I was finally jerked awake by the smell of bus fumes. Ah, bus fumes. What wouldn't I do to smell bus fumes again! Yes. Well. Anyway, back to my nice, non-bus fume-y story.

I was jerked awake by bus fumes.

I hadn't gotten a lot of sleep that night. In fact, I was sure I hadn't gotten anywhere NEAR enough. I'd gotten enough bus fumes for sure, however...

Back at the Baker household -- yeah, I'm just Kim now. Not Kim Baker, just Kim. My former family would probably by on the joyous side for an entire month if they heard about this. Back at the Baker household, I could only imagine what was going on. 'Maybe the usual food fight with Gunner's dog food...' I thought, with a laugh, trying to choke back a sob. I would miss Nigel and Kyle's frantic actions to keep Gunner away from Mike and Mark's bathroom in the future. It had always been where the family pets were held, even at Lorraine's protest. I would miss Mike swinging from the roof, something he still did, five years later, even at Mom's protest. She couldn't resist anything happening to any other member of our family again, I guess. I made a face. That was one thing I wouldn't miss -- Mom's actions to keep us out of trouble.

After the accident, anyone could guess that I had turned rebel, but this was sort of expected. If I had been in counseling, maybe things would have been different. I needed the counseling. I was only thirteen. How was I supposed to deal? Ten mad siblings and a Mom who didn't love me anymore. Not that I cared -- I could live without them, and I was going to start a new life without them.

My plans changed in that instant. 'The bus fumes have really gone to my head...' I thought, hopelessly. Instead of going to Nora's apartment, which I most certainly couldn't have done, she would have sent me right back to the people that hated me. My so-called family. I thought families were supposed to care about eachother, to help eachother when someone was feeling down. I almost laughed at that. They had done everything but. Well, that's not true. Mike had tried so hard to pull me out of my depression, but I think that he couldn't have helped even if I had wanted him to. I was too far... gone...at that point to probably be helped at all. That was when I turned rebel. I started dressing in black, no one cared. I was the only one Mom didn't try to watch out for.

There was this one time, when I was fourteen, when I decided it would be a good idea to stand in the middle of the road. If you're scared for me, don't be. I'm here now, aren't I? Yes. Well, I had decided to stand in the middle of the road, purposely when an oncoming car was approaching. It was ironic, because all the other members of my family were afraid of cars after what had happened. Well, not Mike so much, but Mom most of all. At any rate, me and my stupid ideas would have gotten me killed, and sometimes I wish they had, but no. Mike foiled my plans by coming out of the house to check the flowerbeds for his allergy medicine, which I later learned had been thrown out of a window by Nigel (stupid allergy medicine... CURSE YOU, ALLERGY MEDICINE!). He saw me get hit by the car.

The next thing I know, I wake up in the hospital with Mike sitting next to my bed, awake, in a chair. Just Mike, no Nora, Mom, Sarah, Jake, Jessica, Mark, Nigel, Kyle, Charlie, Lorraine, or Henry, and most especially, no Dad. I do remember what Mike said. Even though he was only thirteen, he knew enough to care.

"Kim," he said. "Kim, don't ever try that again. I'll let you repel off the roof with me, but never get hit by a car ever again. Promise?" I had nodded. Later that week, I'm not sure what day anymore, but later that week, I was released from the hospital. Me and Mikey had to sneak out because the nurses wouldn't let me leave without a parent signature, and for all my Mom cared, she wasn't about to let be back into the house. Unfortunately for her, I returned, only to leave again. But she didn't know I was going to leave.

Which is why it was important that I was woken by bus fumes.

I stood up, and realized that it wasn't bus fumes at all. It was car fumes.

I'm going to give you one guess who was sitting in the front seat.

A/N: AHA! A CLIFFHANGER! Sorry, I'm a bit hyper today, and I was just happy that I never had to smell bus fumes for the entire summer. YEP! I'm OUT! Leave me happy notes!