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''What?!''

Gotham High is on fire? Those words echoed in her mind. She just couldn't believe it. Turning her head towards the computer screen to see if something might have 'popped up', another message caught her attention. Not again… she thought, depressed.

First.Floor says: As I said I would do, I eliminated all distractions…

Great…

''Rachel, I…I…'' she stuttered. ''I don't understand.''

''That's what they all say…'' came a cold reply. ''…in the movies, I mean.''

''I'm not in a movie and unless you want us to be best friends until the day we chase each other around the nursing home, I say we find who's doing this.''

A pause. ''Do you have some suspects? Clues? Anything at all, to the fire of your supposed stalker?'' she asked, coldly.

''…Wilson. I think could he a suspect…I guess...'' She hesitated.

Rachel breathed in deeply. ''I forgot to mention: Or is this all part of your imagination?'' She thought for a moment. ''You have to understand that Wilson is not the kind of man to do this. Knowing him personally—''

''Personally?'' Kori couldn't help but shout the word.

''My mom knew him…anyways long story short: knowing him personally, he's a very nice person. And if you think he can chase you down an alley, leave you clues and try to kill you for no reason, think again. He's way too old. He's somewhere between his late 30's or early 40's. M. Wilson has much better things to do than chase an innocent teenage girl, for no reason at all.''

''I…umm…'' she thought talking about this would be a waste of time. Rachel didn't believe her, who would?

''What where you going to say? Don't be afraid…I mean, just because we have different opinions doesn't mean that we shouldn't share them.''

''Oh no…forget it.'' She took a pause… ''But…we kind of wandered off the subject…''

Silence.

''You know, Gotham High?'' Kori's answer was responded with a loud 'Oh'. ''Rachel, you said that we should be free to say our own opinions.''

''Yeah. I'm not trying to get a degree in dictatorship, but go on.''

''You think the school 'incident' could have been related to my present condition? The stalking and all… He said he would eliminate all distractions. School could be one of them.''

''It could be.'' Her friend answered honestly.

Kori smiled. Finally someone who believed her.

''But maybe not.''

Her smile quickly disappeared.

''Maybe your will to make connections and facts is getting out of control. I've seen this happen before in other situations, to other people. So don't think that everything that's happening in the world, good or bad, is connected directly to you. Things happen for different reasons.'' She took a breath or two. ''Everything that happened in the past, never was related to you in any way. Why should it change now, when you think you are being stalked?''

She does have a point, Kori thought.

''I have everything under control.'' Kori said.

''Remember when Tara said that? She said the exact same thing and then almost lost her grip. Remember?''

''Yes, Rachel.'' She answered, irritated of the present conversation. She never liked looking back on sad memories. Tara was her friend. Until her life seemed to fall apart for so many different reasons. Family, though she almost never had one…Kori thought. Guys, friends, school. Tara told Kori many times that the past always managed to catch up, no matter how fast she ran. She knew she couldn't run forever…but she didn't have another choice. All of these little problems led her down a wrong road. She cried for help, but not loud enough. Even though Kori helped her since they were childhood friends, life didn't seem too happy for Tara.

''She moved away few years ago, before you came to our school.'' Rachel said, bringing her back to reality. ''Garfield is all mine now.'' She joked.

Kori didn't laugh, though. ''Where did she go?''

''Some say California…others Jump City. But no one remembers if she ever said when she would return.''

Kori let out a sad 'oh'. ''Now, back to the previous conversation that we always seem to drift away from.'' She rolled her eyes inwardly, fed up of leaving it aside. ''How did the fire start?''

Rachel yawned before answering. ''I don't know. To early to tell I guess… But I know, we won't attend school for a while.'' She chanted happily.

Kori locked her door. Great…where else can I go know? ''I've got to go take a shower, to clear my mind.''

Saying bye, they both hung up.

''Crazy world.'' She said looking down at Romeo. ''Geeze, you've grown.'' The dog rolled on it's back as Kori scratched it's belly. But then, her eyes widened. ''Oh my Gosh. How could I be so stupid! It's girl!''

Yeah so? He conscience asked.

''We gave HER a name for a HE! DUH! She should be called Juliette!'' A pause. ''I mean, it's pretty obvious that she's a SHE. Look here…''

Silence.

Embarrassed, she grabbed a towel, pajamas and ran to the bathroom locking the door behind her. Taking her shirt off, she looked at her arm. The scar was still visible. Well yeah duh, it's a scar. But she couldn't remember how it appeared. She didn't recall having any pain on her arm in any of the previous events. Maybe she was so panicked that she didn't realize it.

Maybe it had nothing to do with this lunatic in the first place…she thought, hopping under the warm water. If only water could wash away everything bad in life. But it couldn't. ''Life sucks…''

When it must! Her conscience protested.

''Huh?''

It has to suck when it has to teach you a lesson.

''Well tell me my lesson in all of this and leave me alone!''

Well I don't know what your lesson is, because it's up to you to find out. Isn't that the whole kind-of meaning of life? If you would get the answer, there would be no challenge.

''So why, dear conscience, do some of us get difficult challenges while others get easy ones?'' she asked, furious.

Because we're strong enough to get pass them and they're to show us how strong we can be.

''Why can't everybody get passed them? Hun?'' she demanded an answer. ''I know people who tried every thing they could and it still wasn't enough.''

Silence.

Kori's tears mixed with the now burning hot water falling on her face, arms, legs…on her complete body. This wasn't supposed to happen. Not to her, not to anyone. No one deserved this.

Just don't give up. You've done so much; don't let it go all to waste.

''I won't either!'' Kori replied. But once she reached for the soap, disaster; she water cut off.

''Grrr.''

She reached for her towel and wrapped it around her body. Then, she squeezed her hair, letting all the water fall in the sink. Grabbing another towel, she quickly dried her hair and stared at herself in the mirror. ''Curls. Great.''

It's…the messy dew! It suits you well.

''Oh geeze thanks.'' She answered sarcastically. ''That makes me feel a whole lot—''

Someone knocked twice at her door.

''Richard!'' she yelled with much happiness.

You're happy to see Richard? Wow.

''I'm not…happy. Just, relieved that he is taking responsibility for his actions.''

Kori ran out of the bathroom in her slippers and quickly swung the door open screaming 'Richard'. With a smile on his face, he walked in his wet jet black hair falling on his face, his blue eyes looking straight into hers and a towel wrapped around his waste.

''Sorry.'' He whispered kind of shy. ''I think we should get that fixed.''

She nodded, not sure what to say. So there they stood, each wrapped by a towel. ''You two sure do look like hippies!'' said a man, passing in the hallway. Richard slammed the door shut.

''No we don't.'' he said looking away.

''If we take off these towels and start running around, then I guess we would.'' She stated.

Silence.

''Weren't we supposed to look at the hose-problem-thingy?'' she asked, clearing her throat. This felt like an embarrassing moment…funny, enjoyable but embarrassing.

KODAK MOMENT YA'LL! Her conscience yelled.

Kori had press a finger on her temples to avoid a headache. ''Let's go then…'' she pointed towards the bathroom. But he just stared at her until he said, ''I like your hair. The messy-dew, right? Anyway…'' he walked calmly away.

Kori stood there for a moment and thought what he just said. She stuck her tongue out, still confused and walked his way. But he was standing still staring at something else. She followed his eyes and it led her to the computer screen. ''What happened? Who's that?'' he questioned.

In few minutes, Kori managed to explain who First Floor was and what he was telling her. She opened all the previous conversations and read them to Richard. They then printed them out and sat together on the couch. Richard read everything one more time before looking at her with a serious look on his face.

''This here…'' he pointed to one of the phrases that First Floor had sent. ''He says, 'You have the most beautiful golden heart I've ever seen. Take good care of it before you die.' ''.

''Yeah, so? He sent that to me today, after I found the necklace that I talked to you about. It's obvious that he was talking about that.'' She said, confused and wondering where Richard was coming at.

He looked at her. ''I know. The thing is, it's not a guy that wrote this. It's a girl.''

''How can you possibly tell…?''

''Listen… 'I don't think time is on your side. Take care of making smart moves and your golden heart; I don't think you want to lose THIS game.' And 'This game will be worth while if you don't forget to play. If you get distracted for a moment, you might lose everything. So don't worry. I'll take care of any distractions that may come in the way, to make it easier for you.' '' he quoted, highlighting these few passages.

''Please explain!'' she said, eagerly.

''Kori, he keeps on using the word 'loose' instead of 'die'. When he says you may 'loose' everything that means you may die. Kori, he won't make this obvious.''

Kori didn't say a word. He continued.

''So I guess you just realized, 'die' was only used here in, 'You have the most beautiful golden heart I've ever seen. Take good care of it before you die'. It's obvious. It wasn't the same person. This was a mistake.''

She was paralyzed.

''You have to face the facts; normally communication between two people of the same sex is more clear than between two people of the opposite sex. Not to mention the mentality is different.'' He took a pause. ''Not to mention, the person after you is smart. Obviously this isn't a fourteen year old trying to scare the crap out of a seventeen year old.''

She looked nervously around. ''…And you're absolutely sure it's a girl?''

He shook his head. ''Not absolutely but there's a chance it might be. As I said, it's obvious and logical. But I'm positively sure it was two people.'' He saw Kori's confused look and continued. ''Because, the message was sent almost the same time as the cops arrived. Do you think he would have to bring the necklace, go back where he lives, go online and send the message to you? They must have seen him, or the guy couldn't have had enough time.''

As he continued, he answered her coming question. ''I have my sources, people I know that work in these kinds of things. I get tips and don't forget I have brains too.''

Kori smiled.

''I'm sorry to be the barer of bad news.''

Kori's smiled disappeared. ''No, it's not your fault. I guess bad news is attracted to me these couple of days. Maybe I'm jinxed…hmm…'' She stared at the floor.

He cupped his hand around her cheek and gently lifted her face so that they would be facing each other. ''I believe you, even though this sounds crazy and I'm ready to help.'' He gave her a friendly smile.

''Thanks. I think I'll need it.'' She said thankfully. She was surprised because she never saw this side of Richard before. He could be crazy, irresponsible and immature but also polite, delicate, smart and…charming…and helpful…the list could go on…, she thought.

Kori looked in his sapphire eyes and couldn't help but smile.

Could I seriously be…falling for him? The thought scared her, which was strange. When was she ever afraid of that? She blushed a bit and Richard suddenly removed his hand from her chin. She quickly sat up straight and cleared her throat. The idea of her and Richard being together was just…difficult to accept. Though she had already thought about it... But staying friends wouldn't hurt anyone… It wouldn't change anything, right? Exactly.

Richard got up and ran his fingers through his messy hair, almost dry. ''I like the messy dew. It suits you well.'' Kori joked, leading him to the door.

He smiled and scratched the back of his head. ''Anyway, you go ahead and take a shower. I'll go after…''

She nodded.

''And…if anything comes up, tell me. I'm sure nobody wants you getting hurt.'' He paused. ''I wouldn't want you getting hurt…'' he said in a deep, low voice. Kori smiled and nodded, too shocked to say anything.

She opened the door and he stepped outside. As she waved goodbye, Richard looked behind him and saw through the glass door, Xavier coming up in a hurry. Hurrying to save the scene, he grabbed Kori by the waist and pressed his lips against hers.

What else could he do?

Nothing, Richard thought, convincing himself pretty well.

At first shocked, Kori had her eyes wide open but she quickly remembered that it was rude to stare so she closed her eyes and responded as passionately. She was lost in this strong, passionate kiss and snaked her arms around his neck and played with the tip of his hair.

He tightened his grip around her waist and held her closer to him. He savored the moment…and so did she. They pulled away for a moment, their eyes still closed. He brushed his lips against hers, right before she would press her lips against his once more, a voice echoed in their ears.

''Well, excuse me. I just came back to get my coat but, forget it.'' Xavier said, raising an eyebrow. He stared at them for a moment then walked away.

By then, Kori and Richard completely pulled away from each other. Was it just her, or was it HOT? Richard stared at her and chuckled. ''We'll get the plumbing fixed…anytime soon.'' A pause. ''Say…could you keep Xavier's coat incase he comes back for it tomorrow. I won't be here.''

A day without Richard around…great.

She nodded and took the coat from him as he handed it to her. She smiled and waved goodbye. He stepped into his apartment and shut the door behind him. Kori did the same, and made sure to have locked her door securely. A big smile printed on her face and hugged Xavier's coat. She had to hug something. She was happy.

But she looked closely to the warm fur on Xavier's coat…strands of hair, she thought as a proud smile tugged the edge of her lips.

DNA sample, number one: Xavier Redd.

ohhhh ohhhh lolll please tell me what you think and reviewwww

ps: i got a question...can i take a story from a book i read and put it into fanfiction with Kori/Rich etc? juste wondering. thankies.

cryingdove, XX )