Chapter
18
The next morning Reenie was the first to wake up. She looked
at the clock and knew she had to wake Kara up, too. She got up and
shook her little sister.
Kara grumbled, but turned and faced Reenie. "What?" the little girl asked.
Reenie smiled. "It's your first day of school, sleepyhead," Reenie said. "Hurry up. You don't want to be late."
Kara got up in bed when she heard the word school. When she had been younger she remembered hearing Reenie's tales of being in the past and going to school. She remembered Reenie saying how many friends she made and what it was like to not think about having a royal guard or Sailor Scout by their side daily.
Kara quickly got dressed and brushed her teeth. Reenie followed her little sister. By the time they were downstairs, Sammy, Serena, and Mr. and Mrs. Tuskino were sitting at the breakfast table.
Serena saw Reenie and smiled. "Hey, Reenie," she said. "Kara, ready for school?"
Kara nodded. She couldn't wait!
Sammy looked towards Reenie. "You wanna walk with me and Mika?" he asked.
Reenie nodded. Of course! Why in the world would she want to walk to a school she had never seen before by herself? But instead of answering like that, Reenie replied, cooly, "Sure."
Sammy nodded.
Reenie finished her breakfast and said that she would be right back.
By the time Reenie came back downstairs, Mika and Sammy were already waiting for her. Serena was surprised when she saw what Reenie had done. Instead of leaving her hair up as she had done in the past, she had taken it out of it's pigtails and let it go long.
Sammy was surprised by this, too. He had never seen Reenie with her hair down. She was beautiful! Reenie said good-ye to Serena and told Kara that she would pick her up after school, then left the house with Sammy and Mika.
On the way to school the trio talked about their classes. Reenie was surprised to find out that she had one class with Sammy and three of her classes with Mika. "Mr. Luakas's really nice," Mika was saying. "He's reall..."
She was interrupted by a voice from across the street calling, "Reenie, is that you?"
Reenie
turned to where she had heard the voice. It came from a girl about
her age with long brown hair. It was tied back and Reenie noticed
that she looked a lot like Lita. Reenie still had no idea who it was.
The girl said something to the boy she was walking with and they ran
over to talk to Reenie.
"Reenie, don't you remember me?"
the girl asked.
Reenie shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I don't," was Reenie's reply.
The girl smiled. "I'm not surprised," she said. Then, "I'm Melissa Austin. Remember?"
Reenie
smiled as the memories of the last time she had been in the past
suddenly came back to her. She couldn't believe she had forgotten
Melissa. She had been one of her first friends here in Tokyo when she
had been here before.
"Hey, Melissa," Reenie said.
"How are you?"
"The same," Melissa replied.
Then she seemed to notice Sammy and Mika for the first time. "Hi, Sammy. Hey, Mika."
Mika
and Sammy gave her a casual hi.
"Reenie," Melissa
continued to say. "This is Michael Richards."
Reenie
looked to the teenager standing beside Melisaa. It was more than
obvious that they were going out.
"Hello," Reenie
said.
"Hi," Michael said. He appeared very nervous. He
looked at Melissa. "Look, I've got to go," he said. "Nice
meeting you Reenie." He kissed Melissa on the cheek, then he was
off.
Melissa shrugged it off and continued to walk with Sammy,
Mika, and Reenie the rest of the way to Jubuan High.
Once
they reached the school, Sammy left Mika, Reenie and Melissa and
headed towards his friends. When he reached his friends, however he
noticed that they seemed preoccupied.
"What's up?" he
asked.
Mitch, one of his friends, turned to him and said, "There's this new girl. We've heard she's really hot."
Sammy's
hands curled into fists. He knew that there was only one new girl in
this school. "I know," Sammy said. "The new girl is my
cousin."
When he said this, all of the guys in the circle
turned towards Sammy. "Your cousin?" all of the boys said
in unison.
Sammy nodded and walked away. He knew that they were going to want information. He couldn't believe those guys.
I couldn't blame them for thinking Reenie was pretty, though, he thought. Even he had thought that when he had first seen her. He turned around and saw that the guys were still staring at his back. He sighed and started to walk to his locker.
The first bell rang. Melissa said good-bye to Reenie and that she would see her at lunch.
Reenie
nodded and waved her good-bye. Then she turned and entered her Math
class with Mika. Reenie knew no one in her Math class except for
Mika. They found two seats beside one another and sat down. Some of
Mika's friends entered the room. They were whispering and when they
saw Mika, went and took the few empty seats by Mika. They saw Reenie
and it was obvious by the expression on their faces that they were
surprised to see her sitting there. Mika said hi to them and
introduced Reenie.
"Hi," a girl with blonde hair, that
was cut almost like Amy's, said.
"Hello," Reenie said.
A brunette asked, "So you're the new girl?"
Reenie
nodded.
"Where you from?" a red head asked.
"Canada," Reenie replied. "I'm here visiting my
cousins."
A girl with shoulder length blonde hair was about to say something else, but their teacher walked in and everyone immediately turned their attention to him.
Kara had just arrived with Mrs. Tsukino leading her. She was introduced to the teacher, then Mrs. Tsukino said that she had to go and told Kara to wait for Reenie to come and pick her up after school. Kara nodded, said good-bye and went to her assigned seat. They started on a reading assignment about five minutes after Kara sat down. Kara was sitting with three other girls. There was a blonde with long hair, a brunette with a hair cut like Amy's, and a girl with black hair that was tied back like Lita's. Kara found out that the blonde's name was Michelle, the brunette was Erika, and the black haired girl was Jessie. Kara found that the class went by really fast and in no time at all it was time for recess. She got her jacket and walked out with Michelle, Erika, and Jessie. They sat down on the steps.
Michelle
was the first to ask Kara a question. "So where are you from?"
"Canada," Kara replied, remembering what she had been
told to say if she had been asked that question. A few more girls
joined them on the stairs. Kara quickly found out that they were
other friends of Michelle's, Erika's and Jessie's, but that they were
in the other fourth grade class.
"You have any brothers or
sisters?" Jessie asked.
Kara
nodded. "A sister," Kara replied.
"What's her
name?" one of the other girls asked.
"Reenie,"
Kara replied. "She's in High School." The girls talked
until recess ended. By the end of class that day, Kara found out that
she enjoyed school very much.
Lillian (Younger Jupiter), Kirstein (Younger Mars), Chantal (Younger Venus), and Megan (Younger Mercury) were in their grade eleven English class. Lillian couldn't believe how much homework they were getting. They never got this much in the future. The bell rang, signaling the end of class. The four girls walked out of class together and went to find their new class. It was not just a coincidence that they had all been given the same classes with the same teachers. Amy had broken into the computer files yesterday and fixed their schedules.
Kirstein looked down at hers. The next class was history. Her most favorite class.
The bell had just rung and the whole class was getting ready to leave. Reenie was putting her books in her bag, when Mika said, "Wanna come with me?"
Reenie shrugged. What the hell? She zipped up her pack and followed Mika and her friends out of the class. They headed out into the hall. There were a lot of people whispering and Reenie felt uncomfortable. When she walked past anyone they would suddenly stop talking. It was more then obvious that they were talking about her, but nobody wanted to show it.
If this is what high school is like, Reenie thought, then it's hell.
Mika and her friends acted like they didn't notice anything.
Reenie tapped Mika on the shoulder said that she was going to head to her next class (Mika wasn't in it).
Mika
nodded, and said that she would see Reenie later. Reenie then changed
direction and headed toward her next class. Reenie was almost at her
next class when she saw Melissa and said hi. Melissa went up to her
and asked how Reenie was liking her first day at the school so
far.
"My teacher was okay," Reenie told her friend,
"But otherwise, I hate it. I mean, everyone's whispering. It's
like they think I don't know that they're talking about me."
Melissa's smile faded. "That's cause you're the new girl," she informed Reenie. "People want to know stuff about you."
Reenie
sighed. Having almost no friends was better then being here, Reenie
thought, I wish I was in the future. The warning bell rang and Reenie
said 'bye to Melissa and entered her class.
The rest of the day
continued on like that morning. When Reenie walked around in the
halls, people stopped whispering and continued once they were sure
that she was out of hearing range.
Kenneth was having a pretty bad first day at school. He had not seen Reenie all day, even though they went to the same High School. It seemed weird not to talk to his cousin. He jumped as the bell rang and quickly, he ran down the hall and made it into his seat just before the final bell.
After school, Mika and Sammy asked if Reenie wanted to walk home with them. Reenie shook her head and said that she would see Sammy later, and started to walk towards her old elementary school to pick up her little sister.
Kara wasn't the only one waiting for someone after school. Her new friends, Michelle, Jessie, Irene (the other brunette from the other grade four class), and Erika were also waiting to be picked up. The girls were sitting on the steps and were doing their homework together. They stopped when they heard a voice say, "Hi, Michelle."
Michelle put her books in her bag, and said, "Hey, Kristy."
Kara looked up and saw a red haired girl. The girl appeared to be about Reenie's age. She looked a lot like Michelle (except for the red hair). Michelle was saying good-bye to her friends when Kara heard a voice say, "Hey, Kara." Kara looked up and spotted Reenie. Kara smiled, quickly put her books in her bag and started to walk towards Reenie. Kara turned around when she heard the girl named Kristy made a weird sound.
Reenie
looked at Kristy and made almost the same sound. "Hello,"
Reenie said again.
"Hi, Reenie," Kristy said. Kara
looked from Reenie to Kristy and back to Reenie.
"Reenie,"
Kara said, ignoring how the two teenagers acted, "These are my
new friends. Michelle, Jessie, Erika, and Irene."
Reenie
looked to the three girls and looked to Michelle.
"This
your older sister?" Michelle asked.
Kara nodded. Meanwhile, both Reenie and Kristy were silent. Michelle looked over at Reenie.
Reenie smiled at the younger girl, then looked back at Kara. "Kara," she said. "We'd better get going."
Kara nodded and said a final good-bye to her friends, then she and Reenie headed towards the Hino home.
Kirstein,
Chantal, Lillian, and Megan were walking towards Raye's house. They
were supposed to meet the others there and watch the training of
Reenie, Kara, and Kenneth.
"Do you think that Reenie and
Kenneth will take to being Sailor Souts?" Megan asked.
Lillian nodded. "They'd better," Lillian said. "There's no way that they're going to get out of being a one, that's for sure."
Everyone agreed and they were silent the rest of the way to Raye's.
Kenneth noticed a familiar girl walking in front of him. It was Kara. Beside Kara, he noticed a girl with long, pink hair. He heard them talking and smiled when he recognized the voices. It was Reenie and Kara! "Reenie!" he called. "Kara!"
Both,
Reenie and Kara turned and stopped when they saw Kenneth. Kenneth
stopped walking and quickly ran towards.
"Heading towards
Raye's?" he asked.
Reenie nodded, then asked, "So, how's school?"
Kenneth shrugged. "It sucks," he replied, not bothering to hold anything back from his cousin. "I've made no friends and I don't know anyone there."
Reenie
shook her head. At least she knew Sammy and Mika.
"Don't
you go to the same school that I do?" she asked.
Kenneth nodded. "Jubuan High," he replied. "But I never saw you."
Reenie
nodded. "Same," she told him.
"So, how hard do
you think training is going to be?" Kenneth asked.
Reenie shrugged. "Don't know," she said. "Last time here, I never got to see how hard they trained. I guess we'll find out when we get to Raye's."
Kenneth nodded and the trio was silent all the way to Raye's house.
Raye was surprised to find that Serena was the first one to reach her house. They quickly said hi. "So, have you had any good luck on that job thing?" she asked.
Serena
nodded. "They said I had a pretty good chance," Serena
said.
"What did you try for?" Raye asked, thinking she
applied for something at a Pharmacy or something.
"A police
officer."
Raye practically burst out laughing. "A police officer? You?"
Serena
looked at Raye. It was obvious that she was offended. "Yeah.
So?"
"You'll never make it as a police officer,"
Raye said. "Take my advice and go try out for a job more in your
league."
Serena
crossed her arms and an angry expression crossed her face. How dare
Raye!
Amy was the next to arrive. Then Jordan and Terence. They
were followed by the four Younger Scouts. After them, Darien came.
Lita and Mina came together. The last to arrive were Kenneth, Reenie,
and Kara.
"You guys ready for your first session?"
Serena asked.
Reenie nodded. She couldn't wait.
"Let's go then," Serena said. Terence took Kenneth. Serena took Reenie and Kara.
Training lasted for about four hours. After training, they said good-bye and each person headed to their own home, to eat, (for some) do homework, and go to bed. Tomorrow there was no training planned. Luna was angry about this, but Serena waved it off and told her that they dissevered to have fun, too. While the black cat didn't agree to this, she didn't bother fighting when it was obvious that everyone else, even Artemis, sided with Serena.
