College

OK, hey guys!! How's life? Mine is great!  I got an email from Southern Virginia University telling me that i had been ACCEPTED!!! I can't tell you how happy I was to get that email! I had a celebration by myself.

Ok beyond that, I have to ask this. Why is it so difficult to ask the boy you like if he has a girlfriend? I struggled all day to ask him. We are great friends so I didn't want to kill the relationship, but I needed to know. It was killing me. Plus I'm super obvious when I like someone. Subtle isn't something I'm good at in that field. Usually.This time I think he knows I like him. GAH! Bah humbug. Anyway, I wrote chapter two of Perfect Strangers. Let me know what you think!!

Chapter 2- Perfect Strangers

I stared after Cam, watching the empty space where his body would have been. My mouth felt dry. My eyes were fixed and my body went rigid. A chill ran down my spine. Something didn't feel right to me; Cam had reacted so strangely, and it was almost as if the necklace had responded to his presence. My fists were pressed against my legs, my arms locked. I needed to go back to my room and call my mom. I wanted out. Too many weird things had happened today. I didn't like it. I was the kind of girl who liked normal. Heck, I didn't even like fantasy anything. Not books. Not movies. Especially not something that was supposed to be real. I stuck to action adventure. Normal. That's it.

“Are you OK, Laela. You look like you've seen a ghost.” Kitty said quietly, putting her hand on my shoulder.

I glanced at her for a moment, and then shook my head, clearing my thoughts. “Yeah, I'm fine... just... tired. I think I'm going to go back to the room and sleep for a little bit before the movie, OK?” I said, smiling and hoping she wouldn't see through my lie.

She watched me for a moment. I could tell she was processing my words, but finally she sighed.

“I'll be up to wake you a half hour before the show,” she said, rolling her emerald eyes toward the ceiling.

With a smile I stood and excused myself, and had to keep myself in control or else I would have bolted right through the door and sprinted up the stairs to my room. When I hit the hallway I suddenly felt lost. What was I thinking? I didn't know how to get back to my room. I was just following Kitty the whole way. Crap. I turned to the right, thinking that if I followed a hallway long enough I should find the foyer. Seemed logical enough. Forty steps down the hall my phone buzzed. I reached into my pocket to grab it, but it slipped through my fingers and went crashing to the floor. Growling I bent down to gather the scattered pieces, and when I had collected them all I stood, nearly bumping noses with Cam. His hot breath bounced off my cheeks, drawing a blush to my skin. I could feel the heat of his body beneath his clothes at his closeness. I swallowed hard.

“Where are you running off to?” he asked, a coy smile on his lips. He didn't move away.

“T-to my room. I'm... going to take a nap before the movie... Jet lag.” I stammered.

I took a step back and moved around him. He didn't make a move to follow, but rather stood where he was, watching me leave from over his shoulder, a calculating smile spreading across his lips. There was something off about the people at this school. I pushed against a door, opening it into the foyer. Yes! I celebrated my discovery by rushing to the elevator. I clicked the button relentlessly until the doors slid open. There was no one inside. With a sigh of relief I stepped inside and put my phone back together and dialed my mom's number. I listened to the dial tone for seven rings before her machine picked up.

“You've reached Danica Price, I'm away from the phone right now, leave me a message.” her voice chirped.

I waited for the beep. “Hey mom, it's me. Just calling to let you know that I made it safely. This school is cyclopean! Did you know dad is paying ten thousand a year to keep me here? I need you to answer this question honestly. Please. Did dad send me here because he doesn't like Tony? Or is it something I did? There's no way he would have just sent me here for educational purposes. Is it something I can atone for? Some of the people here are.... well honest to goodness mom, they are freaking me out. I've only been here for a few hours and I already have enemies, stalkers and creeps. Love you. Call me soon.”

I hung up just as the elevators dinged open at my floor. I stuck my head out of the doors and peeked around the corner, glancing up and down the hallways. No one. Good. I stepped out of the elevator, my foot catching on the door and sending me toppling to the floor. I had never been good with elevators. My mom told me that even when I was little I would have to jump out of an elevator to ensure that I stayed up right. Laying on the ground, my black hair tangled around my face and in my mouth I blew a puff of air and sent my hair flying. Groaning I pulled myself from the ground and trekked down the hall and stuck my key into the electronic lock on the door. The door clicked open and cautiously I stuck my head inside and glanced around. Empty. Thank goodness. I rushed into my room and shut the door, not bothering to kick off my shoes and fell face first onto my bed.

“This whole school is full of creeps.” I mumbled into my pillow. “I hate my life.”

****

I'm stuck in a forest, it's dark and I can't see a thing. I started running, trying to break free of the trees. My legs get tangled in the dress I'm wearing. Why am I wearing this? I keep running, feeling like I need to get out of the forest and find something. No, not something, someone. The urgency tugging on my chest starts to frighten me. Why do I need to find this person? With the way I feel it's almost as if this person is near death. Finally I break away from the trees and into an immense field. On the other side is a man. Lightning flashes, illuminating the scene. My eyes focused on the figure, and suddenly I realized it wasn't just one person, but two. My hands flew to my sides, bunching in tight knots around the thick material.

“Let him go you wretch!” I scream, though I have no idea why.

A laugh echoes around me like it's been amplified on surround sound and a chill runs down my spine.

“Now, now, Miss Lealais, no need to use such harsh language. You know I'll let him go,” the voice said darkly, pausing for a moment. “When you agree to my terms.”

I growled, feeling a strange sort of force prickling at my fingertips. “I would rather die.”

He chuckled. “You wound me, precious. Such ugly words from beautiful lips. If that's truly how you feel, then so be it.”

Suddenly there is someone behind me. His hands lingering on my waist and one clamping tightly around my neck. My body stiffens and my hands suddenly ignite. Flames leap from my hands and meet the man's cloak. He's burning. I take off, sprinting across the field toward the figure standing on the other side. This is the person I'm searching for. It's him. When I reach him, lightning flashes again and I see his face. It's Stitch. He looks weary, but relived to see me.

“Lealais, you shouldn't have come. You know what he wants. Don't do this for me.” He begs, tears forming on the outside edges of his eyes.

“I do this because I love you, Everard. I would never—“ My body suddenly feels insanely hot, like I'm burning from the inside. I can't speak, I can't move.

“Because you rejected me, you shall pay. You will be my queen. Henseforth you shall be known not by Laelais the Compasionate. You shall be known as Laelais, the Pheonix Queen. Every one hundred years you will die and be reborn from the ashes like a true Pheonix.” the dark voice hissed.

With all my will and strength I reached to my neck and yanked my necklace off. It was the butterfly pendant! I put it in Stitch's hand and a tear escaped my eye.

“I'll always belong to you. Time is but an obstacle.”

****

I woke up screaming, my clothes stuck to my body. A sticky layer of sweat covered my body. I was breathing so hard I thought I would pass out. I pressed my hand over my heart. My head was spinning and I had to lay back, closing my eyes or else I would have been out cold.

“What the heck was that?” I asked myself. Even now the dream was fading. I couldn't remember anything but my exchange with Stitch—and who the heck was Everard?

My door creaked open, and I screamed. Kitty screamed in response.

“Jeez! Will you calm down?” she panted, holding her hand over her heart, leaning against my door frame. “I just came to wake you up, but it seems you were already up.”

I sat up slowly, trying to calm my rapidly beating heart. “Sorry, I had a nightmare.” I sighed.

“Oh, well... I'm sorry. Uh, the movie starts in thirty minutes. You might want to shower. You look like you've come from the Amazon.” she wrinkled her nose. “We share the bathroom on this side. The door is right there,” she points to a door on the right side of my room. I had assumed it was a closet. “It connects our rooms too, so you're just lucky that Molly and her cronies aren't on this side of the room.”

I laughed and she left. Padding across the room I poked my head into the bathroom. It was quaint. There was a toilet smashed between the wall and the double sinks. On the other side of the small room was a shower. I stepped into the room and locked both doors and shed my clothes. I turned the nob to hot and stepped in. The warm water felt amazing against my skin. I closed my eyes, soaking the warmth in and suddenly I remembered the agonizing burning sensation I had felt in my dream and my eyes snapped open. THAT NECKLACE! I gave it to Stitch in my dream.... what if... what if... No that's absurd. Crazy child. It couldn't be real. I shake my head and clear my thoughts. What seems like two seconds later Kitty is banging on the door.

“Holy crow, Laela, save some water for the fishes! The movie starts in ten minutes!! Get out!” she yells.

“Sorry!!” I say, cutting off the water flow and stepping out of the shower. I yank a towel off the rack and dry my hair. My hair curls up automatically—a trait I gained from my mother. After I've dried myself off I unlock the doors and rush into my room. Raking through my drawers I yank out a dark purple sweater Tony had given me for my birthday and a pair of skinny jeans. Throwing on my clothes I rushed back to the mirror in the bathroom to fix my makeup, and then wrestled with my hair forever, finally catching it in a decent ponytail. With a sigh I went back to my room and found Kitty tapping her foot impatiently in my doorway. She looked nice, wearing a t-shirt and jeans and a flimsy jacket. I glanced at her and wondered why she was wearing something so... well cold.

“Aren't you going to freeze?” I asked her while pulling on my boots.

She smiled, “Well, the way I see it, if I wear something like this then Jay will have to let me borrow his jacket. I have a plan. Why borrow it when we can share?” she winked at me. “You know that the clothing companies are only trying to play matchmaker, right? Why else would girls jackets be so flimsy?”

I stared at her. She had a point. We stood and walked to the elevator, the doors opening to reveal the person I had no desire to see tonight.

“Ladies,” Stitch purred, gesturing to invite us into the elevator.

Kitty smiled and stepped in. I stood there, looking between him and the floor, weighing my chances of actually making it on without killing myself. Taking a deep breath I lifted my foot and stepped into the elevator and lost my balance. Kitty moved to catch me but Stitch made it faster. His arms locked around my waist, pulling me into his chest. I felt my cheeks flare up and didn't dare look at him. I muttered thank you, and righted myself, standing awkwardly in the corner of the car. Kitty glanced at me and shrugged. We rode in silence, and once we had entered the foyer Kitty spotted Jay and Cam. She waved them over, beaming wildly. When they approached Cam's face paled. He looked as if he were staring right at me, but not seeing me. I glanced over my shoulder; Stitch stood behind me glaring sternly at Cam.

“Too much testosterone...” Kitty muttered and linked arms with Jay. “C'mon guys, the movie isn't going to wait for us.”

I trailed after Kitty and Jay, leaving Cam and Stitch in their standoff. As I left, they moved closer, and Stitch whispered so quietly I had to strain to hear what he said.

“Give up now, you know you'll lose.”

BIRTHDAY!!!!!

HAI! Today I am officially old enough to:

• Be tried as an adult
• Go to Jail
• Buy dry ice
• purchase things off the TV
• Stay out past midnight.

Those were the things that my parents told me this morning at breakfast. Well, I've had an awesome day!! I'm excited for my party later. Mostly I'm just excited to be having my friends over!! My dad got me a USB DVD drive so that I can load software on my computer now, so I don't have to use dinky generic programs to get things done. YES! MICROSOFT WORD HERE I COME!! I've realized that I love listening to the song Porn Star Dancing..... awful title, skanky song, but I love the singer's voice. Plus they bring in other singers from bands that I like too. I know, think what you will about me. Its a dirty song. Really dirty but I like it. 

Anyway, Perfect Strangers updates are coming I swear. I'm working on the plot direction right now, kinda playing with where I want things to go, and who the bad guys and all are..... They still need names and such, but I do have a request of all you blog goers.... Would you rather me keep updating simply Perfect Strangers, or would you like to read other shorts and bits of Branded. Your choice really. I'll keep writing whether or not you want to read them. But really, just let me know what you want to read and I'll keep it coming. I'll update Perfect Strangers here regardless, it just may come more slowly. Last night while I was high on pain killers I read Erin's blog post. She had a rather wonderful epiphany. My whole life makes sense now. You should read it here. It's rather amusing. Girls, this will make everything clear.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!!!  Love you guys!

End of CHAPTER ONE

OKAY, this is the end of the first chapter of my story Perfect Strangers. I hope you all like it. I hope it turns out well......



      The elevator doors dinged open. I closed my eyes, preparing to step into the torture chamber filled with that awful music when I heard a voice that made my eyes snap open.

      "Elevator music isn't that bad, love." Stitch said, a coy smile playing on his lips.

      Kitty and I stepped onto the elevator and I was careful to avoid Stitch's eyes. Kitty smiled up at him, and glanced at me when she noticed his stare. We rode in silence for a time, stopping to gather more people on each floor. Suddenly Kitty spoke.

      "So, why are you so dressed up Stitch?" she asked, giving him a long once over.

      Politely he smiled, gesturing to his tux. "Because I have to drive the Headmaster and his wife to dinner this evening. They're meeting with his parents for an evening on the town."

      "So you're not going to be at dinner tonight then?" I couldn't see Kitty's face but she sounded disappointed.

      "No, but I'll be back in time for the movie."

      The elevator doors opened on the lobby floor and everyone flooded out. I knew there were too many bodies in that elevator to begin with. Stitch made it a crowd. I waited awkwardly while Kitty finished speaking with him, wishing I knew my way to the cafeteria so I could leave them to speak by themselves. They had started whispering something, but I wasn't about to try and listen in. I glanced around, taking in the colors of the school. Bright blood red, a magnificent gold and dark charcoal black. Nice. The colors at Helm High were bland. Purple and white. Boring if you ask me. I fiddled with my hair as I stared up at the ceiling. Suddenly there was a hand on my elbow. I glanced at it and immediately wished that I hadn't.

      "Hope to see you at the movie later, love." He smiled at me, a smile that sent shivers down my spine.

      My skin burned where his fingers made contact. I felt a strange pull as I looked up into those mesmerizing green eyes of his. His smile widened and I had an unexplainable urge to wrap my arms around him and kiss him right there. No! Stop! Laela Price you have a boyfriend that loves you. You don't even know this kid. I yelled at myself. I pulled my arm out of his grip and took a step away from him, holding my arm at my side.

      "Maybe."  I said quickly and turned to leave though I had no idea where I was headed.

      "The cafeteria is the other way, Laela." He said.

      My body did another involuntary shiver when he said my name. The way he said it. So soft, almost a whisper. Like a lover would whisper 'I love you,' as you drifted to sleep in their arms. Careful not to look at him again I turned around and headed the other way, all the while Kitty giggled quietly behind me. She skipped up to me and linked her arm with mine. The way she smiled at me I knew she was bursting to say something. She was polite enough to wait until we had our food and were seated at a monstrous table in a gargantuan room. The food wasn't your ordinary school lunch either. It was a full catered meal. Waiters and everything. Right down to the menus. I ordered Alfredo chicken and a salad with a lemon-aid. Kitty was a little more adventurous and ordered Strozzapreti and a salad.

      "He is so hung on you." she announced suddenly. "You have to come to the movie tonight!"

       My face went red. "No, I'm just gonna stay in my room and--" I started

      "Do what? Call your mom?"

      "Yes, actually. I need to.... check up on her." I was always a terrible liar. I was actually going to call my mom and ask why the heck she let my father send me here.

      "You can call her tomorrow. It's Saturday night! Come on, they only show a campus movie once a week. Tonight they're playing that new Robin Hood with Russel Crowe in it! You can't turn down a movie with such a sexy man as the lead! I know you want to come." She stared at me with her bright green eyes, pleading, battling, and winning.

      I let out an exasperated sigh, "Fine! I'll come... but don't you try and set me up with Stitch. I don't want to be murdered, and I have a boyfriend thank you. I love the one I have."

     "A boyfriend?! Oh man, you're just digging yourself a grave! He's sooooo into you, and if he knows you have a boyfriend, isn't that a reason for him to try harder to get your attention? You're like, the forbidden fruit and he can't resist you."

      I was beginning to think that Kitty was crazy. She couldn't know that Stitch was crazy for me. He wasn't. We had only just met. It was impossible. Suddenly there were more people sitting down at our table with their food. I glanced up and found myself staring into a pair of pale blue eyes. The boy smiled, his blond hair falling over his eyes slightly. 

     "We couldn't stay over there any longer." his eyes never left mine. He smiled, "Hi, I'm Cameron. Most people just call me Cam, and this is my friend Jay. That's not short for anything." he winked.

     "H-hey, I'm Laela." I stammered, my cheeks flushing. Why did British boys have to have such a charming demeanor?

     "Ah, and American. Lovely. Did they kick you out for being beautiful?"

     My face went an even deeper shade of red. "N-no! I mean, I'm not pretty. My dad sent me here to keep me away from my boyfriend, that's all."

     This time it was Jay that spoke. "Not pretty? Are you daft? You're gorgeous darling." he said, smiling across the table at me. He completely contrasted his friend. Jay had dark chocolate brown eyes and dark shaggy hair and perfectly tanned skin. "That's the real reason. Your father had to send you away because America was jealous."

     "Oh enough you two, she's taken." Kitty said, forking a mound of pasta and lifting it to point at them. "She's got a boyfriend and she loves him. End of story."

     Cam made a hurt face, putting his hand on his heart, "I'm so offended, Kitten, I can't believe you would be so blunt. It's not like you."

     "I told you not to call me Kitten, I hate that. My name is Kitty. And don't you have a girlfriend?"

     He shook his head, and then turned to look me right in the eye, "Nope, I'm a free man now, but don't you fret. Everything will work out fine."

     Suddenly something in my pocket vibrated and I squeaked, throwing my hand over the object quickly. With a quick half smile and a laugh I looked down to see what my hand had covered. It wasn't the pocket holding my phone, but the pocket where I had put the butterfly necklace. Putting my hand back over the pocket I looked up to find Jay and Kitty staring at me with puzzled looks on their faces. I smiled again embarrassed and muttered 'phone,' before taking another bite of chicken. They brushed it off and continued eating, making small talk amongst themselves, but Cam on the other hand kept his eyes fixated on my hand covering my pocket. It unnerved me. What was he looking at? Could he tell that my phone was in the other pocket? Suddenly and without warning the necklace vibrated again and Cam stood up.

     "I have to go, I just remembered I needed to check on something in the lab. See you all at the movie tonight," He said quickly, leaving his plate at the table, only half eaten.

     "Well... Cam has certainly lost it." Kitty commented, watching Cam leave the cafeteria and nearly knocking a girl flat on her butt. "What's his problem?"

      "He's been this way since he dumped Courtney this morning. He was acting all weird. Kept saying something about the butterfly. Sounded like a loon." Jay replied.

      My breath hitched in my throat. He said something about the butterfly?! Did he know about the necklace that Stitch had given me? Suddenly I felt a rock drop into the pit of my stomach and my appetite disappeared. Too many coincidences, and I wasn't taking any chances.

Perfect Strangers

First off, I must say this.

Clayton and I are getting married.

It's a shotgun wedding, we'll be in Vegas this weekend. All of you are welcome to join us. We'll be in a chapel on the strip, and it shall be a glorious wedding. We're both excited. We figured if we were going to get married during the school year, we may as well do it on a three day weekend. Beyond that, I decided to keep writing my Perfect Strangers story a little bit, we'll see how this goes, its off the top of my head. I'm playing with the characters... trying to figure out how they tick.I've got to get into their heads, once that happens things will run a lot smoother. Some of the names here are odd, but I congratulate myself on being able to keep it original. Mostly. And for all you who are worried about Clayton and I, please don't be. It's all in our heads. There's no wedding.

     I stared at the necklace in my hands. There was something about it that seemed... odd. It refracted the light in such a way that the tiny wings looked as if they were beating in slow motion. I stroked the long body of the butterfly with my finger and I swear it shuddered. Not wanting to question my sanity more, I stuffed it into my pocket and headed back down the hall to my room. I needed to unpack and get settled, and call Tony. That was the first thing I needed to do. Hear Tony's voice. Especially after that encounter with Stitch. It made me nervous and I longed to hear a familiar voice.

    Once I entered the room, er suite, I was careful to avoid the seething glares of the other girls. I wondered what was so special about Stitch that made me the instant enemy because he and I were speaking. Sure, he was attractive and all, but if that was the only reason I knew I was going to have a hard time here. Quietly I entered my room and glanced around. I dragged my belongings out of the doorway and into the room. It was larger than my room back home and felt empty. I needed to get my pictures up. First thing I retrieved from my bag were my speakers and my Ipod. I plugged them into the wall and let the sweet sounds of Breaking Benjamin fill my room. Now, don't get me wrong, just because I listen to bands like Breaking Benjamin and Three Days Grace doesn't mean I'm some child that hates the world or my life, because I don't, I just like the uniqueness of their songs. They don't write about girls all the time. They've got a way with expressing other problems in the world and I quite enjoy it. After that I seemed to move exponentially quicker. My room was set up in a few hours and I felt right at home. The last thing I placed on my dresser were pictures of my friends and family back home. I noticed that my father never really was in any of the pictures of our family. Just my mom and my little brother Kyler. Turning away from the dresser I extracted the last picture from my bag. A photo of me and Tony at the Sweetheart's Ball. We had been caught off guard and were cracking up. Him in his tux and me in my burgundy ball gown. We had an amazing time that night, and that picture captured it all.

   I placed the picture on the small nightstand next to my bed and laid down on top of the new downy comforter my mom sent with me. I extracted my phone from my pocket and dialed Tony's number. He picked up on the fourth ring, just like he always did.

     "Hey beautiful," he crooned, his voice made me shiver. "Miss me already?"

     "I missed you the second I stepped onto that plane." I replied, fighting tears as a wave of home-sickness washed over me. "I miss everyone. This place is ridiculous."

    "As in? The people, or the place."

     "Both. This place is costing my father ten grand a year to keep me here, and the room is like a hotel suite. My roommates are... well let's just say I already have a few enemies. I haven't lived here for four hours and people already want my head on a platter. Things were just so much more simple back home in the States." I sighed. "Speaking of the States, how was school yesterday?"

     "Empty without you. Everyone was lost without you. We need our comic relief back. You always made things interesting and without you, math just isn't the same." he said, laughing slightly, "Though I must say that Mr. Torgi isn't missing you too badly."

    I laughed. "Of course he's not. The man was probably celebrating and rejoicing to high heaven that I'm out of his hair. How's Keltie?"

     "She's missing you bad. She wanders around like a lost puppy without you. Even Rush is having a hard time."

     "Rush? Like, big, tough, football player. That Rush?" I found myself wishing I was back in Florida with my friends. You know things are bad when the football players start to miss you.

     "Yeah, the kid looked like he was going to cry. You were doing so much for him, and I was proud of you. He's been clean for three months, and now you're gone. He's afraid he's gonna go back to the booze. He left school in a panic. I think he's chained himself to his bed."

     "Very funny. I'm gonna give him a call. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

     "'Kay, love you, Laela." he said. "Wish I could kiss ya."

     "Kisses, love you." I hung up and dialed Rush's number quickly. It rang and rang and rang, and just as I was about to hang up, he answered.

     "OH SWEET MOTHER! YOU CALLED!!!" Rush sounded close to tears.

     "Hey, Rush. Tony said you were having a hard time yesterday. Want to talk about it?" I asked; I never tried to act like his psychologist, but sometimes things just came out sounding like that. I think secretly he appreciates it.

     "I'm scared, Laela. I don't know what I'm gonna do now that you're gone." he sighed, "What if I'm at a party and because you're not there, I start drinking again? I don't want to be addicted to the stuff, but I know that if I take another drink, I'll be right back in that hole you pulled me out of."

    "I'll tell you what you do. If you're at a party, and you know there's alcohol there, avoid it. I know you can do it. And if it helps, picture me guarding the drinks with a rifle. I'll shoot you if you try to take a drink. You know how mean I can get with a gun." I heard him mumble 'I know,' on the other end and smiled to myself. "Just think that if you come close, I'll shoot you, and I wont shoot to kill. I'll maim you and cripple you for the rest of your life because that's what alcohol does to you. You've been sober for three months, and you've made so much progress. Listen.... what time is it now?"

     "Noon..." he replied.

     "Okay, that's not going to work. What time do you get done with practice after school?"

     "Around five or so. Usually."

     "Okay, that would make it.... ten here. So everyday after practice I want you to call me. Tell me about your day, just talk. Talk and I'll listen. I'll always be there, even if I'm not there physically."

     "That's really late, Laela. Are you sure you want me calling you that late? I can always call in the morning."

     "That wont work because we're five hours ahead of you guys back in Florida. I'll be fine. You are what matters. Just remember to call, okay?" There was a harsh knock at my door and a muffled voice yelling something at me. "Hang on, Rush," I stepped off my bed and went to the door. When I opened it I nearly got hit in the face by the descending fist. "Geez, don't smash my face. Can I help you?"

     The girl standing there was pale; pale and perfect. Her eyes were bright green, just like Stitch's. Her hair was dark auburn and had a slight curl to it. She smiled, "Sorry, I didn't know if you could hear me over that music." She said kindly, "Dinner's starting. I figured since you are new here I'd take you down there."

     "Oh, uh, sure, just let me get my shoes on. Hang on." I put the phone back to my ear while I pulled my shoes on. "Hey, Rush, I'm going to dinner now, but I promise that we'll talk later. I believe in you. You're strong, and I know what you're capable of."

     "Thanks, Laela. Have a good time. Don't talk to strangers." I could hear the smirk in his voice.

     "Bye Rush," I hung up, laughing to myself.

    I yanked my boots on and stepped out of my room. The girl turned back to face me as  we exited the room.

    "I'm Kitty, and yes, that's my real name. My parents thought it was cute. And you're Laela, the new girl and talk of the room. It seems that Molly's hating you pretty hard here. She's not used to competition."

     "Who's Molly?" I felt stupid, like I should know the answer already. "Is she that red-head?"

     Kitty nodded. "She's laid claim on Stitch, but doesn't seem to see that he's not interested in her. I don't think he ever will be. She's not really his type."

     "He has a type?" Suddenly I wished I hadn't said anything. Kitty was staring at me with a sly smile. It reminded me of a fox. "I mean, Molly's gorgeous, why wouldn't he like her?"

     "She's a witch with a capital 'B'. But you're gorgeous too, and you seem to have his attention. He's got a type," she paused to press the elevator button, "and you definitely fit it. I've seen his sketches. He told me one day when I asked why he always drew girls that looked the same, he leaned in real close and whispered," she leaned in to demonstrate, "'Because she's the perfect girl. Always has been, and always will be.'" She laughed, "Come to think of it, his drawings look a lot like you. Strange coincidence."

     Coincidence... Somehow I just didn't believe that.

Random Character Exercise

So..... I got bored and found this ridiculous character development questionnaire. So I just took the last questions as I don't want to fill out all 100+ questions. But I decided to just Alex Day because well recently I've been writing her a lot. So..... here goes nothing!


1. What is the thing that has frightened you most? Do you think there is anything out there that's scarier than that? What do you think that would be?
     What frightens me the most? Hmm.... well certainly not dying. I'm not afraid of spiders. I'll tell you what I'm afraid of. I'm afraid of losing the man that I love. The thought alone scares me out of my mind. I've gone over and over my plan in my mind but there's no way to complete it without dying, which doesn't hurt me, but it means I can never see Quinn again. Nothing could be scarier than a place without Quinn. I don't want to admit it... but maybe I am scared of dying because I'm scared of losing him.
2. Has anyone or anything you've ever cared about died? How did you feel about it? What happened?
      Has anyone or anything I've cared about died... well certainly. I fought side by side all my friends in the Great Shaian War. I've lost my family, my country, and of course my planet. I thought it was gone forever until Quinn came into my life again. But beyond that I plan on losing my life. No, I'm not taking it myself, I'll fall by the hands of the King, but this will come full circle. He'll die. He will.
3. What was the worst injury you've ever received? How did it happen?
      The worst injury? Well, I've lived well beyond any person, and experienced beyond the human spectrum of pain, but the one injury that I received that caused me the most pain came because of one of my experiments. He turned sour, and well.... tried to gut me. He got pretty far before my squad came to the rescue. I ended up in the hospital on Shai for three months.
4. How ticklish are you? Where are you ticklish?
      Am I ticklish? What kind of question is that? If you want to know, no scratch that, if you must know, yes I am ticklish. Quite ticklish actually. Where, I will not tell you as that could be used against me one day.
5. What is your current long term goal?
       To kill the King, and spread the Virus among my people once more. This is something that I've been working on for quite some time now.
6. What is your current short term goal?
      To kill the King. It's really important.
7. Do you have any bad habits? If so, what are they, and do you plan to get rid of them?
      Bad habits.... yes I have a few of them. I don't plan on getting rid of them any time soon. They actually help me along in my field of work. I'm in the military.... well moonlighting in the military. My actual job is to lead the Rebellion. I've got nearly half the kingdom on my side already. I think my worst habit is that I hold grudges. I don't know if I can eliminate that from my life.
8. If you were a mundane person, what would you do with your life? What occupation would you want, and how would you spend all your time?
     If I was a mundane? What is that? A magic-less being? Well I suppose if I hadn't been born on Shai I think I would probably have been a doctor.... or maybe still in the military. I'd get married and have a family. Believe it or not, I would like a family. I think I could be a decent mother if I didn't have such a bad rap sheet. It's not my fault I'm good at what I do. 
9. What time period do you wish you had lived in? Why? (Looking at this as an attempt to change history doesn't count.) What appeals to you about this era?
     I've lived in all of them. I think times were simpler when people believed in magic. I didn't have to hide what I was then, and people loved me... and feared me. They feared what I was capable of, but loved me as a leader. I kept them safe from the outside. That was the only time I would go back to. The time when I didn't have to hide.
10. How private of a person are you? Why?
      I enjoy my privacy yes, but I also enjoy being out in the world. I don't like people snooping around in my business, I take great lengths to secure my secrets seeing as most of them are reason for me to be sentenced to death. Yes, I guess I'm a very private person. 
11. If you were to gain an obscenely large sum of money (via an inheritance, a lawsuit, a lottery, or anything else) what would you do with it?
       Well, considering I've been wealthy all my life (remember when I said I had lived through all the periods of time on earth? I kept all my money) so if I were to say, inherit a large sum of money, I would use it to fund my research that I of course don't pay for. it would just be nice to have.
12. What would you wish for if you found a genie?
      That the King would be dead. Things would be a lot easier if he would just die already. That would be my first wish to ensure that I got it. My second? That Quinn and I could live happily ever after without being disturbed. I want to live my life out with my husband without the hassles of the outside world. Third wish? That the next king wouldn't be such a turd.
13. What do you do when you are bored?
     Research. Experiment. I've turned a flower into a man-eating plant, I've fused animals to make monsters, and I've changed the DNA structures of children and made them into monsters. Rory was my first. Remember that injury I mentioned before? He was the experiment gone wrong. Slowly he lost his grip on humanity and didn't understand anything except that I had changed him. Made him what he was, and he wanted to kill me. That's what drove him. I eventually killed him. It was a sad thing. I liked that kid. He had so much potential...
14. What is the most frightening potential handicap or disfigurement you can conceive of? What makes it so frightening?
      Club-foot parasitic twins with a foot growing out of their head. They have a chimera triplet. And I can't even feel sorry for baby spiders with birth defects. It's a disturbing mental image. That's why.

Updates

I realized that I'm such a procrastinator!!! I tell myself that I'm going to blog every day, but that never happens. I promise though that i'll make a better effort to put up a post every (or close to it) day. Well to start off, my birthday is coming up. I'm going to be 18. I feel so old. My parents decided that I can have a party here, and the more I think about it, the less people I realize that I actually hang out with. I've been stuck with the same people since like... ninth grade. Well not really. Most of them went to PG, so I guess the correct thing to say would be that I've been stuck with the same crowd since my sophomore year. Oh well though, that's what college is for. I'll meet new people, make new friends. I'm looking forward to that actually. Maybe then I'll go on more dates.... And speaking of dates, I did go on one last night with a boy named Themis (i think i spelled that right.... it's pronounced tem-eese.). Turns out my neighbor, who used to be great friends with him, now can't stand him, so I get this text message today asking me why the heck I went out with this kid. Well, the answer is because Erin and Amber were kind enough to set me up. I quite enjoyed my date actually. We all had fun. But my tooth broke. And no, it's not what you're thinking. I had a temporary filling in that tooth for a while now, and it just happened to break yesterday. We went to see the new Disney film Tangled. I adore that movie by the way, I sing the songs to myself everyday. Then we went to Farr's and got some yummy ice cream and I sat by the fire and hogged all the warmth. I hate winter. I think the most enjoyable part of it all was when I kicked everyone's butt in the game we played at Amber's house. It's called Betrayal at the House on the Hill. I had never even heard of it before last night, but it was strangely fun. I'm stealing it from Erin for my party. Anyway, I'll get around to posting the pictures for the last few days later. I'm back to watching Robin Hood.

Life....

So I'm so sorry I've been missing for so long! AH! Anyway I've been good, nothing much going on, just trying not to kill myself with my mosaic for mythology. UGH, it's soooooooo annoying.I'm ready to be done with it. You have no idea how annoying it is unless you've done your own. Eventually I'll get a picture up here.... Maybe. Anyway I've been working on my project 365 and I meant to put my pictures here, but I haven't. Hahahah I'm such a procrastinator. Days1-4. Let me know what you think!

OK so I watched the new episode of Castle last night. I highly recommend that show to anyone who hasn't seen it. It's addicting. Anyway, this particular episode was about how Castle's book got turned into a movie, and the actress that was playing the main character came to shadow Beckett for a while to "get into character." I'll say. She's freaky! I was so frustrated with her the whole time because no one gets in the way of CastlexBeckett and lives. She made me sooooooooo angry!!! Ask Nikki, she was there. She was angry with her too and she didn't even know who Nikki Heat was. Gah! Anyway, aside from that, we also watched the Bachelor, and there are a bunch of girls that I think are crazy already. I do like Ashlee. She's cute. Plus she got the first impression rose, which is good. But there is this crazy chick! She sharpened her canines so she has fangs! She's nuts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OOOH and while I w as doing dishes the other night, the trailer for I Am Number Four came on and i squealed. Yes, I squealed like a little girl and jumped up and down while watching the always sexy Alex Pettyfer on the screen. Can't wait to see that movie!