"Get A Life", a story long overdue.

# The Police - "Every Breath You Take"

MORNING
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY, COLLEGE STATION, TX

	Ari stood quietly under the tree, leaning against it slightly
and watching the door intently. "He should be walking by any minute."
she thought to herself. She'd been watching him for almost a week now,
and without any real purpose other than to see what his routine was.
"Spying" probably would have been a more appropriate word, after a
day or so of casual observation it had turned into a near obsession.
She'd changed her purpose to seeing if he'd ever vary his routine.
For someone his age, he didn't get out much.
	"Whatcha doing?" asked a voice right next to her ear.
It was accompanied by a mischevious giggle as the body of a young
girl appeared right next to her.
	"What the heck are you doing?!" she gasped a little too loudly.
"Someone might have seen you!" she lowered her voice to a vicious
whisper. "And it just wouldn't do to interfere in this world, would
it?!" She added this last bit without thinking and regreted it when
she saw the hurt look on her companions face.
	The companion was Rusa, a girl of about 12, wearing a blue
leather jacket that didn't belong to her and who was quick to get
back at Ari for the harsh comment. She propped her feet up on the
bike rack next to her friends. "Still thinking of how to see if he
got your finger prints?" she asked in a mocking voice that was only
one step above the 'sitting in a tree, k.i.s.s.i.n.g.' song.
	"Yes!" she snapped, frowning her disapproval. "You've been in
my closet again haven't you?" she accused, noticing that her favorite
hairclip had found it's way onto Rusa's head. She ran her fingers
through her hair, "Why should you care anyways, you have a place to
hide out the next time you guys start up another of those infernal
games of dimensional hide-n-seek."
	"Yeah, but now that you live here I have to travel to raid your
closet." the girl quipped, sticking her tongue out for the full brat
effect. "I'm done fixing your security system. Can we go now?"
	"Well it doesn't look like he's coming out anytime soon," she
hesitated only slightly before checking her watch. As she looked around
for anyone paying attention she added, "Alright, lets go." They both
disappeared in a flash of white light.

			***

	"...and you push this button to see who's at the front door."
the girl pointed to a button with an eye on it. "Oh, and the black
button unlocks the door." she added.
	"The front door?" Ari asked, slightly puzzled.
	"No, the DOOR...you know..." she hinted.
	"Oh, THAT door." there was a slight pause. "Is that a good idea?
I mean, what if somone finds it? Cleave will have a tantrum if he finds
out."
	"Cleave is 8, he has a tantrum if there's the slightest
fluctuation in the economy." Rusa frowned. "'sides, the door opens into
a hall far away from any place he's ever bothered to go in the house.
It'll be fine, really." she reassured.
	"Ok, if you say so." Ari wasn't completely convinced but she
trusted Rusa. "Now show me what's in this house you picked out. And
what's that black contraption out front again?"

			***

# Blondie - "Maria"

Later that same day...

	Ari stood, sat, leaned and in general loitered around the bike
racks some more, still trying to look as if she belonged. It was getting
late and she'd been hanging out there for most of the afternoon. She
was about to call it quits when he stepped through the sliding doors.
"Finally!" she thought to herself, only to have her hopes sink when
he turned around as if to go back inside. It was a big suprise then
when he didn't go back but proceeded to walk backwards, past the bike
racks, right up to the tree, and then turned and waved with a smile
before turning around and continuing on his way normally.
	She was too stunned to react at first and managed nothing more
than to stand with her mouth open in disbelief for a full 20 seconds
before it occured to her she had been caught spying and might want to
follow to make sure she wasn't about to be captured.
	"Well, I wanted a change in routine..." she commented to
herself with a shrug and looked where she was being led. It was a
crowded area, making it impossible to snap herself out if there was
trouble. She shrugged this off, ignoring the warning sirens that
were going off in her head, and followed anyway.
	"Now lets see..." she mused as she pulled her sunglasses out
and put them on. "where I'm being led." The crowd was getting thicker
and he was walking a lot faster than usual. Although she couldn't
explain why, this upset her. "Where are all these people coming
from?" she worried. They made it impossible to keep up and she lost
him in the crowd.
	Disappointed, she walked around in circles for a good ten
minutes or so before she gave up and made her way to a deserted side
area and bent down to tie the shoelace that had been working it's way
loose since she left the bike racks. She sighed, flipped her hair
back and out of her face as she stood up and found herself standing
face to face with...

[tbc]