Survivors

Prologue

"Everyone, we have a new student with us today," the teacher said. "She just transferred here from a different school. Why don't you introduce yourself?"

I stared at my feet and twisted my fingers together nervously. My stomach was in knots, and my mouth was dry.

"H-hi..." I said as loud as I could (which, mind you, wasn't very loud). "I'm T-Tilly Johnson, and... and... and I like f-fanta--." My voice trailed off. I was going to say, "fantasy things," but my nerves wouldn't let me. I tried to finish my sentence, but I couldn't.

"Okay, well," the teacher said, "pick any empty desk you want, Tilly."

I quickly walked to a random empty desk and sat in the chair. I buried my face in my arms.

I wanna go home, I thought. I hate people...

The teacher left the room, and my new fellow second grade classmates started going wild. Some stood on desks. Others ran around the room. But I stayed where I was. I was too shy to get up and go find someone to talk to. Besides, who would want to get to know a boring and awkward kid like me, anyway?

A few minutes passed. I tried to block out the loud noise of the classroom.

"Hey!" a voice suddenly said.

I looked up. A girl was standing in front of my desk. She had long blonde hair, excited blue eyes, and a bright smile.

"Tilly, right?" she asked.

"Um...mhm," I said quietly.

"I'm Meagan," she said.

I wanted to say hi, but my throat closed up.

"I couldn't hear you very well when you were up there," she said, "but did you say you like fantasy?"

"Um...uh..y-yeah, I g-guess..."

"Cool!" she exclaimed. She pointed at herself. "I like fantasy, too! What's your favorite fantasy creature?"

"I like v-vampires," I said.

"Nice," she said. "I like mermaids. They're so cool. I wanna be one."

I smiled shyly. She seemed nice.

"I bet you wanna be a vampire, huh?" she asked.

"Y-yeah, a little bit," I said.

She sat at the desk next to me and looked at me expectantly. "What makes you like vampires?" she asked.

Whoa! I thought. She's actually interested in my love for vampires. Most girls my age think I'm weird for that.

"W-well, um..." I stammered. "They're...they don't...I mean..."

"Am I getting too nosy?" she asked.

"N-no," I said. "I'm just not used to g-girls my age being interested in me. I-I'm usually too awkward f-for them."

She smiled gently. "You're cool," she said. "I could see that as soon as you walked in the room. So, why do you like vampires?"

"I...s-sort of relate to them, I guess," I said. "They stay up late, and I do, too. And they like dark stuff and they don't like the sun."

"Nice," she said. "I like mermaids cause I think it would be fun to swim with dolphins and sharks and stingrays and all that good ocean stuff."

"Cool," I said.

"Hey, do you want me to show you around as the day goes on?" Meagan asked.

"Sure," I said.

"That way you won't get lost," she said.