Summary: Kristina Carey has lived in Amity Park almost her entire life, and always used to think of it as an ordinary city, not much different from any other regular place in the world. But recently, weird things have been happening, and she's started to think otherwise. A collection of stories from Kris's point of view, about the weird incidents she and her friends and family experience.

Author's Note: This is my first fanfic… ever. So forgive me if I seem like I've got no idea what I'm doing, 'cause I kinda… don't. I've read lots of fanfiction before; I just never got around to writing any myself until now.

I got inspiration for this fic while waiting for The Ultimate Enemy (which rocked, by the way) to air for the first time. I started thinking about what things must be like for the citizens of Amity Park that don't know much about ghosts, and therefore don't really understand what's going on a lot of the time. I thought the most about the other students of Casper High. Eventually an idea popped into existence in my head, started to grow, and here I am. Giving you a story from the point of view of a normal teenage girl, about her life in Amity Park around the time things started to get weird.

I'm not entirely sure how many chapters this will have (very possibly quite a few if things work out well.) Nor do I know how long each chapter will be, or how often I'll be able to update. I do, however, have an idea of where I'm going with this.

Now, don't worry. Kristina will have no romantic relationship with Danny whatsoever, and I seriously doubt she'll come even close to finding out about his secret (doesn't mean she won't find him odd and suspicious though.) Please review afterwards with your thoughts on the story, I'd absolutely love to hear about what you liked and didn't like. And I'd especially love any suggestions you may have. Flames are accepted, everyone's got a right to their own opinion. Well, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, or anything related to the series. And I don't honestly want to. I rather enjoy being a crazed fan who obsesses over the show non-stop. However, Kristina, her family, and friends are mine.

"Kristina! Hurry and get up, you're going to be late… for… school…" Mom's franticly shouted warning trailed off as she opened my bedroom door to find me laid back comfortably on a neatly made bed, dressed, light brown hair combed, history book in hands. "Oh. You're already up."

I couldn't help but smile at her surprised look. "Yes, Mom. I've been up for two hours." My book made a deep snapping sound as I shut it quickly and slid off the bed. "You slept through your alarm clock again, didn't you?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest and smirking. Her hair hung flat against her head from the weight of water left over from her morning shower. Apparently, she'd been in such a hurry she'd forgotten to dry it. As a result, the collar of her shirt was soaked from drops that ran off the strands of thick brown hair. Her clothes were wrinkled and a bit twisted up, looking as if she'd thrown them on as fast as she possibly could, which was almost certainly the case.

She gave a small laugh, embarrassed at what a fool she was making herself look like, and shrugged. "Yes. I slept through my alarm again. Where's your brother? Is he up?"

"He's probably finishing breakfast. Come on, I saved you some pancakes." I walked past her through the doorway, headed down the stairs for our small kitchen.

"You made pancakes?" My mom asked, surprise present in her voice despite the fact that I've made breakfast almost every morning for the past several years. I just shook my head and laughed mentally at how scatterbrained she could be at times.

As I'd predicted, my ten-year-old brother was at the table shoving the last oversized bite of syrup smothered pancake into his mouth. "Mooreem mum" he said, and gulped down the remaining orange juice in his cup.

"What did he say?"

"He said, 'Morning, Mom'" I replied, taking his empty dishes and rinsing them in the sink.

She nodded and sat down, answering, "Morning Calvin. Don't talk with your mouth full." I set a plate of pancakes in front of her, and she smiled warmly. "These look great, sweetie. Wonderful job." After a glance at her wristwatch her expression changed to shock and worry. She quickly began to shovel bites into her mouth, and said, "Murry reer oheem ray!"

Calvin turned to me with a confused expression. "What did she say?"

"Hurry, we're going to be late!" I translated, quickly putting away the breakfast leftovers.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Mom." Cal teased as he rushed off to get his backpack.

While my mother stuffed half her breakfast into her mouth in a very disgusting manner, I pulled her still very wet hair up into a neat bun. She swallowed the last bite whole and washed it down with the half a glass of milk she had left. "Thanks again, Kris. I don't know what I'd ever do without you." What she'd do without me? She'd go to work looking like she'd just been through a car wash, without a car. "Oh! I've got to work 'till around eleven tonight, so you're going to have to look after your brother again. Make sure to have him-"

"Do his homework, brush his teeth, eat his vegetables, and in bed by nine." I finished for her, slipping my dark blue backpack on. "I know the drill, Mom." I smiled again. She could be so funny sometimes.

"I know you do. Thank you."

Ten minutes of chaos later and we were all on our way. Mom kissed us each goodbye and headed off for work in our old car, (she's a nurse at the city hospital) and Cal and I started our walk for the bus stop.

"Mom's got to work late again tonight, so what do you want to do after school?" I asked my younger brother, ruffling his sandy blonde hair a bit.

He shrugged away from my hand and covered his head, signaling for me to stop. "Um…" He paused, pondering for a moment. His face lit up then, and he said, "Let's go to the park! Maybe I'll see that glowing thing again."

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "That again? Cal, I'm sure you just imagined that… whatever it was."

"No, it was real. I know it was. It was big and green, with glowing red eyes. I think it was going to attack, but instead it flew away. Then it disappeared." He insisted, retelling the same story I'd heard four or five times now.

I decided to play along. Last thing I'd need is for him to be angry with me, all over something he thought he saw three days ago at the park. "It flew away?"

"Yes. Then disappeared. I think it could turn invisible or something. Maybe it was an alien, or an escaped government experiment." He was rather excited. Little kids and their imaginations. "I think something was hunting it. Something that was also invisible."

That part was new. "Hunting it? You haven't mentioned that before." He was probably making it all up. The question was, why? Why did he decide to come home one day and make up this very weird story about escaped alien experiments? He hadn't done anything like it before. "How big was it?" I continued to play along. Or at least, I think I was still playing.

"A little taller than me. It probably wanted to eat me, or something. It flew off right after I saw it. Like I said, something was chasing it."

He probably could've gone on forever, but we'd reached the bus stop and he quickly ran off to meet is friends. Kids and teens of various ages waited on the sidewalk for the elementary, middle, and high school busses to arrive. I scanned the groups for a minute, my hazel eyes resting on two people, an Asian boy wearing a red hoodie and orange pants, and a Hispanic girl wearing a pink and orange outfit.

"Hey, Kris!" The girl called, waving me over.

"Hi, Teresa. Hey… Ben?" I greeted them both, but gave Benji a glance that basically meant 'What's with you?' He looked like he was about to have a nervous breakdown.

"Did you know there's a history test today?" He asked quickly, grabbing my shoulders.

"Uh, yes? Ms. Read has only been warning us about it for the past three weeks. Why?" I replied, though I had an idea of what his answer would be.

"I completely forgot to study! What am I going to do?" was his exasperated reply, just as I had suspected. "You guys have got to help me!"

Teresa raised an eyebrow. "Help you cram three chapters of history in thirty minutes? No thanks. It's not our fault you're conveniently busy whenever we invite you to our study parties." She reminded him. He opened his mouth to respond, but couldn't think of anything to say in his defense.

I laughed lightly, set my backpack on the ground and removed my history notebook. "Here, you can use my notes."

He gladly accepted them, giving a quick, "Thanks, Kris. You're a life saver." Then he immersed himself in the timelines, important names, outlines of different incidents, and other history related stuff written in the black notebook.

The bus for the elementary and middle school students pulled up to the curb, and all the five to thirteen year olds climbed on, leaving less than a third of the kids who'd been waiting there behind.

"So what are the plans for after school today?" Teresa asked starting up a new conversation while our forgetful friend was lost in his last minute, emergency, study session.

I sighed, watching the bus drive off and turn a corner. "I'm looking after my brother. Said I'd take him to the park. We could hang out there for a while, that is if you don't mind tagging along with my brother and I."

"Nah, that's fine with me." She shrugged. "Maybe Brad and Lexi will want to come along."

I flashed a teasing smile. "But especially Brad, right?"

She gave a playful glare, and retaliated. "Yeah. We might as well invite A.J. too, eh?"

I blushed and opened my mouth to respond, but Ben cut me off. "Girls." he scoffed. Teresa and I both rolled our eyes at his comment.

"Only twenty-six minutes left, Mr. Procrastinator." Teresa reminded him, pulling the subject away from his odd friend. This shut Ben up and he reburied himself in my history notes.

Two minutes later Casper High School bus seven stopped with a loud screeching and hissing, and all the ninth through twelfth graders that had been waiting for it climbed inside. I found an empty bench and slid next to the window, Teresa and Ben (still lost in his emergency study session) joined me.

I watched the scenery out the window as the bus began to move again, taking us past small houses, then apartment buildings, and then office buildings. As we went deeper into the city the structures got bigger.

I've lived in the city of Amity Park since I was around four years old. Seeing as I'm now fourteen, I've been here about ten or eleven years. It's a fairly normal town, average size, with average people going about their average lives. Nothing extremely interesting happens, at least not very often and… well you get the idea. Maybe that's why my mind was currently dwelling on what Cal and I had been talking about during the walk to the bus stop. What if he actually had seen something? Would that be good or bad? Assuming what he thinks he saw is real, what could it be? What scared it away? Where is it now?

"Kris? You haven't heard a single thing I've said the past five minutes, have you?" My mind snapped back to reality as Teresa's question sunk in.

"Huh?" I blinked, shook my head, and turned to her. "Oh I'm sorry. I must've spaced out a bit."

She gave me an odd look. "What were you thinking about?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow and breaking into a curious smile. "Or should I say, who were you thinking about?"

I stifled a laugh as I realized she thought I'd been daydreaming about a certain sophomore I happen to be crushing on. "Not A.J. if that's what your saying." She rolled her eyes in disbelief. "Actually, I was thinking about Calvin. He says he saw something weird the other day. I'm sure he's just making it up, but that's not like him. You know?"

"Weird, as in…?" She pressed.

"He claims to have seen some sort of glowing green monster thing in the park three days ago. That's why he wants to go back there today, to try and find it again."

"It's probably nothing to worry about. He's only ten." Teresa assured me.

"I don't know." Ben looked up from the notebook and turned to us. "I saw something like this in a movie once. It…"

Teresa interrupted him, "Oh, yeah. If you saw it in a movie then it MUST be real. It's not like movies are ever fake. Right?"

"Fine. Forget I said anything." Ben grumbled.

The bus pulled into the high school's parking lot, stopping in the slots reserved for unloading students. Everyone stepped out, headed for the school building to find their friends and prepare for homeroom. Ben returned my notebook, then left Teresa and I to try and get more cramming done in the library.

We stopped at my locker first, as it was closer. I spun the combination lock, yanked on the metal latch, and swung the lime green door open. As I emptied my backpack and removed the items I'd need for my first class, Teresa went on about some TV show she'd seen recently. I turned to check my mirror, and found an African American girl using it to inspect her make up.

I smirked. "Morning Lexi."

"Yeah, hi." was her quick response. She continued to mess with her hair and face, adding a fresh layer of gloss to her already smothered lips. "Listen, do you guys think I should get some colored contacts? I think my eye color may be a bit… plain."

I rolled my eyes, and I'm sure Teresa did the same. "You look fine, Lexi. In fact, I'm jealous of your big brown eyes. My hazel ones are so boring."

That did it. She smiled, drinking in the compliment and turning it into an unneeded confidence boost. "Yeah, they are great, aren't they? Oh, but don't worry, Kris. I think your eyes work well with that light, dusty brown hair of yours." As she said this, she tightened the bunch of extremely thick black hair stacked up in a half ponytail on her own head. "Well, I'll see you two at lunch. Bye." She said, running off down the hall and waving for someone to wait up. It's quite possible that our friend Alexandra, a.k.a. Lexi, knows everyone in school. Though she tends to hang around more with those in the higher social food chain groups. No, my friends and I aren't what would be considered 'popular' but I guess you could say we're pretty close. Lexi is the closest of us all. And though she may be fairly materialistic at times, and even a little ditzy, she is good friend.

I had been on my way to Teresa's locker to help her get her things ready, but we ran into another of our friends on the way. It's no secret that Bradley, or Brad as we call him, and Teresa have a thing for each other. So rather than stand around watching them flirt in the middle of the hallway, I said a goodbye (which of course went unnoticed) and headed for homeroom.

Casper High is, like the rest of this city, average. Teachers, students, desks, books, lockers, classrooms, and of course the Casper High Ravens. Our football team is no different from any other team, sometimes winning games, sometimes not. Is this sounding monotonous to you yet?

So yes, the school is just like any other, always has been, and always will be. Or at least that's what I'd thought up until lunch that day when I walked into the cafeteria and was greeted by a large banner reading 'This Week: Ultra Recyclo-Vegetarian.' Now that's something different.

"What is this garbage?" Ben wined, poking a pile of what looked like, and very possibly was, mud.

"Looks like dirt to me." Brad answered, inspecting Ben's plate.

"I can't believe this." Lexi began to complain as well. "They're going to make us eat this junk all week! What are they thinking?"

My four friends and I sat staring at the odd dishes we'd been given in the lunch line. I glanced at the upset looks on all their faces, and forced a smile. "Come on guys, it's not so bad." I lifted my meal, which appeared to be a slice of bread with grass growing on it, and took a bite. Trying to keep a straight face as I swallowed, I continued my attempt to cheer them all up. "It tastes just like a… uh… Like some…" It was hopeless, I couldn't think of a single good thing to relate the rather unpleasant taste to. My face fell. "Alright, it's nasty."

Well, at least I'd managed to amuse them. They each chuckled at my reaction, and then changed the subject to some movie coming out soon. I sighed and let my eyes wander through the lunchroom, glancing at the different faces. My eyes landed on one and stopped their search.

The slightly freckled face of Aron Joseph Hanson, also known as A.J., was the one I looked at. Or rather stared at. My stomach did a few jumping jacks as I lost myself in his blue eyes and the strands of red hair that hung out from under his blue baseball hat. I could've watched him for the rest of lunch, having lost my appetite after that single bite of grossness. However, the elbow being jammed playfully into my side interrupted my thoughts.

"Staring at A.J. again, eh Kris?" Teresa teased.

I blushed and opened my mouth, but Lexi interrupted me. "Why don't you just talk to him already? It's not like he's going to bite. He's actually a nice guy. I'd be after him too, but he's not really my type."

"Uh, thanks Lexi." I replied uncertainly.

Teresa looked as if she were about to add something, but never got the chance. Everyone's attention was jerked to the other side of the cafeteria as a loud voice shouted over everything else.

"FENTON!"

Naturally, I turned to see what was going on. Standing near the front of the cafeteria was a very angry looking blonde haired boy in a letterman jacket. Dash Baxter, quarterback for the Ravens, most popular guy in the 9th grade (and quite possibly the whole school) and honestly, a bit of a jerk. He was holding a plate with three piles of the same dirt/mud stuff Ben had ordered, and glaring daggers at someone in the middle of the room. I redirected my own eyes to the person he was looking at, and almost all my curiosity left again. Dash was glaring at Danny Fenton, a boy often targeted by the bullies at Casper High.

"Just Dash and Danny again." I said, half to myself, half to my friends. I turned back to my unwanted lunch, just staring at it as I listened to Dash blame Danny and his 'girlfriend' for the change in menu. Of course, Danny and Samantha Manson both denied that Sam was his girlfriend, which was followed by Dash threatening Danny and blah, blah, blah. It was the same routine as any other time.

That is until Danny took Dash's plate of mud and threw it at the quarterback with a shout. "GARBAGE FIGHT!" Yeah, that part was new.

New is good. Especially when you live in an average town and go to an average school every day of your average teenage life. I may be fine with all the 'normalness' but that doesn't mean I don't like a change every now and then. So I gladly joined the food fight, picking up my grass sandwich and chucking it in a random direction, just as everyone else was doing.

The food fight only lasted about five minutes. After that the vice principal, Mr. Lancer, showed up with a couple other staff members and took control of things. At least it was fun while it lasted, right?

School went by quickly after that. Unfortunately, I had English right after lunch. A very ticked Mr. Lancer taught the class, and assigned a large amount of homework. Next was history, which, you remember, included an important test. I'm pretty sure I aced it, though I don't think the same can be said for poor Ben. After P.E. and a frustrating math class, school was over.

The bus ride home was nothing worth mentioning, just a bunch of Ben wining about how badly he did on the history test and Teresa lecturing him about studying. We got off at the bus stop to find Cal waiting patiently with one of his friends. I waved goodbye to my own friends, and started the short walk home with my younger brother.

"Can Joey come to the park with us?" Cal asked, turning his adorable turquoise eyes up to mine in an even cuter pleading fashion.

"That's fine with me, as long as you don't mind Ben, Teresa and maybe a few of my other friends hanging around too." I answered, ruffling his hair again.

"Kay. When are we going?"

"We'll stop at home, call mom to let her know where we're going, and then we'll go. Sound good?"

"Yep."

I gave an almost silent sigh. My life is so simple and constant. Sometimes I worry I'll develop an obsessive-compulsive need for things to stay the way they are if it all doesn't change soon. How long has it been since something happened that changed things at least a little? I think five years ago, when my brother started school, would be the best guess. Before that it would've been when my mom started her job at the hospital six years ago. And four years before that, when…

I shook my head quickly, clearing that last, unwanted thought out of my mind. We'd reached the house, and because of my zoning out I hadn't heard what my brother had been talking about the whole walk home.

We left the house again about fifteen minutes later, riding our bikes first to Joey's house (Joey is Cal's best friend, by the way) then past several more blocks to Amity Park Park. The two ten year old boys I'd brought with me ran off to play, while I scanned the area for any signs of my friends.

I found them, Teresa and Ben sitting at a picnic table a short ways away. No sign of Lexi or Brad yet. Ben still looked very upset about the test. Teresa was probably trying to comfort him. I made sure I could still see Cal and Joey from where we sat, and then greeted them both. "Hey guys. What's up?"

"I have seen the error of my ways." Ben announced. "From now on, no more forgetting to study. No more excuses. No more procrastination."

"That's great, Ben." I smiled and shook my head, laughing silently.

"Yeah." Teresa agreed, smirking as well. "In fact, we've got an English quiz coming up Friday. We should get together like, Wednesday night or something."

"Wednesday? But I was going to…" Ben started to protest, but once he saw the annoyed look on our faces he changed his mind. "Of course I could always do that some other time."

We all chuckled a bit. "Speaking of English, I've got a ton of English homework today." I said, glancing at my backpack where it sat on the ground.

"Yeah, me too. Lancer was pretty angry after lunch today."

Ben lifted his own black backpack and set it on the table. "Nah, that's not why he assigned so much. He's just like that."

"Who's just like what?" Brad's voice floated into the conversation. We all turned to see him strolling up to the table, holding a disposable cup with Nasty Burger's label printed on the side in one hand.

"Lancer's just like Mr. Simons from Dead Teacher II." Ben answered, and the four of us laughed at the reference.

Everyone went on to talk about the newest Dead Teacher movie, soon to come out in theaters, while I let my eyes wander over to where I'd last seen my brother. He wasn't there anymore. I glanced over the rest of the park slowly, finding the back of his green t-shirt headed for the small woods in the center of the park. I stood up then, grabbing the attention of my friends. "I gotta follow Cal, guys. I'll be right back."

"Kay." Teresa and Ben said in unison.

I ran to catch up to Calvin, watching him disappear behind the trees and bushes. "Cal!" I shouted, hoping he'd hear and wait for me. I wasn't much in the mood to go searching for him. He didn't answer, and for the briefest of moments, a hint of worry crossed my mind. But I pushed it away quickly, what could there be to worry about? We'd been in this mini forest a hundred times.

"Calvin!" I shouted again, louder this time as I walked further into the trees. I rounded a rather large tree, walking backwards a few steps incase he came up behind me. "Calvin Thomas Carey!" I used his full name as I began to turn around. "Where are…"

I froze mid-sentence and nearly screamed. Standing (or sitting, or… whatever) only two or three yards away from me was a glowing green blob like thing. The moment I laid eyes on it, it turned. Red eyes stared straight into my own, then disappeared. I was alone again, still frozen in my place watching the spot where the thing had just been. The image seemed burned into my mind: A green blob of a creature, giving off a faint eerie light, terrifying red eyes that also glowed.

Had I really seen it? No, I couldn't have. I'd just been thinking so much about my brother's story, and then I was a bit worried about Cal. Right?

"Kris?"

I jumped and gasped, turning to find Cal and Joey looking at me with faces that seemed to say 'Are you okay?'

"Oh. Cal. There you are." I managed to say, trying to calm myself down. "Uh… I don't think it's a good idea to play out here alone. Besides, you need to stay where I can see you two." I began to usher them back out of the woods. Luckily they didn't protest.

After they'd gone off to do something else, I sat back down with my friends. Lexi was there now, chatting away as usual. Teresa turned to me, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "You alright, Kris? You look like you've seen a ghost or something." She laughed lightly at her comment.

I just blinked, shook my head, and forced a smile. "Yeah… I'm fine."

That was all she needed to hear, turning her attention back to Brad, who was sitting next to her and offering her a sip of his drink. I would've rolled my eyes, and maybe made a teasing remark, but I was too lost in thought.

In fact, I was in a daze the rest of the afternoon. Lexi mentioned something about a sleepover party, the guys talked about cars, Brad and Teresa continued to make eyes at each other, but that's really all I remember.

Eventually, the numbers on my digital watch clicked to five thirty, and I remembered that I'd promised Joey's mom he'd be home by six. I also recalled having not only a lot of English homework, but a math assignment as well. So I said goodbye to my friends, hunted down my brother and his friend, and left for home.

I cooked some macaroni and cheese while simultaneously doing my homework and helping Cal with his (multi-tasking is one of my talents.) We ate dinner, washed the dishes, and even managed to squeeze in a little TV time before nine o'clock rolled around.

"Did you brush your teeth?" I asked, running my hand through Cal's hair for the third time that day.

"Yes." He sighed, straightening his dark green pajama shirt a bit.

"Good. Then it's time for bed." I kissed the top of his head lightly, and gave him a gently shove toward his bedroom door. He entered the small room and climbed up onto the bed. I pulled the sky blue sheets up to his shoulders, turned off the lamp, and left, leaving the door just slightly ajar.

I flicked the TV in our family room on once more. I had no intention of actually watching it; I just hate being alone in the silence of night. My mind began to wander over the events of the day. My regular morning routine, helping Ben study, talking with Teresa, science class, health class, Spanish, lunch… I decided I'd probably take my own lunch to school the next day. Then there was the food fight, English class, history, math, P.E., riding home after school, and of course, the park.

The mental image of what I'd seen, or at least thought I'd seen, in the park that day popped back into my thoughts. I shivered slightly, remembering the thing's red eyes. Suddenly, having the television on wasn't enough to calm my nerves.

Knowing I was freaking out for nothing, I stood and turned the TV back off, turning off the family room lights as well on my way out. I took a post-it notepaper and a pen from the counter in the kitchen, and wrote a quick message to my mother.

Mom,

Mac & Cheese in the fridge.

See ya in the morning.

Love, Kris.

I left the slip of turquoise paper out in the usual place, on the corner of the counter where she would set her keys once she got home. Then I climbed the stairs to my bedroom, changed into an oversized T-shirt and a pair of pajama pants, and crawled into bed. Fortunately, sleep came quickly, and I banished the tiresome memory of the park to the back of my mind as I drifted into dreamland.

"Kris!"

"Down here, Mom!" I called over the sizzling of the bacon and eggs I was currently frying over the stove. I heard frantic steps run down the stairs, round the corner, and my mother appeared in the kitchen doorway. She wore a large smile, as well as her regular work appropriate outfit. Her thick brown hair was pulled up nicely.

"I'm up on time this morning!" She announced, ecstatic over the rare accomplishment.

I laughed, scrapping the scrambled eggs into a large bowl. "That's great, Mom. How much of this do you want?" I switched off the stove, pouring the bacon onto a serving plate.

She eyed the food quickly. "Just a little, sweetie. Where's Cal?"

"Getting dressed. You did eat last night, didn't you?" I turned to make eye contact as I asked the question, putting on a serious expression.

She rolled her eyes and gave a half smile. "Yes, Mother. I ate last night." Then she ran back up the stairs to hurry my brother along. Her mind was still set on 'rush mode' even if she had managed to hear her alarm clock this morning.

I divided the bacon and eggs onto three plates, giving my mother more than 'just a little,' knowing that half of what I'd saved for her last night was in the garbage this morning. Setting all three plates on the table next to three glasses of orange juice and three forks, I shouted, "C'mon guys, it's ready!"

Forty-five minutes later, my mom's gray car pulled to a stop in front of Casper High. She'd driven Cal and I to school, since we were actually running early.

"I'll be home around six tonight, Kris." Mom reminded me.

"Okay, see you then. Thanks for the ride." I said, grabbing my backpack off the car floor and stepping onto the curb.

"I love you, sweetie."

"I love you too, Mom." I smiled, shut the car door, and waved as she drove off. I sighed happily, feeling very cheerful at the moment. I'd woken up without the grogginess morning usually brings. My mom and brother were both in excellent moods this morning as well. We'd actually gotten out of the house early. And now, Mom was going to be home at a regular time for once. Could the day get any better?

"Hey, Kris."

It just did.

My smile grew just slightly as excitement cause my stomach to ache in a pleasant way. I turned to face the person who'd greeted me. "Hi, A.J. What's up?" There's amazing blue those eyes, that awesome red hair, and, of course, that great smile that just makes me giddy inside. Fortunately I'm pretty good at hiding just how excited I am on the inside. I managed to pull off a more relaxed attitude.

"Not much, unless you count whatever's going on behind the school." A.J. answered, snapping me back to reality as I noticed for the first time the sounds of shouting, music, and someone talking into a microphone.

I blinked, listening for a moment. "Wow. What is that?" I said, as I followed A.J. back around the building. It looked like some kind of giant carnival, divided into two different groups. On one side there were people cooking on barbeques, people holding balloons shaped like steaks, a guy in a hot dog suit, and signs reading things like 'Eat Meat' and 'Meat is Neat.' There was a cart selling 'Meat on a Stick,' a balloon made to look like a cow, and a giant hamburger, among other things. A temporary stage sat at the front of it all, a band currently playing some song while four girls in weenie costumes began some dance.

On the other side there were people having picnics, passing around flowers, fruits, and vegetables, dancing, or holding signs reading 'Give Peas a Chance' or 'Eat your Greens' and other things like that. A speaker system was set up on top of a school bus, where a man stood reciting some poem. A large green banner hung across the side of the bus with the words 'Ultra Recyclo Vegetarian' printed in big white letters.

"So, they're protesting the menu change," A.J. said, pointing first to the group of meat lovers. "And they're protesting their protest." He pointed to the vegetarians, then back at the meat lovers.

"That's what it looks like to me." I agreed, glancing back and forth between both parties, rather surprised.

A.J. laughed a bit and shook his head. "Some people can be such picky eaters."

I laughed at his comment as well. We both just sort of stayed out of the way, not really interested in either party. A few minutes later the bus I usually ride arrived and I met up with Ben and Teresa.

"What is all this?" Teresa asked, the same confused expression on her face as the one I'd worn about seven minutes earlier.

"Protests against and for the menu change." I answered. "Honestly I think they're all going a little too far. I mean it was just for a week and-"

"Sweet! Let's go see what we can do to get meat loaf back on our lunch trays!" Ben interrupted me, dragging both Teresa and I over to the meat lovers' side of it all.

Both parties finished a session of chanting, each continuing their protest programs. I rolled my eyes as the Hot Dog Girls (or whatever they're called) danced back on stage and the band started up again. I was rather eager for school to start so I could leave this nonsense behind. Sure, it was different from the normal, which is exactly what I'd wanted, right? Well, yes, I had wanted a bit of a change, but not in the form of guys dressed as giant hams. Although compared to what happened next, people in meat-themed costumes don't seem all that odd.

A strong wind picked up suddenly, and the sky darkened. Everyone began to quiet down as they noticed the sudden change in weather. The music stopped, the dancing stopped (thank heavens,) the chanting stopped. The only noise was the howl of the wind and a few people murmuring to their companions.

There was a rumbling, followed by a loud crash as a large delivery truck in the parking lot nearby, well… erupted. Meats of all different kinds shot out of the truck, swirling around in the air and forming a giant column of, that's right, meat. Now everyone was silent, too stunned and confused to speak. There was perhaps the occasional gasp, but that was all. The column continued to grow, gathering into it any steaks, burgers, ribs, and hot dogs in the area. Once it had become a mountainous pile, the wind stopped. Said pile then sprouted two huge arms, a head, and a face.

"IT'S LUNCH TIME!" The thing shouted in a clearly sinister voice, breaking the silence and bringing from the crowds many shouts and screams of terror. I screamed, wouldn't you? I also wasn't about to stick around and figure out what was going on. No, I ran with the rest of everyone, and I kept running for quite some time.

Now, it may sound to you like I'm delirious, but I know what I saw. In fact, that's exactly what I said to my mother.

"I'm not delirious, Mom. I know what I saw!" I almost shouted into the phone I held against my head. "Just ask anyone who was there. They all saw it too!"

"Alright, alright." Mom sighed. I could just imagine her massaging her temples the way she often does when giving in to Cal or I just to calm us down. "Where are you?"

I glanced at the nearest street sign, unhappy that she was trying to change the subject. "The corner of Maple and Jones, in front of that book store you like." I answered.

"Okay. I'm coming to get you. Just wait there and-"

"Don't talk to strangers, I know." I sighed and hung up the phone, not bothering to say goodbye. I sat on a bus stop bench and glanced up and down the city street. Where Ben and Teresa wound up, I'm not entirely sure. I vaguely remember them nearby while we were all running for our lives, but I left the rest of the crowd five minutes ago when I realized we were well away from the school.

Despite my attempts to not think about what had just happened, I couldn't help but picture the meat monster again. Something about it seemed ever so slightly familiar, but I couldn't figure what it was.

My mom picked my up fifteen minutes later, drove me home, and checked my temperature (among other things. That's the trouble with having a nurse for a mom. You get a physical each time you're sick. Of course, this time I wasn't sick.)

After all that she called Casper High to see what they could tell her. They weren't sure what to make of it all. The school had decided to continue with their regular schedule; though more than half the students were absent. Since they had no way to logically explain what had happened, they simply blamed it all on the new Vegetarian menu, figuring the sudden change had caused some form of mass hallucination or something.

Mom had to get back to work, so she made a quick call to the Elementary school to be sure everything was okay there, then insisted I lay down for a while, and left. I did lie down, but seeing as there was nothing wrong with me I could only stand to lie in bed for two hours. After that I got up and cleaned the house, and then made a batch of brownies while thinking about a few things. Things like what I'd seen, whether or not I'd actually imagined it, and if so, what was wrong with me?

While the majority of my thoughts dwelled on these questions, the small, curious part of my mind mused over slightly different things. Like the thing I'd seen in the park, the way it had glowed, and the fact that it was the same sort of eerie glow as the meat monster. Maybe… maybe I hadn't imagined any of it at all.

Author's Note: Yikes. That was longer than I had expected it to be.I'm kinda doubting that themajority ofthe rest of thechapters will be this long. I'll try to get the second instalment up within the next two weeks. There's something about how this turned out that's bothering me. Maybe I'm just a little rusty, having just got over a bad case of writer's block. Hopefully I can figure out what I'm doing.

Anyway, thanks for reading! Please review.