My dad wouldn't stop yelling at me. But I was glad he believed the lie that I told him. The lie being that some kid threw a basketball at the slide door and it smashed through and the reason why there isn't any basketball for proof is because I got mad and threw the basketball back over the fence in our backyard.

"How come, when I am not within ten kilometers of the house, you break slash dent something?" My dad yelled.

"Dad! I didn't do that though!"

"You didn't make the dent either." My dad said.

"Well, that's true too!"

My dad shook his head.

I looked at my brother, hoping that he would defend me but he just stood there, eyeing me.

I sighed.

"Sir?" The super hot Indian police officer called.

My dad turned around.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't find anything that would give us a clue on who did it."

My dad sighed.

The officer turned to me. "Are you sure you didn't see the person?" He asked.

"Yeah." I said as I stared at his perfect face.

"And you're sure it was a basketball that broke the glass?" He asked.

I nodded. "Why is that so hard to believe? I threw the basketball back out with my own hands." I said.

The officer looked at me carefully. "Well, it's hard to believe that a basketball would break through such thick glass."

I sighed. "Well, maybe it wasn't a basketball."

"Young lady... you just told me that you were sure that it was a basketball."

"Well, maybe it was another type of ball... like, a harder ball... it looked like a basketball..." I stuttered.

The officer nodded. "And you didn't see who threw it?"

"No."

The officer turned to my dad. "I'm sorry, but we'll keep our eyes and ears open to see if anyone else finds or sees someone throwing... basketballs... at doors or windows."

My dad nodded. "Thank you." He said.

The officer nodded and walked out of our house.

My dad looked back at me. "Go to your room. Stay there."

I stared at him. "Why?"

"You are grounded."

"WHAT? ME?" I half screamed.

"Yes young lady." My dad said as he stepped aside to let my mom clean up the broken glass which was on the floor.

"WHY?"

"Because! Why on earth did you not call us when this happened? Are you foolish? What if someone was trying to hurt you?" He asked.

I frowned at him. "Dad-"

"Not another word. Go to your room. I'm taking out the internet for the rest of the week." He held out his hand. "Give me your cell phone."

"But dad!"

"Give it."

I handed him my cell phone.

"Upstairs. Now." He said. He then turned to Aathavan. "Can you go disconnect the internet in her room?"

Aathavan nodded and turned to walk up the staircase.

My dad looked at me. "Do I need to say it again?" He asked.

I frowned, got up and walked to my room behind Aathavan.

I flopped down onto my bed and watched as Aathavan did whatever he had too to disconnect the internet. I was a little upset with the fact that he wasn't talking to me. "Are you mad, Aathu?" I asked, turning over on my belly and resting my chin on my hands.

"Yes." Aathavan said.

"Why?"

He turned around and looked at me. "What really happened?" He asked.

I sighed. "That's the truth." I honestly didn't want anyone to worry about me.

Aathavan crossed his arms. "I don't believe it." He said.

"Then don't." I said, frowning. I got up and pulled out a book to read.

"Aathiray. You're getting me mad." He said.

I didn't say anything.

"Does Kero have anything to do with this?" He asked.

"No." I said.

Aathavan sighed. "Aathy... do you know how much this is hurting me?" He asked.

I turned around and looked at him.

"I know that something's wrong. And I know someone's trying to hurt you." He pointed at the large bruise on my arm which I hadn't noticed.

I frowned. The reason I wasn't telling him was because I didn't want it to hurt him. "I'm okay. Trust me. The bruise is because I fell... at school." I lied.

He shook his head. "Don't think that I'm not going to find out." He said.

I shrugged. "There's nothing for you to find out." I lied, again.

He kissed his teeth and walked out of the room, holding the internet cable in his hand. I knew he had to try very hard to make sure that he didn't slam the door behind him.

I sighed and spent the rest of the evening reading a book. When everyone was asleep, I sat on my bed, in the dark. I couldn't sleep. I stared at the shadows in my room, thinking that Diyo was going to pop up any second now. My eyes were wide open as I stared. My heart was racing. I was scared. Would Diyo hurt my friends and family? He was around here somewhere, I knew it. He could hurt someone important to me if he wanted. When was Kero going to come back? I asked myself.

Suddenly, I saw him. Not Kero, but Diyo. He jumped in front of me and covered my mouth before I could scream. "I will not hurt you if you shut up." He whispered.

I just stared at him.

"Listen well, Aathiray." He said. His face was extremely close to mine. "If you say a single word about the fact that I was here to Keroshan, I will murder that friend of yours, and your other ones."

I stared at him, my breathing stopped.

"Understood?"

I nodded.

He smiled and disappeared.

When I woke up the next morning, I stared at the ceiling wondering if it was a dream. I shook my head, it probably was. But after getting ready, I saw the black feathers on my floor. No. I thought. He was here. He must have left the feathers so that I would remember. I took a deep breath. This was bad.

That day was a really weird day. Of course, everyone was still talking about how I talk to animals, but that wasn't the weird part. The weird part was the weird looks that Celia kept giving Jacob... and it got weirder after school that day.

"Hey Jake!" I said, as I ran up to him.

He grinned at me. "Hey! Guess what?" He asked.

"What?"

He frowned. "We have a stupid science project."

I laughed. "Oh, I thought it was something good."

"No. Life sucks."

"Well, your life is better than mine." I said. "At least you aren't the laughing stock of the school."

He smiled. "Oh yeah, you're right."

"Jacob!" I heard Celia call.

He turned around and looked at her. "Celia..." He was definitely surprised.

There was something about her that made her look different. "Hey! I was wondering if you wanted to be my partner for the science project." She asked.

Okay. No. I said to myself.

"Oh... sorry, but Justin asked me to be his partner already..." Jacob said.

I smiled. Good.

She frowned. "Aw. Sucks. Well, maybe next time." She smiled at him. "See you around, Jake." She turned around and walked away.

Jacob watched her walk away. He turned around and looked at me. "Okay, that was weird." He said.

"Yeah. But you totally showed her!" I gave him a quick hug.

He laughed. "All I did was say no."

"Whatever... you totally rejected her!" I smiled. "That was amazing!"

Jacob rolled his eyes and smiled. "Do you want me to drop you off?" Jacob asked.

I shook my head. "It's okay. You said you had work."

"I don't care, I'll drop you off." He smiled.

I laughed and pushed him forward. "Go. I'll walk."

He smiled. "Please don't talk to animals, for your own sake."

I rolled my eyes and walked away. "See you later, Jake."

"Bye Aathy."

When I got to the front doors of our school I turned around and saw Chris behind me, as expected, of course.

I sighed as I pushed the doors open but then my face lit up.

Standing there, leaning against a tree with his hands crossed, was Kero.

I think I had my stupid smile on my face because he laughed. I then ran towards him, jumping into his arms. "Why did you take forever?" I asked.

"I'm sorry." He said.

I looked up at him. "You won't believe how much trouble I've gone through because you were gone!" I said.

Kero rolled his eyes. "Yes. I am very, very excited to hear of the torturous days you spent without me." He said, sarcastically.

I frowned at him. "You should be." I said.