Chapter One

RRRIIINNNGGG!!! I look up as the bell rings for school to get out.

"Finally!" I yell as I run out of the classroom doors.

"ERIN! Wait up!" A girl with chin-length, silver hair yells at me. I stop, laughing, and brush away a few stray strands of my black, shoulder-length hair.

"I'm waiting!" I call to her as she scrambles to pick up her pens, notebooks and papers. A boy with spiked, black hair and dark brown eyes walks up to her, beginning to help her gather her stuff. Afterward, he looks at her as she starts to walk away.

"Um… Joni?" He asks. She stops and looks at him.

"Yes?" She replies. He turns bright red and begins to stutter.

"D--Do you want t--to go out with m-me?" She shakes her head and looks at him.

"Robbie… I'm sorry, Hun, but I'm not into the whole 'dating' thing. Gomen nasai." She smiles sadly at him and turns back toward me. He looks confused and calls to her once more.

"What's gomen nasai mean?"

"I'm sorry!" She calls back. He sighs exasperatedly and collapses into Joni's chair. She reaches the doors and walks out of them, shaking her head.

"I swear, men are worms!" I chuckle at her.

"Hey! Just because a boy asked me out and not you, doesn't mean that he's a worm!" She replies indignantly. I laugh and run ahead of her.

"Erin!!" She yells. "Stop! I have to go to my locker! Damn it, Erin!" I just laugh and skid around the corner, into the main hall.

"Then I'll meet you on the bus!" I laugh. She just curses under her breath and stops at the first locker in the main hall, on the wall closest to her.

"Move it, Freshie." A senior girl pushes Joni aside, shutting her locker in the process, to get to the locker next to Joni's. Joni stands back up and glares at the senior, re-opening her locker.

"Leave my friends alone, Minx." I yell as I walk back to Joni. "Joni, you ok?" I inquire quietly. She nods and the senior looks at me.

"What'd you say, Freshie?" She asks, threateningly. I walk up to her and look her in the eye.

"Since you're hard of hearing, I'll repeat myself. Leave my friends alone." I glare. She backs up slightly and pushes me backward.

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Bitch!" She replies with false authority.

"Erin… Calm down… Erin!" Joni whispers in my ear.

"You don't want me to snap." I reply calmly to the senior. She laughs nervously.

"Yeah? And What'ch' ya gonna do?" I clench my fists and put my head down, allowing my bangs to cover my face.

"I wouldn't know… I can't remember… And no one has ever lived, to tell the tale." I look back up to her, my eyes becoming pure black. Minx laughs nervously and looks to her friends.

"Ya hear that? A little freshman is threatening a senior!" Minx looks back at Joni and me. My fists are trembling and my nails are beginning to dig into my palms.

"Erin, be careful… She is a senior and she's about twice your size." Joni murmurs in my ear. I glance at her then turn back to Minx. I glare at her and reach up, punching her right in the mouth as powerfully as I can muster. She falls to the floor and her friends back up.

"I SAID YOU DON'T WANT ME TO SNAP!" I yell. She screams and scrambles to leave, running with her group of friends, terrified.

"I told her…" I sigh and slam her locker shut. "I'll meet you at the bus." I turn and walk away as Joni sighs.

"Erin, you need to learn to control your temper."

"I was." I turn around, look at her and smile half-heartedly. "I wanted to yell at her." I walk out of the main hall to the courtyard, where the busses are waiting. As I walk, I pull out an MP3 player, put on the headphones and turn on a song called "Ready To Fall" by Rise Against.

"Hold on, slow down. Again from the top now, and tell me everything. I know I've been gone for what seems like forever but I'm here now, waiting, to convince you that I'm not a ghost or a stranger, but closer than you think." I sing quietly as I head toward the bus labeled "25." I climb on and take a seat, second from the front on the right side. I set my stuff down, making sure nothing is going to fall and get back off of the bus.

"Don't cry to me, if you love me, you would be here with me. You love me, come find me. Make up your mind." I smile as "Call Me When You're Sober" begins. I sing along and look around for friends. I spot Joni walking out of the main building and wave. She waves back, her silver hair and eyes glinting in the sunlight. I smile and call to her.

"I saved us a seat! I'll be right there ok?" She nods and I turn toward the bus exit, where many students are heading toward their busses. I hear people chatting about what they are going to do on their two-month summer vacation, and who's dating who, and the newest fashion trends. I shake my head and look closer at the crowd. After a second, I spot one of my guy friends, Kale. He has white hair, silver eyes, and is wearing blue jeans and a black shirt.

"Hey!!! Kale, over here!" I call to him. He looks up at me and laughs, waving and running.

"Hey!!" He laughs as he glomps me. I nearly fall over and hug him back.

"What a nice hello today." I reply. He just grins and looks behind him, his arms still around me.

"Who ya looking' for?" I ask as I hope he'll keep his arms around me.

"Jessie." He says as he spots another one of our friends. She has mid-length black hair with unnaturally orange bangs, and sky-blue eyes, along with tan skin. She waves as she fixes her black, rectangular glasses. We wave back and I poke Kale's side. He lets go of me, jumps and looks at me, glaring jokingly. I give him the "I'm sorry" look and see another one of our friends, Mia, approaching. She is tall and slim, with black hair, bright green eyes and small, square, blood red glasses. I grin and wave madly at her. She sees me and waves madly back. Kale and I both double over laughing as Mia arrives, along with Jessie. As I straighten, I see another of our friends, Pandora, heading toward us. She's trying to balance her binder on her head while digging through her backpack. I give her an odd look and she looks up at me. After a second, she yells her signature saying.

"Don't look at me in that tone of voice! It smells like funny colors!" As it reaches my ears, I begin laughing again and wave to her. She reaches up, waves, and catches her binder as it begins to fall off of her head and onto the ground. As she begins walking up to me, another one of our friends, Eric,-- a boy with medium length brown hair, dark brown eyes, black clothes and black eyeliner-- walks up behind her, hugging her.

"Hey, Pan." He smiles. She laughs and turns around in his arms, hugging him. After a moment, she lets go and, at a dead run, glomps me, nearly knocking me over. Standing behind her, is my three best friends. Sam, the tomboy, Kari, the quiet, smart one and Joni, the humorous, sweet one. Sam has short, light brown, messy hair and chocolate brown eyes. She has tan skin and is loud and entertaining. Kari, on the other hand, has hip length, black hair with red highlights and dark, dark blue eyes. Her skin is very pale, and she is always in black. She isn't very tall, being 4'10'', and is quiet and sensitive. Joni has silver hair and silver eyes. Her skin is pale but not as pale as Kari's. She is taller than me, me being 5'4'' and her being 5'9'', and smart, kind, and funny.

"GLOMP!!" Pandora yells as she hits. I laugh and catch myself, with Kale's help. I smile up at him and he grins down at me. In my head, I tell myself to kiss him, but I don't. I never have, no matter how long I've wanted to. After a second I look around at my friends, who are now all chatting. I love this! It's so fun, having these friends. I think. They make school fun.

"Hey! Everyone!" I call. They look at me. "Finally!" I laugh.

"Hey what?" Mia asks.

"I want you guys to sign my shirt! It is the last day of school this year!" I smile, holding up a rainbow of permanent markers. They all grin and grab their favorite colors; red for Mia, orange for Jessie, yellow for Eric, green for Pandora, blue for Kale, purple for Joni, black for Kari and brown for Sam. I grin as they sign the white shirt I'm wearing and I nearly jump as Kale signs my right side, tickling me. When they're all done, my shirt is full of I love you's, H.A.G.S.'s, phone numbers and call me's. I hug everyone as the security guards yell at us to get on the bus so we can go home. We all exchange 'I love you!'s' and hugs. Joni and me get on our bus and sit down. Sitting around us are some of our other friends, Bella, the artist, Devon, her best guy friend, Steven, the most annoying teenager I've ever met, Kimo, the hot Japanese friend, and my ex-boyfriend, Matthew. I move around when I can and get all of them to sign my shirt, chatting all the while. Finally, when it's just me and Joni left on the bus, I plop down next to her.

"Ten more minutes till our stop." She smiles.

"Yep." I sigh. "I can't believe Corri skipped the last day of school. I mean, honestly! What's the point?"

"I don't know, Erin, maybe she wasn't feeling well."

"Nah, I talked to her last night and she seemed fine." I shake my head. Corri is the friend who's spacey but not blonde; the one who's always blabbering on about boys, but hasn't had a good boyfriend in months. She has shoulder-length, black, frizzy hair and brown eyes. She has a rather 'curvy' figure and knows how to work it. She is ditzy, but not so much so that it's too annoying.

"Well, how about we call her before we go to bed." Joni offers. I nod. We live together, Joni and I, along with our families. We like it more that way, we see each other every day. Our families both moved into the same duplex, so we put a door between mine and Joni's rooms. We hang out every evening, especially on Thursday nights. Because, on Thursday night, our favorite T.V. show comes on right at nine o'clock. It comes on on Adult Swim, on Cartoon Network. It is called "Full Metal Alchemist."