For the record, I think I forgot to put the disclaimer:

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Animorphs, I am not making money off of this, etc. etc. blah blah blah

RACHEL

"Gooooo bears!" My voice penetrated the air as I launched into a cartwheel then straight into a flip, landing perfectly with a smile on my face.
The rest of the cheerleading squad gathered around, and we performed our flawless routine.
After the game, Mike, the leading scorer, shyly approached me. "Uh, Rachel, do you wanna go to the dance with me?"
I smiled dazzlingly at him. "Sure, Mike. I'd love to go with you." He smiled sheepishly, than ambled away. The minute he left, a few girls from the squad ran up to me, squealing, while the rest watched with amused expressions on their faces.
"Ohmigod! Rachel, did Mike just ask you to the dance?"
"I cannot believe this! He is soooo hot!"
" Rachel, you are so lucky! Rachel- Rachel! Where are you going? Rachel!"
I smiled again as I picked up my stuff and headed over to my brand- new convertible, away from the rest of the girls.
I backed out of the parking lot, and pulled away, aware of the envious stares the other girls were giving me, and completely aware of the fact that by Monday, my date with Mike was going to be known to the entire student body.

The minute the school was out of sight the smile slid off my face, instantly replaced by a scowl. "I can't STAND this!" I yelled out into the air.
"I can't take anymore of this crap!" I accelerated, all the while thinking harsh thoughts.

The plain fact was, I was sick of it all. The whole charade of being little Miss. Perfect, captain of the cheerleading squad, making straight A's, always smiling, with the perfect looks and family, and now, thanks to Mike, soon to be going out with Mr. Wonderful.

No one would believe it, but I didn't like it. I didn't like this little act that I had to put on. I didn't like this stupid private school that I attended. I couldn't take the way people stared at me in the hallways, as if I was something new and improved. I wasn't. I wasn't perfect.
Melissa, my friend, had once told me that "girls would give up their arms to be you for one week."
I had, of course laughed cheerily and said something along the lines of, "Don't be silly Mel! No one thinks that!" Even though I knew it was true.
And you know what else was true? I would give it all up like that. I would so easily trade my life for someone else's. You know why?

Because my life was all fake.

I didn't even really exist. Me, the real Rachel, only existed in my mind. The other Rachel was the perfect yet unreal one.
I stopped my car at the side of the road and cried. I just cried. I cried because I was losing myself, and I didn't know just who I was anymore.
Some old man in a car glared at me and honked at me as he was driving past. I flipped him off; I wasn't in the mood.

Slowly I regained control. I brushed my hair, and reapplied my make- up. Then I drove myself to the only place where I could blend into the crowd; the mall.

TOBIAS

I sat outside the entrance to the store. The old man at the check-out counter was giving me odd looks, but I ignored him. I sighed, ran a hand through my hair, put my hood back over my head, and thought to myself.

Life Sucks. . "Thinking deep thoughts, Toby?"
I looked up to see my best friend, Jen, standing over me, a half annoyed, half amused expression on her face. She plopped down next to me and waited for me to answer her question.

"Am I ever?" I asked her in return.

"Shut up. I asked you a question; you're supposed to respond with an answer. It's not that hard of a concept to understand."
I sighed again. She pulled a cigarette out of her pocket and started to light it. I glared at her. She glared back, then threw it out.

"I don't get what your problem is with cigarettes, Toby. It's that same stupid thing you have with alcohol. Why the hell won't you try them?"

I just sighed. There was no way I was telling her that through my uncle, I had had too many bad experiences with both.

So instead I just said, "Jen, one day those things are gonna kill you. And then you're gonna regret ever using them."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She examined me. "You know, if you would just take that stupid hoodie off your head then you could be really cute."

"Thanks, I think." "Whatever," she said again. Then she perked up. "Me and Dan are going to that club later tonight. Want to come?"

Dan was Jen's boyfriend, and my other best friend.

I looked at her. She sighed. "Yes, there will be multitudes of drunk people and high people, but come on!" I just shook my head. I could imagine my uncle's reaction if I stumbled into the house, high and smelling of beer. "Toby, you never let yourself have any fun." She jammed her hands into her pockets. I looked at her. She was wearing a black shirt, baggy black pants, had dyed her hair from blonde to a dark brown and her eyes were outlined in black. I smiled. She looked like typical Jen.

She saw me looking at her. "What?"

"Nothing," I said. I looked back up and thought to myself again. Why was I even here? Probably because I had nowhere else to go, and I definitely didn't want to go home. I didn't want to have to face my uncle, who would most definitely be drunk at this time. Then again, wasn't he drunk at almost every time? "Toby, what thoughts are going through your head?" Jen turned to examine me again. She pursed her lips and looked me up and down. "You're always in your own little world. You never let anyone know what you're thinking, not even me or Dan." She looked at me again. Then her eyes narrowed. "You're not worried about this stupid club tonight, are you?"

Actually, Jen was right. I worried a lot about her and Dan. They were always out, smoking and drinking and partying. I did worry about whether or not they were okay. She whacked my head. "Stop worrying, Toby. We'll be fine. Now what are you going to do?"

"I'm.I'm actually headed over to the mall," I lied. I knew if I didn't say anything, she would make me go with her and Dan.

She looked at me suspiciously, than shrugged. "Fine. Okay, Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye." Just like that, she was gone. I slowly got up and started to walk to the mall, still thinking my deep thoughts.

JAKE

The mall was full of people. It was a Friday night, but I hadn't expected it to be so crowded. There were families, teenagers, little kids, and elderly people. Speaking of the elderly, I had just ran into one guy and knocked him down. I helped him up, and he said "Thanks, Jake." And walked away.

I gawked at him as he strolled away casually. How did he know my name? What was going on? Was I going crazy?
A quick glance down and I realized I was still wearing a name tag with the words, MY NAME IS JAKE on it. I ripped it off and threw it in the trash can.

I needed to get back to what I was here to do. My one year anniversary with my girlfriend, Amanda, was tomorrow. And I needed to get her a gift to let her know that I did care. (A/N: aww, isn't it sweet that he remembered?)

I had no clue what to get her. I should have asked someone to come with me to help me choose, but I hadn't even thought to ask.

For the past couple of days I had been zoned out. I had no idea why, I just felt like I wasn't in the same place as everyone else. I hadn't been able to concentrate, and my mind kept jumping randomly from topic to topic.
Like in the basketball game. We were in the final seconds, and I had the ball, when all of a sudden I had wondered who the enemies were. Luckily, I had snapped back to attention in time to shoot the ball, and we won.

I was off topic again. I was supposed to be getting a present for Amanda. Beautiful Amanda, who was always there for me.

I spent a few minutes thinking dreamily about Amanda. I wandered randomly into some clothes store; I wasn't really thinking. I was still in daydream mode.
Suddenly something strange happened. All the electricity in the mall went off. What the hell was going on?! I heard screaming, and people running, which was stupid. I mean, it was dark, no one could see anything, so it was dumb to panic and to run.
At least that's what I thought until my eyes got used to the dark and I saw the entryway to the store starting to close automatically (it was one of those big cage gates that starts to close when the electricity goes off). Then I was with the screaming crowd, trying to get out so I wouldn't be trapped in the stupid store.
But I was too late. I saw the store clerk guy slip out, and then the gate had closed, and I was trapped.

But I wasn't alone.