The Five

Prologue

Kelly White rolled her eyes as Jennifer Harris strutted down the halls of Robinson High School. Other students crowding the hallways stopped to stare at her and her small posse of her "minions" as Kelly liked to call it. As well as her minions, her boyfriend Jason Hill, also known as the most athletically talented boy in the school, and town for that matter, flanked her right. Then her head minion, Melissa Thompson, flanked her left.

Jennifer was the queen of the school. She was the prom queen, the cheerleader, the best dressed. Everything a popular girl needed to rule the school. Jennifer was just like the popular antagonist in all of the cheesy books Kelly read in her spare time. Bratty, confident, and evidently beautiful. It only took personally knowing the girl to realize she wasn't.

Jennifer stopped when she reached the part of the hallway where Kelly's locker resided. She looked over towards Kelly and made long eye contact, then nodded for her posse to continue without her. Melissa nodded and continued walking down the long hallway, Jennifer's minions following her like brainwashed zombies. Jennifer and Jason headed to her locker.

Kelly adjusted her glasses higher up her nose while watching Jennifer's minions disappear down the long hallway. "Ditched the minions, huh?"

Jennifer laughed. "Where's yours?" She said jokingly. She knew very well of Kelly's hatred of the obsessed girls who followed Jennifer at her every step.

"Non-existent," Kelly replied bluntly.

Down the other side of the hallway, loud, squeaky sneakers sprinted down the hall. "Kelly! Kelly!" Brian Phillips' loud voice shouted. People jumped out of his way to avoid getting run over as he ran towards Kelly's locker. When he arrived, he bent over for seconds, breathing heavily before leaning against the wall next to her locker.

The three stared at him expectantly, watching him clutch his stomach and dramatically heave. "Well?" Kelly asked. "What is it?"

Brian paused his exaggerated breathing to think of what he had actually came for. His eyes widened when he realized. "Oh! You know Lisa Jennings new book?" He held up a book and waved it. "Guess who has one of the newest copies?"

Kelly gasped, her brown eyes widened to the size of baseballs. "You're kidding. Let me see!" She grabbed the book out of his hand, inspecting the cover front and back. "This can't be real. She released her book only yesterday night. Even if the stores had it, which would be near impossible, the line for them would be out the door!" She opened up the front cover, her eyes getting even bigger with surprise. She pointed to scribbled black handwriting towards the top right corner. "It's signed. Is-is this real?"

Brian nodded, his brown curls falling into his eyes while he grinned ear to ear. "You bet it is!"

Kelly's eyes darted right back down to the book, her hand darting through the pages. "How?"

"Me," a voice said from behind her. She turned to see Eric Martin leaning casually against her locker.

Brian groaned. "Eric, you said you would let me take the credit, you jerk."

Eric shrugged. "I couldn't resist." When Kelly gazed at him with question he explained. "My dad knows a guy who knows Lisa Jennings' sister, who obviously knows Lisa. So when I heard you nerds yapping about it at lunch yesterday, I figured I could pull some strings." Eric's dad was an owner of a million-dollar company. Eric acted every way the son of a millionaire would: cocky, self assured, sometimes rude. The only reason he wasn't off at some fancy boarding school was because his mother went to Robinson High, and although he didn't admit it, Eric couldn't live without his friends.

Kelly grinned, her gaze not finding her way off the pages of the book. "Wow, Eric! This is amazing!"

Brian rolled his eyes. "Oh, so no 'thanks Brian!' or 'you're so amazing, Brian!' You know, if I hadn't been talking to you about her new book yesterday, it wouldn't be sitting right there in your hands!"

"Thanks Brian," she mumbled, still focused on the book.

Jennifer raised an eyebrow. "What's so important about a book?"

Brian gaped at her. "Seriously? Lisa Jennings' several masterpieces cannot just be called 'books'. More like perfectly written scripts with optimal components of mystery, fantasy, and adventure packed into five ultimate treasures."

Jennifer cringed. "I don't follow."

Brian sighed. "I wouldn't expect someone like you to understand." He leaned over Kelly's shoulder to get a view of the page she was on.

Jennifer's jaw dropped. "Excuse me, what's-"

Eric waved a hand at her. "They're nerds. Let them be."

Jason laughed and Jennifer slapped his shoulder.

The loud bell rang. Students started to rush down the hallways to get to their classes. Kelly unwillingly handed the book back to Brian, who groaned loudly. "Ugh, I have Mrs. Flasher for first period. I swear she hates me for no reason whatsoever."

"You glued her mug down to her desk." Eric replied.

"So? She doesn't get friendly humor?"

Jennifer patted his shoulder. "Most teachers don't." Then she headed down the hallway with Jason to get to their shared first period class. Eric and Kelly headed the opposite direction, where their classes were right across from each other.

"Wait, guys!" Brian yelled. "Don't leave me alone!"

Eric turned around to respond. "Deal with it, Phillips!" Kelly laughed.

Brian sighed and headed for his first period class, a small smile marked on his face.