Author's Note: This was inspired by a little something I found when I was going through my old High School papers. I found one of those required creative writing assignments and wondered it would contain if Harper filled it out. This is the result.

This might share some similarities with my other stories, or it might not. Either way, it's not in any way connected to those fics. This is a stand-alone story and just what my brain spat out at the moment.

I Never Told Anyone But…

…I used to have two older sisters, and when I was little I would let them dress me up to play princess with them.

…I used to sneak into the Uber schools through the air vents and listen to the lessons through the ceiling.

…I used to want to be a soldier when I was a kid and dreamed of glorious homecomings and great deeds. Then a few years later I was, and suddenly war wasn't so grand…

…I pulled my first scam when I was six. Bat those big blue eyes…let the lip wobble… The fat loser never had a chance.

…I slept with a stuffed cat until I was…well…just stay away from my pillow, okay?

…I once went a week without food and on many occasions at least three or four days.

…to this day I can't stand to see food wasted.

…I was raised Catholic. Catechism, Hail Marys, Patron Saints, Last Rites…the whole works. I crossed myself once when Beka was around and the explanation took so long I never did it again. But Rev knew…

…Bobby pulled me off the slave block, sick as a dog and going for half-price. The only reason I ever met Beka and the Maru was because I had no choice.

…I used Beka's toothbrush for a month after she kept me onboard because I couldn't find mine.

…I once rigged a whole Niet computer relay station to blow, wiping out ten years of military records in three seconds flat… I was so smart! So smart, that the next day I watched the Nietzscheans slaughter my parents because they wouldn't give me up.

…I tried to bleach Trance once, just to see if the purple would come off.

…the first thing I downloaded after I got my dataport was the complete works of one William Shakespeare.

…I filled Rev's shampoo bottle with non-toxic glue. Did you know Magog molt?

…I'd like to write a novel someday.

…Dylan didn't really lose that ghastly, white dress-uniform. It was pilfered for the good of all humanity. Makes a lovely drop sheet.

…I have eaten worms before. And rats. And ants. The ants aren't bad, but they sorta tickle as they go down.

…my favorite movie is Back to the Future. What can I say, they just don't make 'em like they used to.

…I commanded my own platoon of fighters by the time I was sixteen. Lost more than half of them in battle before I was seventeen. And Dylan thinks I'm a goof-off, nothing military about me…

…I play the guitar. Dad taught me. Why did I stop? Guitars are hard to come by in space…

…I've never had a girl-friend. Sometimes it hurts to be looked over, and around, and through, but never at.

…that time all of Trance's moon-flowers died? Did you know moon-flowers don't like Sparky Cola?

…there's a little room on the Andromeda that even Rommie can't pick up on her sensors. I call it my sanctuary. Rev would call it my chapel. Call it whatever you want, it's mine and I ain't giving it up.

…I didn't really stay for the coffee and hot showers. I stayed for Rommie. And for Beka. And for me.

…I miss my family everyday. I think about them all the time. Sometimes I talk to them, when no one is around.

…I used to dream of living in the stars. That's the first dream that's ever come true for me.