Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, Kyleigh O'Brian, Claire Austin, Kyleigh's mom and Kyleigh's three siblings
Chapter 1
Troy was loving summer vacation. He had signed up to be a camp counselor along with Chad and Zeke and had met two girls who counseled with them. Claire Austin and Kyleigh O'Brian from Boston, Massachusetts, who had both just moved to his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico. He had had the best time hanging out with them and couldn't wait to introduce them to Gabriella, his girlfriend of seven months, and Sharpay and Ryan, who were actually great friends once you got past the icy exterior. It turned out Ryan was nothing like his sister and was now closer to Troy than even Chad. Ryan would have counseled with them over the summer, but he and Sharpay had little kid dance classes to teach. Sharpay and Ryan had actually spent many summers helping kids of families who couldn't afford to send their children to dance lessons. Each summer they held camps and taught a handful of children for free.
It was the last day of camp, and the last day of summer. Everyone was lounging around, packing, or saying goodbye. Claire and Kyleigh bade goodbye to their newfound friends, knowing that they would see them the next day at school. Kyleigh's mom picked them up and the two of them slid into the seats behind Kyleigh's three adopted siblings. Kyleigh and Claire listened to the radio and talked about random stuff during the ride home. Suddenly, the radio started getting interference from what appeared to be a police scanner on which the two policemen were talking a about a drunk driving accident. Kyleigh shot a nervous glance at Claire who had tensed up and Kyleigh noticed tears beginning to well up in her eyes. Kyleigh's mom looked at Claire in the rearview mirror and shot forward and shut the radio off. There was a moment of awkward silence where Claire wiped her eyes frantically and Kyleigh and her mother pretended to not have noticed her tears. When they got to the house everything was back to normal and Kyleigh's mom made the two of them grilled cheese, which they ate in a small room joining their separate rooms. It was a nice size with a couch, two comfy chairs, a table, and a TV, perfect for hanging out. Soon it was time for bed and they went to their own rooms. Claire quickly fell asleep, but was almost immediately awoken by her own strangled sobs. She blinked her eyes in an attempt to get the images of oncoming headlights, a tangled mess of metal, and three caskets lined up in a row out of her head. She rolled over and silently cried herself to sleep.
