History already. I sighed and glanced out the window. I sort of liked history. Not because it was interesting or anything, but because I sat beside the window. I liked the view from the window. That, and Ray made the class kind of interesting. Don't ask me how, I just found it interesting to see a dragon, sitting in the middle of a windian class, in a windian school, in a town called Windia. Tellka had refreashed me a bit on why Windian's don't like Dragons much.

But how could a few dragons dilute the entire Wing Clan? Was it really their fault?

'Kate, you're hopeless.' I sighed and went back to looking out the window. My thoughts turned to Frank. Where was he? How was he doing? And why does Ray keep popping into my head??? I grumbled and looked down at the paper we were supposed to be reading. It was like when you get a song stuck in your head, and you can't get it out. I sighed and reached into my pocket, pulling out Frank's school picture. I stared at it a moment, then began trying to sketch it on my paper. After a moment I looked down at a rough sketch of Frank.

'Not bad, but don't you have some work to be doing?'

It's not due until tomorrow...

'Kate. Work.'

I sighed and began working on my worksheet again. We were studying the Destined Cycle, starting with the first one. Tellka thought it was a dumb idea and had managed to convince me that I didn't want to spend my time reading about the first Ryu and Nina and their friends. It wasn't until I was almost done with the paper that I began to get an interest in the subject.

Wow, hey. I didn't know about the Theif Clan... or that dragons used to be able to stay morphed for such a long time.. or that-

'I don't want to hear it...' Tellka grumbled. She had a pet-peeves about the 'Destined Children.' She really ddin't like them.. especially Katt and Rei. I think she was secretly glad that Frank was gone because then she didn't have to put up with his Persona. I sighed and began working on our assigned questions about the sheet. I was almost done when the bell rang. People were busy shuffling out of the classroom when I heard Mr. Jamerson call my name.

"Kate, please come here for a moment."

I headed over to his desk. It wasn't too far from mine. I looked down at the old highlander.

"Yes?"

"You seemed a bit distracted. Are you alright?"

I nodded. "I'm fine."

He gave me a studying look and nodded. "Alright," he groaned as he began searching his desk. "You may go."

I plucked my bag off of my desk and, shouldering it, headed out of the room. I immediatly ducked back in two seconds later. Mr. Jamerson looked up at me oddly.

"Um.. crowded hall.. can't get through..." I motioned to the door behin me, my face turning slightly red. Mr. Jamerson just nodded and went back to his work. I glanced out thru the window on the door to see how crowded the halls still were.

'It's not safe yet.'

Thanks... I waited a bit longer for Tellka to give me the okay, and headed out into the hall. The tardy bell rang just as I stepped out.

Um... well.. I suppose I could just start waiting for that to clear the hall... I made my way over to the staircase and down into the lunch room. The lunch line was actually shorter then I had expected. I got in line, got my milk, and headed to the outer part of the cafeteria.

SMASH

I managed to step outside just in time to witness Ray's tray getting knocked to the floor and his food spell all over his uniform. I ignored him and went to find someplace to sit.

'Well, one more day and it's a pattern.'

Grumble. I found a rock over by the edge of the outer cafeteria, near the fance, and sat down on it. Popping open my milk, I glanced around at all of the students, watching them for a while. It wasn't long before a shout distracted me. I glanced up to see a circle of students a ways infront of me. They were gathered around something and shouting.

'Looks like a fight.'

Eh? I walked over and tried to see what they were fighting about, but I couldn't see who it was. It took me a while to squeeze my way through the crowd, but it wasn't until I had made it through the outer circle before I could really know what was happening. I stumbled back, narrowly avioding having a forest-clansmen knocked into me. The student, who looked about my age, stumble up with a snarl and lunged at his attacker. It took me a while to see who he was fighitng. People kept shoving me back and forth, and it was hard to make out the other fighter's face.

Her name was Diane. She was a woren, and I knew her from PE. Her short, black hair framed an angry face. Her emerald eyes, normally calm and mellow, were now enraged and narrow. She wore a grey, female outfit, which only seemed to enhance her dark, red fur, stripped with black stripes. Her tail was lashing in an aggresive matter, and her hands were folded into fists. I began to wonder what had gotten her so mad.

"Take it back!" She gave an angry yowl and threw a quick punch at the forest-clan student. He dodged it with a quick sidestep and growled back.

"I didn't say nothin'!"

"Yes, you did! I heard you! Take it back ya flea gnawing woodchuck!"

"Whatcha gonna do about it?" He lunged at her, barely missing a bit to her shoulder.

"Hey! Leave my sister alone!" I watched as another woren shoved his way into the circle. He grabbed a hold of Diane's opponent and threw him back, taking a stand between the two fighters. A quick glance around the crowd from him told everyone that the fight was over. Slowly, the group seperated and Diane's opposer went his own way. Diane's brother turned to her with a glare.

"What the heck are you trying to do? You wanna get us kicked out?!"

"He had no respect, Alex. NO RESPECT! I was about ready to teach him something-"

"I'm about ready to teach you something! He ain't the one who's got no respect, it's you! Ain't you got any respect for what our parents are having to do to get the money for all of this? And you're fixing to get us kicked out!"

Diane shot an angry look at her brother, then turned and stormed off. Apparently neither of them had noticed me standing there, or they were just ignoring me. Either way, neither Alex nor Diane gave even a glance in my direction when they left. I stood there for a moment, thinking about what happened as the bell rang. Slowly, I followed the crowd and made my way towards my next class.

e-mail author, talonr@hotmail.com