Cosmic Crisis 2 - The Return of Orion
Written by Erin Miller - nekochan016@aol.com

Chapter 2 - Adventures at Lakeside!

	
	Natalie awoke on the Friday morning to her alarm blaring in the
dark room.  She sat up groggily and looked around, her eyes getting used
to the changes.  She fell back down and hit the snooze button while
mumbling, "Just five more minutes..." No more than 30 seconds later, the
door to her room swung open and Trunks shook her, trying to get her out
of bed.
	"Come on!  You'll be late if you don't get up now!" he said. 
She just rolled over on her stomach and pulled the covers over her head.
 "Man if my dad were here I would have *him* do this." Trunks said,
ripping the covers off of the tired girl.  
	"Leave me alone!" she cried, her sinuses finally clear.  "I can't go
to school, I'm sick." 
	"But you have those big tests today!  You can't miss them,
Nat!" Trunks cried, and dragged her out of bed, placing her on the
floor.  She landed in a heap and looked up at the boy with confused
eyes.
	"Oh fine.  Then get out so I can get ready." She said and shut
the door behind him.  She got in the shower and turned on the water,
which came out cold at first, chilling her.  "What tests do I have
again?" she thought out loud.  "Oh no!  French and physics!  Man..." she
said, washing her hair.  When she was finished, she wrapped a towel
around her hair and ran to her closet to pick out some clothes.  She
pressed the talk button on the intercom and spoke into it.
	"Trunks!  What's the weather supposed to be like today!?" she
said in a hurry.  
	"Uh...warm.  Really warm." He said a few seconds later.
	"Thanks." She replied, and then returned to her closet and
pulled out a pair of boot-cut denim jeans and a short sleeved yellow
shirt.  She looked around her room for her shoes but found them to be
missing.  She ran to the door of her room and opened it, calling out to
everyone below.
	"Does anybody know where my brown shoes are!?" she cried.  
	"Down here!" Bulma called from the kitchen.  She ran down the
stairs and grabbed the shoes, running back up the stairs to her room. 
She wrung out her hair and pulled into a ponytail, tying a white ribbon
in it and frantically slipping her shoes on.
  She ran down the stairs to get her books, which she had left in the
sitting room the previous night.  She was on her way out the door when
Bulma stopped her.
	"Don't forget your lunch!" she said and handed Natalie the
brown paper bag.
	"Thanks.  Gotta go!" she said and ran out the door, heading
toward her school.  She glanced down at her watch.  "8:12!  I've gotta
make it..." she said, dodging a pedestrian.  Suddenly, someone grabbed
her hand and jerked her forward.  She looked over and realized that it
was Trunks.
	"Come on!" he said, and flew down the sidewalk with Natalie
struggling to keep her feet on the ground.  When they finally made it to
the school, the first bell had already rung.
	"No!  Late again!" She cried as they ran into the building. 
Unfortunately, a hall monitor caught them on their way to class.
	"Natalie!   Trunks!  Let me see your hall passes." The snobby
blonde girl said to the two.
	"Well...er...we just got here, and - " Natalie was cut off.
	"Say, you're pretty cute.  I'll let you go this time, but next
time you'll get a late pass." The hall monitor said to Trunks.
	"What!?" Natalie cried.  "What about me?  You aren't going to
give ME a late pass, are you?" 
	"Um...yep" the girl replied dryly.  Natalie growled out of
frustration and tore the pass from the girl's hands and ran off to her
French class while Trunks headed to Algebra 2.  Natalie opened the door
to the classroom and shut it behind her, catching her breath.  She
looked up as the class all stared at her in silence.
	"Natalie!  Late again, are we?" The teacher said, folding her
oversized arms.  Why don't you take a seat in the back next to him." She
said, pointing to a brown-haired boy in the back row.  "Since he's new,
I'll give you the task of showing him around today." the teacher
finished.  Natalie shuffled to the back of the class and sat down in her
seat while the teacher began to pass out tests.
	"Hi." The boy next to her whispered.  Natalie turned around
quizzically and studied him.  He was tall and muscular, with brown spiky
hair and pale green eyes.   
	"My name's Ryan." He said.  "Yours?" 
	"N-Natalie." She replied, looking at him curiously.  Suddenly
the teacher approached their desks and slammed her hand down on the wood
desktop.  Both teens jumped in surprise.
	"Natalie, what am I going to do with you?" he teacher sighed. 
"You can't even set a good example for a new kid in school." She said,
shaking her head in disgust while plopping two tests on either desk. 
Natalie shot daggers at the teacher's back with her eyes as Ryan
produced the infamous anime sweat drop.  "Okay class, you may begin with
your test.  You will have 45 minutes." The teacher said, and then sat
down at her desk.
	"Hmm..." Natalie thought to herself as she lowered her pen to
the paper.  "To congregate regular -er verbs..." she thought as she
wrote vigorously on the paper, spelling out the present tense forms of
French verbs.  While she was busy with her test, Trunks sat in Algebra,
barely awake.  Suddenly, the teacher called on him to answer a question.
 Trunks' eyes snapped open and he sat up straight.
	"C-could you repeat that, ma'am?" he said, trying to regain his
composure.
	"I said, will you please answer number 42 of your homework
assignment?" The teacher said, pushing her curly red hair out of her
eyes.  
	"Uh..." Trunks said, looking down at his paper.  "F(x) = (3y -
4x) + (-5 + 12x)?" he answered, looking up at the teacher.
	"Well done!  Adrienne, please answer number 43." The small,
frail woman requested as a girl with black hair and freckles began to
recite the answer.
	"Whew.  I lucked out that time." He thought to himself as he slumped
back into his chair.  
	Meanwhile, Natalie was having trouble writing out a conversation in
French.  She scribbled down a few more things on the paper and decided
to call a quits.  When she had finished, she got up to hand her test in,
but Ryan was on his way and took it for her.
	"Thanks!" she whispered to him.  She rested her head on her desk and
closed her eyes.  "Man I am so tired." She thought to herself. 
Suddenly, there was a tapping on her shoulders.  She was about to swat
the person away when she realized it was Ryan.  Not wanting to appear
rude, she got up and looked in his direction, noticing a folded piece of
paper on her desk.  "What the - " she thought as she opened it.  Inside,
it read,
	"You seem pretty nice.  Wanna hang out later?"
	She looked in Ryan's direction, who was flashing a charming
smile her way.  She couldn't resist and nodded her head sweetly.  After
about 10 minutes, the teacher grabbed the graded tests off her desk and
announced to the class.
	"I have graded your tests and will average them into your final
grade.  Remember that you cannot re-take these unless you have a valid
excuse." She said, passing them out.  When she came to Natalie, she
paused, and then placed the paper on her desk facedown.   Natalie
flipped it over anxiously and looked at it.
	"92!  Yes!" she exclaimed rather loudly.  "Heh, oops." She said, and
sat back in her seat.  
	"Tres bien ("very good")!" the teacher commented, and continued
on to the other students.  Natalie leaned over to Ryan's desk.
	"How did you do?" she asked.
	"Not so good.  I got a 65." He sighed.  Suddenly, the bell rang
for second period and the students scrambled out of the class.  On her
way out, Natalie was stopped by the teacher.  
	"Natalie, Ryan is really having trouble with this class.  I was
wondering if you would tutor him since you are an exceptional student."
The teacher explained.
	"Sure, Madame Menzie!" Natalie said, and hurried off to second
hour.  For once, she arrived on time and took her assigned seat.  She
liked this class, mainly because Trunks was in it as well.  
	"Alright, class.  Settle down.  The bell is about to ring!" the
teacher said, walking up to the chalkboard.  A few other students
entered the classroom, Trunks included, before the late bell rang.  He
sat in the seat in front of Natalie.
	"Okay, please take out your literature books and turn to page
243.  As you know, we left off yesterday when Mercutio and Romeo were at
the party and Mercutio had just finished his Queen Mab speech." The
teacher began, as the class turned to the appropriate page.  After the
students took turns reading passages from Romeo and Juliet, the teacher
called on a student to pass out the results of the quiz they had taken
the day before.
	"Aw, man!" Trunks said as he got his quiz back.
	"What?" Natalie asked curiously.  Trunks showed her the paper
that had a big 70 written in red marker.  
When she got hers back, she replied, "Don't worry.  I only got an 82."
She said reassuringly. 
"Thanks, Nat.  Makes me feel so much better." He replied sarcastically. 
She slapped him in the back of the head playfully.  
	"Quit flirting." Someone called from behind Natalie.  She
turned around to discover Akari, slumped in her seat, looking at her
with a smirk on her face.  Natalie glared at the girl with a menacing
look in her eyes.  "What's the matter, embarrassed?" the girl laughed
mockingly.  
	"Why should she be embarrassed?  At least she has someone."
Trunks said to the girl with an annoyed look on his face.  The class
erupted into a roar of laughter as Akari turned red in the face and
snapped back at the two.
	"I do have someone!" she said rudely.  Suddenly, the teacher slapped
his desk with a yardstick, causing the class to jump in surprise.
	"Akari!  Natalie!  Detention!" he said in a loud tone of voice.
 The two girls sunk down in their seats and offered weak apologies. 
When the class ended, Natalie shuffled out of the room with her head
hung.  Trunks ran up and playfully slapped her on the back.
"Trunks!?" she cried in protest.  
"Hey!  Sorry!" he said.  "What's the matter?" he asked.
"You saw what happened in there.  I didn't even say anything to her!"
she said angrily.
"Hey, I'll get detention too if it will make you feel better!" he said,
plastering on a cheesy grin.  She just snickered and punched him in the
arm as they both walked outside for lunch.  They picked a shady spot
under an oak tree and pulled out their lunches.
"Oh, I have to go deliver something to a teacher really quick!" she
said, pulling out a manila folder and running back into the building. 
On her way out, she ran into Ryan.
"Hey Ryan!" she said, opening the door, which he held open for her. 
"When do you have lunch?"
"Now, you?" he answered.
"Me too!  Want to sit with us today?" she asked thoughtfully.
"Sure." He replied, and followed the girl to the oak tree where she sat
down.  As soon as Ryan spotted Trunks he produced a look of surprise on
his face.
"Oh, I haven't met your...friend." He said, looking at Trunks with a
strange expression.  Trunks just looked back with a puzzled look.
"Oh, well this is Trunks.  Trunks, this is Ryan." She said.  They two
teenage boys exchanged glances as Natalie pulled out her lunch.
"So what did your mom pack today?" Natalie asked, peering into her bag.
"Huh?  His mom packs your lunch?" Ryan asked with a confused look on his
face.
"Oh, um...yeah.  My mom...er...left early this morning and forgot to fix
my lunch, so his mom gave me an extra." She replied, remembering that
nobody knew that they lived together.  Ryan cocked an eyebrow.
"Oh." He said, and watched as the two pulled various items out of their
bags.
"Don't you have a lunch, Ryan?" she asked, noticing that he was
empty-handed.
"Oh, no.  I guess I forgot it today." He said.
"Well you can always share with us.  Bulma kinda packs too much food."
She said, and handed him half of her sandwich, which he accepted.  He
studied it for a minute.
"What, don't you like turkey?" she asked him.
"Turkey.  Yeah, I like it." He said, and bit into the sandwich.  When
the two finished 20 minutes later, the bell rang for third hour and they
went their separate ways.  
"See you guys later!" Natalie called out as she ran to her physics
class.  


When the school day had ended, Natalie left her last class, sighing with
relief.  Suddenly, she remembered that she had detention.  She
reluctantly headed to the detention room, sitting down into a seat near
the back of the room.  Soon, Akari walked in.  As soon as the teacher
was about to shut the door, Trunks ran in as well.
"Trunks!?" Natalie said, surprised.  "What are you doing here?"
"I was late for fourth hour." He said, winking.  Natalie just laughed to
herself and pulled out her books, starting on her homework.  An hour
later, the three were dismissed to go home for the day.  Natalie and
Trunks walked down the sidewalk, heading for Capsule Corp.
"Thanks for coming to detention today.  I would have died if it was just
me and Akari." Natalie said slapping him on the back with a grin on her
face.  
"Yeah well you can thank me later." He said, and looked around to see if
anyone was watching, and then leapt into the air.  Natalie followed, and
her ki flared, leaving behind a trail of blue.  Trunks did the same, and
the two headed home.  When they made it to the Capsule Corp. building,
they landed on the rounded roof and sat, looking out to the horizon.  A
warm breeze blew, making Natalie feel cozy and content.  Suddenly, the
peace was interrupted when Vegita appeared in front of them with his
arms crossed.
	"What are you two doing?" he asked.  He looked down at the girl
who was leaning on his son and glared at her.  She looked up innocently
and jumped back when she saw the look on his face, almost slipping down
the side of the building.  Trunks looked at her with a confused
expression, and then turned back to his father.
	"What?" he asked, looking up at Vegita.
	"Well I heard you two 'land', so I figured I'd come and get
you.  Besides, it's that time of the month for Bulma and I've been
trying to avoid her." He said.  Natalie burst out laughing and flew to
the ground, entering the building, without saying another word to the
two.  Trunks looked back up at his father with a questionable look on
his face and said nothing.
	"What!?  You know how women are!" Vegita snarled.
	"Heh, yep." He said, and landed on the ground with a soft thud.
 He went into the building, and ran up the stairs, throwing his books
onto the bed.  He then proceeded to race to the kitchen and examine the
refrigerator for anything edible.  Natalie appeared behind him and
tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to jump and hit his head on the
top of the door.
	"Hey remember the plan for today?" she said to him.  "We are
supposed to go to Goten's house, right?"
	"Uh...yeah.  We are." He said, tossing her a soda.  "Why?"
	"Well I was just making sure.  So how mane people are going to
be there?" she asked.
	"Just the three of us.  Actually, his parents are having some
friends over for a little reunion type thing so he was going to invite
us along." He said, looking in her direction.  "You don't have to go if
you don't want to."
	"No I want to go, I was just wondering." She said.  Bulma came
down the stairs as Vegita entered the building.  
	"We're going over to the Son family's house in a about an hour." She
announced.  "I want your homework done before we go, mister!" she said,
looking over at Trunks with a stern expression on her face.  He backed
away sheepishly and Natalie followed him up the stairs to the living
quarters.  When they reached their respective rooms, they both rushed in
to do their homework before they left.
	"NO!" a scream was heard from Natalie's room.  She stood up with her
hands on her head, her face red with frustration.
	"What!?" Trunks' voice came in on the intercom.
	"I left my physics book at school!" she cried, and slumped onto
her bed.  She dumped everything out of her book bag and searched
frantically, but there was no sign of it.  She growled angrily and
pulled out another notebook and flipped it open. 
	"Is it really that important?" Trunks' voice was heard again. 
"It's not like you miss assignments that often anyway."
	"I know but I had a lot of work to do in that class!" she said.
 "That teacher is so strict about that stuff too, even if you make
straight A's in there!" she fumed a bit more, and eventually let it
pretty much go.  She would have to work a lot harder though to maintain
her grade in the class.
	"Maybe Gohan will have one." Trunks said, this time standing in
her doorway.
	"What?" she asked, looking at him with question on her face.
	"Goten's brother...?"  he said, looking at her with one eyebrow
cocked.  "Remember him?  He has plenty of books on that kind of stuff."
	"Well...no I don't remember him.  But it's cool.  I guess I'll
see him tonight anyway, huh?" she asked, fishing in her bag for a pen.  
	"What are you doing, boy?" Trunks spun around to see his father
standing behind him in the doorway.  "You're supposed to be getting
ready, not talking to her." He said, making a gesture to Natalie, who
looked up.
	"Yeah.  Oops." He said, and slunk back into his room.
	"And as for you..." he said, looking at Natalie menacingly.  She had
gotten used to his cold demeanor after awhile and learned to dismiss it.
 "You have work to do as well.  I suggest you get to it."
	"Well maybe I would if I had some books!" she said.  She was
the only one besides Trunks or Bulma who had the guts to talk back to
him.  She was also the only one that Vegita wouldn't attempt to blast
through the wall after doing so.  Vegita just grumbled and walked away
as Natalie let out a frustrated sigh and shut the door behind him.  
	"Why is it always ME?" she asked herself out loud.  "He hates
me and I don't understand why."  She sat down on the bed and flipped
onto her stomach, resting her head on her hands.  She looked out the
window at the grayish-white sky.  She reminisced on the day's events,
and remembering Ryan, thought about his reaction to Trunks.  She just
dismissed the thought and continued with her schoolwork.


	Meanwhile, in another part of town, a teenage boy was walking
around an empty section of the city with his hands buried deep into his
pockets.  He had a look of concern on his face, as his pale green eyes
flashed.  He looked up into the sky and then changed directions, heading
to the south side.  When he got to what appeared to be his house, he
entered the dark home, shutting the wooden door behind him.
	He walked up a flight of stairs and headed towards a closed
door.  He entered the room and sat down onto a chair, still looking
preoccupied with something.  A gust of wind suddenly appeared, knocking
over a garbage can outside.  The boy looked up, his green eyes twinkling
in the dim light.  An evil smile appeared on his face as laughter echoed
throughout the house.