A/N: What's up? I haven't updated in a while. I wrote this chapter during Pre-Calculus, which is actually the best class to write in (in my opinion). Thanks for the reviews. I appreciate them all. Enjoy chapter seven!

            Marco and I morphed and set off to get his car. Then he took me home, where a very impatient Jake was waiting in the doorway.

            "Where were you?" he asked, not letting me in.

            "Um…"

            "Do you know what time it is?"

            I could answer that one. "No. I don't have a watch."

            A hint of a smile. "So? Where were you?"

            "Well, Marco and I morphed, flew to Tobias's house, and found them making dinner."

            "Them?"

            "Yes. Ax was barbecuing. We joined them for dinner. Then we sat around and talked for a while."

            "What did you talk about?"

            "Tobias talked about life as a hawk, Ax rambled about something we didn't understand, and Marco was just being himself."

            A definite smile this time. "That's good. Come inside; I don't want to heat the neighborhood."

            I went inside and flopped on a couch.

            "How was school?" he asked from the kitchen.

            "Decent."

            He came in and sat down next to me. "That good, huh?"

            "You signed me up for choir," I informed him.

            "Yes I did. Did you like it?"

            "I can't seem to be able to sing."

            "You'll get better. Just give it a chance. It's only your first day. Do you have any homework to do? Anything I can help with?"

            "Did it."

            He raised an eyebrow. "All of it?"

            "In class," I said and turned the TV on. "Anything good on tonight?"

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

            A girl bumped into me on the way to math class. "I'm so sorry," she said, staring somewhere behind me.

            "It's okay. Are you looking for something?"

            "What? Oh. No. I'm just trying to bet back to class."

            "Are you new too?" I asked, hoping she'd say yes.

            "No. I just don't come out of class much." Her gaze was still fixated on a spot behind me, which was odd.

            "Well, my name's Serenity. Serenity Berenson. Don't ask about Jake. I'm related to him."

            "Kym Thompson."

            "Would you like me to help you find your class?" I offered.

            She smiled and grabbed my arm. "Thanks."      

            Then it hit me. Maybe this girl couldn't find her class because she couldn't see her class.

            "Not to be rude or anything, but are you…"

            "Blind? Yeah."

            Sympathy washed over me.

            "Don't pity me," she said, almost as if she'd read my mind. "Everybody does. Stop here. This may be my class. I didn't walk far."

            I did as I was told and saw about ten handicapped children. One was blind, like Kym. Three were talking to each other with their hands. Sign language. The others were in wheelchairs and had varying degrees of disability.

            Another thought entered my mind as I watched them. These were the type of people the Yeerks wouldn't touch. Why would handicapped people be of use to them?

            "Well? Is it my class or not?" Kym asked impatiently. "Don't just gape at them."
            The warning bell rang, signaling that I had two minutes left to get to class.

            "This is it," I said to her.

            She let go of my arm and reached for the door handle. "Thank you Serenity. I appreciate your help. Maybe we can talk again sometime."

            "Sure," I said, leaving for class. But suddenly, I didn't want to go to math. I'd found an ally. But was it right to use a person just because they're disabled? Just because the enemy wouldn't want them?

            I walked out the door. I needed to talk to somebody. Somebody who'd understand. Not Jake. Not Marco. Ax and Tobias didn't seem right either.

            I heard Jake's voice in my head. So far, you have inherited the traits that we wanted you to get…my leadership skills, Cassie's morality…

I needed Cassie. She'd have the answer I wanted.

            I threw my stuff in a bush and morphed to hawk. I took off and circled a few times. Where would she be? I checked her house. Yes. She was there. I saw her through the upstairs window, rocking a small baby. Judging by the pink clothes, it was a girl.

            She looked surprised as I tapped on the window.

            "Who might you be? A red-tail. Not Tobias," she muttered as she came to the window with the baby. "Not Jake. Not Marco. Not Ax. You must be Serenity."

            Hey, Cassie. And who's this bundle of joy?

            "Oh. This is Danielle. She's ten months old. Looks just like her father," she said. "But that's not why you came here, is it?" She glanced at the clock. "You should be in school. What's wrong?"

            I demorphed. "I met this girl today. Kym. She's blind. All I could think was that she'd make a great ally since the Yeerks wouldn't touch her. But somehow it didn't feel right. I needed to talk to someone, so I came here."

            She sighed and put Danielle in her crib. "Come downstairs with me. We'll talk over coffee. Do you like coffee?"

            I shrugged. "I'll try anything once."

            I followed her downstairs and we sat down at a small table in the kitchen.

            "You're considering using handicapped people as allies?" she asked.

            "Well…probably just this one girl. One part of me felt it wasn't right. But another part of me was all for it. I'm confused."

            "We did something similar to that before. We needed more troops, so we recruited disabled kids from a local rehab center…I'll just say that it didn't have a happy ending. They were our diversion. Our diversion was wiped out by the Visser."

            "So you're saying it's a bad idea."

            "I was against it. It felt morally wrong. But they fought well. In your case, I believe that you should go with what you feel is right. I think you should give her a chance to prove herself to you. She's probably tougher than you think."

            I got up from the table. "Thanks for your time."

            "It was no problem. Come back anytime."

            I opened the door. "If you ever need a babysitter, you know who to call. Maybe you and Ronnie can have an evening to yourselves."

            "That would be nice. I'll think about it. Tell Jake I said hi."

            I morphed and flew back to school. The bell would ring in a few minutes. Maybe. I didn't know. I didn't have a watch. But sure enough, the bell rang a few minutes later. I spotted Kym heading toward a bus.

            "Kym!" I called and she stopped.

            "Serenity? I thought I'd never hear from you again. What do you want?"

            "I need to talk to you about something important."

            "Well, I need to catch this bus."

            "Okay…where do you live?"

            "I live in a group home for handicapped orphans. I don't know where it is."

            "I'll find it."

            "What's so important that you can't tell me right now?"

            "Just trust me. I can't tell you now. People may hear things that cannot be heard. They may be the enemy."

            "Okay. I don't know why I'm trusting you, but I am. I really need to catch this bus. I will see you later then."

            She walked, cane in hand, to the bus and got on. That had to be a hard life.

            With my help, it was about to get worse.

A/N: Finally, Kym's in the picture. In chapter 8, a very unlikable character returns. No, not Esplin 9466. Not yet. That chapter should be up VERY soon.