- A Beautiful Tomorrow - An Ambient Generation

. . . Cross of Changes. . .

I had some exams to do so I rushed this chapter in the middle of all of them. I hope it's still the story you guys hope for. Sorry for not updating last week!

Alice gently flexed her fingers. Her hand was bound tightly in a white cast. Turns out, she sprained it. In a few minutes, her mother would be coming home. In a few minutes Yuri would be coming for tutoring.

Alice sat by herself in her mothers' formal living area. The homeless people were in the other living room watching some kind of soap opera. But even over the T.V noise, she could hear her heart hammering.

Okay so maybe she was a little afraid of what her mother might say. Alice was anxious that Yuri might be there before her mother and then that would mean he'd hear Mrs. Elliot confronting her and probably yell at her too, in front of him. She let out a soft groan.

But as she expected, Yuri came first.

He nodded his head as his greeting and Alice mumbled a "Hi." And "come in." The second she was about to close the door, her mothers' car came up the driveway.

"Ugh." Alice accidentally bit down on her tongue.

"Hi pumpkin!" Mrs. Elliot called cheerily, waving.

Alice forced a smile and nodded. "Hello mother."

She half-heartedly pulled the door open. Yuri was still standing behind her.

No, no, NO! Go sit down in the living room, please go sit down, she thought dreadfully.

As if he heard her unspoken plea, he left. Alice sighed with relief as her mother came up the steps and held out her arms to hug her daughter. She could smell her mothers' faint flowery perfume under Mrs. Elliot's arms. Finally they broke apart.

Alice was vainly trying to hide her cast, but Mrs. Elliot didn't notice. "How about pizza for dinner tonight?" She asked brightly.

Alice smiled, "Sounds great, mom."

"I'm just too exhausted to cook—why hello Yuri! Are you having dinner with us?"

Alice whirled around quickly to find Yuri looking sort of confused.

"Uh, no-"

"Alice and I are having dinner tonight, you must stay." Mrs. Elliot gushed happily.

"N-no! No, mom, he can't-" But Alice's attempts were drowned by Mrs. Elliot's chatter. "I'm sure your folks wouldn't mind! Just tell them we invited you for dinner!"

Mrs. Elliot's edgy daughter opened her mouth to object.

"Okay." Yuri shrugged before smiling sickly at her mother. "If you insist."

Her mother beamed. "Excellent! Pumpkin, you go tutor with him while I go order the pizza!" She bustled past with extreme delight.

Alice made a face at Yuri. "You want to stay for dinner?"

"You don't have to talk to me. I'll just talk to your mom." He replied.

"My 40 plus Mom." She muttered in reply.

-

Alice was dreading the sound of the door bell because that would mean the pizza man arrived and that would mean sitting for thirty minutes or more with her mother and Yuri. Who knows what was going to happen.

But you know how it is; if you usually dread something happening, the time usually goes faster.

Ding dong.

Alice closed her eyes and listened as her mother answered the door and get the pizza. In a few seconds-

"Alice! Yuri! Time for dinner!"

The way she said it, it made it seem as if they were her children. As if Alice and Yuri were brother and sisters.

Gross.

Alice closed Lord of the Flies. "You go on ahead." She said, not looking at Yuri. "I um, have to use the bathroom."

He left without a word.

Alice sat there by herself. Soon the aroma of fresh cheese pizza reached her nostrils and she stood up. Oh well, it can't be that bad. She left the formal dining room and entered the breakfast area. About 20 boxes of pizza sat waiting on the table.

"Oh there you are hun." Mrs. Elliot turned to her, "Can you please help Yuri carry 15 of the boxes to the living room? They're for the other occupants." Her mother never called them homeless.

"Sure." Alice mumbled stepping silently next to Yuri and grabbing 5 boxes. Together, they made their way into the living room.

"Pizza!"

There was a rush to help and Alice noticed how Yuri inched a little closer when one of the homeless walked towards him. She coughed and set the boxes on the coffee table.

"Dig in." She said dryly before leaving Yuri there. He came into the kitchen seconds later.

"Mom, I think 10 boxes are enough."

Mrs. Elliot shrugged. "Alright then. If they want some more they'll come to the kitchen. You two sit."

Alice waited for Yuri to take his place first before she chose the seat farthest from him.

"So, how was tutoring?" Mrs. Elliot asked, once they sat down and started eating. Alice didn't answer and allowed Yuri to.

"Alice tells me you know Martial Arts! That must be so exciting!" Mrs. Elliot continued. Alice inwardly cringed and quickly looked down at her food.

"Mhm, its okay." Yuri shrugged, "Gets kinda boring sometimes."

"Oh I know what you mean. Does the school treat you guys differently?" Mrs. Elliot smiled, "Like do they get any advantages?"

"Uh, not really… they always throw parties and stuff for them though… and sometimes they make us give a speech before a very important dance, but-"

"Oh the dance!" Mrs. Elliot turned to Alice, "I never got to hear the details! How was it?"

Alice's hand froze and she uncomfortable shifted her gaze. "It was great mom."

The older woman laughed, "I know it was great honey. Tell me the details! Was Kurando there?"

Alice took her time to answer. "No. He um, was-out. At…at a science fair downtown."

"Aww," Her mother said sympathetically, "Maybe he didn't get a date."

"He didn't." Yuri said plainly.

Alice wanted to glare at him, but decided against it. His smirk was so obvious that it made her wonder why her mother didn't notice it.

"Poor thing." Mrs. Elliot said, "What about you Yuri? Did you have fun?"

"Oh yeah. Lots of fun."

Alice kept her eyes trained on her food, pretending to be really interested in the cheese. Please change the subject, she silently pleaded.

"How was your date, Alice? Did you like him?" Mrs. Elliot pressed.

Why now? Alice mentally screamed. She forced a smile onto her face and raised her eyes.

"Yeah mom… he-he's really nice but, um… I-I don't think you'll be seeing him in….in the future."

Her mom looked surprised, "Oh? And why not?"

"B-because…." Alice frantically raked through her head for an answer, "He's moving!" She flashed her mother a weak smile, "T-to South America!"

Yuri coughed.

Alice wanted to wring his neck but kept her eyes on her eyes on her mother and she restrained herself from kicking him. Mrs. Elliot raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

Oh great, her mother didn't believe her.

She nodded slightly. "Yes. Because his-his dad has a-job transfer-"

"I thought his dads' job was driving a taxi cab." Yuri interrupted with a huge smirk plastered on his face.

This time Alice didn't bother to stop herself from glaring at him. "No. He-he works at a-at a BANK!" she nodded quickly, "A-a big bank!"

Alice's mother bit into her pizza. "Uh-huh. What bank would that be?"

"T-the National Bank of America! I mean South America!"

Her mother made a face, "I'm sure. Stop playing with your food Alice and eat." She turned to Yuri. "So, I heard you're half Japanese?"

Alice sighed and held her head in her hands as Yuri answered.

"…yeah, my dad is Japanese."

"I see."

"Uh-huh… my parents had some trouble back in the day cuz my mother's Russian and-"

"ALICE!"

The jaded girl suddenly jumped. "What?"

Mrs. Elliot was slowly rising from her seat, with her mouth gaping. "What on earth happened to your hand?"

Alice opened her mouth but didn't know what to say. "I-I-" Her voice faltered.

Her mother just continued to gaped at her. "How did this happen!"

"I tripped! And-and when I was falling, I held out my hand to stop the fall but-"

Mrs. Elliot had walked over to her and took hold of her hand to examine it. "Why didn't you tell me? When did this happen?"

"Two days ago..." Alice said meekly.

"And you never told me?"

"You were busy!"

"You should have said something!"

Alice stood up. "It feels fine." She gently pushed her mother into a seat. "I have to use the bathroom-again. You finish eating with Yuri."

She escaped.

-

Alice didn't know why but that night, she was feeling remorse and bitter. Really bitter. Angry even. At night she tossed and turned unable ton sleep. Her neck felt hot and sweaty, even though it was starting to get frosty outside.

She finally sat up in bed, staring blankly at her room, through the semi-darkness. Slowly, she pushed herself of off her bed and crossed her room. Looking through her drawers she found a folder where she kept pictures.

Fanning herself with the folder, Alice once again crossed her room towards the fan switch and turned it on the highest speed before walking towards her bed. Passing by her vanity dresser, she paused.

Alice's eyes rested on the object sitting next to her mothers' concealer. Scissors.

Taking hold of it, she ran her finger tips against its smooth edge. Leaning across to her bedside lamp, she snapped it on. Its light filtered the room and Alice stared at her reflection. Her light blonde hair was maybe 4 or 5 inches above her waist and quite a few inches below her shoulders. Anyway, it had taken her four years to grow it that long.

Four years gone to waste.

Without waiting to think, without hesitating, Alice grabbed a bunch of her hair and brought the scissors down on it. Snap. A thick strand of hair fell to the ground. Snap, snap. More hair.

Finally, after what seemed like eternity, the scissors fell from her hand and Alice looked at what she had done. Her hair was no longer long. It reached a little under her chin. It didn't even look sleek and shiny anymore.

It looked hacked.

And Alice thought it was hideous.

She threw herself on her bed and buried her face in her pillows letting the tears fall.

What have I done…?

Cliché angsty teen moments. Gotta love 'em. …. I'm sorry but I have much work to do and I can't have huge comments on everyone as much as I'd like to but. Here you are.

Pyaara Wala – I love Karin in the game but I had to make her a sinister biatch in this story. It's all part of the plan!

Bella – Sorry I didn't update. Very busy with study and college work. You didn't go to an American high school? Lucky. They are very deadly. I apologize for the short note, dear. I still love ya! Oh, and I might also make a Lucia fanlisting-

Kendra – Good luck with school. I'll email you soon!

bitterSWEET-love – Again sorry for the late update. Having trouble finding SH? Look on Ebay if ya can. XD

psychedelic aya – Thank you for the kind review! And the Chinese God was Dehuai I think….

Asnee – Your reviews still crack me up, girl! I just love your humor. Glad you are enjoying the story!

Anonymous – Kelly! Dunno if they'll get naked. I'm keeping this PG-13, woman!

fireinu – Sorry I didn't show the hospital I already had this planned out I really did like the idea though. – weeps –

Kayura1 – I was wondering where you went! Glad you decided to read again! – is very joyful –

Vi3t Gurl MOMO – Yes I am a XS fan. How did you know though? I'm pretty scared… STALKER PERSON! j/k XD but still…

Roxsheena – So happy to see you back! How was your vacation?

aegis – We all have that hatred for Nicholai. If only he would perish in the depths of hell along with Astaroth. Margarete and Lucia don't show up till next chapter!

Elinor – I have been very busy and I will add you to MSN. I miss speaking to you too! I apologize for the worry.

SonChan – A newcomer! Thanks for reading this. I'm happy to see more fans of my fic! Well you guys aren't really fans but ya know… I'm boosting my esteem! XD – goes to read how bad Inuyasha HS fics are -