Leo Ridler had been with his classmates, on a school trip to Hyde Park, when the teachers disappeared.

"Where - ?"

"How - ?"

"When - ?"

"Should we move?"

"D'you think we should try and find 'em?"

"Maybe – "

"Possibly – "

"Uh...Mrs Briggs?" Leo called out into the quiet trees uncertainly. Just moments ago they had been filled with afternoon joggers and cyclists. They were the only kids, because of the school hours. "Mr Longden?"

"Let's go and find them," said Joanne Price-Huntley, a plain, studious girl with sleek dark chocolate-brown hair in a bun, glasses and a grey cardigan.

"I don't know, amigos, maybe we should stay here," said Thomas Espinosa, a handsome boy of Spanish heritage with shaggy hair. He was Leon's best – and only close – friend. Thomas had lived in America with his family for eleven years before moving to England three years ago, and he spoke with an American accent – but he injected random Spanish words in from his childhood and his fluent knowledge of the language. His favourite words were amigo, amigos, and señorita. Girls lusted over Thomas, but he was either too thick or too oblivious to take advantage. Or even notice. Thomas was shorter than Leo by about five or six inches.

"I agree with Joanne," Leo said absent-mindedly, already mapping a path through the park in his mind.

Leo was slightly ADHD and his mind moved ahead of everyone else's. You could see it from the way his grey-green eyes jumped about, bouncing over every drifting leaf, every pair of wringing hands and trailing shoelaces. His hair was pitch-black and stuck up naturally – it looked styled, but Leo hardly ever even brushed it, let alone gelled it. He was tall and had a swimmer's body. He was attractive, but nobody ever really noticed. He tended to stay in the back of the room, nearer the shadows. Never drawing attention to himself.

"Well, Aitch Kay has spoken," sneered Darren. "Let's all follow the ADHD kid and see where he takes us. The sweet shop so he can get even crazier, probably."

'Aitch Kay' was a cruel nickname that Darren Sadler and his henchmen – the small, squat Michael Campbell and the hulking mass that was Johnny Weisberg – had come up with. They had managed to get hold of Leo's file from the school nurse – nobody had any idea how – and had found out about his, shall we say, 'quickness'. They had started by calling him Hyperactive Kid, then HK, which eventually led to it even being spelled 'Aitch Kay' when they threw nasty notes at him in class. Darren was a scrawny boy with crazy white-blonde curls – almost an afro – that stuck out around his head. How he had managed to become so influential nobody knew. He had all the bullies on his side. Nobody wanted to disagree with Darren.

"No, I was going to suggest searching for them down the roads," Leo said, allowing a hint of impatience into his voice.

Darren shrugged, smirking. "Okay, okay. Don't get snarky, Aitch Kay."

Leo let out a deep breath, clenching his fists. Thomas laid a hand on his shoulder, saying, "don't let him get to you, amigo." Leo nodded, trying to stop his blood from boiling too heatedly, and began walking off across the park.

He stopped after fifty paces, to see the Year Nine school group gaping at him. "Well?" he demanded. "Are you just going to stand there?" They hastened to follow him as he strode off.

Leo, despite his comfort in staying in the background, slipped naturally into leadership. He led the group straight across the grass, through several clusters of trees, to the gates. Luckily they hadn't been too far in, and they slipped from Hyde Park without too much effort.

Leo stopped. This wasn't normal.

The road, instead of roaring with cars and buses like it would normally, was still. Cars were idling in the lanes, the engines blaring but the drivers nonexistent. Several bikes had crashed into telephone poles and were lying on their sides. A bus was sitting by the kerb, doors open, welcoming in the invisible line of imaginary passengers. Several small children were peeping from the windows of the bus, eyes bugged. But they were the least of Leo's worries.

Leo turned to the group. "Does anyone here know how to drive?"

There was silence. A small voice at the back of the group piped up, "we're fourteen, remember?"

A tiny brunette with braces called Sandra Schear, standing at the front, added "and some of us aren't even fourteen yet!"

"Well, I better learn fast," Leo muttered to himself, casting his eyes around.

"What?!" squeaked Joanne, as Leo strode over to an unoccupied bus.

"Right!" Leo bellowed. "Everyone on the bus!"

WHAT?!

ANOTHER CHAPTER?!

Oh, I'm too kind! XD

Calm your knickerbockers, readers. I'm not on some crazy writing spree.

JUST KIDDING I AM.

If you want to imagine Leo, imagine Tomás off that crap Disney Channel soap Violetta.

I'M SORRY, PLEASE DON'T HATE ME, I JUST REALLY HATE THAT SHOW D:

Tomás, though. Mmm. :3

Review, follow and favourite please! :D :D