A/N: Hooray for Part II! Basically what I've decided is that there will be 3 parts (Part I was the first three chapters) and then a sort of Epilogue at the end. Also, the timeline is a little skewed so keep in mind that this happened prior to the first three chapters, about 2 years prior. It's short, I'm sorry, I always feel guilty when my chapters are short for some reason. So, read on my friends :)
Part II
Chapter 1
The first class on Kuki's freshman year schedule was Biology, in room W-105 with Mr. Clark. She could see those exact words in her head, as if they had been typed there. Biology sounded just so exciting! Getting to study animals like bunnies and rainbow monkeys! Kuki skipped down the hall on her way to this class, eager to start her first day of high school. As she approached the door, she let out the tiniest squeak of excitement and let herself in.
Five perfectly straight lines of desks stood before her. "Oh, where should I sit?" Kuki asked to the empty room. She smiled and danced over to the center desk of the center row. She pulled her red and white, V-neck cheerleading top down over her slender hips and sat in the seat. Kuki liked this classroom. It had just the right amount of posters to keep her occupied. "Perfect!" she giggled, smoothing her skirt. It was the first time she had ever worn her cheerleading uniform and she already loved it. Kuki was proud to wear the skirt and top and brand new, unscuffed, white shoes. She felt like no one could touch her.
As the clock approached 7:20, Kuki's classmates filed in. There were some kids she recognized, like Lizzie Devine and Joe Balooka, and some she didn't. Kuki had hoped maybe some of the other cheerleaders would be her in class, like Rachel McKenzie, a girl who was slowly becoming Kuki's closest friend. Rachel wasn't very much like Kuki at all; she was reserved and often serious. However, Kuki was drawn to the golden haired girl and trusted her word implicitly. The bell rang, signaling the start of class, and no such cheerleaders had entered the room. Kuki sighed, twirled a long piece of ebony hair around her finger, and pulled out the ginormous, pink notebook she had gotten just for school. She opened the notebook to the very first page and placed her pencil to it. As the pencil began skimming across the page, Kuki could see a sketch of a house taking shape. A house with a tree growing right out the top. This same doodle had plagued the pages of all Kuki's notebooks last year. It was a silly idea, a house with a tree in it, and Kuki didn't think she'd ever seen such a house.
Mr. Clark was taking attendance. He was a tall man with dark hair and Kuki decided he seemed nice. He was on the Ds and so far there was one student not there, a boy named Wallabee. A kind of silly name, Kuki thought, but for whatever reason, when her teacher called it out, her pencil had stopped moving and her cheeks had flushed.
Kuki stared at the tree that now filled her paper. It was much too big to remain completely empty. The tree needed something. A bird, Kuki thought, or a little squirrel! No, that wasn't right. Kuki sighed.
"C-Coo…Cookie Sanban?" Mr. Clark struggled. "I don't think that's right. I apologize, whoever you are, for butchering your name."
Her classmates snickered and Kuki raised her hand. "It's Kuki," she said politely with a smile.
Mr. Clark opened his mouth to respond when the door burst open to reveal a boy. He was taking deep breaths as though he had just run a long way. "Ah, the ever elusive Mr. Beatles, thanks for showing up; take seat in front of Kuki."
Kuki waved at the boy with a silly name. He had hair like sunshine that covered his eyes, but when he lifted his head to see Kuki's hand, she found he had eyes to match. The exact color of the sky. The boy was pretty tall, but it seemed awkward on him, as if he hadn't always been. His bright orange T-shirt strained over the muscles in his arms. As he made his way to his desk, Kuki blushed again. "Hi! My name's Kuki Sanban!"
The boy twisted around in his seat. "Wally Beatles," he said. He had some sort of accent, Kuki noticed; thick and deep and very masculine. Beneath his too long hair, he glanced at Kuki's drawing that was still lying on her desk. "You're missing the tree house," he commented. He looked back up at Kuki and, realizing his words, his blue eyes widened. Wally whipped back around to face the front of the class.
Kuki looked down at her drawing and then back up at Wally's blonde head. A tree house?