"HAAA!"
The punching bag took another beating. It flew backwards, slapping the back wall and swinging back at its attacker in retaliation. Richard easily deflected it with a block of his wrist, sending the bag back to square one.
He had been up and active since five in the morning. It was a before-school routine for the young teenager to release his extra energy via his favorite sport. Beads of sweat rose on his brow and forearms, trailing down his skin as he continued to exert his muscles.
Panting, he turned his attention to the clock on the wall (which he once had to move farther away from his practicing corner, due to a punching bag mishap). It was nearly six thirty…time to change out of his sweaty gym clothes and take a long shower.
XXXXX
At seven thirty Raven stumbled downstairs with her bag slung over her shoulder. "Raven, would you like something for breakfast to take with you?" Mrs. West asked as the girl passed her, just like any concerned mother.
"No thank you, Emma," Raven responded quickly. "I need to be on time to meet Richard. But thanks for the offer!" She slid on her shoes and exited the house.
Raven trudged down the sidewalk with her hands shoved deep into the kangaroo pocket of her sweatshirt. Wally's mom worries about me so much, she though, staring down at the cracks in the sidewalk as she walked. I wish she wouldn't. She doesn't have to anymore…Her thoughts were put on pause as a very mobile punkster suddenly sped in front of her.
"Miss me, Ray?" Jinx asked cheerfully, circling her friend on a pair of roller skates with hot pink wheels and skirt fluttering around her.
Raven watched the pink-haired girl bemusedly. "Jennifer, what…?"
"You forgot that I lived nearby, didn't you?" Jinx chuckled, stopping to stand on Raven's right-hand side. She pretended to pout. "I thought that now that we're on speaking terms we could walk to school like how we used to. Am I coming on too fast or something?"
Raven blinked. "No! Actually, it's okay…just…"
"Just what?" Now Jinx sincerely looked a bit disappointed.
Raven herself was wondering why it should be a problem. "…how was your weekend, Jennifer?"
"Please, call me Jinx!" Jinx insisted, beginning to skate backwards down the street so as Raven would have to keep up with her. "And, my weekend was just fine. Pure, uneventful laziness."
"Ah, that's good," Raven muttered, quickening the pace. The two turned a corner; Jinx didn't waver a bit on the swerve, as if she had memorized the road by heart. "We're meeting Richard at the street corner. Just so you know."
Her comrade simply nodded and continued to skate backwards in a carefree manner. "How's Logan?"
"He called me on Saturday…said that he couldn't wait for Monday." Raven shook her head. "He was so goddamn irresponsible in the first place. And then he goes and crashes a car, right before checking in to say that he can't wait to return to the crime scene. I'll never understand that twerp."
"You don't have to. His kind is born not to make sense."
" 'His kind?'"
"Males," Jinx clarified hastily. "I wouldn't blame him for his actions, however. I think I made him nervous."
"I'm not surprised. You're a complete loon."
"Not like that! I remember clearly that he was trying to chat me up in detention. Went all pale when I gave him my email address."
"Wait…you think that he likes you?"
"Duh."
"And you have no problem with that whatsoever."
"Should I?"
"Well, apart from the fact that he's a testosterone-charged freshman, he fancies himself as a ladies man, his hair is annoyingly green and you're two years older than him, I suppose not."
"Awww." Jinx winked. "Are you jealous?"
"…Great. You almost made me throw up in my mouth."
Jinx threw her head back and laughed. "Ah look, there's the other boy wonder over at the crosswalk. Wait for us!" she called to Richard, grabbing Raven's arm and allowing her roller blades to freely speed downhill.
XXXXX"Kittennnn! You need to answer my question!"
Behind the door of the locker, the face of Kitten Walker contorted into an annoyed snarl. Checking her reflection in the mirror, she forced a smile and closed her locker, coming face-to-face with a perky 'n' short brunette freshman girl. "I'll do what I can," she said, grinning painfully, "but you have to try out for the squad just like everyone else, mmkay?"
The girl nodded happily. "Mmkay!" she giggled, madly attempting to copy Kitten's style. "But I should warn you, I have a real good show for the tryouts! Hehe, TTFN!" The girl flounced away. Kitten hit her head against her locker and whipped out her cell phone. Speedily dialing a number she had gotten used to dialing over the past two weeks, she pressed it to her ear and, after it was picked up at the first ring, hissed, "SARA! We have another signup for the cheerleading tryouts!"
"My name's Tara—"
"Whatever. Just because our moms know each other doesn't mean I have to remember your name." Kitten twirled a lock of blonde hair around her index finger and smiled prettily at a passing group of senior boys.
XXXXX"Hey, aren't you supposed to be tutoring that Rorek guy?" Garfield asked Raven around the tree trunk at break.
"I had a nice chat with Lenard and got out of it," Raven replied stiffly, not looking up once from her novel.
"Heh. I would've done the same thing. Man, is that guy creepy!" When she didn't dignify that with a response, Garfield turned to Jinx and whispered, "Dude, what's she giving me the silent treatment for?"
"I dunno," Jinx said, smirking, "maybe it has to do something with a hit-and-run?"
"Why would she still be angry about that?"
"Whenever I did something irresponsible she wouldn't talk to me either," Jinx sighed. "Trust me, it could be a lot worse."
"Guys, I'm right here," came Raven's irritated voice from the other side of the tree.
"Sorry."
Meanwhile, Kori struggled with her MT homework, which she was trying to finish before seventh period. "So…the harmonic pair is C-flat and B? Which means that B-sharp is C, correct?"
"Yeah, that's right." Richard nodded encouragingly.
Relieved, Kori sighed and pretended to bang her head against the tree. "Is there some kind of music dyslexia that I'm not aware of? Because if there is, I probably have it." She despised MT homework. In face, she despised homework in general.
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Richard scolded, poking her. "It's only the beginning of the year. You'll have it down pat in no time."
Kori smiled; that was Richard, ever the friend and optimist. "Thank you for helping me, Richard. Miss Tremolo is moving pretty fast for the first year…" Inwardly she wished that she had started the course the year before—she and her friends had been so excited about high school as freshmen that they had forgotten to sign up for classes with music credits for college. Now they had to start as sophomores and stick with it for two years.
"Come to think of it, I need help with my French homework," Garfield realized. "Jinx, you're a junior…you have one more years' experience than I do…can you help a little?"
"Sorry, Logan. I take German."
"What? Why would you want to take German?"
Jinx cleared her throat. "Guten tag, Garfield! Wie gehts? Sie ist zu klein."
Garfield looked dumbfounded.
"That's why," Jinx supplied for him, while she and everyone else but Garfield smirked.
XXXXXA few hours later, Kori and Ryan sat at the kitchen table while their mother poured cups of an exotic tea for them. Kori lifted the cup to her lips and inhaled the fragrance and flavor deeply. "Thank you, Mother."
"Your welcome, dear." Luann Anders pulled out a chair and faced her offspring. "You may remember that your father and I are going on a business trip for a week starting tomorrow?" She and her husband Mort were the heads of a computer technology business, the headquarters of which was located in Europe.
Kori and Ryan nodded.
"Well…at the last minute, Mr. Galfore has become unable to look over the house while your father and I are away."
Kori nodded understandingly. "I could look after the house, Mother…."
Luann waved a hand to cut her off. "You shan't worry about that, Kori. I've managed to get hold of your elder sister, and she's agreed to watch after the two of you."
Kori stared into her tea in deep thought. Her mother meant Konni…? She hadn't seen her in years…
XXXXXA/N: I'm going to try my best to update as much as possible. Anyway, here's this week's addition to the story. Sadly, I've heard that we're not allowed to reply to reviews…but I'd like the thank those who have stayed with me so far. :0)