Sudden Departure

Chapter One

The trees whizzed by in a brown, dull blur. I glanced up at the sky as gray clouds gathered in the already drab sky. My eyes darted back down to the floor of the woods by the highway, brown leaves were scattered across it in thick mounds. They were dying, rotting, and sharing graves with animals and insects taking shelter from the cold.

I picked my foot up and rested it on the dashboard in front of me. I reached over to turn up the volume on the radio station, just as the announcer came back on the air.

"Whoa, getting colder, could snow anytime soon," the DJ laughed at himself and continued rambling on about some stupid story no one cared about.

"Ugh," I groaned, looking at Cameron, my boyfriend. "Just what I need, snow."

He chuckled at me and raised his fuzzy eyebrows. "I thought that you like winter."

"I did, I mean I do, I just hate snow. Snow is dumb. It is wet and cold and gets everywhere, and then melts. It's a giant mess."

Cameron rolled his eyes at me before turning his attention back to the road. "Whatever, just sing along to your silly, little rock song."

I laughed at his remark and began nodding my head to the beat and patting my knees. A few minutes later, I took my legs off the dash and stretched my arms in front of me. I collapsed onto Cameron's arm and whined, "It is so hot and stuffy in here. I'm opening the window."

I reached and cranked the knob in Cameron's old truck. I stretched my arm out the window of the car and invited more crisp air in the car. I watched my red locks rip around my face and felt the wind push against my arm, sending it in the other direction.

"Shailene!" Cameron shouted over the howling of music and wind. "What the heck are you doing? Move your arm." He stretched over me and twisted the crank counter clockwise. I heard a suction noise as the window sealed and locked the winter current out.

"I told you, Cam. I opened the window because it was hot in here," I snapped as I crossed my arms and pressed my face against the frosty glass of the truck's cab.

Cameron snorted and lovingly patted my knee. "You're crazy, y'know that? It's below freezing outside and you want to roll down the window casually like it's eighty. You're unbelievable."

I groaned and continued to whine at him, "But, it's so hot in here!"

He shook his head and flashed me an amused smile. "I could have turned the heat down. Besides, we are almost at The Spot."

"Good," I stated contentedly as i settled into my former position.

The Spot. That's where we were going. No, it's not some dive at the end of the road where the teenagers all go to make-out. It's this secluded campsite that I've been going to with my friends ever since we took up hiking as a hobby. It used to be just us girls: Jane, Ally, C, and Jamie, but through the years we had boyfriends and "guy-friends" and it morphed to this giant party spot that you couldn't get into, unless you knew one of us.

Our car turned off the main road and onto a thin, dirt road leading to The Spot. The path meandered up a hill and ended abruptly at a giant doughnut twisting around a huge field of grass. A giant bon-fire stood in the center of the ring, my friends all in a circle around it. They were laughing and having fun, like always.

As I climbed out of the car the cold stung my nose . I let out a long breath and watched it spiral into the air. As Cameron wrapped his skinny arm around my waist I snarled and forced a heavy breath out of my mouth and nose. A whirlwind of mist wafted through the air above my head, and as I laughed more spouted out.

I glanced up at Cameron, who was smiling at me. "What are you doing, weirdo?" he questioned jokingly.

I returned his smile sheepishly as I answered, "Being a dragon, what are you doing?"