Hey! Serena here with yet another fic! Yay! I am so proud of myself/hugs self/ Ok…moment gone. Anyway, this is my first Pretear fic, so be nice. I saw all the episodes of Pretear, and the ending is really sad, even though it is supposed to be a happy ending because everyone gets what they want (although Himeno doesn't know it ;) Anyways, hope you like this!
Disclaimer: Ok, so I don't own Pretear…although I wish I did…at least Hayate /giggles/.
The American Pretears
Chapter 1
"Ah! The light!" Akane stepped off the bus, shielding her eyes from the blinding sun with her arm.
"Ah! It burns!" Sakana followed Akane off the bus. She, too, was shielding her eyes from the bright sun.
"Come on, let's get under the shade," Akane called to Sakana. Sakana was wearing a white polo shirt which had the school logo, a frog, patched onto the top left corner. Her dark, chocolate brown hair, as always, was held up by a ponytail in the back. Why she was wearing dark blue pants was still a mystery to Akane. They were living in Florida for Pete's sake and it was August! Normally, August meant that the air would start to cool down, but nooo; Florida just has to be different and be scorching till November (This is true. The temperature in Florida will not go down to the low 80's and 70's until about November…/Sniff/) Akane wasn't too much smarter, though, but she was a bit better off; she wore khaki pants with a loose navy blue shirt that said "Frog Pond School Band" where the path should have been. As always she left her golden hair down cascading around her shoulders, only reaching just below her armpits.
The girls began walking aimlessly around the school. "Hey, what time is it, Akane?" Sakana asked. Akane checked her watch.
"Ugh, it's only 8:50. We still have 40 minutes to be bored out of our minds," Akane groaned.
"Why can't we be bored in our minds?" Sakana asked and they laughed.
"I don't know. Can you go inside your mind and be bored?" Akane remarked and they laughed harder. Finally pushing their way through a crowd of kids who didn't know when to move, they came to their usual resting spot- a small brick enclosure. Plopping down their backpacks (which were incredibly heavy), they hopped onto the short brick wall. Sakana pulled out her CD player and started listening to Something Corporate.
"I love this song: Astronaut," she said and started singing the chorus. Akane laughed as she came to the part that said "I wanna be high…"
"That song is really weird," she commented, still giggling.
"Yeah, but it's still funny," Sakana agreed and continued singing. She stopped when Akane elbowed her. "Hey, what was that for?" she protested.
"Look," Akane pointed to the clear, blue sky. Comet-like tails of colored sparks flew across the sky. Many kids around them stopped to watch the fireworks.
"Hey, look at those fireworks!" one girl squealed to her friend. Akane and Sakana looked on at the scene, dumbfounded.
"Who would be setting off fireworks?" Sakana asked. "It's the middle of August."
"I don't know, but I don't think those were fireworks. They didn't go up in the air and explode…they just kept going and going and going-"
"Like the Energizer Bunny!" Sakana joked.
"Yeah…but still. What in the world was that, do you think?" Akane wondered.
"How would I know?" Sakana answered. Akane shrugged.
"Attention teachers and students," the overcome blared with feedback, causing everyone to cover their ears. "Please don't forget that today there is benchmark testing, so students, you are to report to your testing center room. Teachers, if you are in the portables, please report to your designated rooms for testing." Everyone groaned.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot we had benchmark testing today. Hehehe," Sakana rubbed her head and smiled sheepishly.
"Which room are you in?" Akane asked.
"Uh, I am in Mr. Whithrock's room," she replied. "Who do you have?"
"I think I have Mrs. Johnson. At least that's what it said on the little slip of paper we got," Akane guessed.
RRRIIIIIIINNNNGGGGGG!
The bell rang, signaling for classes to start.
"See ya later," the two girls called out to each other at the same time and walked in opposite directions to their testing centers.
The bright halls were crowded with students trying to get to their assigned rooms. Some were going about frantically trying to find their way around the maze of hallways. Akane looked on as she easily made her way up the stairs and through the halls towards her testing center.
"235…237…239. Here it is. 241," finally coming across the right room, she walked through the door. It was very similar to her science classroom, with wooden, black-topped lab tables; the walls were covered with posters of past projects and the periodic table. In the front of the room was a long wooden desk similar to the lab tables that held all of the teacher's belongings and student papers.
"Please come in and take a seat," a voice said behind Akane making her jump five feet in the air. The teacher said hello and walked pass. She stared at her for a few seconds before taking a seat in the front. For some reason she liked to sit in the front…maybe because she had poor eyesight.
When everyone had entered the room, the teacher stood in the front and quieted everyone down. "Good morning. My name is Dr. Johnson. Is everyone sure they are in the correct room?" she asked the class and everyone shook their heads. "Good. Now when I pass out your test books and scantron sheets, you may begin and don't forget to fill in the rectangle at the bottom of the scantron sheet with the correct information." She walked by, giving everyone a test book and an answer sheet with 100 multiple choice answer bubbles.
"Akane opened her book and began to read the first problem. What is the first step to solving this equation: 5+24X3-8? "That's easy," Akane muttered and bubbled in answer A on her scantron sheet.
An hour later, Akane was bored out of her mind, having finished the test 40 minutes before time was called.
"Finally," she moaned once the tests were collected and the intercom boomed overhead.
"Attention teachers and students," the 8th grade administrator began, "When the bell rings, students will report to their period two classrooms. I repeat, student will report to their period two classrooms." He finished and the bell rang. Kids rushed out of the classroom, Akane in the midst of it all. Finally getting through the traffic jam in the hallway, she hurried to her period two class.
"Oh joy, science. At least it's only for 30 minutes," she whined and entered through the door just as the bell rang. Quickly sitting down, the teacher began by quieting the class.
"Now that everyone is quiet," Mr. Whithrock began, eyeing the couple of boys in the back, "Take out your notebooks. We are going to be talking about the periodic table…" his voice was muffled as students searched their book bags for their notebooks. For the remainder of the period, Akane took notes on alkali metals, alkaline metals, rare earth metals, transition metals, and other metals that she couldn't remember. To her hand's relief, the bell finally rang, signaling for the students to go to their 3rd period classes.
"Oh joy. Now I have math next," Akane whined. All she wanted to do was to go home and talk with her friends online, maybe even work on some of her stories. At least so far none of her teachers were giving any homework, judging by what other kids were saying. She was thankful for that, because this was probably going to be the only time that she would have no homework, and her teachers were probably going to pile on a bunch of the evil stuff as catch up for the days they were missing.
In geometry, the students worked on their Lunar Colony project, which was a pain.
"No, if we had any more stuff, we will be over budget!" Akane told her partners, Sakana and Kenichi.
"But look at it!" Sakana pointed to their plan of the lunar colony. "It's so bare and empty on this side!"
"Hey, I've got an idea!" Kenichi called out suddenly. "Why don't we use a snow machine to cover the ground? It would be a lot cheaper than buying the grass," he stated simply. Akane and Sakana checked the price list of items.
"Hey, you're right!" they jeered together. "Kenichi, you're a genius!" Akane cheered.
"No, I'm not a genius. I'm just cheap," he joked and they laughed.
3rd period ended and finally came fourth period. It was one of Akane's favorite classes because she had lunch during that class, and that was the only time she got to see her friends (besides before school). What was even better was that Sakana had told her that they were able to play games and do whatever in English class!
Akane walked into the classroom and sat down in her seat on the far side of the room as everyone else filed in. When the bell rang, the teacher stood up front.
"Ok, since we have benchmark testing this week, your choices of things to do are to either read a book, play one of the games I have in my closet, or to work on your essays," she said boredly, although the rest of the class cheered and immediately rushed to the closet. Several people crowded around the Scrabble boards or even played cards. Akane, however, took out her USB key and went straight for the computers.
"Maybe I can actually work on my stories," she said and plugged the USB key in. Opening the file with her stories in it, she began to type.
Someone entered the room, but Akane didn't bother to look back to see who it was as she usually did; she was too engrossed in her story, and if she looked back, she would've lost the brilliant ideas that were forming in her head.
"Um, excuse me, is Akane here? I'm here to pick her up for dismissal," a familiar voice asked. Akane's eyes widened as she recognized the voice. Slowly, she turned to see a boy with spiky, icy blue hair standing at the front of the teacher's desk.
"No," she thought. "That can't be…can it?" she thought anxiously.
"Yes, but I'm sorry. There can be no early dismissals until after testing is over," the teacher said. The boy's face dropped.
"But this is really important!" he argued.
"I'm sorry, but testing is more important right now," she stated finally. Realizing defeat, the boy hung his head and dragged himself out the door, but not before casting one last icy blue gaze towards Akane. Akane's breath caught and she snapped her head back to the computer screen.
"Was that really…him?" she asked herself. "No, that couldn't be him. He's supposed to be legend and myth, along with the other ones like him."
"Attention all teachers and students," the 8th grade administrator's voice boomed over the intercom, interrupting Akane's train of thought. "When the bell rings, students and teachers are to report directly to their testing centers. I repeat, report directly to your testing centers when the bell rings." Seconds after that announcement, the bell rang. Akane quickly saved her story and packed her things before rushing out the door to her testing center for another long, boring hour. As she walked down the crowded hallways, the spiky-haired boy never left her mind.
"How could that be him?" she muttered to herself. "I have to tell Sakana about this. Maybe she might know something, although I highly doubt it." Even as she walked down the halls, she had the unusual feeling of being watched. She stopped and looked around, but when she saw no one out of place, she continued walking.
A/N: Yay! Done with the first chapter! And I already know what to do with the second one…I just wanted to split the two up. So, if you review, then I will finish the second one sooner and post it sooner! Anyone who can figure out who that little boy was...I'll give you a cookie! (Ok, maybe not, but i will dedicate the next chapter to you or something...I'll think of something or you can tell me in a review...)
BTW...again...almost everything that happaened in this chapter is true...except for the fireworks in the sky and the little boy(duh!). The benchmark testing...whihch is very evil...is a practice foe the FCAT...which is the statewide test for Florida...basically Florida's version of the IOWA's. We always have to be different, like starting school BEFORE Labor Day and stuff...it gets really annoying.