“Overwhelming, isn’t it?” Tommy asked her softly. “Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it. The kids all have separate lunch periods, which gets confusing. But the teachers rotate their free periods according to what floor their classroom is on before the ‘B’ lunch period, which doesn’t even sound mathematically possible.” He laughed. The delayed bell rang. Since the students were essentially missing their first period classes today, the passing periods had shifted five minutes earlier than normal.“No mom, we’re going to discuss this now. I am not going back to Paris and that is final. For now, I can live with my roommates. After that I’ll have to see. This is my life and I’m going to live where I feel comfortable.”"Well," Lolli said, appraising the twisted warrior that stood before. "Can't knock your choice of color."

         "What have you done with the Ranger's...animal....umm..things?" Stephen demanded, Saba in hand.

         Psycho White chuckled, drawning the small saber fom his belt and twirling it on his finger. In his other hand materialized a wicked curved white scimitar, a twisted mockery of Saba. "You'll find out in a moment, won't you?"

         "Ugh, I find that barbaric weapon most insulting," Saba cried, outraged. "Is that supposed to be ME?"

         "Feel free to lodge a complaint," Stephen said, grinning beneath his helmet. He aimed the sentient sword so that his head was facing Psycho White.

         Saba complied, firing twin beams of pure white energy from his eyes. Psycho White cartwheeled out of the way, and the fight was on.

“Erm, if I may give a suggestion,” interrupted Dr. Matthews. The mother and daughter turned to face him. He had been forgotten during their argument. “With all due respect, I do believe it is best for Kimberly to stay in Florida for now. A new lifestyle is hard to adjust to, but it is even harder in an unknown location. It can hinder her progress and she could develop a severe depression.”

“Kimberly, I only want what’s best for you.”

“Making me move all the way to Paris is not the best thing for me mom. Staying here is. Please understand my decision,” replied Kimberly, a bit calmer now. “What was best for you was to move to Paris, but it’s not for me.”

Tommy glanced down at his watch. 8:55. Five minutes until class started. Students would start filtering into the auditorium any moment.

“Sorry I was so—” He started to say, but Kimberly cut him off. “Ridiculous?” She offered. He nodded.