Hey there, people. I'm back! 8D
*dodges rotten tomatoes*

I'm so sorry the updating took me so long… But I have an explanation:

…It was all Usa's fault. 8D

No, really. She's the slowest beta in history.

…Ah, don't look at me like that.

She's nice!

…When she isn't hungry…

Oh, I'm drifting off again.

Well, to make up for the slow updating, I will be updating two chapters at once!

''Blue!''

''Eep!''

I dropped the magazine I was reading and turned my head in the direction where the voice came from.

''What is it, Silver? You scared the hell outta me!''

''Ah, there you are.'' He sat down on the couch in our living room. I was on the opposite side of the room, on a chair.

''How long have you been here? I thought I was alone!'' I said.

''I just came in. I saw your bike in the front garden, but I couldn't find you.''

''...So you started to shout out my name in every room?''

''Actually I didn't. I knew you would be here, since this is your favorite place in the house after your own room, right?''

''Eh? Then why did you shout out my name this loudly?''

''Yeah, I COULD have just told you I was home, of course. But this is way more fun.'' He ducked just in time to prevent my magazine from hitting his head. For some reason he was laughing at my bad mood. It was quite strange how people found my bad moods funny, but I wasn't complaining. I preferred people to laugh at me rather than being angry with me.

''How was the talent show?'' He asked me, when he was done laughing. The look I gave him was probably enough. ''...Oh...''

''...I fainted.''

''You FAINTED?''

''Shut up, it's so embarrassing.'' I grabbed a pillow and pressed my face into it so he couldn't see my stupid expression.

''I'm sure it wasn't that bad. The whole school is probably concerned about you right now, they probably don't even think about it as something embarrassing.'' I didn't put down the pillow.

''Where did you eat dinner today?'' He said, attempting to change the subject. ''A new Chinese restaurant.''

''Ah, I heard the food's nice there.''

''True, it was delicious.'' I put down the pillow and faked a smile.

''Listen, I've got homework to do. I'm upstairs in my room, ok?''

''Yeah, sure.'' I left the room. When I was upstairs I passed my parent's and Silver's bedrooms. I entered my own room. I went straight to my desk. Then I glanced towards the window. The window looked out over a small lawn, and Green's house.

...Yeah, before I was kidnapped, I lived in a house that was outside of the town, but when I came back we moved to the town so I never had to walk in the dark landscape alone again. This was mostly because of my parents, I don't get scared all that easily. I understand though. I think that if I had a daughter and she was taken away from me, I'd probably spend the rest of my life trying to protect her from any other harm. To make sure she doesn't have to suffer from anything ever again. To try making her so happy, to give her so much love, she would just forget about everything.

...This wasn't the case, though. I remember everything that happened so unbelievably well that I often got nightmares in which everything seemed to happen all over again. Whenever that happened, I would wake up screaming, panting, yelling to my parents. Well, to get back to the point: Green and I were now neighbors.

The funny thing was that now my and Green's rooms faced each other. I shouldn't be very surprised to see him in his room, noticing that. But there was a reason why it caught my attention. Green was pacing up and down in his room while talking into his cell phone. He seemed upset.

I quickly picked up my sketchbook and a pen and wrote down the words 'You ok?'.

I held up the sketchbook so he could read it. After a few minutes he looked in my direction and smiled for a bit after deciphering my messy handwriting. Then he, too, walked towards his desk and wrote something down on his sketchbook. He held it up. I could read the words 'Yes, I'm fine.' In a much neater handwriting. I was about to write something down again, when he held up another page of his sketchbook. With the words '...If you ignore all the drama.' On it. I quickly scrawled down 'I'm sorry' and showed it to him. He smiled weakly.
...I didn't notice it before, but in the past days he had been very tired.

Before I knew what I was doing I wrote down 'I love you'. I was about to show it to him, but when I looked up, his curtains were closed.
I sighed and slowly held up the sketchbook to his curtains, knowing he couldn't see it.

''...no need to wait so long in the canteen. Don't you think so too, Blue?''

''...Huh?'' I blinked for a second, and looked around the table. Red, Green and Yellow were looking at me.

''Did you hear a word I was saying?'' Red asked.

''...Um... Not really...'' I replied while looking down, quite embarrassed.

''Are you ok, Blue? You have been dazing off very often since the... Talent show incident happened...'' Yellow said. I could hear she was concerned by the way she asked me that.

''It's nothing, really! I'm fine!''
I pretended to enjoy the canteen food, though noticing my friends' worried expressions my act wasn't very believable.

I heard yelling from a table next to ours. The people making the noise were Ruby, a boy with black hair and a white hat, and Sapphire, a girl with brown hair who always wore a blue bandana. They were both in our class and the total opposite of each other. Ruby liked to sew and hated fighting and Sapphire hated everything that was girly and loved to fight. Despite that and the fact they had fights like this one almost every day, they were best friends. They were sitting around a table with another boy who was in our class too. His name was Emerald, a blonde boy who was too small for his age, and loved to wear clothes in emerald, which matched his eye color and name. It had a funny effect, really. Even though Ruby and Sapphire were shouting at each other he didn't look like he was going to stop them anytime soon.

''Aw, look at you bickering like an old couple.'' Gold, Silver's best friend, said snickering. He was walking towards the table Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald were sitting.

Silver and Crystal followed behind. ''Geesh, Gold... Don't interfere like that, you know it's none of your business.'' Crystal told him while frowning and making a waving gesture with her forefinger like she was telling a little kid it was wrong to eat a cookie without asking.

''Come on, miss serious. Don't be like that. There's no need to pretend you don't like me, I can see right through the act.'' Even though Crystal and Gold were arguing Silver was just standing beside them with his hands in his pockets and a bored expression.
Gold wasn't a bad person or anything, he just liked to tease people.

I looked at Ruby and Sapphire again, noticing the yelling had stopped. They were now just looking down their plates with red cheeks.
I looked around the table I was sitting on. Though Red and Yellow were busy talking about some sort of science project Green was still looking at me with a worried expression. I smiled for a bit to put him at ease.

Silver sat down beside me. He first glared to the direction where Green was sitting and then started talking to me about how annoying his friends were. He told me some stories from classes they had this morning, and before I knew it I was laughing again.

Suddenly the bell rang. ''Hell, here I come.'' Silver sighed, and I patted his shoulder. ''It'll be ok, Silver. Just try stopping Gold BEFORE he pisses of a teacher so much that he or she throws a book at him next time.''

''Come, Blue! We're going to be late!'' Yellow yelled at me. ''I'm coming!'' I picked up my bag and ran to my friends.

I was in math class for about half an hour, and even though I didn't like the subject, I did feel comfortable here. This was mainly because seated at my left was Red, at my right Yellow, and in front of me was Green, to his annoyance. You see, when I get bored, I like to annoy people. Especially people who have names that start with 'G' and end with 'Reen'. And of course, this was Math. I was bored ninety percent of the time. I smirked deviously again, while poking his back with my pencil. He turned around slowly. Oh if looks could kill...

''Ok, you have three seconds to put that pencil down. If you don't, I refuse to ever help you out of detention again. Try poking me again and I'll tell the principal who dressed up the statue in front of the school in the mascot costume last month.'' I smiled at the memory of our school's founder's statue in the costume of Barry the Bustling Beaver.

''Aw, are you still going on about that? Every student found it funny! Even the teachers thought it was amusing, they just didn't dare say it because they would've been fired.''

''Do we have a deal?''

''Sure.''

He turned around on his chair and concentrated on the teacher again. I smirked, noticing Green just told me I couldn't poke him anymore. There were other ways to keep myself from being bored.

''...And oh, yeah.'' he said while looking at me again, ''What I just said is not just for poking, but for annoying me in any possible way.''
Man, could he read my mind?

''Yeah, deal.'' I sighed and laid my head to rest on my arms.
I looked up at him once again, and noticed he was smiling at me. ''What?'' I asked.

''I noticed how you seem to get easier to read with every day.''

''Eh?'' I said confused. ''That would be a shame... That means that from now on it'll be harder to trick you.''

''Knowing you, you'll most likely find a way.'' He grinned at me.
I felt my cheeks heating up. Argh..

My hand shot into the air. ''What is it, Blue?'' Professor Birch asked.

''Can I go to the toilet?''

''Yes, I can't think of any reason why n-''

''Thanks!'' I walked past the confused teacher and walked through the door.

After closing the door I slowly closed my eyes and leaned against the cool doorpost, waiting for the blush to go away. I didn't want to take the risk that Green would see it and suspect something.
After a few minutes I heard a short cry from around the corner of the hallway.

''Still havin' such a big mouth?'' I heard a strangely familiar voice say.

''You know, hitting and kicking isn't what ladies do, is it? You might want to work on that.''
I heard a strange sound after the last sentence. It sounded like someone was struggling to get away from a strong grasp.

''Don't try to run away now, sweetie. We can't let you go without a small talk, right?'' I was slowly walking in the direction the voices came from, so that I could hear it more clearly.

''You might not want to bother Platina anymore. Think of your good looking friend... What was his name? The one with the white hat. I don't know how his father would react if someone told him his son isn't taking the wrestling lessons he signed him up for, but is taking sewing lesson instead. And of course, that isn't the only thing your friend does without his father knowing. If he finds out depends on you.''

After that I heard a soft thud, probably because the two boys had let go their victim, and footsteps getting louder and louder.

It took a few seconds for me to realize they were coming in my direction.
Suddenly I started running towards my locker, which was just across the hallway.
I tried to remember the code, but it was hard to think clearly when you know you're about to get caught for listening in on something like this, and didn't know the consequences.

...5...
...3...
...9...

Unlocking it was hard because my fingers were trembling like hell. Suddenly I heard a soft click and quickly pulled open my locker.
I jumped inside of it and clumsily shut the door, which was hard because the company that made the lockers didn't think of a door handle inside the locker, just in case you had to hide from people since you had just listened in on others who could ruin your social life in one second.

I heard the footsteps come closer and closer, until the people who had made the footsteps were right in front of my locker.
I peered through a space in the door. I recognized the boys who passed my locker. I didn't know their names, but I did know they both had a crush on Platina. I wondered if she had sent these boys after the threatened person.

While I was lost in thought, I didn't notice the footsteps were gone.
I peered through the space again, and decided that it was safe to come outside of my hiding place. I slowly opened my locker and went out.

I ran to the place I thought what I just witnessed had happened.
Slowly looking around the corner, I could see a girl sitting on the floor.

''Sapphire?'' The brunette's eyes widened, and she quickly turned her head in my direction and slowly looked up. ''Are you ok?''

''...Y-yeah, I'm fine.''

''You sure? I heard what those guys said to you.''

''Ah, those are just brain dead bastards, don't worry.''

''Why did they say all that to you?''

''Um... When I walked to class earlier, I heard Platina say something about my papa. Something mean. I don't like it when people offend others who try hard and don't deserve to be disliked. People like my papa. So I kind of... slapped her.'' I blinked, and then all of a sudden burst out laughing.

''Blue? You ok?'' After a few seconds I was able to talk normally again, and answered her question, ''Y-yes, I'm fine. It's just that I've wanted to slap her for a while, but didn't have the courage and, in my opinion, reason to. And then you show up, and just slap her in the face!'' I was still giggling for a bit, until I remembered why I was sitting on the floor with Sapphire.

''I'm sorry for that.''

''It's ok, it was kind of funny if you look at it that way.''

''...Um... That boy those guys were talking about was Ruby, wasn't it?''

''Yeah, it was.''

''So what are you going to do?''

''What can I do?''

''Probably just doing what those guys said is best. You wouldn't want to involve Ruby in this, right?''

''Well, he is kind of involved now.''

''Good point.''
After a few minutes she said, ''You're right. It'd be best to try to avoid more of this.''

''Ok then. Come on, let's go back to class.'' I stood up and held out my hand to her.

''Hey, Blue. Thanks.'' She said while grabbing my hand and being pulled up by me.

''Anytime.'' All of a sudden, the bell rang.

''Oh crap...'' I said.

''What is it?''

''I asked if I could go to the toilet a half an hour ago.''

''I didn't come to class at all.''

''Ok, so we're both screwed.''

''Pretty much.''

When we arrived at the class, my friends were just coming out of the door. ''Hey, you guys.''

Red handed my bag over. ''Thanks!''

''What did you do, Blue?'' He asked.

''I helped a friend.'' I said, like it was normal to say you need to go to the toilet and not come back at all.

''What do you mean?'' Yellow asked.

''I'll tell you another time.'' I told them with a smile.

''Let's get walking, then.'' Red said.

''What class is up next, then?'' I asked them.

''It's gym class.'' Green replied. We walked into the direction of the changing rooms.

''Argh, I hate gym class. It's so useless and boring.'' I was sulking in the girls changing-room.

''Come on, what kind of purpose does it have anyway? It's not like anyone's willing to have some stupid job which has to do with sports. Why would anyone do this for fun, has the whole world gone NUTS?'' Yellow giggled into her fist. Yay, another person who laughs at my mood.

''Um, excuse me?'' We both looked in the direction where the voice came from.

''Hey Sapphire!'' I was surprised, we didn't talk much.

''I need your help with something...''

''Go ahead!'' Yellow said smiling. She was encouraging the brunette, since she looked uncomfortable. Sapphire didn't talk to other girls very much, her friends were all boys.

''...Um, I can't find my sneakers. Could you help me look for them?'' She said. She sounded embarrassed.
It was funny how, even though she was normally a tomboy who liked to fight and wasn't afraid of anything, she now reminded me of Yellow, who was shy and quiet. It caused me to smile a little.

''Hohoho! There's no need to ask so politely! You know we'd help whatever was wrong, because we're cool like that.'' My mood had brightened again, and Sapphire seemed to be more comfortable now, too. After about ten minutes we still failed to find her shoes and all of the other girls were now gone to the field.

''Are you sure they're here, Sapphire?'' Yellow asked. I could see she was getting worried about coming late.

''I thought so...'' Sapphire said, ''But I don't want to cause you guys trouble, so I'm just going to check the lockers, and if they aren't in there I'll just go with my casual shoes, ok?''

She walked over to the lockers, and opened them one by one. When she opened the last one in the row, she let out a small shriek. I looked at Yellow, she was looking concerned. She started walking to Sapphire, ''What is it, Sa-''

I was now standing beside Sapphire. When I looked into the locker, I was confused at first. ''What is that?''

''Those are my sneakers.''

My eyes widened. Her sneakers laid at the bottom of the locker, but it looked like whoever did this, even though who that was isn't hard to guess, had stuffed them with old canteen food, water, mud and had even slightly burnt them. Yellow's and Sapphire's expressions were alike. They both looked at the sneakers like they were some kind of alien corpse.
I noticed there was a note underneath the sneakers, and picked it up.

When I unfolded it, I noticed it said just two words:
'Prepare yourself.'

Well, please enjoy the next chapter!