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The grass shimmered with light, as the morning's dew dribbled gracefully from each blade of green. It was morning, and all the students attending Grace Woods High could be seen trudging about the grounds, sleep surely on most of their minds.

The day proceeded like all the others, class after class; the students seemed to awaken with each new hour. They bustled and hustled amongst the crowd of teenagers all of whom were mingling about in their own little worlds.

"My mom is coming home today! Shoot! That means she'll ask for me about English!"

"Hey, wanna get together after school?"

"Gas is up HOW much? Sheez...the economy is in such a rut…"

"No, no, no...The positive ion reacts to the negative electron according to how the subatomic neutrons are affected by the outside temperature divided by pie!"

The hours ticked away to the beat of a rhythmic tick and tock, until at last the final bell sounded, ringing triumphantly through the air as the students made their daily escape. Those few students who remained in the school were either taking part in after school programs, or perhaps, doing something they shouldn't.

In a classroom nestled at the far end of a deserted hall, music bounced off the walls as its loud beats could be heard just nearly over the booming voice of a determined instructor.

"One...Two...Three...That's it! One...Two...TURN...ALAIN, PUT DOWN THAT CELLPHONE OR SO HELP ME-" Her voice echoed through the room full of desk and chairs, all of which were stacked neatly, pushed to the back, resting against the plain white walls. Straightening her composure the woman patted down the creases in her green oversized shirt and while making sure no one was paying her any attention then, loosened the tight spot in her sleek, black leggings. "What a pain in the -" She began, however the need to raise her voice came once again, and final words were left unuttered.

"MADDIE! YES, YOU YOUNG LADY! Lift those legs! LIFT THEM! HOW ON EARTH DO YOU EXPECT TO JUMP PROPERLY WITHOUT FIRST LIFTING YOUR GOD FORSAKEN LEGS?" Erupting in a loud, very audible sigh, which soon began to sound more like a growl, the angry woman proceeded to throw her arms in the air at some attempt to illustrate the proper movements.

In the back of the room, Maddie simply rolled her eyes as she raised her leg, rather forcefully, into the air, coming down with a WHACK upon the head of the boy next to her, sending him flying into a group of prancing girls. At this point, another loud scream echoed through the room. Yet, to Maddie this was a cause for joy. Oh, how she loved to irritate the teacher!
"Ahh, dear old 'Ms. Howler Monkey', as long as she's not yelling at me, I love to hear her scream.” Maddie said chuckling rather loudly.

"Careful, Maddie! Ms. Ribbon will have another heart attack if you keep this up!" A girl with flat brown hair and red colored glasses hissed, as she made her way towards her friend. Her legs rising and falling with each new step.

"Yea, yea! I hear ya. But just so you know 'Miss Smarty-Arty Mouth', it wasn't me who made her freak out last semester." Laughing once again, she grinned rather mischievously and whispered, "Not that I didn't try of course."

"MADDIE! TIA! IT'S: STEP, STEP, TURN, KICK, STEP, STEP, AND THEN TWIRL! FINISH YOUR CONVERSATION ELSEWHERE!"

Both girls turned their heads and continued to move to the beat of the music.

The music itself was not too bouncy, nor was it entirely bland, however, neither of that mattered to a certain pink haired firecracker, who was moving around at such a speed and style, one would have assumed she was dancing to a hip-hop, rock n' roll mix. As she moved about, the others around her seemed fairly accustomed to her radical jerking of legs and arms. Moving around her, each knew when to duck, where to run, and just how far to tread as the music drew to the finale.

"Hey look," Tia said smiling, her eyes focused over the crowd and onto a tuft of pink swinging in the air. “Lee’s busting her groove again!"
Not even bothering to look up, Maddie nodded her head and grinned, showing off a set of pearly whites. "Yea, of course she is! No matter how funky she makes it, she's 'Ms. Howler Monkey's' favorite for a reason."

And indeed, Maddie was right. Ms. Ribbon simply adored the pink haired Lee. It wasn't exactly hard to miss as she, "Oooh"ed, crooned, and shouted gleefully, "BRILLIANT!" every other second, her dark brown eyes streaming with tears of sheer delight. It was a wonder she hadn’t started shouting at the others to join her in praising her ‘star pupil’. "Wonderful dear! YOU alone are the reason I stay teaching here at this little shi-"

THUUUUD!

Each head in the room turned wildly to see Tia fall hard onto the floor butt first.
It was an odd, yet not unheard of way, to end a dance session. All the same however, no one couldn't say it wasn't hilarious, as every person in the room, excluding, Tia, Lee, and Ms. Ribbon, laughed until tears swam in their eyes.

"Ooooo!! TIAAAA!!" Bounding out from the cluster of laughing students, Lee came rushing to her friend's side, throwing a look at Maddie, who, like the rest of the class, was standing hunched over, laughing shrilly.

"Are you ok?" Lee asked, her blue eyes swimming with concern. She was rather quick to assume the worst, as though Tia hadn't merely fallen on her rear, but onto a bed of spiked nails.

"I'm fine, really. OUCH." Rubbing her behind, Tia winced slightly, and then pushed up her red colored glasses so they sat firmly in place on top of her nose. "Just peachy, but hey, I'll be even better when Maddie quits spitting on me!"
Hiding her face as she let out a giggle, Lee watched as Tia stared menacingly at Maddie, who was indeed laughing and acting as a sprinkler.

"So-AHHHAH-rry... (snort)...Tia-AHHAH! You...just looked so...so...WAHHHH!" Waving her arms in the air, Maddie demonstrated Tia's fall to the floor, with a tad extra flourish on the part where she actually hit the ground. This left the class laughing even harder. Lee, who couldn’t help but find hilarity in such a ridiculous show, let out a tremendous laugh that resembled the sound of a rhino sneezing.

The walk home from school was the same it always was on a Tuesday. The three friends basked in the glow of the reds and yellows that colored the sky, and set off for home. Tia and Maddie, still throwing looks at each other every now and then, had apparently found they both thought differently about how the rest of class ended. However, Lee, who was walking while skipping every other step, continued to smile in hopes that sooner or later her friends would stop bickering and join her at once, back on good terms.

While she waited however, Lee began to inform them both of her every thought, regardless of whether either of them was listening to her. "And then, out of nowhere, I started to think- Heyyyyyyy, maybe the baseball bat would hit better if I decorated it with puff balls-nice big, fat green ones! They'd go well with the striking, bold, brown color! OOoo and I’m thinking of getting a new stuffed kitty! My other five are getting lonely. A tabby might be good… I do have three of the sam-"

The sound of their shuffling feet came to a sudden halt. Maddie, her face turned to face Lee, her grey eyes twitching dangerously.
"Lee."
"Yes, Maddie?" Blinking curiously, her feet automatically springing onto the tips of toes as she listened with mounting excitement clear on her face.

"YOU ARE-"
"C'mon now, Maddie, haven't you acted like a b***h today to enough peo-"
Thrusting her hand into Tia's red glasses, Maddie made a noise deep within her throat and pressed on.
"As I was saying- YOU ARE SO GOSH DARN ANNOYING!! BLLLAAAHH BLLLAAHHH! WHEN WILL IT END??! WHEN I ASK YOU, WHEN!?" Grabbing a hold of Lee's blue strapped shoulders, she shook her wildly. Her eyes wide with frustration.

Anyone else would have screamed, perhaps even gone to the extremes and went themselves, however, Lee merely let out a laugh. Releasing her shoulders, Maddie grunted as Tia patted her on the back. "That's right 'Attila the Hun', breath in deep now." The sound of shuffling feet was now accompanied by three voices, each talking rapidly.

The sun was fleeting away. The red and yellow sky, now darkening, as a blanket of night began to fall upon the brightly lit city streets. A few tiny stars, sprinkled across the sky, shone dimly.
Turning to wave, Lee bounded up the steps to her brick attired apartment complex and watched as her two friends continued to walk along the sidewalk, until reaching a two way stop. Then each continued down a separate path.

Turning the handle, Lee opened the door, raced through the main room, skidding to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, and jumped up three steps, climbing the rest of the way up to the top and into the elevator. This all taking about an estimated time of 6.75 seconds.

"BING BoooOOoNG!" Laughing, her mind in another place of its own, Lee twirled out from the elevator’s open doors and sprang into the conveniently opened door on the right, known to her as home. To the others residing on the same floor, it was simply known as room 307. Or, "That place with the crazy little girl".

Once inside her room, Lee plopped down onto her bed. The fluffy yellow comforter greeting her face with a warm, fuzzy, embrace.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Gooseberry!" She said, clearly speaking to the two fluffy bird shaped pillows propped up against the great, big, canary yellow pillow lying at the head of her bed. Reaching around, Lee groped about for something she soon found wasn't where it was supposed to be! Freaking out, she frantically searched the bed with her eyes until she noticed something felt funny underneath her corduroy covered belly. "OH! There you are Snooky!" Yanking out from underneath her stomach, she revealed a slightly tattered, worn, yet lovingly bruised, bright blue teddy bear.

Tickling his off-pink nose, Lee cuddled up tight with her stuffed companion and surveyed her room, as a form of distraction; only once did she look at the bulging book bag lying upon the floor.

Her room was the same as how she left it- not that she had expected any difference. The walls were still painted a bright-blinding yellow, which stood covered with shelves filled with toys and brightly colored doo-dads, and hidden behind posters picturing many different colored smiley faces that looked down at her with glowing pride. This was the happiest place in the world! At least it was to Lee of course, who loved looking at the many smiling faces on her wall. Whereas others found them to be...at bit awkward. Lee's walls were not the only things in her room filled with toys, or bright happy faces. Why, on her very own bed there rested, quite peacefully, a parade of neatly placed plushes of many different colored bears, rabbits, kitties, doggies, and small pillows of smiles.

This was Lee's room; her sanctuary. She never felt lonely, or scared when she was here.
A knock pressed hard upon her closed door, broke Lee away from her silent surveying of her room. She quickly pushed her ‘Snooky’ underneath the big, fat, canary yellow pillow, and turned her head to see a tall, slim, sharply dressed woman burst into the room looking rather miffed.
Her green eyes which reminded most who looked within them of bright green snakes, flashed around the room resting at once on the fluffy bed where Lee lied sprawled out trying to look relaxed.
“Oh! Hello mommy!” Lee erupted with a smile glued to her face. Her mother’s expression hardened, as though her face was now made of stone. Lee’s cheeks flushed at the sight of this new expression, this was not good.
“Lee,” Her mother started, the freshly painted nails on her fingers already dancing towards her temples, rubbing them feverishly. “What have I told you near a hundred times?” She waited in silence. Her fingers still massaging the throbbing sides of her head.
“Uh…” Lee began, her eyes straying to a particularly yellow piece of fuzz on her comforter.
“…I believe I told you to stop calling me, ‘mommy’. For goodness sake Lee, you are fifteen years old now! Not five!” She said this last part as her eyes swam about the room, fixing every now and then on a colorful display of unicorns and oddly dressed dolls set as though in wait upon the floor.
“But momm-I mean, mom…I was just about to start on my homework so-“
“Yes,” Lee’s mother spoke sharply, poking at the bag lying neglected on the white carpeted floor with her polished heels. “I am sure that is what you were ‘about’ to do.” She gave her daughter a look that plainly said, “Get to work or I’ll throw out all those picture books and stuffed animals,” and then walked back out the door, shutting it with a tiny, soft, click. Although at this point, Lee wished very dearly that she had slammed it shut.