Kory realized way too late that her life was about to come to an end. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the surely painful encounter. She balled her hands into fists as though it could help ease the pain. Dreading what was soon to be, or not to be, she let out a high pitched screech-as if she was leaving her final mark on the world with noise pollution.

The headlights' bright light shone through her eyelids, and she stood like that for the longest thirty seconds of her life-what was her life. And some life it was.

At the age of three, the young girl was kidnapped by an enemy family who envied her parents' wealth and social stature. She was held in captivity for over ten years. The closest thing she had to a friend in what she called her "dark decade", referring to the time spent in the enemy's makeshift prison, was a small rodent who lived in her cell. Mousy, as she called it, visited her every night and she fed him scraps from her dinner. When she escaped at age fifteen, she took Mousy with her, and mourned over its death two and a half years later.

She was never quite the same after she returned to the outside world. She was unusually positive and brought sunshine to everyone she met. She was quite famous by now, what with her parents' active political lives, her kidnapping and escape, and her luxurious lifestyle. She made friends quickly, but her best friends were an odd group. Together the five of them rose to popularity in their large high school.

Rachel, she was the brains of the group. She was queen of the punk style and rarely spoke around people out of her inner circle of friends. She was Kory's best female friend, and the two were like sisters, before and after Kory's kidnapping. The two had gone to the same nursery school. Rachel had a boyfriend named Garfield, who also was one of the 'famous five', as they were known around school.

Garfield was the jokester of the group. Though most of the time his jokes were quite lame, he always managed to bring a smile to Kory's face everyday. That wasn't too hard, however, since she was so happy all the time. He played pranks on unsuspecting teachers and killed jokes often. No one but the five ever understood how quiet Rachel and obnoxious Garfield, Gar for short, made such a good couple, but if you asked Victor, another member of the famous five, he would tell you to stop being so nosy before he gave you a swirly.

Ah, Victor. The star quarterback on the football team and well known jock in the entire school. The guy was also a computer wiz, and was often called Cyborg for his technology hobby. He built his first car. He customized it so much that he began to obsess over it, and soon referred to it as his "baby". He didn't let anyone touch it or drive it, and put saran wrap all over the seats, only letting members of the famous five or blood relatives ride in it. His friends had an intervention and he built another car to keep his mind off of his "first born". Now he has several, and his "baby" wasn't driven as often, but kept a special spot in the back of his mind at all times.

Last but not least, Rich. Rich was the bad boy of the group, and by far was Kory's favorite. Rich was into motorcycles and what not, and his looks captivated many young girls at Jump City High. Although he went through three or five girlfriends, everyone knew that Kory was the only one who really caught his eye, and in their senior year, he finally made the move. The couple made instant success, and they were, it seemed, even more popular when they were together.

So on the five moved to college. Not wanting to split up, they chose the same college and became roommates in the dorms. Kory and Rachel shared the room with a girl named Bee Bee, and Victor became her special friend very soon. But no one and nothing could ever disrupt the famous five, even though Bee was a great friend, the original five were just too close for anyone to really be a part of the group now.

As Kory's life flashed before her eyes, she felt all the regrets of a young college party girl. Sensing that the end was near, she drew in a deep breathe and shut her eyes even tighter.

After about thirty more seconds of this, she decided to take a chance and peak, wondering why she wasn't dead yet.

But what she saw wasn't a gigantic 16-wheeler about to crush her into millions of tiny pieces while onlookers watched in horror. She was in a white room surrounded by light. The only other figure was a boy around her age in a white robe, seemingly the source of all the light.

Kory, mouth a-gape, took a step closer to the boy in wonder.

"W-where am I? Who are you? How am I not dead?" she asked, hoping he could answer.

Her wish was granted. "You are in heaven. I am Kevin, your guardian angel, and you are in your afterlife."

Kory fainted in shock.