Chapter 1
Adriana was ready for school. Her perfect long blonde hair, her perfect dazzling blue eyes, her picture-perfect face, her in-style clothes, and her amazing personality. It was all perfect. Middle School was in her hands. She would be the most perfect Los Angeles Middle School sixth grader ever! Adriana knew she would fit in just perfectly at the most famous middle school on the West Coast! Enough! Adriana snapped herself back to reality. No more daydreaming. Time to get ready for school! Adriana quickly pulled on her clothes: a loose aqua blue crop top, black leggings, and a white sweater cover-up to make the outfit unique. After adjusting her outfit to her liking, Adriana rushed into her bathroom, shut the white door, and locked the sliver doorknob. Hair time. Adriana brushed and tossed her hair until it was a perfect balance of flat and puffy. Grabbing a white silk hair bow, Adriana pinned the left side of her hair behind her ear. No! That style was so Elementary School! Gently pulling out the hair bow, Adriana pulled the hair on the very top of her head back, tied it up with the thinnest hair tie she had, and pinned the half-up-half-down ponytail to her head with the bow. Perfect! Adriana admired herself in the mirror, then rushed out into the kitchen for a quick cinnamon roll, and grabbed her navy blue to white ombré backpack, which was pre-packed. Adriana thought back to the night before. Schoolbooks? Check. Binder and supplies? Check. Make up kit? Check. Mini brush? Check. Locker supplies? Check. Lunch? Check! Everything was perfect. Adriana was ready. "Mom! I'm ready, let's go!" Adriana's mother rushed into the entry way. Wearing a purple tee shirt and white denim shorts, with her long light brown hair pulled back into a high ponytail held in place with a purple scrunchy. Annoyed blue eyes met Adriana's anxious ones as Amanda Harley stared at her daughter. "Adriana! It's seven forty-five! We'll be way too early!" Adriana slouched. "It's better than being late!" But her mom wasn't convinced. "I haven't even eaten my breakfast! Just calm down and sit back for a moment. We'll be on the road by eight, don't worry!" Adriana was annoyed, but she didn't argue. That would only lead to yelling and more annoyance. "Whatever!" She muttered and marched down the hall of their large, fancy one-story home, and slammed the door in her room. Her white desktop computer looked welcoming on her desk. Might as well! Adriana thought, sitting in her black desk chair, which went well with her black and pink desk. She held down her Wireless Mouse and waited for the computer screen to turn on. In a flash, the screen was glowing in front of Adriana's face. Bored, she decided to research the abandoned Las Angeles forest, if that was what it was really called. Adriana scrolled over to the search bar, clicked, and typed in "LA abandoned Animal Preserve" and a page of links popped up quickly. Here we go! "Avalon Woods, the thriving animal preserve suddenly shuts down!" It was a news article dated November 16, 2012! The preserve was shut down before Adriana even knew about it! Shrugging, she clicked the link: avalonwoodsarticle1. Wow! LA News Official wrote about it! It must have been pretty important back in the day. When the article popped up, Adriana was interested. Apparently, the owner, an old man, had become to old to care for the animals, and nobody else in his family wanted the job. When LA News Official had interviewed them, the family members said that they "Didn't want to be responsible for the preserve" but it looked like they weren't letting out the full story. How weird! "Adriana! It's eight! Let's go!" Adriana sighed, ex-ed out of the search engine, and turned the computer screen off. Time to go to school!
"Hey guys!" Adriana had finally managed to find her best friends, and hopefully popular group at school: Krystal, Niki, Ashli, and Sarah. But Jessi, the girl who totally hated her, who happened to be friends with Niki (not that Niki likes her) just rolled her eyes at me. "Go away, Adriana, I don't want to hang out with you!" Krystal, Adriana's best friend ever, glared at Jessi. "Just be nice, okay, Jessi?" Jessi ignored her. "I don't want to hang out with her. Let's go, Niki," And she pulled Niki away. But Niki liked me, and Krystal, and Sarah. "No, I want to stay with them!" Jessi raised her eyebrows. "Remember that article on Snapchat I showed you? Brunettes like us and Sarah need to stay together!" Niki still shook her head, her short hair waving. "I want to stay with them, sorry Jessi!" Jessi groaned. "Sarah?" Sarah rolled her eyes. "I don't even like you, Jessi!" So, as Niki and Sarah stood together beside me, with their matching black leather dresses and white Vans, I smiled, thankful for such great friends like these. "Thanks so much, you guys!" Adriana gasped. Niki smiled with perfect, rose-red, shiny lips. "Anytime. Jessi doesn't belong in our group anyways. We are going to be the sixth grade popular group, and Jessi definitely won't help us do that. She's too mean!" Krystal nodded agreement. "Who votes to kick Jessi out if she's mean to one of us one more time, especially Adri!" All five girls' hands shot up into the air. Krystal smiled. "Say aye if you agree!" The girls didn't even hesitate. "Aye!" They said in unison. "Thanks, Krystie!" Krystal nodded. "Hey, you all can just call me Krystie from now on, see what Jessi thinks about that! Don't tell her. And if she calls me Krystie, tell her that my name's Krystal, and that you call me Krystal!" Snickers echoed through the group. Jessi was never going to bother Adriana again!
That night, Adriana had decided to walk around LA's little park, which was filled with trees and grass. It was still light, so she would be fine. She, Krystal, and Niki were going together. Her and Krystal were waiting on a bench outside the park for Niki. "Beeeeeep!" A loud honk came from a blue SUV pulling up as Nikki jumped out of the passenger's seat. "There you are, Niki!" Adriana called. Krystal jumped up from the bench, jokingly tapping her wrist where a watch would have been. "You're late Miss Montez!" Niki giggled. "Sorry, Ms. Karr!" Krystal glared, hiding a smile. "Detention!" and the smile broke free as all three girls cracked up.