Disclaimer: Yeah, I still don't own anything.

A small breeze blew through the leaves on the warm March day. It was nearly impossible to believe that just last week, the air was too chilly to leave the indoors without the comfort of a jacket, though now many people had pulled their lighter clothes from storage, and those jackets were now pushed farther back into the closet for another year. Actually, it was much too early in the year for the weather to be turning, but that could easily be attributed to global warming or something like that.

Emily stretched out on the old, tattered blanket beneath her. When most of her classmates had been talking about going swimming in Lake Michigan, she had grabbed a book and a few snacks before heading out to Loyola Park, the one place in the city she claimed to be her own. It took a little time to get to, seeing as it was so far north, but that was honestly part of the park's appeal. Something about the isolation of it all was comforting to her. It wasn't that she was anti-social, she just found solace in her own thoughts and having the ability to get away from the noises of the city.

She smiled to herself as she continued on to the next chapter of Beauty and the Beast. It wasn't necessarily her favorite novel, but it would do. Actually, she found that she preferred the book to any version of the movie, though most of the time the writers did a decent job adjusting it for the big screen. Still, they usually omitted most of what made the story to incredibly romantic since it wouldn't keep audiences as well.

The waves of the lake crashed against the beach, creating a soothing atmosphere, aiding her in becoming even more engrossed in the story. A man jobbed by with his dog, followed by a couple of bikers, but no one else stopped and relaxed like she had. It seemed that everyone always had somewhere to be in the city, so she was lucky to have a few hours to spare.

"Emily!"

She glanced up from the page at the sound of her name, hoping that whoever it was was calling for someone else with the same name, but she never had that kind of luck. After marking her place in the book, she sat up to face her best friend jogging toward her, waving with his hand in the air.

"How did you find me?" she asked as he sat down next to her on the blanket.

He scoffed. "It's not like you're difficult to predict, Em. You do this every year on the first day of good weather."

"You know me too well, Caleb."

Caleb grinned at me before picking up her book and thumbing through it. "So, what are we doing for my birthday?"

She groaned, her face twisting into a grimace, and crossed her arms, trying to come up with a good excuse to not do anything. Unfortunately, he read her silence easily.

"Oh no," he said. "You're not getting out of this. I'm eighteen today!"

"But, Caleb," she whined. "I have too much to do. Besides, I lost my id."

He shook his head, grinning. "Nope, I have it. See, I knew that you would pull this crap, so I planned ahead."

Emily groaned again. He really did know her too well, but after spending your entire life with someone, it tends to have that effect. See, their dads were close friends in college and kept in touch after they graduated. They were even each other's Best Man and their weddings too, and somehow even planned a pregnancy right, though Caleb was two months older than Emily. And since they had been together since birth, their dads liked to entertain the idea that the two would get married someday, but according to both of them, that was entirely unlikely seeing as they had tried a couple years ago, and had failed.

Caleb smiled wider at Emily, knowing that he had her right where he wanted her. He knew that despite her cold front that she displayed for the rest of the world, that she was actually quite easily manipulated with a soft heart, especially when it came to him. That was also why he was her only real friend; no one took the time to work past that rough exterior to get to know her because she rebuffed them so quickly. She groaned again, throwing her head backward.

"Fine," she said, "But not until tomorrow."

This time Caleb groaned. "But Emmy." She scowled at his use of her childhood nickname to which he returned with a wide grin. "My birthday's today!"

Emily shook her head, and pushed her light brown hair out of her face quickly. She wanted to cut it, but her mother would hear of no such thing because 'girls don't have short hair'. "Tomorrow or nothing, take it or leave it," she said with a smug grin.

He nodded. "We'll see."

Then he took off at a run across the grass. It took her a few seconds to realize what he meant until he was about fifteen feet away, grinning and waving her book above his head, taunting her. She felt blood rushing to her face as anger swept over her.

"Come back here with that!" she yelled, standing up and running toward him. He could be so infuriating when he wanted to be. If there was one thing that Emily didn't joke about, it was the condition of her books.

She was, again, playing right into his hand, but they did have a certain sibling-like pull over each other. He would wait until she was fairly close to him, then turn and run again, laughing. Emily followed him until he ran behind a fairly large, mangled-looking tree and disappeared from view. She slowed to a jog, panting and trying to straighten her dress. The wind had suddenly started to pick up and she was having a difficult time keeping the hem of her dress down and her hair out of her eyes.

"Caleb, I swear, if you don't give me my book, I'll-," she began then fell backward, landing with a soft thud on the grass. She gathered herself for a moment, realizing that she much have run straight in Caleb's back.

She pushed herself up from the ground, quickly snatching her book from his hand before he could run off again. She nudged his arm in triumph, but Caleb ignored her, and continued to stare straight ahead, his mouth hanging open slightly.

"Fine, I'll go tonight. There's no need to be so dramatic," she said, forcing a smile. He glanced over to her for a moment, shaking his head. She rolled her eyes, and turned back to gather her other belongings so they could leave, but they weren't where she had left them. They hadn't run that far, so they should still be on the ground a few feet away, but there was nothing there. Emily smiled to herself, coming to a reasonable conclusion.

"Oh you're so clever! Get my attention with the book and have someone else take my stuff, right?" she asked with a knowing smile. "Who did you get to help you? It was Glen wasn't it?"

When Caleb didn't respond again, she shoved his arm roughly, and he finally turned his head toward her fully with wide eyes. "Em, where are we?" he asked.

"If you're trying to scare me, it isn't going to work," she insisted sharply.

"Would stop being so cynical for two minutes? Look over there."

Her eyes followed his finger to where he was pointing, and, sure enough, they weren't in Chicago anymore. A large beautifully white castle stood in the distance on a hill. Castles were not a permanent fixture in Chicago. Emily spun around, taking in the forest around her. Even the trees looked different, greener perhaps, and the sun seemed to shine brighter, though it was beginning to set. She frowned, trying to make sense of what had happened, and how they could have possibly gotten somewhere that was so obviously not Chicago.

She glanced over to Caleb and groaned. "Oh Caleb, what did you do?"

A/N: And there's the first chapter! I decided to go ahead and update to give everyone a better feel for the story, and I realized just how short the prologue really was! Comments, critiques, and criticisms are welcome. Thanks for reading!