Chapter 1

Islands of Adventure

"Hurry up, Tom!" I yelled as I ran past a group of tourists.

"Sorry, Kailee, I almost got trampled!" Tom yelled back.

I laughed. I looked at my watch and started speeding up. Tom and I were supposed to meet James and Emma twenty minutes ago at Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. By now they had probably gone on twice. When we had gotten to the park I looked at the wait time list. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey was only a ten minute wait.

"Where have you guys been?" Emma asked.

"Sorry," I replied, "Tom got in to a tight space."

Emma just rolled her eyes. Typical Emma, always impatient. We got into the ten, now fifteen, minute line.

Okay. Pause the story. Just to let whoever is reading this know, my name is Kailee. My best friends are Emma, James, and Tom. At school everyone knows us. I don't want to say we 'rule the school', but it's technically true. Oh, I almost forgot, I really like James.

Today is Emma's first time to Universal. I had to be there for it. Just in case she needed a little encouragement for some of the bigger rides Tom and James were there.

We were walking through the line when Emma said, "I don't know you guys."

"`Bout what?" We all asked.

She was chickening out. Emma went into the child swap. Tom, James, and I went on the ride with a single rider. Boy, she was a screamer! When the Hungarian Horntail came out she screams. When the spiders attacked us she screamed. You get the point. The rest of us were enjoying the ride. Yelling at the Dementors was a blast. Pretending to be running when we were flying was awesome.

"Where's Emma?" James asked.

My phone rang. There was some screaming. I almost went deaf. I hung up on her. When I looked at James and Tom they had a "what just happened" look on their faces.

"Let's go," I spat.

James told me not to worry about it. Emma always has her mood swings. That was true.

"What do you suppose we do know?" Tom asked in his funny British accent.

James looked at me, and I looked right back at him. Tom knew what we were thinking so we made our way to The Flight of the Hippogriff. We got out our Express Passes and we pretty much skipped the line. I could tell that we weren't going to be getting the back, so like I always do I asked for it. They can't say no to kids. Tom got the sixth row; James and I got the last row.

"Can I trust you two behind me?" Tom smirked.

We all started cracking up. When we left the station I bowed to Buckbeak before the coaster went up the hill. In Harry Potter it's polite to bow to Hippogriffs. We were going down the hill when James slid over and squished me.

"Sorry about that," he yelled when we got off.

Tom gave us a funny look after that. James looked at his watch and told us that it was nearly eleven o' clock, and we had school the next day. My mom wanted me home over two hours ago. I was dead, maybe. I swear all of us started sprinting when we got out of the park.

"Why are you three running like you stole something?" a security guard questioned.

"My mom wanted me home at nine, and we lost track of time," I answered.

He let us go, and when I got back to my room in the Royal Pacific Hotel my mom was fast asleep. Relief came over me. I plugged my phone into its charger and checked my texts. One was from my mom. It said that I could stay at the park longer, and that I would be really tired for school if I stayed after ten.

I live at the Royal Pacific Hotel. My mom works at the Three Broomsticks. We get a free room until we move out. My mom has no intention of moving out. James lives right across the hall. His parents work at the Animal Actors show. As for Tom, he lives in the Hard Rock Hotel. His mom works at Revenge of the Mummy the Ride, and his dad works at Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls. Two of my favorite rides.

Knock. Knock. Knock. I could only imagine who it was. I opened the door, and James was smiling right at me.

"Hey! I forgot my room key, so can I crash here tonight?" James asked.

I swear my heart skipped a beat. I let James in, and he lay down on the floor. I laughed quietly. I slowly drifted into a much needed sleep.