What if reality isn't all that it appears to be? What if there is so much more to it that nothing is as it seems? What if there is no difference between reality and fantasy, and imagination is merely the key to the truth? None of that mattered to us then, just as long as there was trouble and an adventure involved.

He was a misfit who could hardly care less about anything. J.T. and his older brother, Jordan, were nothing but trouble. It's a wonder we hadn't met before.

She was an outcast, a bookworm, and a know-it-all with a passionate lust for chaos and mischief. Her best friend and same-as sister, Krista, was Jessie's only companion; she had a raging hot temper and a quick mind.

All were very creative and rebellious. So in other words: All Hell was about to be unleashed, and no one could do a damn thing about it.

XXXXXXX

On a playground full of children running amuck, two little girls were singing, swinging, and ignoring the obnoxious little brats who had ostricized them. One girl had dirty blonde hair that almost came to her shoulders, gangly limbs that resembled toothpicks, and large, round glasses perched on her nose that magnified pretty hazel eyes, which brightened her pale peach complexion. When she smiled, her light pink lips stretched to reveal a gleam in her eyes that was about the only sign of warning unless she was truly happy. The other was a slender girl who had deep brown hair that flowed past her waist in waves that resembled a calm ocean. She had pale skin, blue/grey/green eyes that changed color in the light framed by long, thick eyelashes that she, her three brothers and her mom shared, and a spattering of freckles above her full lips. She didn't smile very often, but when she did it was only to uncover an almost complete set of white teeth ( she expected no less than fifty cents a tooth from the tooth fairy since those two front teeth had caused her so much trouble), and a gaze that was clever, knowing, mature, and downright creepy coming from a little girl.

As they sang any song that came to mind, they continued swinging seeming to kiss the sky every time they flew into the air. They loved it for the wind rushing past them, the sun warming them, and the freedom of flying that no one can resist.

" You know what, Krissie? All we need is a pair of wings. Then we could fly anywhere we wanted to in the whole world, as if we owned the sky." Jessie smiled at her friend as they passed each other in mid-swing.

" Yeah. We could go over to each others' house even if our moms said no." She laughed a little. " We wouldn't ever need to drive a car!"

" It would be so much fun! I want big, purple wings like a dragon! Maybe if I have claws we can get back at all these stupid babies who tease us..." Jessie mused.

" Well that would definitely work," Krista agreed. " And purple would be cool, but I think I might like blue and green angel wings better. They'd be a LOT easier to try to sleep with because they'd be so soft and everything."

Jessie was about to agree, but a boy with scruffy, light brown hair, glasses similar to Krista's, blue eyes, and freckles caught her attention. He was obviously fighting with another kid because his face and ears were flushed bright red. He was about to scream something at the other little boy, but then the teachers blew their whistles and everyone had to run and line up. There was something about him that she really liked. She wasn't sure why, but she found herself promising to meet him as soon as she could. Weird. Jessie disliked most of the other kids and hated the rest, so why would she want to socialize with one she didn't know anything about? Nonetheless, she did what her mamma had taught her: follow that gut feeling no matter what.

XXXXXXX

Jessie was outside playing in her yard with her little brother after school one day. Out of the blue, the boy from school walked into the driveway of the trailer park she lived in. She stopped and stared at him, wondering why he had shown up here of all places. She was glad that her family lived on the lot that was mostly surrounded by woods. It granted them privacy, especially when they felt the urge to stare at someone without being rude because they knew they'd get a talkin' to from momma for it..

"What are you staring at, Jessie?" her little brother was trying to see what she was looking at but wasn't quite tall enough to. He was only two years younger with curly blonde hair and the same eyes and eyelashes as his mother and older siblings.

" Someone I know just walked up, Aerick. Stay here a second. I wanna go say hi."

She ran through a secret little path near that particular part of the trees. When she got closer, she realized another older boy with him. This boy had pale skin, dark eyes, and black hair. The skin under his eyes looked like bruises. Even though he was so obviously different, he still bore a striking resemblance to the younger boy.

Jessie took a deep breath breath and stepped through the last fringe of trees.

" Hello. I'm Jessica." Obviously, she had scared them out of their skins, and by the grin that was on her face, she would never let them live it down. She held out her hand to shake his. The older boy took it in his and shook hands.

" Hi. I'm Jordan, and this is my little brother, J.T.," he said in a slightly hoarse voice.

" I can speak for myself, Jordan!" J.T. griped at his brother.

" I know. You just weren't doing a very good job of it at the time. You seem to have recovered incredibly, so I'll let u handle it from here," he grinned at both of the younger children.

" I go to school with you. I'm in Ms. Hall's class," Jessie said, still unsure of herself.

" I know. I've seen you before. You usually hang out with that girl who has the anger issues," he said. Big mistake.

" Don't judge her! She can't help it! If you have a problem with her, you"ll have to answer to me!" the girl's eyes flared a bright blue-green, her fists clenched, and she glared at the boy.

" Wait! I didn't mean it like that! I'm sorry, just please don't kill me!" he pleaded with her.

" Then how did you mean it?" she asked warily.

" I didn't know how else to describe her since I don't know her name. She's fine by me. I've got anger issues, too." And by the looks of it, so do you. He was smart enough not to say that part out loud. Or maybe it was just self-preservation?

" Oh. Well, her name is Krista. Would you like to come play with my little brother and I?" Her change of mood was enough to scare both boys, but they decided they would rather be on her good side.

"Sure," they agreed quickly.

She led them back through the little trail in the woods to where her little brother stood waiting impatiently.

" Aerick, I want you to meet J.T. and Jordan. J.T. goes to school with me," Jessie introduced them.

"Hi! Oh, and Jessie, if Momma asks what happened to the side of the greenhouse, it wasn't me 'cuz I never touched the baseball bat right next to it," Aerick said as convincingly as he could. All three of the older children looked over at the glass greenhouse nearby and saw a bat next to a broken pane in the side and a pile of broken glass on the ground. There was only one thing to do.

" Hey! Why don't we go play in the woods way over there?" Jessie suggested. All were in agreement and promptly took off for the other side of the property.

And so began the greatest adventure each would ever know.