Chapter One- Welcome to Fargo

I had one of those dreams that wasn't a good one, and it wasn't a bad one. But the thing is, I always forget my dreams, including this one.

I jerked myself awake that morning, looking around my almost- empty room. I had just moved here from Phoenix, Arizona. Now I am here, in the cold weather of Fargo, North Dakota.

All that was in my room was my queen- sized bed, a mirror across from my bed, and my nightstand. There was a bathroom, and a closet in my room, which made my room a lot bigger than my room back in Phoenix.

I frown as I peer at the window attached to my plain, vanilla walls. I pick up my phone on my nightstand. I look at a text that popped up on my phone. It read, 'Hey Anthem, it's Alexa. Could you pick me up for school today?'

I take a quick glance at the text and I groan. This is the third day in a row! I made some friends in the week I have been here so far. I can't take Alexa to school again. I was planning on unpacking before school..But I guess that's not happening today.

I fell out of bed and quickly run to the showers. I look at my phone. It said the time was 6:47 o'clock in the morning. Okay, that gives me under fifteen minutes to get ready for the day. After my shower, I get ready quickly, wearing a black T-shirt and some ripped jeans I found in the back of my closet that I unpacked last night. I take my jacket quickly and rush out the door.

"Bye mom! See you later!" She probably was still asleep, but I am thankful she didn't answer because I couldn't waste another minute. I jump into my car and start it. After a few minutes, I am at Alexa's house.

"There you are." I saw my friend, Alexa cross her arms. I roll my eyes, she has had an attitude. But I know she is joking with the attitude. I could tell it in her voice. She moved here with me. I have known her ever since third grade. She is living with her aunt and uncle, who are very nice. She was standing outside her door, and I motioned her to come get into the car.

She jumps into the passenger seat and closes the door. "Can we go get the Scarlet twins, two?" She asks. I sigh. The Scarlet twins were Morgan and Donna. They were nice, but they were the bratty, popular kids at the school. Just to be clear, they are ALEXA'S friends, not mine.

"Fine..." I groan and start the car. Alexia smiled as I frown. Sooner or later, I get to there house, and two girls come out, Morgan and Donna. Alexia gets out of the passenger seat in the car and jumped into the back seat and shut the door so Morgan could sit in front. I force a smile.

"Seat belts?" I ask once the doors were closed. My father was killed in an accident, which I haven't told anyone, including Alexa. I was nine- years old when he died, so that makes me very sensitive about everyone's safety in the car. My dad was the reason we moved. My mother decided to move closer to family. My grandparents lived close by.

"We always wear seatbelts in your car." Alexa says. "Why can't we just take a break from the 'seatbelt routine'?" She said. I don't understand why she can't just shut her pretty little mouth and just do as I say.

"Fine you spoiled little brat!" Of course I didn't mean it...but I was just so angry. After I yelled, I hear two clicks of a seat belt, one from Morgan and one from Donna. I sigh quietly when I look back and see that Alexa didn't have a seatbelt on.

"So, Anthem, how is dancing going?" Dona asks. She was probably asking because she wanted to change the subject. I noticed Alexa was staying silent.

"It's doing pretty okay. I lost a couple competitions." I love to dance. Dancing is my life. There is a dance tutor at my school, which I go to every day. There are multiple competitions a month, which I enjoy very much.

"Have you ever won any medals?" she asked again. I nod.

"Back in Phoenix I danced all the time. I won three gold medals, two silver, and four bronze. I've been dancing for..Six years now." I say. I don't really like to talk about my time in Phoenix. Phoenix was the home of my nightmares, where dad died. Our house was really small, so I was anxious and depressed when I lived in Phoenix.

There was a moment of silence after the talk, which made me feel awkward. I look around at the sky and sigh. Probably another rainy day. While I was lost in thought while driving, I heard a shriek.

"Anthem! Watch out!" Morgan yelled. "The truck-" she didn't get to finish her sentence. Then, it was like everything went in slow motion. A loud banging noise filled my eyes. A crack was heard. I look over to my left. A truck smash into us. I felt a sharp pain pierced my side. I look down and my side is stabbed with a piece of car. I hit my head against the window, blood spitting everywhere. And then it went dark.

......

I wake up in a bright room with green pasty walls. There was a small with a small window to my left. There was a white chair in the corner, and a TV screen in front of me. The TV was turned to a cartoon which I didn't recognize. I was in a hospital bed.

What happened?

I stared blankly at the bedsheets. I tore them off of my sweaty skin and looked down. I had a big white bandage wrapped around my waist which was stained an orange- red color.

I hold my head still from spinning. Then it hit me. The truck. Blood. Darkness.

Donna? Morgan? Alexia? Where they okay? After minutes and minutes of thinking, I realized I was crying. A male quickly walks into the room. I was crying nonstop.

"Ms. Flores..You're awake.." he said quietly. He was wearing a white doctor's coat with a nametag that said, 'Patrick'.

"What's going on!?" I yell. My voice sounded different, scared, which was unusual. I haven't been scared since the day when the teachers pulled me out of school, saying that there was a family emergency. My scared voice freaked me out. The person sighed and held my shoulder.

"Everything's going to be okay. You were asleep for two days now." He said. That can't be true..All my memories were foggy. I hated that.

"Where is my parents....Where are my friends?!" There was the scared and disturbed voice again.

"Just get some rest. Your parents will be here tomorrow." He said, opening the door to leave. I scoff. This wasn't funny....I wanted my family. I wanted Alexia.

. . .

A day passed, and I went through the whole night not sleeping at all. I was worried about my friends. All I remember is driving to school, some fight I had with Alexa, and blood.

A knock came at the door and I flinch. The knock pushed me back into reality. "Come in." I say. A female walks in, her sparkling blue eyes staring at me. Wait. She feels familiar.

"Mom!" I yell, almost leaping up from the seat, which would be impossible because I was connected to his machine that told me what my heart rate was. And my waist was wrapped with bandages.

"Honey! Are you alright?" Her soft voice fills my ears. She comes to me slowly and hugged me tightly.

"I'm fine, but tired." I answer. "Mom..The doctor's won't tell me anything...What happened? I can't walk, but surely they are okay-" I stop. What if they weren't okay?

Mom kept a straight face, "Why don't we get you something to eat. Your awfully pale..." I can tell she was changing the subject. She wasn't telling me something, which made me nervous, scared. The only thing she would hide from me is something that would break my heart forever, like the time when she didn't tell me that Dad died.