Hi all, sorry about the time-lapse thing, 3rd marking period ends and Geometry and Chemistry is kicking my butt.
No one would probably believe me if I said I try to be on time, so why bother anyway?
And moving on, enjoy this little chapter here.
Hope it holds you until next week.
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Eric
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Eric stood from his seat after the welcoming speech, and without even excusing himself from his friends, left the room. He felt their eyes on him, each one of them wondering just how bent up he was over being without Ariel. But he promised himself he wouldn't tell them.
They'd think he was psycho for being so dependent on someone they thought he barely knew. And truly, they had no idea just how much he missed her. But after practically going 10 years being alone most of the time, he'd welcomed her with opened arms, and he felt that he was justified for doing so. She quickly made him shift his priorities, strengthened his morals, made him bold, while making him a blubbering idiot all at once.
She became his everything in but a short meeting with a short song and a short conversation, and he knew that only love could be the explanation.
Who were they to criticize him for that? How could they all claim to be in love and then turn around and not understand him? He wasn't crazy.
Going into his room, Eric changed into his nightclothes and lay on his bed. It was nice to be without Grimsby, but irritating that he couldn't even get comfortable without Max on his feet. He got up, pulled a duffel bag from his closet and stuffed it with clothes. Laying on his bed, he put the duffel bag on his feet, and while this did comfort him, he was not at peace.
And without Ariel, he knew he never would be.
He lay in bed for what seemed like ever. Tossed, rolled over, put his arm over his face, flipped his pillow, fluffed his pillow, did sit ups. But nothing eased him or his mind. He sighed, getting up and pulled on his jacket.
It would bother him all night.
Slipping on his shoes, he left his room, sneaking down the hallway in his pajamas. He'd made it all the way to one of the building's hidden side doors before a familiar woman with short, black cropped hair stopped him.
"And where are you going?" she asked.
Busted.
Eric sighed, turning to the woman. Mulan looked at him, light scolding in her dark eyes. Eric had known the woman since she arrived, two or three years prior. She came to The Academy every year, and was the probably the first woman guard he'd ever seen. It was initially probably why he liked her so much.
"To make a phone call." he confessed.
She folded her arms like she usually did when she was trying to convey seriousness. It was strange seeing the always happy woman attempting to scold him. But he easily saw through her.
"Eric, you know I cant let you do that." she told him, sternly, "Not at this time of night. You ought to be in bed or preparing for your lessons tomorrow."
Eric ran an exasperated hand through his hair, "But I have to call right now. Else I'll never get to sleep."
The woman's eyes softened, her stern eyes faltered, "I'm sorry."
"But I need to do this," he pleaded, "Please."
Her eyes narrowed, and for a moment, Eric believed she was going to send him back to his room. A first for her. But a slight smile graced her lips.
"This wouldn't happen to be," she said, raising an eyebrow, "About a girl, would it."
For unknown reasons, Eric felt a blush rising to his cheeks, and Mulan let out a girlish laugh, as if she'd been waiting for that moment for years. But she caught herself, and stopped her laughing, though her eyes continued to spark with her excitement.
"Alright," she whispered to him, "I'll let you out. But only for a minute, hear? Just a minute. Shang will be here soon to check on things and I don't know how long he'll stay. He wont be happy if he hears you, of all people, is outside."
"When is Shang ever happy?" Eric asked, referring to Mulan's stiff partner.
Shang had been coming to The Academy for at least 5 years or so. He was stiff as a board, and even more perfect than the guards back at Eric's home. He was grim. Never smiled. And never went easy on people.
"Shang is happy sometimes," Mulan objected, "But you know how he is about his job. So serious."
Eric rolled his eyes. Serious was an understatement.
Mulan, true to her word, unlocked the door for him and he whispered a quick 'thank you' before he made a beeline to the telephone pole across the front lawn. It was still raining heavily but Eric didn't even care. It was too dark to see the numbers on the phone, but he dialed them by heart anyway, waiting for someone to pick up.
"Security number." came a male voice and Eric said the 20 long number code that allowed him access to the direct line.
"Hello?" came a new male voice.
"It's Eric," Eric simply said, and without waiting for a reply, continued, "I need to speak with Ariel."
"Just a moment, highness."
Eric waited anxiously, bouncing on his toes. Forever passed.
"Sir?"
"Yes?" Eric said, standing still and holding his breath. "Yes, I'm here."
"She isn't in her room, sir, and no one seems to know where she is."
Eric's hands shook with frustration and disappointment.
Where was she?!
Eric hung up the phone, quite ignorantly, and marched across the lawn, shoulders hunched and a frown on his face. His heart was beating miles a minute and he tried to calm it. Came up with lame excuses to explain her absence. And failed to make himself feel better.
He knocked on the buildings door, and when Mulan opened it, she shoved him behind a chair and put a finger to her lips. Eric's eyebrows furrowed, but realization set in when he heard a pair of heavy boots coming closer.
"Mulan," came Shang's rough voice, "Why... why are you all wet?"
Eric bit his lip.
"Impromptu grounds check." Mulan said, not missing a beat.
"Only I, do impromptu grounds checks." he argued.
Valid points. If Eric was caught, there was a good chance that a guard would be stationed outside of his room for the rest of the semester. A guard would be waiting around every corner, prepared to give Shang regular updates on his positions. He'd be watched like a caged animal. Shang was that strict.
"That's why I did one. You know, to be more... impromptu."
Eric could hear Shang sigh.
"Mulan," he said, "Who did you let out?"
Eric put his fist in his mouth. Since when did Shang become so in-tune with Mulan?
Eric knew Mulan was about to respond, but a new voice cut into the conversation.
"General Shang," the voice said, "Visitor at the southeast door. Says he has an important message for the headmaster."
"Did you let the stranger in?" Shang asked.
"No, sir." the voice responded, "He's waiting outside."
"Good," Shang said his boots clicking across the floor, "And Mulan, we'll talk about this later."
A few more seconds went by, before Mulan appeared next to Eric. Her lips were tight, but Eric saw she had no true anger towards him about being caught.
"Never again." she said lightly, and Eric got up, sarcastically waving a hand.
"He didn't suspect a thing."
"Yeah right," she laughed, pushing him down the hall, "Now get to bed, before you get us both into more trouble."
Eric did as she said, waving at her before he turned down another hallway. Mulan was fun, definitely the best guard he'd ever known, but even her fun mood could not make him forget that the love of his life was still missing.
Getting into his room unnoticed, he changed into a fresh pair of pajamas before crawling into bed. He positioned the duffel bag properly and closed his eyes.
But he couldn't fool himself, no pleasant dreams awaited him.
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Ariel
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Ariel's eyes groggily cracked, and an unknown familiarity surrounded her.
"She's waking up." came a young voice that reminded her much of Flounder.
"Give her some space," came another voice.
"Am I the only one who saw that?" came another, very frantic, voice. "What kind of place is this?"
"Our chances are better with Darla." a deep voice echoed, and there was a collective gasp of freight, simply called on by the name.
Ariel took a deep breath, her lungs filling with artificially clean water and...
Ariel sat up, and a well-known feeling of her hair being slightly tugged by the water resistance made her panic. She was slightly aware that her hands were shaking, and she squinted in the blue light that seemed to come from everywhere.
The little, orange and white clown fish was looking at her closely.
"She doesn't look so scary." he said.
She screamed.
She had to be dreaming. This was all a dream. Wake up, Ariel. Wake up! This was not real.
Ariel felt her eyes burn with tears as she looked around and found she was in the tank. Her eyes trailed down her body and she saw her green tail, swishing at her command like it used to. Her purple shells, her tail. It was all there. Her tears mixed with the water, and she forgot how they used to feel sliding down her cheeks.
She put her face into her hands and cried so hard her shoulders shook wildly.
She was a mermaid. She was a mermaid. She was a mermaid. She was a mermaid. She was a mermaid.
How? Why?
"What am I going to do?" she cried aloud, gripping her hair.
Her friends. Her new life. Eric. It was all ripped out of her hands by force. It was that drink, she knew. The glowing golden one Ursula and Prudence had made her drink. She'd blacked out after she was forced to swallow, and now, she'd woken up in a tank.
As a mermaid. A mermaid. A mermaid. A mermaid.
She could never see her friends now. Cinderella. Charming. Snow White. Belle. Aladdin. Adam. Florian. Jasmine. What would they think if they saw her? What would Eric think? He would be disgusted. He would be sick. He would be repulsed. She was half of something he ate.
She felt faint.
"I think she's going to be sick." the little clown fish spoke up.
Ariel put a hand to her forehead, and tried to stop the world from spinning. Eric. Oh, Eric. She'd done so much for him. Worked so hard. She loved him. He loved her! And to think, it was all to be ripped away from her. Ursula or Vanessa or whoever she wanted to be, would never give her another potion to turn her human. She would never be human again.
All her dreams and wishes that she had with Eric, was nothing now. If she even managed to get out there, and somehow made her way to the ocean and back to Atlantica, her father would slap her into the next week. She'd be married off to Gill that very day. Her sisters would all pity and cry and feel bad for her. Because she would be miserable. Forever.
And Eric would always wonder what had happened to her. One day, he'd marry another girl, and maybe look back and wonder where she'd gone. Maybe wish he'd asked her to marry him sooner. Maybe. Maybe not.
Ariel gripped her hair in the agony of the idea she'd just imagined. She cried out, literally, in her own despair. She felt like she was dying. Like the world was closing in. Like she was suffocating. Drowning in her own air. In her own thoughts. In her own words.
She'd never hated her own tail so much.
"Don't be sad," the little fish told her, swimming up with visible difficulty to look her in the face. "Everything will be alright."
How bad she wished the little fish was right. But she nodded her head, and tried to smile for him. He was trying to be nice. Make her feel better, and she appreciated that.
But how do you smile when your entire world, your life, is shattered in only a second? When you wake up to find that that beautiful dream you'd had, changed into a nightmare. She hiccuped as a fresh set of tears stung her eyes, her entire body was shaking, and the little fish again told her that everything would be alright. Even then, she didn't dare dissuade her loud sobbing.
Because deep down, she knew she'd never be alright.
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Eric
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A single bell chimed throughout the school, serving as a wake up alarm to all the students.
Eric's eyes were already open, and he was wide awake before the bell even thought about sounding. He turned his face into his pillow and groaned. Rolling out of bed, he showered quickly and dressed even faster.
A maid that was provided by the school knocked on his door and she made the loudest gasp Eric had ever heard when she realized he was already up and dressed. He simply walked by her and made his way down to the dinning hall.
He was grouchy, and to say that he hadn't slept would be an understatement. He had had probably, a good half hour of blank dreams. Nothing good enough to remember when he woke, but nothing bad enough to send him into any panics. But in an instant, he'd been pulled into the ever present nightmare of his parents death.
But this dream had been different, in that it hadn't been his parents who had died that day. Instead, it had been Ariel. She'd gotten her foot trapped in the deck, having been trying to save Max, and the mass had snapped from its perched spot and fallen. Some unseen force had not allowed him to go and save her. He hadn't even been able to turn away.
He'd woken up drenched, as if he'd run out in the rain again.
He was so disturbed by that dream that he hadn't been able to fall back asleep.
Sitting at a table, a maid brought him an extravagant breakfast, but he simply poked at his sausages. He now had the freedom to eat whatever he wanted. No Grimsby taking away his food. No Grimsby talking about oats and bloating. He was, essentially, free. But he had a feeling that anything he ate would just come back up.
"Your up early." Charming said, sitting down across from him as a maid brought his own food to the table, "And looking worn. Did you sleep at all last night?"
Eric shook his head, nearly about to tell Charming of his escapade that night, but decided against it.
"That isn't good," Charming said, drizzling honey over his toast, "I've checked our schedules. We've Chemistry first, and I heard we'll be balancing equations. You know what a bore that is. You'll be benumbed for sure."
Eric nodded absently, still pushing around his sausage.
"I ran into Mulan this morning," he continued, "She was extremely giddy. More so than usual too. I believe she was looking for you. You wouldn't happen to know what that was all about, would you?"
Eric shrugged, unlistening, as the sound of early morning nobility flooded into the room.
"Eric," Charming said, "Eric, are you listening?"
"Yeah," he said, "I'm listening."
Eric expected Charming to continue on a rant about coefficients and Mulan and whatnot, but instead, the boy slammed his fork down on the table. Extremely un-Charming-like. Eric, along with the other few students who were up so early, jumped.
"Charming," Eric started, "What on earth-"
"How could you?" Charming snapped, pointing a finger in his face, "How could you do that to me?"
"Charming, do wha-"
"That thing you do. Tune me out. How could you tune me out? I'm supposed to be your best friend. Your supposed to listen, when I talk."
"But you-"
Charming stood up, about to spin on his heels and leave. Eric was completely shocked at this turn of events and stood up too, reaching across the table, and grabbing the hem of Charming's shirt.
"Give me a break," Eric said, exasperated, "I didn't sleep at all last night."
"We all know, Eric. Your torn in half over duty and Ariel." Charming spat, "God, everyone knows."
"And how would you know?" Eric asked, his chest puffing out in indignation, "How would anyone know?"
"Trust me, she's all you talk about." Charming said, rounding the table so that he could face him, "Everything out of your mouth has to do with her. If Ariel isn't in danger then Ariel's so wonderful. She's an angel. A saint. She solely saved you from depression we all know."
"I never said that. I-"
"You didn't have to!" he raised his voice, and now, everyone was deep into their conversation. "Your obsessed with her and quite frankly, we're all tired of hearing about it."
Eric was speechless. His eyes were wide from shock at Charming's outburst. He was breathing fast. For the 3rd time in his life, he had nothing to say. He realized he was sitting down again, Charming having worked himself up to the point that he'd shoved Eric down into his seat.
"I'm not obsessed." Eric said, probably too quietly to be heard, but Charming's eyes widened, as if he just realized how he'd lost his head.
Completely offended, Eric stood from his seat and walked around Charming without a glance. He could hear already the few kids around him begin to whisper about the display, but that all faded once he reached the hallway.
He had a right mind to lock himself away in his room. To somehow sabotage Charming's textbooks in a fit of revenge. He could run to Cinderella, and replay to her every embarrassing moment the two had shared as children.
Surely, that would show him.
But ultimately, he ended up walking down less used hallways, in which he'd already had memorized.
He swung his arms loosely as he walked, trying to figure out just what Charming had meant. Charming wouldn't be so cruel, to say such things. There had to be some hidden meaning laced within his words. Some hint as to why he would say what he had when he had.
Countless hallways later, he still could not figure it out. The only thing he'd managed to clear up, was that Charming couldn't have suddenly, just gotten fed up. This had to be an ongoing feeling he'd pent up. And not just him, either. Charming had made mention to others. As if, the others, being the royals, had also come to this conclusion.
As if everyone, was tired of his behavior.
Eric stopped walking, and leaned against a window. Bright sunlight streamed through the window and Eric thought it nearly unfair that the world could continue turning in its merry way, while he stood grounded, trying to make sense of it all.
Common sense told him he was looking too deeply into all of this. That the look on Charming's face had all but said he'd just been having one of his fits, and that he should not take anything too seriously. Charming was so textbook that he held most emotion back. Sometimes, this emotion escaped him. Not frequently, but in short bursts of often anger. Eric had known Charming since they were children. He was used to these outbursts, and had early learned not to take them to heart.
Usually after Charming's outbursts, Eric found himself shrugging off the encounter.
Maybe this encounter weighed on him... because Charming had struck a valid point for once.
He'd actually made a bit of sense. Brought Eric down to earth, where Ariel wasn't his only sun. His only focus. The one thing on his mind. Maybe he was a bit too fixed by her.
Eric shook his head. No, it was no crime to love someone. It was no crime to worry about them. Could he help that he was so smitten by her? No. If anyone's fault, it was hers. She did this to him. Not that he minded, but the blame always fell on him. No one stopped to think that maybe he didn't have a choice in loving her. Maybe his body and brain planned this without his permission. Maybe they were simply destined.
Destined, was far different from obsessed. That, Eric knew. But would not admit. It would only prove Charming right. He was perhaps a bit... fascinated... by Ariel. Not obsessed. Fascinated.
She was different. She was sweet. She cared about people. She spoke to him like he was more than what his title was. She understood him. He'd never met a woman, never met anyone, really, to care for him like that. On such a personal level. This was not obsession.
But what exactly was obsession, anyway? And what drew the line between that, and real love? True love. Simple love. Eric had always thought love was supposed to be simple. Two people loving each other. Wanting to spend forever together. That was simple.
But why then, were things so complicated?
Eric massaged his temples. Things were so not simple.
His entire life, he'd been encouraged, set up, and forced to look for a bride everywhere he went. Now, when he found the one, everyone acted as if this were a bad thing. Grimsby distanced himself, became suspicious. Charming, his best friend, hardened, as if he didn't understand, even when Eric had shown genuine happiness when Charming had found his own bride. Eric's guards got weird. The maids acted out. Terror and mystery ran rampant throughout all of Pangrea, in every province.
Why did all of this begin to happen the moment Ariel stepped into his life? Could he not have had a few months of peace to cherish with her?
If Eric had fallen for Jewel, would everyone still hate him? If he'd of fallen for Aurora would maids still slash people in the night? Or any other stuck up, 'classy' girl?
These unrelated topics: Ariel, the serial killer, his own personal life, the 'screamer' at his own castle. They were beginning to mesh in Eric's mind. Soon, everything would simply be labeled as a 'Problem', and he feared he wouldn't pay things the needed attention they would need to be solved.
He allowed himself, briefly, to give into his... fascination... and wish Ariel was there with him. Just to smile. To giggle. To marvel at her own feet. Anything, to lift his spirits.
Everything was always better with her.
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Ariel
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Ariel sat behind a large, imitation of coral, away from the other fish and out of view from the glass, and tried desperately to fall asleep.
She didn't know what time it was, but she'd cried herself to exhaustion. She was tired, but the thought of waking as a mermaid scared her. Though the thought of trying to fall asleep as a mermaid wasn't much better. And the idea of the nightmares she was sure to have was downright frightening.
She brushed her hand against the fake pink and purple stripped coral she hid behind, and winced when he finger brushed a sharp piece. Having grown up around the real thing, she pitied the fish who was forced to think this was it. In her mind, she counted the differences between this fake coral, and the real ones in the ocean.
The other fish in the tank, were giving her some space. The black, white, and yellow one had sent them all away kindly, allowing her to die from the inside on her own.
Ariel ran her hands through her hair, trying not to allow herself to breakdown again. But her touch did not work as Attina's did. Only Attina could mimic the touch of a mother. She could make you forget you haven't had, seen, or felt a mother in 10 years.
She wrapped her arms around herself, but she wasn't strong or large enough to convey the safety and warmth Eric did when she was in his arms.
How could she be so in love with two worlds? With her sisters, who were the only family she considered to be hers by blood. She longed for Flounder and Urchin, her best friends. She longed for her people, who she knew would have her back no matter what happened. She even longed for her father. A man who was given to her by birth. Someone who was often mean, yes, but also someone who did most things for the good of others.
But then, there was the world of the humans. Of her new friends, who took her in and cared for her when she was at the lowest of the human scale. People who knew nothing of her royal heritage, but still felt drawn to her. Still cared for her like family would. And Eric. The one guy, the one person, in her life who saw her not as a poor girl, not as a princess, not as someone wild, or untamed. He saw her. Who she really was. And even crazier... he liked her. He liked who she was. Didn't try to change her.
She was in love with two worlds. It would be tragic, but seemingly likely, that she wouldn't have either.
Suddenly, the water vibrated fiercely and a muted slam was heard, most likely, the door to the room slamming shut. Ariel sat up, popping her head above the 'coral' and looking to see what had caused the commotion. A hazy woman could be seen through the water as the water calmed.
Ariel went to lie back down, but there was a knocking sound and Ariel realized the woman was knocking on the tank glass. She had every right to lie back down, but curiosity bested her, and she swam from behind the coral to the woman. Once, near, the woman pushed something on the top of the tank, and Ariel watched as the tanks lid opened up.
So that was how she'd been put in.
"Hello," came the voice and Ariel turned her head away from Ursula's smiling face.
Ursula looked through the glass, and smiled. Ariel had never seen the woman smile before. Ariel now understood why. It was scary.
"Good morning, dear." the woman chorused. "I hope you slept well."
Ariel turned, about to swim back behind the coral, where she could hide and be in 'peace'.
"Ah, ah, ah." Ursula said, "I'd like to have a word with you."
Ariel paused, sitting down, her back to the woman.
"Fishy's?" Ursula called, her voice taking on a sing-song tone, "Come out."
The fish of the tank, as if they always did this, swam from their hiding holes and up to the open lid. Ursula pulled out some kind of container, sprinkling flakes of brownish flecks and scraps into the water. Ariel was confused, until she saw the clown fish tentatively eating the brown chips.
"Feel free to eat some." Ursula said, the sing-song gone from her voice.
Ursula went to a far table, putting the container back on a shelf and Ariel took the moment to inspect the food. She was starving, after all.
Ariel caught a speck of brown that floated just in front of her. Holding it on her finger, she put the speck on her tongue, tasting, and gagged. She was aware that fish had different palettes than mermaids, but this seemed unfair, even to them.
She waved her hand in the water, cleaning her finger of the garbage and tried to ignore her growling stomach.
"Too spicy?" Ursula asked, and Ariel looked up to see the woman was standing in front of the glass.
Ariel glared at the woman, demanding, "Why am I here? What do you want from me?"
Ursula didn't look the least bit surprised at her asking so boldly. Instead, she held something up, some kind of remote and turned it in her hands.
"Who says we want something from you?" she asked.
"If you don't want anything from me, then why keep me here? In this tank?"
"Did you ever think that perhaps that's all we wanted? To keep you here?"
It was all very dumb. Ursula was clearly playing with her. Not answering her questions. Dodging around them. Purposefully getting on her nerves. But Ariel's still tried to figure out whether or not there was some meaning underneath all of the nonsense. Her eyebrows furrowed. Why would Ursula/Vanessa and Prudence want to keep her in that tank?
"I don't know. Your holding me for ransom? Your trying to ruin my life?" Ariel said slowly, trying to piece things together, "...Your... trying... to keep me away from something?"
"Someone." Ursula clarified. "Keep you away from someone, perhaps."
"Who?" Ariel demanded, exasperated, "Who is so important, that you have Grimsby and Prudence working so hard to send me back to Atlantica?"
Ursula raised an eyebrow, pointedly, and Ariel's eyes widened.
Who? Who was so important. Who was so important. The most important person, not to her, but to Pangrea, Ariel could think of, she was madly in love with. The boy who in charge of a populations food. The boy who was her neighbor. The boy who had stolen her heart.
"Eric." she whispered, a hand going to her heart, as this set in, "Your working to break up me and Eric?"
"Your relationship ruins some more important plans." Ursula said, rather coolly, "But, behind every cloud is a rainbow, eh? Some things are working out better, than we thought. And it isn't like we can just kill you. We'd like to keep our hands clean."
"Clean!" Ariel exploded, looking the woman dead in her eyes, "Clean? How can you be clean? I know your the one behind the killed main in Florian's province. And you probably have something to do with the screaming maid back in Germany. Your hands are anything but clean."
"We digress."
"Who is we?" Ariel asked, exasperated, "Who are you?"
Ursula smiled, as if she had been waiting anxiously for this question to be asked. She casually put her hands behind her back and strolled along the length of the large room. Ariel followed, keeping sharp eyes on the woman. Waiting for a reply, but Ursula never opened her mouth again. She said nothing more, as if the thought of leaving Ariel in suspense was the highlight of her day.
"Listen here, Angel-fish," Ursula said, ignoring the question, "There's a hard way to do things, and a really hard way to do things. Now your my niece, and I don't really want to see you made into sushi. But I also don't like you, so I don't mind. That's just the way things are. Try not to tick me off, and I may just let you live to see your dear sisters again."
The threat passed right over Ariel's head.
Sure, Ursula could kill Ariel, probably very easily if she rebelled against whatever they were planning to do with her. But as far as Ariel was concerned, she was already dead without Eric.
A/N: Ta-da! Finished. Nothing very notable happened in this chapter, but much more will happen next week. Promise. Stay tuned, and Review so that I know people actually like this, and that I'm not wasting my time writing, when I could be studying for one of my major classes.
Just saying. Reviews are motivation. My job is to write, yours is to motivate. PLEASE, do your jobs.
_TheForgottenName