Grade: Freshmen in High school

JJ sighed watching the bus drive down the street. She'd have to walk back to her house and tell her mom that she missed the bus again. Today wasn't going to be her day, she just knew it, she woke up late, she didn't have time to eat and now she missed the bus. She walked down the street back to her house and up the stairs of the porch.

"Mom…I missed the bus again." JJ said sighing as she sat down at the kitchen table.

"Alright, I'll be right down and I'll drive you, Peter's still in bed anyway and needs a ride to work." JJ's mom said as she woke Peter up. JJ sat at the table playing with the saltshaker waiting. She never noticed when her mom came down a few minutes later.

"You ok, dear?" She rubbed JJ's back a little.

"I just feel off today…"

"Something going on between one of you four?"

"No…I just…don't know something's off about today."

"Hmm…I wish I knew what to tell you."

"Yeah? It'll be ok."

"Mom! Turn the radio on!" Peter yelled from upstairs.

"What's so important Pete! Your late!"

"Just do it!" She sighed turning the radio on and up.

Breaking news!

24 students expected to be killed in a horrific accident while on the way to school…the bus was said to have collided with a semi and rolled. All 24 students went to the local high school and came from the garden subdivision area.

JJ stared at the radio unable to move. Peter came running down the stairs.

"Mom! JJ's bus!"

"She was late…" their mom said as peter saw JJ sitting at the table, shaking.

"Jay!" Peter hugged her. "Oh thank god…"

"Peter! Emily! Penelope! And Jordan!" JJ started to cry.

"Mom," Peter looked up at their mom. "Can I borrow the car?"

"Go." She gave Peter the car keys and Peter helped JJ up.

"Come on." He dragged her out to the car and threw some tools in the car before peeling down the street. He followed the bus route till he found the bus and jumped out. He ran over to the bus where others stood around.

"Hey! Are the police here?"

"No!" someone yelled back at him.

"So what no one's going to help?" Peter yelled jumping to action. He ran over to the doors of the bus and tried to pry them open. With no luck he ran to the car and grabbed some tools.

"Jay…I really need your help." Peter said holding JJ's hand, when she nodded he pulled her toward the bus. Peter hoisted JJ up onto the bus which laid on its side.

"What do you want me to do?" JJ asked.

"Find an empty seat and bust the window out." Peter yelled to her.

"Peter yeah right!" JJ yelled at him angered that he had so much faith in her power.

"Here!" Peter threw a hammer up a few feet from where she stood. JJ picked it up and started down the windows till she found one with no one on either side. She immediately started to hit the window with as much force as she could muster up with the aid of the hammer.

"Remember it's just like dad showed us when we made the tree house!" Peter told JJ. JJ sighed and changed how she was sitting to throw her weight easier. When the window cracked JJ smiled and hit it a few more times before stomping it with her foot.

"Ok! In!"

"Good now I need you to crawl into the bus…here! Use this to cover the broken edges." Peter handed her his shirt. JJ nodded laying the shirt on the glass before sliding feet first into the bus.

"I'm in Peter!" JJ yelled and waited for more instructions.

"I need you to find who's hurt the worst JJ… Don't put personals…"

"I'll try." JJ said starting to go through who was hurt. "Are you ok?" she kept asking everyone as she passed, when she came to an unconscious Jake Ericson. "Peter! Jake Ericson is out cold!"

"You need to get him out here with out moving his neck or back."

"How?" JJ asked as peter looked around and someone came running up with four two by fours.

"These will work if we can get them tied." The man said. "Wife wants a new dog house, made me run out at 6 to get them…now I'm glad she did." He smiled and so did Peter.

"Anyone have rope or…something to keep these together?"

"Yeah! A tow strap?"

"Perfect!" Peter said, running with the woman to her car, they quickly wrapped the tow strap around the four boards. "Ok! JJ! Here it comes. I want to see if you can get the back door open actually!" JJ made her way to the emergency exit and pulled the handle but it wouldn't move.

"I can't!"

"Here!" A football player JJ recognized as Toby came up behind her and pulled the door handle up as hard as he could then kicked the door.

"Go Toby!" JJ smiled.

"Ok, JJ you and I are going to move Jake on the boards and into the bed of the blue pick up ok?"

"Yeah." JJ moved toward Jake but spotted Jordan. "Jordan!" JJ knelt next to Jordan, noticing the huge cut on her head.

"Hi…you missed the bus." Jordan said looking at JJ.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine…help the others…"

"Jenn. I can take her out of here." Toby offered and JJ nodded.

"Please, and some of the others!"

"Alright, her then I'll start with the back and work up."

"Good!" JJ nodded before moving up to Peter.

"JJ." Peter turned to face JJ completely, "I need your head all in this…I know these are your friends. I just want you in here, all in here…"

"I know, you don't have to remind me." JJ snapped.

"Whoa…I'm not here to ridicule you, I'm here to help, just like you are."

"Shut up and get him out of here!" JJ yelled at Peter, him talking to her like this wasn't helping her at all, somewhere either on this bus or on the road were Emily and JJ, either hurt or worried. Peter rolled Jake onto his shoulder and slid the boards under him.

"Ok, help me lift him up and out of here?" JJ nodded and slowly lifted him up. She walked him with Peter out toward the back of the bus.

"Step down." A guy yelled behind her and JJ stepped down and others helped her and Peter get Jake down. JJ allowed others to take her place and pulled herself back up into the bus.

"JJ! I can't move!" JJ heard someone yell from the front of the bus, she quickly made her way through the bus to the front.

"Hey," JJ knelt next to the girl she knew to be a junior who held the swimming record for something or another. "Does anything hurt?"

"No…get me outta here JJ." She started to cry.

"Hey now," JJ thought trying to remember her name. "Erica I need you to stay calm, and hold it together, your tough. I need you to stay still, I can get you out of here."

"Ok…" Erica held her breath as JJ started moving objects around to get her free. "JJ, Emily never got on today."

"Erica I don't want you to worry about that right now."

"Neither did Pen."

"Erica, it's ok."

"JJ no. I need you to know that they didn't get on. I want you to tell Scott…from the swim team."

"No, I'll get you out of here."

"No. I know that, I need you to tell him that the day I told him Garcia was watching him…I lied."

"I'm not going to confess your lies to him for you. tell him later today at school."

"God JJ."

"Your free." JJ smiled and pulled Erica up to her. "Come on, lets get you off this death trap." JJ wrapped an arm around Erica and helped her off the bus.

"Peter, I need your help! Erica here needs to tell Scott she's a dirty rotten liar!" JJ laughed as Erica hit the back of her head.

"Scott's on the way down here to help, I just heard that he's at the Rite Aid getting some stuff."

"Gezz, smart thinking. All you grabbed were some tools!"

"JJ, shut up and get back in there!" Peter laughed taking Erica from her. JJ turned and ran back into the bus. With others help there were maybe 6 people left.

"Is anyone hurt really bad?" JJ asked, when no one said yes she started helping everyone one by one off the bus. When JJ helped the last person off the bus Emily came running up.

"JJ!" Emily wrapped her arms around JJ. "Oh thank god."

"Emily!" JJ held on to Emily holding back tears.

"Where's Jordan? Is she ok?" Emily asked. "And Garcia?"

"Jordan's ok, she should be over this way." JJ started tugging Emily over toward one of the pick ups.

"What about Garcia?"

"I don't know she never got on the bus."

"Emily!" Jordan jumped off the truck bed. "Are you ok?" Jordan ran over and hugged Emily.

"I'm fine. Have you seen Garcia?"

"No…"

"Get me to the school." Emily told the guy sitting in the truck.

"Can't ma'am."

"Sir please!" Emily huffed "I'm a Prentiss… I need to find my friend."

"Fine, get in the back, and pull the hurt with ya!" he turned the car on and Emily and JJ started pulling some others into the bed.

"Go!" Emily hit the top of the cab and sat down with JJ and Jordan leaning against her. "Please dear god let her be ok." Emily said resting her head on JJ's. Jordan grabbed her hand.

"It's Garcia, she was most likely late, and missed the bus." Jordan said looking up at Emily.

"Yeah, I hope so."

"Erica said she never got on the bus."

"Good." Jordan said closing her eyes.

"Hey you have to stay awake, we have a math test remember? How am I going to pass if your asleep?" Emily smiled at Jordan and JJ nudged her in the side.

"Don't cheat."

"Did I say I cheated?"

"Nope." Jordan smiled.

"Oh shut up I know you two, one knows history the other math you sit right next to each other." JJ rolled her eyes. "I wondered why Emily's grades went up when she moved away from me."

"No, now she just pays more attention." Jordan stuck her tongue out.

"Oh sure!" JJ laughed. The truck pulled to a stop in front of the school and people were already out there helping others. Some came over and helped the new arivales get off the truck.

"Come on, lets go find Garcia." Jordan said jumping down.

"Be careful Jordan! You're still hurt." JJ warned.

"Yes mom!" Jordan laughed and headed toward the doors. Emily walked with JJ an arm around her waist.

"You ok?"

"I'll be fine." JJ answered.

"Good." Emily smiled kissing JJ's cheek. They followed Jordan into the office and leaned against the counter as she asked for Garcia to be called down.

"Jordan…we were told she was taken to the hospital with some of the others." The office lady said looking concerned.

"But she never got on the bus!" JJ exclaimed, turning to face her.

"I'm sorry but we had a report that she was."

"I was one of the first respondents! She wasn't there!"

"I…the only thing I cant think of is to go to the hospital and check for yourself." She said, and that's just what JJ was going to do. JJ ran out the door with Emily and Jordan hot on her heels.

"Erica said she never got on! I didn't see her!" JJ said tears clouding her eyes.

x-x-x

When they arrived at the hospital JJ was first to the desk and asked for Penelope Garcia, the nurse nodded and pointed them in the right direction. When JJ found the room she ran inside and stopped dead in her tracks, Jordan and Emily running into her back. Garica lay hooked up to a ventilator, with I.V. tubes hanging all over.

"Can I help you miss?" a young male doctor walked in.

"Yes, what happened?" Jordan said for JJ.

"I can't tell you if you're not family."

"I'm damn close enough!" JJ said getting toe to toe with him.

"She was in the bus accident, she hit her head so hard it knocked her out, and she stopped breathing on the way in."

"O god…" Emily wrapped her arms around JJ.

"Where was she?" JJ asked.

"We're not positive but in the front seems most likely, front seat…she was one of the last we got in."

"I missed her." JJ whispered.

"No, you were scared… don't blame yourself, think of everyone you helped." Jordan said. JJ started to cry, she turned to Emily and hid her face.

"JJ…" Jordan hugged Emily and JJ. "You saved so many others."

"I didn't save Garcia! My best friend! I saved someone I didn't know before her!"

"You did what was right." Emily said tears of her own rolling down her cheeks.

"If I may…Don't grieve…don't place blame, just be here for her, she can hear you." the doctor told them before leaving them with her.

"Come on Jay." Emily said moving so she could pull up a chair next to her bed. She pulled JJ to sit on her lap, together the three of them sat in silence keeping vigil over their friend.

x-x-x

"Jay?" Emily asked opening her eyes when she felt JJ move away from her.

"I'm ok… just need to move… and food." She said and Emily stood up.

"I'll come."

"It's alright, I need some time." JJ said wiping a tear from her eye.

"Naw, I think I should come, anyway, Jordan might want some time with Garcia." Emily shook Jordan up. "Food we'll be right back." Jordan nodded resting her head back on the bed holding Penelope's hand. Emily walked over to JJ taking hold of her hand.

"Come on, lets go find some food." Emily said as they walked down the hall.

"We should've been on that bus." JJ said after a few minutes.

"I know."

"Why did we get spared?"

"We didn't get spared."

"I'm not an angel, I should've been there! I should be hurt too!" JJ said tears freely streaming down her face. Emily sighed and pulled JJ into a hug.

"If you were on that bus all those people would've had to have stayed there longer…Pen could be worse, you could be dead."

"I should've been there."

"You were there jay."

"Um…excuse me…are you from the bus accident?" an older woman asked tapping JJ's shoulder. JJ turned wiping her tears away and clearing her throat.

"Yes ma'am we were."

"My son is Jake Ericson, do you happen to know a JJ?"

"Yes ma'am that would be me." JJ said and was immediately pulled into a hug by the woman who was now sobbing.

"You saved my boy's life! The doctors say if it hadn't been for the quick work of the students, you, he'd be gone."

"I…just did what I had to."

"Thank you." the woman said brushing tears away from her eyes. "How can I ever repay you."

"No need ma'am…"

"I…You saved my boy…"

"Ma'am I don't want to sound mean, but I'm just a freshman, I don't want this to be my biggest high school memory, please, I did what I had to." JJ said a little coldly.

"I understand…but if you ever need anything, the Ericson's will always be there for you." she hugged JJ one last time and smiled at Emily. "Thank you both." She said walking away.

"See, to someone besides me you are an angel."

x-x-x

a/n: Ok so we all know, I didn't kill Garcia, I just couldn't since well that's just plain mean, and I posted her future before this part. I know I keep focusing on JJ/Emily, I'm working on Garcia/Jordan. If anyone's confused on the age, the girls are all freshmen in high school, Peter is graduated the year before. I'm not totally sure about this part so feedback is extremely wanted so I know what you guys think.