The Beginning

In my opinion, it was a beautiful morning. The shining, luminescent sun being covered by the fluffy dark clouds, but it wasn't humid as there was a cool breeze that would softly blow my hair as I walked to school. The smell of rain coming soon hung around the air and the leaves from the trees turning into their yellow, brown, and orange hue. To say the least, I had a good feeling about this year's fall season. Everything seemed so peaceful and so beautiful I couldn't wait to play in the rain or at least sit outside with my nose in a book drinking a hot beverage. Now I was more ecstatic, I couldn't wait to get back home. I walked to school with a bright smile, a little bit of a bounce with every step I took, the music provided by my phone was softly blasting in my ears which made the scenery much more perfect.

However, my excitement was cut short. As I continued to walk, I couldn't help but remember a dream that I had last night. The words echoed in my ears, all the emotions came back, but I couldn't quite remember his face. The person who was running away as I yelled for him to come back. It was a strange dream. It wasn't anything that I have ever experienced before. The words that were ringing in my ear, "Leave me alone, I am a monster! Can't you see! Just leave!" I remember running through the forest, so close to catching the guy. We were running fast, our velocity made the trees, the floor, the scenery to look like a blur. The only thing I could focus was his back, he was the only thing that wasn't blurry, but yet... Why was it so difficult to catch up? Why can't I remember the rest? Why was I feeling desperate, sad, angry? I... I don't get it...

"Earth to Amelia!"

I snap out of my thoughts as I feel a hand on my shoulder and hear someone snapping their fingers. "Oh, Killian... Sorry about that," I sheepishly said. I honestly had forgotten that we both walk to school together. "Don't worry about it," he said, "What's up? Why did you space out this time? Another dream?" I simply nodded. "You better tell me, your dreams are always weird, but entertaining to hear," Killian said with a chuckle. I giggled alongside him, "Honestly, I don't remember much of the dream and yes I'll tell you about it, but after school so I can try to remember more details." He looked at me in disbelief and a little annoyed, "oh come on! Why not right now?" "Because I said so," I said as I stuck my tongue out at him like a little child. We both laughed and continued our trip to school.

Once we reached our destination, we parted ways. You see, Killian and I are best friends, but he is more popular in our school. You can say that he is your typical rich, friendly, popular high schooler and well he has his group of friends. As much as we love hanging with one another... It's high school, we are bound to separate. Don't get me wrong, I do have my group of friends. I may not be popular, but I am not alone either.

I made my way to my usual meeting spot with my friends. As I made a turn in the hallway, I saw them in a circle and from what I can tell they are gushing over a boy. I just giggled and made my way towards them.

"Excuse me, I think Saeyoung is better"

"No, Saeran is way better"

I could hear them bickering, it was amusing to say the least, but I knew I would take part in their argument. "What are you guys arguing about?" I asked. "Jolyne says that Saeran is better than Saeyoung, please tell her Amelia that is not true!... We tried asking Mirana, but she doesn't want to answer us!" Kairi exclaimed to me. For a moment I stood still, trying to understand the situation until Mirana explained, "They are arguing about the new singers, the two K-pop artists that just became a hit." "Are you guys seriously arguing about who is better looking between these two K-pop artists?" I asked, shaking my head in disbelief. "YES!" both of them said offendedly. I just giggled and said "Are you both sure you want my honest opinion?" Jolyne and Kairi nodded frantically and rapidly. "In my opinion, I think both are good singers and both are really cute... In all honesty, I think a collaboration between the two would be quite amazing," I said with a smile. Both looked at me as if I had grown two heads, but then started thinking it over. "Well... she called them cute, that means that she approves of both of them," Jolyne said in disappointment as she wanted Saeran to win. "I mean if Amelia calls someone cute and adorable then she must really like the person, it is the only way that she accepts someone, so I believe her," Kairi said with a bright smile. Mirana just groaned and rolled her eyes while I continued to laugh.

Jolyne, Kairi and Mirana are quite the opposite, but they have many things in common. Jolyne is your usual bad girl, wearing tomboyish outfits, uses a skateboard, etc. Her personality is half and half, she can be stoic, she can be brutally honest, but she is kind and caring to those close to her. Kairi on the other hand is the girly girl. She likes to wear outfits that look cute, that have bright and childish colors. Her personality is sweet, friendly and bubbly. And then there is Mirana, she is the type of person to focus on her studies and her education, she knows what she wants and she is smart. When it comes to her personality people would say that she isn't nice because of how committed she is to school. However, she is quite the opposite, she may groan at people's comments, but she is really kind, calm, and very motherly. She is actually the mom of our group. Many people would think that it would be impossible to have three people quite different hang out with one another. Well, it really isn't. They like the same things such as anime, K-pop, music, Korean dramas, etc. And honestly I am in the same category. I like it too. That's how we became friends.

As much as I enjoy being with them, it still feels weird not hanging out with Killian. It feels like a puzzle is missing. We've been friends since elementary and even if we went through our rough times, we are closer than ever. Even after three years in high school, going through the same routine, it doesn't quite sit right with me. I can just assume that it is just me trying to deny the change.

I focus my attention back on my friends. Their argument was long forgotten. Instead, they started talking about a house... well... it was a mansion not far from our city. "Why are you talking about that right now? The mansion, from what I know, doesn't have anything special," Mirana stated. "Well, I don't know, it's just weird to me how it's still abandoned and looks like it's in perfect condition, yet no one wants it," Jolyne said with curiosity. Kairi just shrugged, I just stood there trying to understand why I felt a little spark of electricity go through my body as they talked about the mansion. "I think we should head to class now. The bell is about to ring any moment now," Mirana said as we all agreed.

Classes seem to last longer than usual. Every time the clock ticked, it sounded louder and louder, the teacher's voice would just fade out, the usual chatting from the students are long gone and the textbooks seem comfier than usual. The wind outside the classroom seems to have changed and seems to lull me to sleep, the sun no longer shining and the clouds darker than before, covering the sun. As much as I wanted to accept sleep, there was something odd about this weather, something odd about today. It was just a weird feeling, as if something wrong was about to occur, but there was nothing I could point out to use as evidence, for an explanation. I snap my attention away from the window and look at the white board once more. I didn't want the teacher to get me in trouble for spacing out.

Once the bell rang for lunch, every student stood up quickly to get out of the class. They rushed out, making it difficult for others to leave. I stood by my desk, slowly putting away my stuff to give myself time and not get cramped with the other students who were leaving. However, I heard a loud noise from out the window. I turned and looked out to see the source of the noise, but it seemed to be only the thunder from the rain. I shrugged off the fear and turned back to packing my stuff. The students were no longer bunched at the door, so I closed my backpack, hung it over my shoulders and left for the cafeteria. Once in there, I lined up with the rest of the students waiting to get my lunch. While doing so, I turned around to look at the tables to see if I could spot my friends.

It took longer than expected, but once I had my lunch I looked around the cafeteria to find my friends. Once I found them, I walked towards them, but as I made my way over there I could hear people's conversations. It would usually be about their crushes or their favorite topics, but today they were only talking about the weather. My friends made space for me at the table and as I guessed, they were talking about it as well. "It's really peculiar to have a storm as the one we are having, the news reporter is saying that we shouldn't have this storm, specifically only in the city," a surprised Kairi said. "That is something ridiculous if you ask me," Mirana exclaimed. "Look, I know it seems out of the ordinary, but it is all over the news and everyone is talking about it, you gotta believe it," Jolyne retorted. "Guys, please calm down, what is going on? I haven't looked at the news, I am lost," I said. "Oh, Amelia, we were supposed to have a calm rain, but the weatherman said that the rain would change, but it would be like a really bad storm that will only happen here in our city," Kairi said. I simply nodded and took in her information. As we continued to chat and eat, the school speakers turned on. "Students, remain in your seats and remain calm, contact your parents and ask them to pick you up from school, the weather seems to be getting worse by the minute and we don't want students who walk home to get caught in this storm..." The speaker began to sound like static, then the lights went out. Some students started screaming, others started to get up from their seats and the rest followed their given instructions.

I tried calling my parents, but they didn't answer. I knew both worked a lot since we don't have much money, we were in the lower class. We were poor. My father worked in the nearby city, in a fast food restaurant, while my mother worked as a seamstress for the military, the navy, etc. She was almost all day working. I started to panic. I didn't know what to do. I needed to pick up my younger sisters from school, my older brother wasn't home either, he had classes at his university that was cities away. I tried calming down, but this felt all too familiar. My friends were panicking too, but they're parents were going to pick them up, so it wasn't bad.

The situation got worse, all of our phones started to send us those emergency alerts. Their warning tones scared every single one of us even more and every time we would cancel, another alert would appear. From tornado, flash flood, dust storm, hurricane, extreme wind to public safety, and amber alerts. It was as if our phones glitched out or as if many grave things were coming to us. The wind outside sounded scary, trees were falling from the strong gust of the wind, the thunder sounded louder than usual like screams of help, the lightning falling to the ground another source of light apart from our phone screens. The door opened to the cafeteria, several more students appeared alongside our staff, our principal, and our security guard.

We were told to stay here and wait until our parents came to pick us up. That was the only thing we were told. However, there were many thoughts amongst everyone, some groups went back to their conversations to keep themselves from getting any more scared, but it wasn't doing much. My friends and I just kept quiet and stayed together, until one by one they were picked up by their parents. They told me they would have offered me a ride, but they said their parents were in a hurry to get home which I only smiled and I told them I understood.