Disclaimer We've been over this, I know we have...

A/N Yay for reviews! I'm so happy that some of you remember - and are still willing to read - this fic! (huggles you all) I'm trying my best to revamp these chapters, and your encouragement is very appreciated. :)

Especially when the chapters are getting so rough your beta renames the file "bad". -.-;; The need for attention is one of the reasons this chapter is late. The others would be that my beta had a very important essay to finish, I got sick for a while, and that I bought Painter Shop Pro 9. So many buttons to play with! ;P

Thanks for being patient, guys, and now you shall wait no longer...


Life Goes On

By: SunshineandDaisys

Chapter 3: Looking for a Change


Jessica woke up the next morning at the usual time and went through her everyday routine. Yet when she grabbed the Pop Tart from her mom, she could have sworn she'd gotten a glare in return. But once again, she was in too much of a rush to send more than a questioning glance her way.

Wearing her new purple shirt with some black pants, Jess sat on the bench and waited for the bus. Her thoughts instantly turned to their new favorite topic: Kurama.

She'd been trying to remember everything he had said, but it was difficult. Their conversation had consisted a lot of 'you wouldn't believe me'. But from whatever else she recalled, he was supposedly from Tokyo, had two names, was here on business, and was fifteen. Maybe she was just over-thinking the whole thing, but he had such a familiar air about him...

Jess was so deep in thought that she didn't hear the bus pull up… until it honked at her, anyway.

HOOOOOONK!

Jessica started and found herself face-first in the lawn. She groaned and got up, brushing her clothes off and ignoring her parents' laughter from the kitchen window. Walking to the bus, she saw that the "Keeler" had pulled her wrinkled face into a wide, appalling smirk.

"Ah, Miss Matthews, the grass sure is green today, isn't it?"

The kids in the front snickered and passed on the conversation to the back of the bus. Jess smiled as the doors shut behind her.

"Yes," she said. "Nearly as green as your teeth."

And with that being said, the red-head strolled down the aisle 'till she found Stella; a smirk nearly as wide as Ms. Keel's had been on her face.

"I can't believe you did that," Stella snorted. "Again."

Jess laughed, and they struck up a conversation on the last Gilmore Girls episode where Logan had been especially witty.

"Oh my God, he's so hot, Jess! If I were Rori, I wouldn't have even thought twice about Dean again, I mean--"

"Ackt!"

Stella stopped mid hottie-comparison. "What is it?"

"Hey, Stella," Jess began. "You remember how I told you that all guys were jerks unless they were dads, and even sometimes then they were jerks?"

"Yes," Stella said slowly. "Why?"

"Well..." Jess grinned. "I met one yesterday who wasn't."

If they'd had a little more stretching space, Stella probably would've broken out into a touchdown cheer.

"Oh my gosh!" Stella exclaimed giddily. "Oh my gosh, Jess, what's his name? How old is he! What color are his eyes, are they gorgeous? And where the hell did you meet him!"

"His real name is Japanese, but since I had such a hard time pronouncing it, he said to call him Kurama. He said that his real age is hard to believe, so just consider him 15. That's weird, right?"

Stella nodded.

"Anyway, his eyes are such an incredible green! I don't think I've ever seen eyes greener, honestly. They're not emerald, and they're not grass, they're just..."

"Green?" Stella looked amused.

"Yes, but... it's something you'd have to see, I guess."

"I'm sure. So where'd you meet Mr. Gorgeous Eyes?"

"I met him yesterday in town after he, uh, after he saved me from getting hit by a speeding car."

"Excuse me!"

"Yeah, see, I was kind of lost in thought - about you, actually - and I just kind of... wandered in the crosswalk, I guess." Jess smiled sheepishly.

"Good God, Jess!" Stella shook her head. "I'm glad you're alright!"

"That makes two of us," Jess sighed.

"So," Stella recapped as they left the bus. "You're telling me that this guy, Kurama, is not a jerk, is really nice, good looking, but also very secretive?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Well, it sounds like something right out of a romance novel... or something made up. But I know you don't lie, so all I can say is: Finally!"

Jess glared at her friend. "And what do you mean by that!"

"Oh nothing, really, I was just getting concerned about your sexuality--"

"STELLA!"


"Good morning, class!" Mr. Madison greeted his tired pupils.

"Good morning, Mr. Madison." they droned in a slight improvement from the day before.

"Try an Expresso next time - they have more caffeine."

Today's Science lesson was about ions; it turned out to be 'fun' after all. Microscopes were involved.

The other classes went by quicker than usual, and Jess found herself blushing when Mrs. Yimika told her that her report on the American Revolution was the best in her class. But, as always, when you do good work in school, your reward is, well, more work. She found herself being asked to do a report on the famous battle of Saratoga before the lunch bell rang.

Jessica and Stella entered the lunch room to a round of applause for yesterday's events. Jess took a bow, and Stella blew kisses, both happy that some people could appreciate art and degradation.

Shortly after, the girls sat eating their stew, which had a surprising amount of hamburger meat in it. When they were about halfway through, a voice that Jess really, really didn't want to hear began speaking progressively closer to her.

"Jessica, my sweet," Chad started as he reached their table. "I'm willing to forgive you for yesterday's little incident on one condition - you go out with me."

Jessica was contemplating stabbing him to death with her spoon when he interrupted her thoughts.

"Now, now," he said quickly, "don't cause a scene."

"If you don't get away from me right now," Jessica growled. "You won't get a scene, you'll get a Broadway musical."

'Thank-you, Lorelai Gilmore.'

They glared at each other, the whole room hanging on tenterhooks, before Chad snorted lightly and began to saunter off.

Then he had to turn around.

"You know what," he snarled more than audibly. "I didn't really notice before how closely you resemble the Wicked Witch of the West."

Jess's eye twitched in irritation that went beyond words. Chad Thomas would deeply regret that last comment... deeply.


"You realize that throwing a bowl of scalding hot soup at a person is a dangerous thing, Miss Mathews?"

"Yes, Principal Trenton."

"And that kicking someone is strictly against school policy?"

"Yes, Principal Trenton."

"And that if you ever use that language in my school again, you will be removed from the room and expelled immediately?"

"Yes, Principal Trenton."

The principal sighed in exasperation. "Fine, go to detention, and you will go there after lunch for the remainder of this week and all of next week. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Principal Trenton."

"Off with you now."

Jessica stood and walked out of the office. She really had to learn to control her temper. She'd been in that stupid office every day this week! And this time, she had a black eye to show for it.

Guys weren't supposed to hit girls.

But Jess assumed that when the girl you like has just drenched you in soup (it so was not "scalding hot"!), kicked you several times as you try to get up, and she's screaming obscenities during the whole process, anyone would take a swing. And Chad was getting his own punishment, too. He had detention for five weeks for hitting a girl and was being sent home right now for his parents to decide further punishment.

Stella had ranted to the teachers that Chad should be expelled, but she had been kindly reminded that he had been blinded temporarily with the soup, and that if he were expelled, it was only fair Jessica would be, too. Even Stella couldn't fight with reason.

Jess blew out her cheeks in a long sigh as she made her way to see Mr. Kort again.

In school these days, the principal is the judge, and the teachers are the lawyers. The fact is that they could defend you, but they usually don't. Now that she was thinking about it, all the other students could be witnesses, and if you were charged as guilty, detention was the jail. It was kind of like a cell anyway.

Jess noted that she would not look good in black and white stripes, according to her mental image.

"Miss Matthews!" exclaimed Mr. Kort. "What did you do this time?"

"A variety of things, Mr. Kort."

"Care to give an old man some excitement in his life? Tell me what happened, or I'll have to drag it out of the teachers - and they never give details."

Jess sighed and told her "exciting" version of the story. Mr. Kort laughed and handed her three sheets of notebook paper when she was done. It figured.


Some time later, Jess joined Mrs. Pluff's class. Mrs. Pluff was "okay" with Jess's detention since Stella had told her where she was before class started. Therefore, she couldn't possibly be interrupting, since she was expected late. Stella may have been an airhead, but she had her moments.

After reviewing proper nouns and being drilled repetitively on them, Stella went to cheerleading practice and Jessica headed home. She had no desire to go back to town and shop. Besides, her mom had told her to be home on time today.

Part of her still wanted to see if Kurama was there, however. He probably wouldn't be, but still...

Jess fought the feeling all the way to the road right before her house.

'He won't be there,' she kept thinking to herself. 'He won't be there. HE WON'T BE THERE!'

She screamed out loud in frustration, restraining herself from clawing at her hair. This was beginning to border on psychotic stalking. Jess sat on the curb and watched the ants crawl by.

'If this guy were here right now,' she thought bitterly, 'I'd give him a piece of my mind. But why! How he could possibly have known I'd torment myself for 24 hours straight after all he did was say hello and put up with a game of twenty questions? If anything, he should be the one yelling at me. I was as annoying as hell yesterday.'

Jess closed her eyes and glared half-heartedly at the pavement before her.

'This is too much for my brain. Why am I like this? I never go nuts over guys. Never . But it's like we're the same somehow. All physical similarities aside, there's something else about him. It's like we were meant to meet... why else would he be here? Of course, he could be gone by now. Where could he do business in this town anyway? Unless he's doing illegal stuff...'

She let her thoughts drift. It was then that Jess realized that she couldn't go home. She would not - could not - subject herself to anymore mental torment. It was time to find this guy, and he had some questions to answer.

Deciding it was only logical, Jess went to the place where she had first met Kurama: the shopping circle. Once she reached the familiar area, however, she instantly cursed her timing.

"Jessica," Chad Thomas sneered, walking by casually. "Come with me."

Roughly grabbing her arm, he began to lead her quickly down the sidewalk.

"Chad," Jess groaned, trying to wrench herself out of his grip. "Let me go. I do not wish to speak with you, at all. So please, let go or I'll scream."

But he seemed to be ignoring her and instead pulled her into an alley that seemed to lead into a labyrinth of them. Jess was too busy wondering how the hell nobody on the street noticed her being led away so forcefully to remember what turns they took.

Chad came to an abrupt halt, having gone deep enough into the shadows to satisfy himself, before he shoved her against a wall.

"Ow," she grunted, annoyed. "That hurts. For our first date, you sure aren't using any manners. The location is less than romantic, too. Where are we anyway?"

"It doesn't matter," he spat.

"Well, can you tell me why we're here?" she asked, finally realizing the situation.

He simply gave her a patronizing smirk.

"For crying out loud, Chad!" she screeched. "You just dragged me through a maze of alleys, which we're probably lost in, I might add, for no reason? Are you insane!"

Chad leaned close to her ear. "Insane over your body, maybe." he hissed before pressing his mouth to her earlobe.

Jessica gasped and reflexively lashed out with her nails, successfully digging into his cheek.

"Shit!" he cursed, pulling away.

This bought her enough time to turn tail and run for the street, or wherever these alleys would take her. She hadn't gotten more than a few feet when she heard a growl.

A very low growl.

Like something you don't want to turn and see after watching Cujo... kind of growl. But figuring that if she going to die, she might as well know what was about to eat her alive.

What she saw was both terrifying and hilarious.

Chad Thomas was being pinned to the ground, arms flailing, by a large, red fox. In one of his flailing hands, Jess saw he held a rather big knife. She inhaled sharply, wondering just how close he had been to stabbing her before the fox had come along...

Wait. The fox.

"Get off, you damn animal!" Chad yelled as he struggled to get free, failing miserably. "I said, get off !"

The fox only swiped the knife away from Chad's hand with one of his many tails. Jess could only watch in amazement as it flicked the knife to Chad's throat. As if that weren't incredible enough, the fox then opened its mouth and... spoke. I mean, mouth moved, sound came out, English language, spoke.

"So," it said with a voice that was both furious and quiet. "You think I'll let you kill her? Not a chance. Your weak human mind has no way of understanding how vitally important she is to me and the rest of the world. In fact, your very life depends upon her safety.

"Instead of killing her, here's what you're going to do. You'll get up, walk out of here, and then you're going to go home and tell your mother that you're an insane pyschopath. When she takes you to the doctors, you'll tell them all your problems and take your new medication regularly. You will also pick up gardening as a hobby and become very passionate about it. Understand?"

"Yes," Chad said, trance-like.

"Oh," added the fox. "One more thing - this conversation never happened."

"Yes," Chad nodded slowly.

The fox released him and handed Chad his knife as he stood. He then walked quietly past Jessica without even noticing she was there, leaving her alone with the fox in an eerie silence. Deciding that she didn't want to be put under mind-control like Chad, she began to creep away in the direction her stalker had gone. But the fox would have none of this:

"And just where do you think you're going, Jessica?"

Jess paused and whirled around, watching in shock as the fox padded slowly towards her.

"I," she said shakily, "I uh, am uh, just um, leaving."

The fox's mouth turned up in a grin that showed off his glittering fangs.

"Do I scare you this way, Jess?"

"Yes!" She took a step backwards. "You-you... what do you mean, this way!"

She was losing her mind. Yes, that was it. She was going nuts. Looney. Insane. There was no way this could be happening. It almost made her ill to even think it was true.

"No matter," said the fox. "I think you liked me better the other way."

Jess was really confused now, wondering if maybe she should take medication with Chad. Then, as if to confuse her further, the fox vanished in a flash of light. In his place stood the very person she thought she had wanted to find.

But now, she wasn't so sure she was glad to see Kurama.


End A/N Mwahaha. :3