"April O'Neil!" someone shouted from behind the teen, but she kept walking. It was almost time for school to end, one more period and she was home free. She just needed to keep annoying her for just long enough...
"April Joyce O'Neil!" the person from behind her shouted once more, somehow knowing April's middle name, "Pause right there and take five steps back!"
April finally stopped walking away, but she didn't take five steps back. She took in a deep sigh as the person tailing her sprinted up to her.
"Geez girl, you sure do walk fast." she said. April smirked.
"Maybe you should stop thinking we're friends or something Kamryn." April told her. "It could save some of your energy."
"You kidding? Trying to tag you down just to make you talk to me is a daily workout in itself!"
April laughed a bit. Kamryn was a very persistent person, and trying to make April talk to her was a task that took seven years, luck willing the girls went to the same school over the years. Now there was a new task Kamryn had that involved April...
"I got a free pass to a bowling alley game," Kamryn then offered, "My mom agreed I could go alone IF I brought someone with me, and guess who I want to come with me?"
April instantly frowned and backed away a little.
"I can't... I have to be somewhere else."
"Where?" Kamryn asked. "You liar."
"I'm not lying!" April insisted.
"Then what are you hiding?" Kamryn persisted. "You don't interact with anyone else your age unless it effects your school grade! You don't know anyone but me, and I won't go anywhere unless I force you to!"
"And it still doesn't work." April muttered, albeit a little playful.
"True." Kamryn agreed with a nod. "But that doesn't change the subject!"
April closed her eyes for a moment, trying to decide what to do next. Thankfully, the class bell rang and she hurried into the last period class without Kamryn shouting for her to come back. Unfortunately, this only encouraged Kamryn. And she formulated a plan to find out what April was doing once and for all. Because, let's face it, how could one girl who denied making friends for so long suddenly have places to go when she had no one to go with?

"Kammy, time for dinner sweetie!" Kamryn's mother called. Kamryn instantly came downstairs and stole a dinner roll from the plate on the table.
"Thanks Mom." Kamryn said as she headed out the door with a messenger bag in hand. Quickly, Kamryn's mother grabbed her daughter by the shirt collar before she got to far away.
"And where do you think you're going?" her mother asked. "It's dinner time, we eat dinner at this time. You shouldn't be going any where this late any way."
"Just a little painting and photography Ma," Kamryn said, digging into the messenger bag to withdraw a camera and sketch pad. "I'll be back in a few moments. Promise."
"Dinner." Kamryn's mother persisted. "Now."
"But the lighting's perfect, and I've wanted to get the sunset at this moment for WEEKS, please Mom! Just this once? I'll never ask for anything ever again!"
Kamryn's mother rolled her eyes, but Kamryn knew her mother wasn't going to fight this battle at the moment.
"Go." Kamryn's mother sighed.
"Thank you Mommy!" Kamryn thanked, giving her mother a kiss on the cheek before running out the door before she could change her mind.
A lot of the time, Kamryn wondered why her parents decided to move into New York City, and why her mother didn't leave when her father died in a car accident. But, it was something that wouldn't have made Kamryn the kid she was today. Lightly treading in an alley between two apartment buildings, Kamryn located a fire escape on one of the buildings and started to climb up. When she got to the top of the building, she held her breath; Ironically enough, one of the more breathtaking views she had even seen in her life was possibly one of the more deadly. Where does most of the smog and ozone go in one of the largest cities in the United States? That's right kids, in the sky above (if not, extremely close to) the New York skyline.
Kamryn quickly got to work as she sketched out the skyline, snickering a bit to herself as she knew she was the hundred million and one person to do such a thing. She'd color it later, not from memory, but inverting the colors for the pure joy of it... and annoying some people. The feat took her a good twenty minutes, and by then the sun had completely disappeared under the skyline. Too late to take a picture now.
As she got up to go back home, something moved out of the corner of her eye a few houses down. Instantly, she looked to see what was over there but couldn't see anything else from her position. She waited though, it was almost a gut instinct, and sure enough something else moved from the same direction. Without a second thought, Kamryn started to go from apartment to apartment on a small trail she had set after years of her own bravery and sincere stupidity. The trail only lasted a three or four houses, just two short of where she had seen something move. But it was close enough. She saw four figures, human like but... hunchbacked? Not sure what else to do, Kamryn got out her camera and quickly adjusted the aperture and shutter speed to take a quick picture of the four figures. However, she forgot the flash was on, and the figures turned to look at her. Realizing what she had done, Kamryn quickly ran back and practically slid down the fire escape when she could. But the figures where behind her, and gaining speed.
"Hey wait!" one called out, but she ignored them. Kamryn ran home (which was a good block away) and took as many shortcuts as she knew. But they were still close behind. Even when she shut the door to her house after coming in, throwing her bag by the living room couch, then coming into the dining room to finally eat with her patient mother, Kamryn had the feeling of being watching and knowing she had done something. Something, she knew, that didn't want to be photographed, and when she looked at her camera for the picture, she could see why.