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Middle of October
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I sighed as I looked at the thermostat in my apartment. The heat had been turned off again, looks like Dad forgot to pay the bills. Or he spent all the money on gambling and booze. I debated whether or not to ask my older brother for money or use some of my own. Kevin would be mad if I used my own, but I hate asking him for money and it would be quicker if I sent the company the check myself. I'd have to stop by the bank and deposit my paycheck first though, otherwise I wouldn't have enough. Well, I could do that tomorrow before work, right now I have to get to school for the football game. And no, I don't like going, but our band plays at all the home games and it's part of our grade so I have to go.
I took a look at the clock, realized that if I didn't hurry I would be late, grabbed my bag and headed out the door.
"Dad, I'm going to school." I called out as I was putting on my coat. He crushed a beer can in response. I sighed and locked the door behind me.
My dad wasn't always like this, non-responsive and a gambler, but after mom divorced him he changed. She was a mobile suit pilot in the Alliance, and when they first got married everything was great. Things changed after I was born, I'm not really sure what though. I was six when they divorced, and Kevin said, since he is older and remembers more, that Dad had gotten fed up with her going on assignment and him not being told anything. He said that he was tired of worrying about her and that it wasn't healthy to put Kevin and I through that. Things were fine for a while, but then the Gundams came and OZ took control. That's when Mom died, during OZ's Coup de tat. Dad went down hill from there; he started gambling to try and make extra money so that Kevin and I could have what we needed, and with the gambling came the drinking. He began gambling just to gamble, and Kevin used his after school jobs to buy most of our food and clothes. Right after High School he joined the Preventers and sends me money every month, plus a gift every now and then. But most of the time I'm on my own money wise, and in every other respect as well. Though Kari's mom will usually invite me over for dinner, and I joined them for the holidays last year.
I left the apartment just as our mail was being delivered, and waved hello to our mailman, who has had this route since we moved in here.
"And just where do you think that you're going young lady? You need to sign for a package." He said with a smile. I slowed down and turned to him.
"What package?" He pulled it out of his bag and showed it to me.
"This one here." I quickly signed for it, then had to run as my bus passed by my house. It must not have seen me running, or just didn't care, cause by the time I made it to the bus stop at the end of the street it had already rounded a corner. I sat down on one of the rickety plastic seats that was there, breathing heavily and dug around in my bag for the bus schedule to see when the next one would be by. I cursed when I saw that it was going to be at least half an hour, giving Jess and I no chance to work on our duet, which is why I was going to school early in the first place.
I sat down on the hard metal bench to wait for the next bus. I just didn't feel like going back in my house to wait, despite how cold it was. I never liked to stay in my house longer than I had to, it was to depressing for me. And I didn't mind waiting; I could be very patient when I wanted to.
Five minutes later I looked up when a car stopped in front of the bus stop and blinked a little in surprise at the person who rolled down the window.
"Hey Kristen, need a ride?" Quatre asked. You didn't have to ask me twice. I gathered my stuff and got in the back seat, thankful that they had the heater on High.
"Thanks." I said.
"No problem. Where are you headed?"
"School. Jess and I were going to practice our duet."
"School it is then. How come you have so much stuff? It's just a football game tonight." I looked at my things, which took up most of the backseat, and realized that it was a lot of stuff. But I had learned from experience last year that it was all completely necessary.
"You didn't have to play at the football games at you old school?" I asked. Trowa and Quatre glanced at each other. (Trowa was driving).
"We've been home schooled up until now, so no, we haven't." Quatre said.
"Wow. Okay, well, all of this is necessary. First off, thick jackets cause it gets really cold at night. Jess and I also alternate who brings two extra blankets; one to sit on cause the metal bleachers get even colder, and one to wrap around ourselves. This week it's my turn. I've got food and two thermoses of hot chocolate, plus I'm spending the weekend at Jess's house so I've got everything that I need for that."
"Don't they have food at the game?"
"Yeah, but it's overpriced for the amount that they give you so I don't usually bother."
"What about the package?" Trowa asked, speaking for the first time since I'd gotten in.
"It was being delivered as I was leaving my house. And it is from…" I picked up the box to get a better look at the sender, and a delighted smile lit my face. "…My brother. He's in Germany." I began to pull apart the packaging tape.
"Is he going to school there?" Quatre asked.
"Nope. He's in the Preventers."
"Are you allowed to tell people that? I thought Preventer identities were supposed to be secret."
"I'm allowed to say what country he's in and that he's a Preventer, nothing more. And I have to report anyone who tries to get more information out of me." I finally managed to pull apart the packing tape and gave a squeal of delight. Lying inside the neat packaging was a boy and girl porcelain doll in traditional Norwegian clothes. Quatre twisted in his seat so that he could get a better look at it.
"You collect dolls?" He asked.
"It's more of a tradition, actually. Mom used to send me dolls like this from every place that she was stationed; it was her way of making up for not being there most of the time."
"She was in OZ?"
"The Alliance. She was killed when OZ staged their Coup de tat."
"I'm sorry." There was real sadness when he said that, and I somehow knew that he was thinking of his own father's death. I shrugged my shoulders.
"Thanks, but I got over it awhile ago." We settled into a sort of still silence, none of us really knowing what to talk about after that, and then a question popped into my head. "What were you two doing by my house anyway? I thought that you lived on the other side of town." Quatre and Trowa exchanged glances, speaking to each other in a way that only they understood.
"We were bored and just driving around before we had to be at the school." That sounded a bit fishy to me, but I shrugged and let it drop. We were at the school anyway, and I could see Jess waiting by the front gate. Trowa pulled up to her and I got out.
"Thanks for the ride." I said and pulled my stuff out after me.
"No problem. We'll see you at the game later. Bye!"
"See ya!" Jess stared at me as they drove off. "What?" I asked her.
"How did you get them to give you a ride?" She asked.
"They saw me sitting at the bus stop and offered."
"You're so lucky. Let's get going." She began to walk away, then stopped when I didn't follow. It was her turn to ask What? I pointed to my stuff.
"You're going to end up eating half my food anyway so you might as well carry some of this." I said with mock annoyance. She rolled her eyes and helped me with the bags.
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Early December
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"First we take bxh, then we multiply Area and Width, then divide by…" I mumbled to myself as I attempted to do my Geometry homework before I forgot the lesson. Call me weird if you want, but talking out loud when I do my homework helps me to focus. Especially in math and science, two of my least favorite subjects. My friends have tried to tutor me a couple of times, but it never worked out. One, they're not very good teachers at subjects that they are also learning, and two, I've never liked asking for help from anyone, for any reason. I just don't. I'd rather be out there helping people then getting help myself. Kari plopped down next to me with her cafeteria lunch.
"How's it coming?" She asked. I gave an annoyed sort of mumble. "What was that? I didn't catch it." Kari teased. I gave her an evil look.
"It's going the same as always, slow. Ever so slow."
"Are you going to do the extra credit problems that she gave us?"
"I've got too, I need all the extra credit I can in that class."
"Why? You have a C average as of Friday."
"A low C average. I want to have a few extra points so that if I completely bomb on the next test I have less of a chance of it turning into a D average." Kari took a wary look at the lunch she had bought before opening the plastic and letting out the enclosed steam.
"I could always tutor you."
"We tried that last year, remember? I don't do well with tutors."
"Doesn't your brother usually help you when he IM's you on the internet?"
"Yeah, but the last message I got from him said that it might be a while before he could contact me again."
"When was that?"
"This morning. I checked my E-mail when we were in the computer lab during English."
"Did he say how long?"
"Nope."
"Bummer. What do you think he's doing?" I rolled my eyes at her.
"I couldn't tell you even if I had an idea, you know that."
"That really sucks."
"Why?"
"Cause your older brother has this amazing job and you can't brag about it at all. I bet the Jocks and Cheerleaders would leave you alone if you told them what your brother does for a living.
"Nice thought, but I highly doubt it."
"Mind if we join you?" Quatre asked. Both Kari and I looked up to see 'the Gang' as they had been dubbed by the students, standing near our table.
"Yeah, sure." Kari said and moved her bag from the bench to the ground to make more room. I also moved my stuff to the ground, then bent over my homework to try and finish the last two problems.
"Hey, don't be anti-social." Duo said as he bent closer to get a look at my work. I growled at him, and I could feel the looks of surprise coming from each of them.
"Don't mind her, she's a bear when she's trying to finish homework. Especially Math and Science. It's best to just leave her alone." Kari said.
"Does she have trouble with those subjects?" Trowa asked. Kari shrugged.
"Sometimes. We've tried to tutor her, but it never ends well. What are you guys doing here anyway? I thought that you ate lunch in Mr. McAllister's room."
"You pay attention to where we eat lunch?" Heero asked, for some reason getting defensive.
"I know where everyone eats lunch, it's a hobby of mine. So why are you here?"
"The cheerleading team got wise to where we were hiding so we had to find a new place." Quatre said. "And you two are much more interesting to be around."
"Well, thanks. No one's ever said that about us before, right Kristen?"
"If you take the diameter of the circle, add Pi, no, multiply Pi, no…" I muttered to myself as I tried to finish the last two problems. They all laughed as I chewed on my pencil, and then I blinked in mild surprise as a hand started to erase all my work on that problem.
"Try it again, and pay attention to the first sentence of the problem." Wufei said. I looked up at him in annoyance, re-read the problem, then smacked myself in the forehead.
"No wonder it wasn't working. Thanks." I said and quickly finished the last two problems, now that I knew what to pay attention to.
"No problem." He said. "You had the right procedure, you were just starting from the wrong point." Kari was staring at me in fascination.
"What?" I asked her.
"How come you didn't bite his head off when he helped you?"
"Huh? Well, I don't know, I just didn't. Anyway, I am now done, Woo-Hoo, with this homework, I have nothing from English, and we have a lab in science today so that's almost guaranteed to mean that there's no homework. I am free!" I yelled and threw my hands up dramatically, making everyone laugh.
"What are you two doing for the holidays?" Quatre asked as I tackled my lunch, which I had wisely bought from home. We both shrugged.
"Sleep late, hang out together. Jess's family invited me to spend Christmas day with them." I said.
"My cousin will be disappointed." Kari said and winked at me. I looked at her blankly.
"Why is that? I only met him last year, and we didn't talk all that much."
"Because he has a crush on you, that's why! His older sister told me."
"Oh he does not."
"Does to."
"Does not."
"You two can be really childish sometimes." Trowa said with a small smile that we had learned to mean he didn't mean anything by that comment. We both stuck our tongues out at him in response, which made everyone laugh again. We all quieted down when Heero got this incredibly scared look on his face and turned to see what had caused it. Kari and I groaned, for heading towards us were a bunch of cheerleaders and their followers. The boys all looked absolutely mortified.
"I thought we lost them." Wufei mumbled dejectedly.
"They must have built in radar." Duo mumbled back. They had reached us by now, and tried to sit next to the boys, but they had spread out around the table and placed their school bags on the bench so there was no room. Jenny, who is a huge ditz and has a major crush on Wufei, tried to hang over his shoulder.
"You silly boy, trying to play hard to get." She crooned. Wufei pushed her roughly away.
"I am not playing hard to get Onna, I just don't like you." He snapped.
"Ugh, what are you doing with these," Stacey motioned to Kari and I disgustedly "Undesirables?"
"At least they carry on intelligent conversations." Trowa said.
"And they care about more than boys and make-up." Duo added. Kari and I were in awe. We knew that the boys had no love for the cheerleaders, but we had never had anyone defend us in front of them before. Casey, a senior who was in my Geometry class, snatched up my homework.
"I've already finished my homework, I had it done before it was assigned." She said haughtily and waved my papers. I snatched them back from her.
"Was that when you were a sophomore or junior? This is the third time you're taking the class after all." I said sweetly as I put my homework away. The boys and Kari all cheered while the cheerleaders gasped. Casey just stuck out her nose.
"C'mon girls, if they want to hang with losers than they aren't as cool as we thought." She said and stormed off, her troupe following. I slumped in my seat, my head falling onto my arms.
"Oh Lordy I just signed my death warrant. They already don't like me and I have just sealed my fate." I mumbled. Quatre rubbed my back sympathetically.
"Don't worry about it, we've got your back." He said.
"Thanks." I mumbled, still reeling not only from standing up to the bane of my existence, but somehow finding the courage to do so.
"And at least you got them off our backs; we'll be eternally grateful for that. If there's anything you want just name it and we'll try to get it." I finally looked up and smiled at that.
"Thanks." I said. "But the only thing that I really want is for my brother to make it home for Christmas." The boys all looked at each other.
"That might be a little tricky for us." Heero said. "But Santa's supposed to be able to grant things like that.
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All right, here is the second chapter. How did you like? And I think that this will be three or four parts, I haven't fully decided yet but it won't be any longer than that. Please review!