A.N I'm stranded in university until Saturday, and I remember leaving my fiction journal at home. cries I really wanted to continue this sooner, and not keep everyone waiting. I hope this chappie doesn't turn out too shabby.

Chapter 3a: Lonely

She had to be brave. She had to be. She will not be defeated by a mere math test. It was a stupid, idiotic, big, fat test that had nothing to do with her future. Still, why was it so hard? She looked around her. It was like watching a black and white video in slow motion. Feet all around, walking in tandem, their voices but a blur over her thoughts.

It was her fault after all. If she had paid attention, if she had slept and stopped thinking about Dark, if she had done her work like normal students, none of this would have happened. She was growing up after all. Consequences are a part of life. She would have to learn how to deal. She'll learn from her mistakes.

Don't cry...don't cry...don't break down into a ball of self-pity...she repeated to herself. I used to cry in public, but now I don't, because I'm strong. Yes indeed.

....blink...

Risa let a single tear out when nobody was in sight. She sat in the corner of the stony steps at the side of her school. What a failure she was. Honestly. She sobbed loudly. A few minutes later, she looked up and watched the birds. Their lives were so simple. All they do is be born, get fed, grow up and have little birds of their own...then die, returning to the ground. Just like humans, she added as an afterthought. Ugh, how depressing. Why was she thinking about this? She must be going insane.

"I wonder if they're happy." She said out loud to nobody. A red bird took off, soaring over tall buildings, its small, flapping form becoming a pinpoint in the sky. The branch it was just on quivered. It looked happy enough. Risa wished she could also take off into the sky too.

I wonder if "he's" happy. For some reason, she'd hoped that "he" would come out of nowhere to talk to her. She needed to talk to someone.

Risa sniffed. No, he's probably by that darned tree again, staring blankly up into the branches.

Weakly, she pulled an eggroll from her bag and started chewing. It would have been nice if she could share it with someone.

In a state of dazedness, Risa trudged through the rest of the day. Homework for the day was to write a poem. Gawd, how she hated poems. They make absolutely no sense at all. There's supposed to be something profoundly deep and meaningful about them. Whatever the teacher says.

Roses are smelly, violets are yucky, I wish I could write that English is sucky.

Metaphors are crap, and similies too, everyone just say 'Boo.'

Yeah, right. Riku was actually good at poems. She had a knack for randomly selecting a bunch of nice sounding words and throwing them into the same sentence. Speaking of Riku, where the heck was she? Risa needed to talk, and she needed help with homework! Now, preferably.

Okay, calm down, she told herself. Riku was probably at track and field practice. She shouldn't get angry at something so trivial. Back to the poem... she HAD to get this done or she'll really be behind. She tapped her pen against the table, hoping that it will help the creative juices flowing. Think, think, think...

......5 minutes later.....

Risa lay down her head on her desk and fell into a dreamless sleep.

A.N Yess! It's me again! Don't you just love incessant author notes? Sorry about the length (again!) but it was a good place to end off a chapter where nothing happens. hugs Thank you So much for reviewing! I get so happy just off of reviews. So please keep them coming!