D&C FT- Playing on Quads

Different and Cool FT: Playing on Quads

By Reid M. Haynes

Note: Some elements of this story are influenced by Japanese Anime (characters with technicolor hair, etc)

The story so far:
8th grade student Andrew Champion knew he was in for a wild ride when he decided to befriend Tarah Reichardt, the nerdiest girl in school. But he could've never guessed how special his new friend was. Tarah is actually the gatekeeper of another world called Broodring, home of the tree of life, Tggdrasil. Now, with the help of his martial arts trainer Maru Mari, Andy explores his relationship with Tarah both in school and in the realm of the fantastic tales.

(Read the other “Different and Cool” stories for details)

*****

         The highlands overlooking Starlight City boasted a strong, high-altitude breeze, encouraging bravery and the jaunts of heroes. It was a lush, yet rustic setting, filled with strong, yet twisted trees that had withstood the winds for many years. Below, the town spread itself out like a child's building block set, twinkling like that same molded plastic. The boy watching above noted it to be a tightly-knit, self-sufficient city, an ideal place for all types of folks to thrive.

         "Relatively quiet, low crime rate, and not too much pollution," he assessed, shielding his eyes from the early morning sun. "Yeah, this'll be a good place to look." He raised himself up out of his crouch, and took in a sharp, but refreshing breath of air from the turbulent breeze. Blowing his long locks out of his eyes, a small smile coasted onto his lips, almost by accident. "I feel lucky today," he said, his eyebrows furrowing with determination. "I'm getting my money's worth."

         With a manner born from much practice, he whipped his knapsack over his right shoulder, the bulbous cloth impacting against his back with a hard jingle. Then, he proceeded down the sloping hill that would eventually lead to one of the three major highways into the city, into his muddled destiny.

*****

         Things around Starlight Jr. High were a bit frantic this morning. It was only late April, yet the allure of summer vacation was already on the minds of the student body and a good portion of the faculty, along with the temptation to phone it in early and sleep until June. As it was, the students were a bit antsy and high-strung, especially the 7th graders. The two teens that came in ten minutes late, however, were taking it easy for once, ignoring the door into summer in favor of the spring day right before them.

         I love spring!" Tarah laughed, spinning around in a flare of pigtails and cherry blossoms. "Everything's so happy and full of life, just like a butterfly!" A couple of the students cocked their eyebrows at this stage-show musical act, but the boy beside her just smiled, seeming to delight in her unrestrained happiness. She soon turned towards him, her eyes twinkling behind thick glasses. "Don't you love spring, Andrew?" she asked him, her face flush with excitement.

         "I like spring." Andy folded his arms behind his head, looking above at the cherry trees that lined the walkway leading to the main building's front door.

         "Everybody should enjoy spring days," Tarah said gleefully. She then took a quick glance around at her classmates, her smile waning slightly. "But I don't think everybody is."

         "Yeah, they're all waiting for the end of school," he remarked, following her line of sight with a lazy eye. "I don't think...anybody knows what to do with themselves."

         "Well, I know what I'm going to do with myself!" Tarah chimed, favoring him with a sparkling smile. "I'm gonna go to the Spring Festival, and run a stall that sells golden beetles I made myself. My mom's making me a ladybug kimono, too. Do you wanna go with me?"

         A sideways smile came to Andy's lips, like a child about to do something especially goofy. With a slight, macho flourish, he gave Tarah a thumbs-up, along with a short wink.

         "That's great!" she squealed, bouncing up and down and sending her pigtails flopping about like excited garden snakes. "I can get a kimono for you too! It'll be green, your favorite color!" Tarah's eyes flashed with sudden realization. "Oh, but I know you don't like frog mosaic so I won't get that pattern for you. Do you want lizards instead?"

         "Huh?" Andy looked at her with raised eyebrows. "What makes you think I don't like frogs?"

         "'Cause you jumped when I showed them to you back during 6th grade orientation," she explained matter-of-factly. "You jumped kind of like a frog, too."

         Andy's mind went blank for a moment, then Tarah's statement clicked into place. "Wow, you have some memory," he said, his voice laced with a thread of astonishment. "You mean two years ago, on the first day of school." The boy smiled a bit, his mind's eye swimming back towards a confusing time in his life, when he was twelve years old and trying to navigate an early adolescence that was more opaque than sludge...

*****

         he main halls of the elementary school reverberated with the energy of kids asked to give up their summer vacation for another year of class. That year, their public school district had opened up their doors to a few new neighborhoods that had previously been out of their jurisdiction. Some of the kids hailed from the agricultural areas on the outskirts of Starlight City, but a few were from newer neighborhoods that hadn't been in the school zone until now. There were lots of new faces to keep track of, joining the regulars who had been attended the school since kindergarten, and bringing the student body up to its highest numbers yet.

         Andy was sitting by himself, hugging his backpack close to his chest, when he was accosted by a skinny girl's brace-filled smile. "Hey, what are you doing over here?" she greeted, sending out a staccato spray of spittle. "Are you new, like me?"

         The boy looked up for a moment, startled by this intruder. He had been thinking about the changes in his life since his aunt and uncle took him in after the accident, and thus neglected trying to get to know the new students. "Uh. no," he managed, looking away from her bulging, bespectacled eyes. "I was here for 4th and 5th Grade."

         "I moved here from the country!" Tarah continued, rearranging the strap of a large duffel bag that dwarfed her like a bazooka. "Dad's in the army, so we move around a lot. I've never lived near a big city before. It's kind of weird, Andrew!"

         Andy raised an eyebrow. "Why did you just call me 'Andrew'?" he questioned, leaning away from the girl.

         "That's your name, right?" Tarah brought up a large yearbook she had borrowed from one of the classrooms. "Andrew Champion? I looked it up in the yearbook, you know. Do you not like your name? I can make up a new name for you, if you want."

         "N-No, it's fine," he stammered, not wanting to give his strange visitor any ideas. "It's just...most everyone calls me 'Andy'..."

         "I think the name 'Andrew' is cool!" she cheered, nodding her head vigorously. "It sounds like the leader of an insurrection force!'"

         "Uh, I guess so..." Andy mumbled, scratching the back of his hair absently.

         "Do you like animals?" Tarah continued, leaving nary a space between the first topic and the next.

         "...What?" Andy stared at her in confusion.

         But Tarah was already rummaging through the duffel bag at her side. "I brought my arts and crafts from home," she explained, coming back up with a display of warty frogs molded from what seemed to be a combination of modeling clay and sewer slime. "Look! It's the new frog species discovered outside Neo Aviania! I made them!"

         "Gah!" Andy recoiled from the noxious smell the objects were emitting. "What...are those?!"

         "They're neat, huh?" Tarah said, shoving them towards him. "I added real frog mucus for effect!"

         Cringing at the sight, Andy chanced a second look at the frogs from the corner of his eye. Strangely enough, the frogs were quite well-crafted, each one bearing a different pattern of warts and spots on their backs. One of the frogs even had a mutation: a third eye poking out from its forehead like a branding mark. "I...guess you worked really hard on those, huh?" Andy said hesitantly, trying to figure out the best way to approach the subject.

         "Yup!" The girl giggled. "I'm good at stuff like that!"

         Before Tarah had the chance to elaborate further, the school bell rang, announcing the return of classes for the year. "Oh, I gotta get this to the art teacher!" she cried, folding up her display and returning it to her bag. "Bye, Andrew!"

         Scampering away from him, Tarah shot down the hallway like a wild jackrabbit. She nearly bowled over a tall, green-haired girl who was walking over to the junior soccer team with a ball in her arms. The girl dodged Tarah just in time, swerving the ball to the side in order to prevent it from being knocked away from her. "What a weird kid..." she said, shaking her head in wonder.

*****

         "That was when I first met you," Andy said, turning to Tarah with a smile. "Kinda feels like a lifetime ago, doesn't it?"

         "I remember you were kind of funny back then," Tarah continued, tracing her chin with a finger. "Maybe you weren't very happy, or maybe you were sick?"

         "I don't know, that was around the time my father and mother died," he said. "I guess I was kinda nervous and holed up, 'till I got to know you anyway."

         He wasn't particularly trying to butter her up, but Tarah's face lit up as if he had just handed her a bouquet of flowers. "That's cool, Andrew," she said, placing a hand on his arm. "I'm glad you like being friends with me."

         "Yeah, well, it's a new life now," Andy replied, trying to brush off the embarrassment. "Heck, I'll try out that frog kimono of yours. Two year surprises are long gone."

         "Then I'll bring the pattern over to our stall!" she cried out happily, scooting closer to him. "Thanks, Andrew! This is going to be so much fun!"

         As Tarah wrapped her arm around Andy's, he grinned a toothy grin, the familiar feeling of friendship overtaking his body along with the girl's warmth. Spring was a time of rebirth, and his life was finally blossoming up. Most of his classmates had gotten used to the idea that Andy was going to be hanging out with the school nerd from now on, and had basically lumped his reputation in with hers. And it was all good in the end; he was free to enjoy stress-free time with this happy, unique girl, along with the rest of the real friends he had acquired this past six months.

         He was about to ask her how she went about creating the golden beetles, when his eye caught the commotion occurring along the right side of the school building. His expression darkened, and he could already feel a small fire growing in the back of his throat, his breath trickling out of his mouth like hot steam. A group of hefty students from the football team, guys that had tried to bully both Tarah and Andy at one point or another, had cornered a slight boy and were busy giving him the business. Their faces were craggy and cruel, and they weren't giving the boy any good odds on escape.

         "Wrong side of the track, eh shorty?" taunted a rotund bruiser in a brown-leather jacket, obviously thinking of himself as an ice-cool greaser guy.

         "Hey, check out that dorky hat of his!" a white-haired hedgehog of a hoodlum guffawed, fingering the boy's apparel like a fashion designer. "And what's this; did your mommy knit you that scarf?"

         "No wait, let me guess." The third bully made a show of thinking long and hard. "You come from the rich private school, right? And is this your dookie little uniform?"

         As if on mine cart rails, Andy felt himself drift towards the small group, fingering the martial-arts headband on his brow that Maru Mari had bestowed upon him. Then, he felt something tug him back slightly, a quintet of small fingers catching his forearm to restrain him. "Please don't fight, Andrew," Tarah told him quietly, her eyes imploring him softly. "I don't like it when people get hurt."

         "I'm just going to talk to them, that's all," Andy responded, though he could feel some of the anger drain away from him at Tarah's soft plea.

         And then his expression lost its tautness completely, as realization swept over his features. "On second thought, let's just watch for a bit," he said, finding himself stepping back to appraise the situation. "I think something's gonna happen."

         "But I don't see..." Tarah started saying, and then she gasped, putting a hand to her mouth. "Oh wow, he looks like you!"

         The slight boy surrounded by schoolyard bullies didn't have the flustered, waffling expression of a future victim. Rather, he looked almost...irritated, like someone about to give into road rage over a minor traffic violation. His expression bore only the barest minimum of control, and his small body seems to be crinkling up like a mattress spring. No doubt this was the same expression that Andy himself bore only a moment ago.

         The boy had now moved from the center of the ring of ruffians, casually parting the way like an irritated movie star in the throngs of fans. "Hey, the hell're you goin', half pint?" one of the bullies demanded, somehow not bothering to restrain him. The boy just ignored him and walked over to a short stone wall bearing the name of the school, dark intention in every step. He stared at the structure as if meditating upon it, and slowly raised his leg almost 180 degrees in the air like some sort of ballet dancer.

         When his foot reached the apex of his arc, the boy just waited for a moment, poised in perfect balance. Then, with a sharp cry, he brought his leg down in an axe-kick, breaking off the corner of the wall as if he were ripping a dog-ear off a book. As the crushed debris fell onto the grass, the eyes of the bullies turned into dinner plates with a olive in the center of them. The boy just glowered at them, and they took off running like rats from a broken laboratory cage.

         He watched them go, with a certain guilt evident in his posture. Then, he sighed, leaning against the wall and crossing his legs, just watching the lazy clouds move on by.

         Andy whistled. "He must train in an advanced martial art, like us," he decided, his lip twitching in the indecision between interest and amusement.

         "Let's go say hi!" Tarah said.

         Andy nodded, and together, the two of them proceeded towards the mystery boy. He looked at them for a moment, and then averted his gaze, suddenly shy. "Sorry about the mess," the boy finally said, looking up at them furtively. "Usually I'm better about stuff like that, but things...kinda get to me sometimes."

         "Was that advanced martial arts?" Andy asked, ignoring the apology to cut to the chase. "I actually train under the Double Helix Style."

         "I train under the Green Vines Style!" Tarah piped up with pride. "I can break a iron bulldog sculpture with my forehead!"

         The mystery boy started a bit at these confessions, but soon his expression became more relaxed. "I actually call it Free Form Style," he explained, his voice filling with energy. "It's sort of a combination of several different fighting styles, and it's supposed to allow me to adapt to any circumstance." He smiled. "I'm Park," he told them, and offered them a hand in greeting.

         "I'm Andy, and this is Tarah," the green-haired lad responded, shaking the hand firmly.

         Park nodded, and then turned to Tarah for another handshake. "Overalls, huh?" Park commented, appraising Tarah's apparel as he shook her hand. "You know, I had a pair just like those when I lived in Morvaria City."

         "They're real comfy!" Tarah answered him happily.

         Andy smiled at the exchange, and set about assessing the boy for perhaps the first time. Park was a short teen right around his own height, with spiky red hair and piercing green eyes that shone like emeralds. In the manner of clothes, Park wore a green shirt with green slacks, a hat, and a bright yellow scarf that trailed behind him like a comet. His facial features were soft and young-looking, but he carried himself in a manner that suggested that nativity was long behind him.

         Andy blinked a few times, refocusing on the matter at hand. Tarah and Park were still wrapped up in conversation and still shaking hands, like some sort of animatronic display at an amusement park. He cleared his throat, and they both turned to face him. "So, er, are you attending Starlight Jr. High?" he asked him, trying to bring the conversation back on track.

         "No, I'm just kinda passing through," Park responded, letting go of Tarah's hand. "I've done a lot of traveling this past year, so I probably won't be here for more than a few weeks."

         "Have you ever been to Neo Aviania?" Tarah asked him intently. "There's a lot of great plants and animals outside the city, where it's not as developed."

         "I grew up in Aviania," Park answered, his eyes widening with surprise. "But I lived mostly in the urban section."

         Suddenly, the school bell reverberated in Andy's ears, and the three teens turned towards the main building. All the kids proceeded towards the front door as if being sucked in by a hydro-pump, preparing to grind down another day until summer. "We gotta in go in now," Andy told Park, readjusting his backpack so that it wasn't hanging off his shoulder. "Maybe we'll see you around town sometime?"

         "I'll walk with you guys, if it's alright," Park suggested, glancing and grimacing at the broken wall. "I...gotta explain to your principal about this."

         "I don't mind!" Tarah grinned brightly. "You seem really nice!"

         He grinned back, and the three of them proceeded towards the open door, a blast of air conditioning hitting them from inside the claustrophobic walls. As they walked, Andy's mind became wrapped in threads of thought, and he lowered his head to watch the pavement scroll under him like a treadmill belt. Mysterious guy, but he seems alright, he pondered, rubbing his chin thoroughly. Still, I wonder what he's doing here?

*****

         It was looking to be another sweltering noon, with the sun positioned above the school grounds like a fire-faced sentinel on watch. The students were still inside awaiting lunchtime, so everything outside the classrooms was mostly vacant and quiet, save for the shrieking cries of beast, bird, and bug. Yes, a few insects were traveling along the grass blades and tulips, unaware of the larger bugs that stalked them. However, they were all unaware of the premise of the larger creature, who oversaw everything, like the grand, horned(-rimmed) beast on top of the food chain.

         Tarah followed after the bugs on bent knee, shuffling along like a caregiver chasing after toddlers. She adjusted her glasses periodically, trying to make out the general shape of each insect in a "who's who" exercise. It wasn't always pleasant to observe bugs on the hunt, and she frequently had to hold back from trying to save one from the other. It was the circle of life, after all.

         A particularly bold beetle was flitting about from blade to blade, and Tarah's attention quickly shifted to it, as she crept faster to keep track of its position. A huge smile burst out from all restraint, as she observed the spunk of the insectoid life form. Though other people regarded bugs as simple creatures, she knew that each one had their own personality and quirks. She had once told Andy about a fly that would repeatedly taunt a black widow spider for its own amusement (it was a particularly fun conversation, as Andy had then brought up the idea of a worker ant rebelling against his queen).

         It wasn't until the bug had landed on a boy's shoulder that she was aware she wasn't alone, and she almost had to jerk back to avoid walking right into him. Her narrow, near-sighted viewpoint expanded to encompass the rest of her surroundings. It was the boy Park again, right around the same spot they had all met earlier. Excited to find her new friend, Tarah prepared a whole slew of conversation points just for him, but a sudden moment of indecision grabbed her, as there was a solemn aura to the boy that suggested he not be disturbed yet.

         Park was actually hunched in front of the stone sign that he had defaced with his kick, a stone in one hand and a trowel in the other. True to his word, he was setting about repairing it, diligently replacing the broken stone with fresh stone he had acquired from the handyman's shack just a ways from the soccer field. A certain, subtle pride was in his expression; it was a look of a worker who took pride in correcting his own mistakes. Deeper still, this worker took pride in correcting his own imperfections, like an ant struggling with the same pebble time and time again.

         After Park was finished placing the brick on a frosting-like layer of mortar, he acknowledged her presence with a slight smile. "Tarah, right?" he greeted amicably, dropping the trowel to his side. "Aren't you supposed to be in class?"

         "I got released early since I did all my work," she answered simply. "It's a loud class, and some of the students aren't very nice to me."

         Park looked at her, emotion filling his eyes. "They think you're a geek, don't they," he guessed, looking at her seriously.

         "Uh huh," she replied, nodding to Park's acute observation. "But I have Andrew, so I'm not lonely anymore."

         He sighed, lowering his head so his jagged bangs drifted over his eyes. "I wish I had your courage sometimes," he told her in a rather heavy voice. "A lot of people used to bother me about my short height, and they didn't always take me seriously, especially if they were...y'know, girls. I felt...sometimes, like I have to fight for my respect, and sometimes I'm afraid of losing myself in that fight. I think we're a lot alike, and I think you're probably stronger than I am."

         "Oh..." Tarah was stunned at how the boy had poured his heart out to her, and how he had complimented her so easily. "...Thank you very much," she squeaked, shuffling her foot in the dirt.

         "Yeah, I know I'm getting sorta personal with all this," he interjected, chuckling nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. "But actually, this is part of the reason why I'm out here. A long time ago, there was someone who accepted me for who I was, someone who made me feel stronger just...just by being there with me. The whole thing's kinda complicated, but the short version is that I want to find that person again, to see if I could be liked for myself, like before."

         Tarah kept her head lowered, silent and deep in thought. Then, the answer came to her. "I know!" she exclaimed, her head jerking up in a flurry of pigtails. "Why don't I help you find your special person?"

         Park almost backpedaled into the wall, looking surprised at the offer. "You really think you should?" he asked, a touch of skepticism forming even with his face still glowed from his impassioned monologue. "I mean, it is kind of a fool's errand I'm on."

         "Of course." Tarah shook her head 'yes'.

         The boy hesitated for a moment, then dug his hands into his pockets. "There's something I haven't told you, but I'm partly amnesiac, so I don't even remember a real name." he explained, as Tarah stared wide-eyed at him. "It's an old accident that happened around three years ago, and I've only just started remembering stuff again. I've been trying to find a way to restore my memories, like a...I d'n know, a mystic or something, but I've been dead out of luck."

         "It's fine!" Tarah insisted, her enthusiasm remaining rock solid. "It's a secret to everybody, but I'm really good with individual life forces. If you lend me your chi, I can help clear your memory up a little so it's less goopy. It's like that 'data recovery' thing they talk about in computer class, 'cept with less viruses."

         "You can really do that for me?" Park wondered, though he hung onto her every word. "I've heard of special abilities granted to those that train in advanced martial arts, but this is off the charts. I haven't found a lead on this sort of thing in three months."

         "It's really true!" Tarah giggled gleefully. "Park, we're going to find your special person!"

         She presented him with an outstretched hand, and Park studied it like it was a gateway to another world. His expression alternated between wariness, hope, excitement, and maybe even some fear. Finally he smiled, a hero's confidence filling soft features. "Well, I guess us geek-bites should stick together, right?" he said, grabbing onto her hand firmly.

         "Yeah!" Tarah cheered, interlacing her fingers with his.

*****

         "Wait wait, slow down Tarah!" Andy stammered, holding the phone closer to his ear. "Just...what did you say again?"

         "I said that Park really likes crumpets." Tarah's voice yammered from the other end. "That's my favorite food, you know, especially with butter."

         "I like crumpets too," Andy interjected, a frown coming unbidden to his features.

         Andy was sprawled across his bed, laying on his stomach like a garden slug and listening to Tarah from a curious-looking receiver. Indeed, the phone itself was actually shaped like a grasshopper; the little antennae helped pick up reception. Tarah had given him the phone as a present a few months back, knowing he liked little knickknacks. He had to admit, it had become one of his more cherished possessions in his room, mostly due to the fond memories it held for him (and hey, you can't say 'no' to a grasshopper phone).

         "We were at the cafe, and the field, and right outside the chemical plant where the bugs have grown really big," she was telling him, speaking rapidly. "He's just like you, Andrew! I can't believe I have another friend. I'm thinking about giving him a grasshopper phone, like yours. Mom's got another one from her job."

         "Uh, yeah," Andy burbled, not quite sure how he wanted to respond to that. "Uh...listen Tarah, are you sure you should be...I mean, don't you think that the grasshopper thing's a bit much?" he finally got out, the words sounding foolish even as he said him. "I mean, we kinda just met him."

         "Yeah, but he's a real good person," she insisted earnestly. "I can tell."

         "It's just..." Andy lowered his head, the speaker falling away from his mouth for the moment before he held it back in front of his lips. "I mean, the grasshopper phone was kinda...our thing, y'know..." he continued, struggling to get it all out.

         "Andrew, what's wrong?" Suspicion and sympathy was in Tarah's voice. "Why don't you want me to give him a grasshopper phone?"

         "It's nothing," he finished, trying to regain control of himself. "Look, I'll be fine. Just...forget about it, alright?"

         "...alright," she said, a bit quieter this time. "But do you want to come with us when we go to the forest on Wednesday? I'm gonna try and use the aura of the trees to help strengthen my life force powers, so I can work on Park a little more."

         "...sure," he replied, looking to end things here before he lost any more of his mind in this strange conversation. "I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow."

         "You're my best friend, you know." Tarah suddenly spoke up, her voice earnest and strong. "I know I don't always... pick up on things very good...but you can talk to me about anything, and I'll listen."

         "You're my best friend, too," he spoke heavily, emotion filling his voice once again. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

         "Okay," she said, and he could almost see her nodding on the other end.

         "'Night," Andy told her, bringing the phone away from his ear.

         "Good night, Andrew." He could still hear her from the receiver, the sweet, familiar tone of her voice managing to touch his heart.

         Andy hung up the phone, placing it upon its leaf-shaped charger. Then, he flopped back down on the bed, scooping his face in his palms, feeling like a sandbag had just landed square on his back.

         He knew as much about human memory restoration as a monkey knew about VCR repair, but he did know Tarah wanted friends; they both wanted more friends in their little group. This was a good thing, good all around. And what the heck was he doing trying to tell Tarah what to do?

         Yet the last time they had a phone conversation like this was that one week in November, when he was going to Mari for help in enduring the bullying from students that didn't like the friendships he had chosen for himself. Tarah had thought he was seeing Mari in a romantic way, and that caused her considerable pain and jealousy.

         And this time...this time he was on the receiving end.

         "What am I thinking?" Andy chided himself, slapping his hands lightly on his cheeks. "Tarah and I are past all that. We know what we're all about." His face knotted up stoically, as if trying to emulate a dried, shriveled up prune. "Things can only get better."

*****

         It was getting worse.

         Andy snorted in irritation, kicking the soda can lying beneath him. Thanks to his martial training, the can flew in a perfect arc towards the aluminum recyclable tub just behind the trash can (Tarah always encouraged him to recycle). He stared into space, his eyes distant but frustrated, seeing all sorts of phantom shadows in the patterns of the gymnasium walls. Those shadows formed into various shapes: Tarah, Park, himself, a collage of phantasms fit for a nightmare.

         It had been four days, yet Park didn't show any signs of disappearing, nor was he fitting into a comfortable place in Andy's life. Quite the contrary; Tarah had been spending all day trying to mend the fraying threads of Park's memory, and although Tarah was sure to invite Andy along, her mind-melding sessions with the other boy were like watching someone cut hair for five hours. Tarah was clearly very happy that she had another person in her life that accepted her, and Andy could not help feeling like he was a spectator when Tarah and Park to talking about their mutual interests.

         It was like...he had been replaced as Tarah's hero.

         "Hey, can ya hurry this along?" a voice spoke from the other side of the pillar Andy was leaning on. "The cheerleaders are gettin' in soon, and the ol' blood's a pumpin', if ya know what I mean. Just tell Reichardt what you're thinkin', man."

         "What can I really say?" Andy turned around to regard his old friend Slick, who was staring away from him at the entrance to the basketball court. "'Tarah, I don't want you to have any friends except me?' That's what it's gonna end up sounding like."

         In the past few months, Andy had somehow managed to mend his friendship with Slick, who had previously rejected him due to his association with Tarah. It was a conditional thing: Slick had made it very clear that he wasn't comfortable risking his reputation by hanging out with Andy and Tarah in public, due to their questionable social status. Still, he knew that Slick ultimately respected him for his choices, so he would occasionally agree to meet with him clandestinely. To Andy, Slick represented his old life before Tarah walked into it, and sometimes he felt he needed that perspective back.

         "I don't get what your deal is," the blond-haired boy said frankly, while taking a brief glance about him to see if anyone was privy to their conversation. "You're still going after Mari, and now it's real easy. I mean, why do you want Reichardt hanging around like a love-sick puppy? C'mon, dude, you get what I'm sayin'?"

         "I know Tarah likes me," Andy affirmed, lowering his head. "Or at least she did, before all this. That's the problem."

         "And now, she's with this Park weirdo," Slick tossed out off-handedly. "Problem solved."

         "No, it's not that," Andy corrected him. "There must've been at least a dozen times I could've told Mari how I felt, and every time I stalled up. And I don't think it's just me being dumb around girls either. I got over that stuff a long time ago. I think...I'm not even sure if I really want it anymore..."

         "You're jerkin' me, right?" Slick snarled, a twisted scowl coming to his face. "You can't really be decidin' between Mari and Terrible Tarah? I mean, that chick's a shrimp! Totally flat!"

         "She's just as good as any other girl!" Andy argued back hotly, an instinctive need to defend his friend quickly taking over. "Heck, she's always been beautiful to me, once I got around to admitting it."

         He sighed, walking away from the security of the pillar. "Slick, do you remember when Tarah brought all her arts and crafts to school, back when she had those big, green braces?" he asked. "You know, orientation at the beginning of 6th grade."

         "That was, what, two years ago?" the other scoffed, tossing a look behind him. "Man, that stuff was stupid."

         Andy continued on. "Yeah, I thought it was weird too. But deep down, I also felt those things were also kind of interesting and colorful, and so was Tarah, even with the glasses and braces. I didn't say anything, because I didn't want to stick out. I...I wasted so much time ignoring my emotions."

         "Oh geez, nobody in school is gonna care about your baggage!" Slick exclaimed, finally moving from behind the pillar to confront Andy face-to-face. "Look, it's bad enough you went off and ditched me and Justin, but you're going to end up becoming this...geek kissing...what's that word they keep tryin' to teach us...'pariah', that's it." He shook his head in exasperation. "At least this Park thing isn't going to cause as much trouble. It'll be geek-plus-geek as far as they're concerned."

         He folded his arms, his one visible eye piercing out from his head like an emerald. "It's just not worth it, Andy," Slick told the boy. "It never was."

         The green-haired lad lowered his head, suitably tormented. The thing was, Slick was probably right. People would be far more accepting of Tarah being with Park, a bonified shrimp in his own right, than they would of Tarah being with Andy. Park was new, and had no reputation in Starlight City, nor was he under any obligation to hang around Starlight Jr. High and endure the scrutiny of the student body.

         Andy had worked overtime to eke out this new existence with Tarah. He knew it was important that he do this, but where was it really taking him?

         "I need to think about all this," Andy said finally, straightening up with a groan and trying to get out the crinks in his joints.

         "Yeah, do that," Slick finished up, clearly exhausted from his emotional outburst. "I can't believe you made me use the word 'pariah.'" The blond boy lifted his back from the pillar as well. "Look, Andy Boy, I gotta split," he told him, walking off with an air of self-consciousness. "The football team's gonna be comin' by, and I'm trying to hang with them and the cheerleaders. You know how it is, right?"

         "You know, we can't keep up this 'secret friends' thing forever," Andy told him, pent up frustration from the past few days finally trickling out. "Tarah doesn't like any of it, and I don't know if I really like it all that much either. You got to make a choice at some point, Slick. Us or them."

         "I know, man," the boy sighed dejectedly, raising up a slender hand as he disappeared beyond the door to the basketball court. "I know."

*****

         The rain of blows spread like wildfire on Andy's sternum, kidneys, and ribs, as if he were the centerpiece of a public stoning. He held his arms out awkwardly to defend against the assault, but the hard reality of hard knuckles could not be denied. They broke through his weakening guard and continued to hack away at his vulnerable spots. Finally, Andy fell onto his back, hacking, heaving, and rolling around like an antsy armadillo.

         "Oh, come on Andy, you're not even trying!" Mari admonished from above, looking upon him with disdain. "I came back from vacation just for this? Should've stayed in the mountains..."

         "Blurg?" Andy babbled, his mind eggs over easy.

         Mari rolled her eyes. "Let's try this again," she breathed, motioning for him to get back into position. As the boy scrambled haphazardly to his feet, Mari fell into her fighting stance, preparing for another round of combat. "HAIII!" she hollered with fire in her eyes, throwing a mock punch that stopped a mere inch from his nose.

         And then the fire slowly dissipated into a dull annoyance as Andy failed to react, the boy standing stiff as a store mannequin.

         "...blurg?" Andy gurbled, a dribble of drool falling from his lips to land on Mari's outstretched fist.

         The green-haired beauty retched. "Oh, gross!" she wailed, flipping around her fingers in an effort to fling the spit-wad off them. "Let's...let's just take five, okay?" she said, wiping her hand on her pants.

         Andy nodded, and proceeded laconically towards the small, beat-up loveseat Mari had hauled into the abandoned planetarium last month. He flopped down on the cushions, his hand instinctively going for the sports drink resting beside him. Mari came to him a moment later, rubbing her hands on a moist towelette she had procured from the foreign restaurant a few blocks away. In a flurry of forest green hair, she sat down beside him, looking at him with almost familial concern.

         "What's up, Champ?" she began, leaning closer to peer into his face. "I've never seen you so unfocused before. You...haven't gone on that new vegetarian diet Tarah keeps talking about, have you? I'm telling ya, you need your big, beefy steaks!"

         "No no, it's not that," Andy interjected, waving her off with one hand while rubbing his forehead with the other hand. "I just got a lot on my mind today, that's all."

         "Can't you tell me what's going on?" she questioned him.

         He shook his head 'no.' "Thanks, but I think I'm on my own for this one," he responded.

         Mari looked at him seriously, a soft look entering her crystal eyes. "Look, I know you Andy, and I know you don't like operating under stress," she told him, placing a hand lightly on his shoulder. "You've obviously gotta settle whatever this thing is and get it behind ya."

         "Ah, I don't know." The boy shook his head, a disagreeable grimace coming to his face. "Maybe I should just sleep it off for a while."

         "C'mon, that's not you, and you know it's not," she replied, looking sharply at him. "You're a student of Double Helix, Andy! It's head first into everything! It always has been with you."

         Andy looked up at her, and a wan smile formed on his lips. "Think so?" he asked.

         "Yeah." Mari gave him a winsome, lopsided smile.

         The two stared at each other for a moment more, and Andy felt a brief moment of comfort wash over him. Then, just as quickly as it started, it was over, and Mari was walking to the small refrigerator. "Whoo, it's getting hot in here," she called out, half to herself. "I need to get another air conditioner installed in this place!" Andy just stared off into space, leaning back onto the cushions and staring up at the high, sloping ceiling of the planetarium.

         Andy had no idea whether Mari knew about his longtime crush on her or not, but it didn't matter in the end. He was closer to her than he had ever been before, knew her as a person, as she knew him. In his heart, he knew that this was the time he needed to make the big push, to see if anything romantic could ever develop between them. He needed to tell Tarah that, and wish her the best of luck with Park.

         There was nothing to fear anymore. He had finally broken through that scary period in his life, where he was afraid that he'd hurt Tarah with his weakness, and that he would be letting something special slip through his fingers. No, Tarah would always be with him, they would always be fine. Now, it was time to let her go, let her run freely towards someone he knew could take care of her.

         He dropped his head into his chest, suddenly feeling old despite his tender years.

         Tarah, Mari, Park, and himself. They were like the four drums of a set of "quad" tenors, and he was tired of playing them to a never ending rhythm. "Four people within 4:4 time," he whispered, almost darkly. "I'm ending this drum solo."

*****

         The prime opportunity for a showdown with fate arrived within the next few days. Andy, Tarah, and Park were all eating together outside the lunchroom, on a small, weathered table near the playing field. Park had stopped by from his hotel in the city, and had ended up eating lunch with them, laying his knapsack across the table. He was turning out to be a bit of a snacker, and had brought his own bag of treats along with him.

         "I love these things," Park sighed, biting hard on a strip of ostrich jerky. "Low-fat, too."

         "Your breath is kinda smelly now," Tarah commented, wrinkling her nose and pulling out a small baggie. "You need some mint jujubes."

         "Maybe in a..." Park's statement was cut off as the girl opened his mouth and slammed about six jujubes into his mouth, closing his jaw shut like a clap trap. "They're special ones from the organic food store!" Tarah chirped, as the boy made the most hideous of faces. "All natural ingredients!"

         "S-Sure..." he sputtered, the jujubes plopping out from the side of his mouth.

         Andy smiled, a certain sadness coasting over the edge of his lips. He placed the apple that he had yet to bite onto the table, next to an un-punctured juice-box and a pencil with a lot of bite-marks. He stood up, as if he were about to make a speech at somebody's wedding. "Tarah, can you come here?" he asked, making a small gesture with his hand.

         Tarah nodded slightly, standing up and walking to him. To his shock, she took the hand he had motioned with.

         "T-Tarah...!" Andy stammered, feeling a bit more nervous than he anticipated.

         "Oh, did you not want me to hold your hand?" Tarah asked, blinking behind her glasses. "That's okay, I guess."

         "No, it's fine," he said, seizing her hand more firmly. "It's good...fine, good..."

         "Did you want to say something?" she prodded, curiosity overtaking her small face.

         "Well...er, I just needed to tell you this thing," Andy started again, subconsciously stroking her small fingers. "Something I've been thinking about for awhile now."

         "It's okay, tell me anything," she encouraged, nodding. "You can tell me anything, remember?"

         Andy gulped. For the moment, he felt a bit tongue-tied.

         "You're worried I don't like you anymore 'cause I'm helping Park, right?" Tarah presented a small smile. "I could tell, since your eyebrows kinda scrunch up when we're all together. I can spend time with just you today if you want, and I'll go help out Park tomorrow." Her eyes widened. "Or did you want to say something else?"

         "N-No, I actually did want to talk about something like that." Andy found his voice among the chaos in his mind. "But don't you think I'll be in the way?"

         "I don't mind." She shook her head, letting go of his hand. Taking a step back, she spread her arms wide, like she was presenting some sort of prize. "Now that we're best friends, you can spend time with me whenever you want! That's cool, right?"

         "Yeah..." A slow smile grew unbidden on the boy's face. "It really is."

         Tarah's earnestness sent Andy reeling, her eyes grabbing onto his heart and twisting it like a circus pretzel. Her face was tilted to the side, showing her simple and straightforward understanding of his circumstances. She always gave her affection so willingly, without any of the pretension or games the rest of the kids at school played at. It was an affection he wholeheartedly returned; he had never met anyone like her, and probably never would again.

         He had it all planned out, this big speech on how he was going to pursue Mari, how he was happy for both her and Park. He was going to tell her that although their paths were diverging, they would always be like a little family. He was even prepared to explain what the word 'diverging' meant if he had to; Tarah wasn't always that great at language arts.

         Instead, he leaned in, closed his eyes, and kissed her softly on the lips.

         When it was over, Andy looked at the girl, looked at each strand of stringy blond hair, each dimple as if it were a clue in a mystery book. Tarah had this light coming from her eyes, as if her glasses had become searchlights shining in the city sky. Her breathing was as short and shallow as his own, as they waited to see who would say the next word. "Hey...you want to be my girlfriend or something?" Andy tried, running with the group of worms he had just popped from the can.

         "Really?" Tarah said, the familiar excited smile of hers increasing by ten-fold. "Really really?!"

         "Yeah," Andy nodded, and he felt himself grow stronger and emboldened.

         The pigtailed girl's smile faltered just a bit, and she looked down slightly. "I've never had a boyfriend before," she murmured, a rare blush permeating her cheeks. "Have you ever had a girlfriend, Andrew?" she turned to him shyly, leaning closer and gripping his hands tightly to draw strength from them.

         "I've never even been out on a date," he answered honestly. "I'm...just making up all this as I go along."

         "You sure you want to be with me?" Tarah suddenly smiled, letting go of his hands to place his arms around his shoulders. "I'm kinda a dork, you know!"

         "You're a butterfly, and you always have been," Andy said, returning her smile and holding her by the sides. "How about you, though? You sure...you don't want to be with Park or nothing?" He motioned in the general direction of the red-haired boy, who might as well have vanished from the scene for all the attention Andy and Tarah were giving him.

         "I've always loved you, Andrew, loved you lots!" she told him, her eyes glimmering with happiness. "You're the nicest, bravest boy I've ever known. Besides, Park told me he eats wolves."

         "I...what?" Andy cocked an eyebrow, looking at her sideways.

         "He eats wolves," she repeated, unblinking. "Wolves are intelligent creatures."

         Andy pulled away slightly to regard Park with an incredulous expression. "You eat wolves?!" he exclaimed, his eyebrows high and unbelieving.

         "I get hungry on long trips, so sometimes I kill a wolf," Park responded, a rather blank expression on his face. "I like meat, anyway."

         Andy looked at Park oddly, like he had a rabid squirrel for a nose. Then, all of a sudden, he started laughing, huge belly laughs rocking his frame like a sputtering engine. In one swift motion, he drew Tarah to him in a full embrace, crushing her lithe body to his and spinning her around. Tarah laughed too, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face into his mane of sea-green hair.

         The happy couple remained like this for a moment more. And with their embrace, Andy settled in for the wonderland life with Tarah he had always wanted.

         Andy disengaged from Tarah momentarily, though he still kept one hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry about all this, Park," he said, a mite sheepish after the big show. "I was honestly going for something else."

         "It's okay," Park said, staring at the couple as if they were lighting up the silver screen. "That was the greatest thing I've ever seen. You two are really brave to be doing this."

         "You're brave too, Park," Tarah assured him from her place at Andy's side. "And you're almost as handsome as Andrew!"

         "So long as it's 'almost', I'm fine with that," Andy laughed, snuggling up to the girl's face as she giggled happily.

         Suddenly, Tarah jerked up, as a distant blot came into focus. "Oh, there's Mari!" she said, readjusting the frames of her glasses. "I wonder what she's going to say?"

         "Probably nothing too much," Andy commented, feeling exceptionally lighthearted at that moment. "Somehow, I think she might've known anyway."

         "Mari...?" Park muttered, repeating the name as if remembering something about it.

         "Hey kids, what's going on here?" Mari chimed, bounding on over to the trio with her backpack slung over her shoulder. When she got closer, however, she suddenly skid to a stop, her heels digging into the ground like the back of a skateboard. Her eyes had lost their usual confidence, her expression quaking. The strap on her backpack slowly slid off her shoulder, rolling down her back into a heap on the grass.

         "...Park?" she gasped, gaping like a fish.

         Park just stared at her, as if she were half-imagined. "You...I know you, don't I?" he stammered, his soft face knotting up.

         Mari said nothing, but started hustling over to him, an uncharacteristically frantic expression on her face. Slowing down as she entered their little circle, her hair was blowing behind her like ocean waves as she regarded Park with an unreadable expression.

         "Wait, that means Mari is..." Andy gasped, his hand gripping Tarah's shoulder tightly. Tarah's face lit up with excitement.

         Mari approached Park in three quick steps. Before he could even speak, she pressed her hands against his temples, her face taut with concentration. Park's eyes dilated, as the girl's gentle fingers massaged his skin as if sifting for buried treasure. "That's my life force memory restoration technique," Tarah whispered to Andy, leaning closer to him as they both watched.

         And then Park's eyes were clear again, his green irises perhaps a little greener than before. "It's you, Mari," he said, the name flowing from him like a stream of vapor gold.

         "You finally got it together," Mari breathed, looking like she had barely come to grips with the situation herself. "I was beginning to think you'd never get around to it."

         "I've been traveling for three months, and I just came into town a few days ago," he answered her, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "Tarah over here really helped me out."

         "You remember everything now?" she continued, her lips quivering with some sort of unreleased, built up emotion.

         "I remember you," he blurted out, sincerity highlighting every strand of his soul.

         Mari was practically in tears. "PARK!" she cried, throwing herself at him with complete abandon. She flung her arms around the boy and hugged him like the wife of a marine coming into port. He didn't immediately hug her back, but Park's mouth erupted in a huge grin, like he had just eaten the juiciest, most expensive steak available. And finally, there was relief of the soul, as he buried his hands in her hair and sighed with the satisfaction of a wanderer whose journey was at an end.

         Andy and Tarah just smiled, their faces representing spring and the past month of growth and new life. Taking each other's hand, they quietly walked away from Mari and Park, under the horizontal bar and towards the large oak tree, where they would be able to get some shade and talk more closely about the day's events.

                             END

*****

         The dark forest wolves surrounded him like the ring of sharks from an old movie. "Rrrrrrr...!" they growled, licking their chops in anticipation of fresh meat.

         "You want a piece of this?" Park hollered, yanking at the folds in his clothes. "You want a piece of THIS?!" He let loose a high-pitched roar that was somehow ten-times as horrifying as the wolves themselves, and then rushed forward into a rip-snorting wolf beatdown.