Lying on my bed listening to music, I was completely oblivious to the chaos my best friend Allie would cause this week. Examples of my oblivious nature: I was doing my homework (the morning before it was due) while singing music and ignoring my little brother’s screams as he threw a fit down stairs. I had no idea what was coming.

I did, however, know what was coming that morning. Here’s how it always goes: I get downstairs and immediately know what my brother is complaining and screaming about today, then I grab a granola bar for breakfast as my mom screams that I’m gunna be late because my bus is already outside honking at our house, I get on the bus and sit there listening to music in my seat (the very back one) until we get to the high school.

The last part did not happen, though. Very unfortunate. As I pushed my way through our overly crowded bus to get to the very back, I saw that my seat was occupied by some kid (that I had never seen before) with red-brown hair.

“Hey, kid” I said rather loudly (as my headphones were still on with my music all the way up,) “you happen to be in my seat.” Halfway through that last sentence I realized how loud I actually was. He had pulled the headphones out of my ears.

“Just sit next to me, Kammi,” he said with a weird expression. I kind of squinted at him and stood there for a bit.

“Partason! Take a seat!” our bus driver screeched at me. I glanced back at her, then to the boy in my seat.

“It’s a one-person seat, kid.” He scooted over and, glaring, I plopped myself down.

“Why do you keep calling me kid?” he huffed at me. Pft, the nerve of some people. Then it hit me. I knew this “kid.” I gave a short laugh at my own stupidity.

He was a new student as of yesterday. I had showed him around the school. He sang an amazing song in chorus then bolted when the bell rang. He was a junior and incredibly smart. It all came back to me, but I had forgotten his name. I felt like a jerk because he had remembered mine.

“I didn’t know you rode my bus,” I said, putting my music on low and fixing my headphones.

“Well, you didn’t go on the bus yesterday.”

“Allie wanted me to walk with her. She makes me every once in a while.” We sat there in silence for a little while. He shifted nervously (I could tell.)

“What ‘cha listenin’ to?” he asked. I looked down at my I-Pod.

“Uh…System of a Down,” I muttered as a cover-up. My I-Pod actually said Moonlight Sonata. I was pretty much the only person in our school that ever listened to classical music.

“Oh, cool. Mind if I listen, also?” He gave a light tug at my headphones.

“Actually, my charger – I forgot to charge it this morning so I was gunna turn it off, sorry,” I told him. I wasn’t embarrassed; I just don’t like sharing my headphones.

I didn’t even turn off my I-Pod or take my headphones off. He didn’t seem to notice, though. He sat there jabbering on about… something.

That’s what went on until we finally got to school. Usually people went to the gym or the tennis courts to hang out before the bell rang, but I headed for my homeroom.

“Hey, where ya going?” the kid asked.

“Mrs. Balen’s room.” Oops, it slipped out. This kid was really starting to bug me. I walked a little faster.

“Oh,” he said, slowing down a bit. Then he caught up with me and said “I’ll go with you!”

Well, she is a “junior math teacher.” (I only know that because I had her class last year.)

“So, you’re a sophomore, right?” Ian asked as we sat down in Mrs. Balen’s class room.

“Yeah, thank god this year is almost over.”

“What, you don’t like being a sophomore?” He had a look of curiosity. It was annoying.

“Sick of school, actually.”

“It’s sick of you, too, Kammi,” a new voice said. I looked up.

“Hey Jake,” I said. He glared at me and sat next to us. “You’re here early today!”

“My mom shoved me out the door at 6:30,” he pretty much hissed. I snickered. Jake was pretty intimidating, so the kid had gone silent. His constant chatter was halted.

I was happy.

“Hi,” the kid said, grinning, “I’m Ian.”

I was obviously annoyed again.

“Yeah, we met the other day,” Jake said slowly, raising an eyebrow. Ian looked surprised.

“We did?” He laughed at himself. “That shows how horrible my memory is!” I gave him a weird look because he had remembered my name.

All day this new junior “kid” followed me around, jabbering endlessly. My dreams that night were quite scary. He was everywhere and everyone – talking nonstop. I couldn’t get away.

The horror!

But I’m going a little too far ahead.

After school that day Allie decided to kidnap me (and Ian decided to follow.) Allie was ok with that, though. (She, for some reason, thought he was attractive. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he was very good looking – but he was so annoying that it didn’t matter.)

“We’re going on a walk,” Allie informed us. (Us included Jake, also.)

“We are?” Jake lifted an eyebrow.

“Yes. Put your stuff in your lockers. I’ve made sure you’ve all missed the busses.”

Jake and I both groaned, but Ian looked excited.

When I returned, (I was the first to get back to Allie) we sat down and waited for the other two.

“This isn’t going to be like that other ‘walk’, is it?”

“Yes, but it won’t be quite as long, Kammi, don’t worry.”

“You better tell Ian what he’s in for just in case he might get in trouble.” Then I called my mom and informed her.

You’ll see.

Ian and Jake came back talking. Ian looked calm.

“If it’s like the other walk Jake told me about, don’t worry, my mother won’t mind if I miss a week.”

Allie grinned. It always worked out for her.

Her “walks” were more like camping trips. We should have seen it coming – her backpack was full.

I always had a spare change of clothes in my locker (just in case, ya know?) and Jake had the same, but specifically for Allie’s walks. So we had those and out freshly cleaned (or, at least, mine were) gym clothes. Obviously Jake told Ian.

“Do you mind if we stop by my house?” Ian asked.

What. A. Pain.

Our week long walk was a lot of fun. (Mostly because Ian always fell asleep first.)

We lived in a really snobby (“rich”, I guess) town, so no one really ever had the urge to go into the woods. We were the only people that ever went in there. So we felt perfectly safe just sleeping in our (very thin) sleeping bags. Ian insisted, though, on brining his own giant sleeping bag. His loss, though. He was the one who had to carry it.

The last day of this amazing walk was great – at first.

We were all joking and laughing when we suddenly saw an opening in the trees. We stopped talking and walked out of the woods to see a highway. Our faces went blank.

“What’s the matter?” Ian asked, worried by our expressions.

“I think we walked a little far,” Jake said in a weak voice.

“Ya think?” Allie and I squeaked in reply.

When we walk, we don’t walk in any real direction, we just walk. We always came out in a park, or even someone’s backyard.

We were in trouble.

There weren’t any highways anywhere near our town.

“You liar, Allie,” I muttered as we walked down the highway. (On the grass, of course, not literally on the road.)

We had already been walking for 3 hours. It was like the road never ended.

“Look, let’s just go back through the forest and keep walking in one direction,” Jake suggested. We sighed and went back into the forest. (It took forever to get back to it.)

What we didn’t know at the time was that a city was a fifteen minute walk down the road we had just escaped from.

God, we’re idiots.