So for those who've read my Night World FF before, welcome back. For those who haven't welcome! This is actually different from my normal stories, but I really like it all the same. So thanks for giving it a chance.

Chapter 1: Meet Me, Myself, And My Past

Silence. That was really about it. In the last two minutes of ninth grade, it was completely and utterly silent. The last super-smart girl was going over her answers on her last final for the millionth time. Katie though that was stupid; you either knew the answers or you didn't. There was no reason to waste everyone else's time by trying to look smarter than everyone else. = Katie knew she didn't need to look smart; she knew she was smarter than that girl in her class (actually, she was the top of her class with the top test scores in the state). But of course in her preppy, small-minded school, no one seemed to know, or care for that matter. In fact, most people didn't notice the girl with dark brown hair sitting in the back of their classrooms. That would have been bad, if it hadn't been intentional.

"Thank you for entering this experimental Geography AP class this year, and thank you to the students who filled out the survey. I look forward to see some of you in Geography 2 AP next year. For now, have a great summer. Be safe." Katie smiled, and got out of her seat slowly; she'd done it. It was almost all over. She only needed about ten seconds before no one could stop her.

That's when she realized she'd jinxed it. And the universe doesn't just forget about these things.

"Oh, and Miss...,"even after a year of her sitting in the seat closest to her desk, the teacher couldn't remember her star student's last name. Finally giving up, Ms. Peterson finished, "Katie, will you come over here please dear." Nearly sweating with fear, Katie walked over, mentally cursing. She had been so close...

Looking at the expression on her student's face, Ms. Peterson nearly smirked. "Oh, dear, don't look at me like that. You're not in trouble; I was just wondering how your mother's doing?" Although the teacher never could have guessed it, this was the question Katie had been fearing most of all.

Gasping for air, Katie nearly choked out her words. "Oh, she's doing a lot better, Ms. Carter; in fact, I think she'll be one hundred-percent by late next week." The smile, which felt all wrong, went with the acid-like lying words Katie spoke.

Under any other circumstance, the teacher would have know. Anyone would have been able to guess that Katie was lying, that she didn't mean a word of what she was saying. And Ms. Peterson certainly wasn't the exception. So, in one last desperate move, Katie tapped her teachers hand. As always, the victims eyes relaxed slightly, a dazed expression coming over the teacher. After a moment, the she looked at Katie. "Oh, Katie, did you need something dear?"

Trying to hide her sad smile, and maybe a tear or two, Katie replied, "No, ma'm. I figured it out."

The teacher, obviously sensing a bit of disturbance, nodded at last, "I really enjoyed having you in my class. I'm glad to see your all signed up for next year with me."

Trying not to spoil the teacher's excitement, Katie said her last lie to the old woman. "Yeah, see you next year fall."

Slightly confused by her weary diction, the teacher gave the girl one last long stare before shrugging her shoulders. "If you ever need anything, just call dear."

"I will, thanks again," and this time, Katie had to physically leave to hold in her tears. But, of course, not before touching the side of her favorite teacher's hand. The dazed expression was still on her face as Katie left the classroom.

Holding in tears as she did, Katie ran right into one of the only boys she could stand in the school: Kyle Miller.

"Oh, I'm really sorry. Mr. McDonnell kept me after, you know how it is; they want to bug you on every last little thing, even when you were ready to go months ago. Everyone was ready for summer the second Michigan heat set in." He flashed one of his semi-famous smiles, though Katie wasn't really affected. Not to say he wasn't attractive; he was defiantly cute. Though his teeth were slightly crooked and his forehead and nose were slightly too big for his face, he was nice and quiet. He surely never bothered Katie, and was kind to her when she opened up. So, she should have been flustered, but instead she just felt empty.

"Yeah, Peterson did the same thing to me." Katie whispered back.

Obviously surprised by her tone, Kyle lowered his. "Are we being quiet for a reason?" He asked, a slight smile on his face.

And Katie, while holding in her previous tears, put on a small smile of her own. "Nah, just a headache; Geo was never one of my best."

Kyle laughed; he was one of the few people who realized just how smart she actually was. Under normal circumstances, he would have thought she was teasing him. But that's just how Katie was; surprisingly modest for such a tight-nit, competitive school. "Sure; now you're just mocking me. You know that I barley passed English this year."

This time Katie rolled her eyes and replied back in the same condescending tone, "You know, it'd help if you ever spoke in the class."

He grinned. "I don't know; I've never been good talking around a big group of people before."

Katie raised an eyebrow. "You're talking to me just."

He shrugged, this time slightly bashful. "You're different. More like me; not so into all this," he finished, gesturing around the school.

This time Katie just shrugged; there wasn't really that much to say to that. After a moment of hesitation, Kyle followed with, "Look, I'm going out of town this summer. I'm living with my dad in Boston, but we should text. Maybe hang out next year."

And it was those two little words that brought Katie back down to Earth. Next year. They seemed so very harmless. That, of course, was unless you were a girl planning on disappearing. "Um, sure. But I really have to go," Katie turned to leave, but Kyle grabbed her hand.

"You can't very well text me without my number; let me get a pen." He dug into his backpack and pulled out a black pen. "Hold out your hand." Katie did as she was asked, and Kyle wrote the digits on a tiny slip of yellow paper and dropped it inside her palm. And though Katie knew she would have to throw it away right when she get home, it felt nice to be cared about, even only for a second.

"Well, um, I got to go." She said after a few awkward moments of silence.

He took no offense, only smiled. "Yeah, me too. I've been in here too long already; my brother's going to kill me. I still haven't packed yet, and my flights in five hours." And that was when she should have touched his hand and made him forget. Forget her. But, something inside Katie made her hesitate, then draw her hand back. Kyle glanced at her hand oddly before finally saying. "Well, bye."

Katie nodded, "See you. " And with that little lie of an ending, she walked the opposite way, to the back doors of the school, cursing when she looked at her cheep digital watch for the time. Ten minutes until she missed the last city bus and she had to walk all the way home. Nearly running down a sidewalk, Katie jogged down the town. Past the dinner she'd grown up eating in, past the little dry-cleaners, the little homemade pastry shop, and the Target; the store people here used for everything. It' hurt to know it was probably the last time she'd ever see any of the shops again.

Making it with less than two minutes to go, the bus driver reopened the doors, and gestured her in. "Just in time kid, get in." The bus driver, whose name was Mel, smiled and said. He was the same bus driver she'd rode with for nearly ten years, yet he didn't know her name. Not anymore, not ever again. She'd made him forget her. And though Katie knew it was for the best, it still hurt.

Nodding, Katie took a window seat towards the back. A few other kids from school were chatting away, but none of them recognized her. She only knew a couple of them, and felt no need to talk. Instead, she looked out the window of her last ride, taking in the forest scenery of northern Michigan. Twenty-five minutes later, the bus stopped on the corner rode, a five minute walk from her house. Getting up out of her seat, Katie took out a dollar, and put it into the bucket. Mel looked at her in surprise "It's only fifty cents, kid."

She smiled. "Keep the change."

Mel smiled genuinely at her, and she almost though he remembered. Until she heard his business tone. "Thanks kid." And, knowing she'd just made a memory, she tapped his hand quickly. Not bothering to contain her tears as she walked home.

And what a home it was. A little house with only two small bedrooms. It was a wondering it was still standing; it made out of brick and was almost fifty-years-old. Not to mention it hadn't been redone in almost twenty years. To put it simply, her house didn't look like much. In fact, until last year, she'd always thought it was sort of a dump. But, stupid and cliché as it sounded, it had been her dump. And now it was going to be gone from her too. And that was just too much.

With no reason to lock it before she'd gone to school, the door opened easily now. "Mom, I'm home." She whispered. "It was a good day, Mom, I know I did good on all my tests. You'd have been proud, if you saw the reports. And I was wrong, Mom, I think there might be a couple people who will actually miss me here. People who care. I wish I could tell you, Mom."

Katie sat down on the couch and closed her eyes. With her eyes closed, Katie could hear her mom come in the door and greet her, asking her how her day was and what she wanted for dinner. Her mother's lilac perfume would wafer through the house and it's cheap smell, though odd, would be relieving and familiar. With her eyes closed, this was all possible.

It was just when Katie opened her eyes that she had to face her reality. Her mom was gone, and she was never coming back, no matter how much Katie wanted her too. No matter how much Katie needed her to. For now, Katie was all alone in the world. And she'd have to make do with that. She'd began to accept it, even.

Which of course wouldn't explain why there was a knock at the door.