Before everything happened, I was completely normal. I had a perfect white picket fence family, with a loving mother and father. I even had a rosy-cheeked, golden-haired little munchkin for a baby brother. It was perfect. Nothing exciting ever happened, and I was usually happy to live a little mundane life.

Sure, I would sometimes wish that something would shake it all up and I could do something ultra-cool and dangerous, but then I would realize that I just wasn't meant for danger. I was a fragile little flower with the cowardly heart of an opossum and nothing would ever change that. Of course, I'm usually wrong, and this time was following that tradition. As a matter of fact, I remember perfectly when things started to change. Strangely enough, it was a normal day in the Bayville High School cafeteria, and I was eating the normal unidentifiable meal with my normal lunch mate, Tamara Delton.

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I slumped down on the bench, picking at what looked like a pile of green beans. I could dimly hear Tamara chattering, but most of what she said was getting lost in an ocean of other voices. It was probably for the better; I was enjoying a very pleasant pity party.

"Gertrude!"

As I flicked my gaze to Tamara, an angry scowl forming.

"We both know I like to be called Emily. Even if my beloved parents decided to give me that name, that doesn't mean I have to go by it."

She snorted, her nose crinkling adorably. I wish my nose crinkled adorably when I snorted, but it just turned into something resembling a pig's snout. Not that I'm jealous, or anything.

"Yeah, but I knew calling you that would get your attention. Not to mention, I enjoy annoying you, Emily. Besides, you weren't hearing anything I said. C'mon, you've been ignoring everything for the last few days. I know you enjoy wallowing in self-pity, but you really gotta get over Colton."

My stomach lurched as she spoke his name. Colton Columbus, the sweetest guy to ever walk the halls of Bayville High. Colton Columbus, the new kid. Colton Columbus, the person who'd stolen my heart and then moved away with it. Appearing as uncaring as I could, I stated, "I am over him, Tammy. Believe me. If any guy were to ask me out right now, I would be all like, hot damn! Of course I'll go out with you, Mister Hunkmeister. You know why I'll go out with you? Because I'm freakin' over Colton Columbus!"

She raised a dark eyebrow in disbelief. I probably would have been more convincing if I hadn't sniffled at the end of my little rant. Tamara sighed, and gestured at my fork-holding hand. "You're still wearing the ring he gave you, and he moved months ago, Em."

I glanced at my finger, where the little silver band rested, the blue sapphire eye sparkling merrily. "So what? It's pretty. Am I not allowed to wear pretty things now, Tam-Tam?"

She sighed again and suddenly got up, walking away without a word. I blinked, then turned back to the glop of food on my plate. A lightbulb appeared over my head, and I took the opportunity to scrape the filth from my plate onto Tamara's. As I finished relocating my food, she reappeared, taking no heed of the mounds of extra food. Tamara plopped back down on the bench, a smirk on her face. She stared at me quietly, until I couldn't take the silence anymore. "What did you do?"

She leaned forward, whispering, "I got you a date."

My face paled until it resembled the underbelly of a fish. "You're lying."

She shook her head, braids swinging wildly. "Nope. You're meeting Isley McMahon after school for a soda. Please don't wear the ring."

Tamara gave a quick grin, and left me to stew in fear.

Roughly three and a half hours later, I started towards my doom, keeping an exaggeratedly slow pace. I contemplated just blowing the whole thing off and heading home, but I knew that Tamara would find out. I shuddered; I didn't want to think about the agony she would subject me to. I was already being daring by keeping my ring on. Well, daring for me. Everything is relative.

I dragged my feet as I saw Alien Lunch. It wasn't a really appetizing name, but it had somehow managed to become the local hangout. Tamara thought they'd managed to gain their popularity with their strangely delicious neon drinks, but I was still betting that they had made a deal with some local gang. I was still holding onto that belief mainly because I enjoy being contrary, but I would never admit it to her.

I rubbed my sweaty palms on my jeans as I approached the door, desperately trying to calm my nerves. As it turned out, I really didn't need to worry about the date. It wasn't going to happen. I grasped the handle of the door, my heart thumping in my ears.

My breath turned shallow, and I frowned slightly. I was used to being nervous, but this was ridiculous. My eyes began to dim, and I fell back, just barely catching myself. Through the glass windows of the building, I could see a redhead elbow the boy sitting next to her, a brown-haired guy with tinted sunglasses. Normally I would have noticed that it was Jean Grey, one of the most popular girls in school, and Scott Summers, that guy who had a rival with her boyfriend, but I was kind of distracted what with the stomach lurching, rapid heartbeat, and overall panic.

With the stupidity that usually accompanies fear, I stumbled into an alley, away from help. I collapsed onto the ground, shaking. I heard someone call out, but the words were unclear. My mind felt as if it was slipping away from the world, and I desperately searched for an anchor of any kind. In a bit of an odd decision, my eyes chose to focus on a dumpster. A burning fire ran through my veins, until I could feel the blood boiling. I shrieked in pain as I felt my skin split outwards, as if someone had yanked a loose thread. My flesh was replaced by the uneven green metal of a dumpster, and the pain vanished. Unfortunately, this brought up a worse situation, as I was suddenly without any ability to breathe or see. I tried to scream, but I didn't have a mouth. I couldn't even move.

As my mind began to darken, a clear voice cut through the blackness. "Listen to me. Follow my voice, and it'll all be okay."

I'm usually not inclined to listen to voices in my head, but there wasn't much else to do. So I followed.

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A/N: This was supposed to be up much, much, much earlier, but family dropped by unexpectedly.

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