• We walked up to the front doors of the Kalleghi Academy for Young Warriors. There, two men from the military were standing guard on either side of the entrance. They looked us over, and when they saw Lev, they saluted, looking straight ahead. Apparently, they were avoiding eye-contact.

    "S-sir!" They said in unison.

    "Lieutenant!" One of them said. "May I ask what you are doing here?"

    "Well," Lev answered with an easygoing smile. "I am, of course, here to witness my sister become a Level 1 Ninja!" He put his hand on my shoulder.

    "O-oh!" The other said without breaking his salute. "Congratulations, sir!" Lev nodded and we continued through the doors. I inconspicuously watched them as we walked forward. They looked at each other and sighed out of relief. I raised my eyebrows and walked around a corner. Why would they fear Lev? I thought. We rounded another corner and came to the auditorium doors which were wide open. The room was full of people and "Congratulations!" signs. All of the teenagers that had gone to the K.A.Y.W. too were dressed up in nice clothes, just like me. Most of them seemed to hate it. Just like me.But there was one thing that these teens and I had difference in.

    They all had friends, and I had none. Of course, I knew people. I had been in the same class as a portion of these kids since I started school at five-years-old. I had known some people of these people for about eight years, because we were always with the same people, the same teacher and students each year. But I'd always had trouble making friends. I just was never someone of interest, so people never hung around me for too long.

    Perhaps there will be people from the other classes that will like me? Maybe. But now, I'll focus on where my family is going. I followed them to the middle of the audience seats and was about to enter when Mother turned around to face me.

    "Lucy, you should go talk to some of your friends! We still have quite a wait!" Of course, I never told anyone I had none.

    "Oh!" I said. "Uh... I d-don't see any of them! I think I'll be fine waiting with you guys!"

    "Oh, that's fine," Lev said. "You should go look for them, Lu." He gave me a warm smile and sat in his seat.

    "Yes! We'll sit right here, and you can have the end seat so you don't have to walk past everyone!"

    "Oh -- uh... okay. Thanks." I said, giving a convincing smile. Damn!.

    I walked to the crowd and looked around for imaginary people. Once I was sure my family couldn't see me, I tried to pass through the crowd invisibly. A few people elbowed me, and I said "Sorry" or "Excuse me." I finally exited the thick part of the crowd, but something tripped me. I fell forward and quickly executed a tuck-and-roll. An old trick, I admit, but incredibly useful. Still crouching, I looked behind me to see what I had tripped over, but nothing was there. I frowned and stood up. Before I could completely straighten up, however, the surprises kept coming.

    Suddenly my head felt like it was split open. I cried out in pain and squeezed my head, as if to shut the gaping hole. I looked up and saw a boy, my age, of course, who was dressed in a suit, like all of the other boys. He had dark brown hair that stuck up. His neck and half of his face was covered with a cream-colored cloth. It seemed to be a scarf, but then it was a bandanna, too, to cover his face.... I shook my head, ridding it of useless thoughts like this. He rubbed his chin under the cloth. His eyebrows came together in a frown.

    "Watch it!" He said angrily. "I think you broke my jaw!"

    "Oh," I replied, brushing myself off. "don't be a baby. If I had broken your jaw, you wouldn't even be able to speak. Besides, if you don't want to get hit, then watch where you put your face!" He got right in my own face.

    "Why were you on the ground in the first place, eh? You wouldn't have hit me if you weren't crawling around on the floor!"

    "Well, if you weren't stalking me, you wouldn't have leaned over and gotten hit!"

    "Stalking? You're kidding right? Who in their right minds would want to stalk you?"

    "Look bub, if you don't want to have your throat torn out before you even become a ninja, shut the hell up!"

    "I think you should be the one to shut up!"

    "Well, well..." A new voice interrupted the argument over our little train wreck. I looked behind me. A girl stood with a hand on her hip and a smirk on her face. Her red violet hair was cut short and fashioned with too much hairspray to make it look decent. She wore a blue dress and blue slip-on dress shoes. She had a beauty mark under her right eye and her skin was very tan. "Luce, you haven't been here five minutes and you're already in a fight." Luce's eyebrows evened out.

    "Cammy," He said, not surprised. "How did you know I've only been here five minutes?" Cammy calmly walked over to Luce's side and stood for a moment. Then she punched the back of his head. He stumbled forward and I moved out of his way.

    "I saw you enter, dummy!" She said.

    "Gah!" He yelled. "You don't have to hit me!"

    "Well, I was following you and calling your name! You can't tell me you didn't hear..."

    "Maybe I didn't want to be seen around you..." Cammy delivered another punch to the back of his head. He yelped and stumbled again. Then, Cammy seemed to notice me.

    "Hi, there!" She said happily, picking up Luce and holding him up under an arm. "I'm Cammy and this temper-mental jerk is Luce.

    "I think I have brain damage now..." Luce murmured under Cammy's arm.

    "Oh, shut up, you had brain damage before this." Cammy said.

    "I'm Lucy." I laughed.

    "Ah, hear that, Luce? There's a person that almost shares your name, but will never share your idiotic-ness." She chuckled. "Don't be fooled by his appearance, he's really a sweetheart." Luce wiggled out of Cammy's grasp and stood up straight, trying to regain his balance and his pride all at the same time.

    "Shut up, woman." He said and walked away. We laughed again.

    "He is, though." Cammy went on. "He was in my class, and he used to be such a crybaby! But we're real close, so I can usually predict what will happen. He's really sympathetic if there's no-one but me around."

    "Wow, hard to believe that." I said.

    "Yeah, I know. But, he won't show his real self unless you're really close."

    "Oh." I said.

    Well, I suppose that probably wont happen.