Something Isn't Right

Chapter 1

I opened my eyes.

Immediately something felt off. A new smell filled the air, one of nature, which was totally different then the usual beach smell of our California house. The first thing I noticed was the sky. Last time I checked, I was in my bedroom, sleeping.

Trees surrounded where I was looking, which gave me the idea that I was in a forest somewhere. I didn't think (or maybe I just didn't want) to look around me to find out more. All I knew was that I was not anywhere close to our house, because these trees were not palm trees.

When I started to hear the whispers of a couple of girls, that's when I decided to peek at my surroundings. To the left and the right of me were trees. But when I looked ahead of me, two girls were kneeling to the ground, talking about something.

The girl on the left ran off, leaving me with only one. I blinked, hoping that when I opened my eyes, I would be back in my bright turquoise room, staring at the glow-in-the-dark stars that were stuck to my ceiling.

Instead of that, I open my eyes to see long, wavy blonde hair hanging over my head; slightly swishing in the wind. The girl's soft brown eyes examined my face as I looked at her. Her eyes widened a bit when mine opened completely.

"Well, hi there!" she exclaimed, throwing me a little bit off guard. "Hey," I said, not knowing what else to say. "I'm Shayliene, nice to meet you!" She sounded peppy, almost like a cheerleader. "Hi, um," I started. "Shayliene," She informed me, as if she thought that I wasn't fully paying attention the first time.

"Hi Shayliene, this may sound stupid, but right now I'm not entirely sure-" She smiled and cut me off. "-where you are. Yep, you are definitely the new girl." I grimaced at the sound of being called a new girl. I'm not new to anything. I've been going to the same school all my life, I've had a cupcake business since I was nine, and I'm a dancer going on 8 years now. Nothing is new to me. Is new a good thing?

"Yeah, so basically you, my friend, have been chosen to come to this place called Patterson," she said, gesturing to the clearing around us. "Honestly, I have no idea how y'all keep getting here, or how to get out, but now you are the third girl. A new girl and guy arrive every year, and we have our own café, mall, and tons of things to do. There is nobody here except for the now three guys and three girls, and the assortment of robots to help everyone with whatever they need. Nobody knows what day of the week it is, or the month, year, or date, so basically, no matter how long you've been here, we don't know when you turn fifteen, so you stay fourteen. Everyone here is really nice, though, you'll love it!" She finished.

"Hold up," I started. "How did you know I was fourteen?" She laughed a little, but I didn't think my question was funny. "So far, everyone here has been fourteen, so I just assumed," She smiled. "Any questions?"

I'm stuck in a world where everyone's happy, and has a great time. It sounds like fun, but I still felt empty about it. "Nope, I'm good." If I was going to be stuck here, I wasn't going to be a downer about it.

"Hey, she's awake!" The other girl was jogging back to us, with her shoulder-length, straight black hair flowing behind her. "What's your name?" Shayliene gasped. "Oh god, I totally forgot about that," she smiled shyly, and added, "What is your name?" I smiled, a bit embarrassed, and said, "Nessa,"

"Is that short for anything?" The girl with the black hair asked. "It's short for Vanessa, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone call me that," I chuckled a little bit when they both burst out laughing. "This is Lilliana," Shayliene added, and Lilliana said, "wow, Shay, you're not the only one forgetting names here!" We all laughed and Lilliana gave me a hand to help me up.