A/N: OMG, I'm so sorry I haven't updated in forever! My internet died, and it turns out my documents folder went with it. ) So, this is my sad recreation of the old Chapter 2. (I really have to get a better computer…)

BTW-NBB, I read chap 10 of Sugary Sweet Jealousy (hence the review). I have a question about your author's note. Is writer's block contagious? I've had it too, and the same thing happened to me! That, and the whole OMFG-my-comp-fried-itself thing described above…

This chapter's cookie flavor (in the review room) is cinnamon/sugar gingerbread. Spice-ifalicious! Trust me, its really good.

I sat up, blinking in the darkness. I could see light trying to fight its way through Kaede's thick curtains. I got up, stepping over Chiho and Akako, and opened the curtains.

The bright sunlight flooded the room in a warm glow, making me smile. Our Smart Matter sleeping bags were on the floor, and I could tell the others were still in theirs. I was the only one awake.

"Hey, close those!" Chiho cried, curling into a tiny ball.

Akako squinted her eyes, and Yuki buried herself further under her sleeping bag. Kaede rubbed an eye and grumbled something at me.

"What?" I asked her.

"CLOSE THE CURTAINS," Kaede howled at me.

"Good morning to you too," I said, rolling my eyes. I closed them, though.

"Your welcome," I said, staring at them.

Chiho burrowed further into her sleeping bag.

Kaede mumbled something and pulled her blanket over her head.

"Oh, hi, Cloud," I said.

Kaede shot up. Once she realized he wasn't there, she flopped back down. "That was mean," she mumbled, her voice muffled by the thick layers of blankets over her head.

"Remember who you're talking to," Chiho reminded her.

"Why?" Kaede scrunched her nose. "Its just Ari-wa."

"Yeah, but Ari-wa is practically the poster child for mean-ness." The little lump that was Chiho started to shake with suppressed laughter.

I rolled my eyes, walked over, and began nudging her with my foot. "Chi-wa! Wake up! Chi-wa! Wake up! Chi-wa! Wake up! Chi-wa! Wake up! Chi-wa! Wake up! Chi-wa! Wake up!" I chanted, nudging her over and over again.

Her hand shot out of the sleeping bag and grabbed my foot. "Stop," she said, her voice low and growly.

I jumped back. "Jeez, Chi," I said, managing to make myself sound playful. "I didn't know you were part vicious guard dog."

"Ha, ha," She said, her hand drawing itself back into the sleeping bag like a half-dead monster retreating to its cave.

Someone knocked on the door. I sighed. "Kae-kae, that's your cue."

She lifted one hand out of the covers and snapped. The door unlocked itself and a young boy opened it.

"Oh, uh, hi," he said, somewhat embarrassed to find five teenage girls still curled into their sleeping bags and in their pajamas. "I, uh, have something for, uh, Katie? It's a letter, uh, not a ping, so it must, uh, be important?"

"It's pronounced Kaede," I told him, taking yet another shiny gold envelope from his hands. "That's her." I pointed at the lump on Kaede's bed.

"Oh," he said, eyes wide. "Well, uh, I guess I'll, uh, go?"

"Yes," I told him, closing the door in his face. In the corner of my eye, I could see my merits going down. Damn.

I groaned softly. "Kae-kae, you got another one."

Kaede barely moved. "Great."

I ripped it open, pulling out the thick Rusty-style card and read aloud.

"The Pretties of Japan would like to formally invite Kaede to join them next week on Sunday, June 22nd, 6666. We look forward to seeing you at The Hospital for Pretty Surge!"

Kaede groaned. "If I went peacefully, do you think they'd shut up?"

"Peacefully? As opposed to…non-peacefully?" Akako sat up, rubbed her eyes sleepily, then flinched. We'd gotten surge from Tally to make us look like the Soul Kingdom-versions of ourselves. But Akako's skin still had the horrible sun burn-feeling from getting her flash tattoos.

"I guess," Kaede shrugged. There was a pause. "Wait…is non-peacefully even a word?"

We shrugged.

"Hey, Room?" Kaede tilted her head back, propping herself up on her elbows. "Is non-peacefully a word?"

"Yes, Kaede-sensei. It is."

"Okay. Thanks, Room." Kaede flopped back down. "There's your answer."

"Great…" I looked around the room, noticing pictures of Cloud taped to the walls. Big, huge posters…taped to the walls. "Kaede?"

"Yeah?"

"Why aren't your posters part of the interface? Did you buy posters back in Rustyville?" I sat down in the spinning desk chair she'd gotten with her newest merits (the sacred Feed-watching Chair!) and spun around to face her bed. Glaring at her, I crossed my legs and put my head on my hand, secretly dropping the invitation in the Recycling Hole as I did so.

"Uhhh…"

"KAEDE!" Chiho shot up, her sleeping bag covering her head still. She whipped away the layers of fabric and stared at her friend. "Those posters are made of PAPER!"

"And you're an idiot!" Akako snapped. "Now that we've covered the obvious, can we get to the point?"

Glaring at Akako, Chiho continued, "Paper is made from trees. Trees that almost went extinct. You're supporting deforestation!"

"And that is…"

"Deforestation is where you take away all the pretty trees and expand the city! Its what Rusties did that almost killed THE WORLD!"

"And…"

"And by having those on your walls, you're SUPPORTING IT!!!" Chiho's eyes were wide. "That's not very happy-making."

"But…"

"But what?!" Chiho wailed.

"But…it's Cloud…"

"And…?" It was Chiho's turn to be confused, although she also looked indignant.

"And…Cloud…" Kaede paused, thinking of the right words. "…is pretty," she decided.

I cracked up. "Pretty? Kaede, of all words to describe Cloud, you chose pretty?"

"Yes." Kaede stuck her chin up like a third-grader trying to act tough. "I did."

In the back of her head, Kaede could just see a little number. It wasn't part of her interface. It was part…of her brain. The little numbers were in green block numbers, rather like the ones she found on her alarm clock back at the rusty hotel. What was it? Her fame? Merits? A ping?

Then she realized. It was the countdown to how many invitations she had received, in how many days. Like a doomsday counter.

She also realized something else. If you took the date of her supposed Pretty Surge, and subtracted the number of invitations she'd received, you ended up with the most awkward Rusty day of them all:

The sixth month…the sixth day…year 6666…the sixth day of the week…

6/6/6666. Which fell on the sixth day of the week. Talk about Doomsday.

A/N: Sorry for the semi-pointless chap…I'm not NBB, I can't whip out great stuff when I've got writer's block. I just love the day of Kaede's Pretty Surge…I actually didn't do that on purpose. I just kind of was like, "OH! This works!"

Oh, another lame fact about my life: I'm listening to "Who Said?" by Hannah Montana. Just a second ago, I was listening to Kelly Clarkson railing against her ex in "Never Again" and now, suddenly, I'm listening to the queen of fruity Disney music? How did that happen?

Anyway. Review! Remember the cookies!