Author's Note: Okay, well this is my first attempt at making a fan-fic. I really wanted to make this story as suspenseful as I could, but I think I put in too much filler at the beginning. I got kind of attached to the characters. It's gonna be really hard to kill them off now. Damn it. Oh well. Hope you like it! AND give me ANY advice you can to make this story really enjoyable for you to read and for me to write. Like, if you think I need to make it more fast-paced and suspenseful, tell me so! I feel like this first chapter was too slow, but I really wanted to introduce you a little more to the characters.
"Hey, kid! Get out of there!"
James was startled by the gruff voice that he recognized as the janitor's. "Oh, sorry, I didn't know I wasn't supposed to be here." He closed the janitor's closet he usually uses to ditch class in. Defeated, he went on his way to 3rd period, which was his most boring subject, Geometry. He made a quick stop to his locker to get his notebook. A teacher in the hall scolded him for being late, and told him to hurry up and go to class. He hastily walked all the way to room 701, all the way on the Far East side of school. He walked past many posters advertising the homecoming game on Friday. He didn't normally find them interesting, but a certain poster caught his eye. It wasn't for homecoming, but rather a gruesome painting of a crashed bus. He wondered why anyone would put that up. He hurriedly took it down, thinking it was a prank, and seeing no trashcan nearby, put it in his notebook. He was alone in the halls as everyone else had already gone to class. He took as much time as possible walking to class, putting off the inevitable scolding he was to receive for being late. He was at the door now, and counting to 5, slowly opened it.
Surprisingly, he did not see Mr. Claudio anywhere. A short woman, who he guessed was the substitute, looked up and told him to tell her his name and to take his seat.
"Hello, James, I'm Ms. Hiller, I am your sub for today, your teacher left instructions for you to work on this worksheet. You may sit wherever you like, as long as you don't cause much trouble."
James felt immediately relieved. He looked around and decided who he'd sit with. There was George, who he met in drama club, Cory, who was the JV football quarterback, and Lauren, who he'd had a crush on for a while now. He decided on George since he seemed to be the most funny of the three. "Hey, George, are you coming to my house tonight to study?"
"Of course I am, dude, I really need help." He laughed. James couldn't help but laugh either as he remembered how helpless his friend was at math.
"Hey, Jim, are you goin' to home-coming on Friday?" asked Cory, from a couple seats away.
"I might, I just have to see what's going on this week," replied James. Cory seemed okay with this answer as he no longer bugged him. James set on to work on his worksheet while George would tell him jokes and stories of his times in Mexico. Kyra, one of Cory's friends stood up and walked over to them.
"Hey, Jim, I was wondering if you could dog-sit my dog tonight. I'm leaving to my Grandma's house for a couple hours, and since you're my neighbor, I thought it would be cool if you could watch him for a while; all you need to do is give him water. He has enough food, and I can't give him water since I'm leaving right after school. Is that okay?
"Yeah, sure," Jim replied. Kyra was pretty good-looking. She was blonde, and athletic. She was also sort of a tomboy, and that only made her more appealing to other boys. George had asked her out before, and she accepted, but the date didn't go too well. It was just awkward between them, and James tried his best to answer shortly so that small awkwardness wouldn't engulf him. Kyra then said thanks and left to sit back with Cory. Cory was very popular. He fit the stereotype of the high school jock, except he was actually cool with anyone. He had nerdy friends, cool friends, hipster friends, even emo friends. He was an all-around liked guy. George, on the other hand, although also pretty popular, was not a jock, and hardly did anything but drama-related things. James seemed to like his little circle of friends. He used to be an outsider, but as of junior year all that changed. He was not as popular as Cory, or George, but he still had a lot of friends. The rest of the period went smoothly. Mr. Claudio would never let people talk during class, so today was expectedly louder.
James was looking forward to go home though, as George was visiting and so was Cory, who had made plans to study with them. Fourth period, anatomy for James, went by as usual. James then went to his fifth period class, Drama, with George. It was not a secret that it was James' favorite class. He had made many friends in Drama, including Noe and Erika, who were boyfriend and girlfriend. Noe looked like an emo-type, but he was actually pretty outgoing, and Erika was very… stylish, but funny. They seemed like the perfect couple. Today they were practicing improvisation. James and George's natural funniness always seemed to shine during improvisational skits. They were the class clowns, along with Noe and Erika. James had noticed another freaky poster in the bulletin board outside drama class. This one wasn't as gruesome as the other one, but it still freaked him out. It was of a Ferris wheel toppling over. James had no idea why anyone had done that. Today was an odd day for posters. Sixth period US History was fun as usual. James had a certain affinity for History, and hoped to become a history teacher someday.
Soon after that, the bell sounded to end the day. Not long after, an announcement said that bus number 80 was going to be a little late due to a tire blowout, but that it wouldn't take more than 20 minutes. James, Kyra, George, Cory, Noe, Erika, and Lauren, who lived a few blocks away from James and Kyra, were all waiting for the bus, along with a few other kids who had no ride home. Kyra was especially frustrated. She was supposed to be going to her Grandma's house in less than an hour, and if the bus didn't arrive soon, she'd be late. Noe was the only one with a license, but his car broke down so he'd ride to Erika's house to get a ride from her mom to his house. He would usually offer them rides, but not today.
"If that freakin' bus doesn't get here in 5 minutes, I'm gonna be so pissed!" yelled Kyra.
"Hey, calm down, it'll be here soon," said George, calmly. Kyra looked at him apologetically. James never knew what happened between them, but he was sure curious about it now. As George had said, bus 80 soon pulled in about 5 minutes later, with a noticeably unsafe looking spare tire on the left side. Kyra got on first, followed by Noe and Erika, then Cory, George, James and finally Lauren. As they all got into their seats, James looked into his backpack to look for his math notes.
"Hey is it cool if you can give me a ride home when we're done?" asked George.
"Yeah, sure, what about you Cory?" sighed James. Cory nodded, and James nodded too. The last passenger had finally gotten on, and the bus door hissed as it closed. James suddenly felt a small breeze on his face, as he frantically looked for his notebook. George sat beside him, trying to figure out a geometry problem.
"A straight angle is 180 degrees, right? Not 90?" he asked. James laughed.
"Yes, it's 180. You really need my tutoring, don't you?" he said.
"Dude, I told you, I'm freakin' helpless right now," he laughed. The bus went forward slowly, as the last kid sat down. Kyra was becoming more impatient with the bus driver.
"Hey, um, could you maybe go a little faster? I am on a really tight schedule and I get off at the last stop," she asked desperately. The bus driver, obviously mad, nodded sarcastically. The bus then went forward ominously quickly. Kyra, who was standing, sat back down out of shock. The bus driver laughed then spoke into the intercom.
"Everyone remain seated!" Everyone hastily obeyed. James still couldn't find his math notes. He searched inside his English binder, and found it. He took it out quickly and a sharp burning pain went alongside his finger. He had gotten a paper cut. He looked at what had cut him; it was the poster he had taken down about the crashed bus. He studied it more. He realized it was an ad for auto insurance. But why use a bus full of kids? He crumpled it up and through it on the ground. The bus had stopped at its first stop, and a handful of kids had gotten out. Only three stops to go until their final stop. He had helped George with his homework, and talked to Cory about football. Time seemed to go by slowly.
A couple of kids behind James and George were talking about a horror movie they had seen that weekend. Something about a bridge collapse, that was all James had heard. He never really got into horror movies. He always thought they were unrealistic and stupid, and decided not to waste his time on them.
The bus kept speeding up occasionally, at random intervals. At first, the driver had just laughed at the kids' expressions, but now she seemed worried. James could swear he felt the bus wobble a little to the left. Now, it was almost their stop. The bus stopped at a red light, as a large semi, with the word flammable, had stopped next to them. James looked outside the window and got a chill. He was definitely disturbed, although he didn't know why. Noe and Erika noticed this.
"Jim, are you okay?" asked Erika, with genuine concern. James nodded at them and thought he was being silly. He looked out the window again at the truck. He saw the reflection of the bus. He could read some words like Carter Union High School District #1 followed by the bus number. He looked around and saw Kyra, close to tears, and Lauren trying to comfort her. He liked Lauren that much more now. Lauren was a red-head, and was very pretty. She was usually quite shy, and never really talked. It was this sense of the unknown that made James attracted to her.
"I'm going to die, if I don't pass the test on Friday," said George, who had been rather quiet during all this.
"This is the longest red light ever!" yelled Kyra. Cory was listening to his iPod. Noe and Erika were talking between themselves. A couple of freshman James did not know were laughing about something. James felt another breeze. He closed his window.
"Hey, could you open that, I'm dying in here," said Cory. James reluctantly re-opened his window, but it got stuck midway.
"Damn it, sorry bro," He said. Cory tried to open it more but to no avail. He then sat down, defeated. This was indeed the longest red light ever, James thought. He figured they'd been there about 3 minutes. James could not shake off the feeling that something bad was going to happen.
Just then, two cars collided with each other right in front of the bus. The sound was deafeningly loud. Lauren screamed. The bus driver got off, and told the teenagers to stay in the bus. She went over to see if the people were okay. Kyra was now crying. George went over to comfort her. The truck driver also got out to see if the people were okay. James stood up and inspected as much as he could about the crash from the windshield. He saw that a guy and a girl got out of one car while the bus driver and the truck driver helped the old lady out of the other one. It was a pretty big wreck. He was surprised it didn't blow up as he'd seen in the movies. And it was so shockingly close to the bus, that he was actually scared. No one noticed the gas that the car was leaking. The bus driver got back on the bus and proceeded to call everyone's parents. After that was done she told them to stay in the bus until their parents came to pick them up. They had no choice; the cars had collided right in front of the bus so they couldn't go home that way. James was sweating profusely. The sun seemed really bright and hot that day. James felt another cool breeze which he normally would have liked, but it freaked him out. Kyra was now laughing, due to George telling his stories. Everyone seemed to gather around George. James had already heard that story, so he kept his distance. He looked outside the window at the truck. The freshmen behind him were still laughing about something. Soon he found out what they were laughing about; they were smoking.
"Hey, put that out! Are you stupid, or something?" he yelled. The freshman looked scared, and threw the cigarette outside their window. The cigarette landed close to the leaking gas. The bus driver got back on as soon as the cops arrived, and let the kids get off. Everyone gathered their things, and waited outside on the sidewalk. Everyone was off, except the bus driver who had to inspect the bus. A small breeze blew by and the cigarette was blown dangerously close to the gas under the bus. The bus driver decided to move the bus in reverse to get out of the way of the cleanup crew. The cigarette was now millimeters away from the gas. The bus driver turned the key. She moved it in reverse slowly. The cigarette was crushed underneath the wheel, and for a second the danger seemed to pass. Just then, the spare tire on the left side had given way, and the impact on the gravel caused a spark. The gasoline lit up quickly and terribly, the bus was soon engulfed in flames, the bus driver screaming in agony inside. Kyra was screaming and crying as she looked on as suddenly the bus exploded. The explosion had caused a piece of metal from the crash to hit the truck, causing the tank to explode, sending huge parts of debris everywhere. Kyra was right next to the truck as this happened and felt the full blast. She died instantly. Cory was not so lucky. A piece of metal had pierced him right through the chest. James and George ran over to Cory, and he died slowly and painfully. The flammable liquid released by the truck then reached the burning bus. Quickly the flames spread reaching Noe. Erika looked on in horror as her boyfriend was screaming in agony from the burns he was receiving, until he could no longer be heard. Erika was crying and ran over to James and George. James was now wet with the flammable liquid and did whatever he could to stay away from the flames. Lauren and the two other freshmen had lied down on the ground, too scared to get up. James ran over to them and told them to run. The victims of the car crash now ran alongside them, and a falling power line crushed them all. Lauren was stuck underneath as the surging electrical wire swung about. James and George ran over to help get her out. The electrical wire then smacked George right in the face, electrocuting him.
"NO!" James grieved at the sudden loss of all his friends. Erika ran over to James and helped Lauren out. Lauren had broken her leg, and James and Erika, using all their strength pulled her to safety to the street. Erika went running back for help, but didn't notice the fire truck speeding along the road. She was killed instantly. James and Lauren were safe on the opposite sidewalk now. The cars that crashed then exploded, sending debris flying dangerously close to James and Lauren. James was too scared and worried about Lauren to notice that his backpack had caught fire, from a couple of embers thrown by the explosion. An unbearable pain soon spread over James, and all was gone.
"Hey could you open that? I'm dying in here," said Cory. James was sweating and seemed really nervous.
"Hey, James, you okay? You don't seem so-"Just then, two cars crashed right in front of the bus.
"Shut up! OKAY EVERYONE LISTEN TO ME! WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF THE BUS RIGHT NOW!" James shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Hey, cool it man, it was just a car crash, nothing serious!" George reassured him.
"NO! We have to get out now! Don't ask why just get out now!" James yelled. The bus driver seemed shocked that someone that short could sound so deep. She reassured James that everything was okay. James would not listen. He then remembered about the cigarette, and went over to the freshmen. He saw that they were smoking, and grabbed the cigarette, and flicked it outside the window.
"Are you guys stupid!" he yelled, and then pushed the bus driver out of the way and headed to the front of the bus. He kicked the door open.
"Hey that's school property!" yelled the bus driver, now angry. She got off after him, followed by Kyra, who seemed genuinely worried about James, then Cory, George, Erika, and Noe. Lauren and the freshmen stayed inside, thinking it was safer. James ran as fast as he could to what he deemed a safe spot. The bus driver ran after him, closely followed by the others. James sat down and began to cry. The bus driver saw the fear in his face, and felt bad for him. She said she would call his parents to come for them, but that she would have to check on the people at the crash.
Just then, the bus exploded, killing everyone inside instantly. The truck was next, followed by the cars that crashed causing a huge explosion. The group looked on, as the destruction took place, all of them filled with tears. George looked at James in shock, as Kyra cried into his shoulders.
"Damn," said the bus driver, rather lamely.
REVIEW THIS PLEASE? I really want to continue this story to the best of my ability and make it enjoyable to read. Also, I have some really cool ideas for some deaths.