"Education is said to bring Happiness. It is the key to success. Embrace what you know..."

- UNKNOWN TO US

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Date: June 4, 2092

Location: UNKNOWN

The long, dark table sat in the middle of the large, dimly-lit room. The chairs were neatly tucked in underneath the table. The sounds of clattering dishes and pattering feet rung out throughout the house.

There was a TV there. A crappier one, but it sufficed. It was on the news channel, and there was a man reporting on the screen.

"On this day, June 4, six years ago, marks the anniversary of the Burnings. As we have said, it has come to the of being a cold case. The SFPD aren't even sure they can use any of the evidence to make a single arrest. For those of you who don't know, the Burnings was a series of six separate arson in areas that a lot people gather, and each arson occurred within one hour of the previous one. And in the last area alone, at least 50 people were reported with a huge number of injures. Stay strong, Burning survivors, we'll have more on the Burnings tonight later. This is Eli Schmitar, here on XR-"

Somebody picked up the TV's remote and turned it off.

"Hey! I was watching!" said a red-headed boy, who reached his hand to grab the said remote.

"If you don't hurry it up, you'll be late for the last day of school Nico!" said a blonde.

"But it was from six yea-"

"We don't have time." a brunette cut him off.

Nico puffed his cheeks. "You're no fun Melissa."

"Well, Chris is right, we can't miss today."

Nico sighed. He stood up and ran upstairs to grab his bag. He quickly ran downstairs to grab his charred scarf.

Honk! Honk! The car horn went off several times more. Nico ran out the door, locking and slamming it as he went towards the car to open the door.

He hopped into the car... Well, more like dashed into the car.

"About time you showed up. I was about to let Yugo leave ya behind." Melissa said.

"Whatever." he scoffed. He tilted his head towards the window.

He propped his arm up so that he could rest his head on his arm, and stared out the window into the vast landscape.

Several minutes passed of pure silence.

"So, how is everyone?" the driver asked.

"I guess we could all be better Yugo..." Chris replied.

"Yeah..." came the other replies.

"Well, this is no time to fret friends. Just because today's the day doesn't mean that we should be down and sullen about it." Melissa stated, facing herself towards the back of the car.

Silence had befallen the car once again...

"Okay," Melissa piped up, grabbing a notebook, "Let's see if we left somebody at the hideout. Today is Wednesday, June 4." She flipped through the book. She cleared her throat.

"Eva." she stated.

"I'm here..." said a blonde-haired girl quietly, slightly raising her hand.

"Sakura."

"Here." said a soft-spoken white-haired girl, who was staring out a window.

"Nico."

"Really?" Nico stated, still looking in his bag.

"Chris."

"Present." he replied.

"Yugo."

"Driving." Yugo said, his gaze never wavering.

"And me. We are all here and accounted for for the day. How're you all feeling finishing our Freshman year guys?"

"Okay..." came their replies.

"We're here." said Yugo. The car slowed down to a stop in front of a stop sign. Melissa looked to the right and saw the big, bright red sign that read "Winston West High School: Home of the Bulls!"

Yugo pulled the car into the parking spot and the car stopped slowly. and the kids all unbuckled their seat belts and opened the doors. Some got out rather more quickly than others.Others took too long.

Melissa, however, got out of the car as soon as it had reached a full stop at it's spot. Everybody looked at her in confusion as she looked around.

The door was still locked, seat belt fastened to the buckle. She patted her legs, sides, arms, and head, as if she was looking for something, but alas there was nothing.

Yugo ran out and reached her, who was still standing and patting herself very worriedly.

"Whats up?" he asked her calmly.

"Melissa jumped and stared at him. "I-I-I don't u-u-understand..." she stated, staring at him.

"Yeah... None of us do..." he replied. Patting her back, which received a glare from her. "Well, come on, let's go, and we'll worry about it later."

"O-O-Okay." she said, nodding her head.

And with that, they all walked in to the school. At the entrance, they bid each other adieu, and then went their separate ways.Of course, like every day this year...

But Melissa couldn't help but view the posters on the walls.

HELP WANTED!!! The the US Military wants information on the Burnings! Be ready to be questioned...

Melissa just brushed it off, for she didn't care about them.

Everybody went with two or three others, while Melissa was by herself. She then sat at her desk in silence.

Then all of a sudden, a blonde-haired girl ran in and sat at the desk in front of her.

"Rough wake-up call, Skylar?" she asked.

The girl, named Skylar, turned around to face her. "No..." she replied, "I just didn't set the alarm correctly..." She turned her body to the diagonal desk, where Oliver sat.

"You okay?" Melissa asked her.

"No.." she responded, still staring at Oliver, who just gave her a shy smile.

"Why?"

"Ollie's been avoiding me... Well, more like whenever I talk to him, he never 'talks much'."

"Have you tried to ask him why?"

There was silence for few moments... "I haven't yet."

"You should try."

"O-Okay, I should.. Okay, I will try... At lunch."

"Good." Melissa said said as the bell rang, signaling the start of their final school day of their Freshman year at Winston West High School.

And then a good one and half hours passed. Chatter filled the halls as kids went to the cafeteria.

As always, Melissa sat alone. She sat in a courtyard, with a single oak tree. Melissa sighed. She pulled out set of ear buds, her phone, and a pad and paper. She plugged the ear buds into the phone and put one in her ear. She then turned on "Red Like Roses Pt. 2" by Jeff Williams, and started to draw and write in her pad and paper. She smiled as a tear streaked down her cheek. The words echoed in her head-

"I couldn't take it, couldn't stand another minute;
Couldn't bear another day without you in it
All of the joy that I had known for all my life
Was stripped away from me the minute that you died

To have you in my life was all I ever wanted
But now without you, I'm a soul forever haunted
Can't help but feel that I had taken you for granted;
No way in Hell that I can ever comprehend this"

She was disturbed by the sound of a collision. She turned her head to the right and saw Skylar had run into Oliver and they were trying to gather up their stuff. Then they began to talk. Melissa looked at her watch, and it read 10:23.

She sighed, it was 32 minutes before the final classes started. She packed up her things and stood up from the area she sat. She patted herself off of any remaining dirt and dust. She followed the duo down the hallway because she shared her last class with Skylar.

Melissa had stepped in front of locker 3028... That was her locker. She grabbed the lock and started to twist the knob to the combination 33-59-18.

She then pulled the lock out and put it away in her backpack. She then pulled the locker door open and reached into her hoodie and pulled out her necklace. 

She stared at it's glassy surface, deep in thought. Ever since that day, things have been... Strange... Could this be why?

The circular, blue pendant seemed to glow a bit at her, but she dismissed it as the light reflecting off of it. She sighed. There was no way... But, everyone's family never really told them what their "gifts" would do... Oh well...

She turned and saw Skylar up ahead, with a panicked look on her face... She was right in front of her locker.

Melissa walked over to her. She stopped three feet away and leaned her back on the lockers behind her. She turned her head towards her panicked form and asked "You all right Skylar?"

She didn't respond to her, which was weird to Skylar.

"You know, it's considered polite to respond to somebody." she continued.

"How?" Skylar inquired, "How on Earth did they know about this?" Melissa could tell that she was very upset over something.

"Hey." she said, patting her back for reassurance, "What is it?" She looked over. Her eyes widened after she saw what it was. She walked away for a moment. She thought for a moment, before she decided to turn around and walk back. She saw Skylar on her knees. Melissa kneeled down next to her. 

"Head down to class. I'll catch up." she said, holding a hand out. Skylar took it, and she was lifted back onto her feet.

"W-W-What're you going to do?" she asked fearfully.

Melissa stared at her for a moment. "I'm about to teach some kids some kindness etiquette." she growled.

"Y-Y-You don't have to... It's my problem... T-T-To deal with it... Save your own self... I'm on The List..." She was sobbing at this point, as she just kept mumbling incoherent speech.

"Yes... I must... Just go to class... I'll resolve this." She hastily grabbed the papers, and clenched both fists, causing the papers to scrunch up.

She stood there until Skylar decided to nod in understanding and walked down the hallway.

When she had reached the next intersection, Melissa had felt as though she was being followed. She stopped and kneeled down to pretend to tie her shoes. She listened to the sounds of their footsteps.

One... Two... Three...

She counted all the way up to five sets of feet. She continued to tie her shoes, eventually switching feet to make it seem more believable. She felt a tug on her shoulder. The tug was aggressive, as it forced her to move her head.

She faced a boy with blonde hair and pale blue eyes...

"Bertrand," she spat through gritted teeth, "I thought I'd recognized your handiwork."

"Oh shut up murderer." he spat back.

"Oh, we both know too well that he went of his own accord." She smirked, which irritated him.

He snapped his fingers, and two other boys walked forward to hold her arms to restrain her. They all stood there for a moment.

He then suddenly brought his right arm back and slammed it into her face. It nailed her right in the jaw. She tasted blood, as she cut the inside of her cheek.

"I'd do more if I wasn't told to bring you somewhere." He glared at her.

"Oh, so you STILL have control, but you're being controlled."

Bertrand's face flushed a bright red from embarrassment as the other boys stifled their laughter. He then socked the other side of her jaw. But Melissa just spat blood and spit in his face in retaliation, and smirked at him.

"I guess you'll just have to wait and see." he replied, wiping his face on the sleeve of his shirt.

The group of boys walked, actually dragging her into an empty room, she felt a vibration. She turned to Bertrand.

"Can I send a quick text?" she asked. He nodded, and she pulled out her phone. She scanned her messages until she found the contact labeled "Yugo Cage". She then typed a quick message and hit the send button, turned it off, and put it away. She then set her bag on the ground.

"Touch anything in it, and I'll personally send you to the Infirmary myself." she said, while jerking he thumb to point behind her back. All the boys, except Bertrand (who is a cocky prick) nodded their heads in fear. She then opened the door, and walked inside the empty gym. Melissa walked inside and closed the door behind her.

She was glad that this period had no PE classes, so the teachers were all relaxing in the nice air-conditioned teacher's lounge at the opposite side of the school, which was very fortunate for Melissa, because, well, she was pretty sure she wouldn't get out of this particular situation without some type of fight. 

And she was okay with that, for she enjoyed the sudden adrenaline rush, in fact, she sort of missed that feeling. She smirked at that thought. And she sat down on the cold, wooden bleachers.

After a while she heard a dinging noise, like a bell. It signaled the beginning of sixth period.

"Well," she stated, to nobody, "I guess I'll just have to leave for my class now." she spoke really loudly, causing an echo of her voice to ring out for a good thirty seconds.

After the echo started, she started to walk down the bleachers, two steps at a time. But when she reached the sixth step from the bottom, Melissa heard a crashing sound. She glanced over to her right.

Her gaze fell upon a different boy, whom of which she recognized almost immediately.

"Travis?" she said, the boy nodded frantically, waving his arms in a panic, as if he was trying to signal her to leave.

"You have to go!" he yelled, "Before they-"

"Before we what, Travis?" said a new voice, female this time.

Travis shut his eyes and held an arm up in defense, leaving one arm to prop himself up on the knocked-over pile of mats.

"Finally," Melissa stated, walking down to the floor, "The people I was hoping to meet..." She was clapping her hands slowly, "The Student Terrorizing Council Members." she smirked, wiping her face of any remaining blood on her sleeve.

"And what of it?" said a black-haired boy, a cocky grin was visible on his face. 

"Well, I was hoping to understand this." She pulled out the papers. Travis's jaw dropped.

"What did you guys do?" he asked, "Nobody else was there."

"Oh that?" he said, "I didn't do anything with it." He looked around the room.

Travis looked as though he was ready to just do some harm to them. Unluckily for him, Melissa pulled out packaging tape and ran over to him before he could say a word. She hastily taped his arms to the wall, which earned her several curses from Travis. Words in which, well, lets just say that it was very vulgar language indeed.

But, to put it bluntly, he said "Let me at 'em!" but Melissa wasn't having any of it.

She smirked, put a finger to his lips to shut him up, and said "I told Skylar that I'd fix this..." 

"Why do you want to help her?" he inquired, "Knowing Skylar, she'd have said to let her deal with it, that it was her problem." Melissa stopped putting tape on him.

  She stood up, her back turned to him. She was taken aback at this.. Why? Melissa really didn't know the answer to that. Heck, she didn't even know HOW to answer that question.

She thought for a moment. She then smiled, and replied "Because, One: Its the right thing to do, Two: I'm her friend and I care about her, and Three: She looked like that she needed saving... Oh, and I'm sorry, but your anger could get you out of your position." With that, she finished taping him to the wall by throwing the tape in his lap.

"Her friend? Thats new," said the girl, snapping her fingers, "We thought that her only friend is, or was, the boy in the picture." The group of boys from earlier came back in.

The boys formed a ring around Melissa. "I've been waiting for this." Bertrand said, cracking his knuckles.

The tension in the air was so strong and thick. If a knife to cut the air, it would be like cutting frozen butter.

Melissa just stood there, in the epicenter of the group of boys.

And she shrugged. Bertrand seemed to be taken back by this, and his face contorted to that of a nasty snarl.

"Come at me." she said, motioning her hand at them, and all seemed still.