I woke up in a cold sweat. The dreams were getting worse. This time I was trapped in some kind of wonderland of videogames, junk food, and waterslides. I didn't know why or how I was there or where I wanted to go next, actually, I wasn't sure I wanted to go anywhere next. Somehow I knew I needed to get out and a waitress of sorts came up to me with some flower type pastries. I refused and she pouted and begged me to take some saying they were 'the best in the country.'

I wasn't sure why but every time I got to the point where I was faced with a choice a mans voice would come into my mind and say "Lyra, your choice right now may influence everything in your life" or "Lyra, there is no need." or even "Lyra, you know Cool Ranch Doritos are way better than the Nacho Cheese ones."

I smiled as my mom walked into my room and said "Hey, babe. Just making sure you were awake, time to get ready for school." She walked out.

I stood on my bed and stripped to my underwear throwing my clothes into the hoop above my clothes basket. They stuck in the hoop making me frown. I jumped down and took the stick underneath my bed and poked the bundle in the basket it dropped hanging halfway out of the basket. I sighed but ignored it.

Soon I was changed into a pair of red skinny jeans my studded I MUSIC belt a pair of purple kicks and a shirt that said "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture" with a little cartoon of the Lincoln monument doing ballet. I walked halfway downstairs to smell the slightest hint of something burning. In a daze I rushed the rest the way downstairs, picked up my little brother Leander's sling shot and a metal toy soldier and set the soldier in place, pulled back the elastic and released deactivating the stovetop. How did I do that? I walked over to the stove to inspect the damage, the bacon was burnt, but not to bad. I broke the head off of the soldier Leander had left on the ground and there was a slight crack on the knob of the stove top. I took the bacon with a napkin grabbed my purple and black Eeyore backpack and headed out the door. Today was the 179th day of the second year at this school, tomorrow is the last day. I'm so close. As I boarded the bus I noticed something different, the driver was a lady that looked to be about 40 to 50 years old and was wearing a leather jacket. Where's Dave? I sat in the very back seat next to my very best friend Ashton. Ashton has natural caramel colored skin(like a Native American)

Dark long curly hair and crutches.

He has crutches because he was in an accident when he was little. That's all he would tell me. But I didn't want to pry. So I kept it at that.

I was looking out the window when I saw that the bus driver had passed our school. "Hey Ash, did the bus lady just miss our school?"