A car pulled up beside me.  It wasn't any ordinary car, it was a Bugatti Veyron sports car, and for all those who were big fans of the F1, it was a big deal.

 

I pinched myself, wondering if I was dreaming.  I had to be.  I was probably on my Tom-and-Jerry bedsheets, fast asleep...

 

A horn blared from beside me.  The car's windscreen came down - with me still staring unabashedly - to reveal...

 

Kris.  Kris Wu clad in black sunglasses, looking smexy as usual.

 

"Hi?" I said uncertainly.  Some professor once said that dream figures were in reality a projection of oneself.  I didn't want to end up falling in love with myself.  But wow, dream-figure Kris was looking pretty good.

 

"Get in." He commanded.  My subconscious projections of Kris seemed to be pretty accurate.  Here in dreamland, he was still an unrepentant jackass.

 

It seemed like no matter where I met Kris - in my mind, in school - we were still doomed to quarrel.  "Are you kidding?  I don't even know where you're going to bring me.  What if you sell me to the Mafia as a slave?  What if you drive me into a dark forest and shred me into tiny pieces?"

 

"I'm glad your opinion of me is so high," He said curtly.  "But have it your way.  If you know the route to my house, feel free to travel there on foot."

 

I made a face.  "Why would I want to travel to your house?  That's the last place on Earth I'll go."

 

"Because, Luhan invited you there."

 

"No, he invited me to-" I stopped abruptly.  I shouldn't shoot down his claim until I could prove it.  "Really?  I thought you guys were going to train-"

 

"At my house."

 

"Oh.  Uh." I cleared my throat, ashamed.  Luhan had invited me after all, so I had expected their little get-together to be at his house, and not at Kris's.  I bit my lip.  "Is it too late to cancel?"

 

"Grace is already there." Kris looked aloof.  He probably couldn't care less if I turned up or not.

 

"Why the hell is Grace already there?"

 

"Lay and Chen took her."

 

I groaned.  I was liking this situation less and less.  "Assuming I know who Lay and Chen is-"

 

"Friends."  

 

"Alright," I weighed his reply.  Kris's friends?  Other Ancients who hated common people like us?  That was the last thing I needed.  "Where's Luhan?"  He was possibly the only dam of support against that waterfall of evil threatening to swallow me.

 

"He fell into a ten-foot-deep ditch and died," Kris snapped.  His fingers tightened round the steering wheel.  "Look, if you don't want to get in, just say so.  Stop wasting my time  playing twenty questions."

 

Jerk.  Retard.  .  Stupid loser.  All the bad words in the world combined.  "Okay, one last question," I said cautiously.  "Even with this one, my questions won't add up to twenty."

 

"It's a saying, stupid." Kris crossed his arms.

 

I took that as a green light - a GO!  "Where's Luhan?  Really, now." 

 

"Detention," he drawled.  The boy was bored again.  "He asked me to take you first."

 

"And you listened?  Sorry if it's hard to believe."  I snatched off his sunglasses, earning a 'Give it back, !'.  It was easier to catch a person lying when you had access to their eyes.  I loomed over him menacingly, "Did he bribe you with anything?"

 

"Yeah," Kris mimicked what-I-believed-was-supposed-to-be-me.  It was gross.  All I had to say was that: high-pitch didn't suit him.  "He bribed me with five chocolate-chip-cookies-"

 

"Hey! How did you know-" I started up indignantly.

 

"You guys were pretty loud during class," he said.  I snorted.  I figured that Luhan's guardian angel would be watching his every step, especially when interacting with me.  None of my conversations with Luhan were going to be private.

 

"Now," Kris continued.  "You have two options.  Option one," His fingers stretched across the steering wheel.  "You get into the car, willingly.  Option two, I drag you into the car."  I frowned.  I didn't like the end results of both options:  with me getting into his sinister car.

 

I raised my hands and raved it about.  "Option three, please!"  Which means I don't get into you car.  At all.

 

"Option three?" Kris smirked and leaned back in his seat.  I watched as he mock-pretended to scroll through my options.  "You give me back my sunglasses and I drag you into the car."  I frowned.  That option wasn't exactly desirable either.

 

"Wait." I stopped to think.  "If I choose option one, I get to keep your sunglasses?"

 

"Yes."

 

In the palm of my hands, Kris's expensive designer sunglasses glimmered under the sun.  Oh baby, this little guy was mine now.  

 

"Okay, option one for me then."

 

~0~

 

There was another girl in the car.  She was younger than me by at least three years, and I recognized her as one of the 'Ancients' from the cafeteria.  From the glares she frequently showered me with - like I was a rabid dog that needed to be put down, my best bet was that she was Kris's girlfriend.  Like boyfriend, like girlfriend.  Birds of the same feathers flock together.

 

Wow.  When did I become so wise?

 

And besides, she was very pretty, too.  Figured that Kris would take the best for himself.

 

"When can I date?" The unknown princess was whining to Kris from beside him.  My brows knitted together in puzzlement.  That was a very strange question for a girlfriend to ask her boyfriend.  She had to be a rather stupid girl.

 

"I thought we both agreed you were becoming a nun?" Kris replied, eyes on the road. 

 

"I was SEVEN!" The girl shrieked.  "You bribed me with candy into agreeing!" 

 

"And don't forget, you agreed again when you were twelve."

 

"That's because you and Lulu threatened me!"  The girl accused.  She pounded on Kris's shoulder furiously.  "You guys said you'd throw my barbie out of the window."

 

Kris sighed.  He adjusted his rearview mirror the moment the car skidded to a halt before a red light.  "You never complained before." He said darkly.  "Who's the guy?"

 

"None of your business," The girl sulked.  "It's not fair that you can get yourself a girlfriend-"  She pointed at me, her eyes raging mad.  "When I can't get myself a boyfriend."

 

"I'm not his girlfriend!" I immediately corrected, just when Kris said, "She's not my girlfriend."  Our eyes met in the rearview mirror, and our glares locked once more.  I didn't say, See? This stupid misunderstanding occurred because you dragged me into your car!  And he didn't reply, Don't pretend you aren't happy for being mistaken as my girlfriend.  And I didn't argue back, Get over yourself.  Not everyone falls over your feet.  Get used to that.

 

We broke eye contact.

 

"Anyway," I began from the backseat.  "I don't get why you're getting your in a knot over your sister dating."  I had taken me a while to draw my conclusion, but after a little personality and features check, I had mentally penned these two down as siblings.

 

"Yeah," The girl agreed with me.  Instead of another death glare I earned, I earned a grinned lopsidedly from her.  She thumped her brothers shoulder.  "Loosen up, big guy.  No one's going to screw me over, like... l-like-"  She paused there, and side glanced her brother nervously.

 

Like the Luhan incident, I mentally finished for her.

 

"No." Kris said.  "As long as I'm alive, you're walking the path of a nun."

 

"You are unbelievable!" I protested.  I shifted over, and jabbed his shoulder from behind.  "Just because she has a overprotective jackass as a brother, she can't get married, get a family, have kids?"

 

"No one asked for your opinion," Kris glared at me in the rearview mirror.

 

"No," His sister did a cross between a sulk and a pout.  "She's RIGHT."  A shocked expression crossed her brother's face, but it disappeared quickly.  "I am dating," She declared.  "You and Lulu can go screw yourselves!"

 

Kris's shoulders tensed.  "The guy you date will wish he were never born."

 

"Stop being a douche bag!" I snapped.  "I'm completely for your sister!"

 

The girl smiled at me.  Dimples appeared on her cheeks.  Then she turned to Kris, who was still fuming in front of his steering wheel. "I like your girlfriend, Kris."

 

Mount Fuji exploded.

 

~0~

 

"Her name is Ace."  Kris's sister patted the Alpaca-lookalike-dog before me.  "Everyone in school calls her Ace the Alpaca.  But actually, she's a dog."

 

"Oh, ah, um."  Ever since I had laid eyes on their mansion, I hadn't been capable of speech.  And just as I thought I couldn't be surprised any further, a large dog (I couldn't even identify it's breed.  Maybe it was a mutant dog.) had bounded up to us and knocked me over with a snarl.  Kris and his sister had restrained it with whimpering noises, but still, the shock had yet to pass. 

 

"Hey," Kris addressed his sister from behind us.  "I have an idea.  I can set you up with a date with Lulu, if you-"

 

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"  His sister exploded.  It seemed to me that their tempers were inherited.  "I am not pretend-dating Lulu.  I'll stick to becoming a nun, thank you."  When she caught my perplexed expression at the nickname 'Lulu', she explained, "Luhan."

 

"What's wrong with Luhan?" I asked defensively.

 

"Nothing." The girl shrugged.  "Just that, I grew up with him."  Then she grinned devilishly. "And when I saw him pick a green booger out of his nose when he was six, I told myself that even if he were the last guy on this Earth, I wouldn't marry him."

 

I laughed.  The alpaca-like-dog growled at me.  My laughter caught in my throat.

 

"No-no, Ace," The girl scolded.  "This is a guest."  She jabbed a finger in my direction.  "Get it?  A guest.  So you treat her well."

 

I shook my head as I watched the dog emit another feral growl.  That thing was going to eat me once its owner's back was turned.  I just knew it.

 

"You girls do that girl-talk thing you girls always do." Kris told us boredly.  His eyes watched me closely, as if to say 'I'm watching you.  Dare to do anything to my sister, and I'll feed you to Ace.'  "I'm going in first to find Lay and Chen."

 

"Whatever," Both his sister and I yawned.

 

"Where's Kristen?" Kris questioned his sister.

 

"Probably eating or sleeping.  Living the high life of a six year old."

 

"I meant where."

 

"People tend to sleep in their bedroom."  A duhhh coated her voice.

 

Kris grunted and turned his back on us.  Ace-the-not-really-Alpaca squirmed out of his sister's reach, before cantering after Kris, barking excitedly as it trailed after him.

 

His sister shrugged helplessly.  "Ace always liked him the most."

 

"I wonder why?" I mumbled.  "That dog sure has a bad taste."