K.I.N.D.A.

[one - adhara]

Earth. Present day.

The shop owned by Adhara Wren's father was definitely not the type of place you would imagine the meeting spot for four high school girls to look like. The dark shop allowed very few rays of sunlight to enter, giving it a mysterious and ominous vibe. The couches that lined the back wall contained fake fur and throw pillows with stitchings of various signs believed to ward off evil. The floorboards were dark and cardboard boxes full of antiques covered them.

Adhara was polishing the many crystal balls that lined the wooden shelves as Kaya Blackwood collected the spilled tarot cards that were splayed across the floor after she had tripped over Adhara's cat.

The shop was empty except for the two best friends, both employed to work after school by Mr. Wren. They were both comfortable enough with each other that they didn't mind the silence as they worked and found it rather comforting to have a moment of peace outside of their high school chaos.

The silence, however, was broken as the door slammed open and a familiar skater girl stepped foot inside the dark shop.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Dale Alcander called into the shop, skateboard in hand. Another member of their friendship group was the Peruvian girl who worked next door at the skateboard shop. She had been employed at Adhara's family shop for only a week until she and Mark Akagi had broken three crystal balls.

"Don't break anything with that skateboard again, Dale." Adhara padded from her spot beside the crystal balls to greet her friend.

"God, I won't," Dale laughed. "Where's Imogen?"

Since seventh grade, when the four girls had all become friends, it became tradition that every first Friday of the month was their sleepover day. The location alternated between their homes.

Kaya approached Adhara and Dale at the front of the shop, cellphone in hand. "She says she'll be here in a minute."

"Fashionably late, I'm assuming," Adhara shook her head. "It doesn't matter though, I can only close the shop in thirty minutes. So we wouldn't be able to start that Shrek movie marathon right now anyway."

"We are not watching Shrek," came a voice from behind the trio.

Imogen Cadwell sauntered into the shop, pristine hair and makeup freshly done. The blonde joined the little circle and wrapped her arm around Kaya's shoulders.

"I'm not against Clueless, though," she flashed her pearly whites.

The other girls all groaned. Imogen could watch that movie on repeat if she had the time. But between cheerleading, flirting, school, and shopping, her schedule was booked.

A little bell went off signaling that Imogen got a text. The blonde unlocked her phone and read the text before shooting a reply back.

"By the way," Imogen glanced at her friends, "I invited someone to our sleepover since we're all going to my house anyway."

If the girls were upset that Imogen had decided to bring a friend along to their tradition, they were too curious to know who the mystery guest was.

"Who?" Dale raised an eyebrow.

"You guys know Nova Brooks, right? Well I was talking to her today and she's really cool. She and I have a lot in common."