"Please be three o'clock already," Megumi whispered to herself as she stared at the clock, ignoring Mrs. Kasugano's lecture. She hadn't even dared to take out anything from her satchel that she didn't necessarily need. God, why does time have to move so slow when you need to be somewhere? She could barely sleep last night after hearing the news from Dre, and her dad once she got home, that she got tickets to the next Emblem of Valor tournaments, something that she was never able to go to, despite her father being one of the more famous competitors.

She glared at the clock, tapping her fingernails on the desk as she rested her chin on her free hand. Still 2:56. To her, it felt like time was at a stand-still.

"Miss Gladestone!"

Megumi snapped out of her trance-like state as her eyes snapped to Mrs. Kasugano leaning on her desk. "Is my teaching boring you?" The students in the classroom sniggering.

"N-no ma'am. I just have something really important to go to." Not like your Japanese is exactly accurate enough to be a Japanese teacher anyway.

Her thin eyebrow twitched as she looked at Megumi through her square framed glasses. "I would appreciate it if you would pay more attention to me and not the clock." She turned back to the chalkboard.

What can I do to make the time pass by? Pay attention to class? She shifted her eyes to Mrs. Kasugano making yet another mispronunciation. It was very painful to listen to. Yeah, I don't think so. She glanced at the clock again. 2:59. Hell yeah, she smirked as she grinned to herself.

She allowed her mind to wander, thinking about how the Emblem of Valor tournament would be like. She imagined sitting in the large, bowl-like arena, watching the overhead screen display the competitors as they fought through the jungle-like warzone.

Before long, the bell began to tone, and Megumi was the first to gather her scarce supplies and book and ran out of the room before her teacher had a chance to finish her lecture.

She ducked and weaved through the flock of students walking to their locker, none of them, Megumi figured, was as eager to leave as she was. Should I just go ahead and go to Amity now, or wait until I get home? She thought to herself, not even thinking about what she would do with her car if she left without taking it home.

"Dude, wait up," she heard Dre's voice call as she walked through the intersection of the hallways. Both Dre and Kim were slipping through crowds of buzzing students, walking far too slow for Megumi's taste.

"You two are slow," she said as she began walking towards the exit while Kim and Dre caught up.

"Slow? Did you not see that wave of people we had to cut through? We're lucky to be alive!"

"I think you may be exaggerating the truth a little bit, Ke'Undre," Kim said, walking on the other side of Megumi.

"Am I really?" Dre asked, mocking hysteria. "Besides, the only reason why Megumi was able to get through the crowd so easily is because she's lower to the ground than we are?"

"You calling me short, Dre?"

"No, not at all," he said as they made it to the parking lot. "I'm not really saying that you're short, per se. I'm just saying that if we went to an amusement park, you wouldn't be allowed to get on the kiddy rides."

She turned to Dre, her cheeks puffed out in anger. "You know, it's not wise to insult your only ride back home, unless you want to call up Ian and let him give you a ride."

Dre winced at the idea of taking another ride from Ian. "I'll be good," he said, lowering his head.

"So, am I giving you a ride, Kim?"

"Yes, if you don't mind. My mom and dad were too busy helping with the tournament, so I told them that I'd be able to get a ride. You're actually the only person I could ask."

"You could always ask Samantha," Dre said as they arrived at her Mustang.

They each got in. Both Megumi and Dre sat in the front while Kim sat in the back. "I don't think that Samantha would be... kind enough to give me a ride. Besides, I've already told mom that I would sleep over at someone's house if I couldn't get back home before curfew. I-if that's okay, Megumi. My parents wouldn't possibly let me stay at a boy's house."

"Sure, it's cool," Megumi sighed as she started the car and sped out of the parking lot, knowing that it would interfere with a full night of gaming.