I ran into the burning apartment, hearing the cries of the people telling me not to faltering as the cackling of the flames surrounded me, as if the fire was laughing at me. Yes, I was a fool. But, man, I wasn't leaving my best friend in there, or my skateboard. I climbed up the staircase that I had, just a couple of minutes ago, dashed down to get away from the fire. And, the ironic thing was, I am now running back into it! Well, it was worth it, though. My friend was worth more than this. It was smoking hot in there, man! I ran through the hallway, looking for the right doorway to get to my mother's apartment. It was hard, though, because most of them were covered in flame. Then I tripped on a piece of burning timber and fell, my arm falling into flame. I jumped up, the pain excrutiating. I found a piece of cloth that wasn't on fire and put out the fire on my arm, the blood still flowing. I ignored the pain and finally found the apartment door. I kicked down the door, a cloud of smoke welcoming me into the burning place. I waved the smoke away, my ponytail that protruded from my hat smacking the back of my neck. I spotted my West 49 skateboard that said "Manafest", one of my favorite Christian rappers on the bottom on it and grabbed it, dashing toward my room and grabbing my mother's touch screen phone, my blue-and-white small MP3 with my headphones in their case on the way. I dashed into my room to see my friend Chris huddled in one of the corners of my room, knocked out from smoke inhalation, probably. Then I remembered that he was napping before I fell asleep, so. I don't know much on this type of stuff, personally, but I try to go with the flow. Chris's jacket protected his back from the flames that would have threatened him if I didn't arrive at the time I did. I ran over to Chris and shook him awake. He coughed and looked up at me. "C-C-Casey?" I nodded, yanking him off his knees and brushing him off. "Yes, you retard! Of course it is! Who did ya think it was? The President? Come on! The place is collasping!" I pushed him toward the door, skateboard tucked under my arm. "Dang, girl! Stop with the pushing!" I growled at him and he turned around to see me glaring up at him. I got in front of him and pulled him through the door that creaked ominously. I pulled him all the way through the door right when it crashed behind us, sending up smoke and flames. I looked behind me to see Chris there, determination aflame in his eyes. I smiled at his bravery and turned toward the staircase that was covered in smoke. I coughed as I dashed through the smoke, pulling Chris through with me. When we reached the bottom of the stairs, we ran to the middle of the commons room, looking for a way out, since our main exit was blocked by flames. Chris stumbled into me and made me hit my arm on his chest. A deluge of pain ran up my arm and I hissed as the pain subsided. There was no way out, now. I looked at Chris, who looked at me, the determination that was there only minutes ago replaced by fear and hopelessness. I sighed and looked around as Chris sat down. "Casey, there's no way out. The only option is to wait-which, even I have to admit, isn't really an option right now." I grunted, realizing what he was saying was true. I took off my hat and wiped off my forehead, and then sat beside him, resting my head on my knees. "You can lay your head on my shoulder." Chris offered, and I took the offer. I could feel him tense up at my touch because he wasn't from a loving home like I was. One time, I hugged him and he became rock solid. It was either the home he came from or he liked me. Either one, he wasn't very accustomed to anyone touching him. He started to hum his favorite song, "Hold On" by tobyMac. A few minutes after he stopped humming the song, I heard his breath deepen and his muscles loosen, so I knew he was asleep. I curled up beside him and fell into a light sleep, only getting an hour of sleep myself, as the flames enclosed on us.
I woke up in a moving vehicle with figures moving around hurriedly, talking in low voices. My body ached everywhere, and I tried to remember what had happened. "She's coming around." A man with a Monopoly-style moustache walked over to me, softly laying his hand on my shoulder. I coughed toward the floor and looked back up at him. "Ugh. What happened? Where's Chris?" The Monopoly dude chuckled. "Slow down with the questions. The apartment building you and your mom lived in caught on fire, possibly by the dropped cigarette on the bottom floor. Your friend was in there with you guys, napping. Is he Chris?" I nod, my eyes widening. "Okay, then I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that he burnt his hand badly. The others saw it and they all gasped, mortified. It wasn't as bad as it looked, though, because most of the blood was yours. He wrapped his arms around you while you were sleeping. Don't tell him I told you, though, but he likes you." I took a deep breath and continued with "How bad am I? Really bad or so-so bad?" He copied me with the whole deep-breath thing and looked at my hand. "You're pretty bad. You're covered with third-degree burns and slices. You almost lost your arm and may still have to get it amputated. We'll order you an auto-mail arm in the mail and take the skin from your old arm to put on it if we have to cut it off. The old skin will heal, though. You lost your skateboard, but you recovered everything else. Chris is in the other ambulance behind us. You're a brave young lady. You know that? You haven't cried one tear! One!" I nodded, smirking. "Well, just try to go to sleep." I closed my eyes as the ambulance's sirens wailed as we hit heavy traffic.
I opened my eyes, rapidly blinking to adjust my eyes to the bright light coming from the window of the room. I heard a continuous obnoxous beeping sound coming from the direction of the window, and I looked up to see a heart monitor attached to me with a cord. An IV drip stood tall beside me, it's needle sticking out of my arm, and it itched. I would have scratched it, but I had no feeling in my right arm, which was bandaged up. Most of my skin was burnt or scarred, and my body ached for a bath. I heard footsteps in the hallway, which sounded like they were getting closer, and I turned my head toward the door. A nurse hurried in, a doctor following her. The nurse went to the counter on the opposite side of the room while the doctor came to my side with scissors, a canister and more gauze for my arm. He cut the old gauze off my arm, revealing scarred and inflamed flesh covered in pus. The doctor gestured toward the nurse for a wet piece of cloth to wipe off my arm. After he wiped it off, he opened the canister and rubbed some stuff that looked like chewed-up gummy bears on my arm. When he finished wiping the sticky stuff on my arm, he wrapped it back up in gauze. He looked up to see me watching him intently. He smirked and stood up, gathering all of his medical supplies. I looked out the window when I heard Chris's voice in the hall, pleading to let him in. "Please, Doc? Please?!" The doctor sighed, annoyed. "Only family is allowed in. No one else." "Hey, man! Open your freakin' eyes! We're the only family she has left! Haven't you heard the news? Her father was killed in that explosion down in the soccer game because he went back in to save her mother, who was killed in the fire! She has no grandparents or relatives left livin'! We made a vow. We won't leave her side." Chris said, defiant. The doctor looked into my room, saw me there, awake, and turned back to them. "Alright. You can go in." Chris barged into the room and saw me lying there, my body gauzed and scarred. His eyes widened at the sight, and he rushed to my side. The others followed, worried sick. I smiled. "Hey guys." The six of them grinned like idiots, and I laughed. Breanna and Tiffany, two of my friends, popped up beside me, worried. I smiled at them and yawned, makiing them laugh. Breanna held up a picture. It was me and Chris standing in front of the burning apartment, the flames raging behind us. Chris's jet-black spikey hair was accented by the heated flames behind us, his icy blue eyes blazing in the picture's highlighting. I stood beside him, my long auburn hair flaring up behind us, like as if the wind was blowing in our faces. My hazel eyes were burning with determination to get out of there. I seemed menacing, a monster waiting to break out of these chains. Both of our clothes were burnt and tattered, our skin scarred, burnt, and bloody. Chris's hand was covered in flame and burning blood, while my arm was matching his hand. My skateboard was under my foot, and the tip was burned black. Behind us was the apartment, collapsing in a cloud of smoke and debris. We were holding hands, a grin slapped on our faces. Huh. I wish it was like that.
You see, Chris had the looks and voice of Manafest, but acted way different. He was hilarious, especially when he tried. Chris wrestled and played basketball while I played soccer and ran in the 100-meter in track. We all love to rap and sing, and we're very talented. We thought of forming a band, but we needed a bassist. "We" is the seven of us. Me, Chris, Breanna, Tiffany, Ben, Perry, and Miranda make up the gang. The gang isn't racist, we're skateboarders, we never cuss, we never lie or steal, and we don't use or deal tobacco. We would ride our skateboards to school and put them in our lockers 'til school let out or 'til it was gym time and we could go outside on the track. Then we would ride them to the skate park and hang out there for a while after school. I'm learning how to perform the kickflip because I've mastered the ollie. Easy as riding a skateboard. Here's a little tip-- NEVER GIVE UP!!!! If we didn't go to the park, or after we did, we would go to one of our homie's house or apartments and work on our homework, talk, snack or eat dinner, watch television, sing, or draw. We're all rappin', hard-core Christians. Actually, on the bottom of Ben's skateboard, there's a pic that shows Jesus standing in front of the cross with the nails still in His hands. Then, it shows the tomb in the background. It's pretty awesome. The whole gang was in the tenth grade, so we always stuck together. If we had to seperate, then we would always make sure that no one was left alone. It's a we-got-each-other's-back kind of thing. We do have an aggresive front, which dosen't play along well with the preps or the jocks. But, we never provoke fights; people just don't like us. If one of us did get into a fight, then it depends on the circumstances how we react. If we're outnumbered, then we get our people together and bail. If we outnumber them, then we would fight back. For me, it also depends on who's in the fight if I join. If I do, then I get my skateboard ready to bring the ruckus! If I break up the fight, then I pull our person out and give the opponent a warning shove. But, behind my bold front, I'm a friendly, sarcastic, kind, creative, perverted, happy-go-lucky chick that acts as a bodyguard for the others. Chris is like me, just that he's funnier and he's the only one that knows my weakness. Miranda is a creative, artistic, perky chick that possesses leader qualities. But, no one's an appointed leader. Breanna is the anime freak of the gang, with all of the latest anime shows and movies, mangas, and things like that. Tiffany was a Christian-rappin', life-lovin', quiet person that loved to write. Ben was Miranda's boyfriend, a crazy, wolf-loving dude that didn't care about much. While Chris and I make sure that everything's in order and watch over everyone, he sits there, doing NOTHING. Perry is the idiot of the gang. He has a jacked-up personality, with red contacts, hot sauce that's even too hot for me, and hair like grass. It shoots straight up, like blonde grass! He's weird. Just sayin'. Our families aren't ordinary, either. Well, Chris's and my families, aat least. I lived with my mom and my pet dog -a husky-beagle mix- in the apartment. It was just us, since my dad died tryin' to save my mom at the explosion at the last soccer game for our school downtown. Chris's dad commited suicide when he was just a toddler, so he just lived with his mom, too. The others still had both parents and siblings at home, so they don't understand what Chris and I are going through. Chris and I fight for our food. I hunt for both of our families, since my mom's a missionary and his mom's been a wreck since then. We live in the suburbs, but there's woods behind our street. Chris scavenges for food and grows a garden for veggies and fruit. So, we have it the hard way. We worked at Aldi's, the grocery store down the road, and earned 9$ an hour behind the register. We saved enough to pay off Chris's bills, get small presents for the holidays and birthdays, and we were able to get ourselves new clothes. That's where I go shopping for food because it's cheap. We got an XBox360 for Christmas from my mom, and we always play the Halo games, the Rock Band series, the Guitar Hero series, and Call of Duty. I also have a red Acer Aspire One Netbook. I also got this for Christmas. We have never been to a concert, but, in a couple of months, Manafest, tobyMac, and Thousand Foot Krutch will be on tour here, so I wanna catch that. But, I doubt that I will. VIP cost 40$, and I have 75$. I would have to pay for me and Chris. Anyway, I nodded in approvement at the picture, a smirk on my face. The two artists squealed and then everyone was chased out by the doctor. I sighed, looking out the window to see snow flurries drifting down to the ground. I fought the urge to roll over, drifting into a light sleep, wanting to just get out of this life and drift into oblivion.
I started awake, sweat pouring down my face and neck. My heart monitor was going off like a fast-paced alarm clock and felt my heart in my chest, pounding. I felt like I had just ran away from a wild animal or something along those lines. I shook my head and raised the upper half of my hospital bed, so that now I was in a seated position. My arm hurt like heck, but I felt fine other than that. I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. I looked out the window to see snow covering everything and I groaned. I LOATHE the cold weather. I love warm weather, with swimming, skateboarding, being able to wear shorts and a T-shirt without freezing to death...Anyway! I wiped off my face and neck on my shoulder sleeve as I wondered why I had woken up like that. I gave up, shaking my head. My heart ached for my mom, but she wasn't going to be there anymore. All I had was my gang, a rockin' awesome group of outcasts. I sighed as the doctor came in and unhooked me from everything. "You're free." I nodded and stood up, stretching my tight muscles. It felt so good to actually stretch. I walked over to the window that I always stared out of and looked at the snow-covered ground outside. I groaned inwardly, turning around to see Ben, Miranda, and Chris at the door, and I smiled. "Hey." "Hey?! That's all you got to say, girl? HEY!?" I laughed at Miranda's stricken expression, embracing her as she ran at me, arms outstretched. She was like a little sister to me. After we broke apart, she started talking and wouldn't shut up! Correction: she was an annoying little sister to me. I looked up at ben, who was cracking up about something, and Chris, who shrugged when I shot him a "What?" face. I smiled and looked at Miranda, who didn't notice a thing. "Am I right?" I nodded, patting her shoulder. She grinned and charged Ben,who had stopped laughing and was leaning against the framework of the door, smirking. The two embraced each other, laughing. I smiled and looked over at Chris, who was watching them longingly, probably wishing for a date. I rolled my eyes and looked outside to see an ambulance pull up to the ER entrance and the back doors flung open, four people and a stretcher dashing out of them. I pictured myself on that stretcher, burns and blood covering me. I shuddered at the thought and then felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked to see Chris there, a worried look on his face. "You okay?" I smacked on a fake smile and nodded, not wanting him to worry about me. He shrugged and looked out the window with me. I could feel my heart speed up and my breathing shallow as we stood there for a minute. Then, as if it were timed, my stomach growled loudly. "What does a girl gotta do for food around here, people? It better be better than the food I got in bed because that wasn't food. That was crap." I laughed while Chris shook his head, chuckling. I pushed past him and dashed through the doorway to the elevator. I pounded on the down button while Chris caught up with me, out of breath. Then the doors slid open and I hopped in, Chris following me, eyes wide, surprised at how much energy I had, especially since I had just gotten out of the hospital. We dropped four floors, and I almost ran into someone when the doors opened and I barged out into the snack area. I bounded to the line while Chris went to sit with the others. I ordered a burger and a large sweet tea, since it was lunchtime. I walked over to the table where the others where sitting, now noticing a short, spiky black-haired chick sitting with the others. She was wearing a turquoise tank top with a ripped black pullover shirt that was not button-up. She had on a black skirt over fish-net tights, which covered her beach-tan skin. The gang was a bit pale, but we're not albino. We just hate cold weather, so we don't go outside much anymore. I sat down between Chris and Ben. The new girl looked at me and then I realized that she had ocean-blue eyes with green and gold flecks in them. I smiled and waved at her, and she waved back. "Marianna, Casey. Casey, Marianna." Chris said, introducing us to each other. "So, hero, how's the arm?" Ben asked me, being annoying like always. I smacked him with it, not feeling any pain at all when the impact left his arm red. He yelped and clutched his arm, rubbing it. I smirked. "Still hits pretty good! Did it hurt?" Ben gawked at me, astonished. "Of course it did, you idiot!" Then I nodded. "So it works. There's your answer." He glowered at me, and I grinned. Then I heard Marianna calling for someone, waving them over. I looked where she was waving to see a pale, skinny teen waking over to us, her jet-black hair covering one of her eyes. The stripe of blue dye in her hair brought out the electric blue in her eyes. She was wearing a black leather jacket over a Green Day T-shirt with a chain necklace around her neck. There was a little silver heart dangling from the chain. Her white skinny jeans were ripped, with black combat boots lacing up to her knees, the jeans tucked into them. She was also wearing a leather bracelet that had the name ALEX engraved into it. I waved at her, expecting her to just sneer at me and walk on to Marianna, but she actually waved back at me. "Is this Casey, the leader of the Wild Grinders?" I nodded, smirking. "I'm Alex, Marianna's friend." "Sweet!" I turned to the gang, who was STILL laughing. I looked over at Chris, who was laughing like a freakin' idiot, and shook my head. "Well, then." Chris calmed down and looked over at me. "Hey, Casey, there's another dude that we want you to meet. His name's Matthew Curtis. He loves basketball, and he's also really funny. I think you'll like him." I smirked and and rolled my eyes. "Not as much as the gang!" I laughed as he shook his head. "Anyway, he goes to our school, so he's gonna meet up with us in fourth period, where all of the gang is together. I told him a bit about you, warning him that you can be demonic at times." I shot him a glare, and he gestured to my face. "See?" We broke out in peals of laughter, the gang giving us confused looks. My head shook from the laughter. We finally calmed down and I found out a bit of info on the new girl's past. Marianna only had one parent, her father, and she also had a pet mini-horse, Midnight. She moved here from Virginia, where she learned how to skateboard. (They skateboard there? Awkward....) But, to my surprise, she didn't know the ollie. Yet. "I'll teach ya!" I offered. Her face lit up. "Really? You'd do that? Thanks!" She hugged me, and I stood as stiff as a pole. When she let go, I scooted away from her, creeped out. Everyone laughed at my reaction as I grimaced. The only ones not laughing was the ones not paying attention to us. I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I looked over to see Alex beside me, eager to telll me something. "You okay there, Alex?" She nodded. "I got a boyfriend!" The word "boyfriend" made my blood run ice-cold. "Cool." The thing is, I've always wanted a dude to like, but I can't find one. I thought about dating Chris, but... that's awkward. He's like a brother to me. We've always helped each other through our troubles, fending for each other. We haven't even talked about that crap. But, that Monopoly dude said that...Never mind. "Did Tiger make it?" Tiger is the husky-beagle mix I mentioned earlier. He's built like a husky, but he's covered in beagle colors. His eyes are different, one electric blue, the other a hazel. The tip of his tail looked like he dipped it in a pail of white paint. I found him on the side of the road; him a pup, me a kid. He had a broken front right paw, and he had an infected eye, which the doctor fixed right up. "Yeah, he survived. He ran out first and went to my house, warning my mom by leading her to the apartment. Poor little dog." Chris said. "I also got your mom's phone and your MP3. They're at my house, along with a little gift that you'll love." My eyes widened, curiosity geting the best of me. "It was funny, last night. Tiger kept me up all night last night. But, when I was finally drifting off to sleep, he curled up next to me. I think he's finally trusting me." I smirked, picturing Tiger curled up next to Chris. "Hey, guys, who brought their skateboards? I got my rollerblades!" Everyone said they had their rides. I said I would run. "Let's go to Chris's!" Breanna offered. We all hopped on our rides and rode/ran to Chris's house, me still leading.
I woke up in a moving vehicle with figures moving around hurriedly, talking in low voices. My body ached everywhere, and I tried to remember what had happened. "She's coming around." A man with a Monopoly-style moustache walked over to me, softly laying his hand on my shoulder. I coughed toward the floor and looked back up at him. "Ugh. What happened? Where's Chris?" The Monopoly dude chuckled. "Slow down with the questions. The apartment building you and your mom lived in caught on fire, possibly by the dropped cigarette on the bottom floor. Your friend was in there with you guys, napping. Is he Chris?" I nod, my eyes widening. "Okay, then I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that he burnt his hand badly. The others saw it and they all gasped, mortified. It wasn't as bad as it looked, though, because most of the blood was yours. He wrapped his arms around you while you were sleeping. Don't tell him I told you, though, but he likes you." I took a deep breath and continued with "How bad am I? Really bad or so-so bad?" He copied me with the whole deep-breath thing and looked at my hand. "You're pretty bad. You're covered with third-degree burns and slices. You almost lost your arm and may still have to get it amputated. We'll order you an auto-mail arm in the mail and take the skin from your old arm to put on it if we have to cut it off. The old skin will heal, though. You lost your skateboard, but you recovered everything else. Chris is in the other ambulance behind us. You're a brave young lady. You know that? You haven't cried one tear! One!" I nodded, smirking. "Well, just try to go to sleep." I closed my eyes as the ambulance's sirens wailed as we hit heavy traffic.
I opened my eyes, rapidly blinking to adjust my eyes to the bright light coming from the window of the room. I heard a continuous obnoxous beeping sound coming from the direction of the window, and I looked up to see a heart monitor attached to me with a cord. An IV drip stood tall beside me, it's needle sticking out of my arm, and it itched. I would have scratched it, but I had no feeling in my right arm, which was bandaged up. Most of my skin was burnt or scarred, and my body ached for a bath. I heard footsteps in the hallway, which sounded like they were getting closer, and I turned my head toward the door. A nurse hurried in, a doctor following her. The nurse went to the counter on the opposite side of the room while the doctor came to my side with scissors, a canister and more gauze for my arm. He cut the old gauze off my arm, revealing scarred and inflamed flesh covered in pus. The doctor gestured toward the nurse for a wet piece of cloth to wipe off my arm. After he wiped it off, he opened the canister and rubbed some stuff that looked like chewed-up gummy bears on my arm. When he finished wiping the sticky stuff on my arm, he wrapped it back up in gauze. He looked up to see me watching him intently. He smirked and stood up, gathering all of his medical supplies. I looked out the window when I heard Chris's voice in the hall, pleading to let him in. "Please, Doc? Please?!" The doctor sighed, annoyed. "Only family is allowed in. No one else." "Hey, man! Open your freakin' eyes! We're the only family she has left! Haven't you heard the news? Her father was killed in that explosion down in the soccer game because he went back in to save her mother, who was killed in the fire! She has no grandparents or relatives left livin'! We made a vow. We won't leave her side." Chris said, defiant. The doctor looked into my room, saw me there, awake, and turned back to them. "Alright. You can go in." Chris barged into the room and saw me lying there, my body gauzed and scarred. His eyes widened at the sight, and he rushed to my side. The others followed, worried sick. I smiled. "Hey guys." The six of them grinned like idiots, and I laughed. Breanna and Tiffany, two of my friends, popped up beside me, worried. I smiled at them and yawned, makiing them laugh. Breanna held up a picture. It was me and Chris standing in front of the burning apartment, the flames raging behind us. Chris's jet-black spikey hair was accented by the heated flames behind us, his icy blue eyes blazing in the picture's highlighting. I stood beside him, my long auburn hair flaring up behind us, like as if the wind was blowing in our faces. My hazel eyes were burning with determination to get out of there. I seemed menacing, a monster waiting to break out of these chains. Both of our clothes were burnt and tattered, our skin scarred, burnt, and bloody. Chris's hand was covered in flame and burning blood, while my arm was matching his hand. My skateboard was under my foot, and the tip was burned black. Behind us was the apartment, collapsing in a cloud of smoke and debris. We were holding hands, a grin slapped on our faces. Huh. I wish it was like that.
You see, Chris had the looks and voice of Manafest, but acted way different. He was hilarious, especially when he tried. Chris wrestled and played basketball while I played soccer and ran in the 100-meter in track. We all love to rap and sing, and we're very talented. We thought of forming a band, but we needed a bassist. "We" is the seven of us. Me, Chris, Breanna, Tiffany, Ben, Perry, and Miranda make up the gang. The gang isn't racist, we're skateboarders, we never cuss, we never lie or steal, and we don't use or deal tobacco. We would ride our skateboards to school and put them in our lockers 'til school let out or 'til it was gym time and we could go outside on the track. Then we would ride them to the skate park and hang out there for a while after school. I'm learning how to perform the kickflip because I've mastered the ollie. Easy as riding a skateboard. Here's a little tip-- NEVER GIVE UP!!!! If we didn't go to the park, or after we did, we would go to one of our homie's house or apartments and work on our homework, talk, snack or eat dinner, watch television, sing, or draw. We're all rappin', hard-core Christians. Actually, on the bottom of Ben's skateboard, there's a pic that shows Jesus standing in front of the cross with the nails still in His hands. Then, it shows the tomb in the background. It's pretty awesome. The whole gang was in the tenth grade, so we always stuck together. If we had to seperate, then we would always make sure that no one was left alone. It's a we-got-each-other's-back kind of thing. We do have an aggresive front, which dosen't play along well with the preps or the jocks. But, we never provoke fights; people just don't like us. If one of us did get into a fight, then it depends on the circumstances how we react. If we're outnumbered, then we get our people together and bail. If we outnumber them, then we would fight back. For me, it also depends on who's in the fight if I join. If I do, then I get my skateboard ready to bring the ruckus! If I break up the fight, then I pull our person out and give the opponent a warning shove. But, behind my bold front, I'm a friendly, sarcastic, kind, creative, perverted, happy-go-lucky chick that acts as a bodyguard for the others. Chris is like me, just that he's funnier and he's the only one that knows my weakness. Miranda is a creative, artistic, perky chick that possesses leader qualities. But, no one's an appointed leader. Breanna is the anime freak of the gang, with all of the latest anime shows and movies, mangas, and things like that. Tiffany was a Christian-rappin', life-lovin', quiet person that loved to write. Ben was Miranda's boyfriend, a crazy, wolf-loving dude that didn't care about much. While Chris and I make sure that everything's in order and watch over everyone, he sits there, doing NOTHING. Perry is the idiot of the gang. He has a jacked-up personality, with red contacts, hot sauce that's even too hot for me, and hair like grass. It shoots straight up, like blonde grass! He's weird. Just sayin'. Our families aren't ordinary, either. Well, Chris's and my families, aat least. I lived with my mom and my pet dog -a husky-beagle mix- in the apartment. It was just us, since my dad died tryin' to save my mom at the explosion at the last soccer game for our school downtown. Chris's dad commited suicide when he was just a toddler, so he just lived with his mom, too. The others still had both parents and siblings at home, so they don't understand what Chris and I are going through. Chris and I fight for our food. I hunt for both of our families, since my mom's a missionary and his mom's been a wreck since then. We live in the suburbs, but there's woods behind our street. Chris scavenges for food and grows a garden for veggies and fruit. So, we have it the hard way. We worked at Aldi's, the grocery store down the road, and earned 9$ an hour behind the register. We saved enough to pay off Chris's bills, get small presents for the holidays and birthdays, and we were able to get ourselves new clothes. That's where I go shopping for food because it's cheap. We got an XBox360 for Christmas from my mom, and we always play the Halo games, the Rock Band series, the Guitar Hero series, and Call of Duty. I also have a red Acer Aspire One Netbook. I also got this for Christmas. We have never been to a concert, but, in a couple of months, Manafest, tobyMac, and Thousand Foot Krutch will be on tour here, so I wanna catch that. But, I doubt that I will. VIP cost 40$, and I have 75$. I would have to pay for me and Chris. Anyway, I nodded in approvement at the picture, a smirk on my face. The two artists squealed and then everyone was chased out by the doctor. I sighed, looking out the window to see snow flurries drifting down to the ground. I fought the urge to roll over, drifting into a light sleep, wanting to just get out of this life and drift into oblivion.
I started awake, sweat pouring down my face and neck. My heart monitor was going off like a fast-paced alarm clock and felt my heart in my chest, pounding. I felt like I had just ran away from a wild animal or something along those lines. I shook my head and raised the upper half of my hospital bed, so that now I was in a seated position. My arm hurt like heck, but I felt fine other than that. I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. I looked out the window to see snow covering everything and I groaned. I LOATHE the cold weather. I love warm weather, with swimming, skateboarding, being able to wear shorts and a T-shirt without freezing to death...Anyway! I wiped off my face and neck on my shoulder sleeve as I wondered why I had woken up like that. I gave up, shaking my head. My heart ached for my mom, but she wasn't going to be there anymore. All I had was my gang, a rockin' awesome group of outcasts. I sighed as the doctor came in and unhooked me from everything. "You're free." I nodded and stood up, stretching my tight muscles. It felt so good to actually stretch. I walked over to the window that I always stared out of and looked at the snow-covered ground outside. I groaned inwardly, turning around to see Ben, Miranda, and Chris at the door, and I smiled. "Hey." "Hey?! That's all you got to say, girl? HEY!?" I laughed at Miranda's stricken expression, embracing her as she ran at me, arms outstretched. She was like a little sister to me. After we broke apart, she started talking and wouldn't shut up! Correction: she was an annoying little sister to me. I looked up at ben, who was cracking up about something, and Chris, who shrugged when I shot him a "What?" face. I smiled and looked at Miranda, who didn't notice a thing. "Am I right?" I nodded, patting her shoulder. She grinned and charged Ben,who had stopped laughing and was leaning against the framework of the door, smirking. The two embraced each other, laughing. I smiled and looked over at Chris, who was watching them longingly, probably wishing for a date. I rolled my eyes and looked outside to see an ambulance pull up to the ER entrance and the back doors flung open, four people and a stretcher dashing out of them. I pictured myself on that stretcher, burns and blood covering me. I shuddered at the thought and then felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked to see Chris there, a worried look on his face. "You okay?" I smacked on a fake smile and nodded, not wanting him to worry about me. He shrugged and looked out the window with me. I could feel my heart speed up and my breathing shallow as we stood there for a minute. Then, as if it were timed, my stomach growled loudly. "What does a girl gotta do for food around here, people? It better be better than the food I got in bed because that wasn't food. That was crap." I laughed while Chris shook his head, chuckling. I pushed past him and dashed through the doorway to the elevator. I pounded on the down button while Chris caught up with me, out of breath. Then the doors slid open and I hopped in, Chris following me, eyes wide, surprised at how much energy I had, especially since I had just gotten out of the hospital. We dropped four floors, and I almost ran into someone when the doors opened and I barged out into the snack area. I bounded to the line while Chris went to sit with the others. I ordered a burger and a large sweet tea, since it was lunchtime. I walked over to the table where the others where sitting, now noticing a short, spiky black-haired chick sitting with the others. She was wearing a turquoise tank top with a ripped black pullover shirt that was not button-up. She had on a black skirt over fish-net tights, which covered her beach-tan skin. The gang was a bit pale, but we're not albino. We just hate cold weather, so we don't go outside much anymore. I sat down between Chris and Ben. The new girl looked at me and then I realized that she had ocean-blue eyes with green and gold flecks in them. I smiled and waved at her, and she waved back. "Marianna, Casey. Casey, Marianna." Chris said, introducing us to each other. "So, hero, how's the arm?" Ben asked me, being annoying like always. I smacked him with it, not feeling any pain at all when the impact left his arm red. He yelped and clutched his arm, rubbing it. I smirked. "Still hits pretty good! Did it hurt?" Ben gawked at me, astonished. "Of course it did, you idiot!" Then I nodded. "So it works. There's your answer." He glowered at me, and I grinned. Then I heard Marianna calling for someone, waving them over. I looked where she was waving to see a pale, skinny teen waking over to us, her jet-black hair covering one of her eyes. The stripe of blue dye in her hair brought out the electric blue in her eyes. She was wearing a black leather jacket over a Green Day T-shirt with a chain necklace around her neck. There was a little silver heart dangling from the chain. Her white skinny jeans were ripped, with black combat boots lacing up to her knees, the jeans tucked into them. She was also wearing a leather bracelet that had the name ALEX engraved into it. I waved at her, expecting her to just sneer at me and walk on to Marianna, but she actually waved back at me. "Is this Casey, the leader of the Wild Grinders?" I nodded, smirking. "I'm Alex, Marianna's friend." "Sweet!" I turned to the gang, who was STILL laughing. I looked over at Chris, who was laughing like a freakin' idiot, and shook my head. "Well, then." Chris calmed down and looked over at me. "Hey, Casey, there's another dude that we want you to meet. His name's Matthew Curtis. He loves basketball, and he's also really funny. I think you'll like him." I smirked and and rolled my eyes. "Not as much as the gang!" I laughed as he shook his head. "Anyway, he goes to our school, so he's gonna meet up with us in fourth period, where all of the gang is together. I told him a bit about you, warning him that you can be demonic at times." I shot him a glare, and he gestured to my face. "See?" We broke out in peals of laughter, the gang giving us confused looks. My head shook from the laughter. We finally calmed down and I found out a bit of info on the new girl's past. Marianna only had one parent, her father, and she also had a pet mini-horse, Midnight. She moved here from Virginia, where she learned how to skateboard. (They skateboard there? Awkward....) But, to my surprise, she didn't know the ollie. Yet. "I'll teach ya!" I offered. Her face lit up. "Really? You'd do that? Thanks!" She hugged me, and I stood as stiff as a pole. When she let go, I scooted away from her, creeped out. Everyone laughed at my reaction as I grimaced. The only ones not laughing was the ones not paying attention to us. I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I looked over to see Alex beside me, eager to telll me something. "You okay there, Alex?" She nodded. "I got a boyfriend!" The word "boyfriend" made my blood run ice-cold. "Cool." The thing is, I've always wanted a dude to like, but I can't find one. I thought about dating Chris, but... that's awkward. He's like a brother to me. We've always helped each other through our troubles, fending for each other. We haven't even talked about that crap. But, that Monopoly dude said that...Never mind. "Did Tiger make it?" Tiger is the husky-beagle mix I mentioned earlier. He's built like a husky, but he's covered in beagle colors. His eyes are different, one electric blue, the other a hazel. The tip of his tail looked like he dipped it in a pail of white paint. I found him on the side of the road; him a pup, me a kid. He had a broken front right paw, and he had an infected eye, which the doctor fixed right up. "Yeah, he survived. He ran out first and went to my house, warning my mom by leading her to the apartment. Poor little dog." Chris said. "I also got your mom's phone and your MP3. They're at my house, along with a little gift that you'll love." My eyes widened, curiosity geting the best of me. "It was funny, last night. Tiger kept me up all night last night. But, when I was finally drifting off to sleep, he curled up next to me. I think he's finally trusting me." I smirked, picturing Tiger curled up next to Chris. "Hey, guys, who brought their skateboards? I got my rollerblades!" Everyone said they had their rides. I said I would run. "Let's go to Chris's!" Breanna offered. We all hopped on our rides and rode/ran to Chris's house, me still leading.
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