Chapter 1

"Back On Track"

-AJ Lee-

"And today's top story – three brave teenagers survive a torturous three months being held captive under the strangling hold of five brutal men. Today is the two month anniversary, and we are pleased to say that the teens are still safe, and the evil men are still locked up. If you would like more information on this story, visit our webs–."

The TV clicked off. I was tired of hearing about my own story on every channel known to man. People in this world can be so stupid. I mean, they're practically turning the worst part of my entire life into a Hollywood thriller. Yeah, rumor has it they are gonna make a "true life" movie about all of this. But as fucked up as this world may be, I'm so glad that I'm still alive to laugh at it.

My name is April Mendez but my friends call me AJ Lee or AJ, and in case your TV is broken, cell phone is dead, without internet, or just living in the darkest part of the world with no communication at all, you may already know who I am. I was that girl who was stupid and returned to Chicago, knowing that that was where my crazy ex-boyfriend and his friends lived, just waiting for my return.

Those three months of hell that they put me through have completely changed me, and for the better, shockingly. I realized that my life could end at any given moment – so if I don't start living now, then I'll never get the chance to in the first place. So that's what I started doing. From now on, I'm going to be the one in control of my life. And I will never allow myself or my friends to be put through hell ever again.

"Ow, damn it I'm stuck to the refrigerator again!" Kaitlyn shouted from the kitchen down the hall.

Her leg was burned badly when she was caught in the house fire, so she got a special treatment, and by that I mean that her leg was amputated and replaced with a metal leg. Also, she got special surgeries and therapies to help ease her blindness. Now she has to wear glasses all the time, but hey at least she can see right?

The problem now is that her metal leg kind of acts like a magnet and was currently attached to the stainless steel fridge. "I'm coming! It's El Chico Guapo to the rescue!" Sammy shouted, sprinting into the kitchen and pulling Kaitlyn's leg away from the fridge.

"Translation please," Kiara laughed, walking into the room. She says that every time Sammy decides he wants to go Spanglish on us.

He rolled his eyes, "Obviously it means 'The Hot Guy.'"

Kiara and I glanced at each other and burst out laughing. Sammy was Kofi's new roommate when we moved to a college in New York and Kiara was someone I met in my lovely AP Calculus class. Kiara was half Carmel black and half Puerto Rican with lots of tattoos on different parts of her body, light olive blue eyes and she also had long straight black and red hair.The five of us have grown really tight in the past couple of months and luckily we all got away with sharing an apartment. We have parties almost every night and stay up till 3 AM all the time. We act like nothing ever happened before, and that's just fine. The sooner I can forget the better.

Well, that's easier said than done. Kaitlyn wasn't the only one who spent a ton of time in the hospital. I had a shattered knee cap, broken ribs, severe bruises, deep lacerations, and some internal bleeding. I had to have metal put inside my knee to replace the bones that had been shattered. Let's just say any dreams I had of being a track star are gone down the drain. I still have scars that will never go away and that is why no matter how hard I try, I can never forget what happened.

A hand apparently had been waving back and forth in front of my face and I just now noticed. "Hello, earth to AJ?" Kofi said.

"Whoa, I definitely just spaced out there," I laughed.

"Yeah, obviously. Anyway, I was wondering what you were going to get me for Christmas?" Oh shit that's right, today's November 28th, which means that Christmas is less than a month away.

"Hmm," I paused thinking of something to say that would add to the suspense, "it's a surprise!"

Kofi groaned, "Oh c'mon, AJ, just give me a little hint."

"Don't do it!" Sammy dramatically shouted from the kitchen.

"Oh that's it dude. I am coming for you," Kofi replied as both of us ran into the kitchen and saw that they were totally making s'mores without us.

"Take this you… JERK!" Kofi shouted, sending tons of marshmallows down onto Sammy's head. He quickly ducked and covered, but that didn't stop Kofi.

I grabbed a handful of mini Hershey's chocolate bars and ate almost all of them at once. "Uh-oh here comes the chocolate monster," Kiara teased, putting her s'more in the microwave. Yes, it's true I am a chocolate addict.

Kaitlyn had been waiting in line for the microwave and decided to open up the window, since it was getting extremely hot in our tiny kitchen. "OH MY GOD, GUYS IT'S SNOWING!" she shouted, causing all of us to stop fooling around and crowd around the window instead.

"What's snow?" Sammy asked.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?! Do you seriously not know what snow is?" Kaitlyn gasped.

"No, remember, yo soy de méxico!"

"Gah, not again with Spanglish!" Kiara laughed.

"This calls for… Christmas music!" I decided randomly, immediately turning on the stereo nearby and smiling when I noticed they were playing "Last Christmas," which was one of my favorite songs.

Basically, the rest of the night we ate s'mores, had too many food fights to count, and all fell asleep sprawled across the living room to the sounds of light Christmas music in the background and snow falling on the rooftops.

Although it was quiet, cozy, and peaceful here, across the country it was just the opposite. Sirens were blaring and spot lights were shining all over the place. For the first time in national history, someone was breaking out of a maximum security cell.