She stood, quiet, gently pressing her hand to the gaping wound in her side, warm,
sticky liquid seeping through the burgundy of her cut up tank top. She rolled her eyes back and rested against a large building behind her. Distantly, she heard gunshots, screams, sobs. Every so often, if she listened well enough, she could even match voice to face. Katie, Jordan, Jack...she paused. Her muscles loosened. It seemed blood made the categorical anesthetic. Why...why would anyone allow any of this to happen? Her mind raced, searching for answers. She slowly smiled. Well, she supposed it was time to think back to the beginning. How this all started.
Amy stood, quiet, waiting patiently in the halls of Nixeon High, her black hair with the one large blonde highlight hanging over her ice blue eyes. Her mother always hated her wacky fashion sense, for example her ensemble today, her child sized t-shirt that only made it to her belly-button, the sleeves and neck cut down to form a small wine-red tank top with a large, cute skull in the corner, low cut jeans, the knees destroyed while still remaining skin tight, and a black stud belt. Her black soccer shoes were tightly laced and she gripped her backpack tightly. Today was their 9th grade class field trip and she was patiently waiting for the students to file out so she could catch her best friend, Alyce, and snag a seat by her on the bus. She heard a teacher yell from behind a classroom door, and students began to pour out. This whole field trip to a small island in the Bahama's was their teacher, Mr. Angelos's idea. It was his "recondite" thinking that finally got the school board to agree to such a trip. Amy just thought he was nuts. A tall blonde girl that stood a decent three inches above Amy finally stepped out, her short ripped jean skirt accentuating her long legs, even wearing a pink and white horizontal stripped baby doll t-shirt and she still managed to look supermodel thin, her emerald eyes shimmering with excitement. In the case of Amy and Alyce's friendship, things got very interesting. They were extreme opposites in almost everything they did, from appearance, to music taste, to friend groups, but one thing was for sure…they were absolute best friends until the end. It was always this way, since they could speak, they were always best friends. And they never questioned that.
"This is going to be so awesome, eh?" Alyce asked her voice youthful and excited. Amy nodded and grinned.
"Totally. Not to mention only ONE of our teachers is going. What a brave, brave man Mr. Angelos is," Amy retorted, adjusting her backpack on her shoulder more.
"Plus, we can totally sneak out and mess around with the boys, you know, not like the innocent messing around, I mean. Like…fuck around," she giggled, winking.
"Wow…that was painfully obvious," Amy snickered. "But you know me, I might not exactly…FUCK around. I mean, I do have my eye on someone back home, remember?" Alyce laughed and pushed her friend.
"Markus? Still? Man, you should really talk to him then, I mean…what if we die in a plane crash? You'll never get to tell him you like him!"
"Alyce, please. We aren't going to die any time soon, so until I really need to…I don't feel it necessary to tell him, okay?" Alyce shrugged.
"Whatever." Just then, a tall boy with shaggy flaxen hair jogged up next to Amy, hurriedly pushing his glasses up on his nose, over his two different colored eyes, the azure one on the left, and the aqua one on the right.
"I am so excited about this trip," he said, pushing his glasses up again, his voice that of a teenage boy, cracking every so often. "I mean, it will be a lot of fun I think. Do you want to go swimming with me when we get there, Amy?" Amy smiled at him.
"Maybe, Jamison. I've got a lot of unpacking to do, you know? Some time, though, I will. I promise." She finished smiling. Jamison nodded and smiled, then gave her a thumbs up. Amy's class continued chatting away until they had all loaded onto a spacious bus, for the trip to the air port. They sat patiently in the bus as the last few students loaded up. Amy slid into a seat next to Alyce and grinned.
"I was thinkin' about what you said, about me needing to tell Markus earlier…and I guess you're right. For once," she giggled.
"Hey," she yelled, and hit her in the head with a small soft pillow. Amy laughed and hit her back with her own pillow. The bus rumbled beneath their feet and it began to pull out of the High School. As they rolled down the street, a couple of Amy's friends walked over and stood next to her.
"Hey Amy," the asian one, Alan, said, his voice not even showing a hint of accent. "I'm so psyched for this trip. I mean, hello? Girls in skimpy bikinis and next to NO teachers watching? Pure heaven." Amy blinked up at him.
"Alan please, you couldn't get a girlfriend if you tried."
"Well see about that!" He smirked.
"Hey," a shorter, tan boy with brown hair and identical coffee eyes interjected. "Can I get a picture of you guys?" He lifted up a camera and indicated to it.
"Sure Jack, I'm okay with that," Alyce shrugged. Amy and Alan nodded in agreement. Alan edged in closer next to Amy, grinning. Amy giggled and threw her arms around Alan, giving the biggest grin she could. Alyce laughed and posed as if she were going to blow a kiss.
"Ready? Say cheese!" They all laughed instead as the shutter clicked. "Thanks a lot." The Polaroid of it popped out and he fanned shook it distantly. The image slowly developed and Jack took a look at it, chuckling a little.
"Let me see!" Alyce hollered, leaping over Amy and snatching the picture. She grinned and laughed.
"Pass it here," Alan shouted. Alyce threw the picture at him and it fell on the ground. Alan slowly picked it off the ground and snickered.
"Nice. Hey Jack, can I keep this?"
"Sure," Jack mumbled as he already began walking back to his seat.
Amy shot up, dripping in cold sweat. Her pale eyes darted around the bus. Everyone seemed asleep. She shook her head, temples pounding. She leaned to the side and peered out the window. A sign read New York City. She froze. New York! They were supposed to be heading to California, exactly opposite from them in the country.
"What the hell is going on around here?" She asked out loud. "Alyce, wake up." She mumbled, shaking her friend. Alyce groaned but didn't even move. She shakily stood up, taking a few steps and blinking. Everything was so bright. She looked around. What was going on? A few more steps forward. Her legs, they felt so heavy, and her eyes…they were so tired. She pushed to move forward. Step…step…step…and then she fell back into darkness.
Farther.
Farther.
Farther.
Gone.