Yes, yes, I know it's been a long time since I've updated my stories. I've had so many stupid tests that I seriously think that the teachers talk to each other and figure out how to make your life the most miserable. Plus, I'm kind of graduating early (like I want to stay in High School any longer than necessary, hehe!) so I just had to take the SAT and an AP exam, so I'm beyond happy to get a chance to sit down and type my story!

Besides, cheers for procrastinating homework! Go W.i.t.c.h.!

Chapter 13: Juggling Responsibilities

Wei's POV

"No way!" Ona exclaimed with her blue eyes staring at Phoebe in disbelief.

"Ona!" Eva yelled in annoyance as she grabbed a few napkins and was attempting to wipe the water off that covered the sputtering Rachel's face.

"Oops! I'm so sorry Rach. So, is it true then?"

"Is what true?" Phoebe asked as she looked down at her plate and took another bite of her sandwich.

"Don't play dumb! Another guy asked you out, and it's not Brandon!"

"I have no clue what you're talking about," Phoebe replied as she continued to gaze at her food as she steadily grew redder.

"I sense that she's not being completely honest."

"Get out of my head, Wei!"

"So is what Ona's saying true?" Eva asked with teasing curiosity. Wei watched Phoebe as she looked up at the clock. There was no need to worry. Wei knew that Phoebe was looking for an escape route from the bombarding questions, but the ending lunch bell wouldn't ring for another full ten minutes.

"Well…okay, his cousin, Evan, asked me to go somewhere on Saturday."

Wei whistled. Now this was interesting. What a fun love triangular web her friend was spinning now!

"Wow, I can't believe you accepted," Rachel breathed.

"That is, if she accepted," Eva noted.

"Well of course she did!" Ona declared, whether out of anger or excitement, Wei couldn't tell. "What I'm mad about is how it took this whole week, the day before your little mystery man date to even tell us! Heck, I had to hear about it from Samantha-"

"Don't mention that girl," Wei said, a nerve twitching in her jaw. She and Samantha had been heated academic competitors ever since Wei had moved to this city in the third grade.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," Phoebe said, pleading with Ona. "But I know that you guys have enough to think about and I didn't think it was a big deal-"

" 'Didn't think it was a big deal' she says," Onalia said faintly as she sat back down in her seat.

"Oh shut it. You're such a drama queen," Eva told her as she shook her head and rolled her eyes. "So did you say yes, Phoebe?"

"Well, yeah. I figured I couldn't always wait for Brandon, and I mean, it's not like Evan and I are dating or anything…he just asked me to hang out," Phoebe said slowly, as if she were trying to convince herself of something.

"Well good for you then!" Wei said happily. Eva looked a little troubled while Phoebe smiled and blushed and Wei chuckled.

Rachel suddenly got up, startling the other girls.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" Wei asked.

"To talk to Coach Henderson. I need to tell him that I'm better now and can still run for the team."

"Are you okay?" Phoebe asked. It would have been a stupid question if the girls didn't all understand what Rachel was going through, and Wei had to admit, she had been wondering the same thing.

"I'm good, I mean, as good as I'll ever be. I just…can't be all sad, you know? If I'm all depressed then I can't be positive and confident enough to find Erika and bring her back home, so I'll just stay on the bright side," Rachel told them with a big smile and a wave as she ran off with her gym back on her shoulder.

The other four girls looked at each other and sighed.

"That girl is something else," Eva said with a puzzled expression.

"You're telling me," Ona said. "So where are you going, Phoebe?"

"Oh, well he told me yesterday that he wanted to go to that new roller skating rink with the big café that just opened on Tuesday," Phoebe told her as she shuffled her hands.

"Well, that's perfect for you, Ona," Eva said with a grin.

"What is?"

"Oh yeah," Wei said, catching her friend's drift. "Now you and Phoebe can double date."

"Double?…What on earth are you-"

But then it hit her.

About a month ago, the night that the girls had discovered their powers as new Guardians in fact, all five of them were invited to a Christmas party on Christmas Eve. They had so much fun laughing and talking and dancing to the music with a live DJ. Eva also sang karaoke for the guests and then everybody had their present exchange as Secret Santas. Wei had somehow managed to sneak around her strict father while at the bookstore to buy Ona the newest W.i.t.c.h. book at the time and Phoebe had received a beautiful necklace from her soon-to-be date, Evan. It was during that party that Ona had had the idea to make a dare between the group of friends that whichever boy talked to them first had to be asked out.

In Ona's case, her nerdy, stalker head case guy friend had beat any other guy to the punch.

"WHAT?"

"Whoops! That's the bell," Eva said as she jumped up and motioned for Wei to follow her to their next class. Ona was sputtering incomprehensively when they left her and Phoebe at the table.

The sun was gently lowering in the sky as Eva and Wei walked together after school. Eva seemed depressed and Wei didn't know how she was supposed to make things better for her, whatever she was upset about.

It seemed that everybody was disturbed by one thing or another at the moment. And funnily enough, none of those things were about trying to understand their freaky powers!

I guess that's one thing that I'm still a little hesitant about, Wei thought grimly to herself. I mean, I believe it and everything, but what would happen if we weren't good or strong enough to beat all of the monsters crawling around in our city?

"Hey, Wei?" Eva suddenly asked, breaking into Wei's thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"I was just kind of wondering if we're doing the right thing."

Wei stopped. "What do you mean?"

"Well, why did we really get these powers, for starters? And how can we possibly stop all of the crazy things that are happening when we can barely control our normal lives?"

"I don't know. I was thinking the same thing though," Wei responded.

"It just got me thinking. Those other girls seemed to have been born with a destiny to protect Candracar…what if we were never meant to have powers? If you think about it, if it weren't for Amelia-"

"But she did what she did, didn't she? It doesn't really change the fact that we were selected as Guardians also."

"Yeah but," Eva started slowly. Wei looked back at her curiously as they started walking again.

"If it weren't for Phoebe, those monsters wouldn't have been able to come into our city. And I don't know, it just seems that our whole destiny rides on other people's mistakes."

"You don't mean that," Wei told her sternly. "We've already assured Phoebe that it wasn't her fault."

"Yeah, it's a stupid thought, I know. But it seems to be true either way."

Wei just shrugged. She, for once, had no idea how she was supposed to respond to these statements.

"Between Phoebe and Erika…I'm just sort of confused right now, that's all," Eva said with a sigh.

"Well, just go home and do something to keep your mind off things," Wei offered.

"That's easy for you to say. I'll probably be even more depressed when I get home," Eva said, rolling her eyes.

"And why is that?" Wei asked.

"Because the semester report cards are supposed to come in the mail today."

Eva waved as they got to her street and she walked off toward her house. Wei felt as if she wasn't breathing.

"Oh no! Oh no oh no oh no," Wei whispered to herself frantically as she turned around and ran.

I am so in for it, Wei thought sadly as her house came closer. If any of my grades dropped, like I think they did, then I'm dead.

Out of all the girls in their little group of friends, Wei was well-known as the smartest of the bunch. She studied advanced classes and even managed to get A's in every single one of them. Her talent of memorization and her thirst for knowledge always led to her becoming a teacher favorite. Her friends could never understand how she always dreaded receiving test scores or report cards.

No matter how hard she tried, nothing was ever good enough for her perfectionist of a father.

Wei stopped outside her front door and bent down to catch her breath. She soon straightened back up and let her trembling hand open the door before she went into the house.

Wei looked around cautiously. So far so good. She didn't see anybody home yet, but she knew that her parents came home before school let out, so they most likely already had her report card. Her mother wasn't that bad and would always say that Wei did well, but her father…

"Did I just hear the door shut? Is that Wei?"

"Most likely, dear. Tell her that I'm making her favorite tonight."

Wei paused in the stairwell and shivered as she heard her dad's loud footsteps come closer. He finally came through the doorway and motioned for her to come to him and sit down. Wei reluctantly took a few steps backward and then walked into the sitting area.

"I received your grades in the mail," he said.

Wei just nodded and wondered how he could sound so nonchalant and so forceful at the same time.

"Why is it that your scores have dropped?"

"I-I don't know," she stuttered, forcing herself to look directly at her father's eyes. If she looked down, then he would know that she was ashamed, but she had nothing to be ashamed about.

"I am just really busy now, I guess…" Her grades weren't perfect, but they were great! Why couldn't he see that?

Her father sighed. "I see."

Wei looked away from him. It seemed so much easier to stare at the plants in the corner of the room. She shivered again and wished that she could make a roaring fire in the fireplace. Wei could feel a smile tugging at her lips as she imagined how her dad would react if she leapt out of her chair and sent sparking embers and flames into the fireplace.

"Well, it seems that if you don't have much time for studying anymore, I should help you with that so that you can do better."

"What do you mean?" Wei asked, looking at him again.

"You will come straight home after school and stay here. It probably takes enough out of your valuable time to watch your brother when we aren't here, so I think that you shouldn't take any side routes so that you can focus on your schoolwork," her father said.

Wei blinked in shock. How could her dad even suggest that?

"B-but what about my friends?" Wei asked indignantly.

"It seems that they're weak study habits are having an influence on you," he said simply. "Maybe you should limit time with them to your breaks at school."

This can't be happening, Wei thought as she felt a dizzy confusion wipe her mind clean of and retorts that she wished to throw back at her father.

"Well come on, Sun. Your mother is probably almost done with dinner," he said as he stood up.

"No," Wei said.

Her father looked back around at her, bewildered. Wei was seething as she stared down at her shaking hands on her lap.

"Dad, when are you ever going to start being proud of me?" Wei whispered angrily.

"What did you say?"

"Study study study! Is that all I'm good for? Is that all I can do? I do so much, and yet you don't ever care!" Wei yelled at him as she stood up.

"Do not talk to me that way!" her father said as he held up a finger of warning.

But Wei couldn't take it any more.

"I'm sick of feeling like a puppet! When will I get to make my own choices? It's either you or them who think you've got my life all worked out!"

"Who's them?" her father asked.

Wei swayed on the spot and shook her head. Somehow, her feelings of those in Candracar had wound into her suppressed feelings of her dad.

"It doesn't matter. Why am I never good enough? No matter what I do, I'm never good enough, am I?" Wei cried as tears came tumbling down her cheeks.

My father hates me and I couldn't save Erika, Wei thought angrily. Why can't I do anything right?

Her dad had stopped trying to talk and was staring at Wei. She couldn't even tell what he was thinking as his lips tightened and he looked at her impassively.

"I am NOT giving up on my friends and my life just because you don't think I'm a good enough daughter!" Wei yelled in frustration.

What was wrong with her? She felt so torn up with the rage that she had held inside for so long. She wanted to cry over all the injustice, and yet she wanted to cry for saying all of these things that she knew she shouldn't have said to her father.

Her hands started shaking again and Wei could feel the fire burning at her fingertips.

"Ken! Wei! Dinner is ready!"

Wei glanced at her father and looked away. She knew that she couldn't stand to sit an entire family meal after what she had just said.

She suddenly had an uncontrollable urge to get away, to go as far away from people who couldn't possibly understand what she was going through. Wei spun around and ran up the stairs without even glancing at her father. She only just managed to get into her room, shut the door, and pull out her cell phone before she slid to the floor crying.

"I'm so sorry Wei!" Eva's voice came from Wei's cell phone. It had been a while now since her arguing match with her dad and Wei had finally settled down enough to call somebody and tell them about it. She had just managed to get Eva to answer the phone as she walked into her room after gymnastics practice.

"It's okay, I just hope that I didn't do something to make things worse," Wei confided in Eva.

"Don't worry. When you stand up to adults and they take some time to realize that what you're saying is the truth, they usually try to change unless they plan on you hating them forever."

"But I don't hate him, I just hate how he's making me feel," Wei told her with a sigh.

"It's the same thing," Eva stated simply. "No kid hates their parents, they just hate certain aspects of them. It feels the same way though."

"I guess," Wei said as she went to her sink and splashed cold water over her tear-streamed face. The house seemed so quiet now. She wondered what her parents were doing and whether or not they were talking about her.

"Hey, but listen. I've got a really bad feeling about this date tomorrow," Eva told her.

"Why? What happened?"

"Well, I had a really strange dream last night. It was about Phoebe. I think somebody's going to hurt her."

"Are you sure you're not being a bit paranoid? It could have been just a dream after all," Wei told her.

"Hey! I comforted you, so the least you can do is take what I'm saying seriously!"

"Okay, okay. You're right, sorry," Wei said into the phone.

"It doesn't seem like it's only a dream. It somehow feels real. I could feel the grass and trees," Eva said. "It was like they were calling me to stop something from happening."

"Alright, so you're suggesting that we spy on the double date?"

"Exactly. We need to make sure that Ona and Phoebe don't get into trouble or fall into another mirror or something."

"Got it. I'll fill Rachel in later. But what makes you think that something is going to happen on the date tomorrow? Couldn't it happen with a monster in a battle or something?" Wei asked.

"I'm sure it's not. In my dream, Phoebe was weak and crying on the floor. There was a boy in the shadows running away soon after," Eva explained.

"And whoever that boy is, I'm going to make sure I find out before Phoebe does."

Wei quickly hung up with Eva and dialed Phoebe's phone number. Even if she and Eva were planning on watching her tomorrow to make sure nothing bad happened, it wouldn't hurt to warn her or to tell her about Eva's dream.

"Hey, Wei?" came a sleepy voice on the other end.

"Yeah, it's me."

"Sorry," Phoebe yawned. "I didn't get much sleep last night so I took a nap. What's up?"

"I, uh, well I kind of…"

How was Wei supposed to say this? Sure, it sounded like a great idea when she was dialing the numbers on the phone, but what if Phoebe completely dismissed what she was about to tell her.

"What is it, Wei?"

"Oh, well Eva had this dream. She's just worried about you so be careful tomorrow okay?"

"Um, alright. I have a bad feeling from a dream too," Phoebe admitted. "I had that dream again, the one that I had right before I found out that I had the Heart of Candracar."

"Wait, wasn't Phobos in that dream?" Wei asked.

"Yeah. I don't know how and I don't know why, but I don't think that Phobos is completely gone from our lives. Besides, Cedric is sneaking around us somewhere in this city with Erika. I just wonder if our magic will be strong enough to beat whatever's coming."

Wei nodded, even if Phoebe couldn't see her. They all seemed to agree. The new Guardians had to become stronger if they were going to battle the quickly strengthening opposing forces of evil.

"Either way, we're going to have to…to…"

Wei looked at the phone in puzzlement. She could hear shuffling feet and shouting on the other end.

"Oh my god," Phoebe breathed.

"What happened? What's going on?" Wei asked in panic.

There was some more shouting, Phoebe was crying, and then the phone went dead.

Yayz! Done with this chapter! Don't forget to go take my P.o.w.e.r. personality quiz to find out if you are more like Phoebe, Onalia, Wei, Eva, or Rachel! Take the quiz at /quizzes/5570202/which-power-character-are-you . You can also view my new fan fiction website at /powergirlsunited/

Happy Memorial Day!