As per usual, I own nothing that you recognize from the film. Melinda and other OC's are mine. The Chinese is taken from an online dictionary, so if the grammar is bad – it is my fault! I don't speak it.

Chapter 3

Monday

I need a new alarm clock. I really hate that buzzing.

Melinda swatted at the clock as she sat up. Her eyes narrowed on it for a long moment, but she decided to kill it later.

It would make a charming little ice sculpture.

Mondays were not her favorite day of the week. In her mind, nothing good ever happened on a Monday. There was a reason her all time favorite cartoon had a fat, orange cat. With Vedette gone, it was tempting to roll back into bed, but Vedette would just know and she'd never hear the end of it. Stretching out her full length, she groaned as could feel her bones popping.

Time to get ready for school and see how far I make it before I have to freeze those two creeps again. Honestly, you'd think they'd get tired of having to be defrosted. Boys.

She hopped the bus without much thought; already nose deep into her new book. Being such a bookworm gained her few friends, but her teachers adored her vocabulary. Besides, reading never hurt anyone.

As the bus landed, she put her book away and stepped off. Walking towards the school, she tried to watch for her usual pests. She didn't see them in time. Sure enough, there was a quick tag, or push, on her rear.

I hate Mondays.

This time when she turned around, she didn't have time to ice them over.

Two vines popped out of the ground and tripped the boys. More vines grew up around them, and soon all you could see were two extremely panicked faces peering out of green wrappings. They looked like two mummies. She grinned down at her adversaries as two other students joined her.

"Hi, Melinda."

"Hey, Layla, Will. Nice work."

"Better Layla then me. I might've caught them before they went off the edge, but…"

They all started laughing as they headed for the building. They split up after agreeing to meet at lunch.

Later that day

Grabbing her tray, Melinda walked into the lunchroom and looked around. She spotted Layla heading directly for Warren's table. Even at that distance, Melinda could see the look of stunned shock on his face as the perpetually cheerful girl sat down. Muffling a chuckle, she headed towards them.

By the time Melinda reached the table, Maj had planted herself next to Layla. With an amused smirk, she walked to the other side of the table.

"Hey, everybody."

Warren stared at her as she took the seat next to him. She gave him a sweet, wide-eyed smile, almost daring him to comment. Before he could, the other boys walked up, taking seats as though they had been friends all year, not just the weekend. She bit the inside of her cheek; the look on Warren's face was almost comical. He glanced around the table.

"What's going on?"

Maj speared him with a sardonic look.

"Just a guess, but I'd say…lunch."

He glared at her. Before he could say anything else, Melinda elbowed him.

"Just go back to your book. We'll manage to entertain ourselves."

With a final long glare around the table, he returned to his reading, grumbling under his breath in Chinese.

"And watch your language."

Everyone's heads snapped to her. Layla gave her another large smile.

"You speak Chinese?"

"Not fluently, just a few words. However, I do know when I'm being cussed at. Tingzhi."

He gave a small grunt and buried his nose back in the book. Will grinned at her before turning to the rest of the group.

"They've fixed most of the school already – except the gym. Boomer's ticked."

Everybody laughed and the conversation flowed over the next hour. People paused near the table, looking like they wanted to talk, but they didn't invite any contact. Melinda had never had a group she connected with so quickly. Even Warren threw in a couple of comments, after he accepted they were willing to give him space and not force it. He never looked up from his book, of course, but it was a start.

Majenta mentioned a phone call from her cousin that she had gotten Saturday night.

"Apparently she's having another baby. My aunt's going all frantic because that'll be three kids, all under the age of five. She thinks it'll be too difficult for her."

A faint alarm went off in Melinda's head. She opened her mouth, but before she could make a comment the bell rang. Everyone scattered. She tried to focus on her afternoon classes, but her mind kept revolving around this past weekend.

Why do I have babies on the mind? First with Mrs. Stronghold and now Maj. I know I'm missing something – something obvious.

She felt like hitting something. Even as she tried to bring her thoughts in order, the alarm sounded louder and louder in her head.

This is ridiculous. I'm getting a headache over some stupid vague concern – about babies?? Babies…multiple…difficult to handle…babies…in the plural…

Suddenly, as she sat in Villain Psychology, the light went off in her head.

Oh, damn!

She had to find the others. Unfortunately, she had Medulla last on Mondays, so the freshman bus was gone by the time she got away from him. Looking around, she spotted Warren heading off.

"Warren! Wait up!"

He turned frowning.

"What?"

People edged away from them, wary of Warren's attitude. She just rolled her eyes – people could be so stupid.

He hasn't even powered up.

"I think we've overlooked something."

"It's been a long day. Spit it out."

"You know, Hothead, patience is a virtue."

"Not when you're going to make me miss the bus like you did."

"What?"

Her head whipped around. Sure enough, the sophomore bus to Maxville was taking off.

"Oh, great, now what do I do?"

He growled, rolling his eyes.

"Just get on the bus, Snowflake, I'll get you home."

She flashed him a brilliant smile, momentarily free of any sarcasm. She climbed on board the bus and sat next to him. People stared. She could guess what was going through their minds. Did Warren Peace, the school's resident bad-boy, just offer help to one of the school's good-girls?

I'm beginning to agree with Layla – people get way too stuck on labels.

As the bus took off, she got tired of being the center of attention. Giving the entire audience a frosty glare, she lifted a brow.

"Is there a problem here?"

Like a cadet review, the others jerked around in their seats to face the front. Warren snickered. She smirked back. Amusement glimmered in both sets of eyes as they looked at the rest of the passengers. He gave her a small salute.

"Is it a female thing or is it just you?"

"What?"

He shook his head.

"Never mind. I don't think I could do it justice."

She shrugged lightly. Glancing around one more time, she decided the bus had too many ears for the conversation she needed to have. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out her book and settled back to read. He cleared his throat.

"Thought you needed to talk?"

"Not here; we're too likely to be overheard. It's waited this long, it'll wait a bit more."

She waited a beat.

"And stop glaring at me. One bus ride won't kill you."

The remainder of the ride passed in silence. The two of them studiously ignored each other while the rest of the group seemed to have fallen into some kind of shock. At some of the stops more than one student got off, and each time she saw them talking at a furious rate as the bus pulled away. She had a funny feeling the two of them would be the talk of the school tomorrow.

Finally, they reached his stop. Hopping off the bus, she followed him to the parking lot of an apartment building a couple of blocks over. She grinned as she saw which vehicle he approached.

"And here I would have sworn you had a bike."

"Hard to aim when you're trying to balance."

"Working on getting the record for road rage?"

He leaned back on the side of the jeep and crossed his arms over his chest. With a tilt of his head, he examined her. She lifted both eyebrows and then raised her chin. A silent battle of wills echoed in the parking lot. As the silence stretched out, her eyes began to sparkle with amusement and his lips twitched as though fighting a smile. If any one had been passing, they might have found the tableau interesting. The two of them made a mismatched pair if ever there was one. She leaned forward just a bit and gave a long, slow blink.

"Are you taking me home or not?"

He laughed.

"You're really not afraid of me, are you?"

"Don't you have enough people quaking in their shoes without me falling in line too?"

"Get in."

Dumping her bag in the back, she hopped into the passenger seat.

"I'm at Halcyone Haven – 1373 Talon Lane."

"No problem."

She grinned as he started the engine and took off. His driving matched his powers – fast and fiery. Talking would be difficult on this drive, so she decided to wait until they arrived at her place.

After a much shorter drive than Vedette had ever managed, they pulled up to her home. The community was an old, respectable one – most of these houses had been here for nearly thirty years. This meant they had large yards, tended landscaping, and privacy.

Given the nature of my family – it's a good thing! If not for those high fences, I'd have been in more trouble – hard to hide the summer ice rink.

Stepping out of the jeep, she threw Warren a quick smile.

"Come on in."

He walked in, eyes roaming the quiet elegance of the home. After showing him into the kitchen, she ran up to her bedroom for a quick change into some jeans. Walking back into the room barefoot, she chuckled as she noticed him staring at the painting in the breakfast area. She joined him.

"That is an example of Jacan's work."

"Jacan?"

"My guardian, Vedette's brother. He…tends to drift a lot."

"What is this supposed to be?"

"You know, I don't think I ever actually found out. He won't explain it, but it wouldn't surprise me if he had been a little less than sober when he painted it. He may not remember."

Moving back into the kitchen, she headed for the fridge.

"Soda?"

"Sure."

Pulling out a couple of cans, she sat down at the table. He sat across from her, lazing back against the chair, balancing on the back two legs. His eyes fixed on her.

"Alright, you wanted to talk – so talk."

She took a long drink, using the time to focus her mind.

"Alright, let me set this up. Over the past few days, I've been in a couple of conversations that set off some alarm bells in my head. On Saturday, Mrs. Stronghold said something about babies being difficult to manage – especially powerful babies. Today at lunch, Maj mentioned something about her aunt being concerned over the number of kids her cousin was going to have."

As she paused, he took a deep breath and glanced upward before turning his gaze back to her.

"Look, Snowflake, what does all of this have to do with…"

She rapped the table with a closed fist.

"Think for a minute! How many babies were there on Friday?"

He frowned.

"Had to be a couple of hundred…"

She could see the light bulb go off in his head. His head fell back and he stared at the ceiling for a long moment. Huffing out a breath, he sat forward and looked at her. His voice was quiet.

"Zhou-ma."

She nodded.

"Same thing went through my head when it hit me. A couple hundred babies…what was Royal Pain going to do with all of them?"

AN – Well, what do you think? Just a quick translation: Tingzhi – Stop. Zhou-ma - Damn