• “Dost thou never see
    The justice I bring to thee?
    This curse of mine you can never know,
    This love of mine I can never show.
    It’s torture that our ways must part
    My dearest with the pure of heart.”






    I closed the poetry book and sat back down in my desk. Sighing, I slouched back, the plastic creaking at the transfer of weight. I really, I mean really hated this class. What was the point in learning about some “deep” poems written by some unknown authors? As far as I could tell, no one else enjoyed this class much, either. Just by glancing around the room when the teacher wasn’t paying attention, I saw some of the girls I knew doodling their crushes’ names with elaborate heart designs. Lucky. A few of the boys were playing what I like to call “crumpled player football,” trying to aim the wad well enough so that they could flick it right between their friend’s fingers.
    “Very good, Miss Rosenwald,” Mr. Leonard said. He peered over at the clock for a moment and then returned his focus to us. “Before the bell rings, allow me to give you your assignment for tonight.” Wow, that was a shocker. He was answered by a chorus of groans. Obviously unmoved, he continued. “Let’s see here… ah! Read pages two hundred nineteen through two hundred seventy-two.” Unfortunately, the bell came right after his command and was unable to overpower his meek voice.
    Finally, the torture session had ended. I began packing my bag, placing my pencils and pens in their pouch and my poetry textbook in the front pocket where I could easily grab it later. Altogether that made… about three-and-a-half hours of homework tonight. Don’t these people know we have lives as well? Even if we are just in middle school….
    Everyone else was already crowded around the door by the time I was ready. Guess I took a little too much time dwelling on my thoughts, seeing as I was the last person out of the room, even including the teacher, who had quite rudely pushed past me. At least I wouldn’t be the last person out of the school; the principle had to stay for a while afterwards, right?
    Somehow, just breathing in the fresh air and soaking up the warm rays of the sun was enough to lift my spirits. The outdoors were definitely my domain. The leaves on the surrounding branches of the old, decrepit trees were already brilliant shades of red and burnt orange. All around the ground was covered in matching, decaying leaves. Soon enough, dead, colorless trees would replace the vibrant ones., and thick blankets of white would delicately, masterfully lay over the region. It wouldn’t be too long now; a certain crispness in the air had developed, forcing me to wear my blue sweatshirt over my red T-shirt that had a black collar. I shuddered, thinking about the bitter days of cold and ice ahead.
    “Ki…an…a!” a voice called, growing louder between every breath. I looked up, breaking out of my previous trance. Two girls were across the road, their arms flailing wildly. I smiled and waved back.
    Gigi and Ami: my best friends. Our parents had been friends since college, so we’ve literally known each other since birth. We knew practically everything, absolutely everything about each other there was to know. And one, crucial factor (at least to me) that annoyed me to no end: we were all smack in the middle of a little thing I like to call The Norm. As of course, much to my chagrin, was everyone and everything here in Smalltown U.S.A.. But, I guess I shouldn’t complain. I had the best friends in the world with me to help me through such torture. Surprisingly, they helped a lot.
    Gigi stood for Genevieve, which was her great-great-aunt’s name who had passed away exactly a year before she was born. Yeah, her family did that whole naming their kids after other distant relatives thing quite a bit. Weird. She had long golden hair that she wore back in a ponytail and bright, bubbly blue eyes. I thought she enjoyed shopping a little too much, and she thought I focused too much on sports. Other than that, we got along famously.
    Then came Ami. Ami was also short for something: Amelia. As far as I know, there isn’t any special reasoning for her name (she refuses to tell me anything about it). She’s shorter than Gigi and I and looks rather mousy. Her brown hair was extremely messy and cut short. She had beautifully large chocolate-colored eyes and long, dark eyelashes. She, too, thought I spent too much of my time playing hoops and soccer. I thought she was too artistic for her own good.
    That left me, Kiana Rosenwald. I’m the only one without a nickname (my name’s too short already). Yeah, my name’s kind of weird. “Kiana” means the same as “Diana” in Hawaii, where my parents met and fell in love (romantic, huh?). Oh, and I’m not British or anything. Both of my parents were estranged from theirs and adopted “Rosenwald” as their new name when they married. Let’s just say they’re very creative people. Okay, back to me and all my glory. My looks are nothing to gawk at. My dark brown eyes appear crimson in the sunlight, but it’s not something special. My red hair is long and straight. Such variety, right? My grades are mostly C’s and B’s. Average. My family has four members; my mom, dad, brother, and myself. Common. The usual highlight of my day is the walk home with my friends. To be completely honest, my life is on the corner of Tedious Square and Pathetic Lane. I’m just waiting to snap and be put in the Fun House.
    Now, I know it may be somewhat hard to believe from what you’ve read so far, but usually I’m the ever optimist. That’s right, the cheeriest and most lighthearted of the group. I’ve just been a little on-edge lately because of the cold settling in the air. I really hate winter. Summer is my favorite season, hands down. Anyway, yes, I am hyper and bubbly. Except for those few times someone decides to really tick me off….
    Most of the conversation on the way home was filled with frivolous gossip. You know, the “who’s going out with who”s and “you’ll never believe what she did”s, that sort of stuff. Most of the jabber was lead by Gigi. But, hey, that’s why we loved her! Only one topic really caught my attention.
    “So,” Ami said, cutting into one of Gigi’s long speeches. “Are you two ready for that Biology exam tomorrow in Ms. Kirk’s class?”
    “Ugh,” Gigi groaned. “Don’t even remind me. She said it was going to be, like, a hundred or so questions, right? I’m dead.” She reached her arm and wrapped it around my shoulders. Gigi was taller than I was, so she had to lean over me to get down to my height. One more thing that kind of got me miffed: I was the median height of Gigi and Ami, caught in the middle again. “You’ll get a low grade with me to help me feel better, won’t you, Kiana? You don’t want me to fail all by myself do you?” she snickered.
    Ami protectively pulled me closer to her. This time, I was the one towering over my neighbor. “Don’t guilt Kiana into failing like that, Gigi! She needs to pass Biology! Her parents are more uptight then yours about grades!” She released me and allowed me to rely on my own two feet. “Don’t let her bribe you into her little scheme. It’s her own fault if she decides to blow off her studying,” she said to me. Gigi stuck her tongue out at Ami, and Ami smiled happily. I, however, was hardly able to keep up with them with my legs shaking so badly.
    “Er, I think I might be joining Gigi in the F Club,” I said, my voice wavering slightly.
    Ami turned behind her to see that I had fallen behind and that I was biting my lower lip. “What do you mean, Kiana? You did study right? As long as you basically know the material, you’ll do fine.”
    “Yeah, I was just kidding. I don’t want you to fail with me. Besides, you’re on the brink of failing, aren’t you? You need this test to boost you up!”
    “One question: Are you sure the test is tomorrow? I mean, um, are you sure next week wasn’t the date of the test?”
    Gigi ran over the few steps separating us and hugged me tightly. “No! You can’t be saying you forgot to study! Oh, Kiana, you need this!”
    That answered my question for me. “Great. It is tomorrow.”
    “Shoot. Today’s the eleventh of November, and tomorrow’s the twelfth. Let me see your agenda.” Ami began ruffling papers around in my book bag. I felt something slip out and assumed she had miraculously found it in that sea of papers and books, since I couldn’t even turn my head from Gigi’s tight embrace. Pages crimpled as they turned. “Here‘s the problem: you wrote down Monday the seventeenth as the day of the test.”
    I pushed Gigi off of me. “Darn it! Her twos look like sevens! And it doesn’t help much that I’m in the back of the room.” Ami closed the agenda, crammed it back into my bag and zipped it shut.
    “I could come over tonight and help you study for the----oh, never mind. I’m sorry, but I have to go with my mother to a party for the hospital tonight. Sometimes, I wish she weren’t a doctor. I’m really sorry I won’t be able to help you.” Ami did look truly sorry, not that I had any doubt that she was.
    “I have to baby-sit at Ms. Sara’s later on, but you could come over there and, although I would hate every minute of it, we could study together,” Gigi suggested. I could tell she was half-joking when she complained.
    I mustered the most sincere smile I could, given the situation. “Thank you, but I’m sure I can cram enough on my own. I might even be able to get my mom to help me, if Seth hasn’t gotten to her first.”
    “Are you sure?” Gigi asked.
    I nodded. “Uh-huh, no problem-o.”
    Luckily for me, we quickly arrived at the fork in the road where our paths divided. We waved good-bye, the two of them reassuring me everything would be A-O.K. I myself was trying to accomplish the same thing. I just had to hurry home and cram my butt off. No big deal, I told myself. Within a few minutes, I actually had myself believing it!
    I repeated those positive thoughts all the way toward my house. I was only a few minutes away when I saw something rising into the sky. A billowing pillar of black smoke was in clear view over a building. I sighed, relieved that it was in the opposite direction of my house. Then, I felt a sudden surge of panic. I knew someone who lived over there.