First off, my name is Bonnie. It's an ok name I guess. It was my Grandmother's and my parents thought it was only right to name me after her since she passed away just before I was born. However, most people call me Bunny; a nickname I earned in Kindergarten that followed me all the way to High School. People call me ditzy, clumsy and an all around goofball. Personally I think they're stereotyping me because of my blond hair but that seems to be the general consensus. You trip a few times in the hall and it haunts you for the rest of your natural life. I'm just finishing up High School but when this all started it was my sophomore year. It was also the spring that the US space program just had to go digging around the surface of the moon. That's what caused it all, NASA, deciding they should drill into the moon looking for God only knows what. They found something alright… not what they wanted but something that would spark the events that changed my life and five others forever.

1

We were all gathered in the kitchen, me, my mom, Dad, and my brother. We watched the morning news broadcast images of a drill burrowing into the serene, white surface of the moon.

"What are they looking for, Dad?", my little brother questioned from the table. A bowl of cereal sat in front of him. He took a bite and continued to watch the small screen.

"Alien eggs, dingus", I teased.

He shot me an angry look and turned his attention to my dad who was reading the paper.

"They're looking for a new source of fuel, Sam." He shook a wrinkle out of his page and continued reading.

"Oh…" Sam nodded and took a bite of cereal.

I watched the drill work its way into the surface of the moon. A feeling of uneasiness washed over me followed by a sudden sadness. Something about watching the moon be torn apart upset me. I couldn't say why but it definitely bothered me enough to have me turn away and concentrate on my own breakfast.

"What's the matter, Bunny?", Mom asked from the sink. She dried one dish and started on another.

"Nothing", I said, "sort of sad to see them destroying such a beautiful place. All for the sake of maybe finding the next fossil fuel."

Sam snickered.

"No one lives there, meatballs."

I glared at Sam and his use of another common nickname for me.

"I haven't worn my hair in buns since eighth grade, would you drop it already?"

"What else am I supposed to call a meatball head?", he mocked as he crossed his eyes at me.

I picked up a grape and launched it at him with my spoon, hitting him square in the face. He winced and grasped at his nose as if the grape had been made of stone.

"Dad, did you see that?!"

Clearly he hadn't as he was still buried in his newspaper. He only adjusted his big wire frame glasses and reached for his coffee. Our bickering was a common everyday occurrence. I made snotty gesture in Sam's direction as I got up from the table and took my dishes to the sink.

"Home right after school", she reminded me, "I haven't forgotten the grade you got on your history paper. That means no Crown arcade with Natalie."

She looked at me sternly from under her auburn bangs as they hung in her face. I glanced around the kitchen hoping not to be turned to stone.

"Gotcha", I assured her, planted a kiss on her cheek and made my exit.

Grabbing my bag from the entrance hall, I shook off the chill of my mother's disciplinary gaze and headed out the door for school. I darted out of the front yard and down the sidewalk.

My friend, Natalie, was already half way down the street when I finally caught up with her.

"Gee, Nat, thanks for waiting", I panted.

"I thought one of us should be on time for school. Otherwise, who would you copy your notes from?"

Natalie reminded me of my lack of punctuality constantly. She was right though, being on time was not my forte. If anyone knew me the best it was her. We had been friend as far back as I could remember and after all this time she hadn't changed much. Still the same silly girl with red curly hair and green eyes.

"What kept you this time?", she asked scrolling through her phone.

"Oh. I was watching NASA drilling on the moon at breakfast", I answered sadly.

"Isn't that neat?", she ignored my gloomy tone.

I simply shook my head and brushed my hair behind my ear. Natalie looked a little taken aback by my reaction.

"Why? They're trying to find a new fuel source, it's for the good of everyone", She reasoned.

"I understand that part but at what cost? Destroying a part of our world because we can't figure out how to just use electric cars already?"

Natalie looked awfully perplexed by my stance. Probably because I normally didn't have an opinion when it came to things like this. But for some reason what was happening on the moon struck a chord in me. I almost felt violated at the thought of it.

" Look at you, Mother earth. When did you become so environmentally conscious?", Natalie teased.

"I just don't think it's right is all. Can we talk about something else?"

Natalie shrugged and we strolled down the sidewalk in silence for a few moments.

"Oh!", she exclaimed, "did you watch 'Evidence' last night?"

"I so did!" I beamed at the mention of our favorite crime drama.

"Detective Benson is so hot. I mean really, the shower scene… amazing", Natalie swooned at the thought Detective Benson's eight pack abs and his dreamy eyes.

"And what about the discontented wife being the murderer?", I asked.

We both looked to one another.

"Predictable", we echoed one another and chuckled.

As we turned the corner we unexpectedly collided with a morning jogger, bringing us all to a halt. My bag fell to the ground, spilling its contents everywhere.

"Geez! Watch where you're going!" Natalie scolded the Jogger. He pulled his earphones off as he caught his breath.

"Sorry about that. You two caught me by surprise", he apologized in a husky voice.

"You think you caught us by surprise; it was like running into wall", I replied snidely. I was on the ground piling my books and makeup into my bag.

"I said I was sorry… meatballs."

I stopped mid shovel and sighed very heavily. I recognized that voice, it belong to Derrick Moyers; a boy I never got along with probably as long as Natalie and I had been friends. He was tall, had black hair and was wearing shorts and a muscle shirt. He wrapped his earphones around his iPod and tucked it in his pocket.

"Eighth grade was a while ago, Derrick", I angrily shoved a book into my bag, "no more buns in case you haven't noticed." I was back to chasing my makeup on the sidewalk. He chuckled as he kneeled down to help me.

"It's a shame. They made you look quite distinguished."

I could hear Natalie stifling a laugh which a responded to with a leer. She quickly looked away and busied herself with her phone. I snatched my lip gloss from him and dropped it into my makeup bag.

"Touchy", he chirped.

I slung my bag over my shoulder and brushed past him.

"You're welcome?"

Leading Natalie by the arm, I flashed an annoyed smile and tromped off.

"See ya, meatballs", Derrick sang and jogged coolly around the corner. I stopped in my tracks, flames shooting out of my ears.

"Is it me or has Derrick Moyer gotten exponentially hunkier?"

"Seriously?", I moaned.

"I'll never understand what he has done to make you hate him so much."

I threw my arms in the air."Ha! Where do I begin? He's only teased me, picked on me, and badgered me since we were finger painting in preschool."

Natalie chuckled. "Remember what our mother's told us about boys who teased us?"

I made a sick noise in the back of my throat. "Ugh. That's another thing, that whole ladies man, 'I'm Derrick Moyer, every girl wants me' crap that the other girls just eat up."

Natalie was staring down at her phone. "…I think he's hot."

I starred at her and glared.

"Traitor…", I accused.

"Oh, give me a break! Are you telling me that despite his jerky persona you don't find him the least bit attractive?"

"I have exceedingly high standards", I said plainly and crossed my arms.

Natalie rolled her eyes, "Pleeease…"

The two of us broke out into laughter making me forget about how annoyed I was and we continued our brisk spring morning trek to school. That morning, we didn't know it but the three of us were being watched, watched by a pair of yellow eyes that were quietly perched on Mrs. Greyson's white picket fence.

2

I hate school. I always have. Especially math class, I am terrible with math. It would explain why I was always dozing off in the middle of class. All those numbers would make my head spin to the point where I would need to set my head on my desk and before I knew it I would be fast asleep. That day was no different. I was dreaming about moon drills and yellow eyes looming over me when I heard,

"Wouldn't you agree, Bonnie?"

I shot up in my seat and quickly glanced around the room to see where the question came from.

"Me?" I pointed at myself sleepily.

"You are Bonnie, aren't you?", the woman with tight bun and pencil skirt asked.

"I was this morning…"

Hushed laughs sprung up around me.

Ms. Harper sighed exasperatedly and shook her head.

"Bonnie, let's try getting a good night's rest before coming to class, shall we?", she suggested. "You'd think with your grades you would try and pay—" Before she could finish a lone arm shot up in the air. Ms. Harper and I looked over to the girl sitting next to me, someone who I didn't recognize. She had very soft features and wore black framed glasses, a new student from what I could tell. But what shocked me the most was her hair, it was a girly short cut and dyed deep sapphire blue.

"Yes, Miss Waters?"

"Primaries", the girl said so matter-of-factly.

"I'm sorry?"

The girl dropped her arm, "We were discussing primaries I believe?"

Ms. Harper paused for a moment and suddenly remembered what she was explaining before our exchange.

"Oh… yes, primaries", and she picked up where she left off.

A sigh of relief escaped me as I realized I wasn't going to be berated in front of the class for the umpteenth time.

I mouthed a thank you at my neighbor who smiled gently and returned her attention back to Ms. Harper. Out of gratitude I did my best not to fall asleep again.

At the end of class I grabbed my bag and exited Ms. Harper's room with the rest of my classmates. I wanted to catch my savior with the blue hair; which turned out to be my guiding star in the crowd of people. Dodging one boy and breaking up a couple holding hands I caught up to her.

"Hi", I said cheerfully as I joined her.

"Oh, Hello." I could tell I took her by surprise.

"Listen, I just wanted to thank you for saving my butt back there."

"Not a problem. You look like you needed help, you were asleep for most of the class", she observed playfully.

"Yeah…", I scratched my head awkwardly, "my brain isn't exactly wired for math."

"I'm Amy", she stretched her hand out to meet mine.

"I'm Bonnie but everyone calls me Bunny."

We shook hands and something strange happened. Like a surge of electricity, a sense that we had known each other before all of this, a feeling of familiarity and kinship, traveled through me and somewhere ancient gears creaked into motion. We both stood there momentarily silent as I tried to recover. Amy starred at me questioningly.

"Uh… ", I croaked, "you must be new here because I haven't seen you around before. Then again we have both seen how observant I can be". I tried to ignore what just happened.

She chuckled, "No, No, I just transferred here. My mom is a Doctor and she just started here at the hospital."

"Oh, well I guess I'm the welcome wagon then", I smiled.

"I guess so", she laughed.

I invited Amy to sit with Natalie and me at lunch. It was the least I could do after she saved me in class.

When lunch rolled around we aimed for our usual courtyard seats and were surprised to see a group of ninth graders occupying our turf.

"Move it squirts", Natalie barked, "this is our spot."

"I don't see your names on it", a girl with braces shot back. Her friends stared us down as if they were ready to battle over our favorite seats.

Natalie looked over at me in disbelief. I only shrugged and snacked on one of my French fries.

"What about over there?", Amy asked pointing to some vacant seats under a tree.

"Quick, before anyone else takes them", I urged my friends. We hurriedly dodged people in the courtyard and made it before they were snatched up.

"I can't believe those twerps", Natalie complained as she set her tray down.

"I like these seats, it's shady and clean. Good job, Ames." Taking my seat I gave Amy a thumbs up and opened my soda.

"But the others were closer to the bathrooms…", Natalie continued whining

I ignored her and focused on my lunch. It truly was my favorite period and today was hamburger day which almost made it a holy day in my eyes.

"Thanks for inviting me to sit with you guys", Amy said as I took a massive bite from my burger. Her eyes grew as she watched me consume my lunch.

"You really like hamburgers…" She looked a little terrified.

"Glad we could have you", said Natalie paying no mind to my usual lunch ettiquite , "and I must say that I totally dig your hair. You have a punk rock librarian thing going."

"Thanks", Amy laughed.

"You just don't strike me as the type", I admitted.

"Gotta keep 'em guessing", she replied with a wink.

"I didn't think I was going to like it but I think it sort of keeps me grounded. It reminds me I can work very hard and still have fun." Amy took a bite of her burger and merrily chewed away.

Natalie grinned widely at me showing her approval of the new addition to our gang.

We spent the rest of lunch filling Amy in on what was what and who was who at school. We told her which halls to take and which seats were the best in each class. Especially in Spanish where the teacher was known to have a bit of a problem when it came to spitting when she spoke. Natalie pointed out Derrick sitting with his friends and informed Amy that the sexual tension between the two of us was so thick you could cut it with a knife. I retaliated by launching a soggy French fry at her head to which she deflected.

"Who's that?" Amy pointed to a distant table where a blond girl and several other girls sat.

"Oh, her? That's Andrea Peters, queen of the school", Natalie said sounding rather nauseated.

"She's not very nice I take it?"

"She's nice… in a Disney villain kind of way", I said, "I'd steer clear of her if you can help it."

"Yeah, your hair alone would give her ammo until graduation", Natalie added. "The only reason she's popular is because she moved here from England. I don't see what the big deal is, she doesn't even have an accent." Natalie rolled her eyes wearily.

Andrea Peters was the walking definition of the popular girl you see in all the movies: perfect in almost every way, wealthy parents, and the jock boyfriend with the fast car. And you can't forget the army of catty girls to do her bidding.

In that instant, Andrea peered at our table.

"Whoops…", I squeaked as we all diverted our attention elsewhere.

Andrea's long blond hair neatly hung over her shoulders, her skin flawless, nails manicured perfectly. Seeming to find nothing of interest she went back to chatting with her group. I casually glanced over to see if it was safe and breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was close…", Amy whispered.

"I thought she was going to burn a hole into Bunny's head. I suggest we vacate." Natalie was already half way standing when she said this.

"Agreed", I said pulling myself up from our table.

We grabbed our trays, tossed them and high tailed it out of the courtyard to find much safer accommodations. Feeling we were well out of harm's way, we showed Amy the rest of the school until class started. Later I sat in home economics, crookedly sewing a pillow and feeling pleased I was able to help a schoolmate get acclimated in such a harsh environment as high school.

3

After what seemed like a very long day, school had finally let out and the students of our school spilled into the courtyard. I met Natalie and Amy by the flagpole and was happy to see they were having a friendly conversation, without me, the mutual friend.

"Hey, Bun", Natalie greeted me. I was surprised to see she wasn't scrolling through her phone as she so commonly did. Amy offered me a cheerful smile as I approached them.

"Can we please evacuate this place?", I groaned.

My friends chuckled and the three of us navigated our way through the crowds and off the school grounds. As we walked home Amy filled us in on her day, grateful we warned her about vigilant seating selection when it came to Spanish class. We decided to take an alternate route so we could show Amy all our usual hangouts. We took her by our favorite pizza place, stores, and finally Crown arcade which I had been forbidden to step foot into thanks to my grades.

"You'll love it here Ames, great snacks and tons of cute guys. We should stay and play a few rounds of blood bout 3!", Natalie eagerly suggested.

"I wish I could but my mom would have my hide", I said miserably.

"Your grades ruin everything for us," Natalie grumbled and looked at her phone. She made a disapproving sound and slipped it in her back pocket.

"Alas, we must say goodbye. I'll catch you guys later, big sister duty."

"Your Mom working late again?" This wasn't uncommon.

Natalie nodded. "Yeah… I have to pick up Millie and take her home. Call me later?"

The three of us said our goodbyes and Natalie jogged across the street out of sight.

"So, Amy, where'd you move here from?", I asked as we started strolling down the sidewalk again. I felt rude for not asking before at lunch.

"Oh, we're from up east. My mom had a private practice there but she was offered this job and couldn't pass it up. Only catch was we had to move out here in two weeks for her to get the spot."

I drew back in shock.

"Geez, that must have been hard for you. I mean leaving all your friends behind and uprooting at such short notice?"

Amy grew dim. "No. Not really. It's just that I didn't—I didn't really have any friends back at my old school."

I thought this was a little odd, a nice girl like her must have had a few friends.

"Surely you had one or two—"

"No." I staggered a little as she answered very shortly.

The two of us walked in silence before she started again.

"A lot of the other students teased me quite a bit…", she explained. "They were a little cruel."

I felt her draw into herself and my face burned red with embarrassment. I had unknowingly poured salt in the poor girl's emotional wounds."I'm sorry I didn't know…", I apologized.

"It's fine, really," Amy assured me kindly. "It's all in the past. I'm in a new place with a fresh start… and new friends to share it with." Amy smiled brightly at me, warming my heart. In that instant I knew we would become close friends and I was glad I had met the sweet girl with the sapphire blue hair.