A/N: Hokay, so I decided to take the excellent advice given to me and continue this. By the way, thanks for all the lovely reviews, they made me so happy (just ask my friend who was forced to hear about each one). This is my first attempt writing dialogue for any of these characters, so I hope I don't suck.

Chapter 1

"Another win for the Cougars! A shout-out goes to our boys and, of course, our fantastic Cougar cheerleaders" the announcer's voice sounds. "Join us next week for a game against the Mustangs that promises to be just as riveting!"

As the band played the school song at full blast, Abby began packing all of her things back into her camera case. She checked to see she had everything twice. She adjusted her cap on her head and was about to stand up."Hiya Abby!" Abby turned around, startled, to find Kuki Sanban standing behind her.

"Hey Kuki," Abby responded unenthusiastically. She knew it wasn't that she disliked the other girl. It was more that you had to be in a certain mood to deal with her bubbly-ness. Abby was rarely in such a mood.

"What did you take pictures of tonight?" Kuki appeared genuinely interested in Abby's photography. If she were anyone else, Abby would assume the interest was feigned. However, Kuki's nearly purple seeming eyes looked at Abby excitedly.

"Abby just took pictures of the same ol' thang," she replied.

Kuki giggled. "You just spoke about yourself in third person. You're so silly sometimes, Abby."

If Abby ever blushed, she would have then. It slipped out sometimes, her tendency to speak in the third person. It was another of those things she simply didn't understand. Because, she knew it wasn't how you were supposed to talk, but it felt so natural that she just couldn't help it.

"Will you show me your pictures? Please? Pretty please?"

Kuki's childish words made Abby smile and give in. She pulled out her camera and turned it on. Abby enjoyed developing film, but she took so many pictures at basketball games it was easier to use a digital camera.

"Hoagie?" Kuki said disbelievingly while looking at the last picture Abby had taken. Her delicate eyebrows shot up in surprise, making her face look even more animated than usual. She clicked the next button a few times. "Lots of Hoagie." Kuki's ever-present smile grew larger. "I know Hoagie Gilligan," she stated simply, a long, manicured finger tapping lightly on the screen. "He's Wally's best friend, you know."

"Ab-I know. It's nothing though. Skip ahead a little; I got some of Wally, too." Abby simply couldn't tell Kuki about how Hoagie made her feel, it was a little bizarre, really. She almost wanted to tell her; she had a fleeting feeling that Kuki might understand.

Kuki smiled again. "I'm having a sleep over tonight, you should come. It'll be super-duper fun!"

"Girl, I don't know. That ain't really how Abby rolls." She sighed. It had slipped out again.

"Please? It's just three girls. Rachel's coming. I think you'll like her, you're both quiet."

Abby found her powers to deny Kuki were slightly less than other people for whatever reason. Kuki kind of made her feel less alone with her over-the-top personality. Abby found herself giving in to the Asian girl's requests yet again. Besides, Abby knew the sleep over would not be awful. It wasn't that she was unable to make friends, it was more that she didn't mind being alone a lot.

"Abby?" Kuki's voice sounded so small when there was not a smiling face to go with it. The room was dark, but Abby could make out the pure whiteness of Kuki's skin.

"What? I'm tryin' to sleep," Abby responded crabbily.

"Do you know the real reason I invited you tonight?" Abby realized it was not that she couldn't see Kuki's cheerfulness; it was that it wasn't really there at that moment. Kuki was the same age as Abby, but Abby had always kind of seen her as a child. Someone who wasn't capable of having deeper emotions than simple sadness or happiness. However, Abby could hear a little fear in this question. And somehow Abby knew that Kuki's expressive eyes would look the saddest she had ever seen them.

"Not really." Abby set her head back down on her pillow.

"Well, it's kind of silly really." Kuki bowed her head to look at her hands; her long, dark hair fell like a curtain across her face. "It's just like I feel like I know you. Like I used to see you every day and one day I didn't see you and I forgot you. Just like that. It's like a little tick in my head. When you say things like, "Abby knows," I feel like there's an alarm clock going off in my head."

Abby realized the similarities between what Kuki said and what she felt when she looked at Hoagie. There were actually a couple people she felt like she knew, even though she didn't. Like how she knew Wally Beetles' expressions. And she had to admit that while Kuki was often very similar to the other cheerleaders, Abby liked the perky, Asian girl. Now, that Abby had seen a different side of Kuki, she annoyed her way less. "Abby hears ya, girl. I kind of feel like that with Hoagie."

Abby heard a rustle across the room and saw that Rachel had sat up. Kuki was right, Abby did like Rachel. It turned out she was the blond cheerleader that Abby often photographed. It was true that she was very quiet, but Abby saw it more as intelligence than shyness. "I don't know about you guys," Rachel said quietly, yet her voice commanded that they listen, "but I don't remember being a kid. Nigel is all I can remember."

"I don't like this one bit," Kuki decided.

Abby shook her head slowly. She didn't like having to admit that things might not be coincidence.