by: Halliwellgirls
I own the characters, this story, and all other stories on this site. Please do not copy without my permission. Thank you.
Tara, Alyson Almond, Madison Winters, and Siobhan Arintero were now sophomores, and had been best friends since that October day nearly a year ago. Tara groaned as she looked down at the frog. All it had ever done was hop around and eat insects before someone had come along and killed it for a science class to use as their experiment. Tara hated people who killed animals for that reason. It was just...wrong.
One floor below, Madison and Siobhan were in a History class. Madison yawned and yanked at her friend�s ponytail. Siobhan turned around and grinned at Madison, who crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue. Siobhan giggled a little. Her friends had the knack of making her laugh at the most boring moments. No one had ever been able to do that since Annie had died.
She still remembered Annie. The way she made Siobhan laugh and what her favorite foods were. She remembered the video documentaries they�d made. She had a few at home, and had shown them to her new best friends a couple of months ago.
Madison noticed Siobhan�s forlorn look, �What�s the matter, Syvanni?� she asked quietly. Siobhan shook her head and turned around, not wanting to get in trouble for talking.
Madison knew the signs, though. She took Siobhan�s long hair in her hands and began to gently play with it. That always soothed Siobhan when she was down.
Alyson was in drama class in the auditorium, one floor below and across the school. She was probably having the most productive time, rehearsing her lines with another girl. She still thought of her best friends, though. She looked at her watch briefly, 10:37 AM. Another two hours before she�d see her friends. They�d meet up at lunch and then their last two classes were together. Alyson always looked forward to lunch with her friends. It let her wind down from the morning and then she got to spend the next two hours with them, maybe more if they went home together.
She felt a shiver all of a sudden. Something was going to happen. It was like a sixth sense. Tara looked up at the clock, as she always did when she felt a shiver, 10:38 AM. She whimpered as she aimed the scalpel at the frog. She had tried to get out of dissecting, but Mr. Welsh had said she wouldn�t get credit if she didn�t participate.
Suddenly, there was a low rumble, a loud BOOM! and the building shook for a moment. The fire alarms immediately began shrieking. Half the class screamed, and everyone headed for the door, almost too quickly.
Tara followed, scared. Fire was one of her greatest fears. She shook slightly as she followed her class out the door. Smoke was already filling the hallway and the stairwell. The crush of students was moving very slowly, and all the smoke was making it hard for Tara to breathe.
Ally! Syvanni! Maddi! her mind screamed. She needed her friends right now. She just knew they were in trouble. She didn�t want to die without seeing them one more time.
Suddenly she was outside. She had no clue how she had gotten there so quickly, and realized she must have panicked and her instincts had taken over. Walking quickly to the sidewalk, she looked around frantically, �Alyson! Madison! Siobhan!� she screamed.
Madison and Siobhan stood up quickly when the alarms went off. Siobhan looked at her friend with panic in her eyes and Madison put her arm around Siobhan�s waist as they headed out the door. The hallway was filled with gray smoke. There were people everywhere, some screaming. Teachers were yelling at everyone to get down the stairs quickly.
Siobhan, panicked, latched onto Madison, �Maddi.� she said in the quietest of voices.
�I�m here, honey. Come on, quick.� Madison said, as they went down the stairs. Siobhan leaned heavily on her friend, struggling to keep her eyes open.
�Maddi, I don�t feel good.� Siobhan whispered, coughing on the smoke.
�Syvanni, just hold on. A few more moments and we�ll be outside. I promise.� Madison was glad Siobhan was as small as she was. Madison was a good three inches taller and quite a bit stronger, so she held Siobhan up easily as they exited the school into the fresh air.
�Alyson! Tara!� Madison called as she led Siobhan to the sidewalk. She just hoped that her friends could hear her. A lot of students were calling out for friends and siblings.
�Madison! Siobhan!� screamed a familiar voice. Madison and Siobhan both looked up and saw Tara running as fast as she could to reach them, weaving around all the students.
When Tara reached her friends, they engulfed each other in the biggest of hugs, �Are you two okay?� Tara asked as she pulled away, �What�s the matter?� she asked Siobhan, who was still leaning heavily on Madison.
�I think the smoke and the huge mass of people was too much for her. She nearly fainted. I think we�d better get her some help.� Madison said, looking frantically for medical personnel.
�No...no doctor. Where�s Ally?� Siobhan asked, almost as a whisper.
�Ally�s class was in the auditorium, so...oh my God!!!!!� Tara shrieked as she noticed where the fire was. Flames were shooting through the roof of the auditorium.