Episode 1.1: As Normal As It Gets

(Part I)

The incandescent spheres hurdled soundlessly towards the green blue planet. Unnoticed by the general populous, the pulsing undefined objects slipped quietly through the planet's atmosphere gradually slowing to avoid impact with the ground. Although they had form and distinct colours, the strange bulbs of energy were not visible to the naked eye. So, it was with great ease that these globes drifted about the population of the planet known only as Sol 3541 without even an eyebrow being raised. Although robbed of any thought or consciousness, they all had a duty, some reason for them being there. They didn't quite understand of course, but they didn't really have to, as long as the task was completed. So, it was with this compulsion, this urge to do what they were instructed to, that they began to split up and accomplish their objectives.

Seconds later, the invisible shock-wave rocked the city with the power of forty atom bombs, although it was not in the sense that most corporeal beings think of when they hear of such a occurrence. Yes, this was indeed a phenomenon of extraordinary power but it could not be smelt, felt, seen, tasted or heard by any individual in this universe. In fact, even if any being in existence were aware of it, they would never have recognized it. The wave was one of a kind, needing the correct temperature, planet and a million other factors for it to exist. It had never occurred before and probably never would again. As it expanded throughout the city, it caused an unexpected reaction in the ecosystem (although it couldn't really be called unexpected since the oddity had never existed before), one which would change the universe forever, or not (remember this was it's first occurrence so no conclusions could be made). And in its wake, there was a new beginning, and like all beginnings, it held the hopes and dreams of the universe.

(1998)

The rain came down hard. It's soft pitter-patter as it hit the concrete sidewalk echoed silently throughout the bustling streets of downtown Vancouver. Like little ants scurrying around, the unfortunate people who were caught outside dashed about trying to complete their tasks and get home. Owners of stores and supermarkets were closing up for the night, couples were exiting movie theatres, the whole hustle and bustle that was common of this city was fading away, preparing for tomorrow. It was actually quite an interesting sight to see, if anyone was actually watching that is. Unfortunately, at this time of night, most people tend not to be looking out windows. Such was the case on the twenty-eighth floor of an apartment complex just a block from this particular scene.

Kev Chan (16) flipped through the incredibly numerous channels rapidly, scrolling through almost 20 different documentaries, sitcoms, dramas and talk-shows before settling on channel 57, Toon-vision, one of the new specialty channels. Leaning back into the comfort of the black leather sofa he was resting on, the lean Chinese boy casually turned the volume up a notch as the commercials ended and the scheduled program began. The living room, or television room, as he generally called it, was spacious, yet cozy. It generated a sort of homely feel, as it was being lit solely from two halogen lamps standing off on either corner of the room. The floor consisted of a dark brown hardwood, a symphony of one solid colour, disturbed only by the welcome mat situated by the front door, which was located at the end of a hallway that jutted out of one side. Contrasting the dark tones set by the floor, were the walls, of which there were only two prominent ones, the front was a thick solid white while the parallel wall was just one big window. In front of the four person couch was simply a long rectangular glass table that held a Kleenex box, two remote controls, a stack of old magazines and at this moment, Kev's two feet. And facing the couch, resting in the upper middle of a large wooden stand, was every home's household god, the television. This particular specimen, was a 29 inch Sony, connected to a VCR which sat on a shelf above it, two speakers situated on the ground to either side, a Nintendo 64 lying inside a glass case underneath it and, as a finishing touch, a karaoke machine placed on a separate shelf between the VCR and the TV. As if the couch were not comfortable enough, on the right side of it was, a leather black reclining chair. To the left of this recreational area was a short hallway leading to the kitchen and to the right was another hallway, this one leading to a washroom and Kev's bedroom.

And in the middle of this furniture jungle was Kev, comfortably enjoying this week's episode of Dragon Fire, while sipping on a coke. So engrossed was he in the thirty minute piece that he barely heard the click of a key being shoved into the front lock. However, barely in his case was still enough. Turning his head to the right, Kev brushed aside a stray shock of black hair from his face as he watched the door open, knowing full well who would walk through the doorway.

Jason Lam (16) stood in the doorway looking as usual pretty stolid. He was a fairly tall kid, almost 6 feet and wasn't any string bean, either. The sixteen-year-old boy, who shared an apartment with Kev, was pretty well built for a guy who almost never did anything physical. He had a long face, narrow eyes, well-proportioned nose and a level mouth, which always seemed to be frowning. However, in terms of general appearance, Jason was one big mismatch. He had a fairly strong upper body and could be mistaken for some sort of macho guy if it wasn't for the fact that he wore pretty conservative clothing. With his jet black hair set in an equal part, black rimmed designer frame glasses, long sleeved polo shirt and dark black jeans, Jason looked exactly like the academic ace that he was. And there the freak was standing uneasily in the doorway like it wasn't his home too. Kev threw his entire body sideways, laying on the couch like it was a bed. With one hand he clicked off the TV, cutting off a good amount of the light in the room. He leaned his head back over the couch's hand rest, his normally stable dark black hair hanging downwards. "So how went your date, Don Juan?" Kev cracked a slight smile as Jason made a face.

"What date?" The response was so bland he nearly bought it.

"The one you just went on." Another blank stare, Kev elaborated, "You know, you said you had to pick up a girl... I'm assuming it's a date." He looked inquiringly at his roommate, waiting for some sort of response.

Jason let out a small chuckle, confusing Kev more. "I wasn't going to pick up my girlfriend you idiot! I was picking up my sister at the airport!" The last few words were laced with anger mixed with genuine amusement.

Kev got up, and knelt on the sofa, leaning his hands on the back part and looked curiously at Jason. "What Michelle? She's come to Vancouver? What, where's she staying, here?" Kev blurted out the entire sentence fairly quickly, this was news to him.

"Of course I'm staying here turnip head!" Kev strained his head, trying to look for the source of the high almost squeaky voice, which came from behind Jason. As Jason started away from the door, a comparably shorter figure appeared. Kev eye's widened slightly.

Michelle Lam (14) had changed quite a bit since he had last laid eyes on her, some five odd years ago. Back then she was just his friend's sister who was one and half… no… two (she was born in December) years his junior. Just a little girl he had fun teasing and playing with, but now... now she was… well, she wasn't a baby girl anymore. Michelle was taller than before, of course, although still a good 8 inches or so off of her brother. She had a pretty slim figure, but she wasn't what you would call frail. Her hair was thin and smooth, starting from a shallow part at the top of her head and arcing across her skull ending slightly above her neck. It was dyed a light brown and seemed to have an unnatural, yet soft hold to it. Her burgundy coloured eyes were large and luminous, a direct contrast to her small, dainty nose. As if continuing some sort of upside down pyramid-type pattern, were her ever-compressed, compact lips, which were now formed into a big smile.

"Hey Meesh!" Kev returned the tiny smile with a larger counterpart. "Hmm… Just as pretty as when I last saw you." He observed as gracious as ever. Then with a raised eyebrow, "I see you've managed to grow up without inheriting your brother's lack of a fashion sense." Kev smiled again as he gestured at the halter-top, dark-blue vest, ankle length skirt and black platform heeled shoes she was wearing. "Nice."

She blushed slightly at the obvious compliment. Each strand of her hair danced in perfect harmony as she swung her gaze across the room, digesting it. "It's a pretty nice place you have here, Turnip head. Must have been all your ideas." Jason flinched at the thinly veiled playful insult.

Kev was inclined to agree. He chuckled, "'course, who else? Jason?" They both burst out into laughter. Jason's brow furrowed. A discreet motion, unnoticed by the world, but Kev caught it. Yeah, the guy was probably feeling pretty uncomfortable right now, might as well save the poor fellow. He turned and addressed his roommate's sister in a more serious tone, "So Meesh, pretty long trip from Hong Kong to here, even with the jet-lag, you must be exhausted."

Michelle looked confused for a second, unsure of why Kev brought that up, then she looked at Jason. Well, she was pretty tired anyways, what the heck. She let out a yawn, whether out of exhaustion or acting she wasn't even sure herself. "Yeah, I'm pretty tired, where's my bed?"

A surprised look popped onto Kev's face for a second, he obviously had not expected her to take the bait so soon. "Bed..." he blinked twice, trying to organize his thoughts, "Oh, yeah… um… you can sleep in my room for today, at least until we can prepare the guest room."

"You sure it's no problem?" Kev could swear that her voice was getting prettier by the second.

He shook his head once, "No, don't worry, I'm perfectly comfortable sleeping on the couch. Here, I'll show you where it is." Kev gestured towards the hallway to the right of the TV, hefted one of her two leather suitcases and began to lead to way.

Kev slowly shut the door to his bedroom, blocking out the faint breathing sounds that were emanating from inside. Trying to be as quiet as possible, he walked down the short hallway and into the living room. The lights had been turned up, creating shadows, which danced across the room. Continuing his casual stride, he approached Jason who was, at the moment, hanging up his jacket on the coat rack just six feet from the door. As he got within a decent conversation range, Kev calmly stretched out his right hand. "Did you dent it?" he asked with a touch of nervousness in his voice.

"Of course not. I'm not an idiot." Those last few words were almost masked by the clink of the car keys as they dropped into Kev's outstretched hand.

Relieved, Kev shoved the keys into the jean jacket he was wearing and with a slight sigh sat comfortably down on the black easy chair. As if taking Kev's cue, Jason plopped himself horizontally on the couch and began to reach for the remote.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Instantly Jason's outstretched hand pulled back from its destination. He turned his head towards Kev and with a look of feigned confusion. "Tell you what?"

Kev glared back, not buying for a second Jason's alleged innocence. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Why the hell didn't you tell me Michelle was coming back?" A slight edge of anger was beginning to creep into his voice. Kev fought to control it.

"I… I was afraid…" Jason paused, obviously trying to pick or make up, the right words. "…that you might make a big deal of it all." Clearly he was very uncomfortable with the subject.

Unfortunately for Jason though, his friend really didn't quite give a damn and continued to press "A big deal." Kev paused for a second, choosing the subsequent words carefully. "You mean like getting her a present, or preparing a room for her, or taking her to a movie, or doing anything that would make me seem like more of a brother than you!!!" His voice had been getting louder and harsher throughout that last sentence and finally climaxed at "you". Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Kev continued his verbal assault. "When she was here all those years back, it was me that played with her, that spent great amounts of effort getting her a birthday present, that introduced her to the world! ME!!! Not her so-called brother, me!!! She wouldn't even have gone to see that first freakin' movie if I didn't take her, Mr. 'I'm to busy with work that I can't even spend a second with my sister'." Kev finished with such disgust in his voice that he practically spat the last part out.

Jason started to look very defensive. When he finally spoke, it was in slow, steady tones, which belied a growing guilt in his conscience. "Well, I would have taken her to that movie if you hadn't done so. But I was only ten..."

Kev wouldn't even let the poor boy finish. "As was I! Two hours, that's all it would have taken. Two lousy, stinkin' hours and you couldn't even afford that!" He spread his arms out in mock respect. "No, the all-mighty Jason Lam was too busy studying for a math quiz. A quiz..."

"Which I aced." Interrupted Jason, who quickly shut-up under Kev's harsh glare.

"But it was a quiz! Not an exam, mid-term or even a test. It was a freakin' quiz out of ten worth less than one percent of your Grade 4 final! So you got a hundred! Congratulations, I hope it was worth alienating your sister." The stern voice began to quiet down until finally it faded to nothingness. Kev glared intently at Jason hoping for some sort of uncharacteristic sensitive reaction. What he got was another typical Jason Lam answer.

"Yeah, whatever. Fine, I'll do something with her sometime, alright?" The response was delivered in a flat tone, leading Kev to correctly infer that Jason had no desire whatsoever to do anything at all about it.

By now it was becoming more and more obvious to Kev that he would never be able to change his stubborn friend. Sighing, he decided to change the subject. "Why'd she come back anyways?" he inquired in a tired, resigned voice. "Same reason you stayed?"

"One and the same. My parents decided that, now that she was in high school, Michelle would benefit more in Canada rather than Hong Kong. I personally don't see why, but she's here now." Jason shrugged.

Kev looked thoughtful, "So she's here for academic reasons." Absentmindedly he placed one hand under his chin, as if in deep thought. School was the reason Jason was in Vancouver now, and if he his memory served it was the same reason he was still here.

Kev was born in Hong Kong, the son of an executive at a big computer company. His mother died when he was eight and later that year his father accepted a temporary position in Canada. The change of scenery was exactly what the eight and a half-year-old Kevin Chan needed after such a tragedy. When they arrived, his father went to look for an old school mate of his who lived in the area. That was Jason's dad. They renewed their friendship and Jason's parents helped Kev's dad cope with the loss of his wife. When he was eleven, his father was recalled to Hong Kong. Then either destiny or God intervened, forever intertwining Jason and Kev's respective fates. At that time, Mr. Lam had just been laid off and Mrs. Lam was struggling to find some way to support their family. And, as luck would have it, Kev's dad found out about a couple of job openings in the company he worked for. In return for everything Jason's parents had done for him and Kev, he pulled some strings and got them both the jobs. Unfortunately, their new positions required them to relocate to Hong Kong. With the British-controlled colony set to return to China, both families decided it would be best if their sons stayed in Canada. Michelle was too young to remain at the time, after all she was only 8, so her parents decided to take her to Hong Kong also, until she was older. So, from then till now, Kev and Jason had been living together in the apartment, which used to belong to the latter's family. Of course when they started they were only eleven, hardly an age to live alone, so Jason's grandmother stayed with them, until two years ago when she joined her daughter in Hong Kong. Since then, it was only Kev and that maniac he called 'friend'.

With all of this running through Kev's head, it was a miracle that he managed to process all of it in a couple of seconds. However, in any conversation, a couple of seconds of silence is rather awkward, and can lead embarrassment. Kev realized this, and in an attempt to avoid such a fate, said the first thing that came to mind. "Which school's she going to? Ours?"

Jason looked at him funny. "Of course she's going to our school, where else? Freakland?"

Kev smiled at Jason's use of the derogatory term that everyone used to describe Meadowland SS, a school known for it's special education programs, or more specifically, it's gifted program. He smiled again, just thinking about it. Those gifted kids were a funny bunch, stuck in the same class for years on end. It was interesting though, neither he nor any one his age had been tested for the program since it had been introduced a year too late. Maybe some of his friends were gifted. He thought about that. His friends? Maybe not. Snapping out of his train of thought, Kev desperately tried to remember what they were discussing. Oh yeah, "Just making sure, don't go nuts on me." He held his hands up, trying to instill some calm in his compatriot. Another thought occurred to him, something that had been bothering him for sometime, something he needed confirmed. "The new students are coming in tomorrow right?" He inquired innocently.

Jason eyebrows did a weird dance as he tried to figure out why his usually bright roommate had made such a dumb remark. "Of course they are. Don't ask stupid questions." Wait, he knew Kev too well, a suspicious look popped onto his face. "Why?"

Kev smiled, the fool had taken the bait, "No reason," he said suspiciously, "just curious. Making sure that nothing can go wrong with my plan." An evil grin followed his words.

"Oh no," groaned Jason, that evil little bastard, he better not have "You're not going to embarrass me tomorrow. There might be a gir---" he trailed off, realizing what had just left his mouth.

It was too late, Kev had the confirmation he needed. "Might be a girl there?" Jason's face dropped like a stone, which just caused Kev to widen his grin. "I knew it! I knew it! You're hoping to meet a girl, aren't you? You're so predictable Jason. So sad and predictable."

Jason looked completely dumbfounded. "What? You didn't know? I… I mean with all this stuff about a plan... I thought you knew!"

"I never had a plan. I also never needed you to tell me when they were coming." He paused for effect. "Tomorrow, 7:45, thirty minutes before first period. Times were posted all over the school. I may be forgetful, but I'm not stupid." Kev looked at his now sullen victim, saw his face and the distressed look on it. Okay, maybe he went a little over the top this time. "Don't worry alright? I'm not going to do anything. I promise." He looked over at the taller Chinese boy for an answer. It didn't matter even if he pointed a gun at him, Jason wasn't even paying any attention to him. Instead, the guy was reading for the millionth time, a two-month-old magazine article about Arcane Adventure VII. Kev groaned. He knew what was coming and prepared himself for hours upon hours of lecturing on how great the damn game was. He wasn't disappointed...

Evangeline Lui (16) wasn't that bad looking, in her opinion anyways. The decently tall (5' 6"), fairly skinny (121 lb.) Chinese girl was, as usual, feeling rather uncomfortable with her appearance. She had short, thick, black hair, which grew from a small part on her head and ended with a slight inward curve near her neck. Her white jacket, vest, undershirt and jeans contrasted nicely with her designer black frame glasses and equally dark shoes. She had large, deep brown eyes that seemed even bigger in comparison to her small nose and tiny, curved lips. The truth was that Evangeline really was quite pretty. But, there she was, standing in the halls of Felix Tamille Memorial Secondary School (FTMSS) feeling like the entire world was judging her, or least her friends whom she was now approaching. She looked at the group of them, four people. Odd, usually at this time (7:55 am), there were only three. Quietly, and without breaking her stride, she did a mental check. Douglas Wu (16), Jason Lam, Kev Chan, and who was that girl in the skirt standing so calmly next to him? Before she had time to mull over that, her paranoia began to set in, completely pushing away her curiosity. Was that girl staring at her too? Arggghhhh! She couldn't stand it! Without even thinking, she stepped almost right up to the mysterious girl and was about to do something fairly foolish (like yell at her or something), when Kev intervened.

"Hey Ev, 'morning!" The exactly one month older Chinese boy said with a smile. He looked at her, purposely moving his head slowly in an up/down motion. "Looking as pretty as always, I see." The smile turned into a grin. Evangeline blushed. If it had been anyone else, she would probably think that he was being sarcastic but Kev was different. It didn't actually matter if he really meant it or not, she knew that either way, her friend of four years was just trying to make her feel good about herself. She smiled, it was working too. "Oh yeah, you're probably wondering who this is." He gestured casually towards the obviously younger girl next to him. "This is Meesh… ouch!" Kev rubbed the back of his head where the girl had just playfully hit him. "I mean, Michelle," he looked down towards the girl he had just introduced. "I got your name right this time, don't hit me." Then, looking back up at Eva, he explained, "She's Jason's sister who's come back from Hong Kong."

As shocked as she was on the inside, Evangeline looked doubly so on the outside. It took her a couple of seconds to organize her thoughts. Even with that short amount of time to calm down, she still sounded pretty surprised when she finally opened her mouth. "J… Jason has a sister?" She looked skeptically at Kev. "She's not anything like her brother I hope."

Kev continued to smile, "Calm down Ev, the world wouldn't be able to survive another Jason type person." He waited for her to stop giggling. "If anything, she's practically the opposite of her bro. Don't worry about it. It's not like Jason spends any time with her anyways." That last part was barely audible, leading Evangeline to believe that Kev was slightly resentful about that. She didn't really blame him. All his life, the poor boy had always wanted a sister, someone to play with, to talk to, to do stuff with, and there was Jason, taking for granted what Kev never had.

"So she's Jason's sister. For a second, I thought that maybe you'd finally got yourself a girlfriend." Eva's dainty lips slowly shaped into a small smile, wordlessly showing to Kev that she was only teasing. Before Kev could even think of a witty comeback, Michelle opened her tiny mouth to speak. "Girlfriend? What, turnip-head doesn't have a girlfriend? Aww… poor baby."

Eva burst out laughing. "Turnip head?"

Kev looked annoyed. "It's a childhood nickname." He acknowledged through clenched teeth. "I would thank you not to mention it again."

"Don't worry I won't... turnip face!" Eva and Michelle collapsed into each other's arms as they tried to contain their quite obvious amusement, only vaguely aware of the disapproving glare Kev was giving them. He crossed his arms in impatience and waited for the two to calm down. "Are you people quite done yet?"

"Okay, I'm sorry." She looked up at him, into his eyes trying to convey her genuine sincerity. "Really, I am." Evangeline tried to determine whether he bought it or not. After a few seconds of examination, she still wasn't sure. The guy's face was just a mix of disbelief and annoyance. Did she really hurt his feelings? A pang of guilt suddenly shot into her. Was it, the turnip head remarks, or was it deeper? It was true that he didn't have a girlfriend. Did her comment about the subject unintentionally touch off a nerve? She didn't really understand why he couldn't get one anyways, it's not like he was really that bad looking. At 5'9" and 130 lb., the slim Chinese boy had a sort of disarming look to him. Although Kev's built was not as powerful as Jason's, the guy was no frail twig either. He still had s fairly strong upper-body, and at least he dressed better than his roommate. While Jason and the rest of his friends seemed to live and die in their polo shirts and professional looking hair styles, Kev preferred a more casual look. His hair was comparably shorter and sprouted mainly from the top of his head, swooping softly to the left side while a few strands fell on his face, just above his eyes. Like the others, he liked to wear black jeans, but they were not skin-tight and did not cut off at his socks. For today, he had on a dark blue, thin, short-sleeved shirt, which was left unbuttoned and worn not unlike a jacket. Underneath, was a solid white T-shirt, which was tucked into his pants. This outfit, topped off with the silver cross around his neck and dark running shoes, served to make Kev seem less conservative than his friends, yet still give off an air of intelligence. Where Jason's face was long and structured, making him look more like a mountain than a person, Kev had a more human look to him. His eyes, although just about as narrow, were slightly rounder than Jason's and his nose was minutely wider. The thin, compact glasses that rested comfortably on the bridge of his nose seemed to almost disappear as the golden-coloured frames faded into his tan skin. Really, he wasn't that bad looking and Evangeline would ask him out in a heartbeat if her stupid freakin' parents ever allowed her to date. Anger began to enter her thoughts, forcing her to expend some effort to try to contain it. But as quickly as it had come, the potentially disastrous emotion faded into nothingness, leaving her relatively calm. She still didn't understand it though, why didn't Kev have a girlfriend? He was a pretty nice guy, charming and witty at times and he wasn't the workaholic that Jason was. So why? Maybe it was because all the girls he knew had been his friends for years and he couldn't bear to break that friendship. She tossed that around in her head, it sort of made sense, after all...

"Don't worry about it."

Evangeline was so caught up in her own thoughts that she forgot completely where she was and who she was talking to. Blinking twice, she stared blankly at him. "What?"

"I said, don't worry about it. I know you didn't mean it." He put one hand on her shoulder showing his acceptance of her apology.

She stared up at him, feeling even guiltier than before. Say something, her mind screamed at her, anything! Slowly, her lips moved...

"Woah! Go Kev!" Quickly, Eva and Kev swung their heads in total astonishment at the obnoxious voice.

"Oh, it's you Q-ball." Kev muttered blandly. He glanced at his watch. "Hmm, fifteen minutes early." Quentin Au (16) began to open his mouth to explain but Kev interrupted. "No, don't tell me. Let me guess, you're hoping to meet the new students, or too be more accurate, hoping to meet a girl."

The thin, slightly taller oriental boy smiled sophisticatedly, "Of course." He then gave Kev a look which seemed to say "Why else?"

"Umm... who's this?" Michelle's voice, albeit tiny, got both boys' complete attention.

Kev seemed intrigued by her curiosity. "This is Q-ball, or better known as Quentin Au, this school's resident hormone." He stated matter-of-factly. Then, seeing the confused look on Quentin's face, he gestured towards the younger girl, "Michelle Lam, Jason's sister. Don't worry she's nothing like her brother." Kev assured him. However, at that point neither of them was paying much attention to him as they were now completely engrossed in casual conversation (how are you?, what do you like?, really? me too, etc.) He groaned. Damn, that punk has his girl catching outfit on too, Kev thought in disgust referring to Quentin's brown spring jacket, polo shirt, beige khakis and black boots. Looking around, he saw Jason's fists clench slightly as Quentin stroked one hand through his medium length, gel frozen, black hair, while entertaining Michelle with some humorous anecdotes. Kev smiled slightly, that poor boy was going to be found dead soon if he was seriously trying to mate and date Jason's sister. However, she didn't really seem his type and Quentin was usually quite choosy, so it was doubtful that anything would really happen, a pity. He turned away in premature disappointment and began walking towards Jason, hoping to kill away whatever time was left before the new students arrived. It's not like he really cared, but sometimes a little change would be welcome in his fairly dull and repetitive life. Knowing his luck though, they would probably turn up to be fairly bland people who would show up each day and just... learn. He sighed.

"Who do you think you're calling a garbage man?" Davis Fan (16) growled angrily as he shoved his tormentor into a locker.

Douglas, for his part remained more or less calm. "Who the hell do you think, you monkey!" he retorted while throwing the new student off of him.

They circled each other slowly, each one digesting as much information about the other as possible. It was a fairly even match. They were really not that much different. Davis was around 5'8" and weighed approximately 150 lb. while Douglas was 5'10" and 140 lb. Both were fairly strong and had volatile tempers as well as rather formidable strength. Of course, just looking at them, you wouldn't be able to tell. Although his face was wider and flatter than Jason's, and although he was considerably shorter, Douglas Wu could probably be mistaken for the other boy at a distance, if only for his attire. The two dressed remarkably similar, polo shirt, fairly tight black pants and black frame narrow glasses. Unlike Jason, however, Douglas's hair was longer and had less of a distinct part, as well, he wore running shoes, something the taller boy never wore.

Davis on the other hand had a more casual and modern look to him. Sure, he sported the same sort of part in his hair, and admittedly, he also had on black jeans and running shoes, but that was as far as the similarities went. Davis' part was more defined, his jeans, more baggy and his running shoes, well, those weren't much different. As for the upper part of his body, it consisted of a white long-sleeved shirt, which he left untucked, and a pair of sunglasses, hanging from the collar. His face was medium sized with flat, dark eyes, normal shaped nose and a forgettable mouth. All in all, they really were quite alike.

Staring furiously at his adversary, Davis wiped his forehead with his hand, splashing some sweat on the cold, hard floor. "All I did was repeat your last name! I didn't even mean to offend you!" He cried out, trying in vain to avert a fight with the guy who had once beaten down three guys in one fight, or so Davis had heard.

Whether he knew that his opponent feared him, or was just driven by some savage instinct, Douglas advanced with total fearlessness. His eyes seemed to burn with a fiery hatred, hatred for a guy he had only just met. He opened his mouth and uttered just three words, three simple, uncomplicated words which seemed to form a perfect description of his life, "YOU DIE NOW!!!" and with that the wild beast that used to be Douglas lunged at a completely shocked Davis... and was promptly slammed backwards into a fire hose. Slowly he got up, trying to focus his sight, trying to see who could have possibly done that. Jason? Surely he had the strength, but the guy had little interest in fighting. Could it be Kev? No, too busy chatting it up with that bitch Evangeline (what a name!). So who? Seconds passed. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity he regained complete control over his eyes again and could see who had... WHAT!!! A GIRL? He began to slowly get up, all the while still staring in amazement at the stranger who had almost knocked him out. Looking quite comfortable in her buttoned up vest, tank top, blue jeans and running shoes, the mysterious girl seemed to project an aura of strength, yet managed not to appear superior or obnoxious. She had a soft look to her face with brown horizontal ovals making up her eyes and dainty triangles being her nose and lips. Her hair was cut short, stopping a little lower than her chin and had a strange lock that hung across the right side of her face separated from the rest by a tiny pink band. Douglas put his left arm on the nearest locker, trying to steady himself, and addressed the girl who was just standing there, one hand holding on to her backpack strap. "Who the hell are you?" he asked in a rather rough voice, Douglas didn't like to lose.

"Diana Su (15)" replied the 5'6", 121 lb. oriental girl. "Why are you beating up on Fan?"

He snorted, an unpleasant sound. "What's he to you? Boyfriend maybe?"

"Friend," she corrected evenly, "and I would advise you to leave him alone."

If anything the threat only served to make Douglas angrier and more agitated, more dangerous in fact. "Friend, eh? I guess that makes you the garbagewoman!" He laughed at his own joke.

Taking a step closer, Diana stared him squarely in the eyes. "What did you say?

Douglas sneered, "I called you a garbagewo..." he barely got another word out when her fist shot out of nowhere and connected perfectly with his nose. Douglas staggered around, trying to get his second wind. Angrily he lunged at her, looking the world like he was going to tear the girl into bits. Diana, as cool and composed as ever, crouched, watching the ferocious beast fly towards her. Then with no warning it all, she shot up, executing a perfect uppercut straight to her attacker's jaw. It hit with such force that he went flying back almost a foot, but before any part of the now battered and bruised Douglas could hit the floor, Diana spun, fired out her right leg and sent him smashing into the nearest wall.

Brushing back some hair, which had fallen on her face, Diana looked coldly down at the unconscious body and smiled grimly. "That's what I thought you said." And with that she turned on the heel of her running shoe and walked peacefully down the hall. Davis, who had remained relatively silent through the entire affair, looked down at Douglas. Rearing his head back, he spat disgustedly onto the fallen boy's unmoving face and followed Diana, leaving behind four incredibly amazed teenagers.

Actually, 'amazed' didn't even begin to describe what Kev and the rest were feeling. Completely, totally and utterly shocked was more like it. They stood there staring, first at the departing victor, then at Douglas, who had not even begun to stir. It took the three boys and two girls almost a minute before one of them could open their mouth. Finally, Kev spoke, "Remind me never to upset her."

Evangeline smiled wistfully, "My friend, wiser words have never before been uttered." she joked.

"He got what was coming to him." came a low mutter from Jason, "God knows he's trounced enough people on this earth to deserve twice that."

Michelle nodded her head slightly, showing her total agreement. "Amen to that."

Looking slightly proud that his sister was fitting in so well, Jason tapped Douglas's downed body a couple of times with his feet, causing only a few groans. "So, how long do you think he'll be out?"

"Not long enough." replied Kev earnestly. "Ten minutes, maybe less. Then he'll be back up beating everybody's brains out aga..."

Suddenly, a rather annoying, female voice shattered the air, interrupting just about every conversation up and down the hall. "Hey Jason!"

Immediately Kev's head turned in its direction, a bead of sweat dropped from his forehead. "Oh no." he muttered, as he recognized the voice. It wasn't hard, like finding a weed in a bed of roses. Trying to look past the fifty or so people crowding the halls, he managed to glimpse the arm of Ivy Wu (15). "Crap."

Michelle looked up at him inquisitively. "Whassup turnip brain?" She squeaked, sounding almost like a curious child.

With a voice wavering between the border of fear and even more fear, Kev answered her. "Ivy." One word, that was all it took, and his good friend's little sister understood completely.

"Oh yeah, her." Michelle turned to confront her brother. "What's that cow doing here?"

Jason quivered slightly under such scrutiny. "She goes to school here. Why else?" Then seeing the look in her eyes, "Be nice to her alright? She is a family friend." He said firmly, referring to the fact that Ivy's dad used to work with his own.

Michelle didn't even so much as blink. "No, she's your family friend, remember? Not mine. I've hated her from the beginning."

Despite the seriousness of the situation Kev had to smile. "Now, there is a girl who I could grow to love." he joked referring to Michelle. Those last few words were spoken in uneven tones, as if the guy was genuinely afraid of something. In truth he was. Any other person who hated him, he could deal with, but Ivy, she was different. Jason had introduced Kev to the short, plump girl when they were 12. Kev, being who he was, treated her nicely and quickly became her friend. However it was not to last. Soon she fell rather madly in love with Jason and decided to try to date him. Their first 'date' was a bust. Hell, it wasn't even a real date, they just went as friends to see a movie. In the end, Jason said something rather stupid like "Hey! Get your own popcorn!" or something dumb like that and Ivy became quite devastated. So logically she blamed the only person who could have possibly done anything to sabotage her 'date': Kev. Their whole friendship went downhill from there.

Kev looked at her again. Although slightly overweight and incredibly short (about 5'1"), Ivy really wasn't ugly. Her choice of a red vest, white undershirt, dark black jeans and brown boots seemed to go well with her stocky build. Except for her button nose, everything else above her body looked fairly decent. She had thin black hair, which hung down to her shoulders, deep brown pupils and unusually strong glasses that seemed to magnify her eyes. Now, looking at the person, he had just mentally described, Kev felt a sliver of hope. Maybe she was in a good mood and might at least say hello to him. Maybe...

"Good morning Douglas." She said sweetly nodding at the ground, which he occupied. Ivy continued to walk, with each step, greeting another person, "Jason, Quentin, Evangeline, Michelle." And with that last nod, she came to a halt and began to strike up a conversation with Jason.

Kev sighed.

"So this is the where I eat?" asked Michelle as she looked around the large, crowded room.

Kev grinned. "Yep, this is the cafeteria. I know it's probably the dirtiest place on the planet, but if you just ignore the rats and roaches, you'll do fine."

"Okay, where do we sit?"

Scanning the room quickly, Kev spotted Quentin, Douglas, and Evangeline seated at a table. "How about over there?" He pointed casually at his friends, and then started to maneuver Michelle and himself, through the crowds.

Sitting down next to Eva, Kev looked at them curiously. "So where are the new kids?"

Eva leaned closer and whispered in his ear. "Actually, they're on the other side of the caf." Then, in response to the confused look she received, "Douglas made us sit here, I think he's afraid of the girl."

Kev looked incredulous. "What? Douglas's actually afraid of something?"

She cringed. "Shhhh!!!" Evangeline cautioned, "Keep your voice down, I think he's still angry about this morning."

"Hasn't he apologized yet? I mean, it was his fault." Kev still wasn't very quiet, but at least it was a slight improvement.

Eva stared at him strangely. "Douglas, apologize? When was the last time, he did that?" The question was rhetorical, but Kev answered it anyway.

"To my knowledge, never, but some things change." He turned to look across the entire table at the person in question. Putting on a calm and composed look, Kev decided to make history. "So Doug, why haven't you apologized?"

Douglas, for his credit, didn't flinch at all, he just returned the level gaze. "For what?" His voice was one of feigned innocence.

"You know very well for what." The table had suddenly gotten very quiet, as everyone began to realize the verbal tennis match that was being played.

Anger flashed through the taller boy's eyes. "You're talking about that new bastard and his bitch aren't you?" Then, before Kev could even formulate a descent response, Douglas threw his arms down onto the wooden table, hoisting his body up, like a lion preparing to lunge at his prey. "Why should I apologize? WHY?" The last word was more of a statement than a question.

Kev continued his unwavering calm. "You're afraid aren't you?" He smiled as he saw a worried look pop onto his opponent's face.

Apparently unaware of the edge he had just given up, Douglas moved his face closer to Kev's. "I'm not afraid of anything!"

"Then go and say you're sorry."

Suddenly, a wave of oppressed anger erupted from Douglas, like lava bursting out of a dormant volcano. "NO!!!" He roared, causing the whole room to stare at him. "I HAVE NOTHING TO SAY I'M SORRY FOR!!!" and with that, he stormed out of the caf, knocking three people over on the way.

Kev looked as shocked as the rest of his friends. "That boy," he muttered, "needs some serious mental help."

"Or at least a girlfriend." chuckled Eva, trying her best to take her friend's mind off of the entirely uncomfortable situation.

It didn't work at all as Kev got up quickly, grabbing her arm roughly in the process. "C'mon Ev, we're gonna play peacemaker." He walked determinedly off, dragging the speechless Evangeline with him.

Quentin looked up from the newspaper he was reading. "Good, all the freaks are gone." He smiled as Michelle giggled slightly. So engrossed in her happiness, was Quentin, that he didn't even notice the person who was fast approaching Michelle.

"Hey baby!" The mere sound of the tiny, shrill male voice seemed to physically smash into Quentin. Turning angrily in the direction of the obnoxious tones, the Chinese teenager felt something writhe in his stomach, like bile trying to get out. "What the hell do you want?" he spat out, using all of his inner strength to repress any urge to start swearing like a madman.

Kevin Colbert (15) ignored Quentin entirely as he plopped himself down next to Michelle, one thin arm wrapping around her like some sort of snake. "How 'bout you and me leave this idiot here and go some place quiet?" He smiled devilishly.

Quentin stood up angrily and grasped Colbert by the shoulder. "Get the hell away from her." His eyes burned with a deep hatred towards the younger boy, who had already done so much to him in the past.

Batting the arm away, Colbert got up and looked up at the taller student. "F-ck off!" With both hands, he grabbed the lapels of Quentin's jacket and flung him a few metres.

Landing hard on his side, Michelle's would-be defender, braced his hands on a couple of tables and hoisted himself back up. He took a few wobbly steps towards Colbert and quickly shot out an arm, wrapping his long fingers around the poor boy's neck. "Look, leave now us alone or I'll snap your puny little neck five times in succession."

Almost instantaneously, a confident smirk appeared on the frail Caucasian male's face. "You're a neanderthal." Quentin's deathly glare got even harsher at that insult, but did nothing to discourage Colbert. "That chick deserves much better than an ape like you." He goaded, referring to Michelle.

With great reluctance, Quentin slowly released his tight grip around his victim's neck, dropping him harshly to the ground. Colbert really was an arrogant bastard. He wasn't even supposed to have gone to this school, much less go toe to toe with anyone. The guy was a giftie, and thusly would have been attending Meadowview at this very moment, had the gifted program not filled up. So Kevin Colbert came to FTMSS with full knowledge that he was officially smarter than the average joe. That ass never let anyone forget either, always saying something that would make him seem more intelligent. Quentin forced himself to be calm, centered. He walked determinedly towards Michelle, shoving Colbert out of the way in the process. Upon reaching the fourteen-year-old girl, he looked at her worriedly. "Are you okay?" His voice rang with concern, concern for her well being, both physically and emotionally.

Michelle looked up at her hero and graced him with a soft smile. She was about to respond in her regular sweet tones when Colbert rudely interrupted.

"Aww... 'Are you okay'" the gifted fifteen year-old chuckled at his own distasteful joke. "What a load of crap! Now leave before I make you."

Still with his back to Colbert, Quentin chuckled at the intended threat. "Oh yeah? You'll make me." Sounding completely unconvinced, the taller boy swung around to once again face his enemy. "You and what ar..." His confident voice trailed off as he realized that Colbert was not alone this time. Groaning inwardly, Quentin quickly recognized the two thugs as Hogan Spaeth (16) and Daren Hobbs (16) both fairly strong individuals. Now this was unfair, and also the only reason that idiot was still alive. Kevin Colbert was not what you would call a big man. Actually it was debatable whether or not he could even be considered a man. The guy was a rat, not just mentally but also physically. Standing barely 5'3" and weighing in at a measly 104 lb., it was a wonder the boy was never mistaken to be a 10 year-old. His hair seemed to be just a thin yellow tissue hanging over his knobby head while his eyes were thin and devious looking. To hide his frailness, and in an attempt to be cool, Colbert always wore a T-shirt which was about four sizes too big. Top that off with almost baggy jeans and incredibly tight Velcro shoes, the kid was a monument to weirdness. However, in order to combat these physical flaws he also had the inconvenient ability to manipulate goons and other such low brow individuals.

Quentin sighed as he looked at the two perfect specimens in front of him. Although both were Caucasian males, and although both were the same height (5'9") and weight (167 lb.) Hogan and Daren tended to dress remarkably different. Whereas the former preferred the modern unshaven 'punk' look, with the bandanna headgear, dark shades, tattered jacket and shredded jeans, his compatriot seemed far more respectable. Daren liked to toe the line between punkishness and preppiness, choosing to wear an unbuttoned light grey flannel shirt, white undershirt and dark brown khakis. Unfortunately, despite their superficial differences, the two were equally strong and equally brutal.

Snapping out of his train of thought, Quentin became increasingly aware of a desperate and rapid pulling against his right sleeve. Taking a glance downwards, he looked right into the insanely frightened eyes of Michelle. When she spoke, her voice was incredibly quiet and soaked with fear. "Let's go Quentin. Please?" She begged.

By now, after mentally calculating the odds of surviving a confrontation with the three bullies in front of him (the odds were something like one to a hell of a lot more than one), Quentin decided that he agreed wholeheartedly with Michelle's plan of action. Tipping his head once in Colbert's general direction, he smiled politely. "Look at the time! Better get going." then, taking Michelle's hand, Quentin lead her right out of the caf.

"I can't stand it!" Kev threw his hands up in exasperation. "I really thought that we were making progress with them. Then that idiot has to walk in and..." He continued down the hallway thinking about the disaster that had just happened and went back to his original observation. "I can't stand it!"

Evangeline looked sympathetically at her friend and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't dwell on it. Douglas did almost say sorry. If it wasn't for some mitigating circumstances they very well might be friends at this very moment." She softened her tone even more if possible, trying to tiptoe around the events of ten-minute's past.

Kev seemed astounded at Eva's word choice. "Mitigating circumstances." He stared at her dumbfoundedly, "Davis sucker-punched Douglas and then shouted 'WUUUUUU!!!' at the top of his lungs! I would hardly call that a mitigating circumstance!"

Putting one hand on her chin, Evangeline looked thoughtful. "That's true. Maybe it's their fate to battle it out till the end of time."

"Yeah, and who am I to get in the way of fate? I just wish we could find some way for them to leave each other alone. The thought of two of my friends going at it every time I see them is not pleasant."

Evangeline raised an eyebrow. "Fan's your friend? You two must have talked more than I thought." Which wasn't saying much since she wasn't even close to them when they had their discussion.

"He's a pretty cool guy actually. A little immature, but no one's perfect. Now I have a question for you." Where other people might have just went ahead and asked, Kev simply waited patiently for Eva's permission.

That didn't really surprise her. Kev had always been a little bit too courteous at times, it was quite refreshing actually. "What is it?" She inquired sweetly, genuinely interested in what he had to ask.

Kev lowered his voice a notch, as if he was embarrassed about his lack of knowledge about whatever he needed to know. "Why does everyone keep calling Davis by his last name?"

Laughing softly at the question, Evangeline began to tell Kev what Diana had revealed to her just minutes earlier. "It's really quite a simple story. Back in their old school, there were about three or four Davis' and people kept getting them mixed up, so they just went by their surnames."

If Kev was in any way disappointed by the simplicity of the explanation, he didn't show it. Instead a wave of understanding and recognition seemed to pass over his face. "Ah, so it's just like Dedrick's case." He mumbled, referring to John Dedrick who was also referred to by his last name for the same reasons.

Eva nodded, "Exactly." Then, feeling slightly uncomfortable at the silence that followed, she decided to change the subject. It had been bothering her for sometime anyway. "Kev? Why don't you have a girlfriend?"

He chuckled, "Why? Are you offering?"

Evangeline eyes widened for a millisecond. Out of all things he could have possibly said, she had never expected it to be that one. Slowly composing herself, the sixteen year-old oriental girl pasted on a faint smile. "Would you say yes?" She sounded hopeful. Of course, even if he did agree, her parents would never let her go out, but it couldn't hurt to find out.

Kev stopped in his tracks and stared at her funny. "You're not serious."

"Let's assume for a second that I am. Would you?" Silence followed as a distant look flashed through Kev's eyes, creating ever more suspense for Evangeline.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, but was in reality only a few seconds, he turned his head, leveling his gaze with Eva's. Taking a deep breath and organizing a jumble of thoughts, Kev started gradually. "Before I answer, let me ask you something. How many male friends do you have? Really, not just acquaintances, friends."

Evangeline sounded confused. "You're my friend, and I guess Jason and maybe Douglas. But you're the only one who's nice to me." Her voice carried a tinge of bitterness, bitterness to those people who had ever made fun of her, who had ever hurt her.

"Exactly. That's what I'm talking about." Slowly, gently, Kev took one of Eva's hands in his own, "The answer is no." Her mouth twitched as words prepared to leap out but Kev pressed on. "And I only say this because I know, deep down inside, you really don't want me to say yes. Because no one else is nice to you, I have no competition at all. Ev, you're my friend and I don't want to ruin what we have by attempting a relationship which neither of us are ready for. Wait a little while, a week, a month, a year, whatever, just wait. Meet some more people, think about it, then we'll see. There's no need to rush things."

Evangeline stood there, speechless, contemplating what her friend had just said. It was true, all of it. She looked up at him, "And if after that period, I still think you're the one?"

Kev smiled warmly, "I'll always be here. Besides, by then I'll probably still be free." He gave a small laugh, then realized where they were. "Hey, this is your next class! I'll be seeing you alright?"

She nodded and entered the small white room waving to Kev as she disappeared past the doorway.

Chuckling inwardly, Kev shook his head and continued down the hallway towards the portables, which held his next class. Evangeline wanted to go out with him? Hah! That was some crazy stuff. Upon reflection, his answer was pretty crazy too. Any normal person would have probably accepted, but he just didn't feel right. Their relationship at the moment was perfectly fine in his opinion, it didn't...

"Just leave us alone." Kev snapped out of his thoughts in surprise as the quiet, yet stern feminine voice came out from around the corner. Curiously, he quickened his pace, interested to know what was going on. The scene that greeted him was unexpected to say the least. Ordinarily, it was not too unusual. Two Chinese teens, a boy and a girl, being harassed by some stupid punk in the annals of FTMSS. No, that was fairly normal, what was strange was the fact that he had no idea whatsoever who the two students were. Regardless of her identity though, the girl had to be one of the most beautiful people he had ever encountered. She had long, thin hair, most of which was tied together at three parts and hung gently over her left shoulder. The rest swooped gracefully around the sides of her head, frozen just above her chin. Her deep brown eyes had a sort of regal look to them and complimented her delicate nose and angular, soft lips. Kev paused for a second to consider the moderately tall (5'6" approx.), thin female. She wore a small, aqua coloured stone around her neck, which matched perfectly with the blue, partially buttoned, vest she had on. A white, sleeveless undershirt completed the top half of her body while a plain, white, ankle-length skirt finished off the outfit. All in all, she really was quite pretty, and that made Kev want to help her with the bully even more.

Taking a step forward he tapped the well-built Jewish boy on the shoulder. "What's up?"

Gabriel Goldman (16) yelped slightly at the sudden and unexpected intrusion. Turning quickly to face Kev, the 5'9" 175 lb. teen tried his best to compose himself. "What the hell do you want?" He sneered disrespectfully, hoping to seem fearsome.

Kev chuckled, the guy was about as scary as a grape. "It seems to me, that you, my dim-witted compatriot, are causing some completely and totally unwarranted activity in this area and should evacuate immediately." A small smile began to sneak its way onto his face. Normally, he would never have said anything remotely as stupid as that, but Gabriel had this thing about words that were more than two syllables long.

As if on cue, the person in question began to blink his eyes slowly while his mind tried to comprehend what had just been uttered. After about a full minute of postulation, Gabriel countered the only way he knew how. "You're a gay-bot!" Then he turned on his heel and stormed angrily down the hall, knowing full well that he had just lost another verbal conflict.

Ignoring the parting insult completely (he had no idea what that meant anyway), Kev walked calmly towards the remaining teenagers. "Hey," he grinned warmly, "you must be new here. I'm Kev Chan. How are you?"

Adelaide Tse (16) returned his smile with one her own. "Hi! My name is Adelaide Tse, and this," she gestured towards her companion, "is my fairly good friend, Kenneth Lin (15)." A short pause followed, as she waited for Kev and Ken to finish shaking hands and such. "Thanks for helping us out, we were just trying to find our way to class." Her cheeks turned slightly pink, obviously she was quite embarrassed about her situation.

As gracious as ever, Kev gave her a comforting look. "No, it's quite alright. Uh... What classes do you need to get to? I'd be more than happy to show you the way."

"Really?" Adelaide looked shocked, like she had never expected any kindness from him at all. "Thanks! We're trying to get to our biology class, room..." she glanced down at a really tiny scrap of paper in her hand. "106."

"Wow, that's on the other side of the school. Here, follow me." Kev began to walk casually down the hall, Adelaide and Kenneth following just a step behind. After a few seconds of silence, he slowed allowing the girl to catch up with him. "So, what brings you to this wonderful academy of learning?"

"Oh, I moved to this area a week ago and Kenny here did too." At that, Kev threw her an inquisitive glance. Somehow she understood perfectly. "I know, it's an incredible coincidence, what with us being buddies and all." Suddenly her newfound friend stopped, causing her to following suit.

Kev opened the classroom door next to him. "You're here, better get in before the teacher calls attendance. I'll see you later?"

Adelaide smiled, "I hope so." The big wooden door shut behind her as the two new students entered their class.

"Way to go Kev, she really is something!" Kev spun around in surprise, setting his eyes on the people behind the mocking voices.

His tenseness eased somewhat as he recognized Davis and Quentin standing some feet back. "Oh it's you."

"C'mon, I'm serious if you don't want her I'll gladly accept." Davis grinned as Quentin voiced his agreement.

Kev groaned as he started down the hall, hoping to hell he wouldn't be late. "I can't stand it!"

"Today we'll be learning about ratios." Evangeline swore under her breath as Mr. Bodger, the grade 11 enriched math teacher, began yet another class with his droning monotone. Normally math would be one of her favourite subject, after all it was so freakin' easy that she could probably sleep through the year and still pull a 99, but unfortunately, it wasn't all fun and games with Mr. Bodger around. That big, fat, balding, poor excuse for a man could always be counted on day after day to find some way, any way, to make math even more boring than it already was. Not only that, but he even seemed to enjoy wallowing in the stupid subject, like the hog he was.

Although not a short man (6 feet at least), Mike Bodger (48) seemed short if only because of his rather excessive girth. The guy's inflated belly, set the tone for the rest of his body, from his pumpkin shaped head to his elephant sized legs. He wore small, rectangular spectacles, which looked out of place sitting atop his roundish, plump nose and combed his hair in a way that tried to make the most of the few strands that were left. His choice of attire was equally atrocious as he favoured plaid shirts and funny looking pants, which further destroyed what little respect his students ever had for him.

"Yeah right."

Mr. Bodger turned around from his endless calculations at the sound Johnathan Dedrick's (16) voice. "Is there a problem?"

The short (5'5"), stout (140 lb.) Jewish boy stood up to plunge into the fray with his archenemy once again. "You made a mistake on the last question." His tone of voice made it seem less of a correction than a challenge.

If Dedrick's audacity offended his teacher in any way at all, the man didn't show it. He scanned the rows of numbers written on the board, checking for the blunder, which may or may not have happened. Satisfied at what greeted him, Mr. Bodger flung a disproving look at the Caucasian student. "I'm afraid you just don't understand the problem. You should do your homework more often." The superiority complex just radiated from the guy.

"Of course I always do my homework, don't be stupid!" A collective gasp sprung out from the residents of classroom 101. Only John Dedrick could ever have the nerve or impertinence, to confront such an accomplished teacher head on, much less accuse him of being stupid. However, the guy was, well, different than most people. He was what some might refer to as a 'wigger', the derogatory term which was used to describe a Caucasian person who would prefer to be an African American (or Canadian, whatever). So he tried to act and appear 'cool', causing him to sport an earring, Fubu cap, and loose baggy jeans. Despite all of his efforts though, he still looked like an idiotic, fat, rich white boy, who was at the moment challenging the only authority in sight.

Now, Mr. Bodger might have been many things, boring, dull, unfriendly, but one thing he wasn't, was dumb. He saw right through Dedrick's cheap insult and realized it for what it really was: a lure to drag him into an argument. No, he would never give that future juvenile delinquent the pleasure. Leaving his adversary in the lurch, Bodger turned back to his math equations and continued.

"Since 'A' is twice of 'B' then 'C', which is half of 'D', can be written as such." Eva groaned as she copied down yet another useless formula being written on the blackboard. This had to be the worst class ever! Suddenly, she felt a small poke in the back. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the outstretched hand of Rachel Tsang (16), holding a folded piece of white, lined paper. As Eva reached backwards and took the paper from the other girl's hand, Rachel whispered softly in her ear. "Pass it to Jason."

Evangeline sighed. It was this again. With some small measure of curiosity, she began to unfold the small piece of paper. Okay, what'd she write today? Within seconds, the fragile treasure box that was the note opened up completely, revealing to Eva all the secrets it contained. WHAT? Rachel wants to meet Jason after school? A wave of laughter instantly appeared inside of Evangeline, trying to force it's way out. Clamping her mouth shut, she began to take measures to stem the imminent audio tidal wave. Partially succeeding, the potential nuclear war lessened and became nothing more than a simple gang busting, otherwise known as a fit of giggling.

Jason leaned back from his seat directly in front of her. "What?" Putting one hand over the bottom half of her face, Eva just handed him the note. The tall Chinese boy read it over slowly and, in short order, an alarmed look had already begun to replace his usually unreadable expression. "Oh no." Crumpling up the note, he threw it into his open bag and went back to copying down Mr. Bodger's notes.

Finally managing to wipe all but a smile off of her face, Evangeline considered Jason's panicked reaction and was forced to agree. Rachel Tsang was, by all accounts, the biggest bitch in the school, no, make that the country. Only recently turned 16, she already had two school beauty pageant titles, three other regional ones, a Miss Teen Vancouver, and a professional modeling contract under her belt. The girl wasn't even all that beautiful anyways.

So she was tall (5'8") and slim and had a full chest, so what? Her chin- short black hair was always gelled in that funny M shape and her eyes were constantly layered in thick mascara. That was probably the worst part, that Rachel, with all of her wealth (she was also a millionaire) consistently prettied herself up to attract all the boys (which she did of course). Her pearl necklace, diamond earrings and bracelet were a testament to her superficial nature. The girl also liked to show off as much of her body as possible, thus leading to the small, pink vest and incredibly tight mini-skirt that she was wearing today.

Damn, that Rachel was a self-esteem killer. Just her credentials alone could make any girl feel like a piece of trash. Unfortunately, if her mere image wasn't enough to decimate every female ego in the school, she also had to have possibly the worst personality this side of the universe. Rachel knew she was pretty and did as much possible to exploit it. In this case, that meant using her God-given gift to manipulate boys, con people out of money, and in general, get whatever the hell she wanted. It wouldn't even have been so bad, if she didn't keep acting like she was better than the general populace of the whole damn world. But that was the way she was, treating everybody like they were second class citizens, like they should be thankful she even talked to them. Eva clenched her fists in anger just thinking about it. Oh, she hated her so much...

And now Rachel was making her move again. Two weeks ago, she discarded her old boyfriend (what was that? Six for the month so far? And still ten days to go...) deciding that maybe she wanted a change. It was analogous to a gourmet switching restaurants because he was getting tired of the taste. So Rachel got out The Lists (she kept a profile list of all the boys in the school) scanned them and set her crosshairs on poor old Jason. She had been preparing him for a while now, getting to know him, spending more time with him, all sorts of preemptive moves before she went in for the kill, which was apparently tonight.

It was kinda funny actually especially since Jason wasn't even very fond of the girl. As cliched and soap-opera-like as it sounded, in reality he was really in love with another person who in turn was being wooed by one of Rachel's male friends (if they could really be called that, try 'love slave'). This, of course, left her in a prime position to date whomever she wanted as she could use Thomas Chu (17), who was the aforementioned friend, to take Annie away from Jason. Rubbing her head slowly, Evangeline mentally rechecked the previous thought, making sure she got it straight. Yeah, that was about the situation. It was pretty complicated all right, but not as much as it would most likely get after today. Talking about which, what the hell was she planning to pull? Eva mulled it over and came up with three possibilities. Rachel would either ask Jason out; con him into going on a date; or, and this was disturbing, she would get a bunch of guys to beat the crap out of him. Either way it was done, it just came down to one very simple fact: that girl always had to get what she wanted.

"I'm sorry Jason, that answer is incorrect. Ms. Lui?" Mr. Bodger's voice shattered Evangeline's stream of thought like a hammer on glass.

Taking a quick glance at the question on the board, she did a few mental calculations. "Forty five to eighty six to seven" Silence filled the room, and for a second, she thought that maybe, just maybe, she had gotten one of these idiotic questions wrong.

That fear was allayed moments afterwards when her teacher's low monotone resumed with an unenthusiastic "That's right."

Evangeline sighed in relief, damn she was lucky, but Jason, he almost never got anything wrong. She tugged on his dark blue polo shirt, and waited until he turned around to face her. "Wanna talk about it?" A soft, serene smile began to grace her face as Eva tried to make Jason more comfortable.

Whether it worked or not though was a mystery, his face was still as rock solid as usual. He did speak however, which was progress. "I'm fine, why?" His voice was cold and distant, the perfect tone for poker, no emotion, nothing that could be used against him.

Evangeline didn't buy it for a second. "Don't lie to me, Jason. I've spoken to Kev too long to be fooled by you. What's really up?"

Shifting himself to a better position, the practically six-foot Chinese teen, muttered something under his breath. Eva couldn't really understand it but it sounded a lot like "Kev, that little bastard, I'm going to kill him." Then looking up at her, Jason spoke in earnest. "What do you think is bugging me? What happens after school today? I know what she's gonna ask me, so what do I do?" Although he made no visible face movements, his eyes showed that he needed an answer, any answer.

She took a deep breath. "I can't tell you what to do, I don't think I can even advise you correctly in this matter. But it all boils down to one thing: do you want to go out with her?"

There was no answer for some time, as Jason sat there thinking it over. Evangeline understood the hesitation. Of course, he didn't really like Rachel much and that other girl had a much better personality, but the poor boy was only human after all. The truth was, Annie Wu (16), for all of her character strengths, wasn't all that popular or pretty, from a girl's point of view anyways. Probably the best word which would describe her had to be... string bean. She was incredibly tall (5'9") and incredibly thin, (just over 115 lb.) and looked incredibly frail. Her head was triangular shaped and had funny, matted down black hair resting just above her prominent cheekbones. Wire thin, dark rimmed glasses circled her narrow brown eyes, making Annie look considerably older than her mere sixteen years. As if that wasn't enough, her choice of clothing was as peculiar as her physical appearance. She often came to school wearing a tight, pink shirt that did absolutely nothing at all for her flat chest. The red heart in the centre of the garment didn't help much either. And to top it all off, the girl had been cursed with abnormally large ears, which tended to stick out a lot.

Evangeline shook her head in sympathy. It was sad that Annie, a very nice and generous person, could be outcasted so brutally simply because of her superficial 'flaws'. She sighed and continued to wait for an answer. Jason had better make the right decision, otherwise, in the long run, he might never forgive himself.

Kev's eyes widened in disbelief. "You're kidding. What's he gonna say?"

"I don't have a clue. That's why we need to go now, before it's too late." Eva started to run, turned, saw that her friend wasn't moving and quickly doubled back. "C'mon, hurry, or we'll miss it." She grabbed his arm and dragged a rather bemused Kev Chan down the hall.

After a few twists and turns, not to mention a flight of stairs, they finally arrived at their target destination. Talking about which, Kev examined the area. "Where are we?"

Evangeline stared disbelievingly at him. "Where do you think we are? This is Rachel's locker!" Her voice was a mixture of emotions, amusement and frustration being the most prominent ones.

"That explains why she's here. So when does the fun begin?"

"The fun begins when Jason comes and I make him my latest acquisition." Kev took a step back, as Rachel came walking daintily around the corner, a thick, musty perfume scent following her like an obedient puppy.

He coughed somewhat at the overwhelming smell. "Acquisition? What are we now? Commodities to bought and sold as you please? Toys that you play with and discard when you get bored?"

"Puh-leese! Give your gender a little more credit. You're more like clothes which I wear to keep me warm and like all clothing, styles change, and I must alter my wardrobe fittingly. Jason just happens to be the newest trend." Rachel smiled innocently back at him.

Kev politely returned the favour, giving her the most forced smile he had ever pasted on his face. "Jason will never have anything to do with you. I guarantee it."

Rachel flicked her delicate hand downwards, pivoting on a vertically positioned arm. "What-ever. Like anyone would willingly turn down a chance to be with me?" She adjusted her top to show even more of her body than it already was. "As if."

Leaning back on a nearby locker, Kev crossed his arms casually. "Well, here the lucky guy comes now. I guess we'll see if you're right." As if on cue, the big, tall Chinese boy came lumbering noiselessly around the corner. Stopping just a few feet short of Rachel, he looked at her warily.

"What do you want?" Even in a situation like this, somehow, some way, Jason could still manage to keep his face as still and unmoving as a slab of granite.

A cool, sly smile slipped its way onto Rachel's face. "What do you think I want? I want you."

"I want you." It's amazing how three simple words could cause so many different reactions from so many different people. Jason, for instance, blushed like a little girl. This in itself was fairly incredible, since he never done anything remotely similar before in recorded history. His friend, Kev was not quite as enthusiastic about it, as he let out a rather audible groan. Evangeline, however, had the most interesting response of them all, outright laughter.

That was a rather dangerous way to express one's emotions, as even the most patient person would react poorly to being laughed at, and Rachel was far from a patient person. She took two steps forward and shoved her face less than in inch in front of the other girl's. "What the hell do think you're laughing at?"

It took some time before Evangeline managed to contain her amusement and formulate a decent response. "'I want you.' What type of cheesy line is that? How do you expect any one to go out with you using those words?" Kev raised an eyebrow, it was a good point.

Rachel, however, didn't really see it that way. "Why are you talking? You can't even get yourself one damn boyfriend! You have no friends everyone hates you. And I don't blame them. With that hair, those clothes and your big, goofy glasses why would anyone even want to be near a fat, ugly bitch like you?" She spat in her face and turned away in disgust.

A tear dropped from Eva's left eye, hitting the ground in a silent explosion of sadness. That hurt, it really did. Of all people to fling such sharp and cutting barbs at, why in God's name did it have to be her? Sucking in another laboured breath, she crumpled to the ground, trying her best not to cry. All of her life, she had been ridiculed, taunted and teased. Since grade 1, her self-esteem had been practically trashed every day, and was only beginning to rise again this year, but after this...

Kev felt horrible as he saw his good friend collapse into a heap of sadness, insecurity and fear, fear that maybe the taunts were true. It was strange, Eva had always appeared to be so emotionally strong to him, so focused, and now, watching her hold back tears in vain, she seemed even more so. It would have been easy for her to run away, to hide from Rachel's verbal assaults, but here she was, standing her ground, refusing to give an inch. He couldn't stand it any more. "Where the hell do you get off skewering someone's ego like that! Can't you just leave people alone?" His voice was lower than usual and carried a darker undertone.

"Okay, okay. Sheesh, DMY!" Rachel looked so composed, it was like she was used to breaking people's will to live (well, maybe she was).

DMY. God, he hated this girl-speak, especially that acronym. Don't Mess Yourself. Who the hell invented that? It didn't matter anyways, that bitch was so insensitive. He glowered steadily at her. "If you weren't a girl, I'd punch you in the face right about now."

She yawned, "Well you won't have to worry about that. Tom?" Like a trained ape, the 6'1", 190-lb. testosterone-driven, Chinese male popped out from around the corner looking rather dangerous.

His unintelligible eyes peered down at the comparatively minute Kev Chan. "How about I punch you in the face, tiny?" A slow, bellowing laugh emitted from his steamboat of a chest.

The shorter boy didn't back down one centimetre. "How 'bout I break your head in half?" He retorted, not even thinking, not even caring about the consequences of getting into a fight with this gorilla. All Kev was wanted was to get some form of apology out of Rachel and if ripping a hole through her bodyguard was the only way, then so be it.

Then, just as he was about to do the dirty deed, something rather useful happened, which adverted what might have been a potentially painful scenario. Getting up on her knees, Eva tugged on the Kev's pant leg. "Let's go. Please Kev, let's just go."

Kev didn't need any more of a reason to leave. Giving a curt nod to Thomas, he helped Eva up and walked hurriedly towards the nearest door. Nine metres behind him, Rachel tried one last attempt to goad them into doing something stupid. "Don't you want to stay and watch what happens between me and Jason?"

It didn't slow them down one bit. "I'll catch it on the evening news." Kev muttered and then they were out of the school and away from the horrors of minutes past. "Are you all right?" His voice held more concern than Evangeline had ever heard from him before, she smiled weakly.

"I.. I.. I'm fine now. Thanks." They stood there for a while, basking in the bright sunlight of midday, neither of them saying a word. There was nothing to be said, and everything to be left unsaid. At times something would just pop up on the tip of their tongues, but always it would fizzle into nothingness just as quickly.

Such was their relationship, so much that could been, none of which was. Finally, after a while, Kev turned to leave. "Take care. I'll see you tomorrow." Eva nodded, and they parted, each going off in a different direction.

Admiring the passing scenery, Kev realized just how much better the trees and grass looked under the warm, fulfilling sunlight. Unfortunately, this being Vancouver, the sun coming out at any given time was fairly uncommon. A pity, he rather enjoyed such nice, brisk weather. Perfect for spending a little time at the park, which was, coincidentally, where he was currently proceeding towards.

"Hey Kev, over here!" His head turned at the sound of that all too familiar voice. What were they doing on that side of the pond, away from the usual place? Ah well, change was good thing right? Shrugging it off, Kev strolled calmly towards the benches on which his friend was currently seated. "So, what's up today?" He asked with some degree interest as he sat down on the edge of one of the brown, wooden park benches.

Tyler Yep (15), glanced quickly at his friend, then turned back to staring down a worn down, dirt path jutting out from the benches. "Hey."

A single acknowledgement? That was it, that was all? Kev tapped the 5'8" oriental on the shoulder lightly. "What's up?" He made his voice a little louder this time, more serious.

Tyler didn't even so much as blink. "They’re coming."

"Coming?" Kev was now fairly confused. "Who's coming?"

A slight pause, then, "They are." Tyler adjusted his jacket zipper as a strong breeze began to appear.

Clenching his fist in frustration, Kev raised his voice yet another notch. "Who's they?" This was starting to get stupid.

Another simple answer, this time one word, a name. "Cyndi."

Kev muttered a mild curse under his breath. He was getting nowhere fast. "She meets us here just about every day. What's so special about it now?" Agitation and impatience slowly begun to sneak it's way into his otherwise level tone.

Tyler turned around to face him, as if the guy had finally decided that single word conversations were inherently boring. "She's got a new boyfriend." A childish grin appeared suddenly on his face, as he watched Kev's eyes widen.

"What? Already?" This was not what he wanted to hear. Cyndi Yan (16) could quite possibly be the most sought after girl in her entire school. She and Kev had met at this very park two years ago while they were both waiting for their mutual acquaintance, Tyler. Since that time, they had become rather close friends, although secretly, Kev would have preferred them to be slightly closer. Unfortunately, during those two years, Cyndi had always been taken, usually by those really big Chinese guys. So he had waited and waited and finally, four days ago, she was dumped by her boyfriend. The girl was shattered and naturally turned to Kev for a shoulder to cry on. Not being one of those people who took advantage of emotionally distressed girls, he graciously obliged. Granted, they went to different schools, and granted he lived pretty far away from her, but he seriously thought that he had a chance with her. Four days! He couldn't believe it. How did she rebound in four days? Crap.

"There they are now!" Tyler's heavily accented voice, cut through the silence, which had been hanging there for about a minute.

Swiveling his head, Kev got a perfect view of Cyndi and her newest companion. The guy was white? Oh this was rich. Getting up, he strode confidently up to the mystery man and greeted him cautiously. "Hi. You must be Cyndi new boyfriend. I'm Kev. How do you do?"

Equally wary, Ryan Delton (15) grasped the other boy's outstretched hand and shook it firmly. "I'm Ryan Delton." His voice was low and odd and seemed to show that there was more to him than met the eye.

"Nice to meet you Delton." Kev looked him over slowly, and came to the conclusion that she could do better, much better.

The two were like opposite poles of the same planet. Aside from the obvious difference in skin pigmentation, Ryan and Cyndi were, at least in appearance, nothing at all alike. Although not overly tall (5'6"), Cyndi was quite thin and had a kind of elegance about her. Even now, wearing the Berryhill Secondary School dress uniform, she managed to completely retain her loveliness. Damn those uniforms anyway. If it hadn't been for Sara Grenich's near transparent top, the mandatory clothing for the girls would never even have been created. As it stood, every female was forced to wear the combination of a white short-sleeved top (which Cyndi had attached a red ribbon to) and a knee-length, light-blue skirt. Still, it didn't look that bad on her. Mind you, there probably wasn't anything in the world which could detract from her beauty. And what beauty it was. Like two pools of black ink, her incredibly dark eyes shimmered in the strong afternoon sun, making them seem like giants compared to her comparably smaller nose and mouth. Cyndi's shoulder length hair, dyed red, also seemed to become more prominent under today's abnormally bright conditions.

Ryan, however, was a completely different type of person. The guy had one those body shapes, where although he was not very wide, a lot of fat could be compacted into him, and that was generally how he looked. His face was thin, while his nose and ears were abnormally big, making him look very much like a rodent of some sort. Ryan's hair was virtually non-existent, as he had apparently shaved it recently, although it all might have gone to his eyebrows, which were thick and almost connected. If his facial appearance seemed unusual, it was nothing compared to his clothing. He wore a brownish green T-shirt two sizes too big, and equally oversized brown worn down jeans. On his right side, dangled many heavy, metal chains attached to something, which Kev could only guess was his wallet.

Yes, if opposites attract was truly an unwritten law, then those two were a perfect example. Still, Ryan was her boyfriend, and Kev was forced to treat the guy with some semblance of decency, even if he really didn't want to. "So tell me," he asked as politely as he could manage. "How did you two lovebirds come to meet?" In reality, Kev didn't actually give a damn, but at least it was something to talk about.

Ryan, to his merit, fielded the question with a certain degree of cheerfulness, or stupidity (it all depended on how you looked at it). "Dude, it was the craziest thing. A couple days ago, I tried to surprise my old girlfriend by sneaking up her and planting a kiss right on her lips, but instead I kissed Cyndi. 'Course after that, she dumped me, but I now I got me something better!" He grinned maniacally.

Oh hell, that was just what Kev needed to hear. Cyndi and her new boyfriend were practically strangers to each other. This was going to be another bad break-up, which meant more consoling her over the phone and such. Kev groaned at the thought of more late night conversation. Then, suddenly feeling a great need to remove himself from the area, he began to walk back to the busy streets, which he had only recently abandoned. This day was getting worse and worse.

Kev sighed contently as he entered the relative peace and quiet of The Red Rose Cafe, a quaint little place only twenty minutes walk from the school. Sitting down at his usual table he waited patiently until the current manager of the establishment arrived, she was usually a little slow in getting to him anyway.

"Here you are." Kev looked up in surprise, as the smiling girl standing next to him, placed a glass of iced tea on his table.

Gripping it gently, he lifted it up to his lips and took a small sip, hmm, a twist of lemon, just the way he liked it. "How'd you know what I wanted anyways?" He asked jokingly.

Ami Ho (16) gave her best friend a soft smile. "You've been coming here for almost nine years and each time ordering the same thing. Don't you think I'd be ready for you one day?" Pulling up a chair next to him, the slim Chinese girl sat down, planting her elbows on the wooden table while balancing her chin atop of two very pretty hands. "So... what's up turnip head?"

Kev groaned at the cheerful tease directed his way. "Please, I don't want to hear that word anymore. You won't believe the day I've had." He grabbed the iced tea and sipped a little more of the translucent, yellowish liquid.

At those words, Ami's eyes lit up in curiosity. "No? Tell me, I'm all ears." She peered at him intently, hoping to hear another one of Kev's interesting takes on his life.

"Fine, you really want to know?" He looked at her for an answer, and upon seeing her nod, he continued. "Okay. Last night, I was watching TV, and who comes in? Jason, which would not be entirely peculiar, had he not been accompanied by his sister, Michelle. She's holes up in my room for the night and then I get into a little conversation with Jase, where I learn that he still will not associate himself with his sister. So, today rolls around, and I'm thinking, hmm... maybe I'll have a normal 24 hrs. for once in my life, but guess what? I'm wrong as usual. Ev learns about 'Turnip head' and of course, she has to bother me about it and then Quentin arrives and true to form, starts hitting on Michelle. Ten minutes later, the new kids arrive and innocently enough, one of them says Douglas' last name. The guy goes berserk, takes a hyper and starts a fight, which is promptly ended by some new girl, who completely and thoroughly trashes Douglas. Lunchtime arrives and I hope to make peace, trying to reason with my aforementioned friend. He takes a hyper at me, storms out of the caf and leaves me to deal with the new kids. I actually make some progress after he leaves, when suddenly he returns and gets sucker-punched by the same kid he started a fight with. I let ten minutes pass and I'm walking down the hall with Ev, when for some particular reason, she asks me out. Two minutes after that, I run into Gabriel harassing some other new students, one of which happens to be the prettiest girl I've yet to see. The end of the day rolls around and Ev runs up to me, tells me that Rachel wants to meet Jason after school. So naturally we go there, but before anything can happen, Rachel utterly destroys Ev's self-esteem, and I have to escort her out of the school. Then I go to the park and find out that Cyndi's has all of a sudden gotten herself a boyfriend, who turn's out to be some fat white guy that looks like a rat. And now I'm here." Kev went silent for a few seconds and collected himself, then realized that the usually talkative Ami was uncharacteristically silent. "Did you get all that?"

She blinked a couple of times and looked at him seriously. "That all happened today?" Her voice held tinges of disbelief and amusement.

"Yep, so what do you think?" He got up off his chair and went to refill his drink, that he had now just completely drained dry.

Ami seemed a little panicked, which was interesting since Kev had never known her to be worried about anything. "Evangeline asked you out? Evangeline Lui? The funny looking girl. Her?"

Pouring some more tea from the big, clear pitcher sitting on the counter, Kev turned his head to respond to his best friend of eight and half years. "I wouldn't say she's funny looking, but yeah, that's the girl." Taking a sip of from his now filled glass, Kev made a face and added a little sugar.

"And what you'd say?" Ami's voice was one of interest and something else, something that Kev couldn't quite discern.

He sat down again and drank his tea, feeling a little bit more relaxed than before. "I had to say no. She doesn't really have many other guy friends so I just told her to wait. Why?"

Seeming peculiarly satisfied with that answer, Ami shrugged her shoulders. "Just curious. So, Cyndi really got herself another boyfriend? And he's white?"

"Uh-huh, that stupid fat bastard, looks like some albino rat, with those funny ears and snou.. I mean nose. The metal chains he wears don't help a bit either." His voice faded slowly, as a far away look began to creep behind his eyes.

Ami could understand Kev's anger at losing the girl he thought he had for sure this time, but then again, Ami understood him better than just about everyone save his own family. She had been the first person he had met nine years ago, when the boy first came to Canada. Her parent's owned the Red Rose Cafe, and Kev's dad took him there to eat often. After awhile, she and him became friends and soon best friends. Even after his father went back to Hong Kong, Kev continued to visit her regularly, especially now that her family had gone on vacation, leaving her and her uncle to mind the place. So it was understandable, that she feel some semblance of pity for the guy, even if she really didn't think Cyndi was the right girl for him.

Seeing that maybe, this wasn't such a hot topic with Kev, she decided to move on to another subject. "So who's this new girl? You know, the one which you have a crush on now." She poked him teasingly a couple of times.

Kev grinned and pushed her hand away. "I do not have a crush on her, just said that she was pretty. I don't think you would know her anyways, she has kind of a strange name."

"Adelaide?" Then responding to his shocked expression, "Don't look so surprised, who's school did you think she transferred from? Interesting that my best guy friend would meet my best girl friend and fall in love with her. I don't see why you didn't talk about her before."

Kev stared blankly at his friend, "What are you babbling about? I've met her before today?" He thought back, trying to figure out why he had no recollection any previous encounter.

Chuckling, Ami put a comforting hand on Kev's shoulder. "You probably wouldn't remember. It was during my tenth birthday." She looked at him carefully, hoping that maybe he would have some memory of that day. Nothing. Ami continued, "The girl who gave me a teddy bear." Still no reaction. "The funny blue one holding the pink heart?" Suddenly his eyes lit up, as he recognized the individual whom she was describing.

"What? The short, chubby girl? That was Adelaide?" Kev sounded incredulous.

Ami laughed somewhat at her companion's utter confusion. "Yup, that was her. Ade's body kinda straightened itself out when she hit puberty."

Kev nodded in agreement. "Yeah it did at that. Umm... What about that other new kid? Uh..." he snapped his fingers a couple of times, as his brain tried to recall the name. "Uh.. Ken! That's it, Kenneth Lin! Do you know him too?"

"Ken? Oh yeah, I know him, although not very well. He hangs around Adelaide sometimes, but the guy's pretty quiet, doesn't talk too much. Kind of a weirdo." She shrugged, brushing it off casually.

"Yeah, he didn't say much to me, either." Then, looking more serious than usual, Kev asked a rather odd question. "Um, do you know what his relationship is with Adelaide?"

Ami considered him for a second, what was this about? Intrigued, she decided to continue this line of conversation. "His relationship with her? Well, I think he may like her somewhat, but to my knowledge, they're just friends. Why?" The one-word question carried with it a lot more than just personal curiosity, but if Kev noticed, he didn't show it.

Instead, the sixteen year-old Chinese boy came off as being more nervous than anything else. "Ami, there's a favour I need from you. Now, it's rather big, and I don't want to put any pressure on you but, um..."

Kev stuttered on that last word, and Ami decided to guess the rest. "Will I use my intimate knowledge of Adelaide to help you woo her?" From the expression on his face, she must have got at least some of it right. "Of course, you're a good person, you and her are probably a match made in heaven, and more importantly, you've been a good friend to me and has helped me out of far worse. So sure, I'll help you." Her consequently warm smile melted away any further insecurities Kev might have had.

"You will? Um... That’s very nice of you, but I don’t really wanna pursue her or anything and that wasn’t what I was gonna ask. What I was about to say was…" He had only begun to speak that sentence, when a loud and rather obnoxious sound erupted from just outside the cafe, somehow managing to maintain it's volume through the fairly thick walls.

"HEY, AMI!!!"

Suddenly, the girl of whom the words were referring to got up and ran into the back of the establishment. Kev followed her soon after, catching the closing door to the kitchen before it slammed shut. He peered into the relatively bright white room, trying to ascertain Ami's current status. "Hey, what's wrong with you? Who is that?"

His efforts were immediately silenced by a forceful "Shhh!", followed by a soft whisper. "That's some guy in my school, he's developed a big crush on me and must have found out where I work, goddammit. He's such an annoying bastard, tell him I'm not here, alright?" And with that she gave the door an extra pull, causing it to shut on Kev's face just as it's front counterpart opened, revealing the person behind it.

The first thing Kev noticed about Victor Cho (16), was how funny the guy looked. Granted, he hadn't expected to meet the next Tom Cruise, but this was ridiculous. His hair was cut incredibly short, and served only in making him more laughable, if that was possible. He wore narrow, black bordered glasses, which balanced atop of a long, ovalish nose. A tight watermelon green top, unbuttoned indigo AMTN (All Movie Television Network) shirt and really high dark blue jean shorts combined with his large build, to create an extremely fascinating specimen, to say the least. When he spoke, it was in the same loud and booming voice, Kev had heard just minutes before. "Hi! My name is Vic. Where's Ami?" He stuck out his right hand as he spoke, an offering for a handshake.

Reluctantly, the slightly taller, considerably thinner boy accepted, all the while feeling rather awkward about it considering what he had to say. "Hi, I'm Kev. About Ami... well you see, there's this thing. Ami, well, she's not here right now. In fact, she won't be here for the rest of the week. Yeah, umm... would you like me to take a message for her, in case she decides to drop by?" A meek smile slid uncomfortably on his face, Kev wasn't too adept at making up lies on the spot.

Vic, for all intents and purposes seemed thoroughly sold, and was about to leave when he turned around and looked purposefully at the other male. "Just tell her that I hope we can be friends. Alright, man?" And with that, the single most interesting individual Kev had ever met, opened the front door and left, unabated.

Grumbling slightly, he turned to find Ami and tell her the coast was clear. This was quickly becoming the most eventful, as well as craziest, day of his already much too colourful life.

"Crap! Goddammit!" Kev knelt down quickly, as his hands grabbed onto his injured leg. Dragging himself up onto a nearby bench, he began to massage the wounded limb, trying to dispel the painful leg cramp. Damn, this always happened when he was practicing. Picking up the fallen epée, Kev looked at it carefully, inspecting it for any damages that might have been done to it when he dropped it in pain. When he was satisfied at its condition, the Chinese teen placed it carefully on the bench next to his fencing mask. Lucky he was only taking practice swings at thin air, that sort muscle spasm would spell disaster in any match, friendly or no. Not that he had actually ever participated in any official tournaments or anything remotely resembling that. No, Kev had taken up the sport for the sole reason that he enjoyed it. There was something calming about going through the motions of a duel, something soothing. And that was exactly why he had come to the gym today, after a month and a half layoff. But even thirty solid minutes of thrusts, parries and ripostes, couldn't relieve the tension he felt. This day was just getting worse and worse and then there was the run in with that fat fellow, Victor.

That guy was so freaking annoying! Granted Ami wasn't the most beautiful girl in the world, but at 5'5", 110 lb. she was still quite pretty and should not have any problem attracting normal people. Although maybe not as elegant as some girls (Adelaide, Cyndi), Ami's beauty stemmed from the simplicity of her appearance. While her hair was cut much shorter than was the norm (just barely covering her ears), it matched well with her smooth, slim face. Like those of a doe's, Ami's eyes were large and had sweetness to them. Finished off with a small, delicate nose and tender, soft lips, her face gave off a sort of down-to-earthness, a natural beauty of sorts. Following this trend of plainness, were her clothing, which simply consisted of a blue jean jacket and pants, white undershirt, silver cross necklace and black platform heels. And that was it, not even close to the complexity of most females' outfits, but that was who she was, just a simple city girl.

Suddenly, the main door of the fencing complex creaked open, causing Kev to turn his head sideways at the noise. Strange, the only reason he had come this late (it was about 7:45 p.m.) was because no one else was around. So who was this? As if in answer to his silent inquiry, the mysterious individual walked past the entranceway and into Kev's line of sight. He recognized the thin, lanky boy immediately. "Ken! Over here!"

The person in question turned quickly around at the sound of his name. Then realizing who was calling for him, he walked calmly towards the big spacious room which Kev was in. Throwing down the large, bulky duffel bag that was hanging off his shoulders, he opened it gently, lifting out his fencing outfit and a long, metallic box. Taking his gear into a nearby change room, he disappeared behind the thick, white bricks for a while, before emerging in a white jacket and trousers not unlike the kind Kev had on at the moment. Walking over to the plain metal box, he opened it to reveal a thin, slender epée, which looked even more impressive as Ken, took out a white cloth and began polishing it. "So you fence?" He tossed a quick glance at Kev then went back to fixing up his sword.

"Yeah, I fence." Picking up his own blade, Kev examined it, realizing that his was probably not as well crafted as the other boy's. Nevertheless, "You want a go a few rounds?" Knowing what the answer probably would be, he picked up his mask and weapon and strolled out to the dueling surface, five metres away.

Following suit, Kenneth also gathered the necessary equipment and stepped onto the hard, wooden playing area. "Sure. You any good?"

Kev rocked his hand on a horizontal axis. "Meh, I've been known to put up a good fight now and then. You?"

As if in answer to that question, Ken flashed his sword swiftly in a rather complicated pattern. "I'm not too bad. So, basic rules, blade contact is accepted, best outta three?" He looked at his challenger for any disagreement.

"No problem, it's how I like it." Kev smiled amicably, hiding a slight fear he felt. True, the guy wasn't very big, at 5'8", 120 lb. the term to describe him would probably be frail. However, people with that type of build tended to be quite fit and spry. As well, Ken had a sort of calm, composed look on him, which made him seem even more dangerous. In almost any other sport, physical strength would be the key to success but fencing was different. A person like Ken, with his orderly styled black hair, ovalish glasses and carefree expression, was a perfect fit for the shoes of an agile, skillful duelist. And so, Kev had good cause for worry. Still, what was life without a couple of risks? Putting one leg forward, he raised his weapon with his right hand. "En Garde." And the battle began.

The first thing Kenneth noticed about his opponent was the lack of style or technique. Where as he fought using the strict patterns and systems he had been taught, Kev just blocked when he needed to and lunged when he saw an opening. It was going to be an interesting fight, short, but interesting. Like they were connected together by some invisible nerve, his sword and his eyes communicated with each other at infinitesimal speeds. Parry, parry, dodge, parry, riposte, touché! Ken smiled beneath his soft, mesh mask as the point of his epée found its mark in the centre of Kev's chest. Flipping up his facial protector, he flung an approving look in his adversary's direction. "That's not too bad, not enough to win, but not too bad."

Also removing his headgear, Kev wiped a bead of sweat off his cheek. "Thanks, keep your mind on the match, you still have at least another to go." At that, both men reset their protection and readied themselves again. This time, Kev was ready for the methodic, quick strikes that had doomed him in their previous match. Making his foil part of his hand, he met each and every attack with the precision of a marksman. Unfortunately, not even that was enough to stop the fencing machine otherwise known as Kenneth Lin. Two more weak parries by Kev and his opponent had found an opening. The blade flew like lightning, aiming for his right shoulder, but ended up stabbing at air. Kev in utter desperation had fallen to his knees while letting his sword go in order to pull his right arm away from the attack. Grabbing the now airborne weapon with his left hand, he stabbed blindly at where his memory told him that Ken's open chest would be. Point.

Ripping off his mask, Ken shook his head furiously, partly in disgust and partly to get rid of all the sweat, which had now soaked his hair thoroughly. "Poo." He grunted, causing a chuckle from Kev.

"Poo? What the heck's that?" The slightly taller boy smiled, as he too wiped his face for perspiration. "Doesn't matter, you're a damn good swordsman. You don't aim for the lower body, however."

Ken grinned, "I don't think it's proper, in a real duel, the chest is the part that kills. Deciding match?" He put the metallic, mesh face-guard back on and pointed his weapon forward, showing that he was ready for one last bout.

Also readying himself, Kev favoured his competitor with an even gaze. "I'm game if you are." Then, he flipped his mask back down and plunged into the fray once again.

This time the action was fast and furious, neither contestant willing to give an inch from the get go. Their blades flashed so quickly, it was hard even for normal eyes to follow, not that either of them were completely relying on their sight. Instead, their epées found themselves continuously greeting each other in a clash of metal right where the fighting computer in their master's minds told them they would be. Back and forth it went for what seemed like an eternity, neither of them ever having a clear advantage over the other. But in the end, it all came down to luck, and unfortunately for Kev luck did not smile favourably on him today, as Kenneth's blade deflected off of his own and grazed his collarbone.

"Game." And with that utterance, it was all over. Taking off their helmets, both players walked over to each other and shook hands, showing that neither harboured any ill feelings. Then, still silent, they walked over to the change rooms and quietly shed their fencing uniforms.

It was only when those two had packed their bags and were walking out of the place that Kev finally decided to say something to his new found friend.

"So," he muttered as the other boy opened the door to the stairwell that lead up to the surface. "Why'd you come at such an ungodly hour?"

Kenneth remained noiseless for a moment, thinking about what he had just been asked. "It's quiet. Better to think about things, and easier to talk about things."

"Hmm…" Kev nodded his head to show his agreement. "That's true." After which both teenagers remained completely silent, their footsteps being the only thing that echoed as they traversed the many steps to the exit.

When they finally walked outside, a cold breeze greeted them, making the 15-degree weather seem much lower. Taking a deep cleansing breath, Kev sighed contently, it was pretty nice night, kinda chilly, but nice. Then as he and Ken were about to part ways, he saw Adelaide walking in the same direction he was headed. Now this was a crazy coincidence. Ken's head turned also, as he too realized whom the lonely figure was. However, the guy was going the opposite way. Now, suddenly feeling incredibly lucky, Kev leaned over and whispered into his departing friend's ear. "You know what they say, lucky in swords, unlucky in love." Then laughing to himself he let the poor fellow go and walked out to greet the girl.

"Where're you off to at such a late time?"

Hefting four rather bulky grocery bags, Adelaide gestured towards them with a flick of her head. "Shopping. My mom is off on a business trip and my dad… well… h… argh…" She grunted in frustration as her fingers let out and the contents of a bag spilled onto the grass.

Instantly, Kev was on his knees scooping the fruits and vegetables back into the sack. "Here let me take those off of your hands."

Adelaide groaned in relief, as he removed the hefty baggage from her hands. "Thanks. Those things are really heavy." She graced him with a smile, which made him feel warm even in such cool surroundings.

"No problem." Returned Kev, as gracious as ever. "Umm... Where do you live?"

She pointed to a large heavily windowed apartment complex some fifty metres away. "There, floor... 21 I think. We just moved in." Adelaide added, explaining the slight pause before she said the floor number.

Kev was stunned. "What? I live in that building! Floor 28, I'll carry these up to your door."

Another smile followed that statement. "Really? That'd be great. Thanks!"

The Chinese male grinned inwardly. This was certainly a great ending to an otherwise unbearable day. Unfortunately for him the day still had 4 or so hours left in it, and was far from over.

And somewhere, far away, yet unbearably close, came a howling noise. Actually, it didn’t necessarily have to be classified as a noise. Not one that people could hear, anyway. Well, they could hear it, just not through their eardrums or any other conventional way. It was more of a call to the soul, a rousing battle cry to lift the spirit out of its claustrophobic flesh enclosure. Unfortunately, as this message had never before been perceived its dialogue was lost on the world. Disappearing, fading into the ever-approaching distant horizon. It was a wind, a soft blowing on the universe, gently strumming the strings of the soul and ever so discreetly causing a slight recognition in the pieces of what is generally known as reality. And reality answered its primal call. And so they conversed, causing havoc and joy of the likes the universe could never perceive. But since the universe could not fathom this powerful emotional response, it passed unnoticed. The calm before the storm had come and gone. Armageddon would soon be upon them, for, unbeknownst to anyone, the gates of paradise had begun to creak open…