"Donald! Goofy!"

"Sora!"

"What happened?"

"Haidyn! Get off that game and COME EAT!"

I press pause. "But Mom! I just started a new game!"

"I don't care! You've played that game a million times, you're not missing anything! Get DOWN HERE!"

I sigh. It's true. This is the 87th time I've started a game of Kingdom Hearts II; I've beaten it 86 times already, I just can't get enough. I've played the first Kingdom Hearts over a hundred times, and beat it each time; and I've played Chain of Memories at least 30. I own every single Kingdom Hearts manga available; I've read almost every KH fanfic known to man, and I have so many KH plushies, you can't see my walls because of the shelves filled with them. I also have a Kairi costume, an Organization XIII costume, and a Sora costume. I have several magazines with articles on Kingdom Hearts, and many, many random figurines of KH characters. Yes, it is true. I am a Kingdom Hearts freak.

Knowing that she definitely will not take "no" for an answer, I get off the chair I've been sitting in for hours and head downstairs. My family is sitting at the table eating breakfast. My family consists of my mother, my 9-year-old brother, my 13-year-old sister, my 22-year old sister that still lives at home, and 17-year-old me. My father died 2 years ago in a tragic accident. He was driving across a bridge late one rainy night, and his car went out of control. He sped off the bridge into the river. They never found his body, although they did find his car.

"Were you up all night playing that game again?" My mother, sitting at the table reading the paper and eating Cheerios, asks me when I walk in.

"Maybe," I reply plainly.

"Oh, Haidyn, this is getting ridiculous." She rubs her forehead weakly, and I take her in. She's still in her pajamas, and her short brown hair is a mess. Her brown eyes are immensely tired, and there are purple circles under them. "Don't you have a test today? Did you even study? If you keep this up I will be forced to take away your Kingdom Hearts games."

"That would do us all a lot of good," my older sister Tammy throws in. Like she should talk. What would do us all a lot of good would be if she finally moved out. She's 22 years old and should be living on her own and going to college, but she still lives with her mother and works at a lingerie store. Today, she is dressed perfectly, as always. Her long hair is in a tight bun on the back of her head, and she's dressed in a beige business skirt and a blouse; she's perfectly fashionable as always.

"Hush, Tammy," my mother scolds her. "I'm the mother here, not you."

Julie, my younger sister, only laughs. She and Tammy both take after my mother in the genes department (at least Julie would if her hair wasn't died black or if she didn't have violet contacts in). The brown hair, brown eyes, pale skin, beautiful voluptuous lips are all trademark Susan Mordosa. Matt and I, however, take after Dad. Sandy blonde hair; icy blue eyes; small, petite lips; a natural tan look; freckles everywhere.

"Please Haidyn, just come eat some breakfast. Ben will probably be here any minute. Maybe he can help you review." Ben just so happens to be my best friend. We've been friends since the fourth grade, and he has stood by me through all my obsessions (Kingdom Hearts of course lasting the longest), through all of my fashion mishaps, my insane plans to take over the school, and whatever else I have cooked up or will cook up. And I have always wondered how he could hold on that long, but it never occurs to me to ask him...

Meep! There's a honk from outside. It's Ben. I run upstairs and change, realizing that I didn't even eat breakfast. Oh well. I think to myself. I need to lose a few pounds anyway.

***

"Okay, now what is the answer?" Ben quizzes me.

"Uh..." I look at my paper with calculus scribbles all over it. "Eight hundred and three point twelve, times pi."

He looks at me blankly. "You just made that up on the spot, didn't you?"

I smile sheepishly. "Maybe."

"Haidyn! You need to concentrate! This test is really important, okay?" I nod. "Alright," he says. "Let's take a break." And I laugh.

Ben and I were very lucky this year, as seniors, because neither of us has a first hour. We always just hang out in the library, as we are doing now. Only this time, Ben is trying to teach me nine months of Calculus in an hour, since my test is in my next class.

"So what did you do this weekend? Wait, scratch that, I know what you did. I can't believe you totally bailed on me. It would have been one rad party."

I shrug. "I had better things to do than go to some dumb party. And don't ever use the word 'rad' again."

Ben sighs and runs his hand through his thick, brown hair; his deep sea blue eyes look sad.

"What's up with you? You look totally down today."

He stiffens. "It's nothing. I just-"

"Come on, I know you. It's not nothing. What's wrong?"

"I told you, it's nothing. I just... have some things going on. That's all."

I'm hurt. "You always tell me everything, Ben," I say defensively. "Why aren't you spilling?"

"I just... well..." He sighs again.

"Ben?" I ask him, concerned.

"There's something I've been wanting to say..." But he doesn't get the chance to finish, because the ground begins to shake.

"Oh my God," I say, standing. "What's happening?" I shout, my voice quivering from the movement in the ground.

"Earthquake!" We hear someone shout.

"Quick, Haidyn, under the table!' Ben shouts, already flinging himself beneath the table we'd been sitting at. But I don't get under it. Something has caught my eye. In one of the doorways to our huge school library, there stands a man. And he is wearing a black cloak, with one long zipper that runs the entire expanse of the cloak. I can't believe my eyes.

"What the hell...." I mutter.

"Haidyn! Get down here!" Ben is reaching out a hand for me and I look down at it. I look back up and the man is gone. I turn, prepared to climb under the table, but the already-quaking ground heaves even more, and I fall, hitting my head hard against one of the book shelves. The last thing I hear is Ben, shouting, "Haidyn! No! Are you alright?! Haidyn, wake up! Haidynnnn......."