“Hi!” Kathryn said, happily fixing her precious notebooks in her arms comfortably.

“Hi, Kathryn!” Quatre said gleefully; he put on his brightest smile and walked up to her side.

“C’mon guys, were gonna be late!” Trowa announced, following Treize & Miliardo up into the hallway.

The other chibis followed him and they went to their very first class, in their very new school.

“I have to go to Art Class first, what classes do you have Quatre?” Kathryn asked, looking over her light blue schedule sheet.

“I have Art Class first too! We’ll be in the same class!” Quatre said happily.

“So do we,” Miliardo said calmly to Treize but loudly enough for the other two to hear.

“Well, I have to go to Math first,” Heero complained.

“So does me and Wufei,” Duo said following Heero down the hall.

“Well, we better get going. You guys must have English first then,” Kathryn said to Relena & Trowa before following the others to Art.

“I don’t get to be with Heero?” Relena asked. Her blonde hair swished as she quickly turned her head toward Kathryn.

“Guess not, oh well, enjoy your first class!” Kathryn said, waving as Trowa dragged a very mad Relena down the hall.

“Mr. Matthews is one of the nicest teachers here,” Kathryn whispered to the others as he placed objects on everyone’s table.

“If you will please look up you will notice the signs with colors or shapes on them, that is your table, if I call out for the Rectangle Table to leave first then anyone at that table may get up & leave,” Mr. Matthews told them as he placed a glass on Kathryn, Quatre, Treize, & Milliardo’s table, the “Rectangle” group. “You may begin sketching on the blank sheets of paper on your table while I find out everyone’s name."

Slowly Mr. Matthews went from table to table in order to get everyone’s name.

When he came upon the “Rectangle” group’s table he stopped & looked at them all. “Ms. Kathryn, Mr. Milliardo, Mr. Quatre, & Mr. Treize,” Mr. Matthews said studying each of them.

“That would be us, sir,” Kathryn said, softly making the shadow of her almost perfect sketch.

“A natural artist Ms. Kathryn, I believe you have excellent potential,” Mr. Matthews said, admiring the sketch. “You will be one of the pleasures to have in this class”.

Kathryn’s face went pink & she set down her pencil. “It’s just a sketch; there isn’t anything special about it”. She looked at Quatre’s sketch & grinned. “Quatre does a very good job as well; I like his better,” Kathryn said, making Quatre blush.

“Modest as well; I am sure Mr. Quatre could do better, but you have created a masterpiece,” Mr. Matthews said, barely sparing a glance at Quatre’s sketch.

“I like Quatre’s too,” Milliardo said, standing up for his friend.

“As do I!” Treize said with dignity.

“Well, Mr. Quatre’s sketch isn’t as good as this one but if you like it then that is your taste; I can tell art when I see it,” Mr. Matthews said, setting down the sketch and leaving to another table.

“Me too,” Heero agreed.

“Not as much as I hate Mrs. Grovner,” Wufei growled.

“Let’s ditch this class next time,” Duo muttered.

“No talking, you three! I will deduct points next time!” Mrs. Grovner proclaimed, looking up from her grade book.

“Yes, ma’am,” they said as realistically as they could.

After class they all met in the halls by the locker.

“Math class had to have been the worse,” Heero groaned, leaning against his locker.

“Yeah! Mrs. Grovner’s breath couldn’t have smelled worse!” Duo added in disgust.

“I never thought we’d finish that worksheet,” Wufei said, groaning at his sore hand.

Kathryn was still trying to calm Quatre down from the incident in art.

“What happened to him?” Trowa asked, patting Quatre on the back.

“He was deeply insulted by the Art teacher, Mr. Matthews,” Milliardo replied, since Treize was busy watching Kathryn soothe Quatre.

“It’s alright Quatre. We won’t let that mean old teacher tell you such insulting things anymore. I loved the sketch; it was an excellent work of art!” Kathryn said, softly hugging him.

“Thanks Kathryn,” Quatre said, drying his tears.

“Kathryn!”

Kathryn turned and searched for the person calling her name, when she noticed a red-headed girl racing towards her. “Hey, Amanda!”

“Hi! I was so looking forward to seeing you today--haven’t seen ya since we were in Hawaii on vacation!” Amanda said, fixing her blue hair band.

“Yeah, these are my friends!” Kathryn said pointing out all of them and saying their names.

“I’ve heard more about Quatre than anyone else; she talks about you a lot!” Amanda said, patting Quatre on the back.

“It’s good to meet you too Amanda,” Quatre said, blushing brightly.

“Hey, Kathryn.”

Kathryn looked over her shoulder and noticed a gang of girls behind her.

“Yes?” Kathryn asked without smiling.

“We were just wondering if you wanted to join our little group,” a tall skinny blonde girl replied, smiling.

Another blonde girl standing next to her was filing her nails & another black haired girl was blowing bubble gum.

“Well, I’m hanging out with my friends right now, maybe later,” Kathryn replied, noticing a cigarette in the leader’s pocket.

“Fine, see you at lunch Kathryn,” the tall blonde said.

“What was that all about?” Quatre asked.

“Yeah! Why didn’t you just go with them; ya didn’t have to stay with us,” Heero said, surprised by her choice.

“Well, I just know better then to hang out with a group of druggies,” Kathryn replied, watching the group slide around the corner. “Well, we better get to English. Hold on! Where’s Relena?”

“She was here just a second ago,” Trowa said.

“We better go find her,” Milliardo said.

“She could be lost & in need of a helping hand,” Quatre said.

“Or she could be right there,” Kathryn said, spotting her behind Heero.

“Hi,” Relena said, smiling brightly.

“We were just going to go find you. Well, we better get going. Adios!” Kathryn smiled & waved as Treize, Milliardo, Quatre & herself started toward their next class.

“I hope this teacher is nicer,” Quatre said, frowning when remembering what the other teacher had said to him.

“Yeah! Those teachers won’t know what hit ‘em!” Duo agreed, tying a rope to the bucket then putting it on top of the teacher’s lounge door.

The first unsuspecting teacher walked through the door & SPLASH! An icky green substance was dropped all over him & it stained his white shirt.

The two boys had hidden in the vent & were laughing as quietly as they could.

Next they used dye in balloons. (That idea was Melody’s, all credit for it goes to her!)

Mrs. Grovner left in a rainbow of new colors.

Then they hid a jar of spiders in the girl’s locker room followed by a howl of loud screams from all the girls that were there.

After that they “accidentally” poured syrup all over the floors & watched the students slip & slide through the halls.

After that they glued Mr. Matthews to his chair & put salt in Mr. Ferdin’s (the English teacher) tea.

“Gosh, you guys weren’t joking when you said that teacher was mean!” Wufei said, sitting down at the table & taking out his lunch.

“Yeah, talk about picky!” Duo added, taking a huge bite out of his sandwich.

“Well, Mrs. Grovner wasn’t much nicer, but this will be what we have to learn to put up with for the rest of the year,” Kathryn said, taking a small sip from her tea cup.

“Why does your dad let you pack your tea cups in your lunch?” Relena asked, putting a pout on her face.

“Well, my daddy trusts me with it; I’m sure your parents trust you too!” Kathryn added so she wouldn’t make Relena cry.

“Mine won’t let me; I’ll ask again tomorrow though!” Relena said, smiling.

“They’ll probably tell you that you can,” Kathryn assured her.

“We have PE after Social Studies next then we have Public Speaking & Foreign Language,” Quatre said, reading off the schedule.

“I actually missed Relena compared to some of those teachers,” Heero said.

“Really? I missed you too Heero!” Relena said happily.

“So Kathryn, what have you been up to?” Amanda asked Kathryn while Relena hugged Heero.

“Nothing important. I’ve been trying to tame my new pony but you know how they are,” Kathryn replied.

“You have horses?” Quatre asked, looking up from his lunch.

“Yeah, if you were allowed to stay a little longer I could’ve taken you down to the barn,” Kathryn replied gently placing her hand on his.

“Well, well, well, what have we got here?” a broad teenager with slicked back black hair was hovering over Kathryn.

“You have a group of teens eating lunch,” Kathryn replied as though the answer was obvious.

“A smart one, eh? The smarter the better! My names Duke, what’s yours, babe?” Duke asked.

“What did you call me?” Kathryn’s eyes narrowed dangerously, the facial expression she wore would beat Heero’s death glare into the ground.

“What did you think I said?” Duke asked, smiling. “I love girls who are feisty.

“Leave her alone!” Quatre growled angrily, glaring at Duke.

“What’re you gonna do about it, shrimp?” Duke asked.

“I’ll beat you up!” Quatre replied.

“Try me!” Duke snorted.

“There isn’t any need for fighting, especially not over me! You boys are always so territorial!” Kathryn snapped angrily, rising from the table & leaving the lunch room with Amanda & Relena close behind.

“Now see what you did? You’ve upset her!” Treize said, standing up.

“She’ll be my girlfriend; girls don’t go for wimps,” Duke snorted to Quatre, leaving.

“He wasn’t about to mess with Treize,” Milliardo said, also standing.

“He was too cowardly to deal with anyone really,” Treize said, heading out of the lunch room.

Kathryn was leaning against her locker & talking to Amanda when the rest of the gang came around the corner.

“Hey guys,” Kathryn said, smiling faintly.

“Hey, I hope he didn’t upset you too badly,” Milliardo said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Kathryn,” Quatre said, frowning.

“It’s not your fault Quatre; you’re a good person & I know you were just standing up for me,” Kathryn said, smiling & letting him give her a hug.

“Kathryn, I think Treize needs to talk to you, in private,” Milliardo said, nodding to Treize, who was staring off into space while Quatre hugged her.

Treize led Kathryn away to speak with her in private.

“Nothing of importance Duo,” Kathryn replied softly; she smiled & returned to Quatre’s side.

“I just needed to speak with her for a moment,” Treize said, sounding very impatient.

“Speak with her about what?” Heero asked.

“None of your business,” Treize replied.

“Well, we best get to the next class before we’re late,” Kathryn said, taking Quatre by the hand & leading him down the hall with Treize & Milliardo close behind.

“Are you alright, Kathryn?” Quatre asked.

“I’m fine Quatre,” Kathryn replied as they passed by the group of girls.

“Hey, Kathryn.” The girls definitely sounded different this time.

“You’re on dope, aren’t you?” Kathryn asked, looking over at them.

“Yeah, wanna try it?” one of the girls asked.

“How can you let drugs ruin your life like this? Don’t you see that they aren’t helping you; they are destroying you? You have a whole life ahead of you! You shouldn’t be taking drugs your age!” Kathryn retorted, “I’d much rather live the rest of my life happily, not miserably.”

The girls stood there & didn’t speak or move except for their breathing. Kathryn turned down the hall & followed her friends to their next class.