One In A Million

Chapter One

I looked at my clock; 4:09 am. Roughly six hours (or three hundred and fifty-one minutes) until ten o'clock. I rolled over in bed, running a hand through my long hair. I, somehow, managed to fall asleep close to eleven o'clock (seeing as I would much rather leave my homework till later...I'm going to regret that decision later -I never learn do I?) but I woke up at three thirty and haven't been able to fall asleep since.

I thought about my family's reaction when I told them I had won the contest. My parents were surprised, since I hadn't told them anything about the contest, and they were a bit angry, but overall they were happy and excited for me. They promised to email me at least once a week. My sisters, Hilary and Heather, were really jealous. They had both entered the contest, and were the ones who told me about it in the first place. They didn't really say anything during dinner. Right before I was about to go to bed they came and knocked on my door. I let them in, and they told me that they would "Sorta miss you I guess." I smiled. Typical.

I thought back to my drawing, but decided not to work on it; I'm tired and I don't want to mess up on it. So I finally caved in and decided to reread one of my favourite books: "Lightning" by Gabrielle E. Coyote. It's the first book in the 'Storm' trilogy, and I must have read the whole series though multiple times. I opened the book and flicked on the lamp that was on my bedside table.

I started to read the first page:

It was a quiet day in the town of Horkshire when it happened; the biggest storm of the century, and I was hit by lightning. But I should go back to the beginning. It was late afternoon; people had been predicting the storm for days. I was walking to my best friend's Hazel's house to wait out the storm there. I couldn't drive because it was such a small town most people could walk everywhere and there was no need for cars. Weather was never really a problem. It was usually a sunny place. Even in winter the sun was shining.

I found myself rereading the first paragraph without really taking a word in...

It was a quiet day in the town of Horkshire when it happened;

My eyelids drooped.

the biggest storm of the century, and I was hit by lightning.

The book fell from my grasp onto the pillow while my head followed, asleep.

(0)

"Sweetie?"

What?

"Sweetie?" Mom called. "It's almost time for you to get picked up, are you ready?"

I lifted by head and looked at my clock; 9:45 am. My eyes widened. I had seriously overslept.

"Give me a moment mom!" I yelled down. I flung myself out of bed, slipped on the outfit I had laid out on my desk chair the night before. It was simple light green top and ratty jeans and a light blue watch. Not caring about my hair I put it in a ponytail and hoped it didn't look like a rat-nest and that I could do something about it when my chaperon was escorting me. I grabbed my big, black duffle bag (my older cousin used to play hockey; it still smells a bit sweaty) full of my clothes, with my MyTab safely stowed away, and ran down the stairs, skipping the last three.

Luckily, Mom had prepared a few pieces of toast. I act them quickly, hoping I wouldn't get hiccups (hate them with a burning passion). Then Mom hugged me for so long I had to remind her of the time. Dad ruffled my hair, but I didn't mind. It was already messy. Hilary gave me a brief hug, while Heather whispered: "If you need anything, call me okay?" Then she hugged me and looked like it was the last thing she wanted to do. I grinned. We're sisters all right.

"See you in a month," I said. "Love you!" The car, or should I say a sleek black limo, pulled up. A female bunny in pink and black armor stepped out from where the passengers would ride. I blinked a few times to make sure I wasn't seeing things; to make sure it really was Lexi Bunny.

"You must be Holly," she said brightly, smiling. She was really pretty. She had blonde bangs that hung in front of her bright green eyes.

I forced my voice to work. "H-hi. Yeah, I'm Holly...and you're Lexi Bunny."

Lexi laughed. "Lexi's fine. I can't tell you how glad I am that a girl won the contest," she said as we walked towards the limo. She opened the door for me and I got in, her sitting next to me. The limo started to drive away from my house.

"It must be hard being the only girl," I said. Talking to her, surprisingly, was really easy. Maybe it was because she was just one of those people who can make you feel good just by walking into the room, like a best friend. "That's only guesswork though. I have two older sisters, although we don't hang out that much. They prefer make-up, shopping and clothes, while I like to draw."

"I don't mind shopping...as long as it's for video games. I don't think I would mind having sisters, although I already have eight brothers, and the house is full to bursting even with me living at HQ...speaking of which you'll get to have your first look at in a moment."

The limo rounded the bend, and the skyscraper that had been blocking the Loonatics tower was gone. The Loonatics' HQ was enormous. You could see it from miles away. The big blue sphere that was somehow suspended in the air in the middle of the HQ's opening was glimmering in the sun, almost like a disco ball. I looked at in wonder, and said something really intelligent like: "Wow."

Lexi grinned. "You never get used to the view off the balcony, just for the record. When we get there, Ace -the leader of the team," I nodded, having already known, while making an observation. It was the way she said Ace's name, did she like him? "And I will show you around and I'll help you move into your room."

The limo pulled up at the HQ and I shouldered my duffle bag (Lexi had offered to carry it, but I had said no) as we walked over to the HQ. Lexi stood in front of a scanner system that scanned her face and the doors opened to an elevator. We got in and Lexi pressed a button for the one hundred and twenty-fifth floor. The elevator shot up through the building until it reached the outside of it below the giant sphere we were headed. The elevator continued to rise and I could see the city down below because it was a glass floor. Thank god I'm not scared of heights. Spiders, on the other hand...

"Tech installed anti-gravity devices for this to work," Lexi explained as the elevator started to go into its slot in the sphere. It wouldn't be long now. I had to admit I was impressed; anti-gravity devices could be pretty hard to make, let alone to have them function properly. I already knew who all the Loonatics were; who didn't? Tech was the coyote in the green suit.

"He must be pretty good at what he does then," I said.

Lexi chuckled. "I hope so considering all the time he spends in his lab." The elevator came to a stop. There was a ding. The doors slid open. "Just a warning, Duck can be pretty obnoxious sometimes, but don't take offense at what-"

"About time the newbie got here!" Someone said, clearly annoyed, as Lexi and I stepped out of the elevator. That must be Duck. Sure enough, it was, and he came into view in his black and orange suit. He walked up to me with an air of importance.

"You're new around here, so let me lay down the rules. Number one, no touching my stuff. Number two, don't go into my room. Number three, you have to do whatever I say-"

"Really Duck? Goil just got here." A bunny in a black and yellow suit -Ace- said. Duck grumbled and left to stand beside the purple Tasmanian, Slam, who was waving at me. I shyly waved back. I looked at Ace. I could see why Lexi liked him, he certainly was attractive. "Sorry 'bout him, he's just being-"

"Duck," Lexi supplied. Ace chuckled.

"Pretty much. Now what's yer name kiddo?"

"Holly." I said. I tugged subconsciously at a strand of my hair that had come out of my ponytail, mentally smacking myself. I had forgotten to brush it in the car! "Holly Fox."

"Welcome to HQ."

"Thanks." He certainly had the same quality as Lexi; he was friendly and easy to talk to.

"Guess we should do some introductions, just in case," Ace said. "Ya already met Duck, dat's Slam," Slam grinned at me and I smiled back. He was a bit scary at first, but he probably had a big heart. "Lex, an' I'm Ace. Dis is Rev-"

A roadrunner who looked to be younger than me zoomed up, grabbed my hand and shook it. "Hi-I'm-Rev-it's-so-cool-you-won-the-contest-this-is-going-to-be-so-much-fun-!" I only caught "Hi I'm Rev" and I figured he meant well, but I was relieved that Slam picked up Rev from the floor to stop him talking and shaking my hand, which was now a bit sore.

"An' den dere's Tech -where is he?" Ace said. He shook his head, seeming to already know the answer. The other Loonatics followed him when he walked away from the main living area so I tagged along. Ace had stopped at a door. He punched something into a keypad. The door slid open, revealing a coyote crouched over a machine that looked to be half finished. He was wearing a black and green suit, and was screwing a bolt in. He looked up, initially irritated by being interrupted, but when he spotted me he looked surprised.

"She arrived? Why didn't you tell me?" Tech asked.

"I did," Ace said.

"Oh, sorry," the coyote walked over to me. He stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Tech."

I shook his hand. "I'm Holly." I leaned closer to Lexi. "He's kinda cute." I whispered. Lexi nodded, but I noticed she was looking at Ace. I stifled a laugh. "So, you and Ace were going to show me around?"

(0)

The Loonatics' HQ was really amazing. First, the two bunnies showed me where the bathroom was (I made sure I remembered it, for obvious reasons), the training room, which was insanely awesome, the TV and how to turn it on and things like that, and finally the enormous kitchen, which was where we were now, having lunch.

Ace and Lexi were vegetarians, so they were both having leftover veggie pizza from the other night, while I had some of the leftover pepperoni. It was really good.

"What pizza place do you order from?" I asked, because from now on, that's where I would be ordering.

"The pizza place Slam's family owns," Lexi replied. "It's called Big Bites."

"That's so cool." I finished my third slice. Lexi was done too.

"Why don't I show you your room?" She suggested. I nodded and we left. I noticed Ace had left too to meditate. We passed him and Tech practicing on our way to my room, which was right next to Lexi's. "The code is six, fifteen, twenty-four." I put the code into the keypad and the door slid open to my room. It was already set up with a dresser, bed, bedside table, a desk, a chair and a large closet. "Dinner's at six o'clock." She said on her way out. "If you need anything or just want to hang out, I'll be the training room." She left.

I sat down on my bed and started to unpack. This was awesome. A whole thirty days to go.


Please reveiw.