• Ren continued walking, totally oblivious to the wide eyed stare and gaping she was receiving from one of the new neighborhood locals. Absentmindedly, she played around with a strand of her long copper hair and shifted her bag to her other shoulder. Her eyes glazed over as her thoughts began to wander and soon she lost all connection with the outside world. In her dream, she was free to do whatever she wanted and when she wanted, and the best part was she never had to worry about how the bills would get paid or how long it might be before she would be able to eat until she was full. She was unaware of the thick, metal pole that supported a basketball hoop that she was quickly approaching. She hit with a loud BANG and bounced off of the sturdy pole as if she was a rag doll. She snapped back to reality just as her butt hit the cement, and she felt the fiery blush of embarrassment cover her face.
    "Not...again," she groaned and rubbed the bump on her forehead, where she had hit the pole.
    Kari watched the girl from her dreams and wasn't sure whether or not to laugh at her accident or run forward to help her back up. Before she thought much about it, she chose the latter and ran forward. Before she reached her, she got up, rubbing her bum and flinching, and Kari was suddenly at a loss for what to do. Here she was, running towards a complete, well almost, stranger preparing to help her up to her feet. Ren turned around to meet Kari’s eyes and they stared at each other for a moment.
    "What’re you looking at?!" Ren snapped. Ren hadn't meant to snap, but the sheer embarrassment she felt from running into a pole and falling down with no obvious reason and then being seen by someone instantly put her on the defensive. She glared at Kari when she didn't reply and turned to leave. "Fine, if you're going to gape, then I’m leaving!" she started stomping down the road and got a few paces before she realized she was going the wrong way. Still aware of Kari’s eyes on her, she spun on her heel and started stomping down the street.
    At that comment, Kari felt really embarrassed. She felt that she should say something. So, she ran after her. "Are you alright?!" she said, trying to cover up her mistake of not saying anything earlier.
    "Why do you care?" Ren replied.
    "Umm....I hate seeing people hurt themselves unintentionally like that." She couldn't think of a lot more to say, so she said, "I'm sorry if I was staring at you. Something weird happened last night and I'm sorta out of it, so don't worry about it." Ren didn't reply, so Kari just kept following her. Ren was fully aware of Kari shadowing her steps.
    "Today is going to be a bad day" she murmured quietly so that only she herself could here. "Look," she stopped in her tracks and turned to face Kari. "I'm sorry I snapped, but that's no reason for you to follow me like a baby chick, got it?" She had to resist the urge to add a sarcastic remark on the end. Kari stared at her for a moment before a wide smile broke across her face. Kari broke out in laughter. After seeing the puzzled look on Ren's face, she tried hard to stop herself.
    "I'm....hehe...sorry......I am just relieved that your not mad at me....and you're really funny....hehehe. Besides, I'm not really following you just to follow you," she said, still trying to hold back her laughter.
    "Oh yeah, then why are you following me," Ren asked.