The note came to her during science class and it made her heart flutter. 'Will you go out with me? Check yes or no'. Immediatly she peeked over her shoulder to confirm it was from Tommy. By the blush on his cheeks while he kept his gaze on hisi schoolwork and the glares from the girls in the back, she could guess it was. For a brief moment her pencil hovered over the box marked yes, but she slowly forced herself to bring it down and check off the box labled no. A quick exchange of notes left her with one answer: 'why?!'. Why? She was his best friend after all. The two were thick as thieves, together forever. She had a crush on him since the fifth grade. Before she could mull over the reasons why the bell rang and she bolted, swinging her blue backpack over her shoulder and fleeing the scene. The piece of paper with the word why written on it fluttered off of her desk. It would reamin on the ground until the janitor swept it away. She ran until she was safe in her backyard, panting only a little. The blue backpack moved slightly on the ground where she left it. She zipped it open and glared inside. "Tommy asked me out today" she said in a flat voice. The answer that came out of the backpack was clear and pointed. One thing it was not however, was human. "AND WHAT DID YOU TELL HIM?" it questioned. "I checked off the no box." she grumbled, beginning to absently pull up tufts of grass. "GOOD. HIS LIFE WOULD BE IN DANGER. BESIDES, YOU'RE TWELVE. YOU'RE FAR TOO YOUNG TO BE DATING." the voice sounded satisfied. She rolled her eyes. "You're not my dad." Her mom waved at her from the patio door. She waved back. "Besides, I really like him. Why can't we keep him safe?" "COME IN HERE FOR A SECOND" Despite the commanding tone, she knew that it was more of a request. She stood up and placed both feet in the backpace. Suddenlt she was Elsewhere, floating through infinite darkness with a million stars ballet dancing around her. Before her stood a cluster of light, so bright and normal person would shield their eyes. She stared it unblinking right in the face- if that's what you could call the upper area of the creature. "YOU ARE THE SOLE GUARDIAN OF THIS REALM- OUR SAVIOR." it began. "I KNOW THAT IT IS A DIFFICULT TASK." She inturrupted it almost immediatly. "Difficult? Difficult is the math homework Mr. Summers assigned us for tonight. Difficult is hiding in a bathroom stall listening to Jasmine and Regina talk about how my new haircut makes me look like a boy. This? This is impossible!" "I UNDERSTAND. I WAS ONCE TWELVE TOO, YOU KNOW." She found this hard to believe. In her eyes the creature was ageless. It always had and always would be. "BUT YOU HAVE A SACRED DUTY. WE CANNOT PROTECT ANYTHING IN YOUR DIMENSION." She knew all of this, of course. A few months ago she had been walking home by herself- Tommy had been home with the flu for a few days- when she decided to take a different route. It was much shorter to cut through