The next day when Cassie woke up, she did feel a lot better. All that Cassie felt was a slight throbbing in her right temple, where her head had hit the ground and been cut. Compared to the headache Cassie had had when she first woke up in Crazy Helen's store, this was quite an improvement. Cassie yawned; turning over to look at the alarm clock that sat on the nightstand beside her bed. Cassie saw that she had at least fifteen minutes before her father would come to wake her up for school.

Cassie didn't particularly feel like lounging around in bed now, though, so she got up, flipped the covers back over her bed, gathered up the clothes she was going to wear today, and headed over to the bathroom to wash up and change.

Once Cassie was dressed and ready, she came down to the kitchen to have some breakfast.

"Cassie, I was just going to go wake you up." Walter smiled at his daughter. "Are you feeling better this morning? No headache, dizziness or nausea?"

"Yes, no, no, and only a little one," Cassie said, smiling back at her father.

"Walter told me about your adventure last night," Aisha, Cassie's mother, said. She was smiling too. "I'm glad you got home all right, but I'm still going to have to tell you to be more careful in the future. Standing under falling artillery shells isn't exactly a good idea."

Cassie knew that her mother was only teasing her. "Yes, mom. I'll make sure to get out of the way of a shell I can't see."

Cassie and her mother both laughed, and Cassie went over to the cupboard to get some cereal for breakfast.

After breakfast, Cassie's father drove her to school like he did every weekday. The drive this time, though, was filled with stories of their previous animal rescues, and comparisons of the dangers of said animal rescues. As expected, not one of them even came close to what they had been though last night.

They arrived at the school building five minutes before the first bell was set to ring.

"Have a good day at school, Cassie."

"I will, dad." Cassie kissed him on the cheek. "I'll see you after school."

Walter waved to Cassie as she exited the truck and walked out onto the curb. Cassie waved back, and watched as her dad drove away. Cassie sighed; another day at school had now begun.

As she headed for her locker, Cassie saw that Rachel was waiting for her there.

"Hi, Rachel."

"Hey, Cass. We're still on for tonight, if that's what you were wondering about." Cassie smothered a laugh, she in fact had been hoping that Rachel might have forgotten about her promise to go to the mall today. "I'm just here to tell you that Jake wants to meet up with us at the food court when we get to the mall, after we finish shopping, of course."

"Of course," Cassie echoed, and wondered if the meeting with Jake would be as innocent as Rachel was making it out to be. Cassie doubted it, since nothing was as innocent as it seemed now. Especially for an Animorph, Cassie thought.

"C'mon," Rachel said. "We've got to get to class."

After school, Cassie and Rachel met up with Walter at the curb.

"So its off to the mall for you girls, huh?" Walter asked in a playful tone.

"Yeah," Cassie sighed dramatically. "The things I do for a friend."

They all laughed at that. Walter backed out of the parking lot, turned around, and headed for the main road. On the drive to the mall, there was a comfortable silence between the three of them. After about a half-hour, they arrived in the parking lot in front of the mall. Since Walter was only making a quick drop-off - and the inevitable pick-up once the two of them were done shopping - he just parked the truck at the curb and waited.

"Thanks for the ride, dad," Cassie said, opening the door to let herself and Rachel out.

"It was my pleasure, Cassie," Walter said, closing the door once the two girls were outside. "Call me when you want me to pick you up, okay?"

"Don't worry, we will!" Cassie waved to her dad as he drove off.

"C'mon Cass, we've got some serious shopping to do," Rachel said, taking Cassie by the arm and leading her toward the main entrance of the mall.

"Shopping, yay," Cassie said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.