Judd Thompson Jr. walked through the hallway of Prospect High and put his hands in his black leather jacket pockets. He coped an attitude with every person who tried to talk to him, teacher or student. He wanted everyone to know that he didn't want to be there. Even if it meant getting in trouble, he didn't care.

He reached his locker and opened it, pulling his Psychology book out. He shut the door and walked further down the east hall, towards his Psyche class; when all of the sudden, the principle stopped him in his tracks.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Thompson," Mrs. Laverne Jenness said while putting a hand on his shoulder. "And just where do you think you're going?"

He shrugged it off. "On my way to Psychology."

He started to walk off but she stopped him again. "I'm sure Mr. Shellenberger wouldn't mind if you were a little late to class, seeing as though you rarely show up much anymore."

Judd was stunned. He hadn't thought anyone had seen him leave, but maybe someone had. Could they have ratted him out? Whoever did this, Judd thought. I'm gonna get them for it.

He sighed. "So, where are we going?"

"Detention," came her answer. She escorted Judd through the halls and past the cafeteria to a solid white room with big letters painted on the door in gold that spelled Detention Center.

She opened the door and Judd walked in, feeling his anger rising up more and more. There were at least 15 other teens in the room, all laughing and throwing wadded up papers at each other. Most of the kids looked younger than him, but there were a few people he knew in there also. A section of the kids in the back, which he knew to be the kids from the trailer park in Prospect Gardens, all seemed to be wearing black leather and flashy tops that looked tacky with their old jeans and skirts.

He sat down in a chair at the back corner of the room, a few seats over from the trailer kids, and put his elbows on the table with his head in his hands. He felt a headache starting to come on. Oh, how he hated detention. If he could just make it through this torture, he'd find some way to never come back. But how?

As he kept thinking, Mrs. Jenness stepped up to the front of the class room and drew everyone's attention.

"Good day everyone," she said in a soft, yet mocking tone. "As most of you know from past experience here, there is to be no talking, no passing notes, no playing games, no cell phones, no…" She rambled off a list of rules she somehow expected everyone to follow, which was seldom accomplished.

As she kept talking, the door suddenly swung open, and in stepped a tall young girl with fiery red hair. Dressed in skin-tight leather, she pranced into the room and crossed her arms. The principle looked over to her and smiled.

"Ah, Miss Byrne, so nice of you to drop in."

Judd watched the girl roll her eyes, hand Mrs. Jenness her detention slip, and take a seat next to his. She looked like she had had a rough day so far, and being in detention wasn't making it any better. She leaned back in her chair and cross her legs, putting out a careless attitude. He recognized her from church when his parents wouldn't let him get away with staying home, and knew she was trailer trash. That explains the look, Judd thought to himself.

"All right, now that you all know the rules, I shall leave you to follow them. I will be checking back here within the hour. And remember, no talking," Mrs. Jenness said, putting a finger to her lips and slipping out the door.

When everyone knew the principle was well down the hallway, the chattering began. The kids talked, texted, threw things, and did just about everything else that they had been told not to do. Although Judd considered himself to be a rebel, or at least wanted to, he did not participate in what the others were doing. He thought of himself as more mature than them, and turned his head anytime a balled up piece of paper was thrown his way.

He leaned his head on the desk and thought about catching up on his sleep, but decided against it. There wasn't any chance for sleep anyway, with all of the noise. He was so tired, and before he realized what he was doing, his eyes searched around the room and seemed to land on the redheaded girl. She didn't look that old, despite her trashy makeup, and Judd guessed she was a freshman. Most juniors, like him, would never get caught talking or even looking at a freshman, but for some reason, she seemed to catch his eye. He didn't know why, seeing as he knew she was from the trailer park and would never be his type.

What was his type, exactly? He was rebellious, of course, but his family was a lot wealthier and he had a lot more things. He knew that wasn't a good excuse for being so judgmental, but he couldn't help it. That was the way everyone was.

But he still couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her. He wasn't attracted to her or anything, and he told himself maybe it was just because he was fascinated with how she acted, being from a trailer park and all. He watched as she, like him, didn't participate in all the rule breaking, and instead, seemed to sit back in her chair and try to relax. It seemed to Judd that she was trying to tune the noises out, but it wasn't working. Her face looked agitated, and he knew she was having the same problem as him. But still, he couldn't find enough courage in himself to speak to a trailer girl.

But he didn't have to. A few seconds after he took his eyes off of the girl and reached for his Psychology book, he heard the girl's voice coming from his other side.

"Hey," she questioned. "What's your name?" Her voice didn't sound as tough as he thought it would have, but even with its girlish tone, still had a bit of an edge.

He didn't know what to say, or how to respond, or even if he should respond, so he pretended not to hear her. He knew that it would come off very rude, but right then he didn't care. All he wanted to do was get out of there. He didn't have time to deal with some spunky trailer girl.

The girl finally got the hint and ignored him back, confirming her thoughts on stuck up rich kids. If he didn't want to talk to her, then she didn't want to talk to him. She just sat there, bored, for the rest of the hour. Judd did the same.

Little did they know that soon, they would be brought together through the most horrifying disaster the world will ever know.