Quattrocentista

XVIII.

The sound of Ed giggling was what tipped me off, had me alert and on my toes. The boy does not giggle; he tittered, he cackled, he laughed, but he does not giggle.

Well, maybe he does, but not as nefariously as a moment ago.

"Ed? What are you doing?" I emerged from the kitchen, holding a knife. Ever since he pulled those little stunts yesterday, I was wary whenever he was by himself. A little too much time, and Ed could probably figure out how to strap a cherry bomb to the back of the van's wheels or something equally as drastic.

Speaking of which, I shouldprobably check the car some time before I left for school, just in case.

Ed swiveled around when he heard my voice, his face a prime picture of childhood innocence. Pft. "Hey, ho, how's it go...ing?"

"What were you doing outside?" I repeated, ignoring his question. If I ventured down that road, there was no coming back. Either Ed was incredibly skilled at distracting people, or I was slightly attention deficit. And you can be sure that it isn't the latter.

"Oh, nothing much," he replied flippantly while taking off his shoes. "I was just walking around."

"And doing what?"

"I already said it was nothing! Gosh, Lia, use your ears sometimes."

I turned as he trotted into the kitchen and climbed onto the stool, where his bowl of oatmeal was sitting. My eyes slanted distrustfully; he was too quiet, too calm to have done nothing. "The way you put it makes it sound like you planned something.. not good."

Ed paused, the spoon halfway to his lips, and he threw a wounded look at my direction. "Fine, you don't believe me? Go outside and see for yourself! All I did was just enjoy the snow. Why are you so paranoid? Stop getting all up in my business about it, sheesh." And with that said and done, he jammed the oatmeal into his mouth before spitting out the spoon. "What's with this? I didn't ask for a spoon! I don't even need one! I'm a man, and men don't eat like wusses! Begone with it!"

I fumbled as Ed flung the utensil behind him carelessly; it almost hit the picturesque vase nearby the sink, and that would've been all kinds of bad because apparently the direction of the vase was the sole reason why Mom's salon was currently booming. "You know, that's a good idea," I said after a moment. Ed ignored me in favor of lapping his breakfast. "I'll be right back."

I didn't know what to expect when I opened the front door. A juggling cat? A maze of mega-hazardous proportions? Dave bound tightly and lying on top of our side bushes? The last one would've been impressive, and I probably would've worshipped Ed for a long time if he had done that. Whatever it was, I wasn't expecting some small prank. I was expecting something of epic dimensions, something that would blow my mind away. Kind of like yesterday.

I don't think any amount of therapy could ever fix me, now that I had a glimpse of just how evil Ed could be.

It was a pretty cold day, and no matter which way I turned my head, all I could see was snow. Snow and the stupid patch of ice that was at the bottom of the steps again. The patch is the reason why I have to take a small detour and plow through the snow. And why do I do that? Because this one time Ed and Toni had decided to have a small jump-off challenge, see who had the guts to jump from the very top step to the bottom one.

Toni went first, I think, and had ended up with a sprained ankle for the next two days. While she had been on the ground, groaning in pain as I squawked around spastically, Ed had thought we were only trying to psyche him out and, with an emboldened roar, had leapt off the edge.

From what I remembered, he had gotten a pretty severe nosebleed.

Presently, I didn't find anything out of the ordinary. No bucket of water was hanging on top of my head, no random booby trapped strings strung anywhere. This one time he had managed to put together a train of knick-knacks so that if you accidentally set one off, you set the entire system off. Toni hadn't thought it would work, and she had woken up with dried toothpaste all over her hair. Now that was a fun mess to clean up.

But from what I could see—and I craned my neck both ways one more time—everything seemed clear. And just to make sure, I ran to the van and checked the back wheels. No explosives, either. It was all good to go.

When I came back in, Ed was looking at me smugly. "Did you find anything?"

"No..."

"I told you so!"

I huffed and, giving him another suspicious look, returned to the chopping board. What could I say? Accuse him of plotting behind my back? There wasn't any evidence to suggest otherwise, and all I could do was go along with what he had said. It's pretty dang frustrating when you knewwhat sly people were thinking, but if you even try to voice out loud their thoughts, you just ended up sounding idiotic.

Finally satisfied that he had rubbed it in enough, Ed went back to finishing the remains of the oatmeal. It was shaping out to be a good morning, with the definition of 'good' being analogous to 'quiet'. What more could a stress-ridden girl ask for?

Apparently, too much, because it had been a relaxing breakfast until Toni came downstairs, and lo and behold, things suddenly became a little more frigid in the room. She muttered a good morning and took a seat next to Ed without so much as a bat of an eyelid in my direction. I frowned and resisted the urge to speak first. Let her be that way, I repeated, and I planted my heels firmly to the ground as a show of determination. It was up to her to fix things, not me, and I'd have to accept that. The way I figured, it hurt a lot, how Toni and I were acting towards each other, but it would've been worse if I had let Toni continue stomping all over me. Things were bad now, but if it was only temporary, if my sister would learn that boys weren't the penultimate of happiness without getting all pissy at me, then I think it would be worth the whole muck.

Still, my head turned traitorous when I wondered what kind of outfit Toni chose today, and I peeked over my shoulders to see what she was wearing. Old habits die hard, but it would give me the peace of mind knowing how she was dressed for the weather. Stomach covered? Check. Legs covered? Checked. Neck covered? Check. Her outfit passed with surprising colors for once, I thought as I wiped the apple bits into a plastic bag. Somehow, I was handicapped whenever it came to cutting fruit wedges, and it looked like this time was no exception.

The stifled tension went on like this for a good ten minutes, until my watch started to beep. "All right, time to go," I said, wiping my hands on my jeans. "Let's get ready, and we'll go after I'm done wiping this last dish--"

"Wait, you forgot mine," Ed piped up, and he oh-so innocently dumped his bowl directly into the sink. "Oh, and here's the cup of milk, too."

"How long were you done?" I asked, eying the crusty oatmeal and dried milk line with disgust.

"Does it matter? You're going to clean it anyways."

"Yeah, but there's a difference between wiping off food and scrubbing the bowl to death," I retorted, but I picked up the sponge anyways. "Go get ready now, because I'm not going to sit around and wait for you afterwards."

Ed shrugged and literally spun off his stool. I shot a disapproving look in his direction when he almost knocked over the rice cooker. The little punk didn't even stop; he just kept spinning and spinning out of the room, giggling madly at his dizziness. But even that didn't distract the palpable discomfort in the room—mainly the auras of uneasiness emanating from Toni, who was still finishing her bagel.

I never said anything towards her directly because I was really trying to stick to my promise, but it was hard. Not only because the situation as a whole just depresses me, but because I was also responsible for getting her to school on time. Since we only had one car, which Mom wasn't going to relinquish her hold on any time soon, we were all stuck riding the bus. If any of us missed it, then it fell on her to drive the person to school and yell the other kids' ears off. You can bet Mom wasn't a happy camper on those days.

It didn't take too long, but I finally got the last of Ed's breakfast and put the bowl into the dishwasher to dry. "All right, we're going now," I announced loudly for Toni to hear. Behind me, I heard her shifting in her seat, blatantly trying to ignore me.

I forced myself to walk in the other direction, my mouth pressed in a thin line. Brush it off, Lia, just brush it off.

The warning chimes were tinkling in my head when Ed couldn't be found anywhere near the shoe rack. I climbed the stairs quietly and peeked into his room in hopes of him quietly organizing his homework folder—no dice. Maybe he was rotting his brains out with television goodness, then. Reruns of old T.V. shows tended to come on early in the morning, but he wasn't sprawled out on the couch, either. Maybe he needed to use the bathroom! But both upstairs and downstairs bathrooms were unlocked. (Mom's bathroom didn't count because why would you risk waking her up just to relieve your bladder?)

"Where is that boy?" I muttered under my breath as I quickly shoved on my sneakers. He hadn't been in the backyard poking around with Trunk, who was looking like his usual pale self in the winter. Ed wasn't allowed to go to the bus stop by himself, but then again, he was one of the most selective hearing people I've ever met. So maybe I'll go and check at the corner before following on my natural instinct and breaking down into a fit of worries. Not that I wasn't breaking down—I was already fighting the rising queasiness in my ribcage.

The minute I opened the door, though, those warning chimes became NASA rockets taking off when I saw Ed talking animatedly with Tae at his doorsteps. Tae, the same guy who had tried to start up small talk with me. The very same guy who had almost intentionally went up against Dave and unintentionally stood up for my brother. The very same guy who had also threatened me that very night to put my head so far up my butt that I wouldn't be able to sit down ever again.

It was only proving that Tae had some extreme, personality dysfunction, and people like him should not be talking to little boys!

Buttoning up my jacket, I climbed carelessly down the slope of icy snow and barely missed the ice patch. It didn't matter, because Tae could go crazy any minute and randomly stab Ed in between the eyes. At the same time, I didn't want to yell out his name because then the attention would be directed towards me, and the situation wouldn't be anymore rectified if Tae lunged for me instead.

So I opted to waddle up to them instead.

It was hard to be hidden and slick when you were wearing a purple parka, so it wasn't surprising when Tae glanced up at me, his mouth abruptly closing. Ed continued talking, though, and he didn't stop talking until I reached him.

"Hey," I half-puffed, half-said. "It's time to go to school."

"Oh, Lia!" Ed spun around and nearly smacked me in the face with a mitten. "I was just talking to Tae Shmae about what gelatin was really made out of!"

"That's... good. I'm sorry to disturb you guys--" I nodded my head slightly in Tae's general direction. "--but we really have to go. Come on."

Short and terse, which was perfect. I also managed to avoid his acerbic glare, too. At least, I think it would've been a sour one, but I didn't look at his face properly, and nor did I want to. I'd probably have nightmares about my head violating my own bum for the next two years.

"Wait, why're we in such a hurry? I didn't get to finish!"

"You already know why. The bus is coming in—two minutes! Did you even get ready before coming out here to--" I cut myself off before finishing the sentence. I almost forgot that Tae had been standing there, but seeing as to how proximate I was to the front steps, no doubt he was going to start brandishing his shotgun soon.

"Come on, we have to go," I finished flatly, beginning to drag Ed back to the house, but he dug his heels in stubbornly.

"But Tae said he could give us a ride to school."

"OK, Ed, I'm sure he said that." My shoulders were still tensed, anyways. Tae was going to go puma on my butt and snap my vertebrae in two if Ed kept on talking like this. "Let's just stop bothering him--"

"Actually, I don't mind."

I stopped in my tracks. Was Tae for real? Maybe my ears had shut down or something. I looked at Ed, who was beaming crazily, and it was then that I knew why he had been tromping around outside like some maniac. I was going to wring his neck on the after-school bus.

"And you said you'd give us a ride back home, too, right?"

Tae nodded.

OK, I was going to wring Ed's neck after school.

"Are you sure it's not a little too much?" I asked weakly. "There's also going to be my little sister, and not to mention we have backpacks..."

"I can drive my friend's car. Unless you don't want me to, that is."

I twitched uncomfortably at his answer and looked up, though not quite reaching his dagger eyes. Tae's answer sounded neutral, and I really didn't want to hurt his feelings by saying no. Well, more like I didn't want to send him into a frenzied state of animalistic anger, but the intentions were sort of the same. On one hand, I really, really, really didn't want to sit or breathe the same air as he did, but on the other, I risked my butt. There was little room for arguing that Tae probably remembered his threat, and there was practically no 'but' that he would carry it out in a blink of an eye.

At that moment, just to continue her streak of impeccable timeliness, Toni came out of the house, her earmuffs planted carefully on her ears. And of course it was weird to see Ed and me on the other side of the street, so she just had to skip over to see what was going on. "What's going on here?" she asked, bright-eyed and all smiles, none of which was pointed towards me.

"Oh, Tae just offered us a ride to school, but Lia's being all wishy-washy about the entire thing," Ed explained matter-of-factly, and I opened my mouth indignantly.

"I'm not being 'wishy-washy', Ed. I just didn't want to... inconvenience him."

He snorted incredulously. "But he just said he didn't mind."

"Well—maybe our bags are too big for the car.

"But he's driving his friend's mini-truck. It's this one over here." Ed pointed at a small, dilapidated four-wheeled thing. "See? Plenty of room."

"But you bought a lot of stuff for the class party. Didn't you say that you had one today?"

"No."

I stared at him incredulously. There were five boxes of powdered doughnuts on the counter right now, and Ed was trying to tell me otherwise?

Toni was just as confused and opened her mouth to ask, "But you just wasted like, thirty dollars on doughnuts last night--" She never got to finish her sentence, though, because there was a little screech in the distance, and all four of us turned our heads towards the sound.

I watched in horror as the bus sighed to a stop, and the kids began to board. I wanted to run down the street, waving my hands madly to let the driver know that he had forgotten three passengers, but I remembered with a sinking heart that Ed's backpack had been sitting on top of his desk when I had poked my head into his room. There was no way I could send him to school without his homework, and there was no way I could leave him just to pursue my own (very!important!) educational needs. And not to mention that all three of us had missed the bus, so waking up Mom would be like shooting yourself in the foot.

"I guess the bus made a decision for us," Toni quipped finally, and watching as it turned at the corner.

-

It was like this: Tae at the steering wheel, Toni at shotgun, and Ed and me squished in between the two. Ed had wanted to sit by Tae, but since he was prone to messing around random objects, I forced him to sit away from the stick shift. And you could just forget about Toni would've sitting next to him, either, because then it was like putting my sister in front of a bullet. A very big, angry bullet. The only solution was for me to man up and sit beside him, and trust me when I say that I tried to give as much space as I could between him and me.

"You're kind of cutting off my air supply, Ed," Toni said in annoyance.

"It's not my fault Lia's trying to sit on top of me!" Ed cried before turning to me. "Your butt's too big! I can't feel my legs anymore!"

"Oh yeah? Well, you should've thought about that before setting up this ride," I whispered irritatedly. "Don't complain when you wanted this in the first place!"

Ed whined some more, but I ignored him. It was already awkward enough, and he didn't need to moan about how horrible it was. "But how are we going to fit my boxes of doughnuts?"

"You said you didn't have a class party," Toni muttered, clearly peeved that she had to sit like this for the next thirty minutes. "Just leave them at home."

"I forgot! I do have a party today!"

"Well, shove it, because we don't have any room for your stupid snacks."

"Well, shove it, because we don't have room for your stupid blobby self!"

Her eyes narrowed. She would've said something not very nicely, but since there was company, she had to swallow her pride and think of something else. "Well, I'm just saying that I don't think we'll be able to get to school with all of your sh—tuff in everyone's faces."

"Well, I'm just saying that I think we should make somebody get out of the car." Ed coughed. "Toni."

"OK, you know what?" Toni snapped, her composure gone, and I would've marveled at how well Ed could get under someone's skin, except that this was quickly turning into a physical spat. I could tell because Ed had just wriggled a hand free and managed to flick Toni in the nose.

"Guys, stop it!" I said sternly, but it fell on deaf ears. Toni had already reached out and slapped him on the back of the head. "Toni! Don't hit him!"

Ed pinched her thigh, and she gave a little yelp. "Stop this right now--"

Toni shoved him very roughly, and he jerked forward in his seat. Unfortunately, I was partially sitting on top of Ed, so in effect, she had also shoved me forward. Yeah, shoved my stomach right into the stick shift and face into the rear mirror. It was just my luck that Tae's friend liked to decorate his (her?) car with little trinkets, so I ended up with a mouthful of furry dice.

"Lia! Are you OK? Look what you made me do, stupidhead!" Ed punched Toni in the boob before turning back to me worriedly. "Are you OK? Is your eye bleeding? Can I see it if it is?"

Beside me, Tae finally decided to speak up. "We can always store your junk in the back, you know."

"No," all three of us said automatically. Annoyance flickered across his face, and a part of me nodded knowingly. I knew all along he didn't want to do this. Ed must've blackmailed him or bribed him or did something, because that was how he was, and he always weaseled his way into situations he wanted to weasel himself into.

"Why not?"

"Because Mom said that putting food in the trunk will make it dirty and unsafe to eat."

"Plus, think about the dirt and crap people kick up when they're driving," Toni added. "Imagine if it got into your food. It'd be so unsanitary."

I was still clutching my eye, since the plastic flip had jammed painfully into my cornea, but it didn't stop me from imagining Tae saying, "Get the fuck out of my car, then! You guys are too much trouble." But he surprised me when he said instead, "What're you guys going to do, then?"

I bet he was itching to kick me in the face, though.

-

So the new arrangements went like this: Toni at shotgun, Ed grumpily beside her, me with my bum effectively squishing his hands from touching Toni, and a box of doughnuts separating all three of us from Tae, who was still driving us. It was like a wall, and I was rather fond of it.

Ed gave a little groan but quickly muffled it when I shifted a little more in his direction. If he had stayed in the house and did what he had been told, we wouldn't be squished in a coughing pick-up truck that was borderline breaking down.

Tae's driving was... well, it was something. Someone like him would conjure up an image of a road-rage man filled with a need to drive on the sidewalk instead of on the actual road. But strangely, he didn't do any of that. He drove normally, he stopped at the stop sign, and he didn't run any red lights or over people.

I think he drives better than me.

"Wow, Tae, you're a pretty good driver," Ed commented, speaking my thoughts.

Behind the jittering doughnuts, Tae chuckled lightly. That was kind of creepy, because I didn't know he could laugh, either. Maybe his insanity was proportional to his sanity; the longer he was normal, the he'll become when he's in a violent mood. I moved away a little more as Tae answered: "It took me a while to get my license."

"Yeah, but probably not as much as my mom. This one time, she made a U-turn around a tree and took out her rearview mirror! We actually had to tape it back on."

"That's... something."

"Oh yeah, it really was! And this one time, Mom saw a squirrel running across the street and slammed on the brakes. But she didn't stop in time, and she ran over the poor thing. Mom thinks squirrels will help us make money, you see, so killing a squirrel is like killing your chances of being rich. Anyways, so she backs up to see if it's all right, and she runs over it again!"

Ed howled with laughter, and even Toni stifled a giggle. I pressed my lips together and dug my elbow into his little belly, relishing in his squeal of pain. Little kids needed to learn to shut up and not parrot everything people tell them. Mom would've been horrified if she found out what kind of secret information Ed was relaying to the public enemy. (Dave technically was, but Tae still ranked high up there.)

Tae barked with laughter. "Sounds like the police needs to impound her car."

"You should've seen this one time, when Mom made a circle at a stoplight..."

I wanted to shake my brother and tell him to be quiet and just let this hellish ride end as peacefully as possible, but before I could get my hands on him, Ed spoke first, his eyes brimming with innocence. "So what about you, Lia? Any driving accidents?"

I glared as nastily as I could, and he grinned contentedly. I couldn't touch him in the car, but just wait until we got home.

"Well?" Ed asked expectantly.

"I drive fine. I follow the laws and directions."

"Oh, please! You don't do it all the time!" he scoffed, and if I weren't so heavy, he would've pointed a finger in my face. "Don't you remember that one time you were backing out of the driveway, and a bush was blocking your way, so when you backed out, you slowly uprooted it?"

I buried my face into my hands and shook my head.

"Yes, yes you did! And then Mom got angry because she had to turn the car in and call the postal office, which is why we don't have a mailbox anymore!"

Toni didn't even bother hiding her snorts, and Tae cleared his throat politely. "That's... something," he repeated.

Ed nodded blithely. "Oh yeah, and that's just our driving!"

It went on like that, the horror stories pouring out of his mouth like water, and I finally gave up. There was no way Ed was going to be quiet, and I couldn't have been gladder when the truck finally stopped in front of his elementary school. In fifteen minutes, he had managed to cover a wide variety of topics, including our sleeping patterns, Toni's hygienic habits (If it weren't for me, Ed's body would've been stashed underneath the seat by now.), the video games that Ed likes to peruse in his spare times, and the dirty romance novels that all of us sometimes stop by to examine for fun. They weren't as detailed as Mom and my driving skills, but he gave enough information about them that would make anyone feel uncomfortable.

If I were Tae's position, I'd feel uncomfortable. But since the man was crazy, I couldn't really predict how he felt at the moment.

It was easy enough for Ed to get out; I just had to lean over to free his hands, and he climbed over Toni, making sure his backpack hit both Toni and my faces along the way, and he hopped down. "All right, now pass me them foodcakes," he said impatiently, fingers outstretched, and I reluctantly did so. It would've been fantastic if I could keep the wall of doughnuts up for another ten minutes or so, until Tae dropped Toni and me at the front of the school, but then Ed would get in trouble for not fulfilling his doughnut quota.

So box by box, the wall of separation slowly went down, until Ed was wobbling back and forth, the boxes piled precariously on top of each other. "All righty tighty, see you later!" He started to wave but quickly caught the middle box.

Toni gave a little grunt and closed the door shut. "Finally, I can breathe again," she said in relief. As the car pulled away from the curb, I turned my head to make sure that he hadn't tripped on the sidewalk ledge. He didn't, and I turned around in my seat.

"Yeah, the car's a piece of shit," Tae said with a shrug.

"I wasn't going to say anything, but now that you mentioned it..." Toni laughed. "Whose car is this, by the way? Like, which one of your friends owns this junk?"

"Oh, just someone who left it here a few days ago. She'll come back tonight."

I sat in between this friendly exchange, feeling very awkward. Between a sister who didn't care if she stepped on my feelings and a guy who didn't care if he stepped on my head, I chose to sit closer to the former; it was safer in the long run. And by long run, I meant 'some time before the end of the week.'

My school was ten minutes away from Ed's, but traffic was always congested in the mornings, and this morning was no exception. I hated feeling intensely awkward and out of place, but there was nothing I could do. Toni and Tae were still making small talk, and it was so strange to see him talk in such a normal voice. I knew he was a chameleon around Toni, but his two-faced self was just that much more obvious to me. Why he made nice with her but not me was beyond comprehension. He got along well enough with Ed, but then again, very few people disliked Ed. (Minus that Dave.) As for Mom, I had the feeling he lumped her into the same category as me, but he didn't really do anything to her.

So why was it just me? It was like I had a painted target on my back or something. I frowned slightly. But then there was the whole small talk with me yesterday, which was offset by his usual normal behavior last night. Didn't Ed see his angry face? If he did, he hadn't said anything about it. But why would Tae attempt to be nice to me like he had been doing that the entire time, but then switch back to his former self? And without Toni around, either?

Wait, maybe he was putting a show for Ed? Yeah, that was it! I mean, he and Ed seemed to be buddy-buddy, much to my chagrin, so Tae probably didn't want Ed to know the evil, manipulative, violent advocate that he really was. It made so much sense now, and I smiled in relief. And the personality switch? He must've missed Ed watching the two of us from the window.

The car stopped suddenly, jerking me out of my thoughts and into the dashboard. I grunted as I got an eyeful of the accursed dice. "You should wear a seatbelt next time," Tae advised, smiling. Smiling! It was too creepy and alternate universe that I nodded mutely and turned away. Now that I knew how Tae worked, all I had to do to make sure he wouldn't form a dent in my cranium was to be around Ed or Toni every time he appeared. Be around Ed, anyways.

"Sweet, thanks for the cool cat ride," Toni said cheerfully, and she opened the door to hop out. "You really don't have to give us a ride home, you know."

"Why not? I'll be home all day today, so it'll give me something to do."

She smiled warmly and waved once more before bounding off without waiting for me. It's not like I was expecting her to stand around, I thought, a pang of hurt shooting through my heart. I would've sulked about it if I hadn't realized that I was still sitting in Tae's friend's car, alone and vulnerable. Without Ed or Toni

Oh crap.

Stupid, stupid Lia! How could I forget my revelation so quickly? I scrambled towards the door, my hand tugging at my backpack. "Uh, sorry for zoning out there," I mumbled. It was my stupid bag, stupidly getting stuck underneath the stupid car drawer. Augh, I was going to get run over if I didn't leave soon!

"Here, let me help." Unbuckling his seatbelt, Tae slid over the seat, and I immediately dropped the straps in terror. Here it was, he was finally going to jump kick me for annoying him. I winced and closed my eyes; I didn't want to see those muddy boots coming towards me like--

The backpack fell to the ground with a plop, and I opened one eye slowly. "Sorry for not telling you this before. And for kicking your bag, I guess," he added with a small shrug. "My friend usually tells everyone not to put shit down there because crap gets stuck, and then they bitch about it to her."

I blinked.

Tae gave a small wave, and even though he was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, I could still see the tattoos curling around his neck. "See you after school." And then he drove off, leaving me on the sidewalk with a wet bag.

OK... now I was confused.

-

A/N: It's been a bad week. What the heck. Just to cheer me up:

nonaccount: Ed wins. He is like, 40 of my personality, so I adore him. You'll also find out why Tae acts so schizo when his chapter comes up.

Desert anbu: We should all just duplicate Ed's, yes?

Cheesysmiles: Thanks for the grammar point-outs. I started writing this story with a completely different path for the story. So now people are all, "Whut?" every time they read the beginning, because things get a little creepy and unnormal from there.

Purple Uranium: Love you for your detailed responses. I've already catalogued the recommendations to include more expressive expressions, ha ha. I'll try, but I don't know how well it'll work since spurts of inactivity makes me write differently.

C00kiemon: I don't find you creepy whatsoever, mostly because I'm creepy as heck, ha ha. But I'm glad you're liking it, and I'm even gladder that you're slowly finding the courage to post something up. It's nerve-wracking as heck, fo sho.

Pinkfluffyoranges: I can't believe you still remembered me. ;) I don't think I can ever force myself to write long chapters. That's what chases me away from finishing my stories, actually. I wish I could write forever and ever, but there comes a point when you're just like, "ENOUGH." And then you cry in a corner. Did that make sense? Probably not.