Free at last

PROLOGUE

Kya glances at me from the corner of her eye as she walks, a confused expression on her face.

"So you saying you're gonna say no?" She asks me confused.

"Correct." I answer, splashing my feet into the creek. A large smile is painted onto my face as Kya frowns. Her long blonde hair touches to the bottom of her baithing suit top and her blue eyes stare at the ground. In my eyes, she could easily pass as a model. She is one of the prettiest girls I know and one of the most popular girls in school.

Except for me. She falls in a far second place beside me. If you ask anybody, everyone will say I'm prettier than her. I'm thinner too, just sayin.

Kya looks up at me with a small smile on her face. "But why? Ashton is like the hottest guy ever! Of course he is gonna ask you out!" She squeals. She turns her body, leading us down a different trail, away from the water.

"Look." I stop walking and face towards her. She stares at me expectingly. "Of course I want to date him, but because I want to, I can't." I shrug and her eyes widden.

"Why not?" She argues. I clearly have her attention.

"Because, Kya, You have to learn to play hard to get." As she listens, her mouth forms an O and I roll my eyes. "If I say yes to Ashton the first time he asks me out, I would be too easy. That's why I'm making him try. Get it?"

She nods her head frantically and smiles. "I get it. Are you going to his party tonight?"

"Of course!" I chime, fixing my mid-sleeve shirt with my hand, "It wouldnt be a party without me." I wink at her and she laughs.

"Very true." She nods her head in agreement with herself as we begin to walk again. I smile triumpantly. "Hey look." Kya says bending down.

"Hm?" I glance at the object in her hand. It is a small rock, one that looks like all the other ones around it.

She holds it out to me but I push her hand away. I am not getting all dirty right now. No way.

I have to look amazing for Ashton tonight!

"Just look at it." She pushes it towards me again and I turn away, starting up the trail again.

"I saw it, it's a rock. Big deal." I roll my eyes as my feet hit the pavement below me.

"What?" Kya jogs up beside me, looking at me like I am weird. "Are you kidding? It's bright Blue!" She exclaims excitedly. I turn to her curiously and stop walking. I look at her open palm and examine the rock.

"Seriously? It's brown. Just like all the other one's. Now get rid of it." I hit her hand with mine, making the rock pop out of her palm and land on the ground with a click. Kya panics and reaches down and picks it up.

"No it's not." She mumbles, standing up and shoving it into her shorts pocket.

"Whatever. Lets get to my house so we can get ready."

*

In my room, Kya sits on my bed playing with her stupid rock as I sort through my closet looking for the perfect dress to wear to the party. I pull out a strapless red one that barely covers my butt.

"Do you want to wear this one Kya?" I turn back to her and throw it at her. She ducks and looks up from her rock for a second to glance at the dress, then she looks back down to her rock.

"Yeah sure." She nods her head absent mindedly.

"Your not even paying attention to me." I growl out, stomping my foot on the carpet.

Kya doesn't look up but just mumbles a "Yeah."

"Kya!" I practically scream. Her head snaps up to me. "Pay attention to me." I growl. She rolls her eyes.

"Gosh. What crawled up your butt and died?" She sighs loudly and turns away from me to look at her rock.

"Excuse you? What did you just say?" She turns around to face me and frowns.

"Nothing." She slides off the bed and walks towards me. My anger flares. She holds the rock out in her open palm and looks me strait in the eyes. "You really don't see that it's blue?" She looks at me in disbaleife.

I grab the rock from her palm and look at it closely. I walk towards the window and open it. In anger, hard as I could, I threw the stupid brown rock out of sight. Kya gasps from behind me and I turn to her with a 'huff'.

"It's. Not. Blue." I glare at her. Her eyes start to water as she looks past me out the open window. "Are you seriously going to cry? It's a friking rock Kya!" I scream. She glanced at me then turns on her heals and leaves my room in a run. I roll my eyes and growl.

"Stop being a baby!" I yell then throw myself down onto my bed.

After about fifteen minutes of laying faceflat into my pillow, I hear a small click on my door.

And she came to apologize.

I don't look up but I listen to her shuffling in my room. She walks over to the desk then sits down, the chair squeaking from under her weight. I smile into the pillow.

"Did you come to apologize?" I say into my pillow. When I receive no answer I look up.

There is no one there. I sit up on my bed and stand to my feet. Glancing at my desk, the chair is pulled out halfway, an obvious indent on the cushion, the form slowly going back into it's original place as if someone had stood up not even a second ago. My eyes widen at the sight of the small brown rock sitting on my desk.

I walk over to it and pick it up gently, examining it. It is warm, as if just beiong in someone's pocket or their hand.

In my palm, the rock begins to burn. Not a lot, but enough to feel it. Then it is blue.

In my mind, the sound of waves crashing take over my brain, it is all I can here, all I can process. Then I stand on the beach.

I am walking with a person at my side. I try to turn my head to look at the person but I can't; My head doesn't move. I just walk.

"Danulet." The image calls me, stopping our pace. My body halts as their fingers grab my arm. "Danulet." They repeat.

"Who is that?" I ask the person, but still, I can't look at them.

They call again and again, the same name. I don't know who it is. I don't know what it is.

It's dark.

A muffled cry fills my mind as they call again. The fingers on my arm were no longer there, but are replaced with cold. My whole body is cold. Ocean water floods my mouth. I'm drowning? But I can breath. It's only salt. Salt? What is salt? What is-

It's black.

It's nothing.