Animorphers

That morning I managed to wake up an hour earlier. Field trips stress me out, and sleep isn’t an option. By the time I got downstairs my mom was already on her third cup of coffee, and halfway into her next chapter. Super mom by day, glorious writer by night. She published a book before I was born. It was amazing and she sold a lot of copies, but at this point it's been her one hit wonder. She’s been trying to redeem herself ever since. You would be surprised how many times Riley comes over just to talk to my mom. It's kind of funny sometimes.

“Mom, you do realize that there is a thing called a bed right? It's upstairs. It's just a flight of stairs away.” She turns towards me, and takes off her reading glasses.

“Honey. You, and I both know you don't need to take care of me. Isn’t that my job?” She chuckles.

“I just want to make sure you’ll be awake to do that.”

“Hey, hey, hey don't do that. I actually went to bed early last night.”

“Sure…”

“Fine. I promise I’ll take a nap today.”

“Promise?”

“Yes I promise...You’re up early for someone who was up till 2 in the morning. Well, earlier than usual. Why were you up so late anyways?”

“Last night was fine mom. I just...had trouble sleeping. My room was hot.” I slightly laugh, but she’s sees right through it. I can tell, because she gives me that “you and I both know you can't hide anything from me” look.

“I was just freaking out about school and stuff. I’m not looking forward to this field trip mom. I guess I’m excited to be with Riley and Gwen all day, but science isn't my thing. Besides most likely I'm going to be lost the whole time, and they’re probably going to ask me some basic question that I don't know the answer to. Then, I’ll look like a fool in front of everyone.”

“I swear you and your father are complete opposites, but exactly the same. He was just like you in high school. Except he loved science. Maybe you two should talk when he gets home from the hospital tonight. His shift isn't that late, so he shouldn't be tired…” She laughs. “You ended up being a creator like me. Honey, sometimes its okay to be a fool at times. Science is not your passion. You don't have to be good at it. I just wish you would go for your real passion instead of playing that keyboard up in your room all day. Show the world want you want to create.”

“I can’t mom...I just can’t” I say.

“Well take your time then. I intend to see that day so don't make me wait to long.”

“Okay...Well, I gotta go.” She stands up and hugs me.

“Try to have a good day.” She says.

I left my mom to her coffee and writing, and headed out. I got to the school pretty early, but instead of heading the music room I sat outside by the bus with a book in hand. I read until people started lining up. Riley showed up with her sister. I could tell she was annoyed, but I did my best to cheer her up.

“Okay everyone. Permission slips out, and after you hand it in enter the bus.” I heard Mr. Neil yell by the opening of the bus. I handed him the slip and made my way towards the back of the bus with Riley. Luckily we snagged seats behind Gwen.

"Okay! I've assigned you all partners," Mr. Neil says. "So, when I call your names, find your partner. I'll be going alphabetically by last name." He clears his throat and looks down at his clipboard. "Anthony with Woods. Cole with West. Gray with Kingsley. Mauze with Penn. Pascal with Sanders. And Tanner with Torson.”

Thank god I got Dan. Hopefully this means I won't be completely lost. Plus he makes me laugh so I probably won't fall asleep. Score!

I look for him on the bus, but I already notice the eye contact between him and Riley. He’s blushing. Does he like her? I wonder. Then again Gwen told me he always blushes so it's probably nothing. Why do I even care? His gaze switches to mine, and I smile. He smiles back and the bus roars to life. The entirety of the trip was talking about Riley’s band, and a project Gwen had been working on. I mostly listened. Both of them are kind of amazing. Riley also asked about Cole, and I told her he seemed nice. I mean we only talked once, but he seemed cool I guess. She seemed a little worried. I tried to assure her, but there only so much you can say to calm Riley's nerves. I do my best.

When we arrive at the labs a nice guy gave us all the information, and we get with our partners. Dan does a pretty good job at keeping the trip interesting. I honestly think it was more fun watching him light up when they talked about the animal morphing stuff. It was priceless. To be honest I only started paying attention when they brought up the chairs. I have admit the idea the chairs is cool, but when they ask us to test them out I feel a little apprehensive.

“Aren’t these prototypes?” I whisper to Dan.

“Im sure they’re completely safe. They wouldn't put children in it if it wasn't completely tested.”

“That's true I guess.”
I enter the room at the same time as everyone else. A shiver goes down my spine as the door slams shut.

“Hello. My name is Dr. Edwards, and I’ll be your helper today.” I turned to see a young woman in a bleached lab coat. She told me about the chair, and the side effects. I don't think it will be that bad so I follow her directions as best I can. When the fatigue hits I become uneasy.

Something isn't right here.

Before I can say anything though, everything goes black.

When I wake up I feel a little nauseous, but I manage to sit up just fine.

“You did great! Good job. If you need a minute that's okay. Your class will be waiting outside.” For a second I almost thought I could see through her smile. Dang she has a good poker face. I take a minute like she instructed, and then I make my way to the door. The moment I touch the doorknob I feel weak all of a sudden. I fall to my knees and the nurse rushes to me.

“Are you alright?” She asks.

“Yeah. I’m sorry. I just...kind of blacked out I guess.” I say.

“That's normal in some patients. I'm sorry if I would have known I wouldn't have done it. I see you’re on a few strong anti anxiety medications. That could also be the source.”

“Yeah. Uh… I gotta go.” I slowly stand and make my way back towards the group. My parents, my doctor, and I were the only ones who knew about the medication. It's not exactly something I like telling people.. Especially strangers. I haven't even told Gwen, and we tell eachother everything. Well, I guess not everything now that I think about it. I hate hiding it from her, but I hide it from everyone. Even myself sometimes.

“Are you okay?” Dan asks when I make it back to the line.

“Yeah...I’m pretty sure. That was weird right?” I say.

“Right.” He says.

The field trip had been perfectly enjoyable until the scientist guy led us to the M.I.C. exhibit. The Medical Information Chair exhibit.

The idea of sitting in a highly-sophisticated medical robot chair with wires and buttons that scans your body and looks like it belongs in a dentist's office doesn’t sit well in my mind, but if it helps doctors pinpoint diseases and such, that's great! As for me, I'd rather go with traditional human doctor checkups, which are terrifying enough.

"We're just waiting for it to be accepted by the American Medical Foundation as an official medical testing system and we're good to go," the man in the lab coat, Dr. Liam, was saying. "It's perfectly safe to use. Which is why, all of you will get to try it out today!"

Wait, what?!

"Woah, neat!" Ryker said, glancing over at me. His smile faded. "What's wrong, Charlotte?"

"They can't make us sit in those things!"

"What do you mean? Dr. Liam said they're harmless."

"They're prototypes!"

Ryker shrugged. "I'm sure they're fine." When he saw that I wasn't comforted, he added, "Trust me, it'll be neat. These things are going to be our future. All of us'll be able to tell our children that we were among the very first people to test the M.I.C."

I didn't say anything but hugged my notebook closer to my chest and shivered in spite of myself. Eventually, my classmates were ushered into separate rooms. Not me. I rooted my feet on the pristine tile floor and watched as the doors closed behind my friends. Layla, Daniel, Michael, Jinx, and all the rest.

"Charlotte." Mr. Neil laid a hand on my shoulder and I jumped. I hadn't seen him there. "What's the matter? Wouldn’t you like to go inside?"

I smiled nervously. "Not really. I'd rather stay out here and wait."

"But this is a once in a lifetime opportunity! I can't let you go home without having experienced the wonders of our future's technology."

Dr. Liam approached me too and bent down to appease my height. “Trust me, there’s absolutely nothing to be afraid of. Remember, we’re just going to do the first phase. It’ll be a breeze.”

“And,” Mr. Neil inputted, “you’ll get to see some fascinating results about yourself after it’s all done. Maybe you’ll learn something new.”

“I think my health is fine,” I said as politely as I could. “Thank you, but I think I’ll just wait here -”

“Normally,” Dr. Liam said, “I wouldn’t push anyone to do something they didn’t want to do. But this is really important. Here, I’ll take you in myself, and show you that it’s not all that bad.”

I unwillingly relinquished by bag and notebook and followed Dr. Liam into one of the brightly-lit rooms. I glanced back at Mr. Neil before the door closed, and he smiled at me reassuringly.

C’mon Charlotte, I told myself. There are much scarier things than this in the world. Ryker’s right. This is our future.

Dr. Liam rubbed his hands together. “Just take a seat, and I’ll walk you through everything.”

I sucked in my apprehension and eased myself onto the M.I.C., pretending that it was a giant, stuffed teddy bear (a tactic I’ve used with other similarly scary things in my past). Unfortunately, it was harder to keep an image of Mr. Snuggles in my mind when a cage-like helmet was lowered over my eyes, but gradually I found myself calming down and feeling awfully tired…

“It’s a completely natural side effect for patients to fall asleep during the procedure, so -”

And with that, the checkerboard pattern of light that seeped through the helmet faded to black, and I slipped into an unwillingly deep sleep.

~

“Rise and shine, Charlotte!” Dr. Liam said. “You’re all done!”

I lifted myself off the chair, my limbs shaking. My left arm was sore, but otherwise I felt alright. It was all over.

“Everything about you is perfect. Your pulse is a bit faster than it should be, but under the circumstances that’s completely normal. You did a wonderful job, Charlotte."

I mumbled a “Thanks” when he handed me the paper and got out of that room as quickly as I could. Michael exited his door at the same time as me, and he came to my side immediately.

“How’d it go?”

I shuddered. “That was weird. I fell asleep, as if they had drugged me.”

“Me too. You would have thought that they’d have mentioned it earlier. The falling-asleep thing.”

I nodded. “I’m just glad it’s over.” I brushed a strand of hair from my face. I think my hand was shaking and Michael noticed it. He picked up my bag and notebook and handed them to me, and quietly we waited for the last of the examinations to be over.

With that, the field trip came to a close. We followed Mr. Neil outside and climbed onto the bus. I sat with Layla towards the back of the bus so we could talk, and I wasn’t surprised to learn that she found the whole thing suspicious, too. Her cousin Cole was sitting behind us, next to Neon. Regardless of what Layla had told me about him, he seemed alright. I mean, he was pretty cute.

But then we found out he had been stealing.

“What are those?” Layla said, craning her head around to see what Neon and her cousin were messing around with.

Cole shrugged, fingering brick-sized black boxes in his palm. “We saw a bunch of ‘em lying around. Hundreds. They won’t miss them. After all...” He nodded towards Neon. “This guy needs them to conquer the world.”

He’s cute, I decided as Layla practically exploded, but very stupid.

Neon’s feet whisked him across the terrain, the wind cavorting through his hair. A smile broke upon his face as the sunlight danced in his eyes, the radiant beams filling him to the brim with energy. He leaped forward, soaring towards the back of the school bus. He tossed his head back as he landed, laughing-

“Neon,” Mr. Neil coughed from where he stood, on the concrete sidewalk beside the bus.. The bus wasn’t moving, and neither was the boy latched onto the back of it.

“Well, you’re certainly energetic today; that’s a start,” Mr Neil said as Neon jumped down lithely. His eyes glinted with subtle amusement. “But please, refrain from conquering the bus until after the trip.”

Neon landed on the balls of his feet, springing from the asphalt onto the sidewalk. “Sure thing, teach,” he relented airily, tossing the tails of his scarf over his shoulder. Swaggering past his teacher, he clambered into the bus.

Dropping his bag in the back, he uncapped a dry-erase marker, unsheathing the inky felt blade. Without hesitation, he began drawing on the window, slashing his marker across the pane.

In the reflection, he could vaguely see the bus driver get up to stop his art. Mr. Neil halted the man, placing a hand on his shoulder and shaking his head somberly.

Neon’s mind raced with ideas as the marker flew across the back window. “Potatoes!” he exclaimed at one point, drawing odd stares from his classmates. Neon paid them no heed, muttering intensely as he recalculated.

He smacked his forehead, chuckling. “Of course! I forgot to factor in the gravitational pull!” Erasing a chunk of calculations with the edge of his hand, he scribbled new symbols furiously.

“Hey, Neon,” a boy quipped as he placed his bag near Neon’s. “What’s that?”

Neon whirled around, tapping his forehead. “Well, you know how potato clocks work, right?”

“Ye...yeah.” The boy, Dan, seemed a bit confused. “Electricity, I think.”

Neon grinned. “Well, what if we applied that to an EMP? Or a power surge? With enough potatoes, I could take over China!”

Dan raised an eyebrow nervously. “Figuratively speaking, right?”

“Not at all,” Neon chirped.

“Ah.” The boy seemed a little uncomfortable; it was natural for people in the presence of greatness. “Well, what does that say?” he asked, pointing to some words Neon had scrawled off to the side.

Neon loosened his scarf, grinning. “Carpe Terrarum. Seize the world.”

At this, Dan went wide-eyed, slowly backing away to talk to someone else. Neon chuckled, returning to his work.

“Hey,” a voice prodded once more from behind him. Neon sighed in exasperation, turning around again to see a beanie-bearing boy staring down at him, a disgusted look in his eyes.

“Oh. Hello...sorry, wait a second.” Neon rummaged around in his bag, pulling out and referring to a list of students. “Hello, As-”

“Cole,” the boy interjected coldly.

Neon looked up, blinking. Then he shrugged. “I suppose we can’t all be named perfectly, now can we?” Scooting his bag over, he made room for the abrasive boy, who sat down heavily.

“What’s that?” Cole asked, gesturing to the windows.

“Oh, that? Just a morning warm-up.” Neon clasped his hands behind his head, grinning. “The gist of it? Potatoes beat machines.”

“So it shuts down electronics?”

“That’s one way of putting it, yes.”

A malevolent spark lit up behind Cole’s eyes. “We could use this to shut down cell-phones, right?”

“Indeed,” Neon affirmed.

“And radio towers, and bank systems?”

“Well...yes…”

“And internet cat videos? And the Young Writers Society?” Cole’s outward expression didn’t change, but an evil light seemed to emanate from him all the same.

Neon did his best to smile and nod, but he shuddered inside. This guy...might be even more dangerous than me, he concluded grimly.

---------------------------------------

Neon was at the head of the class for the entire tour, drinking in each detail as the guide explained it. By the end, he was pretty sure he had learned at least five new ways to take over Europe, two of which involved fabbits.

"This is the state of the art, most top secret part of our lab,” the guide rattled off sternly. “Everything in here is under wraps from the public and almost everything will be for at least another couple years. Everything you see in here is highly confidential.” He seemed to glare at them as he said this.

Neon rolled his eyes. “Highly confidential” was like a ribbon on the present for him. And he was raring to tear it open.

Tapping Cole’s shoulder, he jerked his head towards a door at the end of the hall. “Come on,” he whispered. “Let’s pay a visit to the gift shop.”

Cole shrugged. “Alright.”

The two boys slipped away from the group as they moved on, heading down the hall. Cole knelt at the door, fingers whispering deftly over the lock. In about ten seconds, he had popped it open, and the steel door swung outward. Gesturing inside, he bowed sarcastically.

Neon nodded, genuinely impressed. “I wonder what we’ll find in a place like this?” he murmured as they slipped through.

Stepping forward, the boys set foot into a hallway that seemed to stretch without end on either side. Azure lights flooded the room with an eerie aura, making Neon’s skin crawl. He made a mental note of it to add to the decor of his lair.

“So, which door should we try first?” Cole mused, pacing in front of the dark iron thresholds. “Eeney, meeney, miney, this one,” he said, cracking open a door to their left.

Neon had no time to protest before the door swung outward soundlessly. Cole tiptoed inside, a mischievous grin lighting up his face.

Not bothering to shut the door this time, Neon walked into a room with a single lamp embedded in the ceiling, the lone defender against the shadows along the walls. It shone intensely upon pitch-black packages that lined the walls in stacks, stretching down the room. “Happy birthday to me,” he murmured.

“What’re these?” Cole wondered, picking up a parcel and turning it in the lamplight. It was roughly the size of a brick, with a reflective sheen around the outside.

Neon plucked the package from his fingers, smirking. “Only one way to find out.” Turning it over, he set his fingers into the odd material. It gave easily, pulling apart like plastic. He almost dropped the package as a slight hiss came out. “It’s airtight?”

Reaching into the package, his fingers clenched around a smooth, dry piece of cloth. “Hm?” Neon tore the rest of the parcel away, holding the cloth in front of him.

Cole’s eyes widened as the cloth expanded in Neon’s hand, warping out into a black suit. Neon waved the suit like a flag, the ebony cloth undulating as it grew.

“A wetsuit that reacts to air, huh?” Neon weighed the suit in his fingers, turning it over. “Kind of drab if you ask me. At least add a cape or something.”

“What were they going to do with these?” Cole asked, grabbing two more parcels from the stacks.

“I don’t know…ocean expedition?” Neon guessed, holding the suit up to the light.

“And why would they need so many of them?” Cole gestured to the mountains of identical suits, standing like grim sentries against the wall.

Neon rubbed his thumbs into the fabric. “Kind of smooth,” he murmured. Familiar...

The dark jigsaw of Neon’s mind clicked together in that moment, sending a chill racing down his spine. “I don’t think these are wetsuits,” he said slowly, relinquishing the suit to the floor.

“Cole. We’re leaving.” Neon’s voice came out more forceful than he had intended. Trying to keep from shaking, he headed for the door. He hesitated at the threshold, eyes falling upon a single suit-package by the doorstep.

Before he realized what he had done, he had scooped the package from the floor, tucking it into his bag. Running back into the room, he stashed the other suit he had taken in it as well, as well as the scraps from the casing. No traces, he thought. They can’t know we’ve been here.

“Cole. Come on, we’re going,” he said, with more urgency.

Cole, who had been staring at the packages with a greedy look in his eye, looked up. “What? Oh, yeah.”

Neon nodded tersely, a white-knuckled grip on his bag. Without waiting for Cole, he strode out into the eerie blue hallway, heading back to the safety of his classmates.

That material...I’ve read about it somewhere. An experimental report… The thoughts collided in his mind, tumbling over one another as his footfalls tapped on the metal floor. It’s not a wetsuit. Not a wetsuit at all.

But then again, perhaps he was getting worked up over nothing. Perhaps the scientists were trying to make portable clothes for the needy. Unlikely, he immediately countered. That material costs thousands of dollars to produce. He could feel his brain pulsing, the world spinning around him.

“Stop it,” he muttered, gritting his teeth. “You’re supposed to be the man who conquers the world.” He was invincible; he was limitless, without fault. He felt the terror fade as confidence swelled his chest, making him walk a little faster.

It was impossible to say anything for sure at this point, after all. He’d need to do more research before he could conclude any-

Smack.

He cried out as he crashed into something hard and soft at the same time. Falling to the ground, he scrambled backwards. A shadow loomed over him, leaning forward to-

“Something wrong, Neon?” Mr. Neil peered down at him, a slightly concerned look perturbing his features. One hand dusted off his coat where Neon had run into him.

Neon shook his head. “No! No, nothing.” Looking around, he could see his classmates crowded around their teacher, gazing down at him oddly.

Mr. Neil offered his hand. “Well, come on. Pay attention, we’re about to try the chairs.”

“Electric chairs!?” Neon squeaked.

Laughter rippled through his classmates. “No, not electric chairs. Well, they do run on electricity, but…” Mr. Neil shook his head. “Nevermind. Come on, we’re starting.”

Neon grabbed his wrist, letting himself be hoisted to his feet. At the back of the class, he could see Cole stealthily rejoining the group.

The other students began dropping their bags into the corner, heading into the rooms. Neon hesitated, almost seeing his stolen goods through the cloth of his bag. They can’t know, he thought. They can’t know I was there.

Cole walked up and clapped his shoulder. “What’s that look for?” His eyes were gleaming with the excitement of danger.

Neon broke away, walking through one of the doors. “Nothing.”

He pushed through into a room with one chair, and a panel beside it, operated by a barrel-chested man in a black suit. “Hello,” he greeted in a voice like the rumbling earth, “I’m Taro. I’ll be conducting your test.” He grasped Neon’s hand, shaking it and grinning genuinely. “And you are?”

Neon felt the giant’s charisma spread to him, and a small smile grew on his face. “I’m Neon.” Maybe he was overthinking this. He couldn’t judge things so soon, after all. Such behavior was unbecoming of an overlord.

“Right this way, Neon.” Taro gestured to the chair, returning to the panel. Neon eased himself back into the M.I.C. as the grey cage came down overhead.

Taro’s voice echoed from outside the chrome shell. “Now, you’ll be getting a bit sleepy while the chair takes a reading. Don’t be alarmed, my friend. It’s perfectly normal.”

Neon smiled lazily as the world began to shift, fading to black.

I’ve been drugged, haven’t I?

It was a rainy afternoon when they got onto the bus to their doom. Michael was content, his hands in his jacket pockets. The rest of the students in his class, seemed on the verge of falling asleep or exploding like an overcharged atom. Mr. Neil seemed... more excited for the trip more than anyone, grinning and having a skip in his step.

"Everyone onto the bus. Single line," he said, ushering. Michael was the first on the bus, overlooking the empty and dull seats. He picked the first spot on the bus, behind the monitor's rest area, and sat down. He gazed out the window as everyone else that was coming in, each grinning and talking to their friends. Soon everyone was on the bus as Mr. Neil stated, "Remember guys- keep an open mind when we go and a clearer mind when we leave."

When the bus got to the site, it was completely open and dusty. Some kids in the back thought we were lost and was about to ask if so, when Mr. Neil perked up.

"So, when I call your names, find your partner. I'll be going alphabetically by last name." He looked down at the clipboard, raising a pen in the air. "Anthony with Woods. Cole with West. Gray with Kingsley. Mauze with Penn. Pascal with Sanders. And Tanner with Torson." Michael sighed.
He liked that partner choice, as he didn't like to talk much to anyone. Layla would just follow after him and be like anyone else in the group. They got off the bus, each with their partners as Layla came up to Michael.

"Hey. Looks like we're partners."

Michael looked ahead. "Seems so." There was a huge, silver building in the middle of the nowhere gleaming in the sunlight. The class walked towards and stopped in front of the huge sliding doors. Mr. Neil looked as if he was going to erupt with excitement as they entered the M. E. L.

A skinny man in his late twenties, with brown hair and glasses, came up to the group. He went over the certain rules about safety and not to touch anything unless asked. There was a cardboard box on the counter with the word "Electronics" written in Sharpie. Everyone put their phones and mp3 players in before they headed off, as it could possibly ruin their technology.

"Any questions?" Mr. Liam asked. No one said anything, just awkward glances at each other. "Good! Now follow me this way, please."


The class was showed around M.E.L, going into different laboratories and had even gave the children their own personal lab coat and goggles. Mr. Liam showed them the works of the facility, stating how they found the perfect result of curing cancer and little robots that go into the bloodstream, to monitor the patient's problems, if any.
Men and women worked left and right, poking and prodding at unimaginative things. Some wore the causal lab coats while others wore yellow hazmat suits. They were behind a plastic domain with a plastic curtain, hiding whatever inside from the outside.
Soon after a short lunch, the group is shown around the last area of M.E.L- M.I.C. He explains that the chairs are prototypes and is in hope of being accepted by the American Medical Foundation. He also states that each process is split into three processes and only takes ten minutes.

Each student was filed into a certain room, a chair covered with a plastic covering. It reminded Michael of a dentist chair; scary yet so cozy. He settled in, rubbing his palms on his jeans nervously.
Soon a girl with braided brown hair came into the lab.
"Michael Anthony?" She asked, looking down quickly at a clipboard.

"Yea?"

She smiled. "Hi. I'm Diana. I am glad you can make it here. For one, your teacher was begging the head scientist if he could bring kids into a place like this. Now I want you to lay back and relax."

He did so, adjusting to the seat. The plastic squeaked as Diana was busy getting Michael set up. Adding a cage-like thing around his head and a finger clamp on his middle finger. He blinked.

"This seems more complex than what I thought," he laughed.

Diana nodded, adding some tubes to his arms. "This is only level one. You don't need to worry about anything." After she was done with that, Diana walked over to a table in the nearby corner handing a hand down on the screen. It beeped as she typed and pressed some buttons. When she was done, she came over to Michael, who was blinking rather lazily.

"You are set now, Michael. It is completely normal for people to sleep. When you awake, level one will be over." Soon darkness covered Michael's eyes like a blanket.

Sometime later, the sleepiness wears off as Michael can see the dizzy face of Diana. She is waving her hands in front of his face, repeating his name like a mother would.

"Michael.. Michael.. Michael.."

His focus slips in as she states, "Michael, it is over." He blinks a couple of times before rubbing his eyes and yawns.

"That was a perfect sleep. Almost how I sleep everyday."

Diana chuckled, going over to the computer and prints a paper. "You're a funny kid. Here you go. Your results look normal. Thank you for coming!" He grabs the paper and leaves, still feeling a little dizzy. Charlotte comes out at the same time, grabbing her head.

"How'd it go?"

“That was weird. I fell asleep, as if they had drugged me.”

Michael nodded. “Me too. You would have thought that they’d have mentioned it earlier. The falling-asleep thing.”

Charlotte pushes back a piece of hair from her face. "I'm just glad it is over." He notices she is shaking and decided it was best for her to not do anything, and grabbed her notebook and bag. Only silence was speaking between the two.

When they got on the bus, everything seem normal. Except for the questions Michael had. He had wondered if anyone else was asleep- he probably guessed so. Soon, the bus rolled and they drove back to school.

By the time I get down stairs, Layla is already gone. Not a big surprise.

"Hey, I can give you a ride," Aunt Jen tells me with a cup of coffee in hand.

"I am seventeen. I can drive myself."

She gives me an unfortunate look. "Actually, you can't. I need the car to get to work. Sorry."

I sigh. "It's fine. I'll just take my skateboard."

I grab my backpack off the ground and the permission slip to the field trip starts to fall out, reminding me of it. I ponder it for a moment, deciding if I want to go on it or not. I decide it might be cool, and if nothing else, it will drive Layla nuts that I'm there. I turn back to Aunt Jen. "Hey, can you sign this?"

She takes it from me and looks it over. "Ah, the field trip Layla's going on. I'm not sure how I feel about them letting you in somewhere like that." She says this with a smirk and a tone like she's half-kidding, but I'm pretty sure there's more truth behind her words than she's letting on.

"I won't do anything stupid. Promise."

She hesitates for a moment, then grabs a pen and signs it. "Have a good day."

I give her a smirk and shove the slip back into my bag. I stomp my foot down on the end of the skateboard so it flips into my hand and I head out the door. I put some rock music on my iPod and make it to school only a minute or two before they're supposed to leave for the field trip.

A short girl with blonde hair hurries onto the bus just as I get there and when I head onto the bus, I realize I'm the last one here. Dozens of eyes stare at me. Most probably still don't have any idea who I am. I shoulder my bag and walk towards the back. After announcing my presence to Layla, I slip into a seat next to some younger kid drawing equations on the window. I'm surprised to see someone so young here until I see what he's been working on and I realize he's here because he's basically a genius. Not that anyone would believe me if I told them, but I actually understand some of his equations. The mischievous gears in my head start turning as he talks to me. This kid's kinda cool.

+ + + + +

"Cole with West," Mr. Neil says as he assigns us partners. I look around, having no idea who "West" is. I start to fumble around in my bag for the list of kids names in my class when someone comes up behind me.

"Hey there! You're the new kid. Cole, right?"

I turn around to see a girl staring at me. "Yep." I look at her, taking in her curly hair and bright blue eyes.

"I'm Riley. Born to write, live to rock."

I smile in amusement. Rocker chick. My kind of partner. She's kind of cute, too.

We walk inside the laboratory where the head scientist begins listing off boring rules I could care less about. Then he tells us to put all of our electronics in a box and I throw my phone in. "Your iPod too, Cole," Mr. Neil says. I roll my eyes and throw that in too. Anyone who knows me knows it's not wise to take away my music against my will. Then he moves on to ask Riley if she as any, since she seems to be off in her own little world. I nonchalantly pull the sleeve of my jacket further down over my wrist watch. It's not electronic like phones are, but I try to hide it just in case they would have wanted it anyway. I'm not leaving my watch in some crappy cardboard box. It's too special for that.

Over the course of the field trip, I find myself growing more curious about Riley. At first I thought maybe she was too peppy for my tastes, but she seems genuinely interested in the experiments around the lab, she's hanging out with Emma, the quiet girl I'd met in class yesterday, and she has a death grip on her journal the entire time. I wonder what's in her journal that's so special. I raise my eyebrows. Challenge accepted.

We settle for a quick lunch in a big room with a few tables, though there aren't enough for everyone. Layla and her partner along with a few others sit on the floor while the rest, including Riley and myself, grab a spot at the tables. I pull a can of Pepsi out of my bag and click back the metal latch. It opens with a satisfying hiss.

Then Riley gets up from her seat next to me and walks over to those sitting on the floor. I look around to make sure no one is paying attention to me, then I slip soundlessly out of my seat and make my way over to Riley's bag. I kneel down, unzip it as quietly as I can, then rummage through it for a few seconds before finding the journal. Just as I'm about to open the cover, it's yanked from my hands and I'm hit over the head with it. "Ow! Hey!"

Riley leans over over me and stares me hard in the eye. "Never. Ever. Touch. My. Journal."

Normally I would make some snarky comment. Some little girl with braces can't tell me what to do. But this time, I think she really means it. I feel a chill go down my spine. So, to prevent being hit with it again, I slink away and sit back at the table. What is in that journal?

+ + + + +

After lunch, we're led into a super secret part of the lab. My mind starts to wander again when he goes into 'important' rules and stuff I don't care about. Just then, I feel someone tap my shoulder. I look over and don't see anyone, until I look down. The little genius kid with the scarf stares up at me. Then he jerks his head toward a undisclosed door. “Come on,” he whispers. “Let’s pay a visit to the gift shop.”

Now we're talking. I shrug, acting as if I don't care much and respond with a matching tone. “Alright.”

We slip away from the group while they're distracted. I try the door handle, but it's locked, so I pull out my lock picking set, look at the time on my watch, then get to work. I have it open in ten seconds flat. New record. I push the door open and gesture inside with a sarcastic bow.

It opens up into a long hallway, lined with endless unmarked metal doors and lit with cold florescent light. Neon doesn't pick a door within a few seconds, so I pick one for him. Step one of being a thief: if you're doing something you're not supposed to, be quick about it. Don't hesitate.

I slip inside the room, a mischievous grin spreading on my face. There's nothing like the adrenaline rush of doing something you're not supposed to. The room isn't overly bright, being lit by one sole light in the middle of the room, but it's enough to reflect off of the shiny black bricks that line the walls in stacks. What the heck? "What're these?" I ask, picking one up and turning it over in my hands.

Neon picks one up and starts ripping it open. "Only one way to find out." The package hisses and starts to expand in his hands. "It's airtight?"

As the black material grows and expands by the second, it turns into a large suit. I grab a couple more off of the shelf "What were they going to do with these?" Neon says something in return, but I'm not really listening as I look down the walls lined with hundreds of these things. "And why would they need so many of them?" An uneasy feeling rises inside me. Something isn't quite right here. I study the packages in my hands.

“Cole. We’re leaving," Neon says so forcefully it startles me. What's his problem? I start to put the packages back on the stack I'd taken them from as Neon stuffs the suit he'd inflated into his bag. “Cole. Come on, we’re going." Then he disappears out the door. Where's he going? Damn it! If I lose him, they're going to blame me. Wonderful! I start towards the door in an attempt to catch up with him. I throw my bag over my shoulder and it hits one of the stacks, causing several of them to topple onto the floor. I curse under my breath and scramble to get them. I realize I won't have time to stack them all up again, so in panic, I shove them all in my bag and hurry after Neon.

I slip out the door leading into the hall and let it close behind me just as I see Mr. Neil hoist Neon up off the floor. The class is so distracted by him that I'm able to slip into the back without anyone noticing I was ever gone.

They lead us into a wide hallway lined with several doors. I'm not entirely sure what's going on when I'm directed into one of the rooms. A weird looking chair with wires and things sits against the wall. "What the heck is this?"

Someone comes in behind me, startling me. "Ashton. You can call me Derek. Have a seat," the voice says.

I turn around to see a tall, broad shouldered man in a lab coat presenting his hand to the chair. "It's Cole," I correct him. "What is this? I ah... was distracted during the explanation."

"A state of the art chair that will revolutionize medical care. There are three different levels of the intensity of the tests we run. We'll only be doing level one on you, which is your basic check up. It's perfectly safe, nothing to worry about. Just lay back and relax."

I shrug. "Alright." Seems pretty straight forward. I lower myself into the chair and he brings a cage half-way down over my face. "It's not going to hurt, but you might fall asleep. The scan shouldn't take anymore than ten minutes." I nod and instinctively take a look at my watch. 2:20PM.

Derek presses some buttons on a computer and an L.E.D. light starts scanning over my body. One second I feel fine, pumped up from our heist, and the next I'm out cold.

I wake with a jolt, my eyes shooting open and my body bolting upright in the chair. "It's okay. Calm down..." The man tries to sooth.

I cough a few times. "What the hell was that?"

"Like I said, it's normal to fall asleep. You test came out fine, except you seemed to have some adrenaline in your system, which might account for your abrupt awakening," he says as he prints out my paper. I glance at my watch. 3:05PM. I tilt my head. Didn't he say it was supposed to take ten minutes? I shove my sleeve back over it as he turns around and hands me the paper.

I take it from him and stand up. The second my feet hit the floor, I feel like the room shifts at a 30 degree angle and I stumble forward into the counter. "You okay, Ashton?"

I grip the counter top so tight that my knuckles turn white, feeling as if I let go, I'm going to slide and slam into the wall. Then as if someone has flipped a switch, everything instantly levels out and I feel perfectly fine. I stand up straight. "My name is Cole," I say with a side glance at the man, then I shove my way out the doors, agitated. Everyone else is grabbing their things when I get out there. My mind wanders back to my watch as we head out of the hall. Did I read my watch wrong, or did the scan take 35 minutes longer than they said it would? My suspicions grow deeper the more I think about it, so I quicken my pace and I catch up to Layla. "Hey, do you know what time it is?"

"No, they took our phones. Remember?"

"And you didn't see any clocks anywhere in the laboratory?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "Not that I recall. What's this about?"

"Nothing. Thanks." I fall back into line, my head reeling.

What if they didn't take our electronics because it would mess with the equipment. What if they took them so we couldn't tell what time it was... I swallow. Or that the test took a whole 45 minutes.

Jinx cursed under his breath as he shivered at his bus stop, near home. He hadn’t ridden on the ratty government vehicle since his first year of high school, as he’d gotten his own license as fast as possible. But now that the truck had gone and died completely, here he was again, without any other option but this, or the same long walk as the day before. It was a bit humiliating.

He had been so anxious that he would sleep in too long again and miss the field trip that he had woken up far too early. As in, fifteen minutes. An all time record. A good thing, perhaps, but a tired Jinx was a grumpy Jinx.

Well, grumpier than normal.

The bus rumbled up to the curb and braked with a long, pained hiss, the doors swinging open slowly. Jinx shifted his backpack on his shoulder and climbed the steps, frowning. Mornings suck.

As the bus continued its rounds through the nearby neighborhoods, Jinx curled his knees to his chest and pulled out his crumpled permission slip. The night before, after he had confessed his late arrival to Dad, he had presented the paper.

“A field trip?” his father questioned, raising an eyebrow over sagging eyelids. His watchman outfit was crumpled, the dirty dishes from a lazy meal spread out before him. “Pretty early in the semester for that.”

“Yeah,” Jinx said, scuffing his foot on the tile of the kitchen floor. He still felt guilty about being late to school, and, less logically, about the truck dying. They didn’t have the money to take it to the shop quite yet. Pay day wasn’t for a few days. “It’s a rare opportunity, they said.”

“Sure, sure,” Dad said, pulling out his reading glasses and perching them on his flat nose. He scanned the slip, dark lips puckered. He finally looked up, concerned. “You’ll miss quite a few classes. Will your grades handle it?”

Jinx wrung his hands and shifted his gaze away. “I’ll figure it out.”

His father stared at him for a few moments more, then lowered the pen and signed with one swift movement.

“I trust you,” he said softly, holding out the paper for Jinx. The boy hesitated, then took it.

“Thank you.”

***

After another long, lonely bus drive of listening to music and staring out the window, Jinx watched as the M.E.L. building approached. He heard the other students shuffling excitedly and murmuring to themselves, but he hunched his shoulders and leaned his forehead against the cool glass of the window. Maybe doing this was a mistake. What did he know about science? A full day with these other teenagers seemed suddenly unbearable, but soon Mr. Neil was calling for them to exit the bus, and he slowly dragged himself to his feet.

Outside, the teacher gathered the group and consulted his clipboard.
"Okay! I've assigned you all partners," Mr. Neil said. "So, when I call your names, find your partner. I'll be going alphabetically by last name. Anthony with Woods. Cole with West. Gray with Kingsley. Mauze with Penn. Pascal with Sanders. And Tanner with Torson.”

Jinx glanced around, realizing that he had no idea who had the last name Kingsley. His gaze was finally met by a short, dark haired boy with a slightly wild look in his eyes. Was that him?

The boy stepped forward and briskly shook Jinx’s hand.

“Neon,” he quipped, spinning around on his heel to march towards the building before them. “Conqueror of worlds.”

Jinx blinked, then matched the boy’s stride, easily keeping up the pace with his long legs.

“Uh, Jinx,” he stammered in response, watching his partner cautiously. Teenagers were odd creatures, he knew.

“Jinx, like a hex? Like a curse?” Neon snapped an interested glance at him, his eyes glimmering. “Interesting. Do you happen to know the quantity of potatoes required to cause cataclysmic events?”

Jinx couldn’t help but snort out a laugh. What? He glanced over, his chest still convulsing, but Neon just looked at him with bright blue eyes, his mouth set in a grim line. He was serious?

“I’m afraid I don’t,” Jinx said, his mouth twitching as he tried to hide his smile. What kind of question was that? Potatoes? Cataclysmic events?

“Shame,” Neon replied curtly. He furrowed his eyebrows impatiently, then swept through the lab doors, leaving Jinx behind.

The tall boy shook his head incredulously, still smiling faintly to himself as he followed the group into the building. The architecture is interesting, and soon a man in a lab coat approached them, and began explaining the rules with the group. He instructed them to place their electronics in a box, and Jinx grudgingly handed over his phone. They received their name tags, and the tour began.

Jinx was soon enthralled with the lab’s work, latching onto their tour guide, Liam’s, every word. To think, he thought excitedly as he peered into the animal testing lab, Science can do all these amazing things! They could revolutionize society, stop disease, change humanity! He made a mental note to sketch some of animal hybrids he had seen, when he got back home. The fabbits were absolutely fascinating.

Maybe becoming a scientist, like Dad wanted, wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Jinx was so enraptured with the animal lab that he held back for a while longer than he probably should have, staring at the tumbling fabbits in their cages and the bustling lab workers about them. When he glanced up, he realized with a start that the group had already begun to move on, and he was about to be left behind.

Jinx jogged to catch up to the group down the long, brightly lit hallway, concerned that he had lost them. He paused, and could hear Liam’s voice drifting around the corner, explaining the next part of their tour. Something about confidentiality and medical testing. He pushed forward, following the sounds of the group’s chatter.

The backs of his classmates came into Jinx’s line of sight as he turned the corner, and he felt a relieved smile stretch over his face. Phew. He hadn’t lost them after all.

But as he went to step forward and rejoin them, two boys detached from the group and slipped away, back towards him. One of the boy’s dark hair and blue eyes caught Jinx’s attention. It was his partner! What was his name... Neon! He wasn’t sure who the other kid was. He vaguely remembered him joining the class the day before.

The two had suspicious expressions and glanced over their shoulders as they casually walked away from the group. Jinx hesitated. What were they doing?

As he watched from the corner, unseen and undetected, he saw them pick a seemingly random door of the hall. The new boy crouched down by the handle and did something with his hands. He was picking the lock, Jinx realized with a start. Neon watched him approvingly, occasionally glancing around for intruders.

Jinx’s eyes widened. What were they thinking? Should he intervene?

He glanced down the hall again, realizing that the group was growing farther and farther away. But if he left where he was now, the two boys would spot him. He blinked and furrowed his brow. He didn’t want to tattle on them. That seemed cowardly, and he didn’t want to make enemies already. But what they were doing was wrong, to snoop around like this. His muscles were tense with indecision.

The handle gave, and the new boy swept aside with sarcastic flourish. Neon nodded happily and they went in together. Jinx could see another hallway stretching behind the door, and he bit his lip in concern.
He tried to evaluate the situation properly. Logically, it was dangerous for the two boys to be wandering around without supervision. It was completely against the rules. They could cause accidents, they could get radiation poisoning, they could get into all sorts of trouble.

But if he told, they’d certainly hate him.

He clenched his fists and let out a exasperated sigh. The boys had now disappeared from sight through the door. If they didn’t reappear soon, he’d tell Mr. Neil afterwards, in private, so it could be anonymous. No one would know. And besides, the teacher would realize they were missing if they were gone long enough.

He’d been standing there for a while.

Having made his decision, Jinx glanced around with his good eye and hurried towards the group. Mr. Neil spotted him as he approached, and raised an eyebrow. Liam was almost done explaining the final part of their tour, some sort of medical chair. Jinx wandered over to stand beside Mr. Neil and whispered an apology.

“I was looking at the fabbits,” he explained nervously. The teacher nodded and smiled, understanding.

“They are quite fascinating, but try to stay with the group in the future. Glad you could join us again.”

Jinx breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced behind him to see if the boys had returned, just in time to see Neon run right smack into Mr. Neil.

“Something wrong, Neon?” Mr. Neil asked, brushing off his coat. Neon’s eyes widened and he shook his head vehemently, denying it. Jinx stared at him, at the backpack he clutched in his hands. Neon reacted very nervously to Mr. Neil’s comments, a great contrast to his confidence from earlier. What had he found? Jinx narrowed his eyes, but turned away finally, resolving to tell Mr. Neil about the whole ordeal later.

Soon the class had set their bags in a corner and separated to their rooms. Jinx hovered awkwardly by the M.I.C., unsure of whether he was supposed to sit or wait. Soon the door to his room opened and he was greeted by a broad-shouldered, dark-skinned man as tall as he was, a rare occurrence. The man extended a giant hand and greeted him.

“I’m Aaron. Jinx Gray, correct?”

Jinx shook his hand and nodded. “Yup.”

Aaron smiled and gestured to the seat. “Why don’t you take a seat, and we’ll start the medical tests?”

Jinx glanced at the chair and stuffed his hands in his pockets. Memories of doctor visits and IVs from his eye surgery when he was young flooded his mind.

“Uh, is it possible to decline?”

Aaron glanced up from tapping on the panel beside the chair. He raised an eyebrow, his smile fading slightly.

“Excuse me?”

Jinx shifted his weight and blinked.

“I mean, can you just show me how it works? I don’t feel all that comfortable with medical testing. It’s just like a normal checkup, right?”

Aaron took a step towards him and spread his hands appealingly.

“Well, sure. But don’t you want to experience this new technology? It’s such a unique experience, and the public won’t see it for a quite some time.”

Jinx turned towards the chair, debating. He hated doctors, but what would be the harm, really? He took a step forward and sat on the edge of the chair, but he still didn’t feel quite comfortable.

Aaron put a giant hand on his shoulder encouragingly. “Go on. You’ll thank me later.”

Jinx glanced at him, suddenly uncomfortable. He didn’t like this. The machine was a prototype. He felt himself getting cold feet, and suddenly wanted to stand up.

“I just had a checkup. I’m healthy. I know I’m blind in one eye, already,” Jinx said, forcing a dry laugh. He made to stand up again, smiling at Aaron. “Can’t you just show me the ropes without testing?”

“No, not really.” Aaron said, his smile gone. Jinx stared at him, confusion clouding his eyes. The man’s grip tightened on his arm, and he pushed him back into the chair, more forcefully now.

“Please,” Aaron said, his voice tense. He gave Jinx a bright smile. “I promise, it’s completely painless. Don’t worry.”

That wasn’t a proper answer, and Jinx felt his heart begin to pump faster. He didn’t stand up, but he didn’t relax, either.

“Okay,” he mumbled grudgingly. Aaron nodded in approval and released his shoulder.

“Thank you for your cooperation, Jinx. We really appreciate it.”

Jinx didn’t reply, but allowed Aaron to place nodes on his arms, a finger clamp on his finger. The chair started to scan him, and a cage-like thing lowered from the ceiling. Jinx’s heart rate sped up as he felt more and more uncomfortable and claustrophobic.

“I really don’t want to do this,” he murmured, but Aaron didn’t reply. A wave of exhaustion swept over Jinx, and his eyelids fluttered. He hadn’t signed up for this...

But before he could protest once more, everything went black.

I slowly stirred awake as a small breeze brushed my face. My eyelids fluttered open and I stared out the open window at the trees next to the house and listened o the chirping of the birds. I sat up and realized that I had fallen asleep at the compute. The last thing I could remember was that I had been writing out the first chapter of a new story, as I had had a sudden brainwave for a new plot, about a boy with the spirit of an ancient Archmage sharing his head.

Well, no problem. As long as I woke up on time, it doesn't matter. I clicked my mouse and peered at the computer screen to see what the time was. Then I screamed as I saw that the time was 7:41 pm! I jumped up, got dressed in my usual clothes, and went through my morning routine in what I was sure was record time and ran downstairs. I definitely did not want to miss the bus, as if I did, I would miss the field trip! And I had been looking forward to it for months!

I managed to reach the kitchen quickly. Since I was late, my parents and sister had left already. There was a piece of toast and jam on the table, which I knew was for me. I picked it up and gobbled it down before rushing out the door, pausing only to grab my backpack on the way. I ran out to the bus just as it was about to leave. I sat down in my usual seat at the back with a sigh of relief. Made it.

I got to school on time and immediately went to the parking lot. I handed in my permission slip to Mr.Neil and got on the bus. I gave Layla a friendly nod, and was walking to the back when I noticed Neon drawing something on the window with a dry erase marker. It looked complicated.

My curiosity piqued, I put my bag down next to his, and said “Hey, Neon, What’s that?”

Neon whirled around, tapping his forehead. “Well, you know how potato clocks work, right?”

“Ye...yeah.” I replied, a little confused. “Electricity, I think.”

Neon grinned. “Well, what if we applied that to an EMP? Or a power surge? With enough potatoes, I could take over China!”

I raised an eyebrow, wondering what he was thinking. “Figuratively speaking, right?”

“Not at all,” Neon chirped.

“Ah.” I replied, uncomfortable now. “Well, what does that say?” I asked, pointing to some words Neon had scrawled off to the side.

Neon loosened his scarf, grinning. “Carpe Terrarum. Seize the world.”

At this, my eyes widened. This boy is weird...or crazy. I thought as I slowly backed away. I heard Neon chuckle as I turned to Gwen.

"Hey, Gwen!" I said, pushing my weird conversation with Neon to the back of my mind.
"What are you reading?"

She smiled at me before replying, "Hey, Dan! I've finally taken your advice and started reading Red Rising."

I grinned, pleased. "How do you like it?"

"It's awesome! I wish I'd taken your suggestion earlier."

"Great!" I replied, "I'm glad you like it! Have fun reading! The first time is always the best."

She chuckled before replying, "Thanks, Dan!" and went back to the book. I then went to the back of the bus and took my seat.

By the time we reached the lab, I was super excited. I couldn't wait to see the scientific advances that were being made in the lab! Before we got off the bus, Mr.Neil cleared his throat and spoke up.

"Okay! I've assigned you all partners," he said. "So, when I call your names, find your partner. I'll be going alphabetically by last name."

He clears his throat and looks down at his clipboard. "Anthony with Woods. Cole with West. Gray with Kingsley. Mauze with Penn. Pascal with Sanders. And Tanner with Torson.”

At that, my heart did a somersault. I really liked Emma and we could speak to each other really well but...recently my crush on her had made talking to her a little awkward. I was going to have to make an effort to hide my crush from her, as I really didn't want to ruin my relationship with her.

I caught Riley's eye as she was looking at the back and she waggled her eyebrows at me, a knowing expression on her face. I blushed. Does she know about my crush?
I turn away from her, embarrassed and look towards Emma. She catches my eyes and smiles. I smile back and find that I'm blushing again, and quickly look down. We then file out of the bus.

As I got down to the ground, I felt someone grab my shoulder and turned to see Neon, giving me a hard expression.

"Don't think I didn't notice that." he said.

"What?" I replied, confused.

He looked me in the eyes, unblinkingly, and said "You blushed when she looked at you! You have a crush on her too!"

"No," I replied, trying to correct him, "You misunder-"

He cut me off, saying "Stay away from her! You have been warned!" and then turned and walked away.

"Well, that was weird." I muttered to myself.

"What was weird?" said a voice.

I turned, startled, to see Gwen. "Umm...nothing." I repied, deciding to keep what Neon said to me to myself.

"Okay..." she replied, looking at me concernedly, "If you're sure." I nodded, and jogged to catch up with Emma.

I was at the front of my classmates the entire time, drinking in all the amazing information about the lab. I make sure to help explain things to Emma, and tell her stuff that I hoped she'd find interesting.

I didn't even have time to think bout my crush on her. When we came to the animal hybrids, I started to hyperventilate, so Emma thoughtfully gave me a paper bag to breath in to help me calm down. Once I did, I immediately started to excitedly ask the scientist nearby questions.

"Are lurtles more aquatic, as in turtles, or do they live more on land, like lizards?"

"Actually, they're amphibious." she replied with a smile. I nodded.

"Cool. What are they're egg laying habits?"

"In a hole they dig in the sand before being covered up, like turtles."

"Interesting." I replied, noting it down in my notebook.

Then Charlotte asked "What about their mating habits?" Me, Charlotte and Layla continued asking questions in this way.

The scientist seemed to start to get flustered by us, and that was when Mr.Neil must have taken notice.

He came up and said, "Ah, I see you've met my star students. I'm sorry if they are asking a few too many questions, but they are very interested in biology." The scientist replied that it was okay, and then Mr. Neil turned to us.

"Come along, students," he said. "I think you'll find the next thing they are showing us rather...interesting." And guided us away from there.

He was right. As they showed us the MIC and explained it, I was amazed. I couldn't believe that I was seeing the latest advances i medical technology! Our future! And better still, I would be one of the first people to test it. I would have a place in history!

However, Emma didn't loom as thrilled as I did.“Aren’t these prototypes?” she whispered to me.

Trying to reassure her, I replied, “I'm sure they’re completely safe. They wouldn't put children in it if it wasn't completely tested.”

“That's true I guess.” she said, but she still looked a little uncertain.

we were each led to a different room. A Caucasian woman with blonde hair was in mine. She smiled at me coldly and said, "You must be Daniel. I am Dr.Smith, and I will be your helper today."

She gestured towards the chair and I sat in it. She then told me about the side effects, but I didn't think it would be too bad so I followed her directions. Then the fatigue hit and I fell asleep.

At some point, I felt that I had regained consciousness. I had always been a light sleeper and I feel that that must have been the cause. My eyelids remained closed. I tried to open them, but they felt far too heavy for that. The temptation to fall asleep again tugged at me but, for the moment at least, I resisted it. I heard people talking.

"Yes, everything is going smoothly." I heard Dr.Smith say.

"Good." replied a man's voice. "And it had better remain so. These children are our future, and will help us rule. You will suffer for any failure."

"I understand perfectly." replied Dr.Smith. And that was the last I heard before my energy wore out, and I succumbed once more to sleep.

When the doctor woke me up, my brained stirred to life, and immediately started whirring with thoughts. That conversation had sounded ominous. Had it been a dream? Or had it been real?

Dr. Smith smiled at me and said "Your test results are normal. You are perfectly healthy." I nodded, not really listening, and thanked Dr.Smith before walking out of the room. As I did so, I saw Emma coming out of her room. She looked pale and a little shaken.

Concerned, I asked “Are you okay?”

She replied, “Yeah...I’m pretty sure. That was weird right?”

“Right.” I agreed.

As we filed onto the bus, my thpughts drifted towards what I had heard again and again.
It must have been a dream. It couldn't have been real.
Or could it?

The night after the field trip everything was off. I couldn't focus on anything, and my mind was racing. It wasn't until my mom came into my room that I noticed she had been calling me downstairs for ten minutes.

“Emma dinner has been ready for ten minutes now...Are you okay hun? You look pale.” She slowly walked towards me.

“Yeah mom. Just a little tired. I had a long day.” She stood in front of me, and placed a hand on my forehead.

“Emma you’re burning up. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah. Really I’m okay. What's for dinner?” I swing my legs over the side of my bed to stand up, but the moment I stand up my mind swirls. I fall over landing on my side. I look up and reach for my wastebasket in front of me. It feels like I throw up mostly everything in my stomach, because afterward I feel weak and shaky.

“Emma! That's it. Back to bed for you, and I will call the doctor tomorrow.” She wraps one arm around my waist, and pulls my arm over her shoulder with the other.”Lucas! Can you come here?” I hear my dad’s footsteps run up the stairs as my mom places me back into my bed.

“What is it Elise?” He walks into the room, and when he sees me his eyes go sad. “Oh no Emma. My poor baby girl is sick.”

“Dad…” I say weakly. “I’m almost 16.”

“I know. I know.” He laughs. “But you’ll always be my baby girl.”

“Lucas do you think you’ll be able to take off tomorrow?” My mom asks. “I have this super important meeting I have to be at.”

“Of course my love. Now lets let our girl get some rest. I’ll make sure to clean your bucket, and bring it back in case you need it Emma.”

“Thanks dad. Love you both.”

“We love you too.” I fall asleep almost instantly after they leave.

________________________________________________________________________

The next morning.

Around 10 I was woken up by twenty texts from Riley. All asking where I was, and if I was dead. God love her. I texted her back with a quick explanation.

Emma: Good and alive. Got sick last night. Hopefully will be back tomorrow.

Riley: Whoo! Feel better. It’s weird like 3 other people from the trip yesterday aren’t here either.

Emma: That is weird.

Riley: Anyways Miss Jackson is stalking down the desk aisle so I have to go. Text you later. <3

Emma: Later

After that my dad tried to bring me soup, but I wasn't hungry. After 5 minutes of arguing he left, and I turned on a documentary to distract myself from my stomach. It kind of helped that I fell asleep right after I turned it on though.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6 Hours Later

The next time I woke up it was about 4 o’clock. I woke up to the sound of knocking at the door.

“Hey Em.” My dad called. “Gwen’s here, and she refuses to leave until she sees you. She’s got a care package.”

Gwen is the best.

“Come in” I say. My dad opens the door and Gwen walks in.

“Hey sicko.” She smiles, and sets a bag on my desk.

“Aren't you worried about getting sick?” I ask.

“It's all good. I got my flu shot.”

“That's the thing Gwen. I dont think its the flu. Yeah it feels like that, but yesterday after the tests I passed out.”

“You what? Have you told your parents?”

“No. I didn't think it was that big of a deal. I didn't want to cause a panic if it was nothing.”

“A few other people weren’t in class today, and some said they weren't feeling well. You don't think-”

“That's not possible.” I interrupt. “They are health evaluators. They are safe. Right?”

“I sure hope so.” She says looking down. “Anyways. I’ve got a few things for you. Aloe socks, clean scented candles, tea, and a long set of chick flicks.”

“I love how you know sick me.” I smile as she hands me the tea.

“What are best friends for?” We both laugh. “By the way, Dan asked about you today.”

“He did.” I look up a little too hopeful. I quickly retreat my focus back to my tea before she can notice.

“Yeah. He wanted to ask about your study session this afternoon. I told him you were sick, and he gave me these.” She pulls out some notes, and hands them to me.

“Oh thanks.” I take them, and slightly smile.

“Plus he wanted to know if you were alright of course.” She says.

“Oh that was sweet.”

“Yeah he is a nice guy. A lot better than most guys at our school.” She says. I slightly blush.

God what are you doing Emma? Since when have you cared? Of course he wouldn't like you like that. He is simply your friend. You’re not exactly miss attractive.

“Stop that.” Gwen says.

“What?” I ask.

“You have your doubtful thinking face on. Whatever your hating yourself over. Stop.”

“Sorry.” I apologize.

“Now let's get this movie marathon started.” She puts the first DVD in the player.

“Fair warning. I’ll most likely fall asleep.” I laugh.

“Puh-leeze you are you. You can't stand to miss a good story.” We both laugh, and settle in.

“No. No I can't.” I quietly say to myself.

I wake up once again to the beeping of my alarm... barely. When I open my eyes, I feel like I was risen from the dead. And when I stand up, I feel like I was hit by a Mack truck. The clock reads 7:00AM which means I literally slept through my alarm for a half an hour. I shake my head and stumble into my closet. After getting dressed, I head downstairs. My dad has already left, Danny and Cole are sitting on the couch, eating cereal and watching cartoons while my mom pours herself a cup of coffee. "You're up late," Mom says. She holds up a mug. "Want some coffee?"

I rub my eyes with the sleeves of my hoodie. "In an IV."

Mom nods and sets the mug down, pulling out a larger one from the cupboard. "How late were you up last night?"

"Eight Thirty..." I say with a shake of my head. When have I ever gone to bed that early? "Please tell me it's still 2056."

~ ~ ~

By the time I sit down in my first class, I'm about 90% human again thanks to about a gallon of coffee. I'm surprised I'm not vibrating out of my chair. "Nice fashion statement, Woods," someone says as they walk past me to their desk. I look down at my shirt to find it inside out. Wonderful...

By second period, the buzz has warn off, my shirt has been turned right-side-out again and I feel completely normal. I slide into my seat in Ms. Jackson's History class, next to Riley. Part of the way through class, I notice Emma's desk is empty, so I lean over to Riley and ask, "Where's Emma?"

"Got sick..." she whispers back. "Along with like, three other people from our field trip."

"Really? There must be something going around."

Riley shrugs. "I don't know... No one else in school seems to be missing."

I shake my head. "I'm sure it's nothing. Maybe they caught something on the bus yesterday."

"Yeah, that's probably it."

~ ~ ~

I'm sitting on my bed studying when someone knocks on my door. "Come in." It opens and Cole slips through, closing it quietly behind him. "What do you want?"

He looks over at me and acts slightly surprised to see me. "Oh, hey Cuz." I roll my eyes. Nice act. He shoulders his backpack and heads for my window.

"What do you think you're doing?" I say, standing up and walking closer to him.

"I'm going out to meet some friends."

"Friends? You've been here a day. How could you possibly have friends yet?"

He shrugs. "I guess I'm just popular. People like me." Oh, really? He slides the window open and the cold air sends a shiver through my body. I wrap my robe tighter around my already cold body.

"We have a front door you know," I say, agitated.

"Aunt Jen is down there. Did you know we have a curfew? So lame."

"I don't have a curfew. She must have set one special for you," I tease.

"Are you serious?"

I grin. "No, I have one too. I just never have anywhere to be, so it doesn't really affect me."

He purses his lips. "Hilarious." He swings one leg outside. "Hey, you wouldn't mind covering for me, would you?"

"Why on earth would I cover for you?"

"Because the alternative is telling on me and getting me in trouble when I just got here and you really don't want to be that person do you? We're supposed to be getting along," he says with an exaggerative nod. "And I'm sure I'll find someway to get you back if you decide to be a snitch."

"Black mail?" I say as another shiver courses through me, more severe this time.

"Maybe..."

"You owe me one. Big time."

"Thanks," he says with a cocky smirk as he swings his other leg to the outside. "Oh, and remember to leave your window unlocked so I can get back in. Later." Then he disappears from view.

I blow a forced breath out of my nose and slide the window closed again. Then a thought hits me and I click the lock closed. "Oops... Did I forget to leave it unlocked? My bad."

~ ~ ~

My night goes downhill from there. What I thought had just been a chill in the January air causing me to be colder than usual turns into five blankets piled on top of me, curled up in a ball under the covers, shivering uncontrollably. I fade in and out of consciousness until I look at the clock, which reads 2:00AM. A growing sense of nausea sends me stumbling out of bed towards the trashcan, but when I make it there, it never peaks and slowly begins to subside. So eventually I grab the trashcan and slowly make my way back to my bed, but before I make it there, I'm hit with a horrible shiver and a wave of faintness, which sends me to the floor, the room spinning and my forehead covered in cold sweat. I think I'm dying... I'm hit with another wave of nausea and crawl my way into the bathroom, but it subsides again.

Then in an instant, everything snaps back into focus. I'm no longer dizzy, I'm not nauseous in the slightest and for the first time in hours, I stop shivering. I take a deep breath and pull myself shakily up to the counter to splash my face with water. I'm over the worst of it, I decide. But when I look up at my reflection, at my paper white face... orange fox-like eyes stare back at me. I let out a gasp and stumble away from the counter. But the horror that courses through my body is short lived, because before I can even process what I'm seeing, I black out.

Jinx had passed through the past week in a complete daze. Ever since he had woken up from that terrible medical chair, he had felt like his brain had slowed down, like it was fried, a slog of oatmeal in his head. His classes were foggy dreams, his mind constantly drifting off to nowhere in particular. He flunked an English test after staring at it for the entire period, forgetting to place a single mark on the paper. He was thankful that the truck was broken, now, because he didn't trust himself not to drift off while driving.

Maybe I have a concussion, he thought to himself as he sat at the kitchen table, clutching a mug of tea like a lifeline. HIs father had left for work, leaving Jinx with the hot drink and instructions to go to bed early. His father thought that Jinx was just coming down with a cold. Jinx didn't want to worry him, but if this continued, he feared he'd have to go to the hospital. Had that medical chair messed with his brain? He hadn't known that they were going to knock him out when he had gone into it; if he had, he wouldn't have participated.

He thought back to when he had woken up, how he had regained consciousness like a dead man. For a moment, seated in the cold chair, he had feared that he had gone completely blind, because his good eye was clouded with dark spots. Little by little, it cleared, but not the fogginess in his brain. Aaron has waved him away, cheerfully stating that the symptoms would fade soon. Jinx had felt so terrible that he had forgotten to tell Mr. Neil about what he had seen Neon do, or ask if anyone else was experiencing the symptoms.

Nearly a week had passed by now. Something was wrong.

Jinx hunched over in his chair and gritted his teeth as a wave of nausea punched him in the gut. This was fairly new, but he had felt sick to his stomach most of the day. It was getting worse, and now he feared that maybe he was dreadfully ill. With his father at work, he was going to be alone until the morning.

He closed his eyes, dreading a very unpleasant night to come.

The nausea came again, and Jinx pushed his chair back with shaky legs. He needed to get to the bathroom before he made a mess. But as he lurched to his feet, his good eye flooded with darkness once more, and the room jerked violently. His knees went weak, and Jinx flung out an arm in panic, trying to find the chair to balance himself. But it was too late. His strength gone, he collapsed heavily on his side, his head cushioned by his arms. He cried out in pain as his hip jarred with the tile floor.

The stabbing pain shifted from his stomach to his spine.

Oh God. I've broken something.

He lay on the ground, curled into himself in pain. His eyesight flickered in and out, the world spinning violently around him. His shoulders felt as if they were being wrenched from their sockets. Everything hurt.

He threw up.

I need to call 911. I'm dying, Jinx thought desperately to himself. His phone was still lying on the kitchen table. He tried to push himself to all fours, a guttural moan erupting from his lips as his joints screamed in pain. He collapsed once more, his vision gone completely.

As the pain grew more and more intense, as the world spun faster and faster, and as he felt himself starting to slip from consciousness, Jinx began to pray.

In his last moments of awareness, he felt something erupt from his back.

And then he was gone.

Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson...

I rolled over in bed and groaned, but all that came out of my mouth was a hoarse wheeze. I swallowed.

Jesus loves you more than you will know, woah woah woah...

My goodness, did my head hurt. I propped myself up on my elbows and cupped my forehead in my hands.

God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson...

I was awfully warm. Great, a fever. I tossed my bed sheets off and reached towards my dresser to see if there was any water.

Heaven holds a place for those who pray -

"Dammit, Simon and Garfunkel!" I croaked. "Shut up!"

So much for setting your alarm at the other end of the room. It's a great technique to get yourself up in the morning, but right then getting out of bed was the last thing I wanted to do. In desperation, I buried my head in my pillow to muffle the music. I must've fallen back asleep, because a few minutes later my mom was nudging me awake.

"Charlotte, honey! It's late! What's wrong?"

"Mom..." I moaned. "Can you turn the alarm off?" Mrs. Robinson must have been on at least its third run.

She crossed the room and picked up my phone. "I don't know the password."

"You don't need the password. Just slide the thingy over."

A moment later, a sweet silence blessed the room. I sighed.

My mom placed her palm on my forehead. "Poor baby, you're burning up!"

Whenever I get a fever, my mom says that means no school for the next two days. This time, I would have to miss an English essay, a big history test, an important chemistry lecture, and... My mind reeled and throbbed at the same time, and I sank deeper into my pillow.

I spent the next hour in my bed trying to watch YouTube videos on my laptop. There are benefits to getting sick (doing whatever you want), and I was trying to take advantage of them, but this was a different kind of sick. I just felt so weak, so achy, so warm, so cold, and so miserable. In desperation, I shoved my laptop to the side and closed my eyes.

When I woke up again, it was three o'clock in the afternoon. I was still weak, but slowly I realized that I felt considerably better. Thank God. Both my parents were off at work, but my mom had left me a note on the counter in the kitchen saying there was chicken noodle soup in the microwave. I got myself a bowl and sat at the table to eat it. That's when things started getting a bit odd.

I ate the soggy carrots. Fine. The celery. Fine, too. The noodles were delicious, and my stomach was happy. Until I swallowed a chunk of chicken. After that I was lucky to have made it to the trashcan.

Chicken noodle soup - especially the "chicken" part - didn't seem very appetizing anymore.

I decided to be a conscientious invalid and take out the trash in the kitchen. I was feeling fine, after all. I just really didn't want to eat any more chicken. I made my way through the garage and to the side of the house, the trash bag slung over my back like Santa's sack of toys (you have to make chores fun), and was about to lift the lid off of the bin when I was startled by a piercing noise from next door. I yelped, dropped the trash bag, and scurried back into the garage, shutting the door behind me.

Within a few moments my brain caught up with my instincts and promptly informed me that that "piercing noise" I had heard was Jade. The friendly Australian Shepherd next door. Barking.

Now, I'd be the first one to admit that I'm a skittish person. I shy away from scary things like clowns, dark rooms, the ocean, and footballs. But dogs? No way. That's Gwen's job. Something weird was going on with me, although at the time I didn't think much of it. So what? I didn't feel like eating chicken and Jade's bark scared me a little.

After all, I was sick. When you're sick, you aren't yourself.

I sit down at the kitchen table. "Hey, thanks for leaving the window unlocked last night."

"Cole, I'm not in the mood," Layla says from across the table.

"You locked me out of the house. It was 25 degrees outside. I had to pick the lock on the back door. I thought your dog was going to attack me."

Layla looks down at the German Shepherd, who sits patiently by the table, hoping for a scrap of bacon. "Good boy."

"Is this funny to you?" I ask. "You locked your window again on purpose, didn't you?"

Layla sighs and sets down her mug of tea. "Is that really so surprising? You threatened to blackmail me if I didn't let you sneak out, through my window after curfew to go god knows where. You said yourself we're supposed to be getting along. You're not off to an overly good start."

I look around for Aunt Jen, then lower my voice. "Okay, maybe I shouldn't have snuck out last night. But you don't lock someone out of the when it's 25 freaking degrees outside."

"Cole, can we please talk about his later. I told you I'm not in the mood," she says, resting her head on her hand.

"What, are you sick or something?"

"Something like that," she grumbles.

"What are your symptoms? 'Cus I really don't want to catch something from you."

"I feel like I was hit by a truck, okay? Get out of my face." She shoves the chair away from the table and slowly climbs the stairs. And I thought she was normally grumpy. Sick Layla brings it to a whole new level.

+ + +

"Well that's just fantastic!" Riley says, slapping her phone down on the lunch table.

I slide into the seat across from her, setting my tray down on the table. "What's fantastic?"

Riley seems a little startled by my presence, unsure of what she thinks of me sitting at her table... or what she thinks of me in general. "Oh... Hey."

"Hey. What's fantastic?"

She sighs. "The guitar player in my band, Stint With Fiction, broke his hand playing Skee Ball."

"How do you break your hand playing Skee Ball?"

She shakes her head and rolls her eyes. "Don't get me started... Anyway... We're supposed have a gig next week, but we can't exactly play without a guitar player."

I shrug. "I play the guitar... I could fill in for awhile."

"I don't know..." Riley's gaze wanders over to a few books sitting next to her backpack, one of which is her journal.

"Look, I'm sorry for taking your Journal. Curiosity got the best of me, I guess. Kind of a habit to stick my nose into stuff."

"That's not a good enough excuse."

"What's in the journal anyway?" I ask. She glares at me and I put my hands up. "Okay, okay... I won't ask again..."

"I'm not sure how I feel about the idea of you being in my band after what you did," she admits.

"Well, I'm not saying we have to be friends. You don't even have to trust me. You need a guitar player and I have a guitar. It's as simple as that."

She sighs. "Alright... Come by the music room after school and I'll listen to you play. Under one condition... You promise to never go through my stuff or take my journal again. And I'm not agreeing to anything yet, okay?"

I smirk a little. "Got it."

"And whatever you do, don't play Stairway to Heaven."

+ + +

I sit on a stool in the music room with my red Fender electric guitar, playing 'You Give Love A Bad Name' by Bon Jovi. Seemed like a fitting electric guitar song. My fingers move up and down the fret board, the notes echoing out through the amp sitting next to me. When I strike the last chord, I know I aced it. But when I look up, Riley just stands there with a skeptical look on her face and her arms crossed over her chest. "So... What do you think?" I ask.

She shrugs. "Not bad..." I can't help but let out a laugh. I know I was good. She's just doesn't want to admit it. "Alright... Under the unfortunate circumstances, I'll let you play in the band. But if I so much as see you near my backpack, you're out. Got it?" I give her a nod, and stand up, placing my guitar back in it's case. "Where'd you get such a nice guitar, anyway?"

"I stole it." Riley widens her eyes. I laugh. "Kidding. You may find this hard to believe, but I've had a job or two before. I saved up for it."

She gives me a skeptical look, but all she says is, "We usually practice before school. Meet me here tomorrow at 7AM. Don't be late."

+ + +

When I come in the front door, Aunt Jen is standing at the kitchen counter. "Hey, Cole. Did you have a good day?"

"Yeah, it was pretty good. Thanks." I shrug my backpack off and lay it by the front door.

"Come here for a second." She holds up a spoon with batter on it. "Have you ever had Banana Bread before?"

"Dunno... Doubt it," I say with a shrug.

"Obviously this is just the batter, but it'll give you an idea."

I take the spoon and give it a lick and I'm taken aback by the flavor. "This is literally the greatest thing I've ever eaten."

Aunt Jen dips her finger in the batter and tastes it. "Hmm... I think it could use another banana. Mind mashing one up for me while I run to the bathroom?"

"Yeah sure," I say, but I barely acknowledge her words. I'm overwhelmed by the smell, the taste. I grab a banana out of the bowl, and I completely forget what I was doing. Something comes over me... something primal. I rip the peel of the banana off with my teeth and sink my teeth into the fruit underneath.

It's only when Aunt Jen comes back a minute later and I've devoured half the banana that I'm snapped out of it and back into reality. "Cole... What are you doing?"

I look at her, then at what's left of the banana. I wipe banana mush from my mouth with the sleeve of my shirt. "Umm... Sorry. I was starving. I gotta go." I leave the banana on the counter and run up the stairs. What the heck was that? Did I just rip a banana apart with my teeth? What's wrong with me?

Neon dashed down the halls like a bullet, stopping for no one. He weaved nimbly between the larger students, his red scarf flicking like a fiery serpent. In his hand, he clutched a book that he had forgotten in his locker.

The students began to pack out of the hallway, walking into class as Neon skimmed by. Once, he’d been offered a spot in the track team, and had responded by saying that exercise was for minions.

The hallway was empty now, the door at the end slowly creaking its hinge. Neon leaped sideways through the doorway, rolling as he hit the floor inside his classroom. The bell rang as he sprang lithely to his feet.

“Ah,” his English teacher harrumphed good-naturedly, shutting the door. “I’ll get you one of these days, Kingsley.” Mr. Poe’s eyes glinted with amusement behind his spectacles.

Neon smiled, pointing at him imperiously. “I sincerely doubt it.” Tossing the twin tails of his scarf over his shoulder, he began to walk back to his desk.

“Now then, who wants to read today’s script?”

Neon walked backwards back up to the board. “Me,” he declared immediately.

“Excellent, we have a male lead! Any females?”

Nobody raised their hands. A few nervous glances were cast around, seeing if any other person had volunteered, if one would be chosen randomly. Neon smirked. This was how it always was. Half were uninterested, the other half were cowards. He was the lone-

“I’ll do it.” A brown-haired girl looked up from her desk. Scribbling the end of a sentence in her journal, she got up and strutted towards the front.

Neon gazed at her as she neared, uninterested. “Well, now. Don’t be surprised if you’re outshined by my stunning-”

The girl looked him in the eyes. It was Riley, with that cocky smile and piercing blue gaze that matched his own.

He forgot himself for a moment, stammering. “U-uh...yeah. Prepare to be defeated!” he said, a bit too loudly.

Mr. Poe chuckled. “I don’t think there’ll be much defeating going on today, Neon.” He tapped the book he held in his hand indicatively.

Neon looked down at the book he had been carrying. He’d never stopped to read it, but now the title was unmistakable. Romeo and Juliet.

Mr. Poe sat down, leaning his spindly elbows on his desk. “Since we’ll be starting such a famous play this week, I thought you might regale us with one of your performances.” He raised his fragile hands to hide a smirk.

Riley cocked her head. “Fine by me,” she said, walking to opposite Neon.

Curses, Neon seethed. I was careless. No matter. He regarded his expectant audience, and his spry teacher. I’ll turn this around with the greatest Mercutio ever known!

“Ah.” Mr. Poe leafed through the pages. “Well, let’s start with a famous scene to get the mood just right. Turn to Act Two, Scene Two, everyone. Neon, you’re Romeo; Riley, you’re Juliet.” A great rustling of papers was the audience’s courtesy clap.

Crap... Neon's heart sank, along with his advantage.

“Now then,” his teacher said, eyes glinting with a trickster’s malice, “whenever you’re ready.”

Neon held his script and tried not to tremble. “Ahem,” he cleared his throat. He caught Riley’s eye as he drew breath. She seemed intrigued, almost...eager, for him to speak.

He grinned. He knew exactly what to do with her.

“She speaks,” he said, throwing himself into his role. In a flash, his demeanor changed, his movements becoming sharper and prouder. He gazed at Riley as he spoke, pouring passion into his words. “O, speak again, bright angel, for thou art as glorious to this night, being over my head, as is a winged messenger of heaven.” He continued, making his voice irresistibly soft, yet clouded with a dreamy desire. This was a battlefield, and there was only one way to claim victory.

To make Riley West fall in love with him.

“O Romeo, O Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” Riley asked earnestly. Her eyes began to shine with the excitement of performance. Neon could use that. “Deny thy father and refuse thy name. Or, if thou wilt not, be but my sworn love, and I’ll no longer be a Capulet.”

Neon had to give her credit; she was an impressive performer. But nowhere near the level of a conqueror. “I take thee at thy word,” he said, drawing closer. “Call me but love, and I’ll be new baptized. Henceforth, I shall never be Romeo.”

Riley seemed to waver a bit, a hint of pink in her expression. Neon smiled. He had the upper hand.

They continued through the scene, two opponents wearing the masks of lovers, the tips of their tongues sharpened for battle. Neon had to admit that his heart skipped a few beats as Riley clasped at her chest, delivering her lines with a delicate sincerity. The audience seemed drawn in as well by their performance.

Riley seemed to grow softer, more affectionate, as she was subconsciously pulled into the role of Juliet. Neon grinned. It was time to end this charade.

“I have night’s cloak to hide me from their eyes. And, but thou love me, let them find me here.” His voice grew deeper, conviction flooding forth as he moved closer. No more than two feet away, he gazed into her eyes with all the love he could muster. “My life were better ended by their hate, than death prorogued, wanting of thy love.”

On the last words, he reached under her chin, tilting it up to hold her beautiful blue gaze. Neon gave Riley a wry smile, letting his dark hair and bright eyes culminate into something irresistible. He saw her cheeks flush, and a wave of triumph cascaded over him. He had conque-

“Thou knowest the mask of night is on my face. Else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek, for that which thou hast heard me speak tonight.”

Da-dump.

Heat shot up Neon’s neck as Riley continued. What’s going on? he thought, placing a hand over his chest to find his heart pattering quickly. Is this fear?

“O gentle Romeo,” Riley said, moving closer, “if thou dost love me, pronounce it faithfully. Or,” she added, drawing back sternly, “if thou thinkest I am too quickly won, I’ll frown and be perverse and say thee nay.” She pouted as she said this, crossing her arms over her chest.

Adorable- No! Shut up! Neon buried his crimson cheeks in his scarf. He’d been careless again. Something had changed since yesterday; his thoughts were far too slow, and his heart outpaced his mind.

“I should have been more strange, I must confess.” Riley had the classroom’s full attention now, captured in every dainty movement of her body. Neon’s face heated up further, hot needles of embarrassment prickling down his back. His cocky posture faded into something shy and timorous.

“But that thou overheard’st ere I was ware, my true-love passion,” said Riley, leaning forward, looking into Neon’s eyes. Her delicate fingers rested on his shoulder, burning at the touch.

Neon’s heart thumped erratically, his confidence quickly melting away. One hand clutched at his scarf as he tried to regain himself. He was a conqueror! He and Riley were duelists of words, intricately crossing their tongues- wait, no!

“Therefore, pardon me,” Riley said, her voice barely more than a whisper. The softness of it curled into Neon’s ears, setting his mind aflame. Their faces were mere inches away. Riley’s eyes were glazed over with the love of Juliet. Neon began to feel dizzy as his blood came to a boil.

“And not impute this yielding to light love, which the dark night hath so discovered,” Riley finished, smiling like the sun. And seemingly just for show, she giggled and added, “My Romeo.”

Neon was ablaze with fiery red. He stumbled backwards, his act dropping completely. “R-riley...” he stuttered, his heart bursting from his chest.

Riley gazed dreamily back at him, her enticing words hanging in the air. Neon tried to rally his thoughts, to no avail. I...haven’t lost yet! he declared.

Just then, his brain overheated, and he collapsed backwards into the sultry darkness.

---------------

Neon jolted awake, sitting upright. The white linen beds of the nurse’s office bade him good morning.

“Did you sleep well?” Neon turned his head to see Mr. Poe sitting in a chair next to his bed. The man gripped a copy of Romeo and Juliet in his hands, wringing his wrists.

“Like a king,” the boy replied, stretching his shoulders. The drowsiness shook from his body, and he grinned. “It appears that I’ve taken a successful nap in your class, sir. I’ve outwitted you yet again!”

“So it would seem.” Mr. Poe chuckled, looking a little embarrassed.

Neon yawned loudly. “How long was I out?”

Mr. Poe tilted his spectacles down to glance at his watch. “About two hours. It’s lunch break right now.”

“Hah! I even skipped third and fourth period! This petty school has no hold on me!” Neon clenched his hand, reveling in the power.

The thin, fragile man pushed his glasses up, glancing away. “Well, it’s good to see that you’re intact.” He broke off, looking unsure whether to continue. “The nurse couldn’t find much wrong with you - she even said you might have fainted out of exhaustion.” He stared down miserably. “It was deplorable of me to put you under so much stress. If I’d-”

“Don’t worry about it,” Neon said, clasping his hands behind his head. “It’s not your fault. I’ve been off my conquering lately; that’s why I haven’t beaten you yet.”

Relief broke upon the old man’s face. “Then rest well, and I’ll see you in class.” Getting up, he walked out of the infirmary, shutting the door behind him.

Neon sighed out softly, leaning back. Perhaps, on a day like this, it was best to get some rest.

His stomach gave a low growl in protest. Neon rolled his eyes and jumped out of bed, heading for the cafeteria. Rest was for the weak, anyway.

I jogged swiftly through the halls on my way to the gym, quietly humming the tune of the song we had been rehearsing. I had been practicing it so much I wasn't allowed to sing it in the house anymore.
I was mostly mindful of my family and tried not to annoy them too much when practicing a song, but this gig was more important than most. It was an audition for a annual Battle of the Bands sponsored by a local radio channel.
The last band that won had received a lot of public recognition after that, and this year I was determined to come out victorious, and come one leap closer to world fame.

I started singing softly as I trotted through the halls, imagining the bright lights of the stage, the thrill of performance...

I was jerked from my daydream when I bumped into something solid. "Umph." I grunted, backing up and brushing stray hairs away from my face.

"Sor-Oh." I said when I saw who I had just ran into.

I grinned "Hey, Neon."
I don't remember the heater being on in here...

"Always a pleasure to run into you,"
I batted my eyelashes playfully. "My Romeo."

Neon drew himself up and gave me an imperious look, which was somewhat comprimised by the fact that he was blushing furiously. I bit back a laugh.

"Gloat while you can, Riley West!" He declared, puffing out his chest and pointing dramatically at me.

He seemed to be a fan of pointing.

"The next time we meet, I will claim victory! You have my word!"

I looked up at him from under my eyelashes, smirking good naturedly.
"I shall count the seconds." I joke softly before tossing the hair out of my eyes and striding into the gym, leaving Neon alone in the hall. I let the door close behind me, then burst out laughing. I had no idea why, but Neon's reaction to my teasing was hilarious to me. And, admittedly, a little adorable too.

"What's up with you?" Cole asked. I shook my head, refusing to answer. Still grinning, I bouded up the steps onto the stage.

The other band members joined me, and began playing the well-known intro that we had been rehearsing for the past three days.

I inhaled deeply and soon the words flowed smoothly from my lips. A low, confident, crooning melody.

But something seemed to be off. A few times I noticed my concentration slip, or my legs quiver.

Jitters. I dismissed. A common problem performers must face. It never lasted long.

And that was when the dizziness started. one moment I felt completely fine, the next I felt as if I were floating. I stopped singing, resisting the urge to look down to make sure my feet were still on the floor. Again, another bout of light headedness swept over me. The world began to swim and I blinked rapidly.

"Riley? You okay?"
A band member inquired nervously. They had stopped playing now and his voice echoed around the empty room.

"Y-yeah...I think..." I breathed weakly.

My legs buckled under me and I toppled off the stage. The last thing I saw was the floor rushing up to meet me before everything was lost in an explosion of darkness.

It was the night after the field trip when Michael was feeling odd. Like the flu odd, with the different arrayment of stomach aches and sudden headaches, along with his siblings fighting. He decided to take a nap soon as he came home, resulting in a two day sleep and when he was finally awake, was greeted with the stress of his parents. His household seemed on the brink of depression and stress. His mother would head down to take a nap while he was in charge of looking over the two wild ones, who completely ignored his pleas to calm down and enjoy the brunt pizza he had made.
Later on in the night, when his mother was awake, Michael was ordered to complete dinner while she rest on the chair in the lounge. He argued points about the stove being dirty from the pizza but was cut off by the waving hand of his mother.

"Just make some left-overs."

"There aren't any leftovers!" he stated, putting his arms over his head. His sister gave him a funny look before poking at the brunt pizza. His brother was staring fondly at the TV with a X-box control in his hand, while sounds of guns and cars hung in the room. Michael sighed residing to the kitchen, standing before walking towards the fridge. He could hear the soft gun shooting on the TV and his mother talking to his sister. A sudden ping mumbled in his head, echoing off his brain and into his skull, while he shook off the pain. It continued to bounce around in his head like an idea before fading into his skull.
He groaned, walking out of the kitchen down the hallway, and into his bedroom. No one seemed to notice, as he turned from side to side holding his stomach. The TV out in the lounge, seemed to be louder than before and all the lights in the house seemed brighter. Michael turned on his side, clenching his stomach as his head pounded like a drum.
Later on he had fallen asleep, woken up by someone shaking him. It was his mother who had brought in some soup, putting it on the bedtable. She turned on the light and poked his side, which earned a sleepy chuckle before shaking him.

"Hmm?" Michael sheepishly said, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands.

"You seem a little off, Michael. What's up?" She grabbed the soup and handed it to Michael. He took it, prodding the surface until it had formed ripples.

"Just some headaches now and then. Nothing too big."

"You stumbled out of the kitchen into your bedroom, Michael." She put a hand on his forehead and sighed. She sat up from the bed, and walked to the door. Michael was happily slurping at his spoon, raising the silver spoon up to his lips and drinking thoughtfully. His mother once again sighed, walking out the room and down the hallway. Later on, Michael was finished with his soup and decided on doing his homework which was studying the brain patterns of certain animals and compare them to that of humans. It was simple until he fell asleep, slobbering on his arm.
His mother went to check on him, taking his soup bowl and covering him with a blanket. She felt his head again as it was hot enough to cook eggs.

"I'll have to call the doctor tomorrow," she mumbled, walking out into the hallway before stopping in the doorway. "Sleep tight, Michael." And shut off the light.



The next morning, Michael awoke with a massive migraine and popping ears. He groaned, planting two feet on the ground. His laptop was opened to the page of homework he had and decided to close it, as he wouldn't be doing it for a little while. He wanted to research something that taken the life of his father and grandfather. It was touchy as well as annoying, since it ran in the family along meaning Michael could have it or not.
He quietly searched as he heard the cartoons were turned on meaning both his siblings were up for the morning. Words danced on the screen along with pictures of people and websites explaining the symptoms Michael had.
The migraine returned along with a continuous buzzing in his ears. He groaned, closing his laptop lid and going back to sleep. He had only hoped he didn't have a brain tumor, or worse. Everything changed after that stupid trip to M.E.L labs, and even before in Mr. Neil's class, he hadn't felt the same.
He fell asleep a few minutes later when his mother had called him for breakfast.