Chapter One

I looked out the car window listlessly. I sighed, bored out of my mind. I rolled the window down and let the breeze wash over me. The radio was playing some stupid dub step song for the millionth time and I sighed again. My mom and dad were talking to my sister and I about something but I was tuning them out. I glanced over at her and saw she was doing the same. Sam (my sister) had medium length (dyed)auburn hair and green eyes which she had lined with black. She looked over me and made a face like, "They're STILL talking?" I nodded and rolled my eyes. We were twins and looked exactly alike, except I had dark brown hair and was a horrible TWO inches shorter than her. It bothered me that she was taller than me a lot more than it should.

I groaned at the thought and stared back out the window. We were going to eat lunch over my Aunt Debbie's house and knowing how much she and my mother liked to gab, we were going to be there for the minimum: three hours. It's not that I didn't like my Aunt, it's just that she could be suffocating sometimes. She didn't have the best relationship with my cousin since my uncle had died. So she treated Sam and I as her children which annoyed us a little. Or at least me. I already had my parents on my tail, I didn't need my aunt too.

Green foliage whipped by quickly. I couldn't see that well due to losing my glasses and not wanting to wear my contacts. I had been at a sleepover two nights before and I still haven't made up all the sleep I'd lost. I was exhausted. If I had put in my contacts, my eyes would of hurt too much.

So I just stared as the blurry green trees whip past me just BORED. I glanced back into the car and saw Sam looking at me. "What?" I asked. "You've GOT to read TFIOS today," she pleaded, " I need to fangirl with someone!"

"Why do you think it's in my bag," I asked sarcastically, " to burn it?"

She gasped in horror, "Don't even SAY something that horrible! I can't even- ugh you are going to get SOO many FEELS! Oh my god when Augustus di-"

"Sam, I already know he dies, I've been on Tumblr, I'm not clueless."

" I know but-"

"It's SOO sad, I get it alright?" I said finishing her sentence.

"WELL someone's bitchy today!" She said aggravated.

I made a face at her and stared back out the window. I was kind of pissy because I had like 9 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours.

My parents were telling off Sam for swearing and I smiled in spite of myself. She caught my smile and complained, "Mom! She's SMILING!" I smirked at her. 'She's smiling?' Seriously? Okay Sam.

I looked back out the window. "I wish my life was better, you know what?" I thought, " I wish my life was interesting. Adventurous." I rolled my eyes at the childish wish. But I made those kind of wishes all the time and right then, in that moment, it didn't seem so childish. I truly wished that my life would at least be interesting.

I saw the trees whip past me and then something strange happened. I saw a green bear running around. It was keeping pace with our car. The bear was looking intently in front of it, like it was chasing something. Or someone.

It's fur which was colored a light green glistened in the sun. It's beady green eyes looked strangely human. "What the hell?" I thought to myself. Then, as clear as day, it changed into a leopard. What. The. Actual. Fuck.

Before I could stop myself I screamed out, " Beast Boy!"

It looked at me surprised and forgetting its hunt, stopped and looked at me. We sped past it and I stared out the window, straining my head to look behind me.

Someone tapped my on the shoulder and I turned. My whole family was staring at me.

"Why did you scream Beast Boy?" Sam said quizzically.

"Who's Beast Boy?" My dad exclaimed, confused.

"Beast Boy's a character in a cartoon. He's not real." Sam said looking at me, the gears in her head turning.

"Why would you scream some cartoon character's name?" My mom asked, looking a little alarmed.

"I'm just tired," I exclaimed, trying to lie the best I could, " I was dreaming about the Teen Titans and then woke up. I was thinking about my fanfic earlier and must of fallen asleep. Oops."

My parents nodded buying the story but Sam raised an eyebrow. She could always tell when I'm lying.

"Honey, you should take a nap when we get to your aunt's house." My mom exclaimed worried.

"Nah, I got to write some more of my story," I replied with an edge to my voice. I tuned everything out and stared intently out the window once more. Was I going crazy?

We continue the ride in silence. I was utterly confuse and frankly a little scared. "It's nothing to worry about, everyone hallucinates once in awhile," I lied to myself. Too soon we got to my Aunt's house and I lugged my bag out with me. It had my computer, charger, beanbag table thingy that you can write on, and TFIOS. I walked in the soft green grass that led up to door. It crinkled at my feet's constant stomping. I walked up the two flights of stairs and too soon I was at her apartment door. I took a breath and tried the handle. The door glided smoothly open and I stepped cautiously inside.

"Hello? Aunt Debbie?" I questioned.

"In the kitchen!" She shouted out and I lugged my bag inside. My family piled in behind me and Sam shut the door.

I dropped my bag off and walked into the kitchen.

Aunt Debbie was taking something out of her oven. She saw me and smiled,"Riley!" She put down her dish and gave me a huge hug. "Hi!" I choked out. And so the day begun.

I spent 5, long hours at her house. But I started and finished TFIOS and let me tell you I cried. John Green is a beautiful man. I spent most my reading time outside on her balcony, glancing up every few seconds to see if I'd hallucinate again and see more random cartoon characters.

But somewhat sadly, none came. I was glad I wasn't crazy after all, but I was sad with missing the crazy adventure I probably would've had. Going crazy would have its perks, that's for sure. I wouldn't have to live in "our" world anymore; I could be in any world I wanted to be in. Percy Jackson, Rise of The Guardians, etc.

But I'd have all their problem incorporated into my life, which would suck. Who'd want to fight monsters all day?

When I was reading the book, I'd find myself sitting in weird positions. Here I was, out in the open, sitting upside down on a balcony reading a book. Some parts I'd laugh out loud and others I would scream, "WHAT THE HELL?!" But overall, when 5 rolled around, I finished TFIOS smiling sadly. John Green was good.

I said goodbye to my Aunt and got another suffocating hug. She crushed me and whispered in my ear, "I love you SOO much. I wish you and Sam were my daughters." I was pretty sure she was drunk. Her and my parents often did when they were together.

I just muttered, "I love you too." I pulled away gently and walked down the stairs and out the front door, bringing my colossal bag with me.

I looked around me, searching still for Beast Boy. "Which WAS a hallucination Riley!" I reminded myself. I sighed once more and got into my car and slammed the door behind me.