[IC] { it's gonna | be better }

[Genkai]

- - S a s h a -

The day had been quite different for Sasha as well.

She wasn't sure if she would have a good time or not. In fact, she had almost written off the possible experience altogether and would have gladly done nearly anything else that wouldn't require unnecessary awkward interactions between her and her classmates. Instead though, she had hit the jackpot and had been paired up with the best possible partner for the day. He wasn't overly excitable or hyperactive. He had enough common sense to have a conversation with. And he was kind and sensible. Sasha couldn't help but detect a faint sense of dread as they headed back towards the bus.

With their adventure coming to a close, it was uncertain if they would continue to hang out or if that would be it. It wasn't as if they did anything up to today. The school year was drawing to a close, they only had two months left until summer vacation would greet them. Of course Sasha would rather spend it inside or at the library, rather than at some day camp or swimming hole. Garret mentioned how fun the day had been and then he thanked her though she wasn't sure why he owed her any sort of gratitude. They both had fun in their own right. "Yeah I know and nah, no need to thank me." She waved a hand as they got on the bus and she slid into an open one, at which Garret got in after her.

That little action sparked some excitement in her.

So it seemed their bond wasn't about to be severed. Sasha's smile brightened up a little more as the other students hurried onto the bus so they could head off. Of course as predicted, they were late, while she and Garret were early. "Oh...don't mention it." She took the offered can of soda and laughed a little, mostly at herself. Then he went on and mentioned how they could hang out again. "Oh yeah." She said quickly but then a loud noise interrupted her.. "I'd...I'd like that a lot. Sure." She said a bit louder and settled back into the stiff seat of the yellow bus. When everyone had been accounted for, they took off and the ride was uneventful for the pair. As the stop came up for Garret, she looked up to him.

"So long." She waved to Garret who headed off. The bus pulled away from the curb and dropped off some students on the route while others waited to go back to school and go home another way. Sasha got to school and walked home herself. Once she did, she put her soda in the fridge and decided to save it for lunch the next day. The day quickly turned to night and after dinner, the phone rang. Sasha's mother answered it and then smiled warmly, "It seems you have a gentleman caller. Hold on." She handed her daughter the phone who flushed.

"Hello?" She then was told it was Garret. For some reason it made her nervous. A boy had never called for her before, unless it had to do with homework. "Hi." She said. It was then decided that she would come over after school on Friday and they could hang out. "Sure, that sounds fine with me." She said, finding herself stumbling over her own words. It was unlike the well read girl who seemed a tad older than those around her. Even so, she hung up and spent the rest of the night in her room, trying to get her mind off the call.

The rest of the school week passed without incident and on Friday after the bell had dismissed the class for the day, Sasha found Garret outside of the classroom and slung her backpack over her shoulder. "Ready?" She asked him as they headed for the bus stop so they could head to his house. "So..." Somehow she was finding conversation difficult like when they first paired up at the park. "Do you think your kitty cat will be shy or friendly? I have a feeling it may smell my own animals on me." She said and looked down at herself.

- - D e v o n -

It had all been terribly fun and amusing for the redhead.

A day at the amusement park had been just what the doctor had ordered. Sure, he loved to play at school with his friends but a change of scenery was welcomed. It broke up the mundane school life, that's for sure. He and Ami spent the time playing games and eating junk food, not paying much mind to when they had to meet back at the bus so the day could finally end. Devon ran a hand through his hair and watched his partner finish up a game in which she won something. He had tried a few times but shrugged off his loses, saying that the stuff was lame and cheap anyway.

He was happy for Ami, that she got something to take away from the day they had together.

Boys weren't too sentimental though so it didn't bother him that all he had to remember the fun was the memory. That was good enough for him. "Nice." He gave her a grin as they turned away from their game. "Now what?" He asked her as he surveyed their surroundings. He couldn't spot a lot of their classmates so it got him thinking that it was about time to go, which sucked because school would be even more dull by comparison to the fun they had over the past few hours. "I guess it's time to go huh?" He sighed. Ami was quick to grab his hand and fug him toward the crowd. "Alright alright." Devon cringed at her nickname.

Of course he knew that if he hated it, she'd only keep it up. He knew he needed to find a counter to her teasing. That would show her. Ami let go of his hand and he hurried along after her towards the designated meeting spot. He was rather sad to have to say goodbye but he knew he'd be back come summer, he'd make sure of it. Ami was quick to hop onto the bus, she gave a spirited greeting and hurried along. The male stood back and rubbed his neck, knowing that she didn't look as sorry as she said she was. And to be honest, he wasn't either. "Yeah my bad." He chuckled, lips curving up in a sly smirk.

He then headed back and smacked one of his friends, James, on the head as he passed him. Then he took one of the few seats left, the one beside Ami. Theo was in front of them, along with another lad. Amity was quick to strike up a conversation with Theo which left Devon to sit back and watch with mild interest. If he had been paired up with Theo, he was sure he would have had just as good as of a time, as he did with Ami. Which made him ponder a little. Was Ami really as cool as his other friends? It was something to chew on as the trip to school began.

On their way, Ami headed off along with some others. He gave a wave to her and soon his own stop neared. He got off and headed inside, unlocking the door. Once he made himself a snack and did his homework, he headed off to the park, as he was still pretty energetic thanks to the field trip. That night he had dinner with his parents and told them about his trip. They were happy that he made a new friend and mentioned he should hang out with her again. It was a notion that had been stuck inside his head for a while.

Was there any harm in hanging out more?

Not really.

So Devon found Ami the next day between classes and asked if she wanted to hang out after school on Friday. At the prospect of what to do, he just smirked and told her he had a plan and needed an accomplice. When Friday managed to roll around, he led Ami towards the private high school, Applewood Academy. "I've always wanted to check this place out and see if it's as snobby as they say." He whispered to Ami as they neared the guarded gates. "Let's try the back." He said and hurried around to the other side of the tall brick fench. Applewood made students wear uniforms and take certain classes and be in clubs. It sounded pretty awful in Devon's mind. "Should we see if we can hop it? Think you can or do you need some help?" He asked her, his tone plain and neutral with just a hint of mischievousness.

[Fox of Spades]

Garret Rydel

To be honest he felt quite nervous.

Being the shy kid that he was he never invited anyone over, so his mind filled up with doubts. What if Sasha got bored? What it she wouldn't like any of the books he did. Girls liked different things didn't they? Though he doubted that, at the amusement park they managed to have a good time and agreed without any problems on the things they wanted to do and the attractions they wanted to see. It had been a lot of fun, so surely this wouldn't be much different, right?

If not for her question he would have over thought every little move, and he probably would have fretted over the silliest of things. "O-Oh, yes." He stated with a determined nod of the head and a shaky smile. He felt like shying away, but was much braver than he had been back when they had first been assigned as partners. Sasha asked about his cat and a bit of the nervousness ebbed away, a brighter smile making its way onto the boy's face. "Ashes is sorta shy when it comes to strangers," he admitted with a soft laugh, "he's friendly with other cats though. I think he'll like you." Came his reassurance. Garret and Sasha made their way to the bus stop just a few moments after the bus had arrived, and quickly they made their way inside.

The ride wasn't what one would call eventful, and despite his nervousness Garret did his best to be sociable. He asked Sasha about the kinds of movies she liked and the kinds of books she read, hoping that he'd find the perfect movie to see or the best book to discuss so he wouldn't bore the first friend he had made all by himself. Eventually, the bus stopped by his house and he got off and waited for Sasha. "What kind of movie would you like to watch?" He asked with a shaky yet genuine smile. The boy walked over to the door and knocked. It was followed by the rapid sound of footsteps and not long after the door was pulled open by a friendly looking woman in her late thirties. Her hair was pulled back into a bun and she wore an apron over her every day clothes. She smiled warmly at Garret then beamed at Sasha.

"Oh, come in! Come in!" She stated excitedly as she motioned for both children to enter. "You must be Sasha. It's great to meet you. Thank you for looking after little Gary yesterday, he can be such so lost sometimes."

At those words Garret flushed several shades of red, his voice dying in his throat. "W-We're going to watch movies now." He sputtered as he walked over to the living tomorrow.

"Okay, okay, I'll call you over when the snacks are ready and Sasha," the woman was still beaming. "If you need anything just ask and don't be shy. Garret Rydel," he spun around at the mention of his full name and stared up at his mother. "You make sure your friend feels just at home here." She waved her spatula playfully at him and laughed as the boy bobbed his head up and down in agreement. "Good, now go have fun you two."

Both children made their way to the living room and Garret turned on the TV. Ashes was curled up on the sofa, but when both children entered the room he raised his head to stare. When his eyes landed on Garret he let out a purr, but upon seeing Sasha he jumped to his feet, hopped off the couch and began turning around both children with a curious gleam in his eyes. Ashes glared at Sasha momentarily, sniffed at the air then began purring as he circled around her.

Garret laughed at the sight. "Ashes likes you," he said with an excited smile before nervously gazing around. "Would you like to do anything? We can watch movies or I can show you the books - or," his hesitant smile grew into a tiny grin. "Maybe the fishes if you like?"

The boy kept an aquarium in his room and liked taking care of interesting marine creatures. He liked watching them in the silence of his room and he liked appreciating how different once fish was compared to another. He also kept his books in his room so if she didn't like fishes then he could always show her different stories.

Amity Averin

Devon was up to something sneaky, and she found herself very excited.

"An accomplice, huh?" The girl grinned as she followed after him. "As long as we aren't robbing banks, you can count me in." She hopped forward, curious about what was to come and excited for the adventure that would soon follow. If Devon was being all sneaky about it, then it had to be something interesting, didn't it? However, as they walked on Applewood Academy came into view and the girl crinkled her nose in distaste. Did Devon want them to take a music class or something?

Before she could ask, he stated his plans and the confused look on Ami's face turned into a mischievous grin. "Oh, I see! For a moment I thought you wanted us join one of those programs where the students tutor kids, Devie. Sheesh, you had me worried." Ami followed Devon as they made their way back, this was going to be an exciting day. She could feel it!

"I'm fine, Devie! And this is sure to be an interesting adventure." The girl nodded eagerly, raising her hands above the fence and holding tightly on the ledge as she tried to find a foothold. Eventually, she managed to peer over the fence. The campus was huge. With a grin Amity clumsily clambered over the fence and lowered herself onto the other side, instantly diving behind a couple of bushes. Without uniforms they were sure to stick out like a sore thumb, she motioned for Devon to follow, the excited grin never leaving her face as she did so. "Do you think they'll make us leave if they find out?" She asked in a whisper.

The place they were at was significantly lacking in students and Amity wondered if they were all still in their classrooms or if they were attending after school clubs and whatnot. "Hey, hey, Devie?" Came a quick whisper. "What do you want to check out first and do you think we should come up with a strategy of sorts?" Ami had spoken the last part louder than she had intended to and one of the school guards arched an eyebrow at the bushes they were hiding behind. He could have sworn he heard rushed speaking. We're some of the students cutting their classes?

"Maybe we can sneak away with one of the textbooks? That way we know what to expect!" At this point Ami sounded quite excited. "Or, we can sneak around and look at the things high school students do!" Amity pushed herself to her feet only to come face to face with the guard who had decided to check out the scene. The girl yelped out in shock...they had been found so quickly. It...it was ridiculous, had she really been talking that loud. "U-Um good afternoon!" Ami gave the guard one of her brightest smiles. "I just dropped one of my pens and..."

"Excuse me," he interrupted with a frown. He didn't look like he believed her at all. "You look a little young to be here." His eyes flitted to Devon and his frown turned into a questioning stare. "I can say the same to you, young man...what exactly are you two doing here?" His expression darkened and he tapped his foot on the ground rather impatiently.

"You see...I have a perfectly good explanation." Amity smiled nervously and the guard waited. "And I'll tell you all about it...later!" The girl yanked Devon by the hand and ran off as fast as she could. As soon as Devon understood her plan she let go and they ran without goal, eventually ducking behind a tool shed and evading the irritated looking guard. Amity remained absolutely still, huffing and puffing before eventually snickering at the confused looking guard who scratched at his head.

"That," she wheezed, "was a lot of fun, Devie!"

[Genkai]

- - S a s h a -

Having been assured that Ashes would like her, she gave Garret a hopeful nod.

The bus ride was light in conversation, both them attempting to keep the ball rolling while making sure there weren't too many awkward pauses. When their stop came, Sasha followed her hosts' lead and headed off the bus, careful of the steps. Garret asked what movie she'd like to watch, she wasn't sure until she saw what he had but she didn't want to be picky and ruin the afternoon. "Oh um I don't know, maybe something funny? Maybe an anime?" She suggested. They got to his house and he knocked. Soon the door was pulled open to reveal Garret's mother. Sasha's face lit up as she looked to Garret. "O-oh it...it was no trouble, he was great company." She said nervously, suddenly feeling put on the spot. "Th-thank you for having me." She said to his mother as she and Garret headed inside.

Once inside, she took off her shoes to be polite and not make a mess. She noticed Garret looked more nervous than her, which somewhat was a relief which meant she wasn't the only fish out of water. As they headed into the living room, his mother stopped them with one final statement to each of them. She smiled and nodded. "Alright, thank you." She bowed her head a little and gave Garret a bit of a childish grin because he seemed to getting a threat from a spatula. They continued on and she nudged her new friend a little. Upon entering the living room, it seemed they had intruded on the cat lounging on the couch. She smiled a little and waved a hand. "Hello there." She said, trying not to seem like a threat. The cat got down and circled around them, mostly assessing her though.

Garret said Ashes liked her, which was good to hear. "Oh? I'm glad." She crouched down to pet the cat's head gently. Then the girl scratched under its chin lightly. "You're so pretty." She coo'ed and then stood up when Garret asked about what they should do. He then listed off some possible ideas, all of which made her smile. Sasha really wasn't picky and she wasn't too good at making decisions. "Umm well we could look at the fishes now if you want." She shrugged a little, it slowly dawning on her that she had never really been inside a boy's room before. She wasn't too sure what to expect. Her room was her hideaway, she was pretty protective of who went in and touched things. And if Garret was like her, it was sort of a big deal that she could go in and looked around.

The two of them headed off to his room, with Ashes slinking behind them curiously.

"They're really nice." The girl commented as they got to the small aquarium that Garret had in his room. Her eyes looked around at the small fish swimming around. They were different than the ones they had seen at the park the other day. And that was nice because she hadn't seen many fish before so the more varying kinds, the better. She glanced to his bookshelf, unable to help her wandering eye. You could tell a lot about a person by what they read, even for their age. Sasha looked back to Garret and then to his collection of books. "You know we could trade...I mean temporarily." She considered. "We each pick out a book or two and give it to the other and we see what we thought of the recommendation." Sasha explained, wondering if it was something he was up for.

- - D e v o n -

There it was again, that stupid nickname!

Devon made a face and followed Amity all the same. She climbed the fence and soon got over and he did the same, careful not to hit her on the way down. He looked around the well kept scenery. The redhead made another face, hoping he never had to attend such a stuffy school. Middle school was enough for him but in a few months, he'd be in a whole new place with different faces. He wanted to count on the fact that many of his friends would go to the same public high school as him and not some private academy for book sucker and future lawyers and accountants. Urgh. Devon looked to the girl who asked about them having to leave if they were found out. "Heh probably, or worse we might be trapped here forever, forced to learn math equations and stories about dead presidents." He pouted.

Thankfully they had found a large bush to hide behind while they thought about what to do now. Plans weren't his strong suit, he pretty much did whatever he thought would work out presently, who had time to actually think about the future? That was way off in the distance for the sociable boy. "Uhmm...I'm not sure, what about the classrooms? I bet they're just as big as the building itself. I wonder if they have elevators and fancy stuff like that." He said, his eyes gleaming. Then Amy brought up the idea of stealing a textbook which sounded like a great idea to him. He nodded. "Yeah, we can show it off at school and prove we broke in, everyone will think we're so call because we are. None of them would be brave enough to this." He smirked, a surge of a pride coming over him.

Devon then cut himself off as it seemed they had been found out. Rather than wanting to bolt, he wanted to stand his ground. It wasn't fair that their adventure would be cut short. A guard had approached them, demanding a reason for them being around. A few good reasons came to mind but instead, he was yanked up and pulled off. He suddenly found them hiding someplace else, now a small shed. He gave Amity an annoyed look. "I could have gotten us out of there by just saying we were siblings of a student or that we're like here for some special tutor program or that we're children of some teacher." He told Amy. "Whatever." He shrugged and caught his breath. "That was pretty fun though, I'll admit." He said with a tone of cockiness.

Now they had to be more careful.

That wasn't their strong suit apparently. Devon let go of Amy's hand and poked his head around the corner of the shed. It seemed the guard had wandered off to another part of the grounds. "I bet he's talking to his stuffy guard friends about us." He muttered. "Come on." He motioned to the girl and ran over to the nearest building. As soon as he pulled open the door end entered, a strong smell of chlorine entered his nose and he made a gagging sound. "I think we found the pool." He said and led them down a long hall which led to another door. He opened it and saw the pool. Some students were swimming in it while others were diving. The two younger kids hurried along until they got to yet another door and went through it, now out of the gym and recreation area, and in the main part of the school itself. "I wonder where their cafeteria is..." He mused.

[Fox of Spades]

Garret Rydel

His room was themed after an aquarium. The walls were an ocean blue, even his bed was themed after the sea. The covers were a dark, deep-water kind of blue with tiny fishes scattered across. The thought of Sasha seeing all this made him uncomfortable, was his room too childish. He wondered what a twelve-year-old's room was supposed to look like then noticed the girl staring at the aquarium he kept in a corner. He grinned brightly, the nervousness pretty much crawling away. Ashes stared at the aquarium with disdain, back when he was a kitten he thought the aquarium could be his personal all you could eat buffet, but Garret just went into fit when the cat killed his beloved angel fish. After that he ignored Ashes for a week and the cat had learned his lessons. The fishes, no matter how tasty they looked were not to be touched, ever.

Then Sasha turned to look at his shelf and suggested that they swap books. He brightened up at the thought, "that sounds like a lot of fun." Garret eyed the books on his shelf, they ranged from science books, books about animals to fantasy and adventure. "Hmm, what kind of books do you like, Sasha?" He walked up to the shelf and pulled out a story titled Coraline. It was a little creepy, but the idea of a door to another world just like their own had interested him greatly. Then he ran his finger over several other books before pulling out a book called The Keepers of the Sea. It was his favorite book of all time, and the thought of getting someone else to read it made him feel quite happy. The story revolved around a dying kingdom of fish-like humanoids beneath the sea and how they were going extinct because of the humans. It was a combination of the two things he adored, marine life and science.

Garret handed both books to Sasha, but couldn't help but look a little sheepish. Were this the kinds of books girls liked? Well, he hoped it wouldn't bore her. However, Garret didn't allow his pessimistic thoughts to sap him of his energy and instead he grinned. "The second book is my favorite, I hope you like it." Then he began pulling things out of the little cabinet he kept in a corner. Sasha said she wanted to see some anime so Garret dug through his DVDs and pulled out Pokemon of all things. He stared at the CD for a few moments, then at Sasha. "Oh, by any chance," he couldn't hold back the grin. "Do you play any Pokemon? I have Yellow version." He pulled out a GBA. "And," he gave a silly looking salute. "It'd be an honor to challenge you to a battle." A lot of the kids at school had been a part of the Pokemon craze. Garret loved the games too, but he never really had anyone he could challenge.

"Gary? Sasha?" It was his mom's voice. "Pancakes are ready, come get them before they get cold, okay?"

The boy jolted upright, GBA and DVD in hand. "Okay, thanks, mom." The he turned to look at Sasha. "Would you like to watch a movie or play some pokemon?" He wasn't very good at handling guests, but if there was one thing he learned from his mom and dad, it was to make sure they were comfortable and enjoying themselves. Garret waited patiently for an answer, the smile never leaving his face. However, Ashes didn't stick around as soon as Mrs. Rydel had called, he sauntered out the door, tail flicking back and forth. It was time for him to give her his special cat pout. He was hungry too after all.

Amity Averin

Devon began listing down reasons he could have given the guard. He looked upset, but Amity just gave him a smirk.

"I see you've thought things through, you know," A teasing and mischievous grin made its way onto her face. "I think you'd fit in here, just fine." The girl ended it by sticking out her tongue. Then Devon admitted that it had been fun and Ami laughed. "Righty-o! We should do this more often." The girl was grinning from ear to ear, she had never done anything like this before and if her parents found out what she was doing, she guessed they wouldn't be very happy. She'd probably be grounded too, but at the moment it didn't really matter. She found the thrill exhilarating and it almost felt like they were back in the haunted house. She looked right and left, there didn't seem to be any more guards and they had done a good job at losing the one that had decided to chase after them.

Devon motioned for her to follow after him and Ami quickened her pace so they were side by side. It felt like they were spies from some James Bond film. The duo dashed into a nearby building and her friend yanked open the door. She ran after him, skidding to a stop when they had arrived in the pool. An unpleasant smell hung over the room like a fog and Ami instantly scrunched up her nose in displeasure. She didn't have much to say about it and followed Devon down the hall. The older students hadn't even looked in their direction and if felt like they were invisible which was something she appreciated. Devon led them through the gym, the recreation area and even the main building. It gave her a sense of triumph, seeing how big the school was. In a place like, there was just no chance the guard would be able to track them down, right?

He asked about the cafeteria and Amity shrugged in response. "This place is huge, we'll be lucky if we find it at all." They duo continued walking down the hall, but instead of a cafeteria they ran into a half open door. It led to the laboratory and it was absolutely empty. "Hey, Devie." The girl called out in an enthusiastic whisper. "It's the science lab and it's unlocked." Immediately she inched herself into the half-open door. The sight before her made her snicker, on the table were a pile of Biology and Physics books. She wasn't a fan of science or math, but those were high school text books and like Devon said, it would serve as proof of their adventure.

Amity made her way to the table, grabbed a Physics book for seniors then raised it above her head like a trophy. "Jackpot!" The girl then peered around the science lab. There were so many breakable things...beakers, test tubes, and things she couldn't name. She and Devon would need to be careful. The girl flipped through the book only to shut it close a few seconds later. All the crazy formulas, how did anyone understand it. Well, it didn't matter. It would be a while before any of them became seniors anyway. Ami beamed at the Physics book in her hand then turned to give her friend a thumbs up. "What's the next thing on our list, Devie?"

The kids didn't notice, but the guards were looking for the little troublemakers and down the hall was the tappity-tap-tap of leather boots on the tiled floor.

[Genkai]

- - S a s h a -

The room was nicely done, though it wasn’t like the girl was well versed in interior decorating herself. She liked the blue and the fish, she could tell his fondness was near obsession. She didn’t judge though. The girl watched as her host looked over his books, being careful and mindful about his selections. She was sure that she’d enjoy whatever he picked out for her. “I’ll be sure to bring you two of mine at school.” She assured him, not wanting to give off the impression that the fair trade would wind up becoming one sided. “Or whenever we see each other next.” She then added, unsure if he would want to come over to her house or not. A tinge of redness crossed her face for a moment, still unsure of how the dynamics of having a boy as a friend worked.

“I’m sure they’ll be awesome, thanks.” She took the books when Garret finally offered them, saying that the second one was his favorite. The blond glanced at her newfound friend and then back down at the book he mentioned. No pressure right? Before she could try to come up with some joke of sorts, he brought up Pokemon and she grinned a bit, relaxing. “Oh no I want to get Yellow but my parents want to wait until I graduate so I can play it without distracting myself from school but I do have Red.” She told him. “A battle huh? I’m down, I also love the card game, building your own deck and stuff.” She couldn’t help but let slip.

Then Garret’s mother summoned them.

“Pancakes?” Sasha grinned at Garret, she had never had breakfast food for a snack before but it sounded great either way. “Oh we can probably just watch a movie.” To her knowledge, it wasn’t too easy to play Pokemon with more than one person but she hoped someday they would make a multiplayer game or something. “Oh, hey I read in this magazine that there’s gonna be a Pokemon Stadium game, it sounds like fun.” Sasha told him as they headed off to get some fluffy goodness. It seemed Ashes had similar ideas as well. “It should come out really soon, I’ll try and get it and you can come over and we can battle for real. It’ll be super cool.” Sasha said as they went into the kitchen to find Garret’s mother putting down their plates of pancakes.

“This is so cool, thanks so much.” Sasha said and took a seat. She put some butter and maple syrup on her pancakes and began to eat them. There was a nagging question in the back of her head and she felt like she needed to say something. “I think you should come over tomorrow. I mean if you want. It’s just your house and your mom and your cat and your room and stuff, it’s all so cool and I wanna be fair and show you my place too.” Sasha earnestly invited Garret. “If you want, I mean…you don’t have to.” She quickly glanced down at her plate which was almost empty. She hoped she didn’t sound stupid or something. The last thing she wanted was to be a poor guest.

- - D e v o n -

At the mention of him fitting in at the awful clone academy, he made a noise of disgust. “Ew no, that that back.” He pouted, as the image of him in the stuffy stiff uniform was now imprinted in his head. It was terrible. Made him sick to his stomach. “This place is not my kind of school, everyone here probably speaks Latin or something lame like that.” He said. “I doubt they even have any sports going on…” He muttered even though they just went through the Gymnasium. Amity said they should do this more often, “What breaking into places?” He laughed. Like Ami though, his parents would be pretty angry if they found out where he was and why, since it was just on a silly whim and if something went wrong and one of them got hurt, well there’d be plenty of yelling on the way home.

So Devon was hopeful that nothing would go wrong.

Otherwise, they’d both be in deep trouble.

The two kids kept along and for the time being, no one paid mind to them. Which was good yeah, but a bit disappointing. The rush of getting out of trouble was one that could be compared to riding a crazy fast roller coaster. Ami then began speaking, once again starting off with that girly nickname which made him physically cringe. Girls were so annoying. “Huh?” He blinked at the notion of an unlocked science building. “Cool.” He grinned. He knew they had to be careful, that high school science stuff could be very complicated and weird and while it was cool to poke around, he didn’t want Amity to get hurt because of him. This was supposed to be fun after all.

“That thing is huge.” He hissed as she found a book and held it above her head in triumph. He walked around, the lab tables were as tall as him. He suddenly felt very young and out of place but it was beginning to dawn on him. He would be in high school in a few months. He would be doing science stuff and history stuff and he’d be around everyone who was older than he was and he suddenly felt very sick. Could he be in high school? What if he went to a different one than his friends? Could he still play sports and have fun or would he have to start thinking about college and jobs soon? It made his head spin. “Um I dunno.” Devon looked to Ami and let out a sigh. He shook his head and tried to get back to the present since that was what mattered the most. The future could wait, it was too scary and indistinguishable.

The redhead looked around again and then saw a map of the large campus on the wall. “Oh hey that’ll help us out.” He said and hurried over to it. It was a bit too high to read but it gave them a general layout at least, which was better than nothing. “I think we’re close to some stairs. Let’s check out the second floor.” He suggested. “I need to nab a book too.” He smirked at her and they headed out another door which led them into the same large corridor. He looked to his right and low and behold, there was a stairwell leading up. “Race ya!” Devon smirked and began hurrying up the stairs. Since he was into sports and running, it wasn’t much of a race but he still waited for Amity at the top. And she was carrying a massive and dull book. “I think these are English and History classrooms.” He metioned.

[Fox of Spades]

Garret Rydel

At the mention of Pokemon Red, Garret beamed. Aside from books and fishes, books and video games were a few of the other things he loved.

It was interesting, having someone who had so much in common with him. In fact, he had a lot more fun with Sasha than with the other boys that his mother had introduced him to. They were nice enough, but they never understood why he picked books over soccer and they thought he was little too quiet, so the play dates were mostly composed of sports and other things he didn't really care for. They'd play ball on the field or do soccer drills and by the end of the day he'd drag himself home and crash onto the couch to cuddle with Ashes. It wasn't his idea of an ideal day, and he realized that he preferred Sasha's company over Dan's or Nick's, though he had nothing against the two, they just made him feel out of place.

It wasn't bad at all, having a girl for a friend and he wondered why others made a big deal out of stuff like this. Sasha was fun, nice, and they shared the same interests, so that was all that mattered, right? "Pokemon Red, huh?" The smile on his face remained. "I have a cable for the GBA. Maybe, next time we can trade or battle...if you want to of course." His bashful side was showing again. It didn't feel natural, having a friend over and he was still getting used to it, but even though it was different it was also nice. To be honest, he wouldn't have mind doing something like this again. Then Sasha mentioned the card game and he stared at her with wide eyes, "you know how to play the card game? Awesome...I couldn't get the hang of it, but I'd be willing to learn." He bobbed his head up and down, then pointed to a deck he kept near his table. He collected them, but didn't quite understand the game mechanics.

Garret's mother called and the two of them sat down on the table. Two plates were before them, piled high with pancakes. "Eat up," came a kind voice, "there's chocolate syrup and strawberry syrup. Oh, and plain old maple syrup too." The woman gave the children a kind smile then laughed at how enthusiastic they looked. "You're welcome, there's more where that came from." She vanished into the kitchen then returned with glasses and a pitcher of iced tea. Garret thanked her then she disappeared once more, leaving both children in the dining room.

Then Sasha told him all about Pokemon Stadium and his eyes lit up. That sounded amazing, but he felt a little hesitant. He had never been over at someone's house without his mom and dad. Well, there was that time with his cousin, but they were related, so that didn't count. He wanted to go though, Sasha was fun to hang out with and they were friends and it was what friends did, right? Garret grinned sheepishly at the girl, tossing his worries aside. "Thank you very much," he tried to sound as polite as he could. "I would love to come over as long as no one minds me being there." He sounded a little nervous but the silly looking smile on his face was proof of his excitement. "I just need to ask mom--!"

Before he could say more the woman came out from the kitchen...she had secretly been listening in on the conversation and was very excited for her son. Finally, he had actually made a friend all on his own. She felt proud and she walked towards Sasha with a broad smile. "He'd love to go," she gave Garret a pat and the boy turned a shade of red. Had she really been listening all along. Garret fell silent and the woman continued to beam, "if he misbehaves or anything, you'll have to tell me, okay?" The woman ruffled her son's hair, but Garret remained as motionless as a pile of bricks, his heart hammering in his chest and a mixture of excitement and nervousness stirring within.

"L-Let's watch a movie," the boy squeaked as he excused himself from the table. He fumbled with a few CDs, eventually putting Mewtwo Strikes Back in the player. He plopped himself down on the couch then waited for Sasha to catch up. He wasn't brave enough to head back to the table where his mother was waiting. At times it felt like she was dying to get him out of the house and while her enthusiasm for him proved she cared it was also rather embarrassing.

Amity Averin

Amity grinned from ear to ear. "Uh-huh, breaking into places. Today, Applewood. Tomorrow, bank heists." She rubbed both hands together like a comical villain then did her best evil laugh. "Soon, we'll be rulers of the world." The girl declared playfully as she hugged the Physics book close. It would be her new trophy, just something to rub in Theo's face. One could say the two had a rivalry of sorts and were always trying to outdo the other. As thoughts of bragging made their way into her head a devious smile lit up her face. The girl imagined all the possible ways Theo would react before snapping out of her little reverie.

Devon didn't seem to have a plan, but then again, entering the school and everything else they had done had been done on a whim. "I guess, we're going with our gut then?" She asked in an excited tone. Creeping along the halls of Applewood and avoiding security definitely made her feel like she was on a sugar high, but in the back of her head the thought of getting caught scared her. Her father wasn't one to fool around and if he figured this was what his daughter had been up to, he wouldn't have been very happy. Her mother was more free spirited, but Ami knew that woman would be upset too and her brother...ha! He'd never let her hear the end of it, if he ever found out.

Her friend pointed to a map on the wall and she walked over to peer at at. The girl tilted her head...how on earth did people get maps right, it looked like a bunch of dull blocks and squares. She squinted her eyes, eventually spotting the words Science Lab. Oh, so that was where they were at? If they went out a took a right they'd find the band room and whoa, they were pretty far from the exit now. Devon suggested they check out the second floor and she responded with an eager nod. "Mhm, it'd be a shame if we didn't bring home souvenirs." Devon declared they have a race and before she had time to react he shot off like a bullet. He was pretty speedy! Ami puffed up her cheeks in indignation, but it lasted only a moment and soon she was smiling as she ran to catch up. "No fair, you had a head start." She complained jokingly as she finally skidded to a stop on the top step.

"English and History, huh?" She huffed, taking a few moments to recover from the sprint. "Which trophy do you want, Devie?" There was no escaping the nickname, the girl had already grown fond of it. She gave him a smile, but there was no mistaking the mischievous gleam in her eyes. "Dead presidents or dead poets?" At the latter she made a sour face. "The dead poets make less sense than the presidents though and history books do have pretty interesting stories. Like stuff about the wars and holocausts," she added in before she made her way to the doors and peeked inside. Both classrooms were identical, unlike the science lab that had been riddled with interesting experiments and a skeleton man in the corner.

She looked into the classrooms for a bit longer, imaging what life as a high school student was like. It couldn't be much different, right? He older brother was currently a sophomore in high school and though he complained about math and mountains of homework constantly, he still plenty of time for video games and jam sessions with his band...so it couldn't be that bad, right? He also managed to get decent grades, but then again he was the type that actually cared about school work. Ami wasn't exactly studious, but she was inquisitive and curious and so far it managed to get her grades her parents were happy with, but in high school would it be enough or God forbid, would she actually have to read?

"Hey, hey, Devie?" The girl looked nervous, "you think they're gonna make us read things like Shakespeare when we're in high school?" The thought was absolutely frightening.

[Genkai]

- - S a s h a -

It would be cool to trade and battle with someone. And it would be even more fun if she could help him get the hang of the card game, while most traded for fun, she loved the skill behind making an awesome deck and the tactics that went along with the cards and luck of the draw. Sasha hoped she could do something nice for Garret, he'd been so cool to her already. And that's what friends did right? Good things for each other? "Your mom is so nice." Sasha said after they were given something to drink and then left alone again. At her offer for him to come over, Garret was slow to reply but soon he did and began to call out towards his mom for permission but she hurried in and interrupted her son with an enthusiastic response that he'd love to go. "Great!" Sasha said. His mother then ruffled his hair and told Sasha to tell her if Garret did anything wrong. "Oh haha, I don't think he will but okay." Sasha laughed.

Garret was quick to bring up the movie and Sasha nodded. "Thanks." She told Garret's mom before she hurried after the blushing boy. She knew how parents could but and it made her a bit relieved that she wasn't the only one who could be embarrassed. When she joined Garret, she took a seat beside him as the film started. The movie went on and they were given snacks to have and they were left alone, save for Ashes wandering over every so often to get attention. Overall, the afternoon had gone pretty well. When the movie finished, Sasha took the books Garret had let her burrow and called her mother to pick her up. It seemed her mom and Garret's mom talked on the phone, probably getting addresses and stuff. Sasha and Garret headed to his room in the meantime.

To be honest, she was pretty nervous about him coming over tomorrow. But she wanted to make sure he had as much fun as she did. About ten minutes later, her mother arrived and called for her. "Oh I guess I better go." Sasha said to Garret as they headed out to the see the two women chatting. Sasha blushed a little and looked to Garret, not sure how to exactly say goodbye. "Well uh see you tomorrow?" She waved a little awkwardly. Her mother then spoke up, saying Garret could come over at noon and they could have lunch and hang out. "Bye. Thanks for having me over." Sasha just said and headed out before anything else happened. On the ride home, her mother began to ask questions about how things went but Sasha wasn't sure what to say, not wanting to make too big of a deal of it. Even if it kinda was.

When she got home, the blond girl hurried to go make sure her room was clean because if it wasn't, she was sure Garret wouldn't be allowed to come over. And she didn't want her mother messing things up. For dinner, they had pizza and talked about the school day as well as the visit to Garret's house. Her father didn't seem too worried though it was the minor preview to many more males coming into his daughter's life which would worry any father of a young precious girl. Her mother was more vocally supportive and talked about how wonderful Garret and his home were. Before bed, Sasha finished brushing her teeth and did a bit of reading from Coraline. While she couldn't relate to the main girl, it was still an interesting read. The following morning, she got up and got dressed in a simple blue dress with blue little polka dots. Then she went to the park with her mom for a bit and soon came back around ten or so.

Garret shouldn't be arriving for another two hours so in the mean time, Sasha was told to do her homework. When noon rolled around, Sasha couldn't help but feel more nervous. Was this a good idea? Guys and girls weren't friends for a reason right? The blond was tempted to call it all off but the doorbell rang and her mother answered it with a smile. "Hello there, come on in." She said to Garret. His mom said a few words and Sasha's mom said she'd call when the kids were all done. "We'll take great care of him." She assured the woman who went back to her car. With the front door shut, her mother turned to her daughter and classmate. "How about some grilled cheese sandwiches and some fruit salad?" She suggested. It wasn't as cool as pancakes. Now it was Sasha's turn to be annoyed with her parental unit. "I'll call you down in thirty." She said to the kids and waved them off.

"Sorry about her." Sasha muttered and tugged at Garret's sleeve. They went upstairs and passed by her older brother's room which was shut. Her brother was in his third year at the local high school, he was nice and they got along well. But he was currently out with his friends so at least they wouldn't have another person bugging them. Her dad of course was working and Sasha secretly hoped Garret wouldn't be around to meet him. For some reason her father wasn't thrilled for her new friend. Sasha continued down the hall and got to her room and walked in. It wasn't pink, nor was it covered in flowers. The walls were a gentle lavender color and everything seem fairly basic. She had a desk with books piled upon it. She had several low rising bookshelves around the perimeter of the room. She had a bed and a dresser and a small tv sitting atop said dresser. Everything was a dark brown wood and it was fairly neat, upon her mothers request. But the most prominent thing were the books and journals everywhere.

On the shelves of books were pictures of her family, her pet cat who seemed to be in hiding, ribbons for writing contests, and other trinkets. She even had an action figure of Ash Ketchum holding a pokeball with a small Pikachu sitting by it, ready to attack. "Well there isn't much here." She admitted, now in the same quicksand as Garret was the day before. What could they do? They could play a board game but to her that sounded stupid. Or they could go to the park but she wanted to do something that Garret wouldn't be able to do on his own or without her. Otherwise, what was the point of having him over? "Or we could..." Oh pressure! But she didn't want to resort to movies. "I could teach you how to play pokemon cards. I can lend you a deck for the time being?" She offered him.

- - D e v o n -

He didn't feel bad at all for beating Amity to the top. It wasn't much of a race but still, he won fair and square and she was just a slow poke. He smirked a little but it faded away soon enough. They had things to explore now that they were on the second floor of the building. Amity asked what sort of trophy he was looking for. She rambled on about something but he was already tuning out. Just the notion of English was putting his brain to sleep. "I'll know it when I see it." Devon just said faintly. They looked around and he wondered what he could do. Sure, he could ponder about his future but for now, he had to keep hit wits about him and just think about his task currently and that was to get a prize for himself. Ami already snagged a dull textbook and he needed a trophy of his own.

Ami then asked about what they may be taught. "Probably." He frowned and headed down the hall. There were fliers taped on the walls, some talking about plays or tutoring and some were about clubs and other things. Devon came to the last classroom on the left and just motioned for his partner to hurry along. He opened the door and found it empty, thankfully. He was sure he could charm his way out of anything if a student or god forbid, a teacher was around. But it was good to not be under the pressure. He saw a book on one of the desks and it seemed like a novel of sorts. "Sweet." He grinned and walked over to it. It was called Cather in the Rye. To him he precised it as something to do with sports. He shrugged and picked it up. "Well we may need to read this someday. I might as well take it now." He gave Ami a smirk and looked to her, ready to get moving again.

If they lingered somewhere for too long, they were likely to get caught. And the guards were already nearing them, one having gone upstairs while the other remained down but went back outside to check the perimeter once again. "I think we better get going." Though he didn't specify if he meant go someplace new or leave the school entirely. Either way, the boy hurried back to the door to take a peek and see if anyone was out there. "Okay, the coast is clear." He told her, another jolt of adrenaline pumping through her. They exited the classroom and found another set of stairs they could take. "I'm still jonsing for something to eat." He whispered to her as they crept down the stairs. Upon making it back to the first floor of the school, Devon paused to check on Ami. "Okay so I think once we get a snack, we better hurry and leave. The last thing I want is for my parents to find out about this." He said in a hushed tone.

Making their way down another hall and turning left, they finally reached the cafeteria. They went inside and saw nothing they could grab and munch on. What a bummer. "This sucks." He kicked his foot against the hardwood floor under them. It was polished and clean of course, but it still showed its vintage age. He saw no vending machines, which wasn't much of a surprise. "Nothing at all." He frowned and saw a small door leading outside again. "Come on. We may as well eat something like ice cream." There was an ice cream truck that did its rounds around the area so they could at least get themselves a treat for being so sneaky. They headed out of the large but dull cafeteria and then hopped the closest fence to get out of the prison. Devon helped give Ami a boost up and then he followed her lead thanks to a running start. He planted his foot against the stone wall and pushed himself up.

Just as he did, he heard someone yelling at them. "We're going, we're going!" He waved at the guards running towards them. "Come on!" He shouted and jumped down the other side, now off private property. He and the girl took off town the street, having not gotten caught, well literally caught. They had been spotted and manged to evade the loser guards. "Their job must really suck." He said as they came to a slow jog after two blocks of fleeing. They were safe for now but their fun game had been awfully short lived. Devon looked around, not sure how else they could spend their time without getting into trouble. "We could just walk around. I'm kinda bummed we didn't get to see any of the students. I'm sure they were around." He would have loved to check out their stupid uniforms and relish in the fact that public schools would never demand them wear clone clothes.

As if he had summoned it himself, an ice cream truck came around a corner, carrying its usual cheery tune. "Oh hey!" He flagged it down and turned to Ami. "My treat, what'll it be?" He said to her. He got a chocolate cookie ice cream sandwich and they sat down on the edge of the sidewalk to eat. "So tomorrow, you wanna hang out?" Devon asked her as he was taking a break from his cold treat. He needed to be careful and not give himself a dreaded brain freeze. "We could play laser tag or something." He offered. "Or we could go to the park." He wasn't sure what sorts of things girls liked. Part of him was sure that they could find something in common though. Had they not just been to the amusement park, he would have suggested that but knew his boring parents would say it was too expensive and he had just recently gone. "Or we can go to the arcade, do you like video games?"

To his knowledge, most girls didn't like that sort of stuff but it seemed like Amity didn't mind the idea of laser tag. "Cool, it's by that pizza place downtown, where the waffle place used to be." He commented. "We can go and shoot some aliens." He grinned. It was agreed they would meet there at two. "Well I better go. See you." Devon grinned and got up. He wiped his hands on his pants and headed off towards his place, hoping that his parents wouldn't care much about the plans he had made without their permission. The following day, Devon was a bit anxious to go and meet Ami. It was just laser tag though, no big deal. His parents fed him lunch and gave him some money before he took off for the laser tag establishment. Thankfully they didn't mind if he walked around on his own, he was getting more freedom as he neared teenage status. He got to the meet up point and waited outside, wondering if Ami would blow him off or not. He didn't think she'd do that though, she didn't seem as mean as the other girls in their class.

[Fox of Spades]

Garret Rydel

The day was over in a flash and at the end of it, he realized that hanging out with Sasha had been a blast.

He was a little nervous at the thought of going over to her house, but he was excited too, and it wasn't a big deal, right? Friends visited friends, hanged out with each other, and had a fun. Then again, Sasha was a girl, so it was a little strange, but why did it matter? What counted was that he enjoyed her presence and liked having her around. He came to a conclusion and the nervousness ebbed away, in its place came excitement. Having a friend who didn't call him strange or too quiet for his own good was nice.

Evening came and he had quiet dinner with his family. They asked him about Sasha, how his day went, and how he met her at the amusement park. His mother was happy he had made a friend and so was his dad, though the latter took the opportunity to tease his son a little bit. Garret got all flustered and his mom scolded his dad, telling the man to apologize. It was a night full of joking around and laughter and they ended it by watching a movie together. At ten they sent him up to his room to sleep, but he couldn't, so instead he gathered his pokemon cards, picked out a few books then stuffed them into his shark looking bag, when he finished he flipped on his lamp then went to sleep.

The following day, he was a combination of eager and afraid, though the latter won out. His mother dropped him at Sasha's place and the girl and her mother gave him a warm welcome. He gave them both a sheepish smile followed by a hello and a wave. He felt tense, and shuffled in awkwardly after his friend. Sasha's mom suggested grilled sandwiches and salad and he bobbed his head up and down in response, unsure about what to say. It took him a few tense moments before he muttered a 'thank you very much.' then stuck close Sasha. Both children went upstairs and for some reason the girl apologized for her mom. Garret shrugged it off and gave her a smile, he was back to his normal self now that there wasn't anyone else around. "Grilled sandwiches are great, thank you very much."

They entered Sasha's room and it was a calm and comforting lavender. It was also very neat and there were so much books. He smiled and it lit up his face, "Neat," the boy's eyes flitted from book to book and some of books she had were books he had enjoyed. "You have a great taste in books," he complimented, a bright smile still stuck to his face. Marine life and books, those were things he loved very much. He continued looking around but was interrupted by Sasha's offer to play Pokemon cards.

"Really? I'll do my best to learn." He stated with much more enthusiasm than he usually had. "I-I, brought some cards...but I don't know how to play the game. Can I use any kind of Pokemon in a deck?" He gave her a look that was both determined and curious before he pulled his bag open and began digging around for his cards. Eventually, he pulled them out and put them before Sasha.

Amity Averin

They actually broke into Applewood and made it out without getting caught!

She felt like she was on top of the world and the rush made her giddy with excitement. If felt like they were back in the haunted house all over again. She gave Devon a bright and cheerful grin. "If chasing after kids like us is all they do, then it sounds like it sucks pretty bad." Devon was sad they didn't get to see any of the students, but Ami didn't mind much. They got their trophies and just looking at the bulky Physics book made her grin. She made a mental note to hide it under her bed, if her older brother or her parents saw it, they'd question her for sure. "Mhm, though today was a lot of fun already. Thanks, Devie."

Both children walked down the street only for an ice cream truck to appear. Devon offered to buy ice cream for them both and Amity accepted it gratefully. She had a strawberry ice cream sandwich and ate it happily by the sidewalk. Hanging out with Devon was exciting and new, the things he were into were definitely adventurous and exciting and she looked forward to going on more wacky trips, they were a lot of fun. She was glad that Mrs. Hankle paired them together during the trip to the amusement park, if she hadn't, then she wouldn't have met a great friend.

As they ate ice cream on the sidewalk Devon suggested they hang out. Laser tag sounded cool and so without hesitation she gave him a grin and two thumbs up, muttering an incoherent sure since her mouth was stuffed with ice cream. She gobbled it all up then laughed, "Sounds cool to me." The Devon walked up to leave and she waved goodbye, watching as he disappeared down the road. Ami remained seated for a bit more, just relaxing before she too decided to head back towards her own house. She got home around the same time her brother did and when he asked her what she was up to, she stated she went on a grand adventure. He shrugged it off and they played a bit of tekken before she left to draw in her room.

The next day she asked her parents if she could hang out with a friend at the laser tag place. They gave her the money she would need and she was off to meet Devon. The girl was looking forward to another day of fun. When Ami got there she saw Devon waiting and gave him a bright grin and a wave.

"Morning, Devie!" It was different meeting up with people who weren't a part of her circle of friends, but she didn't mind. Besides, Devon would fit in just fine with Theo and Kas. Maybe next time she could introduce him to them. "What's up on such a fine day?" She asked with much energy and cheer.

[Genkai]

- - S a s h a -

She had spent a while the night before contemplating what books she ought to lend to Garret. It wasn't that she thought they'd be in bad hands but she just wanted to ensure her selections would be welcomed and not just taken out of awkward politeness. She had what Harry Potter books had been released and she wasn't sure if Garret had gotten into them or not. Some of her friends did but some also were skeptical at the idea of witches and magic but the ideas that came from the series just took Sasha's breath away. "Do you read any manga?" They were hard to come by these days but Sasha had acquired a decent collection. "I figure these might be easier to deal with, you can finish them super fast." She walked over and picked up the first volume of Fruits Basket, Hana Kimi and Inuyasha. She then handed them to Garret, knowing she probably should have given him an actual book like he had, but she thought they could do another exchange if he wanted.

Garret then spoke up, saying he had brought some cards with him, which was good. It may be easier for him to understand with his own cards, rather than burrowing her own. "You'll be fine!" She smiled to him. "Well the best way to make a deck really work is to have a certain type. Like all grass or fire or a mix of fighting and rock, stuff like that." She told him, not wanting to ramble too much. "Sometimes people add in type advantages that oppose their own type. Like if you have water and you know your opponent may use grass to counter, sometimes if you have a fire pokemon in there, just in case, it can really help. And then there's energy cards which kind of act like your PP, so if you attach them to a pokemon, they can attack." She took a break, not wanting to just overload Garret on the bits of gameplay.

"I learned by just doing it." Sasha finished. "How about we have a practice game and I can walk you through turns and stuff?" She suggested, having an inkling that he'd get it better if he did it. They sat down on the carpet and she shuffled her deck. "So first, put six cards face down, over to the side. Those are our prizes, each time we K.O someone's pokemon, we pick one up and put it in our hand, the first person to get all their prizes, wins." She began to explain. And then she walked him through drawing, taking turns, setting up your bench with pokemon who weren't being used. By the time Garret was getting the hang of it, her mother called them down for lunch. They headed down and took their seats. "After this, we could walk around a bit or watch some tv." She suggested, trying not to overthink things too much. She wanted her guest, er friend to have a good time.

- - D e v o n -

Seeing the girl wave to him, he couldn't help but note that yeah, it was a bit different from seeing her at school. He felt something funny inside his stomach but he figured it was just nerves. They were about to play laser tag after all. "Hey." Devon greeted her. He gave her a 'tch' at her comment which to him was a bit funny. "Oh not much just waiting on you." He grinned at her. The two of them headed inside. There was a distinct smell of pizza, soda, sweat, and plastic. There were people playing video games and running around. There were announcements over the cries of kids, talking about the next round of laser tag. It was all fun and games. He grinned even more and looked to Ami. "How about we get three games?" He suggested. Each game was ten minutes and that gave them about a half a hour of fun before they decided what else they wanted to do.

Walking up to the counter, he got his wrist band and waited for his friend to do the same. The next round wouldn't start for another six minutes so that gave them some time to kill with arcade games. They walked around and played a few, not too worried about the tickets they got or didn't get. When the next round was called, he ran over to the entrance of the arena and he and Ami got their gear on. They'd both be on the same team for the first game. He tapped his neon green vest and held up his gun. "Those aliens ain't gonna know what hit em." He laughed. There would be two teams of red and green and then aliens popping up in the arena. The teams could either be against each other and the aliens or team up. It was the players' choice. Devon's player number was G6.

He heard the upbeat techno begin to play as the safety blurb ended and they were let out to charge their weapons and get going. He glanced to Ami and then the others on their team. They'd kick some butt for sure. An announcement over the arena which was all black with neon paint and obstacles, said they could now begin and save their world. Awesome. Devon ducked behind some tubes and looked around. A flash of red caught his eye and he shot at it. It hit which cased the enemy player to feel a mild vibration and sound. He looked around and hurried over to hide behind a corner in the middle of the arena. In his eagerness he seemed to have lost Ami. He figured she'd be off at the enemy base trying to score points there, so he headed off in that direction, strobe lights flashing above his head.

( I know it's short, but hey, we gotta give the kids some interaction. )

[Fox of Spades]

Garret Rydel

Garret stared at the books Sasha had placed in his arms. Manga? He watched anime, but had never read manga. He didn't recognize the other two stories, but Inuyasha, he had seen on Animax. "Thank you, Sasha." Garret gave her a genuine smile, "I'll take care of them, promise." He added before tucking them safely into his shark bag. He'd make sure to keep it on his desk or put them in a drawer where Ashes couldn't touch them. The cat was curious little things, and when things smelled different, he always tried to check them out. He sat on the floor close to Sasha and they decided to play some cards. She seemed to believe in his skills and Garret couldn't help but smile nervously.

It was new, the feeling of having someone he voluntarily decided to hang out with. They liked the same things and were both indoor people. It was great how similar they were, it was fun and it felt nice. It didn't matter that Sasha was a girl, what mattered was that he enjoyed her company. His dad had teased him a bit yesterday evening, but he hadn't minded that too. Garret took out his cards and stared at the pokemon. Charmander, Kabutops, Rapidash, Ditto. He would have named the other Pokemon, but Sasha started to explain. It seemed easy enough, she stated it clearly and he found himself nodding, eyes gleaming with curiosity and a bright smile stuck to his face. "I'll go for water types then." He pulled out a Wartortle card, then looked around his deck for a Goldeen and a Staryu. The boy placed down his prize cards then nodded eagerly at all the new information Sasha was giving him.

They had a practice game and Sasha showed him the ropes. Surprisingly, the card game wasn't as complicated as he thought and after a game or two, he started getting the hang of it. Sasha's mother called them down for lunch afterwards and Garret thanked his friend for the game and his friend's mother for the meal. It was a nice day and so far he had been having a lot of fun, a lot more fun than he would have if he had decided to stay home with Ashes. Sasha asked if he wanted to walk around or watch TV, it was a nice and cloudy day and he could always watch TV at home, so hesitantly the boy went for going outside. "If it's alright with you," he rubbed the back of his head. "I'd like to look around outside. The weather looks nice. Maybe we can look at birds..." he paused, and realized how boring his idea sounded. He wasn't the most exciting kid out there. "Or, or, on second thought. What do you want to do Sasha?" Whatever she came up with, he was sure it would be great. Maybe they'd explore the neighborhood or maybe they'd run into a friendly dog. The possibilities were almost endless and Garret was glad, the mystery of what they were going to do next interested him.

Amity Averin

This was it. This was war!

The flashing lights, the aliens, and the thrill of the game made her giddy with excitement and in rush of everything, she quickly got separated from Devon. Ah, it didn't matter. She'd meet up with him later, she just had to remember G6. They were in a team and she was happy, this would be fun. The girl's own number was G2, and she ran through the arena, making sure to look right and left before she entered areas without any cover. The girl ducked behind a table and one of the members from the red team ran past without noticing her. It was a young boy, with his eyes focused on one of the aliens and nothing else. He was sitting duck! Ami grinned deviously, and hopped out of her hiding spot, guns drawn. "What's up?" She called out cheerily, and there was no mistaking the triumph and excitement in her voice.

"H-Huh?" The boy spun around eyes wide and the moment he did, Amity pulled the trigger, a smile plastered onto her face. She managed to hit him in the shoulder, he raised his gun, but before he could strike back, Ami shot him in the stomach, killing the lights. He was dead for this round. Ami turned her attention to the alien, shot it, gave the other boy a wave then dove into one of the empty, tubes. She could hear footsteps, so she decided to wait it out. Laughter and cheers echoed through the arena before the sound of footsteps grew faint. As soon as the laughter died, she crawled out of her hiding spot and dashed across the room, taking a sharp turn around one of the corners. Ami skidded to a stop right in front of someone and instantly, out of reflex, drew her weapon. It took a moment for her to recognize the person she was aiming at, but when she realized who it was she smiled.

"Oh, Devie, you threw me off guard for a moment." She inched closer towards him and pressed herself against the wall. Getting caught wasn't on her list of things do to. Soon there was a cheer from just around the corner and Ami stuck her head out and gave her surroundings a quick glance. There were two members from the red team patrolling the area, she pressed her back against the wall as quickly and as silently as she could. "Two people from team red," she whispered before an idea came to her. "Hey, hey, Devie? Wanna take them on? I bet we could." She was eager. "I can go distract them, you'll need to watch my back though." The girl hopped out from behind the walls and clapped to get their attention then made her way towards the nearest tubes, ready to dive for cover.

One of the boys from the red read turned to his friend. "Green spoted!" He called out as he began to aim, but Ami ran left and right only to disappear behind one of the tubes. "Go Devie," she had yelled as she leaped in one end and ran out the over. She used the tube as cover and aimed at the second boy who hadn't gone after her. The first boy spun around, shocked to see Devon right there. Had they been ambushed? He stared at the grinning girl then at the boy behind him, the answer was most likely a yes.

[Genkai]

- - S a s h a -

Garret seemed more receptive to the notion of doing something outside which was totally cool with her. She figured it may be more fun then letting their brains rot in front of the tv, as he mother would say. "Mm sure, we can do something outside." Sasha flashed him a reassuring smile as they nibbled on their meal. As for what they could do outside, well they could pretty much do anything. From playing a sport to just casually kicking a ball around. Or they could wander around and talk or check out any wildlife, as Garret mentioned. Birds and squirrels would likely be the easiest things to spot. Maybe they'd spot the rare deer or something. She finished eating and her mother told them to stick together, which they would of course do. Why wouldn't they? "Thanks mom." Sasha said as she got up from the table and wiped her mouth.

Her mother then said when they got back, they could have some popsickles. That sounded good to her. "Okay, bye." She waved and looked to Garret. They then headed out the door and looked down at the sidewalk, left and then right. "Let's see..." They could head down to one of the many small quaint parks that populated their lovely city. Then they were bound to find a playground and even birds and the like. "How 'bout the park?" Sasha proposed. It seemed like a good place to check out and each neighborhood had their own so it wasn't as if they'd be looking at a carbon copy of Garret's. As they walked, a few birds flew by, from tree to tree but none of them really stood out to the girl, then again she wasn't really into birds so she wouldn't really know one from another.

When they finally arrived at the park, they found it relatively empty save for a few younger kids with their parents. Sasha looked to Garret, for once she felt like an adult, not needing to cling to her parents for supervision. Of course she wasn't in high school just yet but this surge of pride couldn't help but be felt. Even so, with the tranquility of it all, Sasha couldn't help but want to ask Garret some more questions as they sat down on a bench under the shade a large oak tree. "So you and Ashes seem close, and you also like fish." She commented. "You like a lot of animals don't you? Are you like, gonna become a vet or something or is there like an animal you don't wanna go near...?" She started to ask the boy.

- - D e v o n -

Weaving, darting and ducking about, Devon was quick on his feet, his athleticism coming into play. He was glad for that, some kids were too slow or clumsy so Devon took advantage of them. But the challenge of finding others such as himself who were good as quick movements was fun, a lot more fun than shooting fish in a barrel or however that saying went. The redhead let out a bit of a sigh and soon hurried forward. He ended up nearly running into non other than Ami. "Hey I've been looking for you." He said with a small smile though it was hard to make out in the arena. His heart was racing, everything was moving so fast. Thankfully they had more games to play so this wouldn't be the end of it. No, it would be the beginning. Well, maybe the end for the aliens and other people who crossed his path.

Ami moved out of the line of fire and he did the same, sighing slightly. He was still ready for more! As Ami looked out at who was drawing near, she whispered a plan, one which sounded good to him. He gave her a thumbs up. Of course he'd have her back, they could take down anything. They could be quite a force to be reckoned with. As he moved around, trying to get behind them or at least find another angle so he could take them down without too much trouble while Ami took care of distracting the idiots. She did just that and he raised his gun, taking him. But then Ami yelled at him with caused him to flinch in frustration. Argh, did she have to do that now? Of all times? In public. Seesh. Glaring, he took aim. His first attempt missed.

But his second did not. He shot both targets and then ran off, finding himself a bit angry at Ami. She knew he didn't like that nickname. It was so girly and stupid and he hated it. He found a hiding spot where he could pick off players and the straw alien or two as needed. But Ami had really shaken him up and it bothered him to no end. Finally the house lights came on and everyone was instructed to head back out and check their scores in the arcade area. Devon headed off and took off his gear and hurried out and found the screen which had everyone's shots on enemies and aliens. He did pretty well though when Ami caught up with him,. he gave her a look. "Why'd you have to call me Devie in there, with all those other guys around?"

[Fox of Spades]

Garret Rydell

As soon as they had finished their meal, both children headed outside.

It was a beautiful day, not too warm, but perfect. The sun remained hidden behind a few cotton-candy clouds and the wind was relaxing and cool. They really couldn't have chosen a better time to walk around. Sasha's mom said she'd give them some ice pops when they got back and Garret inced closer to the door as he gave her a genuine thank you. Sasha's mom had been so nice and it helped chase the nervous feeling away. In fact, it was rare, feeling excited in someone else's home. He followed after the girl and tugged down on the flaps of his hat. Garret always wore it when he went outside. "Your mom is really nice, thank you for inviting me over, Sasha." He gave her a sheepish smile before she suggested they head to the park.

"That park sounds nice." He nodded his head, just sitting on one of the swings and chatting sounded like a nice idea. They could feed the ducks at the pond and go bird watching too. His ideas wouldn't have sounded fun to most of his schoolmates who would have rather played soccer of run around, but he felt like Sasha wouldn't mind his ideas. So far, the girl had liked everything he had an interest in. She was nice and fun and he didn't have to be someone he wasn't to enjoy hanging around with her.

Both children made their way to the park and it was peaceful. As they sat beneath the shade of an Oak tree Garret decided to lie on his back and stare at the clouds. They looked like fluffy, white sheep or maybe cotton candy. It was pretty, but he listened attentively to Sasha's questions and it made him laugh. "Oh, well, I'm not very fond of insects..." it felt like a girly thing to admit and he ended up tugging his hat over his eyes, but it felt silly so he did what he could and laughed at his own answer. "But, I think they're pretty neat too. Did you know that butterflies taste with their feet?" Garret had a lot of science and animal books. It was just something he loved. "I want to become a diver." He stated after a few moments of hesitation. "I want to study all kinds of fishes and corals. They're all so amazing." It felt weird, sharing his dreams, but not a bad kind of weird, but a happy, good kind.

The boy sat up, grass clinging to his shirt and the back of his hat. "Sasha, what do you want to become when you get older?" He was genuinely interested in getting to know his friend so he waited for an answer with a smile and curious eyes. It would be years before they were adults, but in a few months they'd be entering high school and that would be an entirely new chapter of their lives. It was all so exciting, but to be honest, the thought of growing up was a little be frightening. The children talked a bit more before a playful bark echoed across the park. Garret turned his head only to see a girl, probably a few years older than them, walking four energetic pups. They were golden retrievers and they made him stare in wide-eyed fascination.

"Sasha, let's go say hello." All traces of bashfulness were gone and soon he was scrambling towards the pups who were now off their leashes. The girl had a tennis ball in her hand and she stared at the pups with a broad grin and a twinkle in her eyes. "Who's gonna get the ball? Is it gonna be RJ? Or Crackers? Maybe Lynn? Or Fresco?" She held the ball high and threw it across the park. It soared through the air before hitting Sasha behind the head.

"Oh...my God." The girl stared in their direction, wide-eyed and apologetic.

Before Sasha knew it she was surrounded by four Golden Retrievers. The pups pressed their noses against her, sniffed, whined and romped about playfully before Lynn scooped the ball into her mouth. She immediately dashed for her owner while RJ, Crackers, and Fresco continued to run around Sasha on wobbly puppy legs. Garret was smiling at the puppies and he reached down to pet one of them before he looked at Sasha. "Are you okay?" The ball looked soft enough, but he wanted to make sure. He gave her a sympathetic smile before one of the puppies promptly tacked him to the ground. It licked at his arms and face before pulling his hat off his head and running back to its owner.

"I'm so, so, so, sorry!" She came running towards them, voice filled with concern. "Are you two okay? Can I help? Gosh, I'm sorry." She was a few years older than them. 15 or 16 perhaps, and dressed in sweatpants and a plain white shirt. The three puppies constantly bit at her pants as if trying to gain her attention but she focused on Sasha and Garret, waiting for them to respond.

Amity Averin

Their plan actually worked! As soon as Devon took down their targets she dashed for cover.

They made a good team and the game had been a fun one. She spent the remaining time being sneaky and shooting enemies from behind, and while she wasn't as speedy as some of them, she had good reflexes and managed to make it to the end. It had been a lot of fun and she thought about bringing her brother to arcade for a game or two. They used to be pretty close but after he met this girl named Lizzie he got really busy, that and trigonometry pretty much ate up most of her brother's free time though they still made room for video game Sundays and whatnot.

After the lights came on she returned the equipment she had borrowed and caught up to Devon. "We made a pretty good team, huh?" She gave him a grin, but before the girl could say anything else, he gave her an irritated glance. At first she thought it had to do with her performance which was silly but he eventually stated why he was so upset and Ami couldn't help but stifle a laugh. She didn't think it was such a big deal, she called her brother names that were far worse. His name was Jeremy but she liked to call him germy sometimes for he fun of it. "It's just a nickname, Devon." She nearly called him Devie, but stopped to correct herself. If he didn't like it, she would stop, but she thought the nickname sounded neat. Ami liked giving her friends nicknames. "Besides, there's Theo for Theodore and Kas for Kasandra so Devie for Devon just felt normal." She gave her friend a grin. "But hey, if you really don't like it then I'll just call you something else." She gave him a silly salute and bright smile. She meant no harm in giving him the nickname though it was funny watching him react to it back at the amusement park.

"We still have a lot of time to burn, ah! Anything specific you wanna do, Devon?" Sheesh, remembering was hard and once again she almost called him by his dreaded nickname, but she was succeeding for now. "We could try to earn tickets, win prizes or maybe do something new?" The possibilities were endless and she was just getting started. This day was far from over.

[Genkai]

- - S a s h a -

While she sat on the bench, Garret laid on his back on the other side of it. He mentioned not being a fan of insects and she could agree there. She didn't like bugs or anything creepy like that. She was surprised to know that butterflies tasted with their feet. "I'd hate to taste with my feet." She laughed lightly. "A diver? That sounds scary." She couldn't help but frown. "But I guess exciting too, looking into the unknown, floating weightlessly..." Sasha trailed off. Garret sat up suddenly and inquired as to what she wanted to do. "I...I don't know write um bake?" She threw out some of her hobbies. "Something fun, for sure!" That's all she knew.

A barking broke their conversation and they looked over to see a pack of puppies on a leash. "I don't know...I thought parents didn't like kids walking up to strange dogs." She said nervously but got up anyway. She hesitated but it seemed that was her mistake because suddenly something smacked her in the head. She clumsily caught the ball and saw four yellow blurs coming towards her. Sarah let out a squeak and stumbled to the grass as the puppies tried to lick her and chomp on the ball. One of the dogs got the ball and bolted off and Sarah rubbed her face, trying not to get too dirty.

"Huh? Yeah I'm okay." She said nervously. It seemed a dog wanted Garret's attention which made Sasha relax a little more. She got up when the older girl approached them, apologizing. "It's okay. Accidents happen." She laughed a little and bent down to pet one of the pups. "I was just surprised." She joked slightly. "You're friends with my brother, James aren't you?" She asked the teenager. "I think I've seen you around." She mentioned, just glad to not have hyperactive puppies trying to kill her with cuteness. It turned out the girl, Becca, was friends with Sasha's older brother, James. Becca explained she was doing some dog sitting for extra cash so she could have something to do when the school year ended.

They parted ways as Sasha mentioned they needed to get back home. "Well that was unexpected." Sasha laughed a little as they walked back to her place. She'd have to pass along Becca's hello to her brother. When they got back, they spent the rest of the time reading manga, playing pokemon TCG and watching tv. Soon Garret's mom was called and he was picked up. Sasha just gave a wave goodbye since she wasn't sure what else to do. As it turned out, the two ended up hanging out together quite often until the end of the school year.

Garret and Sasha got along rather well and even the parents spent time together while the youngins hung out. With summer truly beginning for the kids, it was announced that there would be a small festival in the local park. There would be booth games, food and even fireworks. The fourth of July was a month away but it never hurt to celebrate a little earlier. Sasha ended up spending more time with Becca who kept mentioning how she and Garret should go on a date but Sasha didn't really understand what Becca was on about. Sasha just waved Becca off as she went to go find out if Garret had arrived yet or not. Many people were walking around or sitting on benches.

Many adults had beer while kids had cotton candy or corn dogs. The sky up above was teetering between a deep pink and a light purple. The air was warm and fireflies were floating around. The atmosphere was really inviting and Sasha hoped there wouldn't be any drama, after all, she wasn't a middle schooler anymore. The thought of high school made her stomach clench up in a knot though. Her father reminded her that she could read better books and she'd have a bigger library to discover. He was right, if she just focused on the positives and not the negatives or the unknown, she'd be okay. Spotting Garret in his hat, she ran over and tugged at it. "It's so hot, how care you wear that thing?" She teased him.

- - D e v o n -

It just sounded so girly. He just wasn't one for big nicknames and any other possibilities that came to mind sounded just as annoying. Desvster? Deverino? Devon was simple and fine as is. If she really needed a nickname, Dev could work but he wasn't so sure that he needed to have one. It wasn't like guys gave each other nicknames, well if they did they were usually insults like 'butt brain' or 'smelly jerry' or something like that. If she didn't call him 'Devie' in public around his friends or peers, he might not hate it so much but it just sounded so girly to him. He really didn't like it and hoped she would stop or tone it down or something.

Getting back to having seemed to be the best thing, he didn't want things to get awkward between them again. It felt weird to be mad at people, it wasn't his favorite feeling in the world. "Yeah let's play some games and see what cruddy prizes we can get." He agreed. The two of them buried the hatchet and went off to play some video games. They had a snack before they went back into the darkened arena to play another round. This time they weren't on the same team which made things interesting but still fun. Since Devon won for his team, Ami wanted a rematch so with their last game, they were on separate teams again.

This time Amity won and Devon figured it was okay to tie, even if his competitive nature didn't like it. The of them soon headed off before it got too late. At school, they hung out in their large cluster of friends. They all got along well and for the rest of the month until school got out, he and Ami hung over every so often. They either explored the area or played sports. Devon was pretty excited to be enrolled in a summer sports camp. It meant he could make more friends and hopefully win some games.

It was a camp that was every weekday and ran from ten to four. And after that, he got to do whatever he wanted. Though it was Saturday and he didn't have to run around and get sweaty, instead he was going with his family to a small festival of sorts that was being held in the park. He was sure he'd see more friends from camp or school there, so he wasn't too concerned about finding something to do. Warm smells of sugar and fried food filled his nose. Maybe running around could wait, he wanted to get his hands on something yummy. Asking his parents for some spending money, he jogged off to figure out what to eat first.

He picked a line for fired ice cream. It was a bit warm out but he wanted something fried too so somehow he could settle on both and not feel left out. He got his fried ice cream and ate it out of the dish as he stood near the chocolate sauce. He applied some to his treat and began to shuffle back toward where he had left his parents. He slowed down when he spotted Amity with some girls. He made a face and licked his lips, not sure if he should go over and say hello or not.

The redhead then noticed two others from his class. Sasha and Garret. He tilted his head and approached them. "Hey."

"Oh, hello." Sasha spun around to see Devon with an interesting dessert option.

"It's weird seeing everyone outside of school huh?" He mentioned. Sasha looked to Garret and shrugged a little, not too sure how to make small talk, even with an old classmate. Devon picked up and the slight tension and held out his ice cream. "Here, try some." He noticed her eyeing it and figured she'd like to try some.

"Oh...um...are you sure?" She blushed and took it. "Thanks." She took his spoon and got herself a bite and ate it. It was creamy and crunching. Delightfully light. "Oh, it's really good. I'll have to get some for myself." She nervously handed it back to Devon who grinned at her.

"Anyway I'll see you later." Devon waved and continued on his way, he didn't mind sharing things. it wasn't like he actually believed girls had cooties. He wasn't eight years old.

[Fox of Spades]

Garret Rydell & Amity Averin

He had his eyes focused on an aquarium filled with bright fishes. There were so many of them and they even had fishes he had never seen before. Garret's eyes however, were glued to a silly looking fish that wiggled its way past bigger fishes. Children and adults were gathered around the tank with nets and whatever they caught would be theirs for the keeping. He was going to give it a shot! He was sure his other fishes would be thrilled to get a new friend.

The boy stared on but was knocked out of his daze when his hat fell over his eyes. "Aah?" He spun around and fixed his hat. "Oh, Sasha, good evening." He gave his friend a smile. "It's not that warm," he stated though in reality he just liked his floppy hat. It made him feel better and whenever he was nervous he'd tug on the flaps or pull it over his eyes out of habit. "Sasha? Do you want a fish? There are a bunch of kinds inside." He lit up and began pointing at the giant aquarium.

A nice woman who worked in the fish catching booth noticed the enthusiastic boy and gave both children a grin. "Wanna give it try, kids?"

Garret nodded. "Yes, can we have two nets please?" He asked with a smile and an excited gleam in his eyes.

"Of course, of course. A net for the young lad and lass." She gave them both a pat on the head then disappeared behind the booth for a split second. When she made her way towards both kids, she had two plastic bags and two nets. "Here you go. That'll be a dollar each." Garret reached into his bag and pulled out two dollars. It was his idea so he figured it would be polite to pay for the both of them.

"Thank you very much." The girl responded. "I hope you both have a good time."

"Thank you," Garret said before he made his way towards the aquarium and stared. A lot of fishes caught his eye but Garret went for a chubby looking angel fish and scooped it into his plastic bag. He gave beamed then stared at his new friend. "I think you'll like the others." Garret waited for Sasha to finish up then returned both nets to the woman in charge. "What are you going to name it?" He asked as he gave Sasha's plastic bag a soft tap. It was such a pretty fish.

As Garret and Sasha were about to leave the woman from behind the counter called out with a wave. "Have fun on the rest of your date!" The children, they were just too precious.

The boy heard her loud and clear and flushed, but he didn't say anything and just hoped that Sasha didn't hear. He wasn't stupid and he knew that boys would eventually like girls. He also knew that boys and girls weren't usually best friends, but he just felt really relaxed around Sasha. He didn't have to pretend to like sports and they shared similar interests. Plus, Garret enjoyed her company and she was probably his closest friend. He shrugged it off and looked around. "Sasha, where do you want to go to next?"

Before Garret could get a reply, he heard a familiar voice and noticed Devon. "Hello Devon," he greeted with a smile. He didn't know the boy very well but they had classes together and P.E though Garret was usually watching the bench instead of playing. Devon offered Sasha some ice cream before leaving and Garret gave him a wave. "Hmm, do you want ice cream?" The boy and his friend made their way towards the fried ice cream booth and upon arrival were greeted by several familiar faces.

"Hey Sasha! Hey Gary." It was Amity, she gave them a wide grin and an energetic wave.

"Oh, I didn't notice you two. Are you guys here for the fireworks too?" Theo asked with a smile.

Kas nodded in their direction and waved. They didn't really know Garret or Sasha. The two were always so quiet.

"Oh Gary and Sasha are in my science class." Ami continued to say with a smile.

"Nice to meet you guys!" Theo gave Gary a tap on the back then grinned at Sasha. "Well, we should probably get going, I mean we wanna finish all the games don't we?"

"Sure, sure, do you guys wanna come along?" Ami asked, "and by any chance have any of you seen Devon?" After that day in the arcade she only called him Devie when no one else was listening. She stuck to calling him Devon when others were around.

"We saw him not too long ago. Near the fish booth." Garret stated, his hands making their way to the flaps of his hat. He had never really spoken to any of the three but they seemed really nice.

"Oh! Thanks, I might go ahead and look for him." She was grinning again.

Kas shrugged. "You'll be missing out, Ami. Theo and I might go ahead."

"Sure, sure, I'll see you guys when I see you." The girl replied as both her friends waved and disappeared into the crowd. "Hey, Gary? Sasha? Do you guys want to see the fireworks with us later on?"

Garret turned to look at Sasha as if waiting for her to answer. He didn't want to be rude though, so he responded. "That sounds nice."

"Yeah? Well, we should all meet by the hill then! The view from there is defo gonna be awesome. I'll catch you guys later." Amity gave them both a wave before she began jogging towards the fish booth. Garret watched as she disappeared into the crowd and wondered if they had just made a new friend.

[Genkai]

- - S a s h a -

Finding Garret was a blessing, the area was pretty wild and upbeat and Sasha felt a bit out of her element. Perhaps this was what traversing though the hallways of high school would be like. It wasn't a surprise that he led them over to the tanks where the fish were kept. "A fish?" She wasn't sure what she would do with it or how to even take care of it. But she didn't want to brush off his offer so she went along with it. They approached the booth and the woman was quick to reel in the two customers. Sasha bit her lower lip, feeling anxious as Garret bought two nets and handed her one. "T-thanks." She said lightly and held it in her hand and then moved it from one hand to the other, testing its lightness.

She and the boy headed off to look at the tanks. She wasn't too picky as to what kind she'd end up snagging. There was a flat shaped fish with purple and blue stripes. It looked nice. She dunked her net in and caught it after Garret had finished. She put hers in the plastic bag, just as he had done. Sasha held it up to her face, now able to get a closer look. He tapped the bag to get her attention and asked what she'd name it. "Oh um...maybe Anette? It looks like an Anette or maybe..." She trailed off, unable to think of anything else. So Anette it was. They made their way back to the booth and handed their nets back and as they left, the woman called out, mistaking them for a couple dating. Sasha's face turned bright red and she felt like putting the cool plastic bag to her face to cool her off.

She didn't though.

Because that would be weird.

Instead, Sasha looked away and pretended to have found something very interesting. Before they could clumsily decide what to do, Devon came over to them. They chatted briefly and then decided to go get ice cream since she couldn't steal Devon's. That would be mean. She and Garret headed over there and found even more classmates, such as Amity. With such a crowd of people around them, she found herself getting rather uncomfortable and quiet, as knot tightened in her chest. "I uh...um..." She didn't get much outside though, so she quickly shut her mouth. Near the end of the encounter, Amity offered to watch the fireworks together and she could only nod because it was the nice thing to do. "Bye." She waved and felt her face still burning bright red for a large number of reasons now.

Now she really wanted something to cool herself down. She got some ice cream, as did Garret and they found a bench to sit down. Sasha was still a little spooked by the sudden bombardment of people and chatter but she was starting to calm back down and relax again. The prospect of high school was even more daunting now. She chewed on her plastic spoon even though she finished her ice cream, she could still taste the hint of vanilla against the soft plastic. "If...if anyone looks like a couple, it's gotta be Amity and Devon, they're always together and laughing." She muttered thoughtfully as she tried to shake the awkwardness from the air around them. "I think she likes him. I mean like...like like." She cleared her throat a little. Maybe this wasn't the best way to clear the air.

"Not that I um..." She didn't mean to imply anything mean to her and Garret though. "I mean we...we're just friends..." Right? "And that's totally fine."

- - D e v o n -

The place was buzzing with people and chatter.

It was really fun and inviting.

He wished he brought a soccer ball or something.

By the time Amity tracked him down, he had found some new kids and was already making friends. There was a girl named Emily, her twin brother Patrick, and their friend Ryan. They were going to attend the same high school as them though they went to a different school on the other side of town. Devon looked up and motioned for Amity to join the conversation. "Emily and Patrick are waaay into sports, they wanna do them in high school, I think that's pretty cool. I know I do too." He mentioned to Ami. Ryan wasn't into sports but he did like being in the outdoors. After talking a bit longer, Devon said bye to the trio and headed off with Amity to see what was up and how things were.

He spotted their cluster of classmates wandering around, buying food and playing games. It seemed pretty fun to relax before school started and who knows, they might not have the same classes and be able to hang out as often as before. This was a good way to celebrate summer and bring on the new fall. "Want me to win you anything?" Devon struck a pose and flexed his arm. Amity picked a game where you toss a ring to loop around bottles, a real tricky one. But he was up for the challenge. He spent three bucks before he won Amity a large teddy bear. He was quite proud of his accomplishment though when they were leaving, some guy came up and won on the first try.

Bleh to that guy. Devon walked around with Ami as they talked about classes and what they think they'd be given. "I'm just glad we're not going to that stuffy private school. They probably expect all students to get As and be perfect." He grumbled. Still, their gym and other facilities looked pretty top notch. It likely had high tuition to get in. For once, he was glad his parents weren't super rich or something. As the sun went down and the sky became a blank canvas of dark blue, a tinge of excitement surged through his body as he leaned over to Amity, since they were in a crowd. "It's almost time." He whispered to her as they finally broke free and found a patch of grass. It seemed Amity had invited Sasha and Garret, as Ami had motioned them over once they spotted them.

"This is gonna be awesome!" Devon said as they all sat back on the grass to watch the display. Devon was between the girls while Gary was sitting on the other side of Sasha. it seemed they were comfortable and eager to see the light show begin. Booms of bright colors flew overhead and Devon fell back and slipped his hands behind his head to form a pillow. He saw Sasha just stare up, sitting a bit back with her hands supporting her weight. Devon glanced to Amity and grinned. This was a pretty amazing moment. It was warm and comfortable and he couldn't explain why. A large green and white firework seemed to end the festivities as the onlookers began to go home. He got up with Ami and headed off, having said bye to Sasha and Garret. "Should I walk you home? If I don't, my mom might lecture me for not being a gentleman." He chuckled a little, not sure he understood the logic since Amity could definitely take care of herself.

[Fox of Spades]

Garret

Sasha looked so embarrassed, it was actually kind of funny.

"Mhm, you're my best friend though." He added with a nervous laugh. He didn't know if it was the right thing to say in such a situation, but he meant it. At first he thought it would be a bit weird, having a girl for a best friend, but now he didn't mind. The kids talked about other things and Garret tried to lighten the mood by talking about Anette the fish. The air grew chilly and soon it was time for the fireworks.

"We should go find the others." Garret gave his friend a smile. He didn't know Amity or Devon that well, but they had accepted the invitation. The children made their way to the hill where Devon and Ami were waiting. The latter gave them a giant grin and an energetic wave and soon was motioning for them to have a seat. Garret said hello then sat down beside Sasha. The night sky above was dark until the show began. After that, things were amazing and Garret looked up at the sky as if caught in a daze. It ended as soon as it had started but the boy remained seated on the grass, soaking up what was left of the day.

"That was amazing." He stated before childishly tugging on the flaps of his hat. "Just amazing!"

He gave everyone an excited smile then looked at Sasha. "Our parents told us to meet them by the fountain right? After the show?" The boy got to his feet and began dusting himself off, grass clung to his knees and elbows but he didn't really mind. "Thank you, but we'll be going ahead." Ami and Devon waved and he and Sasha made their way down the hill. When they got the fountain, their parents were chatting happily.

"Gary, Sasha," Garret's mom beamed at both children. "I hope you two had a fun night." She smiled at Sasha's parents and said something about them going on ahead. The adults said their goodbyes and Garret gave Sasha and Anette a wave. "G'night Sasha!" The boy hopped forward and walked off with his own parents.

Amity

The fireworks were beautiful.

Amity held the giant bear close and grinned. However, things were over as soon as they had started and soon enough people were going home. Sasha and Garret excused themselves and the girl said her good byes. "Gosh, they should have festivals more often...I'd always attend." She gave Devon a grin then hopped to her feet. The girl was about to say her thank yous and farewells when her friend offered to walk her home.

She arched an eyebrow at him then laughed. "Alrighty, but if we run into a rabid dog or bear, you're going to be the one who jumps into the fray and defends us." She was grinning at the thought. "Though you'll probably get eaten, Devie." Since the others were gone she slipped up, and used the dreaded nickname. It was still what she called him when no one else was listening. The girl noticed her mistake and apologized with a laugh, it had been a great day.

Both children left the park. "High school will be starting pretty soon, are you nervous?" Conversation came easy and they talked about all sorts of things, even their successful break in at Applewood academy not too long ago. Soon enough they arrived at Amity's house and the girl beamed. "Thanks for the bear, I'll take good care of him. Don't run into any rabid dogs on your way home, kay?" She made her way inside, greeted her parents then climbed up to her room.

For some reason, knowing that the giant teddy bear was from Devon made her really happy.

---

Summer eventually came to an end and high school came to greet them.

The kids were no longer in the same homeroom and had varying schedules. However, all of them managed to at least share a class or two, and that was good. Amity and Devon continued to be good friends while also befriending Garret and Sasha. The four of them grew closer and Garret enjoyed it when they all managed to get together. It was the third week of freshmen year, things were getting busier than usual and it was the day of the dance.

Sasha, Amity, Devon, and Garret had decided to go together as friends, but they still had a few hours to get ready.

Garret's mom was pretty much fussing over him while Ami and Sasha decided to get ready together. Both girls were in Amity's house and her mother was flitting to and fro with a giant grin. "Girls, you both look like princesses," she gushed and Ami made a silly face in response.

"I'd rather be something else," the girl joked before placing both hands on Sasha's shoulders and grinning. "Sasha defo fits the princess role though. Demure, polite," Ami went on and on, teasing the girl in a friendly manner. "You look great, Sasha!" The girl pulled back and clapped her hands together, "so how are you feeling?"

[Genkai]

- - S a s h a -

Going to a dance was pretty intimidating.

Then again, so was going to high school and yet she was doing fine so far.

The reassurance was that she had her friends with her; Devon, Garret and Ami. That made dealing with finding classes and studying, a lot better. And of course the dance was no exception. Amity was sweet enough to offer her home as a place to get ready for the big night. It wasn't a big formal dance or anything but it would be their first of many. So she had to get used to the whole affair of getting ready and pretending to be not only graceful but also social. These were her friends though, nothing to worry about. But at the dance, there was the very slim possibility that someone else might ask her to dance. What would she do then? Dance?!

"I'm...really nervous." She knew she shouldn't be, that a dancer was harmless enough. "Thank you for helping me get ready." She had on a nice casual black spaghetti strapped dress. It had white lace around the bottom which reached her knees and then the dress had small lace decorative buttons running up it, though rather than be center, they were off slightly. She then had on simple black flats and her short blond hair had grown slightly but it was wavy and didn't need much work. "You don't have to be a girly princess if you don't want to. In some of the books I've been reading, there's one who is also a great fighter, who saves a lot of people and doesn't fit the normal parameters of a typical shy figurehead."

Sasha couldn't help but ramble slightly. "I'm sure we'll have though." She said, changing the topic. "We can all go out and maybe get some ice cream afterwards." Sasha suggested and glanced to Amity's mother who seemed okay with the idea. The four of them would be getting their own rides to and from the school but from what Sasha heard, Garret was with Devon and they'd probably go together, just like her and Amity. Amity's mother was really nice and the blond was coming out of her shell. Amity was a great friend and she hoped they could stick it out together through high school and beyond. Part of Sasha still wanted to ask about Ami and Devon but before she could bring it up, it was time to go and meet the boys.

- - D e v o n -

No one would think guys worry about dances, nah that's something girls do right?

Wrong.

Devon wasn't as flustered as Sasha was, but he was a little concerned. There was a lot of pressure for a guy to be nice but not too nice or else that would come off creepy. And not to mention there was some level of competition going on. Some of the older guys at the school prided themselves on having the hottest most popular date in school. Some guys liked to show off and dance while others liked to sneak in a flash or something stupid like that. Devon wasn't into any of those stupid things and he holed that he'd never become some meat-head jock that used dances to show off. But then again the main point of a dance was to socialize and dance. Being an active boy, he could do those things with an arm tied behind his back.

He wasn't about to attempt that though. The redhead was most concerned about acting and appearance. His parents said he could wear dark jeans and a button up shirt and he'd be fine. He didn't need a tie so that was good. He had invited Garret over since they were friends and he knew the girls would be together getting ready so why not call in for backup and make sure everyone was on the same page and not about to go AWOL? Devon had on a dark green shirt and dark jeans. He looked over to see how Garret was coming along. Devon had sneakers on, he didn't see anything wrong with that. It was a dance, a school dance. He wanted to be comfortable, could you blame the kid?

"You look a little nervous." He said, patting Gary on the shoulder. "You'll be fine, you'll get to the party, we'll meet the girls, talk, snack and have fun. No pressure at all." Devon assured him. He knew Garret, like Sasha, was a bit of a shy turtle but Devon honestly believed that going to the dance would be beneficial for them. They were so wound up and shy that they needed to let some steam out. He wondered if he and Ami should take them to play laser tag together. Deep down, Sasha and Gary had to have some wild animal pent up inside of them. With a grin, he headed off to get in the car as it was time to go. The ride was quick and quiet. When they got out, Devon's mother gave him some money and said to have fun. They got out and headed off to the Gym where the music was pumping.

( A lil short. )

[Fox of Spades]

Garret Rydell

"Oh, I'm doing great," he muttered before giving Devon a small grin. The thought of meeting so many people made him feel uncomfortable, but all of his friends were going and he wasn't going to bail on them, even though he really wanted to. Besides, his mother had urged him to go, she thought it would be a great opportunity to try new things and make friends, and he didn't feel like arguing with her. Anyways, his friends would be going too, so it didn't sound too bad. Amity made them all promise that they would show up and if he decided not to, he was pretty sure she'd sulk.

Garret fidgeted with his tie, trying his hardest to look calm and collected. When he told his mom he was going, she fussed over his hair, his clothes, and wouldn't stop until she thought everything was perfect. The boy was in a long sleeved, blue dress shirt, dark pants, and pointy shoes that were polished to perfection. He needed to be extra careful, if he got his clothes dirty, his mother wouldn't be happy.

Both boys made their way to the gym, it was decorated with balloons, banners, and colorful streamers. It was still pretty early, so there weren't a lot of people. The people who were present were either chatting by the punch table or sitting on the bleachers with friends or their dates. A few of the extra brave ones were practicing their dance moves and swinging around in time with the music, Garret thought they looked silly, but they also looked like they were having a lot of fun.

"Yo, Devon!" One of the basketball players, Ryan, walked up to them. He was in a red button down shirt and grey jeans. He had on a goofy grin and had one of his arms around a blonde girl's shoulders. "What's up my man? You playing in the game against Applewood next week? We are going to own those losers." He flashed Garret a grin, "hey Gary, didn't expect to see you here." They were in the same math class. "Did you see Mr. Tomlinson...yeesh those jokes make me want to hurl and uh--" he paused when the girl beside him tugged on his sleeve. "Oh yeah, this is Nina."

The girl in the white dress gave them both a wave and a smile before whispering in Ryan's ear. He flushed a little before complaining about not being a good dancer but before he knew it he was being dragged of by a giggling Nina. "Dudessss, not cool! Save a bro!" He made a sour face before he was tugged into the dance floor.

Garret couldn't help but laugh at the duo, especially the fumbling Ryan who was trying not trip on his feet. Meanwhile, Mr. Tomlinson continued telling jokes in a bad attempt to lighten up the mood.

"So what do you get when you cross a martial artist and a pig?" Silence. "A pork chop," the poor science teacher didn't even get a chuckle.

Garret feigned a laugh, and managed to get the poor fellow to smile. "Well, this isn't too bad." He walked up to a corner a table with four seats and sat down. More and more people were arriving and the music grew more lively, but Garret wasn't thinking about any of that and was thinking of science class of all things. "Hey Devon, what are you doing for the science fair?" He was probably going to work on a terrarium or maybe bring his fishes and give an explanation on marine life. "I mean, how's training?" He didn't want to be a bore and discuss schoolwork when they were supposed to be having fun, but it was easy to see that he was excited. He had even marked the date on his calendar.

Amity Averin

"Don't be," she gave her friend a broad grin. "I mean, what's there to be nervous about. We're just gonna meet good ol' Devie and Gary. Same old same old, there'll be others too of course, but bah! They'll be busy dancing or stuffing their faces." Amity made a silly face before laughing. "This is our first dance and we're all going to stick together, all for one, one for all!" Hopefully her enthusiasm was encouraging instead of intimidating.

Ami fixed up her own dress, it was a simple, white, knee length dress with a black belt. "Warrior princesses? Well, whatever you say Sasha, though I bet fighting in a dress would be terribly hard. Heels would work as weapons though." However, Ami was wearing flats. She gave her friend a thumbs up though and agreed happily when ice cream was mentioned. Her mother didn't have any complaints and sent them off with a laugh and reminder to have a good time.

"Let's go princesses," her dad joked as he pushed open the screen door and gave them a gentlemanly bow. He escorted them to the car and drove both girls to the school dance. When they arrived, the place was pretty much packed though Mr. Tomlinson was still joking around. They had a few more minutes before the actual event would start. "I'll pick you both up from the ice cream place then we can bring Sasha home. I promised her parents we'd have her back before eleven, have fun you two." He gave Ami a pat on the head then bid them both goodbye. The girl watched as the green car drove away then looked at Sasha with a smile.

"Are you ready?" With both hands on Sasha's shoulders she led them into the crowded gym.

People were dancing, eating, and the sound of chatter echoed throughout the place. "Oh wow, I wasn't expecting so many people to attend a cruddy school dance." She narrowed her eyes and began scanning their surroundings, it took awhile and a lot of patience but eventually she spotted both boys in a corner table. "There they are." Amity clapped both her hands together, looking excited and cheerful. The girls made their way towards the table but not without Ami pausing to greet a few people here and there.

"Kas, Lily, good to see you guys. Theo! I can't believe you actually look presentable?" Her grin turned mischievous.

"Can it, Averin. I'll have to say the same for you." He stuck out his tongue before laughing.

Amity simply laughed and introduced Sasha to a few of her friends. The trio greeted the shy girl politely and mentioned that they remembered her from the festival. "That was you, right? It's great to see you again." Kas stated with a smile. There was a bit of small talk before Ami excused them, "well, we have to go, Devie and Gary are waiting for us." She waved goodbye and the girls made it to the table.

"Did you miss us?" Amity plopped down on one of the empty chairs with a broad grin.

"Good evening Sasha, Good evening Amity." Garret brightened up when the girls arrived and nodded. "You both look great." He sounded a little bashful but wanted to be as polite as he could.

Amity laughed. "D'aww, you guys look spiffy as well." She eyed the dance floor and laughed as a few students floundered around. "So what were you guys up to?" the girl propped both elbows on the table and leaned forward with a huge grin.

"We were, uh, talking about the science fair." Garret brightened up sevenfold and Amity laughed.

"Eh? Garret this isn't the time to think about science." She made a sour face. "Devon, what have you been teaching him? Just because you've been to Applewood doesn't mean you can share your scientific pursuits at a school dance." Ami teased them a little before finally settling down with a broad smile. They'd already told Sasha and Garret about Applewood and it became an inside joke of sorts in their little group of friends.

[Genkai]

- - S a s h a & D e v o n -

The dance was looking to be pretty fun. When Ryan approached them, he gave him a friendly wave back. "Heya." He smiled. "Oh yeah, you know it." He said confidently. "Oh hey Nina." Devon replied, looking from Garret to the others. Nina seemed a bit shy and whispered something to the guy and before Devon or Garret could do anything, the guy was dragged off. Devon grinned and laughed, pointing at the poor fellow. "On your own, haha." He teased and sighed. It was a little bit of a relief to know they weren't the only fish out of water. Meanwhile their teacher was just as lame as ever. Thankfully they carried on found some food to nibble on.

They got some snacks and found a table to sit down for a bit until they found the other half of their missing group. "Huh? I don't know, I haven't thought about it really." He shrugged. Science was a bore but he knew Gary liked it. "Oh yeah, practice is going pretty good, it makes going to school a lot less painful ya know." He nudged him a little. Soon, the girls approached them and Devon got to his feet and looked at them. "Heh not bad." He teased and looked around, still able to make out some other friends and classmates. The plus about the dance was that it could be low key and not as stressful because they were new. While some might think it was worse because they were freshmen, Devon figured they had less expectations to uphold compared to upperclassmen.

Talking with Amity and her friends while en route to the boys' table, was alright. Sasha was still uneasy but she was doing her best to get out of her shell and have fun like Ami. Ami was a good friend and Sasha wanted to be able to laugh and have fun, and not be locked in her own world of books and isolation. High school was about finding yourself right? Sasha was making an effort. Someday that effort would be worth it. When they finally arrived at the table, Devon seemed to be approving of their dress though it was a little weird. Behind them, other couples were dancing and getting close. Sasha didn't think they needed to do that though. Amity took a seat and Devon sat back down too.

"Thanks." Sasha replied to them and took the last seat remaining.

"Hey don't blame me, he brought it up." Devon defended himself when Ami and the others started to talk about the upcoming events. "It's not my fault you girls take forever to get ready." He waved a hand and smiled at them. "Applewood would be glad to have my brain and brawn, thank you very much!" He flexed his arms, striking a pose. He could tell the girls were eyeing the dance floor. He could be up for a dance or two, it didn't seem so bad if you ask him. He was sure Garret and Sasha would need to be dragged like Ryan. "Anyway, let's get up and do some dancing! We're here, might as well try it out huh?" He stood back up and motioned them to follow him as he headed off to the center of the chaos.

Sasha licked her lips and looked to Ami, already sure that she'd want to dance too. "C-come on." Sasha smiled a little. "A Princess shouldn't disappoint her people." She joked lightly and headed off to take a chance. How bad could dancing be? She was a little bit afraid of making a fool of herself but she didn't think it would be awful. And she had her friends with her so even if something went horribly wrong, she wouldn't be alone. And she was determined to be a brighter star in the sky and not just remain dim forever. She looked to the boys and then to Ami, not sure how dancing ought to happen. Did she want to try dancing with a boy? Oh no no no. Not tonight. So she grabbed Amity's hand and decided Ami could be her partner.

Devon glanced to Garret.

"I'm not dancing with him." He said. "No offense." Devon said quickly.

Sasha glanced to Devon and Garret, well they could try just dancing together. The music was upbeat and very pop-centered. She looked around and took note of what everyone else was doing. People were just rocking their bodies and raising their hands, shaking their hips, head, whatever. She blushed a little and decided to twirl Ami around, which she did and laughed. That wasn't so bad. Sasha figured the guys could sort out themselves since she and Ami seemed to be having a fun enough time together, whispering comments about certain people while holding each other's hands and moving about. "Just think, our next dance we might have dates!" She whispered with a giggle. She didn't believe herself but it was a funny idea.

[Fox of Spades]

Garret and Amity

Of course, it was just like Gary to bring up the science fair during a dance.

Pfft, he needed to loosen up and enjoy himself. The last time Amity had invited the four of them to her house, it had been to watch some movies and play video games. However, while the others arrived, eager to laze around and enjoy the Saturday, Gary appeared on her doorstep with a bag filled with science homework. And the papers he brought, they weren't even due that week. It was actually pretty impressive and she made a mental note to ask him about next week's homework. "Sheesh, now is not the time for any of that."

Devon began joking about Applewood and Ami rolled her eyes playfully.

The girl locked eyes with Sasha then grinned when Devie suggested they all hit the dance floor. "Well, we're here so we might as well!" She narrowed her eyes and feigned a threatening look. "That means you as well, Gary. All for one and one for all."

The boy shrunk back into his seat before letting out a nervous laugh. "I wasn't planning to abandon you guys...oh boy, look at that strawberry tart. I think Mr. Tomlinson needs help carrying that plate.Um, did I say plate? I mean t-that desk. Yes, that huge desk...it looks really, really heavy."

Amity laughed, "Can it, Rydel, you're joining us on the dance floor." She gave him the spookiest face she could muster and in response Gary began to laugh. Sasha went on ahead, before requesting for backup. "See, even Sasha is going." Amity followed after her friend with a broad grin, leaving a nervous Gary behind. The boy didn't leave his seat until all his friends had made their way to the dance floor.

Garett shuffled towards Devon as he fiddled with the cuffs of his sleeves. More and more people had gotten out of their seats and being smack dab in the middle of it all felt overwhelming. Sure, he was simply standing around while the others busted a move, but it didn't make him feel less nervous. He watched as Sasha and Amity danced then stared at his feet. "This is..." Nice, uh good? Before he could think of the right word, he blurted out how he really felt. "Suffocating."

Sasha and Amity seemed to be enjoying themselves and he watched as the girls giggled and twirled each other around.

"Sasha, who knew you were such a good dancer. Why have you been hiding these skills?" Amity chuckled then twirled Sasha around. She wasn't exactly a good dancer but just moving in time to the music felt great.

"I'm not dancing with him. No offense."

Garret turned to look at Devon before letting out an awkward chuckle. "None taken," the thought of spinning Devon around...it was pretty silly. Garret inched closer towards his friend, a sour expression stuck to his face. "So um, do you want to lead us into war?" He wasn't dancing until all of them were. It just felt so weird, how were Amity and Sasha enjoying themselves. The dim lights and various people, not to mention the upperclassmen, Garret was as stiff as a board.

Meanwhile, the girls were doing much better. Sasha began talking about dates and Amity laughed, "that'll be interesting," she gave her friend a wink then decided to joke around a little. "Even if we don't find dates, we can get Devon and Garret to take us and it can be kind of like a date." She laughed, "but we'll all be friends."