• Ren wandered down the hall, wondering where she was. She passed by many doors and every time she looked into the small window only to see a class of students, heads bent over their books and paying no attention to the stranger outside of their classroom. Her bare feet felt frozen from the cold floors and she was slightly embarrassed to find that she was still wearing only her overly large tee-shirt and underwear. She reached the end of the hall and glanced down the two others that connected with it. For a moment, she pondered which way to take when suddenly the bell rang. She watched, horrified, as the students filed out of the classrooms many of them stopping to stare at her and say something behind the shield made with their hands. She did nothing but stand still and let the blush cover her face. She jumped when someone stopped in front of her and she looked up. Her blush deepened when she was put face to face with a beautiful person. At first she couldn't figure out if they were a male or female, but the deep voice that emerged from their mouth told her instantly.
    "So you're the next one." It wasn't a question, it was a statement, and Ren found herself suddenly very confused.
    "Excuse me?" she wanted to ask, but as soon as her mouth opened, a sound she faintly recognized filled the air around her.
    Ren woke with a start and slammed her hand on the snooze button of her alarm clock. She waited for a moment to adjust to the sudden change and realized it had all been a dream. She rubbed her eyes and sat up in a slump
    "Weird," she whispered before climbing out of bed to begin her day.
    For some reason, Kari just couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned, but had trouble falling asleep. What little sleep she did get, it was filled with nightmares. Her nightmares ranged from her own death to the deaths of people closest to her. But the one that really shocked her was one that had a person in it that she didn't know. She looked familiar, like she had seen her before, probably randomly on the streets. She just didn't know her name or anything about her. This dream had her own death involved. The weird thing was that she had saved this person from her own death. As Kari laid dying in her own dream, she asked for the person’s name. The girl, who was about her own age, was just about to give Kari her name, but right before, Kari woke up with a start. It terrified her so much that she had been crying in her sleep. But what kept her up for the last few hours of the time that she should be asleep was wondering who in the world that girl was. Once she got up, she was really tired, but determined to get everything done that she planned on doing. She got dressed in some comfortable clothes and proceeded out her bedroom door.
    Ren opened up her cupboards and stared at the contents of each one before finally deciding to skip breakfast all together. She returned to her room and opened up her closet door before pulling out a pair of jeans and a black tank top with a red fairy on it. She threw off her tee shirt and changed her clothes. She left her apartment and locked the door behind her. Turning to walk down the hall, she almost screamed when someone standing just behind her grabbed her wrist.
    "You should be more careful Tarryn," replied the deep voice. Ren glared up at the man.
    "Let go of me, Tom," she warned with a glare. He smiled lustfully and let go of her. Ren instantly pulled her arms behind her to try and hide the goose bumps that had suddenly covered them.
    "Have a good day," he whispered ruefully and walked down the opposite way she wanted to go.
    "Freak," she muttered quietly, trying to kill the sudden nervousness that had overcome her. She took a quick glance behind her to make sure he wasn't returning down the hall and bolted down the stairs and out of the building. She didn't stop until she was a block away from the gray structure and still the bad feeling stayed with her. Despite the unseasonly warm morning, she shivered and looked back once more-she saw no one.
    "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" she wanted to scream at herself for being afraid of him like she was, but she kept the words quiet. She turned the corner and began walking past the neighborhood she only knew too well and longed to live in. "If only..." she trailed off.
    As Kari proceeded down the stairs, she accidentally ran into someone and was knocked down. She looked up to see who it was, and then sighed to see that it was only her perverted older brother.
    "Going somewhere?" he asked rather jokingly.
    "Maybe. Why do you want to know?" she asked back.
    "Oh. No reason. Just wanna make sure that you aren't doing anything naughty with any neighborhood guys, that's all," he said in a not so nice manner.
    "Like you should talk," was her reply, and she passed him by on the stairs, leaving him there, open mouthed and silent. She got downstairs and went to the frig. She opened the freezer to get something for breakfast. She looked at her many options, and then sighed and closed the freezer. She then proceeded to getting a small glass of chocolate milk. She chugged about half of it when she spotted something green on the table.
    Of course, it was money with a note saying, "Spend this on some new clothes for you! Have fun! Love, Mom and Dad."
    She picked up the money, stuck it in her pocket, and sighed, "When will they learn that I never use their money for clothes. I use it for books!" After she chugged down the rest of her chocolate milk, she yelled, "I'm leaving!" and walked out the door. She got out the door and closed it. Then, for some reason, she looked to her left, and what she saw shocked her. Walking down her way was a girl, but this was no ordinary girl.
    "No....freakin'.....way," was all she could say, for this girl was the mystery girl from her dream.