Amanda was awakened the next morning both by her alarm clock, which she placed on "Snooze" for the third time and by her mother, who had barged into her room again, trying desperately to see her daughter off to school before she herself had to leave for work.

"Amanda!" her mother yelled down at her. "Get. Up. I have to leave for work in 30 minutes and I'm not driving you to school again." Her mom left the room hurriedly, dashing off to the bathroom to put the finishing touches on her makeup for that morning.

Amanda groaned, opening her eyes slowly as the sunlight that was streaming into her room burned against her retinas. She squinted as she sat up on her bed, her half-open eyes gazing down at her nightstand to make sure the ray gun she placed there last night was still there. It was.

Amanda picked it up, examining it, as if to make sure that everything was still there, before placing it back into er backpack. She could always mess with the gun later. Right now, she was going to get dressed and go downstairs to have some coffee. And, if she could manage, maybe she would have some breakfast, too.

Amanda had on a pair of tan shorts and a black tank top, since it was a pretty warm morning. Walking into the kitchen, she saw her brother sitting at the table, eating a owl of cereal. They exchanged pleasantries, which for the two teenagers, was nothing more than a nod from Robert and a barely audible grunt from Amanda.

Amanda poured herself a cup of coffee an leaned against the counter, waiting for the caffeine to take effect. She watched her father rush in, say goodbye to his kids and walk out the front door, on his way to work.


Next, her mom came in. "Now look, you two," she began. "I have to leave for work. So can I trust that the two of you can somehow find your way to school this morning?" Both Robert and Amanda nodded their heads. "Good," their mother continued. "Because if I hear from the school that either of you skipped, again, you are going to be in so much trouble."

"Mom, relax," Robert said. "Mike's picking me up this morning."

"And I'm taking the bus," Amanda added. "Don't worry"

"Alright," their mom said cautiously, before turning to leave. "In that case, you two have a good day."

A few minutes later, the two siblings watched as their mother pulled out of the driveway and left for work.

Amanda wet upstairs to get her backpack, deciding to leave for school now. She could always get something to eat from the vending machines or something. She picked up her backpack, making sure the ray gun was still in there, which it was. She made a quick stop at her brother's room and grabbed a plain black shirt and pair of jean shorts, just in case he decided to use the gun on herself sometime today...

She left the house and started walking towards the bus stop. When she got there, she realized she had at least 20 minutes or so to wait. It was always just her at the stop, so she knew she had some time to herself.

Amanda thought about using the gun on herself now, just to see what would happen. She looked around to make sure no one was watching and pulled the gun out.

She turned the "Muscle" dial towards "Increase." Does she use the gun now?