Jaded-Reflection: WOW! You guys, you have no idea how happy I am! You guys sent me sooo many reviews! A special thanks to Clare who sent in 2 reviews for the last chapter.

Ashley: Hey, thanks very much for liking it.

Marisa: Hm…interesting email ID…I like it! Hope you enjoy this update!

Maresia Eterna: Hey girl! Yeah, you're right. We all have a kid in all of us…now if I just get my dad to realize that…LOL! Thanks a lot for your review! And well, you get my emails so yeah; I'll let you know if I want/need anything else. Ciao!

HeartlessDevil: Yeah, I feel sorry for her too…but oh well. Some things you just have to do! Enjoy!

KaiKaiCutie: Thanks for the review! Here's your update!

Clare: A special thanks to you for reviewing two times! And you just might be surprised at what Isha does to Kai. Here's your update!

Untimely Demise: Heh…cool name. Very talented? I don't know about that. This is my first time writing humor like this. Thanks for reviewing!

Xx-CrazyAnimeLuva-xX: Hey, it's ok. Everybody loves to laugh! Thanks for the review and here's the update!

CrazyHyperActiveChild: Thanks for the review!

Athene Rowan: HEYZZ! OMG! You actually read this? Yeah, I was so surprised when I got your review! And I'm confused as to what you mean by me stealing your last name. And thanks for your suggestion. I'll keep that in mind!

Crying Sorceress: Hm…a Mary Sue, eh? I wasn't going for that. But let me tell you, she isn't really that perfect. I just haven't really included her flaws yet. But she does have some. Cool name by the way. And thanks for your suggestion and review! Here's the update!

»«»«»«

Disclaimer: Isha and everything that you don't recognize belongs to me, but Mandisa and everything to do with her belongs to Maresia Eterna.

New Entry?

"You know when you said he was the best teacher, you didn't say he was the evil and the torturous kind too," Isha complained, annoyance showing clearly on her face. Her Russian companion grinned in delight at her as they made a right turn and entered the cafeteria.

"Oops," she said, not meaning the apology at all. Isha mildly glared at her but it had no affect on Maressa. "What? Look, he's like that. I mean it happened to me so many times. Like you see with Brooklyn? I didn't really like him way back when we were freshmen. But then we got stuck together as study partners for a major unit test for Riley's class and since then, we've been best friends."

Isha shrugged. "But still, this is your brother we're talking about not some random guy, okay?"

"Oh well…it's just six weeks. Besides, I have a feeling this project might even be over before six weeks so not too much to worry about." Maressa led her to a table at the back where two girls were already seating from before. One was just pink. Too pink. She wore a pink skirt, a baby pink and white tank top and even her sandals were pink. Isha's gaze moved to her face. The girl had amber eyes and pink hair.

"AHHH! We're being attacked by the pinkzilla from Planet Barbie!" She yelled before she could stop it. The pink girl looked up and gave a glare while Maressa and the other girl just snickered.

"Haha…real funny," the said girl retorted dryly before going back to her work.

Maressa and Isha took a seat across them. "Sorry, I have never seen so much pink together in my life. I ain't a big fan of pink," the Asian girl said. Maressa turned around for a moment to see if anybody had noticed Isha's outburst and was surprised to see The Scorpions looking at them, amusingly. Her gaze lingered on Tala for a while before turning back to her friends.

"Heh…see, Mariah? I told you that would scare everyone," Maressa said. The pink girl, Mariah, looked up from her book only to glare at her this time. "Anyways," she started, ignoring the glare. "This is Mariah—you might already know that by now, and that is Risika."

Isha grinned at Mariah and then shifted her gaze to the quiet girl sitting beside Mariah. She had ice-blue hair that was tied up in a high ponytail with a few strands of hair framing her heart shaped face. Risika had willow green eyes and a petite body. She was probably the shortest out of all of them, Isha decided.

Risika looked up from her sandwich and gave a small smile.

"And this, my friends, is Isha Lynsgrave," Maressa finished.

"You're the one who punched Michael!" Risika said, clear amusement showing on her face and voice. Isha smirked evilly.

"Yuppers. The freakin' moron deserved it," she said not sounding sorry at all.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…now can you all keep quiet? I'm trying to study for a science test here," Mariah said. "I didn't even know there was a test today!"

"That's why you stay awake and actually listen, Riah. I know it must be very difficult for you but its ok. You'll get it after some time," Risika teased. "Besides, it wasn't that hard. We had it just before lunch. Space Science is kinda easy."

"Wanna tell me the questions then?" Mariah asked hopefully. Risika shook her head in regret. "Why the hell not?"

"Because, Murphy made sure that both tests have different questions. Sine he knows that people from two classes might mingle and tell each other questions or answers."

"Stupid Murphy," Mariah cursed.

"I'm sure it ain't that hard," Isha intervened. Mariah took her book and placed it in front of the raven haired girl.

"Look at it and tell me it ain't hard." Isha looked down and scanned the page.

"Okaaay…maybe I was wrong then. Well, atleast it's just gonna last a day. I have to spend six weeks with him!" Isha started whining again. Mariah and Risika looked confusingly at the annoyed Russian.

"Riley made her and Kai partners for the Historica project," she informed. Risika and Mariah snickered as the Asian girl gave them a heated glare.

"Oh sure, laugh at me!" Isha complained folding her arms in front of her chest and pouting.

"Don't worry about it, Isha. Riley's like that but let me assure, he's absolutely the best there is," Risika confirmed and Maressa nodded in agreement.

"Told you so."

-O-

Maressa smiled to herself as she entered the VA room with a sketchbook and her pencil case in her hands. She had a strange talent in Art. Whenever her hands touched the pencil, it was like a spark passed through her and onto the pencil which made all her sketches so life-like.

The first time she had ever gotten a sketchbook or even started to sketch was when she was 14. People always said that artists start drawing from when they were really young so they have time to develop their talents and skills. When she was just 14, she had just wanted to experiment with different things and came across Art. She had found some pictures from the net and decided to draw them. Pleased with the results, she had kept on sketching and sketching. She had atleast 3 Art sketchbooks in her closet by now.

And when her mother had accidentally found all the sketchbooks and looked through them, she had made her get into VA. Though, now that she thought about it, it was all for the best. She had learnt many new skills and her sketching had improved a whole lot.

The only one thing she didn't like about her Arts class is that he was in it. Who would have thought that the tough and strong looking Tala Valkov would actually like Art? She didn't think so either until she found out. But she had to say, despite how much she hated him and vice-versa, his art was actually quite good. Art Room was the only place—that she knew of, in which he looked like he was concentrating on his work.

Maybe it was because none of his other friends were in this class or maybe because it was quiet and peaceful in the room. Either way, he concentrated and that surprised her a lot. Her thoughts came to a halt when she heard the chair across her screech. She looked up, pausing her sketching, and gazed questionably as the very guy she had been thinking about, took a seat there.

-O-

Tala Valkov grinned to himself and shook his head in amusement as he saw a redhead spluttering at his sandy-haired friend. By now, he had grown used to Michael's way of telling the girls that he was done with them.

Tears leaked out of the redhead's eyes and she turned around and ran away, out of the cafeteria. Michael grinned evilly at everybody else on the table. Tala gave a cool smirk and took a small sip from his Dr. Pepper drink. He savored the cherry and vanilla taste in his mouth before gulping it down.

"Why do women have to be so emotionally weak?" Michael questioned as Tala and Johnny looked at him weirdly. "I mean every time you tell them it's over, they cry and run away like wimps."

Tala rolled his eyes.

"Why do you even think about all that stuff?" Johnny asked. Michael shrugged and was about to reply when Ray and Kai joined them.

"What's up?" Kai asked, opening his Root Beer.

"We just saw that redhead running away, bawling her eyes out," Ray said, shaking her head. Michael grinned at him. "On second thought, we don't wanna know."

Tala looked at Kai for a moment, a smirk forming on his lips.

"Heard you stuck with the little spitfire," Tala said. Kai looked up at him and shrugged.

"I can handle her."

"Yeah right…all I did was ask her name and she didn't even look at me," Ray retorted. Kai gave him an annoyed expression, making the rest of the gang chuckle.

"Ray's right, Kai. Even yesterday, she was a spitfire. And feisty. You're gonna have a hard time getting her," Johnny pointed up. "I mean, which girl has actually punched Michael? Or rejected him even?" Michael's eyes darkened at that, his hands gingerly touching the bruise on his left cheek.

"Why the hell are you worrying about it? I'm the one who has to do it. Besides, with this project, I have a better chance. We'll spend time together. You of all the people should know that I always get what I want," Kai said, his lips forming a smirk that matched Tala's only it was much colder.

Johnny was about to respond to the crimson eyed boy when they heard a faint yell two tables away.

"AHHH! We're being attacked by the pinkzilla from Planet Barbie!"

The five males turned to the table and were clearly amused at the raven-haired girl that had yelled. They watched the pink girl and her exchange some words before both the girls that were standing up took a seat from across the other two girls.

The girl beside Isha turned around, as if scanning the cafeteria. Her face showed surprise as she caught them looking at them. Maressa, Tala thought. Her gaze held his for a moment before she turned around and started talking with her friends. Tala looked at Ray who was staring intently at the pink haired girl—a dazed expression on his face.

He shook his head, dismissing the thought as his imagination and looked away. Just then the bell rand. Everyone snapped out of their thoughts and started getting up.

"See you people after school," Michael and Johnny said as they left. Kai nodded at Ray and Tala and left as well.

"See you man," Ray said and left as well. Tala turned around and walked out of the cafeteria doors and headed to his Arts room.

Everyone was quite surprised when they found out that he wanted to take VA. They were even more surprised when they looked at all of his sketches once. His mother had always said that he got the gift of drawing from his father. His father, Adryan Valkov, was an immensely talented and skilled artist. Ever since he was little, his father would give him lessons on how to improve his skills and how to use light when drawing still life objects.

Unfortunately, like every good thing, this had also came to an end when his father had died because of a shooting when Tala was just 9. He had stopped drawing for 2 years but when he realized that by doing that, he couldn't forget what had happened. At first, after that, he started to draw because of his father. Now, he drew because he liked it and he wanted to remember his father in his own kind of way. He wanted to preserve the memories he had of his father by transferring them onto paper. By preserving the memories, he would preserve his father.

He opened the VA room door and noticed lots of seats that weren't taken but chose to take the one where Kai's sister was sitting. Sometimes, he didn't know what was so different about her. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she never looked twice at him or the fact that she just didn't care but he had decided that something about her was different. She wouldn't give into him that easily. She didn't throw herself at him and sometimes he was quite impressed with it.

He ignored her questioning gaze when he took a seat across her and took out his sketchbook and started sketching. His hands made a rough outline of something that he often thought about when nobody was around. As he finished the outline, he went over it in a darker tone and then continued by adding little details here and there. After about 10 minutes, he heard more feet shuffling into the room and closed his sketchbook and looked at the teacher.

-O-

The teacher, Ms. Suh, entered the classroom, balancing a huge stack of papers on one hand and carrying a navy blue bag in the other. Everybody stopped their chattering and gave Ms. Valle their full attention. Ms. Suh was the youngest teacher in the faculty. She looked about 23. She was Chinese but had Japanese features. She had straight dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes to match it. She was really pretty as well.

"Well, guys, I hope you had a wonderful evening last night. As you can probably guess, I am going to give back your assignments from last week. Finally finished marking all of them. Before I hand them back to you, all I want to say is that you all did an amazing job. Each and every one of you had their own special way of the way you portray your sketches as well as your feelings that you pour into them. You have improved a lot from what I saw for your last assignment.

"Now, as you also might know, Term 1 of the first semester is over. But we still have 3 terms left. And I decided to do something different this time," Ms. Suh said in a soft voice, leaning against her desk. Maressa put down her pencil and looked up in curiosity. "I was wondering what would happen if we mix a little bit of photography with Art? Yeah, technically, photography does come into Visual Arts but it doesn't come under the actual sub-category of Drawing. So, think it's a good idea?"

Various shouts of "whatevers", "yeahs" and "yup" echoed into the classroom. Maressa grinned. This was definitely something different.

"Great…so this is how it goes. I divide you into pairs." Whines erupted from the class now. Ms. Suh grinned. "Anyways, you take a couple of pictures of your partner and then choose one picture for each term. So for example, you would pick one picture for the upcoming term. You will then use everything that you learnt in the term and combine it to make a copy of the picture in your sketchbooks.

"I want you to try to be as accurate you can get on it. Every term, we will do something different. We will start of with simple charcoal for the upcoming term; then move onto oil pastels to add a bit of color into it and then finally finish it off with painting. For the painting, you will be provided with paper as you won't be able to do that in your books," the brown haired teacher paused to take a breath.

"You can take as many pictures as you want but I only want three. One for each term. And make sure that you hand in your picture with your final result. I will compare it and make you accordingly. Think about this project as your major unit project. It will be worth 40 of your final grades. So, any questions?"

"When is it due for the upcoming term?" A random voice shouted out from the middle of the class.

"It will be due one week before Christmas holidays. You will be given back your marked projects as soon as you come back from your holidays."

"How much will it be out of?"

"I still have to think about it but it will probably be out of 50. 25 for accuracy; 15 marks for shading values and the other 10 for the way you portray the drawing."

"So when will you tell us who our partners are?" Maressa asked.

"Right now actually. You will be paired up with whoever is sitting across you."

Maressa choked and looked at Tala horrified. He glanced up at her and looked back at the teacher. She frowned. No sneer? No comments? No nothing? What the hell was wrong with him?

"Now as for your assignments, Maressa, could you please hand them out please?" Maressa nodded and got up from her seat. Ms. Suh handed her the whole stack and she started distributing it around the class. She smiled at the mark she received and quickly read the comments before putting it on her desk and then giving the rest out.

She stared at the last one in shock. It was a picture of a man in a hospital, surrounded by people and various machines and wires attached to him. He wore an oxygen mask on his face and he held a woman's hand. A young child was on the other side of the bed, holding the man's other hand and in the corner was a doctor.

The sheet was suddenly snatched out of her hand and she looked up to meet Tala's cold gaze. He looked at her with nothing but coldness in his eyes, his jaw clenched in anger. For a moment, she thought as if he was going to hit her but he just turned around and walked back to his seat.

It was then that she realized that the boy had been him and the man was his father. No wonder he had been angry when she had looked at the picture. For a moment Maressa remained frozen to the spot. She watched the retreating back of the crimson eyed boy in shock. Shaking her head, she went over to the door and grabbed the Hall Pass. She signed her name in the sign out sheet and left the classroom.

Maressa wandered the halls aimlessly, trying to forget what she had just encountered in the classroom. She swung the Hall Pass by the string in the air and caught it again. As she neared the Main Office, she noticed a girl standing there with a white paper in her hands. As she neared the new girl, she realized that she looked a bit Japanese. She had slightly tanned skin and a sturdy yet slender figure. Her red-wine eyes were framed with strands of ice-blue hair that went past her shoulder and was wavy. The girl looked up when she felt someone's eyes burning holes into her. She smiled slightly and Maressa grinned back.

"You lost?" Maressa asked and the girl nodded. "Can I see your timetable?" The girl handed the white sheet of paper to her and Maressa scanned the contents. "Hey! You have Art with Ms. Suh!"

"Is that good?" The girl asked meekly. Maressa nodded enthusiastically.

"You have her right now! I'm in the class too!"

"Oh, would you take me there?"

"Sure…oh, by the way, my name is Maressa Hiwatari," the auburn eyed girl said offering her hand. Her new friend grinned and shook it.

"I'm Mandisa Mahina. I just moved here from Hawaii (or we can have Japan, you call)." Maressa raised a brow at her as they started walking.

"Really? You look Japanese to me." Mandisa laughed.

"You won't believe how many people have told me that! I'm actually half-Japanese and half-Hawaiian," she said. Maressa looked at her surprisingly. "What?"

"Nothing, I'm just surprised because I've never had a friend who's Hawaiian before."

"Well, you got one now!" They laughed and Maressa stopped in front of her Art class. She opened the door and half the class looked up and saw Mandisa. Ms. Suh tilted her head to the side and smiled at Mandisa. "Uh…hi, I'm Mandisa Mahina and I have you for Art right now." Ms. Suh came towards them and Mandisa handed her the timetable. Ms. Suh looked back at Mandisa and smiled brightly.

"Well, you can sit across from Kristen," she said. The partly Japanese girl nodded and walked to her seat. "Kristen, can you please fill Mandisa in on the Arts project?"

Maressa smiled slightly and walked back to her seat. Tala seemed to have calmed down a bit and turned a bit normal. She grinned at the thought. How did she know? He looked at her and simply sneered before going back to her work.

At the end of the class, Ms. Suh called Maressa and Tala over to her desk and waited for when everybody was out of the class. "Now, you might be shocked as to why I put you together," she began.

"Ditto that," Tala joined in.

"Heck yeah!"

"But trust me on this. You both have skills in Art but your styles are really different. Maressa, one thing I noticed about your sketches is that you always draw fictional things or things that we can only imagine. I want you to try to sketch someone that exists and I want to see where how you do in that. Tala, your sketches always have a hidden meaning in them. For some reason, they always reflect on what a person goes through at different stages in their lives. I have to be honest at you. I want to see what you portray when you draw Maressa. I know what kind of a relationship you guys have and for this project, I want to see what you portray in your sketches and paintings," she finished, looking at them earnestly.

Maressa sighed and looked at Tala expectantly. He gazed at her and then at Ms. Suh. And nodded after a while. Ms. Suh's face beamed in delight.

"Excellent! Now, get started soon, okay?"

-O-

Isha smirked evilly at her friend's predicament.

"See? Now you know how I felt!" She exclaimed doing a little happy dance. Mandisa stared at her confusingly and then at the other three girls. The shook their heads and she smile slightly.

"Oh shut up," Maressa mumbled giving her a mock glare. Isha grinned in return and then looked at Mandisa.

"So you're the new girl, right?" Mandisa nodded.

"I'm Mandisa. And you are?" She asked in return.

"I'm Isha," the raven haired girl replied. "That is Mariah," she said pointing to the pink haired girl. "And that is Rhea." Mandisa was about to say something when she noticed that Isha was glaring at something behind her. Turning around, she came face-to-face with five boys. "Yes? And how may I help you?" She asked spitefully, glaring at the leader in distaste.

Kai ignored the glares and smirked at Isha. She narrowed her eyes in return and clenched her teeth. Her hands began to form into fists. Ray, noticing this, quickly stepped up.

"Kai here was just wondering when you would like to get together do work on the project," he intervened. "Right, Kai?" He asked, looking at the two toned boy. Kai looked at him and then back at the spitfire.

"I think he can speak for himself, ne?" Isha gritted out. Johnny's eyes filled with anger. Ray was just trying to help!

"So what about it, Lynsgrave?" Kai asked, raising a slate gray eyebrow.

"Library at 6." All eyes shifted to the speaker. Maressa.

"And you are involved in this, exactly how?" Michael sneered. Isha growled in rage.

"She has a project with your friend too," Isha spoke for her this time. Tala sneered at her but nodded.

"Library at 6, then," Kai confirmed. Maressa and Isha nodded as the Scorpions left.

"So who are they?" Mandisa asked, confusingly.

"The blue idiot would be my brother, unfortunately," Maressa supplied.

"And the rest are too worthless for us to acknowledge them," Isha piped up, amusingly.

-O-

"Maressa! Hurry up, dammit!" Isha yelled loudly. Footsteps followed the call Isha could hear her friend trying to find her backpack. She sighed in disbelief. "MARESSA! I HAVE YOUR BACKPACK, YOU SMART PERSON!" Maressa came downstairs and smiled sheepishly. "You know, you may be smarter but I'm really starting to believe you have memory loss problems."

Maressa stuck her tongue out at the partly Asian girl and pouted. She picked up her backpack and started to walk outside as Isha followed, shaking her head. They walked towards Maressa's house where Kai had told them to be if they had wanted a ride. They had gone to Isha's house straight after school and had finished their homework (much to Isha's dismay) and then played Halo. As they walked nearer, they could see a sleek black Porsche in the driveway. "Are we gonna pick up Ivanov?" Maressa scoffed.

"Yeah right. He has his own car…and he knows where the library is so he can drive there himself." Isha cracked up and Kai looked at them weirdly as they got in the car. Maressa got in the front seat while Isha in the back. Kai reared up, turned left and drove away.

-O-

Isha, Kai, and Maressa entered the library, each carrying a couple of things. Maressa carried her sketchbook, her art pencils and all her colors. Isha had a blue folder in her hand along with a pencil case while Kai had another folder. They went in to the teen section in the library only to find Tala already sitting there, deeply buried in a book in which he was sketching furiously. The three took a seat but Tala didn't even glance up. Maressa sat beside Tala and peeked at his sketch. He looked up and glared at her coldly. She glared back and for a while, everyone worked in silence.

"OH GOD!" Isha burst out. Maressa flinched at the sudden outburst and glared at the raven haired girl. Kai and Tala growled.

"Now what, Lynsgrave?" Tala bit out.

"It's too quiet!" She exclaimed. The librarian that was stacking books near them turned around and put her index finger on her lips as if to say Shh. Isha smiled sheepishly at the white haired woman and turned back to her friend. Maressa glared at her. "What?"

"You made me mess up on my sketch," she whispered furiously. Isha blinked. She picked up an eraser.

"Hm…Maressa, it seems to me as though you haven't met my good friend Mr. Eraser here," Isha teased. "Mr. Eraser, meet Maressa Hiwatari. Maressa, meet Mr. Eraser." Maressa looked at her, unimpressed. Tala and Kai shared looks of amusement. Isha grinned. "K, I'll shut up now."

"You know, it makes me wonder how Aryan ever dealt with you for so many years," Maressa commented. Isha glanced up and grinned.

"Trust me, my dad asked him that so many times. Now, we all just burst out laughing. Sometimes when Aryan's in a pissed mood, it's so hilarious to push his buttons," she said grinning mischievously. Maressa shook her head and grinned despite what just happened.

"Who the hell is Aryan?" Kai asked all of a sudden after Tala threw him a warning look. Isha looked up and narrowed her eyes.

"None of your business," she snapped. She rolled her eyes and looked back to her paper. Maressa shook her head and looked at Tala.

"Do you have any idea how to take a proper picture?" Tala looked up from his sketch and nodded slowly. "I hate to ask you but, wanna teach me?" The redhead stared at her unblinking and then shook his head.

"Not a chance," he replied. Maressa narrowed her eyes at him.

"Fine, if we fail…don't blame me," she snapped. Tala shrugged uncaringly as Isha peered at her friend, giving her an odd look.

"You don't know how to take a picture?" She asked giving her a blank look.

"No." Isha covered her mouth with her hands and her body started shaking. Her face went red and a moment later she sniffed loudly. She stopped laughing and grinned. "I'm sorry but what century are you living in?" Maressa pouted.

"Well, I would have known if a certain someone had taught me," she said, glaring at Kai.

"Don't blame me 'cuz you didn't have the capability to understand," he said shrugging his shoulders. Tala sniggered at the thought.

"And here we thought you were smart," he added.

"Seriously though, I teach her how to do something and she breaks it the next minute," Kai said shaking his head. Maressa did the only mature thing she could think of: she stuck her tongue out at him.

-O-

"Mandisa! Atleast have a decent snack before you go!" The red wine eye-colored heard her mom exclaim as she put on her shoes hurriedly.

"No time mom, I promised Sarah I'm going to be there at 5:00 today and I'm late enough as is! See you later!" Giving her mom a quick peck on the cheek, she ran out of her house and down the street to where the Golden Ridge Orphanage was located. As she opened the door, she heard a jingling sound and ignored it. It always happened when someone opened the door.

"Hey Mandisa!" Lil' Jay, a fifteen year old volunteer, waved at her. Mandisa gave a bright smile and waved back.

"Hey Jay! What's up?" Jay used to be an orphan but when he turned 7, he was adopted by another family. Though sometimes, adopted children forgot the orphanage, Jay had refused to give it up. It had treated him like family and you never abandon your family. He started volunteering there as soon as he turned 12 and had been doing so since then.

"Nothing…Sarah's pretty mad 'cuz you were supposed to come in 20 minutes ago. And the kids are getting restless, you know," he said pointing to the playground in the backyard. Mandisa cursed lightly under her breath and waved goodbye to Jay. Mandisa sighed and went to Sarah's office.

Sarah had always loved children and perhaps that's why she worked in an orphanage. She was 25 but when it came to children, you could see the amazing transformation. She would act like she was their age. Sarah had a short temper and Mandisa had seen it when things didn't go her way. But when it comes to small kids, the temper was forgotten and she would act as though she was their sole savior. It was rather cute.

Mandisa knocked on Sarah's door lightly and then opened it, peeking inside. Sarah was typing something on the computer. Mandisa walked in and gave her a sheepish smile, only to be greeted by two firm and stern words: "You're late."

"I know, I know. It was my first day at school and I got on the wrong bus when I came home. Took me an hour to get back on the right one," she admitted. Sarah allowed a small smirk on her firm features. Mandisa quickly signed in and ran out the room and to the back. Bright sunlight hit and her eyes and she blinked a couple of times before walking again. She neared the slide where about 5-10 kids (between the ages of 4 and 7) were playing around. One of them, Lise, noticed her and ran to her. Looking at Mandisa through her deep sea green eyes, she poked her in the leg and Mandisa looked down, smiling.

"You're late!" Lise accused. Mandisa dropped to the ground and put her hands on her ears playfully.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I got lost today!" Lise clamped her hand on her mouth and gasped.

"Really?" Mandisa nodded.

"But I'm okay now. So forgive me?" Lise nodded vigorously and Mandisa smiled softly. The other kids slowly came up. Like Lise, some were mad but as they heard her story, they forgave her easily. After eating their snacks and juices, Mandisa got them ready to go to the park.

-O-

Brooklyn closed his books with a huff and ran his hand through his hair. Damn, Calculus was hard. He checked the clock for the time. 6:00 pm. There was still time till dinner and his mom wouldn't be back till 8. Debating between going to the park and watching T.V., he decided on the former. Grabbing his gray spring jacket, he locked the door and walked to the park. Breathing in the fresh air, Brooklyn closed his eyes for a moment and opened them again. Somehow, he felt new. Like someone had recharged him. It felt like it was now that he had truly started living. Unusual feeling, he decided. Putting it at the back of his mind for now, he entered the park and walked around.

As time went by, Brooklyn felt tired and decided to sit down. Just as he was about to sit down, he heard loud laughing and giggling noises. Deciding to check them out, he walked around the bushes and came upon the mini-playground that the park had built. A smile made its way on his face when he saw the sight before him. Little kids were running around laughing and playing on monkey bars and whatnot. His eyes scanned the playground and saw a girl about his age grinning ear-to-ear as a little redhead talked to her, animatedly. Noticing a bench near there, he sat on it and stared at the happy scene. How he wished he could back in time and live in his childhood again. The red haired girl moved her gaze and saw him. Grinning, she waved at him and he waved back. The girl beside her scrunched up her eyebrows and looked at him, trying to recognize him. When she couldn't, she whispered in her friend's ear; got up and started walking towards him. She stopped right in front of him, giving him a confused look.

"Hey, err…do I know you?" She asked uncertainly.

"No. I'm Brooklyn Kingston," he introduced, offering his right hand. Mandisa shook her hand with his and then let go.

"I'm Mandisa Mahina. Sorry, I was just surprised when I saw you staring at us like that." Brooklyn shrugged uncaringly.

"It's alright. I heard giggling and decided to check it out. I'm afraid to ask," he said looking to all those children. "Are they your siblings?"

Mandisa looked at him weirdly for a moment and then burst out laughing. Taking support of the bench, she laughed even harder. Seeing Brooklyn's face, she covered her mouth with her hand and slowly stopped. "Sorry, no offence but if I had that many brothers and sisters, I'd go insane. I work part-time at the Golden Ridge Orphanage. I promised the kids that I'd bring them to the park today." Brooklyn nodded in understanding.

"You live around here?" Mandisa nodded.

"Nearby. I go to NACI. What about you?"

"Same. Oh, you're the new girl right?" Mandisa nodded hesitantly, unsure of what he was talking about.

"Maressa? You met her right?" Mandisa nodded. "She's one of my best friends. She told me."

"Oh…no wonder. Maressa's in my art class."

"I took art last year. I learnt something new," Brooklyn said, looking at her.

"What's that?"

"That I can't draw for my life." At this, Mandisa burst out laughing. As time went by, they talked and soon it got dark. Mandisa got up quickly and he got up as well.

"I got to go. I still have to drop them off at the orphanage. See you in school tomorrow, ok?" Mandisa said, giving him a friendly smile. Brooklyn nodded and she walked away. As he stared at her walking away, he smiled and looked at the sky. This is going be an interesting year, he said to himself before going his way.

-O-

Surprisingly, Isha and Kai had gotten some work done. As did Tala and Maressa. As they headed out of the library, Tala got an idea.

"Hey, Hiwatari, I wanna talk to you about something. Come with me, I'll drop you off at your house." Maressa looked at him weirdly and shook her head.

"We can talk at school."

"No, it's important. We have to talk now," the redhead said firmly. Maressa kept on shaking her head. Kai, catching on to what he was saying, nodded his head.

"Maressa, go."

"I don't have to listen to you." Isha nodded firmly. Maressa was about to add something but looking at her brother and Tala's face, she fell silent. She narrowed her eyes at the redhead and sighed. "Fine."

"What? I'm coming too then!" Isha exclaimed. Kai shook his head. "And why the hell not?"

"Because I need to talk to her and he probably needs to talk to you about your project," Tala intervened.

"We can talk tomorrow and it's not like you guys are on some secret mission that no one can find out about the project you're doing," Isha defended. Maressa hissed and rubbed her temples with her hands.

"Look, it's no use arguing, okay? I'm getting a headache from this bullshit." She turned to her friend. "Isha, it's just for one day, okay? You're not going to die and if you die, don't worry, I'll avenge you some way. The sooner I get home, the better. Please?" Isha nodded reluctantly. Kai smirked in his head and made a mental note to thank his sister somehow. …Yeah right.

The two couples (if you could call them that) went their separate ways. Isha walked huffily to Kai's car and the stoic blader followed close by. Taking out his car keys, he pushed the unlock button. Isha opened the door and got in, refusing to look at Kai. Tugging on the seatbelt, she put that on and crossed her hands in front of her chest. Kai's lips twitched in amusement as he looked at her. She looked like a little baby who just lost her favorite candy. It was quite amusing. He started the car and then drove away. Isha on the other hand, was feeling grumpy. How could her best friend just ditch her and since did she actually listen to what Valkov and Hiwatari said? She let out an angry 'hmph' and looked out of the window. The last thing she wanted to do was to look at him. I can't believe he's driving me home, she thought angrily. What could Valkov possible want to discuss with Maressa so badly that he couldn't do it tomorrow? Kai glanced at her.

"You know, you look like a lost baby," he informed. Her gaze snapped to him and he was met by a heated glare. "Hey, it's a compliment, you know." She gave him a blank look. "Babies are cute."

"Shut up. Why are you being nice to me anyways?" She grumbled. Kai shrugged.

"We're gonna be working together for six weeks. Might as well make something out of it. What say? Truce?" Isha snorted.

"Dream on."

"You wanna get a good mark on this?" He snapped. He tried being nice. It didn't work.

"So? What's your point?"

"Look, we're stuck doing this whether you like it or not. Riley isn't going to change our partners so deal with it," Kai said firmly. The raven haired girl shrugged and then sighed.

"Fine. But on one condition."

"Shoot."

"Apologize to me and say you were being mean and that you're sorry," she said simply. Kai snorted.

"I was mean? Who was the one that was being a frigid bitch on the first day?" Isha narrowed her eyes at him.

"Who was that one saying I want you?" She retorted. "Apologize and I'll even forgive you for calling me a frigid bitch just now."

"Shrew." That told Isha all about what he thought about her condition. Thankfully, her house was just about to come in 2 minutes.

"Bastard."

"Freak."

"Loser."

"Oh, how original!" He mocked. Isha glared at him, angrily and got out of the car for they had reached her house. However instead of stopping the car in front of her house, he drove it to his and parked it in the garage. By now, Isha was fuming. She stomped out of the car and was about to walk to her house when she heard him say something. "That's right, run away you little pussy." He mocked even more. She stomped back to him.

"What did you call me?"

"Pussy." At this, Isha could hold it no longer in her. Before Kai knew what was happening, he was looking at the ground with his right cheek stinging like hell. The little witch had slapped him! Isha clenched her teeth and narrowed her eyes at him. That was it. She had to do it.

"I was right. You could never be nice even if your life depended on it." With that said, she walked away, never looking back. Kai rubbed his cheek gently with his hand, cursing violently. How could he have been so stupid? How was he supposed to fulfill his part of the bet with that witch? He kept on forgetting that she was different from the girls at school. She slapped him and Michael. As he walked to his room, his mind wandered off to when The Scorpions had challenged him into the bet.

-Flashback-

"Bet you couldn't do it," Johnny taunted as him, Ray, and Michael neared. They had seen what happened with Kai and Isha while they were at her locker. Kai opened his eyes and looked challengingly at the Scottish boy. Tala smirked delightfully. He knew what was coming.

"Says who?" Kai asked coolly.

"She shot you down, man!" Michael pointed out.

"Is that a bet I smell?" Ray intervened.

"Hell yeah," Johnny assured. "Kai, that little spitfire has to be yours by the Christmas holidays. New Year's Day is the last day. What do you say?" Kai looked at his four friends.

"Three words: bring it on." He smirked maliciously and looked off to where his victim has gone. "What do I get out of this?"

"We'll discuss the wages later," Tala said. "She is feisty so your chances of getting her are slim. The stakes have to be higher in this case." The other three nodded.

"Get her; make her fall in love with you hard; and break her," Michael said. "Quite simple and we don't care how you do it."

"Bed her, don't bed her, do anything," Tala added. "It's up to you." Kai nodded thoughtfully. The bell rung and he got up and walked away, thinking. The four Scorpions looked at each other and smirked.

"100 bucks says he can't do it," Michael said.

"Same." Ray and Johnny agreed.

"200 bucks says he'll do it," Tala said. The other three looked at him, eyebrows raised. They shrugged and all of them walked away in their own direction.

-End Flashback-

Kai turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. He had agreed to the bet and the holidays were approaching fast. He had better get his game together if he wanted to win. There was no going back.

To Be Continued…