My day started out like any other day.

First, I had woken up to large trucks, blaring large beeping noises. I bit down on my lip. That stupid strawberry farm several miles away was still not far away enough. Those stupid trucks just had to use their horns.

Anyway, I clambered out of my bed and opened the curtains. The sky was a beautiful blue- not too bright, with just a couple of floating clouds. The weather always seemed to be great around this area.

Outside my room, my dad called, "Breakfast, Kari!"

"Coming!" I called back.

Today was my last day in my freshman year. Like usual, I couldn't wait for the last day of school. I changed into a gray hoodie and jeans before hurrying into the living room. My dad was brewing coffee, a stack of small pancakes already set out.

"No work today?" I guessed, picking up the plate.

He glanced up, smiling just with the corner of his mouth. "Took the day off. My little girl has survived her first year of high-school without trouble."

I smiled in return, shoving a forkful of food into my mouth.

My dad was pretty awesome. Most times, he didn't ask if I had boyfriends (guys seemed not to care about anything other than rap and sports at my school) or worry about grades. All that mattered to him was that I was passing above a C-.

"So, Kari," Dad sat down across from me, a happy glow in his amber eyes. "I have a few things planned for you today after school."

Delight passed onto my face. "Really?"

He nodded. "Maybe go out to Lady Liberty, and get ready for a summer break trip."

I forgot about my food and stretched over the table to hug him.

"You are amazing." I said into the crook of his neck.

I heard him chuckle. "Better get moving, kiddo. Don't want to be late on the last day."

Ugh. Even though I'd much rather had stay at home with my dad, I guess we did have nearly three months to hang out. I downed one more bite of food and grabbed my charm bracelet. One breath mint later, I was running down the road to school.

Some wise things you should know about Olafson High. For the most part, the kids are TV or Internet addicted, usually wear popular brand name clothes, and seldom have respect for adults. Granted, I'm sure the adult issue happens elsewhere.

I walked into my first period class- science - and looked around for the upteenth time. There were a few older looking kids in the back corners of the class, who I assumed were juniors or seniors. One boy had scruffy blonde hair and dark gray eyes. He glanced at me, looking halfway between hostile and curious. Awkwardly, I sat down at my desk.

Throughout the day, the two older teens seemed to follow me around. I wanted to believe that they just happened to be heading into every single class that I had. But as I thought that, I realized how stupid and naive that sounded.

The bell rang for my fifth period class, which was my period for soccer. It wasn't the worst sport, but it kept me out of basketball. Couldn't play that spot for the life of me. Not surprisingly, the two older kids followed to the edge of the field. Blondie's friend Jackie ( as I heard her be called ) picked at her nails, as if she'd rather be anywhere but here. Her baby-blue eyes seemed like an ocean swam in them. She flipped back silky, shining black hair that looked like it belonged in a shampoo commercial. She was just the kind of preppy, seemingly perfect girl I hated.

"Fall in!" Ms. Winter called, blowing her whistle.

I turned away from the two and into the circle of about sixty girls.

"Okay, today we have a game against Westmere after school, so there will be teams set up. But first," she wagged her finger at Blondie and Jackie, who came over. "We have Jackie and Kelly here. They're soccer players for their high school and will be helping teams out."

"What school?" I thought with a sigh. Of course, the boy being named Kelly struck me as odd, but I didn't really care much. Heck, my dad told me he'd done junior high with the name "Angel". Names were things I didn't think much of.

Ms. Winter started dividing us up into our teams, where we'd scrimmage against another team. Kelly was put on my team, and Jackie on the other. A low sigh escaped my mouth. Kelly shot me a sideways glance, looking cold and angry. I ignored it with pleasure.

Our two teams started to play. We almost instantly got the ball, thanks to Kelly. He was fast- stupid fast, if you ask me. We scored a goal within the first ten seconds. The kids on the other team started whispering and giving him uneasy glances like I'd been all day.

Jackie went for our goal next. One boy I knew tried to get in front of her, but she almost bulldozed him over. The kid's ankle must've gotten hit, because he winced and clutched his leg. I winced too in sympathy.

"Careful, will you?" I called to her.

She stopped the ball between her feet and stared back at me. The color of her eyes was unsettling, but I didn't step down.

Then, she turned around and kicked the ball straight at my head. It roared at me so fast that tiny bits of smoke formed on it. I ducked and felt the ball skid past me and over to the team playing seventy yards over.

Kelly's mouth twitched to one side in a smile.

Was this their idea of funny? I looked around for Ms. Winter, but I didn't see her. It wasn't like her to go inside. There were some real barbarians in the class.

I turned back around from the door and saw that Jackie and Kelly were standing over me, letting the other kids carry on with the game.

"Kari Stevens, come with us." Jackie commanded.

I would've loved to say "no" and kick them both in the ankle, but I restrained myself with a nod.

The two walked me to the side of the school. I noticed that there were no teachers, and the kids were busy playing.

"So, you come here often?" I joked, crossing my arms.

I was not expecting the reaction that I got. Kelly's grey eyes turned black, and an evil snarl came onto his face. Jackie's hair- and I swear, this is not some joke- went up in flames.

My eyes went wide. "Need a glass of water?" I asked, but the sarcasm wavered into the fear that I was trying not to show.

Kelly smirked. "You'll never make it to the camp. They will never know."

"Who?" I asked, though it appeared he was talking to himself. "And where?"

Jackie had turned very pale. And she seemed... lopsided? Glancing her over, one leg had turned into a donkey's, and the other a metal leg. I kid you not.

I wondered how the heck someone hadn't noticed this. No one could be that into soccer. But the kids just glanced casually our way on occasion, and no alarm passed over their face.

What did brave little Kari do? She ran for her life. The schoolyard was behind a fence, which let out to the street. I clambered up the fence and jumped down from the top. Jackie and Kelly both chased after me and cleared the wire fence in one jump. Yeah, something definitely not normal about that.

I figured that I'd loose the two flame-heads in the New York City traffic. Or that someone- anyone- would catch on that two kids with donkey legs were chasing a kid through the streets. But no one gave us a second glance. I groaned loudly as I darted in between two parked cars, and someone gave me a look. Sure, they heard that.

Somehow, I found myself running toward our house. Not good. My dad would think I was playing hooky or something with two kids. I had to sprint past, with Jackie and Kelly right on my heels. They were tiring me down.

A ways down the hill, I could see the border of the strawberry farm. Maybe I could hide there- with luck. Jackie grabbed at my hair. A good small handful came with the draw back, and I winced. The farm was only less than 150 yards away.

In a frantic, last minute sprint for the finish, I dove across the border to the fields, eyes closed. Jackie and Kelly didn't follow. Cautiously, I opened my eyes and turned around. The two were hissing, but not passing past the small border of trees. After a moment, they stalked off.

I stood up nervously. There were grass stains on my jacket and jeans now, but I could deal with that later. So much for making it through the last day. I looked around the strawberry farm.

Certainly it was the weirdest place I'd ever seen. There was a large house not too far away, with a porch that wrapped around the entirety of it. Sword clashes rang in the distance, and I could see some sort of horse running in the distance. There were, in fact, a field of strawberries, but it seemed so small and insignificant to everything else.

I decided that the house was the best place to check out, so I started down the hill. Just a few steps down, something zipped past my feet. I glanced down.

Call me crazy, but it looked like a flash of light brown/ gold metal. A small tail snapped around like a whip. It looked like a metal lizard. Another followed it.

Just as I started to comprehend what I'd seen, a kid zoomed by me.

"This is the last time I let dragons out for walks!"

Wait... dragons?