't send messages through minds as easily as the others, so I have to know when they're about to send me one first. Since Pan knows me best, she always grabs my attention briefly first before sending the message. That way we both are certain that I get it.
I glared back in a teasing manner. -Oh shut up,- I sent back. Then I smirked as well. -You don't how many guys are onto YOU Pan-chan!-
Pan's eyes lowered. -Yeah right liar!- she sent back. I grinned. I always knew how to get her wound up.
Perry was watching us the whole time, obviously confused since he interrupted our staring contest: "SO ladies... what's up?"
"Nothing Perry," Marlene answered.
When he looked at Pan and I for an answer, Pan replied, "What she said," and pointed to Marlene. He grinned.
"Are you sure that nothing exciting's been going in your lives?" he asked slowly.
Suddenly, I remembered. "Oh! Yes!" I replied, jumping a bit. Pan's eyes widened at me in surprise and looked at me strangely. Marlene did the same.
I grinned at their reactions, but then got serious.
"Alright, yesterday wasn't the best day at home so, after getting off the phone with Pan –" I stopped briefly to look up at her to see if she remembered last night. She smiled softly at me. "-, I went outside and into the woods by Capsule Corp. I walked really far in, it must have been close to the middle, when I saw..." I glanced up at everyone, "... a homeless camp!"
Some gasped and some other's mouths dropped.
"A homeless camp?!"
"In the woods by Capsule Corporation?!"
"No way!"
"Yes," I replied to their outbursts, glad to receive some attention. "It was a homeless camp. And it was a really sad looking one too."
"Bra, of course homeless camps are going to be sad looking," Marlene said in an obvious tone.
"I know, but I guess I didn't take that into much consideration," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "I mean, I've heard stories about homeless camps, but this is the first time I've seen one."
"Well aren't you lucky," Perry said, bringing humor into the conversation.
"Are you sure it was homeless people?" Pan asked slowly.
"Of course I'm sure!" I replied. "These people were living in tents and wearing ragged clothing! And they didn't have any shoes! I'm pretty sure it was a homeless camp," I added, giving some detail.
"How sad," Marlene commented.
"Yeah," I said, leaning back a little from the table, drinking my soda. I suddenly noticed that Uub hadn't said anything about the homeless camp. Actually, he hadn't said anything since he sat down with us. I wonder what was up... ---
I quickly ran down the few steps and jogged down the sidewalk. My destination wasn't moving quickly, but I was pretty far behind, and I wanted to catch up with him.
"Uub!" I called when I was somewhat close. "Uub wait up!"
He stopped and looked behind him. His eyebrows lifted a little as he saw me coming, but he let me catch up to him.
"Uub what's wrong?" I asked when I had caught up to him and we started walking again. School was over, and we usually walked home together. But today he didn't wait for me. I knew then that something was up.
"Nothing," he responded.
I rolled my eyes. "Come on Uub, I'm not stupid!" I said, walking in front of him, making him stop. "I know something's wrong, and your going to tell me what it is!" I added, poking my index finger into his chest.
He looked surprised at first at my actions, but then his eyes hardened a bit. We had a staring contest for a while until he gently took my hand poking his chest into his hand and smiled a bit.
"You know that you shouldn't brag about seeing homeless camps."
I put my eyebrow down in confusion. He looked at me briefly, but then brushed past me and continued walking.
I stood there for a few seconds. 'He's mad at me because I supposedly bragged about seeing that homeless camp?' I asked myself. Thinking this over, I found myself blushing a bit. He had a point. Maybe I shouldn't have announced that in front of Perry and Marlene. I had meant to tell Pan only. I guess I was too excited to think about what I was about to say.
I looked back at him. He was walking with his hands in his jean pockets. I ran back up to him.
"Uub I'm sorry, I didn't know –"
"I know you didn't then, but now you do."
I stopped walking and looked at him. He stopped too and looked at me. I searched his eyes out – they were soft and kind, they weren't hard anymore. He meant well, and wanted to show me he meant well. But I could tell that he was still upset.
A question then aroused in my mind.
"Why did it bother you so much?" I suddenly asked. When he put his eyebrow down in confusion I went on, "About the homeless camp? Why did me bragging about it bother you so much?"
He smiled softly. "Because I know some people in that camp. My mom and I bring food and other supplies to them every now and then," he answered quietly.
I felt my eyes widen in surprise. He already knew about it?
"But why didn't you tell anyone?" I questioned further.
"Because if that information got into the wrong hands and they told the police, those people would be sent to jail or forced into the city," Uub explained. "Those people are there for a reason. They aren't poor – they have money stashed somewhere in the forest, they just want to be away from the city life. They don't care for it. They're happy the way they are, even if they are living in tents and don't have luxuries."
I thought about that. How could people possibly be happy living in tents, owning nothing more than clothes and maybe a spear or two for hunting?
"But... how can they possibly be happy?" I heard myself wonder aloud.
Uub chuckled quietly. "Some people don't need much to make themselves happy," he answered.
Before I could think about that, he brushed his hand along mine briefly, causing me to look up at him. He gestured his head to the corner, which we needed to turn to get to our houses. "Come on," he said. "Let's go home."
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Ah, not a very good chapter, but I'm kinda stalling. I'm got the major parts of the story planned out, but vaguely. Now all I need to do is fill in the gaps...
Anyways, tell me what you think. Next chapter will be better, I promise!
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I sighed as I let myself into the house and closed the door behind me. Thoughts were running through my head. Was I just a sign for bad luck or something? Because nothing good ever happens to me anymore.
"Bra honey?"
I warily turned my head in the direction of the living room and frowned. Mom was with dad. And Burro was... you know, I could reallly care less about where that little brat was.
"Yes?" I called back.
"Oh, just making sure it was you," Mom returned.
I shook my head when I realized my eyelids were drooping. Boy was I tired. And I didn't do much today either.
"Where'd you go?" Mom went on.
I widened my eyes in ignorance. "I... just needed some air," I half- lied. It was part true – there was no way I was going to tell her that I needed to get away from dad also.
"Oh okay, Vegeta told me you had left," she called back as I started walking towards my room.
'Wow, he actually cares?' I thought coldly as I walked slowly up the stairs and down the hallway. All I wanted to do right now was take a nice, relaxing bubble bath and then get into bed.
I walked into my bathroom and started up the water. I stood there for a few minutes, just watching the water slowly fill up the tub, thinking. 'Why have things in my life suddenly turned against me?' I asked myself. 'Things used to be fun when I was smaller – heck, even the times of Bebi, Super 17, and those dragons were better than this!' I sighed as I walked over to my counter where the towels were. 'Is this part of growing up?'
I opened a counter door and groaned. "No towels?!" I exclaimed, slamming the door shut and stomping out of the room. "I could of sworn Mom brought up fresh towels last night..." I murmured as I walked down the hallway and into the nearest bathroom, which happened to be Burro's. First I looked around for him, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Hmph, like I could care where he is," I mumbled as I opened his counter door and gasped. It was overloaded with towels!
"Oh my god, if that little brat took all of my towels..." I started as I searched through his cabinet for any of my special towels. Sure enough, they were in here.
By now I was very pissed. I grabbed all of them and started walking back to my room. "Burro!" I yelled. Why would he do that to me?! Oh wait, that's right, he tries to make my life miserable. But... this was too easy. Maybe he was trying to distract me from something...
I gasped and ran to my bathroom. Sure enough, there was Burro, pouring a white substance into my bathtub.
I looked on in horror for a few seconds – my ki must have drained since he went on, not noticing I was there. Suddenly, anger got the best of me.
"GET OUT!" I screamed at him, making him jump and almost dropping the tube of the substance. He turned to look at me and cowered in fear.
"YOU BRAT!" I screamed again and tried to kick him, but he dodged my attack and ran out of the bathroom, grabbing his phone that was on my counter.
I wasn't done. I ran out after him.
Through the halls, down the stairs, through the kitchen, through the living room –
"Kids?!" Mom exclaimed as we flew past her and dad. They both stood up and ran after us. Dad grabbed me and put me in a deadlock while mom fought with Burro for a while but then held him still. Seeing me put in a deadlock must of helped him calm down. We're almost equal in power – I hate to admit that – but I'm much more stronger when I'm mad. And he knows it.
I was having a fit – this was all too much for me. I needed to fight someone, and the person closest to me was dad.
I started kicking my legs and throwing my arms all about, but to no avail. Dad held a firm grip on me, even though he kept shifting his weight trying to keep balance.
"Bra honey, please stop!" Mom begged, seeing what was going on. I slowly stopped, feeling tears drip down my cheeks. I could feel dad's cold eyes staring at the top of my head.
"What is going on?" Mom went on, looking from me to Burro, who had slithered out of her grip and now stood beside her with his arms crossed, still holding his phone. I once heard ChiChi say that he inherited that trademark stance from dad. And the more I paid attention to the two, the more I believed her.
I pulled myself together to answer her first before that brat made up something. "He was putting some type of white liquid in my bath water!" I answered, still very upset. I noticed that Burro's eyes had widened and he opened his mouth to say something, but mom cut him off.
"Did you Burro?" she asked in a calm voice, but clearly angry.
He looked from dad to mom a few times before blurting out, "Vigo told me to do it!" Then he pointed to the phone, indicating Vigo was on it.
Mom lifted an eyebrow and I glared at him. If mom lets him off the hook this time...
"Give me your phone," mom suddenly stated, holding her hand out in a gesturing motion.
Burro just stood there and looked at dad, probably expecting him to do something.
"GIVE IT TO ME NOW," mom repeated, raising her voice. Burro's eyes suddenly widened with fear and he stepped back once before reluctantly handing her the phone. Mom held the phone up to her ear and asked, "Hello?... Is anyone there?..." Then she hung up and looked at Burro sweetly.
"This phone is mine for three days now," she said, smiling. "And all the other phones in this house are off-limit for three days too."
Burro's mouth dropped open. I found myself smiling. 'Finally they decide to do something!' I thought happily. EVERY bad situation I find myself in with Burro, I always get the blame. Sometimes he would get blamed, but never punished. I always got punished when I was blamed. Unfortunately, my latest punishment was a slap to the face from dad. 'I wonder what that looks like now...' I pondered.
"No buts mister!" Mom said, cutting him off. Then she pointed to the stairs and said, "Go get ready for bed."
He sighed quickly before giving me a glare and walking up the stairs to his room. I smiled sweetly.
Once he was gone, dad let me go and seated himself on the sofa. I turned to leave, but mom stopped me.
"What was he putting in your tub Bra?"
I put my eyebrow down in confusion. "Um, I don't know what it was, but it was white and a liquid and was in a pretty big white tube. I think there was a name written on one side of the tube, but I couldn't read it," I answered truthfully. I was too angry to care about what it was. I knew it was something bad.
"Well, let's go see what it was then," mom said as she headed for the stairs and I followed. Dad stayed on the couch, probably thinking about how his little brat could have done anything wrong.
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I sighed and rubbed my eyes as I walked to the kitchen to find some small snack to eat. I opened the fridge – nothing but yogurt. I grunted and yelled to mom, wherever she was: "MOM! YOU NEED TO GET MORE FOOD!" Sometimes I really regret being a Saiyan with a Saiyan appetite.
"YOU CAN MANAGE!" Mom called back.
"Hmph, maybe for tonight, but I better get a decent breakfast," I mumbled under my breath as I grabbed the yogurt and some silverware and walked back to my room. Along the way I saw Vigo in his room suddenly gasp and hang up the phone. I stopped walking and eyed him suspiciously.
"What's going on?" I asked slowly, making him jump in surprise.
"Oh uh, hi Pan!" he said, faking a smile but returned back to his panic state and looked at the phone.
I shut his door behind me as I walked into his room and put my hands on my hips. Usually, him and Burro plan things over the phone to do to either one of us, and I was guessing it was Bra's turn.
"Alright, what have you done now?" I asked firmly.
He sweat dropped and gave me the best display of his puppy dog eyes. I blinked a few times but then gave in. I hate to admit it, but Vigo is very cute. I often hear my dad complaining about how he's "just like how Goten was when he was younger" to get out of trouble – put on a cute face.
"Fine. I won't tell mom or dad," I said, making a deal with him. He pouted briefly, but I raised an eyebrow. Finally, he sighed.
"Burro did something really bad..." he started off. He looked up at me, obviously thinking that was enough, but when I glared at him, he went on. "He said his mom made this new thingy that if you pour onto or into something, it will change it to a different color..." He looked up at me again.
"Please go on," I said sweetly. I knew I had him where I wanted him.
"Well, he said that Bra usually takes baths so he would pour it into her bath water," Vigo continued. "and she wouldn't notice because the stuff is clear-ish and doesn't turn color until after about five minutes. So I said he should do it -" He glanced up at me worried, but I showed no emotion, "-but he needed a way of distracting her first. So we thought and then he said he'd take her towels, so he did and put them in his counter. He said she would probably look for them there and then have a fit there, so he'd have time to pour the stuff in."
"What color was it?" I asked suddenly.
"Umm... I think it was purple."
"Would it make her whole body turn purple or –"
"Yeah, her whole body. That's why it was such a great plan..." Vigo answered, "... until Bra caught him doing it!"
I lifted my eyebrows in surprise and let a smile creep across my face. 'Go Bra!' I cheered in my head. I don't know how Burro and Vigo thought they'd get away with this one – Bulma would know that Bra didn't want to purposely dye herself purple, so the blame would have to go to Burro. Oh well. I do give them credit for thinking up these... mischievous ideas.
"I heard her screaming at him!" Vigo went on dramatically. "She was screaming, 'Get out! Get out!' And then I heard Burro say, 'She caught me! She's chasing me! Look what you've done!', even though I didn't do anything! So I hung up the phone because I know Burro would blame it on me, since that's what he always does."
I nodded, standing up. "Well thank you for sharing your horrifying story with me, I greatly enjoyed it," I said, trying not to grin from ear to ear. Vigo sucks at keeping secrets – I could get him to say anything.
Vigo grinned. "No problem!" he called as I walked out the door and shut it. I had to run down the hall quickly before I burst out laughing.
"He's so stupid!" I managed to say as I opened my yogurt, still laughing. 'I'll have to tell Bra about this at school tomorrow,' I thought as I took a bite.
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"So Ms. Briefs, are you ready to pay attention this class?"
I stopped walking and turned to Mr. Wilch. He was lucky he caught me in a good mood. Pan told me what Vigo told her last night in homeroom. Her little brother is so cute at times.
"Yes Mr. Wilch," I said, smiling sweetly.
His eyes softened a little, but tried to keep his firm figure. I almost started laughing, but bit my tongue to stop myself.
"Good," he merely said and marched into his classroom. Marlene giggled and I smirked before following him.
Once again Marlene has either forgiven me from yesterday's math class or has forgotten about it. I can never figure out which one it is. She'll yell at me and then later on, act like nothing happened. So I just go along with it. I don't have many friends here, and she's actually a great friend, despite her teacher's pet fault.
'Aw man I forgot to tell Pan about the homeless camp,' I thought as I unpacked my math binder and the other supplies. 'Oh well, I'll just tell her at lunch.'
Class went smoothly. I managed to at least look like I was paying attention. We finally moved on a little to some harder concepts. I was quite pleased with him after class, and I could tell he was with me when he nodded his head at me after the bell rang.
I walked over to the lunch table that Pan, Marlene, and I usually sit at. Pan was already there since her classroom is closer to the cafeteria, eating her sandwich. Marlene sat down next to her and I sat across from the two.
"Ew, is that meat?" Marlene asked, pointing to the sandwich.
Pan rolled her eyes and quickly swallowed. "Of course Marlene, I'm not a vegetarian like you," she responded.
Marlene made a sickening face, but then proceeded to hunt out her own lunch.
I laughed at the two. Marlene always gets grossed out by what Pan eats, even though I eat just about the same thing. Although, I noticed that the two haven't seemed to be getting along as great as they were before Pan got put into the Discipline class. Maybe it's because math was the only thing they had together. Oh well. Pan only has one more week of that class, so soon they'll all be together again.
I spotted Uub walking past our table with his friend Perry. Perry's such a cool kid – he's really nice and is popular. But he's not too swift when it comes academics.
"Hey Uub! Perry!" I called to them. Both stopped walking and looked our way. Uub smiled and Perry grinned.
"Hey Bra-chan!" he returned as he slid into the chair next to me, nearly falling over in the process. I laughed. Uub took the seat next to him in a more... civilized manner.
I felt Pan kick me under the table. I looked up at her, only to have her smirking at me.
-Someone's got a crush on little Bra,- she sent to me through our minds. Unfortunately, I can't send messages through minds as easily as the others, so I have to know when they're about to send me one first. Since Pan knows me best, she always grabs my attention briefly first before sending the message. That way we both are certain that I get it.
I glared back in a teasing manner. -Oh shut up,- I sent back. Then I smirked as well. -You don't how many guys are onto YOU Pan-chan!-
Pan's eyes lowered. -Yeah right liar!- she sent back. I grinned. I always knew how to get her wound up.
Perry was watching us the whole time, obviously confused since he interrupted our staring contest: "SO ladies... what's up?"
"Nothing Perry," Marlene answered.
When he looked at Pan and I for an answer, Pan replied, "What she said," and pointed to Marlene. He grinned.
"Are you sure that nothing exciting's been going in your lives?" he asked slowly.
Suddenly, I remembered. "Oh! Yes!" I replied, jumping a bit. Pan's eyes widened at me in surprise and looked at me strangely. Marlene did the same.
I grinned at their reactions, but then got serious.
"Alright, yesterday wasn't the best day at home so, after getting off the phone with Pan –" I stopped briefly to look up at her to see if she remembered last night. She smiled softly at me. "-, I went outside and into the woods by Capsule Corp. I walked really far in, it must have been close to the middle, when I saw..." I glanced up at everyone, "... a homeless camp!"
Some gasped and some other's mouths dropped.
"A homeless camp?!"
"In the woods by Capsule Corporation?!"
"No way!"
"Yes," I replied to their outbursts, glad to receive some attention. "It was a homeless camp. And it was a really sad looking one too."
"Bra, of course homeless camps are going to be sad looking," Marlene said in an obvious tone.
"I know, but I guess I didn't take that into much consideration," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "I mean, I've heard stories about homeless camps, but this is the first time I've seen one."
"Well aren't you lucky," Perry said, bringing humor into the conversation.
"Are you sure it was homeless people?" Pan asked slowly.
"Of course I'm sure!" I replied. "These people were living in tents and wearing ragged clothing! And they didn't have any shoes! I'm pretty sure it was a homeless camp," I added, giving some detail.
"How sad," Marlene commented.
"Yeah," I said, leaning back a little from the table, drinking my soda. I suddenly noticed that Uub hadn't said anything about the homeless camp. Actually, he hadn't said anything since he sat down with us. I wonder what was up... ---
I quickly ran down the few steps and jogged down the sidewalk. My destination wasn't moving quickly, but I was pretty far behind, and I wanted to catch up with him.
"Uub!" I called when I was somewhat close. "Uub wait up!"
He stopped and looked behind him. His eyebrows lifted a little as he saw me coming, but he let me catch up to him.
"Uub what's wrong?" I asked when I had caught up to him and we started walking again. School was over, and we usually walked home together. But today he didn't wait for me. I knew then that something was up.
"Nothing," he responded.
I rolled my eyes. "Come on Uub, I'm not stupid!" I said, walking in front of him, making him stop. "I know something's wrong, and your going to tell me what it is!" I added, poking my index finger into his chest.
He looked surprised at first at my actions, but then his eyes hardened a bit. We had a staring contest for a while until he gently took my hand poking his chest into his hand and smiled a bit.
"You know that you shouldn't brag about seeing homeless camps."
I put my eyebrow down in confusion. He looked at me briefly, but then brushed past me and continued walking.
I stood there for a few seconds. 'He's mad at me because I supposedly bragged about seeing that homeless camp?' I asked myself. Thinking this over, I found myself blushing a bit. He had a point. Maybe I shouldn't have announced that in front of Perry and Marlene. I had meant to tell Pan only. I guess I was too excited to think about what I was about to say.
I looked back at him. He was walking with his hands in his jean pockets. I ran back up to him.
"Uub I'm sorry, I didn't know –"
"I know you didn't then, but now you do."
I stopped walking and looked at him. He stopped too and looked at me. I searched his eyes out – they were soft and kind, they weren't hard anymore. He meant well, and wanted to show me he meant well. But I could tell that he was still upset.
A question then aroused in my mind.
"Why did it bother you so much?" I suddenly asked. When he put his eyebrow down in confusion I went on, "About the homeless camp? Why did me bragging about it bother you so much?"
He smiled softly. "Because I know some people in that camp. My mom and I bring food and other supplies to them every now and then," he answered quietly.
I felt my eyes widen in surprise. He already knew about it?
"But why didn't you tell anyone?" I questioned further.
"Because if that information got into the wrong hands and they told the police, those people would be sent to jail or forced into the city," Uub explained. "Those people are there for a reason. They aren't poor – they have money stashed somewhere in the forest, they just want to be away from the city life. They don't care for it. They're happy the way they are, even if they are living in tents and don't have luxuries."
I thought about that. How could people possibly be happy living in tents, owning nothing more than clothes and maybe a spear or two for hunting?
"But... how can they possibly be happy?" I heard myself wonder aloud.
Uub chuckled quietly. "Some people don't need much to make themselves happy," he answered.
Before I could think about that, he brushed his hand along mine briefly, causing me to look up at him. He gestured his head to the corner, which we needed to turn to get to our houses. "Come on," he said. "Let's go home."
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Ah, not a very good chapter, but I'm kinda stalling. I'm got the major parts of the story planned out, but vaguely. Now all I need to do is fill in the gaps...
Anyways, tell me what you think. Next chapter will be better, I promise!