Jess's day was going normally and she hated it. Her alarm had woken her up the same time as usual. Her mother had left before the crack of dawn as usual. Her classes had been boring as usual. Everything today had been normal so far and it was driving Jess crazy.

Yesterday they had killed a person. Not just any person but their classmate, Bill and here they were living as if nothing had happened. Where was karmam where was divine punishment? She fingered her rosary underneath her shirt. It had been her father's and she wore it everywhere. The beads had faded long time ago.

She saw Alex walking towards her with his tray. The table was empty and she liked it like that. She wanted to be alone with her thoughts. Alex slid into the bench opposite her.

"Hey what's up."

"Nothing interesting." Alex was smart enough to leave it at that, but the interruptions were not done. Jess and Alex's table was at the end of the cafeteria so they didn't notice the disturbance in time.

Amanda Charleston walked down with her clique. Amanda was the uncrowned undisputed Queen of Brentwood high. Amanda was walking with two of her 'friends'. They all dressed alike. Dyed blonde hair, short skirts and impractically high heeled boots. Jess heard whispers of "TDB hot". Third degree burns. The highest kind of hot as far as Brentwooders were concerned. To Jess's horror Amanda "sashayed" all the way to her table.

"Hello Jessica."

"Hello Mandy." Manada turned her back Jess and faced Alex.

" Hello Alex, Ethan said you were with my homework."

"Oh. I am but the thing is that umm. Ethan said promised me some kind of compensation."

"Well that's between the two of you." Alex sighed and raised his backpack up after rummaging for a while it Alex visibly paled and it became obvious that Alex didn't have it.

"Is there a problem there?" Amanda asked, her voice indicating that she knew what exactly was wrong.

"The homework was in my bag. I must have taken it out and left it at home. I'll bring it tomorrow I promise"

"Well that can't work out. I'm turning it in today."

"But I don't have it with me right now."

"And whose person's fault is it?"

"The person who's too dumb to do her own homework." Jess chipped in. She didn't like Amanda one bit and that was an understatement. Back in middle School Amanda had always made fun of her braces. She had grown up and removed the braces but the beef had still held.

"Guess who wore her dishcloth to school again." Her clique giggled. They even laughed the same.

"Lemme guess ..." Emily said

"... Braces Jess." Phoebe continued And the clique giggled again. Emily was Amanda's self appointed Right-hand girl, Best friend and confidant . The other girl Phoebe was the best acrobat on the squad she performed the highest backflips. But In truth the only reason Amanda kept her around was because Phoebe's father was on the school council.

"Girls come on." They turned and walked back outside. Jess kept on looking at them until they walked to the jocks table were they usually sat.

Alex leaned forward and spoke.

"Jess thanks for having my back there. I knew it was trouble when Ethan asked me to do the assignment for twenty bucks. I tried to tell him no but I'm pretty sure he didn't know what he meant." A small laugh escaped Jess despite herself.

"I'm pretty sure it's just full of caveman grunts and stuff." They both laughed.

"And sports jargon."

"How about numbers?"

"They'll probably know from one to ten. To count press ups and stuff." The warning bell rung and everyone started getting up. Alex stood up and picked up Jess's bag for her.

"Thanks." They both walked out together and Jess felt things settle back into a familiar pattern and an unbidden thought came into her head

*Here she was talking with Alex like the good old days and Bill was buried In a shallow Grave in the woods.* She pushed the thought determined to make sure it didn't spoil her day anymore.

That is until she slammed into Ethan. Ryan stood at about six foot He wasn't the tallest on the basket ball team. Neither was he the strongest, but he was the craziest. Her was ususally the first one to jump into a fight and about the last one standing. He ignored Jess and held Alex by the collar.

"Hey. I heard you refused to return Amanda's assignment."

"Ummm....Well that's not what happened."

"So you saying Amanda's a liar?"

" No he's saying you probably heard wrong." Jess said. By now The crowd who had been rushing to the door had already stopped to watch the beating that was about to start.

"I don't hear wrong" he turned to Alex "Do you know what you just is considered a crime. Your blatantly refusing to return this beauty's homework."

"Don't you think that's enough and besides it's time for class." Jason said from behind Ethan. The whispers got louder. The new kid who had punched Kevin was now challenging Ethan. The kingpin of Brentwood and it wasn't a secret that Ethan did kickboxing.

"... Shit just got real."

"... Twenty bucks on the Ethan."

"You sure? The new kid looks strong."

"Not strong enough."

Ethan left Alex's collar and walked towards Jason and the two of them stared each other down. Ethan's blue eyes to Jason's gray eyes. Jason was thinking that if they were going to fight then he might at least get the first punch in. Sometimes that was all you needed to win. But the fight didn't happen because someone interrupted.

"That's enough bro." Said Kevin holding Ethan's shoulder. For some strange reason Amanda took Kevin's side.

" common let's go and besides we're late for class." She held Ethan's arm and pulled, but Ethan wasn't going anywhere.

"Common babe we'll be late." Ethan leaned towards Kevin and spoke.

"Don't call me bro... Nigger." He said the last word like it was some secret code between them. With that Ethan walked.

"Don't mind him" Kevin said "he just likes drama."

* * *

Lance woke up or at least that was what he thought he did. This past few weeks or days had been very awkward he couldn't even tell when he was dreaming or awake. At first he could.

Whenever he woke up his legs cried out in agony or tried to. The first time he woke up he had felt so much pain that he passed out. He had a few crazy dreams during time, Though now that he was thinking about it they seemed more like nightmares.

A humanlike dog that had blade like hands and had it's stomach facing up. A six limbed rat that sometimes whispered secrets in his ears. A man that looked like a fish. Lance found that thought funny. What if it was a actually a fish that looked like a man. The fishman was probably blind, he kept on touching stuff and leaving slime over it.

The next time he gained conscious he realized that his legs were missing from above the knees and that the pain he felt was from the stump. He passed out from shock. He woke up again the next time convinced that the last time was a bad dream and to his relief and shock he had legs they didn't look normal but when do legs ever. They were gray and pale. He tried to get up after a few minutes of struggling he managed to. He tried to take a few steps stumbled, fell and passed out.

The next time his legs were different. They looked like goat legs. They were bent forward and hairy. He managed to get to his feet without passing out. He thought he recognized the forest but he couldn't be sure. Everything looked brighter, the smells were different. Even the snow had a sharpness to it. Walking with his goat legs was hard but he managed to pull it off.

He came to a clearing, lost his footing and fell. He fell on something warm and furry. It was a bear. He had a moment of panic and a memory of him holding a shotgun and pointing it at a bear. The bear ignored and walked off into the clearing. He stood up and held his head. He wasn't that that had been an actual memory.

The clearing looked like a sci-fi fantasy zoo. Different animals and creatures frolicked around in the zoo. There was a snake, a really big one. It wrapped itself around the trees and the creatures played among it's coils. Lance realized that the snake must have been cold blooded and the animals were trying to warm him. The bear was muzzling a man in a tattered white dress shirt. His head hurt and for a moment he saw himself dressed up in a wooden room pointing a gun at this man. The memory went as soon as it had come. The man saw him and beckoned him.

He walked closer and sat down.

"Your name is Lance." The man said.

"Ok... What's yours?" The man appeared to think for a bit before he applied.

"I don't know."

"Why are we here?"

"Because we're friends."

"Ok" they sat down for a while and watched a wolf playfully bite down on a reindeer's leg.

"I have a question to ask, it's been on my mind for a while now."

"Feel free to ask."

"There's this thing I want. I've always wanted it. But now it it's finally in my sights. But... But..."

"But? "

"I'm scared. I'm scared of what happened when I go to get it. What if I'm not strong enough to take it? What's going to happen when I take it? I've spent most of my life waiting for this but what's going to happen after this." Lance scratched his head. His skull felt mishaped and his scalp felt weird like it wasn't his.

"What's there to think about? You want something you take it. That's how life works. And if your too scared to try then you'll probably never get it. And what you'll do after? You can do anything. I think every living thing has the right to pursue happiness. Or at least that's what someone told me. I can't remember anymore." The man laid down and thought about it. It was a while before he spoke up again.

"Your right I was being stupid. That's what Veronyka would have said." He stood up and clapped his hands.

All the animals stopped and looked at him.

"Come on we're moving." The animals suddenly charged at them. The snake reared its head up lazily and struck.