"...And these children that you spit on

As they try to change their worlds

Are immune to your consultations

They're quite aware of what they're going through"

-David Bowie


"This is the last call for everybody on Bus A! Everyone, Bus A is boarding! Everyone please!"

The voice of fifty-nine year old and aging biology teacher Jeanette Harp couldn't be heard over the roar and chaos across the courtyard of Spanish Rivers High. Waving her clipboard and reminding herself to buy more aspirin at the pharmacy during her lunch break, she struggled to get things in order as the entire freshman class socialized, gossiped, rioted, and found other ways to pass their time. Although autumn was almost over and spring was dawning, the weather hadn't changed much. Like always, Spanish Rivers, Oklahoma was damp, wet, and admittedly "home", to everyone in the courtyard.

Standing in the courtyard like animals at a watering hole, cliques and social groups mingled and gossiped. Some were enthusiastic to join in with the conversations, some made themselves the center of attention, and some pretended they were enjoying themselves when they would rather be anywhere else in the world.

Besides that, there were the few that kept to themselves. Mitch Kelley was one of them.

Shaking his shaggy black hair out of his eyes, he lay back against his duffel bag as he clicked his tongue. Several years ago, when the country made much more sense, nobody would have cared if his curly hair covered half of his face. Now, he was officially a, "rebellious danger to himself and others". This was funny to Mitch, because for the most part, he actually tried his best to follow the law. They all had to.

"It isn't a question of who's right and who's wrong", their teachers had always told them. "It's that they're always right. Learn not to talk back".

Clicking his tongue, feeling his piercing scrape the roof of his mouth, he surveyed his classmates that stood in tight packs around him. Mitch being a loner was his own choice, and for the most part, it was because he didn't relate well with his classmates. In fact, for the most part, he didn't relate well to anyone in general. Still, even though choosing to be alone wasn't healthy, it gave him a weird sense of individuality. He wasn't a goth, he wasn't an emo, and most of all, he wasn't a freak; he wanted to be separated from all of that.

"Smile!"

In a flash of light, literally, Mitch's thoughts ended. A camera had flashed itself in front of his face, causing bright colors and lines to dance in front of his eyes. When he regained focus, Adam Spencers, the class clown and his best friend, had sat down in front of him with a digital camera in his hands. Unlike Mitch, who was scrawny, pale, and dark-haired like some kind of vampire, Adam's skin always seemed to sunburned. To top it off, he always tended to wear bright polo shirts that made him look like some kind of fluorescent lamp

"The camera loves you", Adam said.

He clicked a button on his camera, revealing the saved picture of Mitch's eyes open wide and confused as Adam had snapped the picture. Shaking his head and smiling, he playfully tried to grab the camera from his friend but missed.

He smirked. "Did you practice learning how to become an asshole, or does it just come naturally?"

"You only live once", Adam laughed. "You might as well have fun, and if you can't do that, you might as well piss off as many people as possible. You could call me a natural". Glancing around the courtyard, he raised his eyebrow. "Check out Lea".

Opposite from him, under the shady oak tree, Lea Passington sat reading a thick book. However, when Mitch craned his neck, he realized it wasn't exactly an ordinary book; it was the Bible. Although there was enough gossip for her to write a biography, nothing true was really known about her. If there was anything strange to say about her though, it was easily what she read. Aside from the Bible, Lea had been seen reading nearly every religious text that Mitch could think up. From the Torah to the Tipitaka, Lea had brought nearly every single bible or scripture to school to waste her free time reading it. It was almost like she couldn't make up her mind about what to believe in. Despite being the most petite and scrawny girl in their grade, Lea definitely wasn't shy; she always had an opinion, usually a negative one, and was always eager to express it. As anybody guessed, Lea was an easy target for bullies.

"Most likely school shooter right there", Adam said, raising his eyebrow. "She's a basketcase".

Mitch shrugged. "I don't think she's really the kind of person to flip out and shoot everyone".

Adam laughed sarcastically, almost like Mitch had told a joke. "It's always the quiet ones, dude. Wait until the year is over and you'll hear the body count. I'm thinking in the hundreds".

Even though Adam's sense of humor wasn't exactly funny or pleasant, Mitch was forced to put up with his best friend. It was partly because they had known eachother since elementary school, but it was mostly the horrible truth; they both had practically nobody else. Everyone liked Adam's sense of humor in class, but for the most part, his sadistic, pessimistic attitude and frequent complaining was hated schoolwide. As for Mitch, well, it was half of his desire to separate himself and half him believing firmly that nobody liked him. While other people chose their friends, the partnership of Mitch Kelley and Adam Spencers was almost cursed. However, it didn't matter. They had both grown to like eachother.

"Ready for a boiling and humid ride on a highway?" Adam braced.

Mitch shrugged. "It's not that long of a ride. Two hours if there's no traffic out on the highway".

"Well, I don't want to waste the entire morning in a hot bus just to go to a camp-out on a beach! Who the hell thinks that up for a field trip anyway? I could have gotten my dad to drive me to the beach. But now it's three hours on a hot bus with no air conditioning. God bless me".

This was something else that made them entirely different. While Adam apparently had a good family who sat down with him for dinner every night, Mitch was lucky if his mother came home at all. Ever since his father had died of skin cancer when he was ten, Mitch's mother had become the bread-maker of the Kelley family and juggled three jobs, almost dismissing Mitch and his older sister, Beth, completely. It had actually gotten so out-of-hand that Mitch had paid his sister, who worked at a tattooing parlor to pay for college, to pierce his tongue. After the painful operation with a limited amount of ice, Mitch had watched his mother come inside at midnight. He had chattered with her from the kitchen counter, but that was it. She hadn't even noticed that his gums were bleeding from the cheap piercing Beth had done. Now, massaging his aching gums like they were grim reminders, he wondered if his mother was still alive; not on the outside where she could go on living like zombie, but where it really mattered.

"-And there's probally going to be broken seats with springs sticking out", Adam finished.

Mitch realized Adam had complained for nearly an entire minute while he had been thinking. "That's great, Adam".

Realizing his friend was no longer listening Adam changed the subject. "How many dead babies does it take to paint a white wall?"

"How many?'

"Depends how hard you throw them".

As flat-out morbid and disgusting as it was, Mitch found himself laughing. Sometimes, Adam's sadistic sense of humor made him seem like he was even more normal than he really was.

"Don't tell girls though, dude", Adam continued. "I told Prudence and she almost kicked me in the balls".

He was talking, of course, of Prudence Mercedes of the Mercedes triplets. The surname, "Mercedes", was like a, "say-no-evil-hear-no-evil", at Spanish Rivers High School. As Mitch thought about it, he realized it was strange how all three of them had landed in at least one of his classes. Sadie Mercedes, the first triplet, was a ditzy and almost sickly skinny girl that was too much of an airhead to do anybody harm. She always turned in homework late purposely, and seemed to take pride in being the stereotype of a dumb blonde. However, if she was trying to impress anyone, it was no use. Although Mitch would think it over and over, there had to be something wrong with you if you were that skinny. The second triplet, Prudence, was exactly the kind of person that would, "flatten someone's balls". Even though she was a girl, she was the one person in the class that not even jocks like Chris Barrister, the quarterback and local jackass, bothered. In fact, she had become so athletic and muscled from volleyball and lacrosse that the wrestling coach had offered her a spot on the team, even though she had the, "unfortunate handicap of being a girl". What happened after was unclear, but Coach Dan hadn't returned from the hospital since. Apparently, it had involved a broom from the storage closet and a shattered jaw.

However, neither of these two girls were as bad as their brother.

"Are you thinking of him?"

Mitch nodded, shuddering. "Did he come to school today?'

"Him", was none other than Jude Mercedes, both respected and feared schoolwide. When the two words were used together, a hushed silence usually entered the room afterward. When you looked at Jude at first, there really didn't seem like much wrong with him. In fact, half of the girls would admit that he was easily one of the hottest guys in the school. However, the age-old expression, "don't judge a book by its cover", was straight-out true. When you looked into Jude's eyes, it was almost like staring into a mirror that made you feel bad about yourself. The way he smiled was almost unearthly, and nearly everything he did just seemed as awkward as it did perfect. Easily though, the most frightening thing about Jude was his uncanny ability to tear a conversation apart. He knew just the right thing to say to set off chains of reactions that would turn friends into enemies. He wasn't physically strong at all, usually sitting out in gym class or showing up on a whim, but the things he would say were as powerful as any punch anybody could throw. There were rumors that Jude's father was a convicted con artist, currently serving in prison, but nobody dared to pursue it any farther. Even his own sisters seemed frightened of him and they had practically been born with him.

Obviously, with the slight exception of Sadie, everyone stayed away from the Mercedes triplets like a high school plague. It wasn't that they necessarily ever did anything wrong, but unfortunately, they were different. It was clear, to both Adam and Mitch, what happened if you were different in high school.

"There's something wrong with his eyes", Mitch commented.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's almost like there's nothing behind them".

An awkward silence followed. In the distance, was still trying to hoarde all of the students onto their separate buses. Adam, seeing their conversation was falling apart again, hastily changed the subject.

"Do you want to sit with Nathan and me on the bus?"

Nathan was Adam's geeky comic-reading friend who Mitch had honestly never seen speak a single word. Not really knowing him enough to be his friend or even an aquaitence, he only knew him due to the fact that Adam did. It was hard to say if anyone actually liked Adam; it was more that they chose to tolerate him.

"Mitch?"

"Huh?"

"What? Still thinking about Jude or something?"

Mitch shrugged. "I don't know. I don't have anything against Jude personally, but there's no way I'm letting him sleep anywhere near my tent when we get to Pequeno".

Suddenly, a voice chuckled behind him. "What was that about sleeping with boys in your tent, Mitch?"

Mitch knew who had spoken the words before he even had to force himself to turn around. A tan boy with jet-black hair was staring down at him, flashing evil light into his crooked mouth from his braces. There was a skull beanie hanging loosely on his head, along with baggy jeans that somehow been dyed black. Clenching his fists, Mitch accepted the facts that Zane Barrens and his friends were now standing in front of them.

Although there were definitely cliques in Spanish Rivers High School, Zane's group was the only one that had the unearthly presence of a gang. Although Mitch didn't know exactly what started his feud with Zane, he couldn't remember a single day when something hadn't happened between the two of them. In fact, it was very likely that nothing had started off their rivalry at all; Zane was the kind of person who simply took up hating people as a hobby.

Standing behind or beside him, all with looks of either pity or delight, were the rest of Zane's ragtag group of delinquents. Rory was, without any other character traits to describe him, a stoner. With purple sags under his eyes and a spaced-out expression on his greasy face, Mitch sometimes wondered if he even knew where he was. Holding Zane's arm to advertise the fact they were an item, J.C was smiling with a cocked and bushy eyebrow. Being mind-bendingly strong as much as she was mind-bendingly stupid and whiny, the only positive compliment about J.C was that she was easily one of the prettiest girls in the grade; even if most of her beauty was just punk-style makeup and eyeliner. Still, aside from being a selfish brat that took advantage of people, she was open-minded enough to believe anything. Next in line, standing beside the others like they wanted nothing to do with the group's antics were the two pacifists of Zane's group. Skylar was dirty blonde, athletic, quiet, and for the most part, really didn't have any part in tormenting anyone. Jesse was more of the tough bruiser, but still, she didn't abuse the power. In fact, both Skylar and Jesse, who were an on and off couple, seemed to detest violence altogether and mostly stood on the sidelines.

Mitch remembered on a field trip to the capitol how Zane had taken an M16 and blown off the head of a statue of the Dictator, the leader of the Republic of Greater East Asia. Amazingly enough, he never seemed to get caught. While some people were all talk and no action when it came to talking about the government, Zane was exactly the opposite. If you liked anything about the country, there was a good chance you would end up rolling on the ground with his footprint on your balls. Still, he wasn't a political hero. If anything else, he was a weak bully who really wasn't a fighter.

Adam glared. "Piss off, Zane".

J.C giggled in her nasally voice. "Does he want us to, "piss off?"

'C'mon Zane", Skylar began. "There's no point. Let's just leave!"

Zane glared. "Nobody asked you, Skylar. We have to be supportive of our friend Mitch if he ever wants to sleep with Jude at the beach".

"You're not getting anything out of doing this. Just leave him alone".

Like it had happened many times before, Zane shoved Skylar roughly in the stomach. He doubled backwards, but ceased to question his leader's actions. Jesse rolled her eyes, utterly bemused by the situation. Rory, on the side, still looked like he had no idea what was going on. He smelled like cigarettes.

"So Mitch", Zane continued. "If you need help coming out of the closet at any time, we're waiting to help you. You can count on u-

"Nobody thinks you're funny!" Skylar suddenly continued. "Right Jesse?"

Jesse, staring at the ground, shrugged. "I guess".

The way Zane treated his friends was almost sickening to watch. There seemed to be a pattern nearly every single time. Zane, and occasionally J.C, would harass their victims while Skylar and Jesse, both having weak moral stamina, would stay on the side in fear of doing anything. The way Mitch guessed it, they looked up to how vocal and independent Zane was and followed him like a God. When they were too deep in the gang, they were too dellusioned to see how corrupt their God really was. Either that, or Jesse and Skylar were just cowards who couldn't even stand up for themselves, nonetheless other people. Zane was a kind of person who took up hating as a hobby, and like everyone else that took it up, he always had followers.

"Skylar, I don't care if I'm funny or not", Zane growled. "All I care about is the fact that you don't know when to shut up. Are you happy now? Great. Now, where were w-

Suddenly, without warning, a girl's arm appeared in front of all of their faces. When Mitch blinked, he registered a healing and shallow cut directly over the wrist. After that, glancing up at the face, he found Terry Klingerman staring down at him with her blank and hollow eyes.

Her hair was frizzy and knotted, almost like she had never combed it in her life. It had once been blonde, but for an unknown and unearthly reason, it had faded to uneven strands of gray that made her look like an old woman in a young girl's body. It was a shame, because past her slight acne, Terry had a pretty face that she simply seemed to have lost hope in altogether. With her lanky body, she was almost like a scarecrow that was propped up on sticks for other people to stare at. She didn't seem to care much either. The only real word to describe her was, well, a, "mess".

However, the real thing that caught Mitch's eye was the series of cuts and bruises on her arms; the ones that seemed so placed there that they had to be self-inflicted.

Terry's lip quivered. "I…I did that…"

"For attention", J.C cut in coldly. "You're not fooling anyone, Klingerman".

And with that, the strangest thing imaginable happened. Quickly rolling up the sleeve of her tattered sweatshirt, Terry sniffled and started to run. In fact, she didn't stop. Dashing over duffel bags and shoving her way through crowds of students, causing almost all of them to stare, she continued to sprint until she was out of the parking lot, and soon, running down the street. In almost half a minute, Terry had vanished around the corner.

For several seconds, the remaining students stood in complete shock and silence as everyone quietly registered what had just happened. Then, laughing like a hyena, J.C finally spoke in her unpleasant voice.

"What a fucking nutcase!"

"You guys are assholes" Adam sighed.

Before anybody could even thinking of doing anything, Zane glared and shoved his black and faded sneaker into Adam's chest. He fell back roughly into the muddy ground that was still wet from the rain showers from the week before. Several people were now watching from the sidelines now, drawn to the possible idea of violence.

"Shut your mouth, Adam. It'll do good for you".

Angrily, Mitch stood up. "Y'know, for somebody that's so into changing the country, you probably make them pretty damn happy by making sure everyone turns against eachother".

"You don't know anything about me, Mitch. By the way, cut that mop on top of your head and get a haircut that doesn't make you look like a faggot".

Mitch lost it. He sprung on Zane, swinging his fists wildly in the air as he felt himself thrust to the ground. His nose was bleeding from the blow, but still it didn't stop him. The moment he steadied himself again, he managed to angle his leg out to kick Zane in the shin, who responded by throwing out his elbows to protect himself. J.C was beginning to squeal in girlish glee behind them.

"They're fighting!" she shrieked. "They're fighting!"

Mitch swung another punch in howled in agony, knowing Zane was probably doing the same. He had swung another punch by connected with Zane's fist, nearly cracking his fingers apart. He swore furiously, but retaliated by attempting to kick Zane again. It didn't work. Instead, he ended up in a tight headlock against Zane's stomach.

Zane was ranting in rage. "I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

However, before Zane could, Mitch felt long fingernails grasp the back end of his shirt. A girl? Whoever the girl was, she was easily stronger than Zane and him combined, due to the fact that she was able to tear them both apart from eachother. Mitch stumbled backwards, nearly toppling over the girl's heel as he was sent sprawling back into the mud beside Adam, who seemed to be complaining about the state of his new polo shirt. When he turned back, he realized suddenly why the girl had seemed so strong; he also realized that it hadn't even been a girl that had stopped the fight between Zane and him.

"Eat shit and die, Peter!" Zane screamed.

Peter Juntz pursed his lips, causing the red lipstick to the glitter in the sun. Some cross-dressers were sloppy, not having the right face to pass as a girl, but Peter definitely wasn't; his face was feminine and baby-faced. His appearance was so good that he almost wasn't even a boy dressing up; he practically was a girl. Almost the entire class remembered the memorable occasion at a football game where a senior had started hitting on Peter and nearly fainted when he realized the truth. For the most part, from the side of the school that wasn't homophobic and brainwashed, he was well-respected. Along with being a stellar sports star and athlete, usually humiliating the other team when a cross-dresser beat them, he was something of a leader and parental figure among the student body. He had an answer or bit of advice for almost anything.

Peter smiled. "Eat shit and live, Zane".

Now that they had attracted a large amount of attention, including several teachers that were probably staring, Zane gritted his teeth and stormed away, making the chains he was wearing on his belt jingle aggressively. J.C quickly followed in a huff, along with Rory and Jesse. Skylar, however, was the only one who really bothered to stay.

"Sorry about Zane", he sighed. "He doesn't know any better. He's really a nice guy when you get to know him".

"It's cool", Mitch said, not believing anything he had just heard.

With a forced smile, Skylar waved awkwardly and hurried away to his girlfriend and gang, leaving Mitch and Adam standing behind.

"Your lip's bleeding, Adam".

Mitch had almost forgotten that Peter was still standing beside them. He was watching as Zane's group walked away, almost like he was daring them to try and come back.

"Oh, thanks". Adam rubbed his mouth with the sleeve of his polo shirt. "Want to sit with us on the bus?"

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm sitting with the twins. In fact, they're probably wondering where the hell I am. I'll see you guys later. We can all meet up on the beach when we get there".

As Peter jogged away in his tight skirt, Adam shook his head. "Weird guy".

"You say that about everyone".

"Well, look around here. It's true. I can't wait to get through high school and get the hell out of this town. Once senior year is over, I'm never coming back to Spanish Rivers".

"What? Are you going to become a doctor or a lawyer or something?'

"I'm a straight-A student. Join some clubs, try a few cheap sports that don't require any thinking, and I'll get a scholarship".

Mitch grinned. "You'll never get out of this town. It's like a hole that you can't climb out of. Ten buck you're going to end up volunteering at the library".

"Bus B is boarding!" 's voice called. "Bus B is boarding!"

"That's us".

Swinging his duffel bag over his shoulder, Mitch began to walk toward the parking lot with Adam beside him. The entire freshman class would board different buses, all bound for the destination of Pequeno Beach where they would camp-out for three days. It wasn't exactly thrilling, and it wasn't exactly fun either, but it was a chance to get out of school that everybody ended up taking. As they walked across the courtyard, they passed several other faces of students they had known from their classes. Roxy, the spacey-looking drama club chick. Preston, the mascot and joke of the football team. Leana, the muscular and olive-toned lacrosse player and her monkey-faced friend June.

And her.

Sitting around the oak tree with skirts so short that were practically underwear, a group of giggling girls sat flipping through magazines and talking enthusiastically. Mitch knew that every school had a pack of girls like this, and at Spanish Rivers High, the leader of the preppy pack of cheerleaders went by only one name.

Amber Prescott.

With a tan body and a muscular figure from cheerleading and volleyball, Amber's stature at only a high schooler was perhaps more stunning than some of the front-page models that you saw at the pharmacy. Her blonde hair was always sleek like she had just washed it and her presence and way she carried herself was something every girl in the school tried to mimic. However, no matter how many people sucked up to her, it seemed almost set in stone that she was the Queen Bee of Spanish Rivers Community High School. As Mitch passed, he took notice of the daily suck-ups that were sitting around her. Shyla, red-faced and plump like a baking marshmallow, Erin, shady-looking and serious with a mole on her nose, Victoria, African-American with cornbraids that suited her calm face, and finally, Adrienne, with a large and rosy mouth that always seemed to be chewing away on her gum. It was hard to say if the five girls were technically friends, because for the most part, the cruel rumors and gossip they spread were mostly centered around a member of their own group. Still, friendly or not, Amber's clique was easily the most destructive force in the entire school. Picking who was, "in", and who was, "out", she ruled the social ladder with an iron fist that nobody dared to cross. There was a Latin phrase for it. Canis Candem? Dog eat dog?

"I know Amber's ass is beautiful, Mitch", Adam's voice suddenly cut in "But you're holding back the line".

Turning red, Mitch craned his neck to see that he had been too busy staring at Amber's clique that he had caused a hold-up in the crowd of students making their way to their buses. He caught sight of one of them whispering something to her friend as she glared at him. Moving along quickly, he moved into a hurried trot as Adam hurried along beside him.

"Sorry about that", Adam said. "I would have stopped to stare too. I don't know about Amber, but I think I might have a chance with Erin. I could work my way up the ladder if she gives me a chance".

Mitch grinned. "How are you supposed to get anywhere with a girl if you use dead baby jokes as a pick-up line?"

Before Adam could say any comeback, a voice that was both old and young rang through their ears.

"Adam, Mitchell, are you two on Bus B?"

, their biology teacher and special ed assistant, was standing behind them with an anxious expression on her face. Her blonde hair was slightly frayed in the back, but she was almost like a teenager in an old lady's body; all of the kids loved her. Her arms were outstretched over the wheelchair in front of her where Kevin Hashburg, diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth, was smiling blankly. Darren Warner, who suffered from Down's Syndrome, was fidgeting with his fingers as he stared at the ground beside Kevin. Instead of casual and warm like always, 's eyes looked slightly frantic. She was massaging her beefy arm gingerly, almost like she had been bruised. Along with that, there was a purple and dark sag under her left eye that looked like it had been treated with cream. To add to it, she asked the question like it was life or death. Her clipboard was cradled in her arm.

"I think so", Adam replied.

Ms Harp's eyes grew wide. "You think so? Yes or no? Answer me!"

"Well, yeah, we're on Bus B. Right Mitch?"

With a slight look of remorse, she checked something off on her clipboard and looked softly at the two boys. For a second, it looked like she wanted to tell them something serious, but it passed and the usually fun and bouncy teacher gave them an emotionless glance.

"You've been transferred to Bus D. Immeadidly. Have any of you seen Terry Klingerman?"

"Yeah. She freaked out and ran down the street. Good luck catching her. She didn't look like she was going to stop".

Muttering something under her breath, shook her head again and flicked open her clipboard. She checked several names off before looking back up at them. "Would you two mind wheeling Kevin to the bus, too? was supposed to take the Special Ed class onto Bus A, but there wasn't enough room and she didn't even show up today. You know how to use his wheelchair, right?"

Before they could answer, she quickly rushed away with Darren, who was fidgeting with his fingers and giggling. Kevin smiled pleasantly in his wheelchair, unable to communicate, and Mitch did his best to smile back at him despite the bruise on his face. Gripping the handles of his wheelchair, he began to walk with Adam to their bus.

"What do you think was up with her?"

Mitch shrugged. "I don't know. It was weird though, right? She's always so bouncy and happy and stuff. Maybe she's having problems at home or something".

"Whatever. Let's go".

As they made their way toward Bus D, they caught sight of the other students who had also been switched. Miguel and his gang of ghetto thugs were walking and talking about a dirty joke as their leader quietly flicked and unflicked his new switchblade. Sometimes, Mitch wondered if Miguel took pride in being a complete stereotype. Then again, considering his hardass attitude, he probably didn't give it much thought. Mare was blasting metal music out of her headphones that she had probably stolen as she walked toward the bus. In fact, she had probably stolen everything she was wearing too; Mare was a klepto. Towering above the entire crowd, and directly behind Mare, four hundred-pound Logan wobbled as she glanced around with her beady and wet eyes. There were rumors going around that she suffered from a gland disorder, but then again, rumors were only rumors.

"Bus D", Adam pointed out.

Compared to the others, Bus D was easily the smallest. While the others had the capacity to fit around one hundred students each, the maximum that could fit in their bus would be half of that. A cross between a charter and a regular school bus, the odds were there wouldn't be any movie on the ride. Behind them, somebody was swearing about how they hadn't brought their Ipod.

There was only one student that had gotten to the bus before everyone else, and for some reason, nobody was really surprised. After all, while everyone tended to question everything in high school, Luke Graystone was just something that didn't have to make sense. Although Mitch considered himself a loner, Luke was far beyond that. Despite the fact that he had transferred to their school several years ago, he had never seemed to make up much of an effort to talk to anybody. Mostly, he would simply keep to himself, go to class, and go home in a robotic fashion. When you actually had a conversation with him, he was easygoing to say the least but it was clear he didn't want to speak to you any longer than he had to. Luke didn't want friends, and because of that, Luke didn't have friends. All he had were tormenters or people that cared indifferently about him.

However, what really made Luke a target for bullying was his choice in attire. Almost always, he wore a shark-tooth necklace that wasn't plastic, but an actual tooth. His hair was styled into a blonde ponytail that disguised the fact that his hair was longer than several of the girls in their grade. With his shady sunglasses in the mix, he would fit in perfectly at lifeguard training. Even through it all, Luke never seemed to be fazed or upset by any of it. He just shook it all off and carried on. As they passed by him, Luke didn't even bother to look. He just stared at the clouds as he hugged his duffel bag.

"Three days camping out in a hellhole", Adam said. "Ready?"

Mitch, taking his eyes off Luke who was still staring into space, didn't answer. Adam's attitude, like it did every day, was finally doing a decent job of pissing him off. Clicking his tongue piercing again, he parked Kevin's wheelchair beside the bus door.

"Somebody will stop by in a couple minutes to open up the wheelchair ramp", Mitch explained. "Just wait here".

As they walked away, Mitch pretended to listen to Adam as he watched his classmates crowd around the bus, waiting for the doors to open.

High school was complicated.

He thought about everyone who was different, like Luke, or Terry, or Lea, who were chewed out for the sole fact that they didn't fit in. Society shaped people to fit in, but whoever refused to do so was considered an outcast immeadidly. It was cruel, it was relentless, and unfortunately, it was just something that happened that couldn't be avoided. Maybe that was why he chose to separate himself from everyone else and just stand on the side to listen to Adam's complaints; either that, or it could have been something else altogether.

Climbing up the stairway onto the bus, in almost the same instant, every single student made the same realization.

There weren't any seats.

The forty-one of them, minus Terry, had entered an eggshell-white room with schoolbus windows that had been boarded up with wooden planks. There were several holes in the metal floor, where the bus seats had been uprooted like tree trunks, and a large metallic box that resembled an intercom hanging above the exit door. Several students were standing in place, too shocked to move, while some had decided to fight and struggle to break through the mob of students that were still rushing into the bus. Chris Barrister, the quarterback and registered dickhead, was yelling in fury as he struggled to push his way into the bus.

"Let me in, you faggots!" Chris roared. "Let me in!"

Between the mob of kids trying to get on and the mob of kids trying to force their way out, nobody had any chance of realizing what was going on. Caught between confusion and fear, Mitch looked around at his classmates. Peter was standing in shock in the middle of the chaos, struggling to yell out for an explanation that he obviously wasn't going to get. Fat Logan prevented anybody from getting off the bus, blocking the entire entrance door with her bloated belly. Jude Mercedes, who it now turned out had come to school, didn't look fazed at all. In fact, he looked mildly interested in what was going on.

"Hey!" Chris yelled. "You!"

The quarterback's anger was directed at the man that was behind the driver's seat several feet in front of them. There was a red bandanna tied around his head and he looked almost motionless. Chris brandished his fists and dashed forward but, literally, was halted to a stop. Shocked, he brought a trembling finger up in front of him and touched something solid that was blocking them from the driver. He banged his hand with a soft ding and his lip trembled.

"It's...It's a glass wall!"

The Latino bus driver with the red bandanna slowly turned around in his seat beyond the glass wall. He was wearing what resembled an airline oxygen mask, but clamped into multiple clouded tubes that traveled under the driver's seat. He brought his hand up, giving the class a girly and twittery wave with his fingers. The fact that he didn't seem fazed by the situation made it definite to Mitch that this was a kidnapping. But…why didn't he care? Maybe it was because he was getting so tired…so tired…

Suddenly, Mitch realized why it was such a hassle for the students to get off the bus. Beefy men in uniform were standing at the door, butting in the class with the blunt ends of their rifles. One of them had a goofy-looking cowboy hat that almost seemed to be mocking the situation. There seemed to be a large-scale riot going on outside and screams and protests were echoing as the students that were still outside dashed onto different buses. For just a split second, Mitch thought that he heard a gunshot out on the courtyard. Several seconds later, the sound of somebody howling in agony told him that he had.

"Let us out!"

"What the hell is going on?"

"I'm scared!"

"Roxy? Is that you?"

"That intercom box is breathing in gas or something!"

"I'm scared!"

"Let us out!

Suddenly, Kevin Hashburg, with the sound of clattering metal, went sailing through the door as the soldiers threw him from his wheelchair into the bus. It turned out that Mitch had been wrong about somebody opening the wheelchair ramp for him. Kevin let out a strange and incomprehensible squeal on the ground. The moment he was safely situated in hell with the rest of them, the doors slammed shut. Now, more than any of them had in their entire lives, they were tired.

"We're b-b-b-breathing something, M-m-mitch… ", Adam sputtered. "We're…wuhh…

Unexpectedly, Luke spun in front of them, his ponytail flailing in the air. He made a desperate grab for Mitch's shoulder, almost like he was trying to balance himself. His frantic eyes now looked heavy, almost like it took all of his power to keep them open. Mitch realized he was feeling the same way.

"I change my mind!" Luke shrieked. "I don't want! I don't wanna…

Suddenly, Luke Graystone collapsed to the ground like an overripe coconut falling from a tree. He banged his head hard. Several students around him screamed as they backed away from him, but almost like fainting was contagious, everyone slowly began to follow suit. Logan's massive body was slumped like a bloated whale that had been stranded on a beach. Peter was lying against the wall like a bum on the street. Jude, who it turned out had come to school, was lying in the corner beside J.C. Out of the forty-one students to fall, Mitch was the twenty-fourth. Adam was the thirty-sixth.

Thirty seconds after the forty-one members of Bus D collapsed in a heap on top of eachother, the Latino bus driver flicked off the switch above the ignition and carefully removed the oxygen mask from his stubble-coated face. For a second, he felt pity. And then, realizing this was the thirty-second class that he had provided transportation for, he shook the idea away, got the signal from the soldiers outside, and began to drive out of the parking lot.

The sleeping gas had done its job.