The story goes on! I apologize for the wait :(

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Her words hit me like an electrifying shock. Everyone at the group of desks was laughing. How was it even funny? It was just a question.

But even I could tell it wasn't a normal question. She wasn't trying to make conversation with me. She was using me to make conversation with her friends. Conversations that included me as the butt of a joke. Couldn't she find something else to talk about?

My eyes sting, but no. I will not do it. I will NOT cry.

Not on the first day of school.

Maybe I'm crazy. Maybe she didn't know how rude she was being. You have to act natural. Go with the flow.

"It's just my hair. That's how it grows out of my head."

They all stared at me in silence. They were smiling, yet I still managed to get a very bad vibe from them, as if you could peel away their smiles like a sticker and see the nasty expressions they were really hiding underneath.

"You a transfer student? American?" The tall boy asked, in a tone that actually sounded more intrigued than malicious.

"No."

"Then you're lying," a girl said, and the whole group began laughing once more.

Maybe I should just….try later. Suddenly, sitting alone didn't seem so bad at all. I turned away and sat at my desk. Guess I'm eating alone…But it's just for today, right? Just for today. Though "eating alone" would imply that I was eating, which I definitely didn't do much of. The entire lunch period, I'd hear my name whispered in that group behind me.

And every time they said it, I felt another pang in my stomach. I didn't think I could handle food right now.

I couldn't help it. When the next teacher came in, and lunch ended, I breathed a massive sigh of relief. I couldn't believe it, but even after that sigh, I could swear I heard the group behind me start giggling and mentioning my name AGAIN, like even my breathing was funny to them!

After a class period, in which I had a hard time paying attention due to worrying if anyone was talking about me, it was time for gym. The boys went in a different room to change. I was so hyper-focused on everyone now, that I stared at them all trying to gauge their reaction to me. Maybe if I focused then I'd know what to expect in the future!

Student after student walked past me without a second glance, immediately forming into their cliques. I overheard gossip with their friends:

"God what a boring teacher! I'll need to start drinking coffee if I'm going to survive the year with her!"

"Did you see the girls in this class! Some real cuties!"

No one really walked over to me…at all. No one even glanced at me, actually.

Except one person, out of the 2 dozen or so in the class. That tall boy. Whose name I still had not learned. He smirked at me, but didn't say anything. As he passed my desk, a paper dropped onto it.

I quickly grabbed the tiny slip before anyone could see. There was no way I could open it here in front of everyone. My hands sweated so much, I could feel the paper moistening. If I waited any longer I almost felt like it'd disintegrate.

When we started to leave the room to head out to the track and field, I let everyone pass in front of me. I made sure none of them turned around, and only stayed close enough to the pack so no one would notice me being too far behind. Then, and only then, I opened the note.

Meet me in gym class today. Don't be afraid.

Mixed emotions surged through me like a waterfall. First, happiness! Someone actually wants to talk to me! What an opportunity! The first all day!

Then, despair. It's obviously a prank. I saw how he and those girls talked to me.

Lastly, confusion. What did he want?

I wavered between the 3 feelings before landing on neutral ground. I figured ignoring the note could very well be worse than following its instructions.

Since it was only the first day, they weren't too hard on us in PE. As the tiger, I'm actually pretty fast, despite my size! This was one thing I was actually a little excited for. I just have to be careful not to get too tired.

After a short lecture on the syllabus, we were left to just walk around the track as we pleased. My heart pounded as everyone got into their same groups once again. Like clockwork.

I fervently searched my classmates, then found that boy, walking with those girls.

Every step I made toward him sent electrifying pulses up my spine. I was terrified, just to do something he asked me to do!

But when I got closer, he saw me, and slowed down, allowing the other girls to walk ahead without him, and nearing me.

He did that little smirk again, not exactly a smile, just a small tug on his lips.

"Kisa, is it? I see you got my note."

"I…um…you…" My words were so quiet, I couldn't believe myself. I had been so proud of my confidence in the classroom earlier, but I was beginning to think I'd just looked stupid back then. So how should I even act, then? What volume should my voice be at? I didn't know anymore!

"Let's walk and talk," he responded, and gestured to move forward. I walked along with him, on autopilot mode.

The girls in front of us, who's he'd been walking with, turned around and looked at us in confusion, then disgust.

"Riku! What're you doing? Get back here!" A girl in the group ahead yelled back at him.

"Just a sec!" He yelled back to them, then turned to me and chuckled. "So you're Kisa. As you can see, I'm Riku."

"N-n-nice to meet you," I muttered back, wondering if there was an ulterior motive behind all this. And I couldn't hide my tinge of disappointment that he wasn't "Tohru".

"I figured that's what you were trying to ask earlier before Rina and my friends interrupted you."

I was confused. He actually seemed to be…nice? Then why did he just refer to those rude girls as his friends?

"And to answer your question from earlier," he continued, "yes, we all went to the same school. Me, Rina, Ryoko, and Rumi have been inseparable for years. We were always called the 4 R's! And before you ask, because everyone asks, no, I'm not dating any of them!"

He continued chatting on. I highly enjoyed the fact he was actually talking to me, but my balloon of happiness was a bit punctured by the absolute death glares I was getting from those "3 R's." They stared behind at us, so much so, I wondered how they still walked ahead without running into anything.

Riku seemed oblivious, and continued chatting to me.

"Summer was great too, we hung out every single day, so as you probably felt too, it was quite the rude awakening to come back to school. You know, I can tell you don't know too many people…No offense. But we don't know anyone else either, it's just us 4. I'm sure they're just as shy as you are, it's just that we have each other."

"Do they like me?" It was the first sentence I had uttered this whole conversation, and it came out of me in a burst. Once the words left my mouth I could hardly believe I'd said them.

He only stared at me. "Hey, you DO talk, see! Um, I don't know how to answer that. You'd have to ask them. You know how girls are. I see those girls every day and still I don't understand them sometimes. But they're nice people inside. Just…try not to be as shy or show weakness. Think of it like…the eye of the tiger."

Immediately I started to blush, like he saw some part of me I hadn't meant to show.

"You have to show people that you're strong, and then people will want to talk to you naturally. If someone is teasing you, you can't just let them walk all over you. Well, that's just my advice I wanted to give you!"

"T- Thank you…" I said, a few decibels louder than I was before, at least.

Just then, Rina from the group ahead seemed to have detached herself from her formation, and made her way over to us.

She said nothing, just grabbed Riku's arm and started to yank him away to her group, so harshly it almost looked painful.

"Hey!" he chuckled at her. "A little rough, huh?" Then he turned to me. "One more thing, Kisa."

I looked up, and Rina stared back at me in confusion while dragging him away.

"Your hair, your eyes, might be different but it's not BAD different. You remember that, ok?"

Before I could thank him for what I thought was probably, most likely? A compliment? Rina dragged him away so hard he almost tripped.

I felt the weight of more stares, but this time from the side. I looked over to my right and I saw most of the girls in my class staring at the scene and chuckling. But there was another class getting ready to come out for PE, and only one boy caught my eye. And this boy was staring with an eyebrow raised, blonde hair.

It was Hiro.

But as soon as I began smiling at him, he turned around. Not just his face- he turned his whole body around, like he could not bear to look at me.

Something about what just happened gave me a boost of confidence. And a resolve.

Hiro was not getting away with it this time. I was going to ASK him why he was acting so weird to me!

It was all I could think about, the rest of school. When the final bell rang, I jumped out of my seat, anxious not only to get out of here, but to catch Hiro in the halls. I needed one aspect of normalcy in this strange new school.

Everyone got up to leave the classroom, but I got up faster than all of them. SO fast, in fact, that people were beginning to give me odd looks. I left the room, into the hall, and saw Hiro just leaving his own class!

"Hiro!"

He didn't seem to hear me.

"Kisa!" A voice called, but it wasn't Hiro. No, it was a girl from that weird group, the one with the ponytail and bow.

I turned around in slight annoyance.

"Ryoko," she said to me. "That's my name. Anyway, I'll just get to the point. What were you talking to my dear friend Riku about earlier today?"

Her voice was blunt and angry, not a hint of politeness involved.

"Hold on just a second, I need to talk to my fri-"

Ryoko then grabbed my shoulder, forcibly turning me to her. I was so shocked, I didn't resist. And with the harsh movement, I felt something hard fall out of my backpack.

"Oh no! My tiger!"

She ignored me.

"Who's your friend? Not Riku. Don't be deceived. He does NOT like you. He likes ME. He was just toying with you, is all!" She said and smiled devilishly in satisfaction. "He thinks you're such a weirdo!"

I was kneeling on the ground now, searching for where my ceramic tiger went and hoping it hadn't broken in the fall. Ryoko just kept going on and on and on, but I couldn't even hear her over the crowd of students passing by us, leaving the school.

"It's right here, jeez, Kisa," I heard, then looked up. "What even is this old thing?"

It was Hiro, holding my-unbroken- tiger!

"Thank you! Hiro!" I felt a huge smile form on my face as I took it back from him. Ryoko was still there, but now she was just giving both of us a strange look.

Hiro didn't say anything, just looked between the two of us back and forth.

"Are you…ok?" he asked lowly.

"Yes, I'm fine! Let's walk home to-"

"I see," he said before I even finished talking, and walked away.

"Hiro! Wait!"

He turned around to me. His eyes- I'd never seen that look in his eyes before. I could see so much pain in them , but why?

"No. Please don't talk to me anymore," he said, and walked away.

My heart sunk. Ryoko, who had witnessed the whole thing, started laughing loudly behind me. But all I could think about was Hiro right now.

I clutched the tiger in my hand and walked away from everyone.

Tomorrow is a new day and another chance. And I have a new goal.

Not only am I going to try again to talk to Hiro, I'm going to keep asking everyone we know why he's acting this way, until I get answers. I'll ask every Sohma if I have to.

And I'm going to meet this Tohru. Maybe he understands more about middle school than I do.

Tomorrow is a new day…And I am the eye of the tiger.