Life. Death.

Chapter 1

I awake to bright sunlight streaming through my bedroom window. I grin. What a wonderful day to surf. I haven't in a while.

I hop out of bed, and quickly take off my pajamas-a blue nightgown with sunflowers splashed over it. I put on my new pink bikini, and run a brush through my long curly blonde hair.

As I bound down the stairs, I realize that no one else in my family is awake, unless you count my black and white cat, Cookie. She is still a baby. My uncle's cat had babies, and he let me keep Cookie. I give her some breakfast then head back into the living room.

I pull a notepad and Sharpie out of the living room drawer and write a quick note to my family-"Hey, this is Katie. I'm out surfing with Sunny. I have my phone. Call me if you need anything." Then I grab my blue surfboard and head across the street to Sunny's, ready to have fun.

Sunny Walters is my best friend. Sunny is not her real name. Tiffany is. But all of her friends, and some other people, call her Sunny.

I am just about to knock on her door when it happens. A strange feeling overtakes me. Not sickness. Not depression. Nothing like that. Just some odd sense, a sixth sense. That something bad will happen. Today or tonight, maybe even tomorrow morning.

I don't believe in psychics. It's just scary. And stupid. Seeing the future? Psychics just flat out annoy me. But am I being hypocritical by thinking this, when I could be turning slightly psychic? Yes. I sigh.

Without warning, the door flies open, and almost kills me.

I jump back just in time though, then look up to see who the almost-murderer is. Sunny.

"KATIE! Guess what! Wait no. You won't be able to guess!" Sunny says excitedly.

I have to laugh. Sunny acts like this a lot. Once her "exciting news" was simply the pizza parlor, Ernie's, reopening. Great, but you don't need to have a heart attack over it.

"What's your news?" I ask, not knowing what to expect.

"I made the finals of the Surfing Squad Championship!" she screeches.

"Wow! You know, I knew you would make it," I say. And I did. Maybe I really am becoming psychic. Scary. I try not to think of that, and think of the real reason I came to Sunny's in the first place. To ask her to surf.

"So speaking of, do you want to head to the beach?" I ask her.

Sunny nods, then runs to get her board, her light blonde hair flowing behind her. I hear her shout, "YOU GO AHEAD, I'LL BE RIGHT THERE!"

I start to head to the beach. I'm not near as good of a surfer of Sunny. I just think of it as a fun sport. And since I live in Miami, Florida, I get to do it all year. But I am still not a champion. I can't say I suck though.

I have just paddled out far enough when I hear splashing behind me. At first I think it's a shark, so I quickly squeeze my whole body onto the board. It is not a shark though. It's Sunny.

"Did I scare you?" she laughs.

I shake my head. I am not about to tell her. She's fearless. I'm...not. A lot of things make me flinch. Not to mention the things I seriously have actual fears of. Like sharks, terrorists, bombs, getting run over, being murdered, then, the biggest fear ever. Fire. I hate it. Whenever the fire alarms go off in my school, I never think of them as our monthly drills. No, I think that there are actual flames in the building. I had to deal with that for almost ten years. From when I was four in preschool, to now, when I'm about to turn fourteen and go into my freshmen year of high school. Hopefully, my high school will not be as bad when it comes to the fire factor. Of course, Sunny's only fear is not being able to surf. I envy her majorly.

A big wave comes suddenly and knocks me off my board, but I come up laughing. Of course, Sunny caught the wave. Another one is coming. I actually catch this one. I freak out a bit when I see Logan McCormick from biology staring at me. He's really cute, with blonde hair and sparkling green eyes, but I don't exactly have a crush on him. I just get a bit freaked out when he's watching me. Being stalked in any way is another fear of mine. Maybe that's why I'm not on social networking, besides email. But really, Logan and I are barely even friends. We hardly talk in school, let alone outside of it. He could be a bully for all I know! Or he could be the sweetest guy on Earth. Probably the latter.

Sunny is watching me from the shore. She gives me a thumbs-up when I reach the edge of the water. Then my phone dings, alerting a text. It's Mom, asking if I ate breakfast. I realize that I haven't, but I tell her I have. If I say I did not eat yet, I'll get a lecture, and I am about to go get some food anyway.

I head up to the Beach Side Shack, a little restaurant next to the beach, (hence the name) and order orange juice and eggs. I eat quickly. I want to surf some more.

I don't get the chance though. As soon as I am about to go back in, Mom calls me and says to come back to the house. She says its important. Oh no. What happened? I don't have much time to wander. I need to get back to the house. Now.

I quickly explain things to Sunny, and grab my bag and board and head back to my house. It doesn't help that my freaky sixth sense feeling is back again. And it is worse than ever.