All characters in this story are created solely by me. I would like to
thank H-Packrat for giving me a smooth critique of how this could be
improved.


 A young male in his mid teens was sitting on a sofa, talking into the
phone. The male had raven-dark hair and eyes. He is alone in a large
empty house.

Male: Huh? What! New room mate!? What do you mean new room mate old
man!? I thought I was supposed to stay here alone.

 The male stopped, listening to the phone with a frown.
Male: Not econimically advisable to have 1 person stay in such a large
flat?? Especially in these down times!? Bah! Fine, pop. I don't have the
time to argue with you.  *slams the phone down*

Male<think>: And here I thought that I could finally get some solitude
by moving here. And I jumped at the offer when pop said he had an empty
house that nobody was renting at the time. And now a room mate, it's
going to be much harder to live with a room mate. I hope it's someone I
can get along with at least.

 The male gets off the sofa, before heading to the fridge to get a
drink. While doing so, he checks his watch.
Male: Damn! I'm almost late, I promised I'd meet Viena at the MRT
station at 1 pm! No time for a drink, gotta rush!

 The male runs out of the house, putting on his jacket as he rushes
towards the elevator. Sometime later, he is seen running along an empty
street.

Male<think>: What is that?? I smell smoke, lots of smoke.

 The male turns to look around him when he notices the smoke coming from
the street opposite him. He turns to look only to see that an apartment
block is on fire. In the distance he can hear police sirens speeding
towards the apartment.
Man<think>: Good the police are already here. I don't need to intefere.
Voice: Damn it!! What the hell do you mean Serrah went back!??
Voice2: She said she left something inside there!
Voice: What is she? Crazy!? Nothing could be worth her life!!
Male<think>: Great, some girl is stuck in the building. None of my
business anyway.........Crap, my conscience wins again.

 The male ran into the doorway. He could hear voices telling him to stop
but he ignored them. But he can hear one voice yell at him that the
girl's at the second floor. He runs up towards the second floor only to
find a girl slightly older than him passed out on the floor. Probably
from inhaling too much smoke. In her hand, she clutches some sort of
necklace. By this time, the male was breathing heavily and coughing as
the smoke got into his lungs.

Male: Damn it! Lousy conscience, if this gets me killed, I'm going to
kill it. <think> That doesn't make much sense though.
 The male picked up the girl, slinging her over his back as he tried to
go back the way he had come. The girl still doesn't let go of the
necklace. But he can't as the stairs has been set on fire. The only was
is up. By now he is sweating quite profusely. But nonetheless he runs up
the flight of stairs until he comes to the rooftop door. He tries to
open it but it won't budge. He tries again, with a bit more force but
the knob comes off in his hand. The male stared at the knob at his hand
and the knobless door.

Male: What is this!? Some cosmic joke?? Damn it!
 The male lashes out, in frustration, with a kick that seriously dents
the steel door and blows it off its hinges.. He goes onto the rooftop
while all below him is slow being consumed by fire. He looks over the
distance to the opposite rooftop which seems to be the only way out. The
distance between the two buildings has to be at least 20 metres.
Male: I swear someone up there is purposely tormenting me.

 The male braced himself, shifting the girl so that he carried her in
both arms. He ran all the way back, building up enough momentum before
jumping across the roof. Halfway through the jump, the girl stirs
slightly but then he lands hard on the concrete roof of the opposite
appartment, rolling as he landed. Finally he managed to sit up slightly,
kneeling with both hands and feet to the floor like a dog, as he panted
hard, sweat pouring down him, his sweat-bathed locks clinging to his
forehead. The girl lay besides him, still not having awoken yet,
amazingly still hanging on to the necklace in her hand.. Grinning
slightly, with a fervent look in his eyes, he flipped his hair away from
his eyes.
Male: Looks like my powers are good for something after
all.........^Hack^ ^Hack^

 The male coughed violently as his lungs tried to get rid of all the
smoke they had been forced to inhale.
Male: Better get out of here before any authorities show up.

 Saying so, the man walked down the stairs, ducking into dimly-lit
corners as he saw the police and medics alighting from the elevator.

 Later, much later, the male walked home, alone and lost in his
thoughts.
Male<think>: I can't believe.....she wants to break up.
 <Flash back>
 The male stood besides a pretty girl with blond hair, dressed in a
t-shirt and skirt.
Viena: Rand....I want to break up.
 Rand stood there, looking dumbly at the girl.

 <Present>
Rand: Was it...me?? Did I do something wrong?

 Rand's head is slumped down as he peers at the ground.

Rand: Even so...I can't change it now.

 He gets into the lift, glumly pressing the button to his floor. He
seems like a man broken.
Lift: Ding!
Rand<think>: Ah, that was fast. Or was it because I was lost in thought?

 He steps out of the lift, walking towards his apartment when he notices
that the light is on and the gate has been left unlocked.

Rand<think>: That's wierd, I remember locking it before I left. Could a
robber have come in??

 Rand ponders this for a while as new energy springs into him, his
recent break up forgotten. Finally, he opens the door as smoothly as
possible. As he enters, he notices that most of the lights are on and
there are several empty boxes lying around. Finally he can hear a sound
coming from the bathroom. He sneaks towards it, leaning on the door
before slamming it open.

Rand: Who's that!

 Rand moved swiftly without waiting for a reply, depending on his
element of surprise. That was when he noticed the half-dressed girl in
the bathroom. The same girl he had rescued today.

Girl:....

Rand:....<think> Long legs...........

 There was a moment of silence as they both observed each other. Finally
the girl broke the silence first.

Girl: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!! Pervert!!

Rand: No wait!! You've got it wron--Ugh!

 Rand started ducking as the girl started throwing misc. bathroom
objects at him. He waved his arms, trying to deflect one. That was until
the girl picked up one super-sized bottle of shampoo and threw it at
him, somehow managing to conk him one on the head. Before he even knew
it, he was down on the floor, groaning as he held a hand to his head.

Girl: Pervert!
 The girl stamped down on his stomach again as she glared at him.

Rand: Will you cut that out!! I live here!!

 Rand took out his housekeys and started swinging them in front of the
girl to show her.
Almost immediately she backed off.

Girl: Oops.

 Rand groaned as he got up, trying to ignore the pain in his stomach
not-too-succesfully.

Rand: Now, who are you!? And what are you doing here??

Girl: I'm your room mate, Serrah. Nice to meet you.
 The girl extended her hand as she said this.

Rand: What!?!

 He sat up immediately, rushing towards the phone. He quickly dialled a
number, waiting a few
moments before someone picked up the phone.

Rand: Why is my room mate a GIRL!!?! I thought I was going to have a
male room mate.

Serrah: Hey, what's wrong with female room mates?

Rand: What do you mean she's the only who wants to rent the room!? I
don't care! She's a female for
goodness sake and I'm a male!! Doesn't that say something!

Phone: Yeah, but don't you already have a girlfriend?

Rand:.......Never mind that!!
 He slammed the phone down, only to glare at it venmously now and then.
Rand<think>: I'm guess I'm stuck like this.

 Later, much later the two were seated around a table. Rand was frowning
and had a rather grumpy expression on his face.
Rand<think>: I can't believe Pop did this. My class is going to have a
field's day with this information.
Serrah: So how old are you? I'm 18 and I'm go to Junior College.

Rand: I'm 15. Didn't you already have a place to stay?

Serrah: Yeah, but it was going to be demolished already. And thank
goodness I already packed my
stuff and sent it over or else it would have been left in that
fire....except for that one necklace I forgot.

Rand<looking bored>: I can't understand why you rushed into the fire
over such a stupid triviality.

Serrah: It's not a triviality!! And how did you know that anyway!?

Rand: Ehh? Uh....I just know.

Serrah: It may not look like much but it's the last birthday present my
father gave to me before he died. I'll always treasure it.

Rand: I'm sorry to hear that.

Serrah: That's ok. I got over his death a long time ago. So why do you
stay in a single apartment anyway? I stay because I'm an orphan, I don't
have any other really close relatives to stay with.

Rand: Me?? I just stay here because I wanted some peace and quiet.

Serrah: Oh. Say...have I met you before? You seem very familiar although
I can't tell why.

Rand<nervous>: Oh....really? You must be mistaken. <think> Can she
remember me??

Serrah: I guess so, I'd remember if I met you anywhere. So where's my
room.

Rand<pointing without looking>: Just take anyone of those empty rooms.

Serrah: Okay, I guess I will. Nice chatting with you.
 Rand only grunted in response as he started to pick up a nearby
magazine with the title
<Model Mechas Magazine>. That was when the phone started to ring.

Rand: Hello?

Voice: Hey Rand! Is it true you and Viena broke up??

Rand: What business is it of yours!?

Voice: Come on, why did you break up anyway?

Rand: None of your @$^ business!!

Serrah: Hey Rand, I'll be using the shower. Don't creep in this time.

Voice: Is that a girl I hear?? And that doesn't sound like Viena. I
can't believe it, you break up less
than two hours before and already you have another girl in your house.
You're a fast worker man.

Rand: It's not what you---

Voice: Wait till I tell the class about this. ^click^

Rand: --think.... Damn it!!
 Rand slams the phone down quite violently.

Rand: Why can't anything go my way......Maybe everything'll be better
after I sleep.