2.1

The warm spring breeze ruffled our hair as we sat and stared forlornly at our homework. It really sucked to have to do homework when it was so nice out, but what choice did we have? We all had pretty big dreams. I wanted to become a CEO, and to even be considered for job-shadowing next year I needed very  good grades in all of my classes. Mint wouldn't exactly share what his dream was, all he said was that his father had ensured him a position of power. It almost made me nervous to think what the Winters family did to achieve and stay in power.

"This is so hard."

I looked over at Razzy and smiled sympathetically. The homework was fairly simple to me, and Mint wasn't having too much trouble with it either... But we were smarter than Razzy. As bad as it sounded, she simply hadn't inherited her father's intelligence. Not to say she is stupid, far from it, she just isn't really cut out for the advanced courses that Mint and I take. She worked so much harder than the two of us to earn B's and C's. I really respected her for it.

"What are you having trouble with this time?" 

 Mint's harsh voice cut across my thoughts and I glared at him. It wasn't that  he was trying to be mean to Razzy. He was just impatient and rough around the edges. He cared for Razzy almost as much as I did, and I knew he didn't hurt her feelings on purpose. I wish she would understand it too, but every time I tried to explain it she just shrugged.

"I can't figure out number ten."

Razzy always went much slower on her homework than we did. The homework had twenty questions. I was finishing up nineteen, and a look at Mint's paper told me he was starting on eighteen.

"Let me see your paper."

I watched for a moment as Mint began to explain to Razzy what she did wrong. Most of the time she didn't have to be told twice, she just didn't pick up on it in class because the teachers moved so fast.

It didn't take long before both Mint and I were finished with our homework. We didn't sit around and wait for Razzy to finish, we used to, but she got mad about it so we don't anymore. Instead Mint and I like to play catch while she finishes up. She doesn't like to play catch anyway. She doesn't really like any of the things we do... She just doesn't have any female friends to hang out with.

Once Razzy finished up her homework it was getting close to 6 PM. All of our families had dinner around that time, so that meant that we all needed to be heading home. Well, most of the time anyway. I had made plans to stay with Razzy tonight. Mint was always invited, but Razzy's father made no effort to hide his contempt for Mint's family. In fact, he was openly rude and hurtful to Mint. I didn't blame him for not going to Razzy's house.

She looked over at me, "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, of course." We both waved goodbye to Mint and set off toward Razzy's house.

 When we walked through the front door it was the same cold, empty environment as it always was. Doctor Jagger was rarely home, working as many hours as he possibly could. It wasn't that he had to work long, tedious shifts all the time. He chose to.

Razzy sighed as she made her way into the kitchen.

"What do you want for dinner?"

I followed her and sat down on one of the counters.

"Anything is fine."

She nodded and started pulling ingredients out of the cabinets. Razzy was an excellent cook, even better than my mom. She'd been cooking for herself since she was nine years old. Her dad.. Well... He really shut down after her mom died. Maybe it was because he couldn't save her, I don't know. What I do know is he had no excuse to stop being a father to Razzy. But he did. He started working as much as possible, ignoring Razzy. She's pretty much been fending for herself her entire life.

We ate dinner in silence. Razzy and I had fallen into a routine. She stayed at my house twice a week and I stayed at her house twice a week. Even if I wasn't staying the night sometimes I would come home with her. I knew she was lonely. Not only that, but she's a bit of a 'fraidy cat. She hates being home alone after dark. She always has, and Jagger knows it. But he does nothing to try and be home so she won't be afraid.

"Being afraid of the dark is impractical for someone your age, Shiraz. You'll have to learn to get over it."

Thinking about the cold, stoic way he'd muttered those words to her still caused anger to burn in my gut. I shouldn't have to take care of Razzy the way I do. But I do. Sometimes its all I can do to keep my mouth shut when he does decide to come home.

I spread my sleeping bag out on the floor as Razzy slid underneath her covers. I was allowed to stay with her and she was allowed to stay with me as long as we didn't sleep in the same bed. This was the agreement that our parents reached a few months after I met Razzy. I figured it was pretty fair. After all, we were teenagers. Most teenagers were interested in sex... But I would never take advantage of Razzy like that. She was my best friend.

"G'night, Cos."

"Night, Razzy."

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A/N: Sorry these chapters have been so short :/ Especially compared to Moon's chapters I feel like they are terribly short. Maybe they will get longer... Or maybe Cos will just have shorter chapters, but more chapters than Moon did. We'll just see.

2.0 - Prologue

My name is Cosmic Sky Whisper, and I'm fifteen years old. I guess you could say that I have a pretty good life. I mean, excluding the fact that my real dad didn't want me. Yeah, that's something I wish I never would have found out. I haven't spied on my mom since then. It really hurt, ya know? Cause I'm not exactly stupid, Brink obviously isn't my real dad... But I thought that maybe my real dad died in a fire saving me and mom or something. Nah. He's just a berryhole who didn't want me.

And Mom thinks that's why I "pick" on Castro so much, but it isn't really. No one will believe me when I tell them that Castro is a little prick, but he is! He is mean to Sakuya and Azalea all the time, but he somehow gets away with it. It's really unfair, and it is why I've started picking on him more lately. I get in trouble for it with Mom and Dad, but I don't care. Castro deserves it.

As far as school goes, I've always been a really smart and ambitious kid. I'm the type of person who will do homework right when I walk through the door. It always feels good to have everything done and have the rest of the day to do whatever I want. Not only that, but nothing makes me happier than receiving an 'A' on a piece of homework. Seriously. I can't stand failure, but thankfully passing isn't really a problem for me. I can blow through school so easily that Razzy and Mint get angry at me.

I suppose I should introduce you to my two closest friends.

I met Green Mint Winters when I was seven years old. He attended the "rich kids" school in Sugar Valley for the first two years of his education, but he got kicked out for being so mean. I can be a bit of a berryhole myself, but I am nothing compared to him. It is almost like he has no conscience at all. The teacher sat him next to me on his first day of class. I introduced myself and just like that I had a new best friend. He and I really click, and I honestly couldn't ask for a more loyal friend.

My parents don't really like him because he is too much like his father, but they just don't understand. The Winters family might be underhanded, sneaky, and cruel... But they have a set of morals they live by. It is much better to have them as friends than enemies or even acquaintances. Mint would lay his life down for me in a second due to the code that he lives by. I don't even know if I would return that kind of favor.

And then I have my more recent best friend. Her name is Shiraz Amethyst Gum, and her father is the famed Doctor Jagger. He is the only doctor in town willing to do the more "risky" or difficult surgeries and everyone absolutely adores him. I hate him though. The way he treats Razzy is unacceptable, but I guess I'm the only one who knows about that.

Razzy and I didn't meet until I was fourteen. She was home-schooled until high school, and she had absolutely zero social skills on her first day of school. In fact, she and I didn't even have any classes together... I just noticed her crying outside during lunch break. I'm not exactly known for my compassion, and sometimes when I'm having a bad day I can be almost as mean as Mint, but for some reason my heart when out to her. I walked up to her, asked her what was wrong, and the rest is history. Everyone is too afraid to pick on her now. After all, no one wants to get on mine or Mint's bad side.

Anyway, I suppose that's all I have to say. There isn't a lot going on in my life right now, after all. I don't even have a girlfriend.