Hey! Sorry for the wait. I had a little trouble with this chapter.

Nise-angel, you asked me what province I live in some time ago. I live in BC. The bottom corner of it actually, by the coast. It's so nice here, big backyards and quiet streets. The boarder to the states is like up a hill from my house. Apparently, the weather here in my town is as nice as Hawaii's.

0bs3ssi0n, when on earth are you going to update Changes? You said you would on the weekend!
Chapter Six

...and saw a sign drawn in blood. Zarine was transfixed by the empty sockets of the bright red skull. It was hideously grinning at her! Shuddering, she read the bright letterings, 'DO NOT LOOK BENEATH!!' She didn't even want to look at it, let alone touch that bloodstained piece of cloth. She quickly shut the box and put it under her bed. Who would want to look at it in the middle of the night? Zarine turned to the little notebook. The front was decorated with a bouquet of miniature fake roses. Opening the book, she read, 'Do not read, private property of Dawn Hiwatari.'

May 9, 1988

I'm exhausted! What a day! Laynie and I are finally eighteen.

[Whoa! Wait a minute...] she thought to herself. [Laynie is my mom's nickname! I'm named after her, that's why my middle name is Alaina! What's going on here? Why would this Dawn person have the same birthday as my mom?]

Zarine continued reading...

We have waited so long for this. Mother and Father had thrown a huge birthday party for us. It was our best birthday party ever. The birthday party was the biggest nightclub of the city, can you believe it? Laynie and I were so surprised when Mother told us that we were going to be celebrating our birthday in nightclub. My parents usually disapprove of such places, but I guess all that persuading worked. Boy, were there a lot of people there. Everyone from our grade had gone. Fortunately, the club was so big, there was enough space for us to dance wildly without worrying about stepping on anyone's foot. Needless to say, Laynie and I got a lot of presents. More than we needed.

Our birthday cake was simply......eh......HUGE! It was as big as the dinning table at home. It was an ice cream cake. Laynie and I simply wouldn't have a normal cake on our birthdays. I think Mother and Father had learnt their lesson on our fifth birthday, when we had destroyed our birthday cake before they even lighted the candles. What can I say? We just love ice cream so much. On top of the cake was the picture of a sun and a star, our symbol.

It was the greatest! The best part was when Alex asked me if I would go out with him! I said yes, of course! We've loved each other since we were like ten! My parents wouldn't let me go out until I'm eighteen, and now I am! I'm so happy. What could go wrong?

May 17, 1988

Alex is coming to meet my parents. He's coming over for dinner. I do hope they'll like him. If they don't, then they'll probably forbid me to see him. All they ever talk about is about Laynie and I getting a good husband that can run Biovolt after Father retire. I can't care less about his company. Laynie might care about living luxuriously, but I sure don't. I swear, I'm so nervous about tonight, I'm going to faint before Alex even arrives!

May 18, 1988

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I can't believe Voltaire! I don't care if he is my father! I refuse to acknowledge him as my father, for now. Last night was a complete disaster!!! It had nothing to do with Alex. He was perfect. It was my parents that caused all this trouble and now they're blaming it on him!

When the doorbell rang, I rushed to open it.

'Hi, Dawn,' Alex said with a sweet smile. 'Hey, come on in,' I said.

My parents were waiting at the table already. I looked at the grandfather clock, and breathed a sigh of relieve. Alex was just on time. My parents hate people who are late for their appointments, even if it's only a minute or two. Being the perfect gentleman that he is, he pulled a chair for me to sit in before seating himself in the seat next to me. I introduced Alex and my parents began to interrogate him. They were mostly questions like, 'What're your parents' occupations? How much money do they make? Do you plan on going to university...' blah, blah, blah. Alex replied each question politely and respectfully. I don't see why they don't like him!

After Alex left, my parents talked in Father's study for the longest time ever. Then, they called me in, and told me, no, they FORBADE me to ever see Alex ever again! How could they? If they think I'm just going to listen to them, then they're wrong. There's no way I'm ever going to stop seeing him, or talking to him. We love each other and love will find a way for us to be together forever.

June 8, 1988

It is a glorious day today. Laynie found a way for me and Alex to communicate with each other. She said she would be our little messenger with our 'love' notes. Our messages to each other are hardly about how much we love each other, well, some are, but what do you expect? Even Laynie, the closest person to me, doesn't know what we are writing about. We are planning on going to a faraway and rural place together. I guess you could call it eloping...but there's no way in the world I'm going to stick around here and wait for my parents to find me a 'suitable' husband. Yeah, suitable to their taste. Probably some old geezer. They really need to get with the times. I mean, that's like the custom for rich people five hundred years ago. I don't see how Laynie can stand them sometimes.

For now, I'm going to pretend to be a good little girl, who is appalled at the thought of disobeying my parents. Just the thought of it makes me gag. It's not like I have any choice. If I do, I'll probably be punching Mother and Father right now.

July 15, 1988

Tonight, I will go. I'm not sorry, though, apart from the fact that I'm going to have to leave Laynie. I'm going to miss her so much. Alex and I are going to go to Egypt. Hopefully, my parents wouldn't look for us there. I would die before I come back.

Zarine turned the page, it was blank. [Not very long and not a very dedicated journal writer, is she?] she thought. [Who is this Dawn person? Did she ever get caught? Did she die?] Millions of questions came to her mind, but the thought that occurred to her the most was, 'Who was the Laynie that she spoke about?]

She put the diary on the ground and turned off the lamp. She tried hard to go to sleep, but couldn't. Finally, she bolted up, a sudden thought hit her. Dawn could be her mother's twin! That was the only explanation. They have the same last name, same birthday...the lady in the portrait looked like her mother...what other possible explanation was there?

It was so hard for her to believe. One corner of her mind refused to acknowledge that it might be true. If her mother had a twin sister, wouldn't she tell her own children? Why keep it a secret?

Zarine felt many emotions and she didn't know which was the strongest...doubt, shock, sadness, hope, confusion...

[Why did Mommy keep it a secret? How many other secrets had she been keeping? What if I'm adopted?] she wondered irrationally. [I wouldn't be surprised if I was just picked up from the street. I look nothing like the rest of the family.] Who could she trust? Who trusted her enough to tell her their deepest feelings, thoughts, or desires? The first person that came to her without a doubt was her best friend, Jeff. He had never kept any secrets from her or her from him. Her brother and she were really close, but they still preferred to keep some things from each other.

[He probably doesn't trust me as much anymore. It had been ages since we last saw each other...Does anyone trust me like that now?? That I can be one hundred percent sure about?] she thought miserably. [Ray, he trusts me...I think so...I hope so...]

She felt a sudden longing to be with him. Grabbing her stuffed tiger, she went to the door and opened it silently. Knowing her boyfriend had excellent hearing, she whispered, "Ray?" No need to make more noise than she had to. She didn't want to wake him up if he was already asleep since he was sick.

She saw his figure sat up slowly and turned toward her. "Yeah? Why aren't you asleep? We have school tomorrow," he said softly.

"I couldn't sleep," she said, sitting beside him. For some reason, she didn't want to talk about what she just discovered. She wanted to keep it to herself, for the time being at least.

"Can I stay here with you tonight?" she asked, surprised to hear a pleading tone in her voice. She didn't need to be with him that bad, did she?

"Sure," Ray answered and moved over to make room for her. She slipped under the covers and hugged the tiger close to her.

"You actually brought your stuffed animal with you?" Ray asked with a laugh. "You're fourteen!"

"So? What's your point?" she questioned, raising her eyebrow.

"Aren't you too old for it?"

"You're the one that bought it for me. I'm going to keep everything from you close to me," she said, stifling a yawn.

The Chinese boy's heart filled with love when he heard the last sentence. Sure, he knew that she loved him, but it was nice hearing stuff like that from her once in a while. He instinctively put his arm around her and pulled her close to him.

"Go to sleep now. We have to get up early tomorrow," he said, coughing slightly.

"You're going to school? Are you well enough yet?" she asked anxiously, putting her hand on his forehead.

"I'm fine. I refuse to stay here again tomorrow," he said, gently removing her hand from his forehead.

"Alright. It's your choice," she said, and fell silent. Soon, her breathing was slow and even, a sign that she was asleep and off to dreamland.

Ray looked down at his girlfriend. He grinned, she looked so much like a little kid with the white tiger in her arms. Outside, the clouds moved aside for the moonlight to shine on her. He felt a tug at his heart. Zarine's face was soft and innocent, she would have looked like an angel if it wasn't for her stuffed animal. Brushing hair away from her face, he admired her beautiful features. Finally, he tore his eyes away from her reluctantly. He had school tomorrow and he should be sleeping instead of staring at the girl sleeping beside him.
Jewels' POV

I have been staring at the ceiling all night long. Looking over at the clock, I realized that it was only one o'clock in the morning. I groaned and turned over onto my side. Sleep wouldn't come. After a while, I threw the covers off of me, given up on any sleep for a while. Maybe a walk would help.

I quietly made my way to the backdoor in the kitchen. I didn't want to wake my family up. Just when I was about to open the door, a sudden whining sound was heard by my ears. Waffles came, with the bells on her collar ringing softly.

Shit! I have forgotten about my puppy. I decided to pick her up and walked with her in my arms. Waffles was quiet on the way, curious about where I'm going. I didn't know where I was going...until the beach came into view. I could hear the waves, crashing onto the shore. Waffles' ears twitched eagerly. I knew what she was thinking, she wanted to chase the water.

"No, Waffles, not tonight," I told her firmly.

The beach was totally quiet except for the waves. I sat on a big rock, and listened to the music that the water was making. This was exactly what I needed. I closed my eyes and enjoyed this moment. My white puppy laid down on my lap, clearly enjoying this as much as I did.

"You are sure out late tonight," a voice said, causing me to jump up.

I looked up, and saw Kai. Great, out of all the people that had to come tonight, it had to be him. "Hi," I said quietly. I couldn't exactly ignore him.

Waffles sniffed Kai curiously. "You got a new dog?" he asked.

"Yeah," I answered, petting her white head. "Why are you out so late?"

"I couldn't sleep," he responded.

I sneaked a look at him. His auburn eyes were on me, and his blue hair was ruffled slightly by the wind. I couldn't turn my gaze away. It was like his eyes had some kind of magnetic properties. The thing that brought me back to reality was Waffles leaping off my lap and running straight into the waves.

"WAFFLES!" I yelled. "Come back!"

For the first time ever, my puppy ignored my command. I could see her tail wagging around furiously. I ran after her, afraid that the water might pull her under. She wasn't very big, after all.

I managed to get close to her and was about to grab her collar when she shook her soaked coat. Water sprayed all over me. When I wiped the drops of water away, she had run away farther along the shoreline. I swore, now I had to clean her up after.

"Let her have some fun," Kai said from behind me.

"What do you know?" I snapped. "She can drown if a big wave comes and drags her under!"

"The ocean is pretty calm tonight. Chill out, your dog seems to know what she's doing," he said. "You know, you're all wet."

"Wow, great observation. I wouldn't have noticed," I said sarcastically.

"Learn to have some fun," he told me.

"Who are you to tell me to have some fun? You were always the one who is serious," I said crossly.

"Well, people change," he said. "I've changed, you've changed probably."

"Proof that you've changed from that sourpuss that I knew a year ago," I challenged.

He didn't answer, but kicked water onto me. As if I needed to get any wetter than I already was. "Aren't you going to fight back?" he asked. "Or are you just going to let me get you wet?"

I scoffed, "You wish!" and kicked some water back onto him. Soon, it turned into an all out water fight. We were both soaked and tired by the end of it. We both sat down some distance away from the water. Kai was trying to get the hair out of his eyes. I couldn't help but laugh. I guess no gel could keep his hair spiky after all that water.

"I wouldn't be laughing. You look like some drowned chicken," he said.

"Drowned chicken?!" I demanded. I was just about to punch him or something, but then I remembered Waffles. Where was she?

"Waffles!" I called, walking quickly along the beach.

Kai caught up to me and helped. "Waffles!" he called in his masculine voice.

The more ground we covered, the more worried I got. What if my puppy drowned?? "She's not here," he said when we walked the whole length of the beach.

"What if something happened? What if she drowned?" I said, and felt tears prickling the back of my eye. I was not about to cry in front of Hiwatari. "It's all because of you!" I shouted. "If I hadn't listened to you...if I had only gone after her..." Tears spilled out, I couldn't stop them. I started to sob, "I should've stayed close to her and watched her."

I felt pathetic, crying in front of him. He had never seen my tears before, and I had never intended to let him see them.