My apologies for the wait…for some reason I had writers block with this story and had no clue where I should take it. Please forgive me for not updating…I just got a lot going on. I may not be able to update that often either but I will try to get my stories going once more. Thanx for the encouragement and extra push lol.

Title: Walking Home

Chihiro scratched her head wondering what she should say to the equally awkward guy next to her. Jim kept looking at the ground, silent. She wondered what she should say but then resolved that she needed to tell him the truth

"Uh, Jim?" She said, gathering up her courage.

"Oh…uh…yeah?" He said, unsure of himself. Although he was tough, he had very little experience with talking to girls.

"I got to be honest with you. I don't want to go to the dance at all. Kira just set me up because she was worried about me."

"Oh…so you don't really want to go with me huh?" Jim frowned.

"I'm sorry! It's not you! It's me…I'm just not into high school stuff…" Chihiro shrugged. "I guess I'm just a boring person, you know?"

"You're not boring! I've seen your drawings. You must have an amazing imagination and skills to do that, you know? I think you are pretty interesting!" Jim realized two seconds later what he had just said, and then mentally kicked himself for saying so much.

"Oh…are you like a stalker?" Chihiro said.

"No! I just…I never like…I mean there was this one time…you…and then I dropped my books…I mean, I AM NOT A STALKER. Period." Chihiro started to laugh harder than she ever had in a long time.

"Well, Jim…I understand your feelings. But I am kind of interested in someone else."

"Oh! I am so sorry! I didn't mean to! I should have asked first…aw man…please forgive me."

"No problem. I'm glad you understand though. Say, you won't tell Kira will you? I don't want her to keep pestering me because she's worried about me…" She said, hoping she could still avoid any of Kira's future schemes.

Jim smiled, relieved. "I won't. Don't worry. We can just tell her I canceled at the last minute. Would that work out for you?"

"I like the way you think, Jim!"

Yuugo slumped down into the kitchen chair, exhausted and gloomy. As she ordered her files together for work, she started mumbling.

"How is she going to take this? But I don't even have a choice…what can I do?" Yuugo stood up and stretched her arms. She walked over to the window and saw Chihiro walking up to the house with a young man… a handsome young man…a handsome young man with high class manners!

"So Chihiro, who was the guy?" Yuugo said in curiosity.

"Just a friend of a friend mom." Chihiro wasn't exactly sure what to say, but tried not to give too much info.

"And he was walking you home…why?" Chihiro did not feel like talking about it at all…but she suddenly decided that only few sentences were needed to describe the whole situation.

"Kira set me up on a blind date to the dance. And it was Mila's bright idea for us to walk home."

"What? Why did you agree to it? Are you under peer pressure or something?"

"Well, I did feel uncomfortable but I wanted to make them happy, you know?"

"I see." Yuugo smiled, unaware of Chihiro's problem. "Well, it's getting late, and I better tell you now before I lose time."

"Tell me what mom? Is it work again?"

"Yes. I'm going back to work in a few minutes. I have the late afternoon, evening, and night shifts.

"What? But don't you need to sleep mom? And what about me? When will I see you?"

"Well, I will be sleeping while you are at school. And, I'll be on a tight schedule…so I won't be able to really see you."

"But why? I'm going to be all by myself! What if something happens to me in the middle of the night? What if a burgler breaks in? You can't leave me alone mom!"

"Honey! Relax! I thought about this long and hard but this is my big chance. The boss said that if I work these long shifts I'll be able to get a raise and keep my job! Plus this won't be forever. The boss promised it would be for only a couple months." Yuugo tried to cheer up her girl, and be positive, but realized there was little she could do. It was her only choice. "Honey…I know you aren't happy about it…I mean to be honest I hate the idea! It's just that I'm very tired…and we are living from paycheck to paycheck. We need an emergency fund. We need more stability. And I need to keep my job."

Chihiro teared a little and hugged her mom. She didn't want to argue with her and make her feel even more guilty, but she didn't want to know what it feels like to be truly lonely.

After her mom left, Chihiro got some homework done. She got ready for bed and felt very lonely as she pulled the covers over her.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Chihiro jumped out of her bed. She was startled.

She walked downstairs and found herself growing weary, as if a wave of heavy air passed over the house. She went to the door and stopped. Who could it be at this time?

Chihiro felt a presence in the room, like something grabbing her and pulling her, but nothing appeared to be odd…she just felt odd.

Let me in Chihiro…you still need to give me that necklace…

"What? No!" Chihiro closed her eyes, but the door was knocked again.

"Hey! Is anyone home?" The voice of a young, handsome, and well-mannered man said.

Chihiro looked out the window and saw a Jim. "Why is he here?" She opened the door quickly.

"Jim? Why are you? And at this late?" She was utterly confused.

"Well…I know this will sound strange but I forgot to give this to you." Jim handed her a bus pass.

"My old bus pass! Where did you get this?"

"History class…it was on the floor and I picked it up. I was going to give it to you today but…I guessed it just slipped my mind."

"I see. Thank you so much!" Suddenly Chihiro felt a chill in the room. It was so overwhelming a crazy idea popped into her head.

"Jim, are you busy?"

"Huh? Why?"

"Just come with me." Chihiro grabbed Jim by the arm and went into the house. Jim was very confused now.

"Um…I'm getting mixed signals here. I thought you liked someone else."

Chihiro looked around. She was too panicked to listen to him. Her back suddenly felt heavy, and then a sharp pain followed.

Oh no…not here…not now…I just don't want to be alone…HAKU!

Chihiro went on her knees, aware that something in the house was coming for her. And now that Jim was here, she didn't know what she was going to do when the mess was over…or if she would even survive.

Should I give the child the necklace? No…I can't…I won't ever!

"Chihiro! Are you ok? What's going on?"

Jim looked at the distraught girl crouching on the ground, arms encircling her knees, and hearing her mumble that she didn't want to be alone. Reluctantly he crouched on the ground and put his arms around her.

"I don't know what's going on, but—" The sound of screeching and howling combined overcame the house.

Chihiro screamed and Jim's eyes widened as he saw a child step out of the kitchen…into the living room…and closer to them.

Thats all friends=) Read and reviews are appreciated...and they actually will push me to write more. I was going to leave this story alone until someone recently reviewed...and of course when I realized that I could actually do something with this story and the writers block was gone. Anyway lol R&R and let me know what you really think-dont just say update fast lol. I want your honest opinions.