I impatiently stood outside of the art room, waiting for my friend, Charis, to come out. The bell had rung over five minutes ago, but she was chatting up her sketching teacher, Mrs. Heisi. Why anyone would stay after school to talk to any teacher, I don't know. But me, being the good person I am, decided to be nice and actually wait for her.

Several minutes later, Charis came out with her home-made sketch book clutched to her chest. She was grinning like the Cheshire cat (I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a little creepy). Without being prompted, she recapped her little chat with the art teacher.

"Mrs. Heisi is putting one of my pictures in the art show!" She squealed

I pat Charis's head. For a sophomore in high school, she was pretty darn short. Then again, I was kind of tall, but whatever. "That's just wonderful. Let's go."

We left school and started for the forest. People had been telling us since our freshman year that it wasn't the 'recommended' route, but we both agreed that it was way faster than walking around the forest to get to our neighborhood. And besides, if anyone snuck up on us, Charis would spaz-attack them or something.

Charis's eyes glazed over slightly, a content look on her face. "I'm so happy Mrs. Heisi chose one of my pictures…"

I rolled my eyes. "She sucks, but she'd have to be stupid not to like your stuff."

Charis shook her head, shoulder length reddish-brown hair going left and right frantically. "No she isn't! She's awesome!"

"Oh please. That woman sucks more than our school uniform." I snorted

Charis looked down at her uniform: worn the 'appropriate' way, right down to her perfectly tied plaid bow. Even her hair was 'school appropriate: Long and parted just so. Now me, I actually hated wearing uniforms. I had given up on my bow halfway through tying it, and I was wearing a brown sweater over my top (I get yelled at daily for not wearing the school-issued tomato red sweater). And then there's my hair; I had shaved my head and bleached it my freshman year, much to the dean's horror. Everyone wonders how prim little Charis could be friends with a 'rebel' like me.

If only everyone knew that spaz like I did.

"Our uniforms are adorable." Charis said. "Anyways, did you see that episode of Naruto last night?"

"You know I only read the manga. It takes way too long for the episodes to come out, and I hate all those filler episodes." I scoffed

Charis pouted. "But last night's episode was mostly about Kiba!"

"Dog Face? What's so good about him?"

Charis stopped in her tracks, pointing an accusing finger at me. Uh-oh, I thought; I just woke up crazy Charis. "Don't call him that!" she growled "He's awesome!"

The girl's obsessed with Kiba Inuzuka, one of the guys from the show that she watched (and I read) all the time. It's not healthy to be that crazy over someone that isn't real, but I'm not going to be the one to tell her that. I value my life, thank you very much.

"And plus," Charis went on "you can't tell me you don't have a crush on any of the guys from Naruto. That's, like, physically impossible."

I shrugged, smirking. "Can't I just value the storyline and cool jutsus like a normal person?"

"No, you can't."

"Well I do. Believe it!"

Charis laughed. "That's so corny, Taylor."

I was about to respond when a raindrop landed on my shoulder. Charis and I looked at each other strangely. It wasn't supposed to rain today…

"Come on; let's get going before it really starts to pour-"Charis started

A violent clap of thunder cut Charis off, and before we knew it, rain was coming down hard and heavy. I glared at Charis. "You jinxed us!" I whined

She glared right back. "I did not!"

The wind current went from breezy to downright aggressive in under two minutes. Once again, I yelled at Charis for jinxing us. Lightning crackled overhead, turning the drastically darkened sky purple for a brief moment. I'm pretty sure Charis and I was thinking the same thought: where did this crazy weather come from so suddenly?!

Behind me, I heard Charis cry out. I spun around to see her on the ground clutching her ankle. Knowing her, she probably tripped over something. I ran over to her, crouched down to help her up.

"Come on, you klutz!" I hissed

"I resent that! A tree branch came out of nowhere and tripped me for no good reason!"

I would've rolled my eyes if I wasn't 80% sure that Charis had just twisted her ankle. A rough wind hit me in hard as I was helping Charis to her feet. We were sent flying into a huge pit of mud. Like quicksand, the pit quickly sucked us under the more we struggled. I was submerged up to my shoulders while Charis was struggling to keep her head above the surface. No matter how hard we tried, our fingers would only graze the others whenever we tried to hold on to one another. My life flashed before my eyes as the air started to leave my lungs.

"Someone! Help!" Charis cried

That was the last thing I heard from her before she was pulled completely under. Pain filled my burning chest. My head was pounding from lack of oxygen. Distantly, I knew that I was going into shock. So, instead of living my last moments filled with sheer terror, I just-stopped. I welcomed unconsciousness as it reeled me in.