May's POV
I stand in the school courtyard, alone apart from a few pigeons flying to the concrete ground and away from it. The slight breeze sifts through my light brown hair. I smile at how quiet it is. It's not pure silence- the leaves are ruffling, the birds are chirping, the wind is howling softly. It's harmony. Suddenly, the leaves stand stone still, the birds quit their song and the wind stops in its track. This is pure silence. This is deathly silence. I close my eyes as I feel the temperature drop, then open them again. A tall, dark figure stands over me. I hear it laugh a wicked, cackling laugh.
Then I wake up.
I open my eyes and sit up. I breathe heavily for a few seconds before calming down. Just a dream. No- just a nightmare. I look at my iPod. 6:02 am. I doubt anyone's awake. Unless... I unlock the small device and open Kik Messenger. There's a gazillion messages from my four best friends. They all agreed to meet at school early, which is weird since none of them are exactly 'morning people'. I shrug to myself and quietly get up. I slip on some jeans and a simple red shirt, to match my favorite red beanie, which I am also wearing. After hastily brushing my hair and grabbing the bag I'd previously packed, I tiptoe downstairs to grab some breakfast. I don't wanna wake any of my family members up, so I help myself to a fabulous breakfast of toast and juice, moving around the house swiftly and stealthily. Before leaving, I grab a piece of paper and write my mother a quick note. She knows I'll be in camp for the next two weeks, so I only have to explain why I left early. I make sure to draw some hearts at the end of the note. I have a hunch I'll miss her. And my dad, and my siblings. Oh well.
۞۞
I walk through the iron gates of our school and find myself in the courtyard, but I am not alone. Four figures are standing together, about twenty feet from me, arguing. I walk up to them. "Hey guys" I smile. Jenna and Keb turn to face me while Cat and Declan keep discussing. They both greet me, ignoring our friends as they raise their voices in the background. I frown and listen. "But, I didn't want to come! He, like, said I wanted to and BOOM, I did! What if the whole class is getting brainwashed somehow?! What if this is what it's all about?!" says Cat angrily. "But that makes, like, zero sense!" argues Declan, "If the scientist guy IS behind all this, what does Brendan have to do with it?!" "He DID talk about our class, right?!" "Are you saying we go to some kind of psychic school?! Cat, I think you need to sit down." Suddenly, my head starts hurting, as if someone punched me really hard in the head with an iron gauntlet. A few images flash through my mind. "Yes." I say, earning perplexed looks from everyone, "That's exactly what she's saying."
۞۞
Declan's POV
After everyone arrived at school, including the teachers supervising the trip, we all pile into the buses. Earlier at school they'd recited the typical safety instructions for field trips, which everyone ignored. Duh. I sit next to Jenna, May and Cat sit together, and Keb sits next to some girl named Rachel, who he soon starts a conversation with. The bus ride is pretty long, though I kill most of the time playing on my ipod. Jenna's trying to sleep through it. Cat's listening to music, singing along quietly, and May's being somewhat distant after acting kinda weird this morning. She's just doodling stuff, and she won't let anyone look. This involves slapping Cat's face away a lot, though she doesn't seem to mind. Meanwhile, Keb and Rachel are still chatting, occasionally laughing and punching each other. It's a long ride, but it isn't half bad. Eventually, the driver gingerly parks the bus by a large complex of low, white buildings. A teacher stands in the aisle between the two rows of seats in our bus and announces, "Welcome to Sburbian Laboratories!"
