Hi! Wow, it's been a while. It usually is when I post these things

Anyway, my life has been a bit crazy and I don't have much time for fanfiction anymore. At all, really. I doubt any of you guys read any of my other stories but I've basically dropped them all.

As of right now I've completed six novels, one which is being pushed toward publication and the rest are in the works. Including Elephant!

A lot has changed again. In particular, I'm writing two prequels, mostly for me and that I might not even publish. One is about Hito (Sora) and Addi (Kairi), and the other is about Ellie and Ben (Riku). I promise, I will publish Elephant soon. I'm working on the third draft as we speak and it's getting really good. Different too. Different enough that I don't have to take this draft down :)

Anyway, here are some clips from Dog Days (Hito and Addi's story) and Rock (Ben and Ellie's story).

Dog Days:

"Hey, look who it is!"

Steve's voice caught my attention just enough to look up and see what he was talking about. And like magic, Hito was walking on the side of the road. He wore a pair of shorts and a bro-tank, hands in his pockets, facing the sun like it was no big deal. Just seeing his bare, toned forearms excited my stomach, turning it in an uncomfortable, yet pleasing way. It reminded me of how he held me. How safe I felt in his arms.

"Look at him. Little loser, walking around town like he owns the place. Can't believe he hasn't gotten that stupid bike of his fixed. Guess he has today off."

Steve's taunting angered me. What did he know about Hito? Still, I stayed quiet.

"You're the one who slashed his tires, right?" George asked, and my stomach dropped. "Good move man."

"Yeah? Watch this." I had no way to stop it when Steve rolled down the window and shouted, "Hey Aki!" out the window. Hito turned just in time for Steve to drive past, his tires splashing through one of the puddles in the gutter. A large spray of dirty water engulfed Hito for a second, then left him dripping with the stuff.

I gasped, undid my buckle and sat up to look out the back window.

Hito wiped some of the water out of his eyes and glanced up, looking right into my eyes. All the boys in the car were laughing, Irene was fuming, and as we rounded a corner, I tried not to cry.

What had he done to deserve that?

"That wasn't funny!" I said, turning to face Steve. "Hito didn't do anything."

"Oh right, I forgot the little Mexican girl has a crush on our old Jap friend." Steve snorted, and I flushed. "Do you want me to drop you off with him so you can make dirty babies and live your lonely lives together?"

"Wha-"

"Steve, stop it," Irene snapped. "You're not funny."

"Actually sugar, I'm hilarious," he came to a halting stop and twisted to face the two of us. "But I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to the little chica." I wanted to scream at him to leave me alone. To stop talking to me and go back to apologize to Hito. Only, I couldn't move, and I couldn't speak. "You wanna go back to him, chica? Cuz I can take you back there. Then I'll tell everyone not to talk to the poor little girl with no friends here."

I was speechless. Couldn't even think of a way to fight him. Why did he care who I talked to? Why did it matter to him if I wanted to be friends with Hito or not? It's not like he liked me all that much anyway. I was just some girl to him. No one special.

"Steve man, come on, let's not be a huge dick," George muttered. "Addi's done nothing wrong. Let's just get some food."

"In a sec." His green eyes bore into me, making me want to sink into the seat and disappear forever. "Make up your mind, Addi. You wanna try and save a Jap? Or do you want friends?"

Rock:

"Took you long enough," I growled as he moved to let me in. The apartment looked like a bachelor's pad. Musty, little furniture, not that clean, with a bunch of random crap strewn across the whole place. Video games, books, mail. Men lived here. Without a doubt.

"You're the one who's late," Benedict muttered. I pushed past him, deciding to ignore his attitude. I just wanted to get through this day without a fight.

"So, do you just want to get to work?" I asked, moving toward the kitchen. There were dishes piled in the sink, and I winced. This place was somewhat disgusting. "I don't think it'll take too long, and I'd like to get out of here as soon as possible."

"You got plans or something?"

He was leaning against the wall of the kitchen, arms crossed, with his brown eyes watching me curiously. I might have slipped up when talking to Jake, but it wasn't a lie when I said his eyes were gorgeous. They were a different shade of brown than I'd ever seen before. It was like staring into two chestnuts flecked with gold. Almost made me uncomfortable, yet I didn't look away.

"No," I said slowly. "I just would rather not spend my Saturday with you."

"Ow. Do I really repulse you that much?"

"More or less." The table was dirty, but I sat anyway and pulled out the papers and a pen. "So, it looks like just a simple form where we ask each other questions. Seems very pointless and stupid and-" My words were cut off when a packet of chocolate landed on the papers in front of me. Startled, I glanced up, not aware that Benedict had moved at all. He stood next to me, but wouldn't look at me.

I picked up the chocolate and stared at it for a moment. It wasn't high quality, but not crap either. "What's this?"

He scowled. "Look... we have to work on this project for the rest of the semester, and I need an A in this class. I think we got off on kind of the wrong foot and I think we should restart. Or something like that."

Was he embarrassed?

I glanced down at the chocolate again, and then once more back to Benedict. This was a little more than suspicious. Except he'd gone to lunch with Alex and Gavin, and who knew what they'd told him about me. Maybe everything. Alex clearly had an agenda about something having to do with Benedict.

"You've been listening to Alex, haven't you?" I asked, eyeing him. When he shrugged, I let out a small chuckle and unwrapped the bar. "Smart boy." Nothing made me feel better like chocolate, no matter what the situation. I used to eat it before meets, despite knowing it was unhealthy and could make me sick while doing flips ten feet in the air. It helped me calm down.

Hope you enjoyed those two scenes! I'm working really hard on Elephant again, and hopefully I'll work on publication soon!

~Linnea