I stare down at my body draped in white, the beeping of the heart monitor next to me is all I can hear. I glance over to Johnny who is leaning against the bed, thumbing through his phone while we wait for the doctor. The nurse was able to stitch up my mouth, said it would best to eat soft foods for the next few days as my lips will be very tender but she found something unusual on my abdomen when giving me a mandatory physical exam, so she went to find a doctor.

I glance back to Johnny and he is still entranced on whatever it is he is watching on that little screen. The soft white light reflecting off his perfectly conditioned fur. He is always such a stickler about keeping his fur smooth and shiny. It's rather amusing watching him get ready in the morning.

I continue to watch him and his eyes eventually dart to me and when he sees me looking at him he turns the phone screen off and sets in on the bed, turning his body to face me. "You alright?" He says, furrowing his brow.

I nod, not opening my mouth because my lips sting too much. I glance around and notice a small notepad on the small nightstand next to the bed. I reach to grab it, but notice there isn't a pen or pencil. I turn back to Johnny and make a writing gesture with my hand against the paper. He narrows his eyes then snaps his fingers. "Oh! A pen, uhh," He spins around, his amethyst eyes scanning the room before locking onto a pen that's attached to a clipboard at the foot of the bed. He walks over to it, pulling it off and handing it to me.

I take the pin, giving him a small smile despite it being extremely painful before jotting down "Water" onto the notepad, holding it up for Johnny to read. He looks it over and smiles. "I'll be right back." He says, giving my hand a squeeze before opening the door and walking out of the room.

I slowly set the notepad aside and stare ahead at the wood-paneled walls. I breathe out deeply, wishing I wasn't in this damn hospital and that my mouth didn't have to be pieced back together like a puzzle, and now there might be something else wrong with me. I sigh, throwing my head back, glowering up at the ceiling. I begin to think back to when I was still in high school, completely unaware of what college would actually bring for me.

Flashback

"Hey, Reed!"

I snap my head back, my eyes train on my friend as she bounds towards me, her soft black fur reflecting the afternoon sun. "Oh," I say, coming to a halt on the sidewalk as I watch my friend scamper towards me. "Hey, Lily. What's up?"

The dog-like monster stops in front of me. Her aquamarine eyes bright as she gives me a fang-infested smile. "Did you get Mr. Lewis for math?" She asks, her three tails swaying behind her as she grips her textbooks with her three arms. She did have four, but when her and her family were in a horrible car accident she lost one.

I nod. "I did, for sixth hour though, right after lunch."

"Damn," She says, twisting her long snout in disappointment. "I got him fourth hour. I was wondering why I didn't see you."

"Yeah," I say, turning to continue walking down the street, gesturing for Lily to follow. "Least we still have band."

She gives me a grin. "That's a good point." She pauses, fixing her loosely fitted white jacket as she follows me. "Are you taking Spanish this year?"

"I am, but online," I say, giving her a sideways glance, trying to keep my attention on her and the monsters walking towards me. "I didn't want to deal with an actual teacher."

Lily laughs it's a very bright and happy sound. "I can understand that." She gives me a nudge before winking. "Meet any cute guys?"

I roll my eyes, swatting a leaf off of my cinnamon bun-like horns. "I'm not here to meet guys." I say. "Maybe by my senior year, but not right now." I continue to walk forward, gripping my new books in my arms. "I just need to get through my first year as a high-schooler without any crap."

"Alright, alright," Lily says, her voice says she isn't done pestering me about the subject. "But you're a cute lady, Little Reed," She gives me a friendly nudge to the side. "I'm sure you're bound to find someone."

I laugh, giving my friend a genuine smile. She's actually a junior, where as I am a freshman, but she is a little behind and I'm a little ahead. That kind of explains why we have the same level math class.

We walk by one of the most high-class, expensive restaurants in all of Monstropolis and Lily punches my shoulder. "Dude," She says, pointing to a shiny cream-colored Roars Royce sedan. Perfectly polished, the chrome glinting beautifully in the sunlight. "Holy shit," She says, walking around the gorgeous car. A car that never in our wildest dreams we could afford. "This is a three-hundred-thousand-dollar car!" She crouches to try and peak into its windows, but they are so well tinted it's impossible to see anything.

I walk around the vehicle, clutching my books tight to my chest. I am in awe of this beautiful car. I peer closely at the paint and notice little flecks of silver and gold as the light hits them. "Wow," I say, wanting to reach out and touch the mobile piece of art, but hesitating because I don't want to upset its owner.

"Can you imagine having the kind of money that allows you to own cars like this?" Lily says, joining me at my side. "I mean, you could blow three-hundred grand on a car just like that." She sighs. "I couldn't even afford the headlights off this thing."

I nod, but remain silent, stepping back to put some safe distance between myself and the angel on wheels. I lean against the railing that's keeping the landscaping of the restaurant in, setting my books down beside me, watching Lily as she fixes her long, black hair into a bun using the Roars Royce's windows as a mirror. "Hey, now I can say I've been in contact with the one percent." She says, stepping back, leaning on the rail next to me once her hair is situated. "Maybe if I find the owners I can touch their jacket or something and some of their riches will be blessed upon me."

I laugh. "I don't think that's how it works."

"It should be," She says, moving a stray strand of hair behind her perked ears. "They have the money, they should share it."

I shrug. "I suppose."

"Don't be such a downer," Lily teases. "Lighten up a little." She then gives me a hard pat on the shoulder that I wasn't expecting and I stumble forward, smacking right into the car, my horns barely missing the glass of the windows.

"Oh shit," Lily gasps behind me and I stare in horror as the alarm starts to go off, the sound loud and piercing in my ears.

I don't have time to act before I feel Lily yank me away from the car, dragging me down the street as the alarm continues to echo through the city.

End of Flashback

I look down from the ceiling and see Johnny standing beside the bed, a glass bottle with a white cap in his hands. "I figured you didn't want the nasty hospital water." He says, twisting the cap off and pouring the water into a cup for me. "Did you doze off or something?" He hands me the water and I sip slowly. "When I came in you were just staring at the ceiling."

I give him a so-so hand gesture and he smirks. "It's weird not hearing you talk, though," He says, giving me a wink. "I do like not having to constantly hear your smartass mouth."

I smack Johnny across the face with the pillow resting on my stomach and he laughs, leaning forward to kiss my forehead. "I still love you."

I glare at him and he just smirks. God, even to this day that dumb smirk still gets to me. I just roll my eyes and notice the doctor has come in. He walks over to the bed, giving me and Johnny a nice smile. "Hi there, I'm Dr. Shepherd," He says, giving Johnny and I a charming smile as he creeps over to us, his lizard-like form almost similar to Randall's, minus the constant sneering and his scales are gold, not purple. "I was just coming to tell you that the lump on your stomach is just scar tissue." He glances to me. "It happens a lot when babies develop their horns in the womb, but it's nothing serious, simply cosmetic." He flips through my chart, sauntering towards me, using a light to gently inspect my stitches. "Well, it looks like Jackie got you all fixed up. That's good." He writes something down on one of the papers. "Try to stay away from any sharp foods like chips or really anything crunchy for the next ten days. Don't want to risk opening those back up." He gives me a kind smile before looking to Johnny. "I have her discharge work all filled out, you guys are free to go." He starts to write more down on the chart. "I'm sending in a prescription for some painkillers and you should come back in ten days to have those stitches removed." He starts towards the door, before turning back, that smile still plastered to his face. "Just leave your gown on the edge of the bed."

I'm wheeled out to the front of the hospital in a wheelchair by Jackie, the nurse who stitched me up, I still have that little notebook and pen in my hands as I wait for Johnny to bring the car around.

I watch as he pulls up in his black Roars Royce. He must've taken my car home so that he could drive his favorite toy. I shake my head, smiling. Jackie helps me to the car, her smile genuine and I can see how impressed she is by Johnny's car as she opens the door and it opens backwards. "You get better now, hun," She says as I climb into the car. "No more biting through your lips." She scolds playfully and I give her a soft smile as she closes the door.

"So," Johnny looks irritated as he pulls out of the hospital parking lot. "Do you still want to help Mike and Sulley?"

I hold up a finger, jotting something down on my notepad. I can feel his eyes darting from me to the road constantly as I write. "What are you writing?" He finally asks, I can hear the impatience in his voice so I try to write a little faster.

We come to a stoplight and I hold up the notepad. Written on it is "I do still want to help them, but I want to visit a friend first."

Johnny gives me a confused look as he drives down the highway. "What friend?"

I take my time, writing the four familiar letters, a lump beginning to develop in my throat as I rip the note off the pad and stick it to his steering wheel.

Johnny looks at the note and turns to me, furrowing his brow in confusion. "Who's Lily?"

Well there you have it guys! Getting a little into Reed's backstory a bit. Lily is actually a real life friend of mine and she kind of inspired the character. I love her to pieces and she's turning 22 in a few days. Gah, she's so old. Lol. Anyway, I hope you liked the little flashback I did. I've been reading Ironelf's story, Craze, and it's set back when Ginger and Johnny were still in high school so it's inspired me to delve deeper into when Reed was younger. You guys should really check out Craze, it's really good! I enjoy it so much! It's definitely a nice read and easy to follow. Also, sorry about the couple days of silence, I've been busy with life so I hope you can forgive me. Anyway, thank you guys for all your love and support and your sweet reviews! They mean the world to me! Thank you! And until next chapter! Bye-bye!