Yeah, so the chapter before this was kind of boring D: I've had it written for a while, but I wanted to make sure I posted something that actually started this crazy adventure. Enjoy!

Lucy's Point of View

The solution changed colors and began to simmer at the top. Quickly and smoothly, I popped the bubbles with a paper towel and dispose of the waste. I stood back in achievement and relaxed. All done.

"Alright, I think we're good, mate!" Anthony didn't respond. I looked over curiously at him to see his face pale and mouth open. "What?"

"You…you actually did it?"

I gave a confused glance. "Yeah, it's just a simple chemical reaction. Diethyl phthalate with phenylethynyl anthracene. Add trichlorophenyl oxalate, or TCPO, sodium acetate, and then hydrogen peroxide.

Anthony stared at me with awe, his jaw wide open like I had just cured cancer.

"What?" I asked, looking around. "What did I do? Did I do it wrong?"

"No," Anthony laughed drily and grinned. "You did it. You actually did it!"

A hand swept between Anthony and I and grabbed our beaker. "Well, there's not much of a mess for me to clean up, so I approve, too!"

I jumped and spun around, but Anthony simply piped, "Yeah! Oh, and it was ALL me, Mr. Sievers. Aren't you proud?"

Mr. Sievers held the beaker to the light and observed the work. "Yeah, I'm sure it was ALL you, Padilla. I'm sure Ms. '4.5 GPA Lucy' had nothing to do with it." As he made his way to the light switch, Mr. Sievers tapped the back of Anthony's head jokingly. The class laughed as the lights went off.

"See, guys?" the beaker shined a fluorescent green. The class ooed and awed. "This is what it is SUPPOSED to look like." Students stared at their own beakers and shrugged.

"Mixing all the solutions create a chemical reaction that makes a glow-like substance as a byproduct. In other words, what is it, Ms. Lucy?"

"It's a glow stick."

"Precisely!" Mr. Sievers put the beaker back in front of me. "Fabulous work, Lucy. I'm glad I finally have someone in this room that at least PRETENDS they're interested!" He shot a sarcastic look to Anthony, who claimed he 'pretended very well, thank you very much!'.

As the class cleaned up, Anthony and I continued to talk nonstop like we had before. In just one class period, I knew so much about him, and his life was so exciting! He had two sisters, two brothers, and a mom and dad to control it all. Anthony said his family travels a lot because his dad was in the military, but planned to stay in California until he graduated in a few months. But with all that travel comes adventure, because he was able to go see places like India and South Africa. Anthony also mentioned he and Ian have a YouTube channel that they started a few months ago called 'Smosh'.

"It's really small right now," he justified as he washed his hands off. "I don't know if it's really worth anything, but it's fun, and I have a good feeling about it."

I smiled broadly at him. "I'm glad you have fun with that," he stepped out of the sinks way so I could rinse my hands as well. "You two are quite the pair. I'm sure the videos are something to see."

When I glance back up at him, Anthony was staring at me with curious and thinking eyes. "What?"

"Speaking of Smosh, we're filming something later today at a beach not too far from here. Maybe you would like to come?"

Ecstatic, I almost said yes automatically. But reality set in, and I remembered, "I can't. The foreign exchange committee has a 'special event' planned today. It's an astoundingly fun trip to..." I emptied out my pocket to find the itinerary.

"Oh!" I gasped with fake enthusiasm. Anthony chuckled. "The city of Sacramento! Gee, I bet it's completely different than Manchester!"

"Not too excited, are you?"

"The thing is," I explained. "All the activities the committee has planned are mainly for the forgiven exchange students from Singapore and places. Not for me, really. And I knew that. I knew America wouldn't be much different."

"Then why did you come?" he raised his eyebrows at me as our final beaker was clean. "Why would you spend all this money to do something that was just like home?"

I paused and blushed, putting down my towel and turning away. Anthony had told me everything about himself, and I had said almost nothing about mine. To be truthful, I was embarrassed about my real life. About my crappy apartment, which looked even worse compared to these Californian big suburbs. About the financial aid. About the fact there was no way I could have afforded the trip without the school's help. How do I tell someone who has it all that?

"Oh, I just...it sounded like fun, you know? Going to an American school and all." Guilt sank into my heart, but I pushed it away.

"I have to disagree." the bell rang and Anthony and I continued the conversation as we headed our ways home. "What DOES sound like fun is…" Anthony jumped in front of me and knelt.

"Going to the beach with you and Ian?" I grinned and pushed him out of the way. "I don't know, Anthony. I just got here! The last thing I want to get into trouble." I walked ahead with my books hugged to my chest. I heard a sigh behind me. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"Lucy," he place his hands on my shoulders and smiled softly. "It's your first day here! You're the smart British exchange student who obviously does not know how to have fun. Please?" his big brown eyes begged. How could I say no?

I sighed and nodded, remorsefully. "I guess I could pretend I'm sick or something..."

"Yay!" Anthony leaped on the air and hugged me. "You won't regret it, I promise. Come on, let's go!" With a spring in his step, Anthony gripped my arm and ran through the busy halls toward the exit. We met Ian along the way, whose arm was also man-handled and dragged through the busy parking lot.

Ian eventually noticed I was lugged from the other side. "Hey! You're the British kid we rescued right?" I shrugged as Ian asked Anthony if he noticed a posh kid was running alongside him.

"LUCY-" Anthony pressed, nudging Ian in the side. "Is coming to the beach with us. I invited her. Isn't that nice, Ian?" Anthony unlocked his car and stared Ian down.

"Oh, I never said it wasn't!" He stuck out his tongue and then turned to me. "Hop in, new kid! Get ready to see the BEAUTIFUL Californian shoreline~!"

"~which looks like every other beach, but still!" Anthony tossed back his phone so I could tell my host parents what was going on. Though I was honest about where I was going, I 'forgot' to mention there was another place I should have been. But when the guys started going back and forth about the most random things, I couldn't keep a smile off my face. This or a trip to another boring town? I'd take this any day.

Anthony's point of view

Ian lowered the camera from me and motioned Lucy over. "Now, Lucy. Run over to Anthony, kick him in the crotch, and do one of those girly hair flips. Be all, 'Oh my god, Anthony! This is NOT the Hawaiian vacation I asked for! UGH!' in your best American accent. This video is about annoying girlfriends. Dig deep! And...action!"

Lucy did as she was directed, and I must say, she wasn't bad. When it came time for her to speak in her American accent, however, I couldn't help but ruin the scene by laughing at her.

Lucy flushed and pushed my shoulder. I lost my balance and collided with the wet sand. My hand flew to my face, trying to muffle my laughs, but they simply turned to spurs of snorts. Ian, who tried his hardest to keep a straight face, fell to my contagious laughter and joined me.

"Oh, come off it! The both of you!" Lucy giggles shyly at herself and continued to blush. "I have never done one before!" She circled her face with her finger. "British, remember?!"

"Oh, I remember!" A mischievous smirk formed on my face as a smart idea crept into my mind. "Hey, British kid! How about a taste of the Pacific Ocean?"

I jumped and grabbed Lucy's legs, thrusting her up onto my shoulder. She squealed and kicked softly. "Anthony! Put me down! Put me down!"

My knee locked and I toppled over, bringing Lucy with me. We fell on top of each other with a loud thump. At first, I was worried that she was hurt because her hands shielded her face and her chest shook. But after her face was uncovered, I could see she was laughing so hard she couldn't speak.

Relieved she was okay, I wiped the frown off my face. "Now," I crawled toward her. "Let's try that again, shall we?"

"No!" Lucy yelped and evaded my grip. She leaped up and ran toward the sand grass to her left.

I was about to follow her until Ian's voice stopped me. "Dude. THAT'S what you call smooth? And you call me a flirt..."

"What?" I shrugged.

"Oh, don't play dumb with me, Ant. I've known you for too long. You like her. A lot." Before I could disagree, Ian cut me off. "Yes, you do! Now, I don't care, I just want you to be careful. Remember, she's an exchange student; she'll be gone in three months."

I tried my best to poke a hole in his accusation, but here as no way out. "You're right," I sighed. "I do. And I know she's leaving in a couple of months so there's not much I can do. But, Ian, look at her! She's just so..."

I looked around to point her out, but Lucy was nowhere in sight. "Hey, where is she?"

A loud, terrified scream answered me. Ian and I shot heads towards each other and exchanged scared looks. "Lucy?" I called, but, as I had feared, no response came.

We sprinted around in the direction we last saw Lucy, both of us yelling out her name, frantically. I made a sharp right as Ian looked to the left. My eyes darted around my surroundings, but Lucy was nowhere to be found. My heart raced faster as my anxiety kicked in. Could the impossible have happened? Was she-?

"-Anthony! I found her!" Ian called from behind me. Relief flooded over me as I spun around to see Ian with his arm over Lucy's shoulder. He was talking to her softly while she sobbed and breathed in sputters.

I sprinted over to them just as Lucy's legs gave out. Ian and I caught her as she fell and place her gently on the ground. "What happened?" I asked over her cries, but it only made her more upset.

"I don't know, she can't tell me." Ian answered for her. "She keeps pointing back there," he motioned toward a part of the sand grass. "Go look, I'll stay with Lucy!"

Running to the grasses, my eyes scanned and found nothing. Lucy doesn't seem like the girl who gets spooked by a snake, I thought. What could it have possibly-?

My foot stepped on something soft and squishy and my heart stopped. The last thing I wanted to do was look down at what was dripping all over my shoe, but I knew I had to. I let my shaky eyes fall and lifted my leg.

Covered completely with sand, a large object was drenched in red and sticky dried blood. White long lines were remnants of bones, and poked out of the ripped charred clothing. I gulped back tears as the stench reached my nose. There was nothing else I needed to see to know what it was right in front of me.

It was a burned, dead body, and its blood-shot eyes were staring right into mine.