By lunch, which was more like brunch, the school day was almost over. The only thing that was left was Study Hall. Basically, it was where everybody did their homework. Brittany, Katy, and I stood at our lockers, desperately trying to remember what homework we had.

"Hey Brittany, what was our homework in Math?" I asked.

"That worksheet. What was our Reading homework Katy?"

"None, I think. And the social studies worksheet for social studies."

"And then we have no English homework or science," I said, grabbing the math and social studies worksheets. I shut my locker, and waited for Brittany and Katy. After they got their homework, we headed for the Cafeteria.

"So, Katy, are you walking home with me and Brittany?" I asked, hoping that she would say yes.

"Yeah, don't I always on the weekends?"

"Yeah, I guess you do." I started on the social studies worksheet. I hated social studies, and I wasn't all that great at it. My class was currently on Japan, which, coincidentally, was where InuYasha was from, so I found this a bit interesting.

"Hey Teal, want some help with your social studies?" Brittany asked me.

"Yeah, that would be great."

"Cool, You, Katy and I can all three work together on it. And you'll help me with math, right?" Brittany said.

"Yeah, I always do."I looked at the sheet."Ok, so let me get this straight. In old Japan, they had demons, and a Jewel which these demons faught for, right?" I said.

"Teal, I didn't even see you open the book." Katy said, amazed.

"Yeah, Teal. I didn't either," Brittany said, peering up from her textbook, "and you're partly right. How did you know that?"

Man, I'd have to tell them now. I had such a big mouth.I couldn't take lying any more.

"I knew that because I have a demon living with me right now," I whispered.

Katy and Brittany exchanged looks.

"Teal, are you alright? I mean, I know you're hooked on InuYasha, but he's not real, you know?" Katy said.

"Actually, he is. And I am not kidding either. That's why I missed school yesterday, and that's why I never answered the phone."

Katy and Brittany both gaped.

"Ok, fine! Don't believe me! But I am telling the truth. Have I ever lied to you?" I said, as I picked up my books.

Brittany and Katy started whispering, but I didn't care. Friends don't treat other friends like that. The bell rung, and everybody went to their lockers. The 3 of us didn't say a word to each other. I didn't have hardly any homework, so I just grabbed my bookbag, and started to walk. There was like a stampeade of kids trying to get out of school and go home. I sat on the bench by the window, because I was going to wait for them to clear out. Katy and Brittany came trudging down the hall, looking sort of ashamed and sad, with their heads hanging down. I waited for them to pass by the bench.

"Hey, guys, listen. I'm sorry for how I acted. I mean, my whole life has been flipped upside down and turned inside out. There's just to many things going on in my life. There's the arguing, then the appearance of InuYasha..." I said, as I tried to apploigize, without sounding pathetic.

"It's okay Teal, we should believe you. You've never lied to me," Katy said, patting my back.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I've known you since Kindergarden, and you've never lied," said Britt.

"Thanks guys, so are we the 3 amigos again?" I said, feeling alot better.

"Yeah!" Britt and Katy said at once.

We started out the door, happy as could be. I was still sorta worried, but not as much.

"You guys see that stop sign out there? First one to reach it gets five bucks!" I said, trying to make the walk to my house more fun, because of it being so long.

"Aw, come on Teal! You know that it's not fair! You're faster than me and Britt," Katy said.

"Yeah, really," Britt said in agreement.

"Well, if you guys are too scared, I guess I get to keep the five," I said, waving a five-dollar bill in the air.

"Hey! That is so not true," Britt said,

"I can run just as fast as you Teal, and I'm not scared. Count me in."

"Katy, it's your last chance. You sure you don't want to run for five dollars?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll judge you two. Wait until I get down there, and I'll say go." Katy started sprinting 20 feet down to the sign.

Katy waved her hand, signaling for us to go. I started out slow, and Britt got in front of me. The wind was in my face, blowing my hair all over the place. Britt's coat was flying like a kite in the wind, and this was starting to slow her down. I sprinted ahead, and I won.

"Nice try Britt, but next time, you should probably take off your c-" An arm came out of the bushes and grabbed me, pulling me into the shadows with it. "Help! Britt! Katy!"

"Teal! Hang on! Katy went to go get Jade," Brittany yelled. It was getting darker, and I had no clue where it was taking me. I stuggled to move my arm. This thing had a tight grip. I looked around, my eyes were getting used to the darkness, and I could make out not just one, but several arms, coming out of something, I couldn't tell.

"Britt! Run! There's more arms!"

"No! I'm not leaving you! Katy's coming back, but she's not only with Jade, some-"

"Go and get away before they get you too!"

"Ok, but I promise, I'll come back."

I was alone now, just waiting to either die, or to be saved.

"Teal! Are you okay?" It was InuYasha's voice.

"Yeah, but hurry up and save me! I can't move, and-" The thing put a hand on my mouth. You little idiot! I thought to myself. I bit it's hand, and something a coulple yards behind me howled in pain. "Just help me!"

InuYasha stuck his head through a bush."You got yourself in quite some trouble. Hang on, Jade and I will get you out."

"You guys brought the drunkee?" I screamed.

"Heck yeah! He has a bow! And it's blue!"

I sighed. Something flew through the bush, and hit me in the head.

"Take it and use it!" InuYasha said.

It was Jade's bow, but no arrows.

"How would you like me to use it with no arrows?" I said, quite puzzled.

"Uh oh. I guess I forgot the arrows," Jade said.

"Just try to string something in it! Anything that's sharp!"

I kicked the arm that was holding me, and I fell to the ground. Instead of running, I grabbed a stick. My hands were shaking, and I kept dropping the stick. InuYasha grabbed my arm and pulled me out.

"What the heck were you doing? If you were out of it's grasp, why didn't you run?"

"Well, you think I wanted this to come and get me later?"

"Well, I can take care of it," InuYasha said, pulling Tetsusiaga out.

"Fine then, you get in there and take care of it."

"Ok fine! I will then!" InuYasha walked into the bushes.

I sat my book bag down and pulled out a collar. It wasn't the one that InuYasha had, but I had bought it to put on Jade, because I wanted to watch him squirm. I chucked it into the bush, hoping it would hit the monster. I heard a few howls of pain, and since this collar clung to whatever it hit first, I pressed a button on a remote. I heard some more howls, then InuYasha's voice, then nothing. A couple minutes passed. None of us said anything. Then, the bushes started to ruffle, and we all braced ourselfes for what we thought was the tentacle of the monster.

"Is that anyway to treat a hero?" It was InuYasha's voice. His hair was all rullfed, and the arm of his haori was shredded.

"What happened? Did you kill it?" I asked.

"Of course I killed it. You think that I would let a monster run around that could kill us all?"

"It could've killed me?"

"Heck yeah. That thing was some sort of octopus demon, and it can kill anything at it's will."

"Okay then, if it could've killed me, why didn't it?"

A puzzled look stole the smirk off of InuYasha's face. "I'm not sure, but you're lucky. So just be glad you're alive."

"Can we just go home? The sleve of my shirt and the knee of my jeans are ripped, and I just want to go home and change into some shorts," I said, as I started walking.

I tripped over something, but InuYasha caught me.

"You better watch where you're going, Teal."

"Thanks. I will." I looked down and saw I tripped over Jade. "Hey, InuYasha, did Jade have any beer today?"

"Yeah, the guy drank a whole twelve-pack before I finished one."

"That's why he's such an idiot today then. He needs to lay off the beer," I said, kicking Jade in the side with my foot. He sat up.

"What happened? Did he live? Did my beer drinking buddy live?"

"What do you think, drunkee?" InuYasha said, poking Jade in the back. Jade squirmed.

"Hey, why are you touching me in the back, yo?" Jade said, slurring the words.

"Hmm, guess I didn't need the shock collar after all. I can poke you in the back instead," I said, as I kicked Jade in the back.

"Britt, Katy, you guys wanna try?"

"Yeah! I've always wanted to make Jade squirm," Brittany said, rushing over. She poked Jade in the back with a stick.

"Do you guys know what you're doing is wrong?" Katy said.

"Yeah, but who cares?Its fun! Come try it, Katy!" I said, as I poked Jade again.

"Fine." Katy walked over and nudged Jade in the back.

We got Jade to get up and walk by threatening to poke him with a fork in the back if he didn't, and he got up so fast, it was funny. We had about a 5 minute walk left, and it was about 3:30. I'm sure my mom was worried sick, and Katy and Brittany's moms were probably worried too, when they didn't get a call from them. I walked up the steps, and opened the door. It squeaked, which was very annoying. I walked in, followed by Katy, Brittany, and InuYasha, carrying Jade. InuYasha threw Jade down on the couch. Jade mumbled some, then went back to sleep.

"What happened Teal? Why are you home so late? Are you okay? And why is Jade passed out on the couch?"

"Mom, one question at a time. I'm okay, and Jade had a 12 beers. As for the what happened, well, let's just say we were attacked by an octopus," I said, trying to explain this to my mom without her getting too worked up and giving all of us a 'told-you-so' lecture.

"An octopus? Teal come on. You don't have to lie," my mom said.

"Teal's mom, she isn't lying. We were racing and an octopus abducted her," Brittany said.

"Oh, so now she has you lying to, Brittany?"

Katy walked over. "She's not lying! I ran over here to get help, but you weren't here, so I got InuYasha and Jade."

"Ok, well, the three of you need to stop lying and tell me the truth," my mom said, glaring at all of us.

"Mom, come on. How else would my sleeve and jeans be ripped? I didn't fall, I was attacked. You can ask anybody, but Jade, he was sorta passed out the whole time. If it wasn't for InuYasha, Britt, and Katy, I might be dead."

InuYasha walked over and sat on the couch by Jade. "They're telling the truth. I killed the octopus and helped Teal. I'd never lie about something like this."

"Then, you must be telling the truth." My mom walked over and hugged me, starting to sob.

"Mom, it's ok. I'm fine, really." My mom let me go, and stopped sobbing.

"I'm going to change my clothes, so I'll be right back," I said, standing up off the couch and walked to my room. I was wondering why mom hadn't scolded me for something. I grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of shorts out of my closet and put them on. I picked up my ripped clothes and put them in the laundry basket. I walked out of the room, and back into the living room. Jade was still passed out on the couch, Katy and Brittany were on the loveseat talking, InuYasha was watching the news, and my mom was on the phone.

"Brittany, your mom wants to know if you're staying for dinner," my mom asked Britt.

"Yeah, if it's okay with you."

"Yes, she's staying," my mom said into the phone, "No, no, it's not any trouble. I'll bring her when she's done."

I sat down on the couch, next to InuYasha.

"Katy, your mom wants to talk to you," my mom said, handing Katy the phone.

Katy got up and walked into the kitchen.

"Mom? What did you want? Uh huh, Ok. I got it. Bye mom." Katy hung the phone up on the wall.

Jade was awaked now, he still looked drunk though. He started to pick up a beer, but I smacked his hand.

"No way, not another beer today. You never used to drink like this, Jade. What's happened?"I questioned Jade. He used to be active, well, more active than he is now, at least. He used to go out all the time, and now all that he does is lay around, like a blob. It was pathetic.

"Jade? Are you still awake?" I asked again. He just layed there, snoring.

My mom walked over and smacked his arm. "Jade! Get up and go do something, or go downstairs and sleep," my mom said sternly.

I grabbed the bowl of chex mix off of the table, and started eating some.

"What's that?" InuYasha said, pointing to the chex mix.

"It's chex mix, you want some?" I said.

"Nah, I'll pass on that."'

"Ok than," I said, as I started shoving everything but the actually chex in the chex mix into my mouth. I didn't like the chex part of it.

I must have fell asleep, because when I woke up, my head was on InuYasha's shoulder. My head felt good.Jade must have gone downstairs, and Britt and Katy were either home or at the dance.It took me a couple minutes to realize that I had dozed off. I scurried to my feet and walked to the door. I looked out it. The sky was black, and stars dotted it. The moon wasn't shining tonight, so it was rather dark.

"Aww man! I missed the dance," I mumbled to myself. I opened the screen door and walked out in my socks. I sighed a few times, and sat down on the swing. "Man, I wonder what time it is."

A warm breeze blew through my hair. It was warm and humid tonight. There were some clouds in the sky, but not very many. I was guessing that it was going to rain the next day sometime. I proped my arm on the arm of the swing and layed my head on my hand. I closed my eyes, telling myself not go to sleep.

I fell asleep anyhow, but I awoke shortly after falling asleep. I got up and walked inside. I found Benji on the couch, and picked him up and took him to my room. InuYasha was streatched out on the couch, sleeping. Jade was on the loveseat, sleeping, and guess what? My mom was in her room, sleeping. I opened my door, and it made a creaking noise, but it wasn't loud so it wouldn't wake anybody. I sat Benji on his blanket on the bottom of the bed. I took my shoes off, and layed down. I hoped that I could get some sleep tonight. I closed my eyes, and no sooner than I closed them, I was asleep.

What happens next? And am I really starting to get feelings?