School Bus, 7:45 AM

"Which one would you choose, Vera? Castiel or Gabriel?" Jamie asked a girl with brown, shoulder-length hair. Vera grinned. "Castiel, hands down. He's just so innocent!" Jamie gave her a high five, her long light brown hair swaying in front of her face as she leaned across the bus seat to reach her friend. "I have to agree with you on that one," A girl with mousey long hair added. "But, here's another one: Jellal or Natsu?"

"Oh my goodness, please NO! That's too hard of a decision Lauren!" Vera cried. Lauren smirked evilly. "Natsu for the win! He's hilarious!" A black haired Persian girl interrupted, turning around from her position at the front of the bus. "I agree with ya, Kiana," A girl with a ruddy complexion and brown curly hair nodded. "Although Natsu's already taken, by Lucy." The black haired girl sighed in disappointment. "Yeah, but at least they're adorable together, Sara." Kiana replied, rolling her neck to get rid of the cramps that had formed while riding in the bus. "So, guys, I just finished the Winter book and it is AMAZING!" A girl with blonde hair squealed from behind Vera. "Yas!" Vera smiled at her  excitedly. "I loved that series. I'm glad you finished, Delaney!"

"Hey, guys," A small girl with long, dark brown hair announced from the other side of the aisle. "Quit the chitchat, 'cause we're here!"

"Aw, ok, Layla. But still, who would you pick: Natsu or Jellal?"

"KIANA!"

                                                                               **le time skip**  

After School, Kiana's House, 1:30 PM

"FREEDOM!" Kiana cheered as she jumped out of the bus and ran inside her house. "FREEDOM!" The girl's group cried as they echoed the call and rushed out of the bus, eager to begin their after-Friday routine, which usually consisted of snacks, games, and then a sleepover. "Hi Marjan!" Lauren, Layla, Sara, Delaney, Vera, and Jamie chorused in greeting as they rushed through the open courtyard door, which led to the huge living room of Kiana's house—- well, more like mansion. "Hey girls!" Kiana's mom replied cheerfully, embracing the huge group of girls and smiling. "What's the rush?"

"Tonight's the slumber party! YAY!" Delaney whooped. Kiana popped her head from around the corner of the door to her room and yelled. "Come on, guys! Supernatural's showing!" The girls once again ran to Kiana's room, excited for one of their favorite T.V shows. Kiana's mother, Marjan, stared after the almost visible dust trail left by the stampede bewilderingly. "Well," She chuckled good-naturedly. "I guess that answers my question..."

For hours after that, the girls were all gathered around the high tech big screen T.V in Kiana's vast bedroom, watching Harry Potter movies, eating popcorn, and just generally basking in the wonderful geekiness known as fangirling. Later, at around 10:30 PM, Marjan popped her head into the room. "Hey girls! Just wanted to let you all know that I'm going to be leaving for work in the morning, so you are all going to have the house to yourselves for the day. And," Marjan shot a warning look at Kiana, who was smirking evilly at the other girls. "I want the house to be as I left it when I get back, okay?" Marjan smiled as the girls all huffed. "Okay, Marjan, we will!" They all said in unison, if not a little reluctantly. "Thank you, too." Layla added shyly. "Good night girls!" Marjan left them alone to go to sleep.

The group of lively girls, for once, did as they were told and quickly got ready for bed, spreading their sleeping bags across the dark wooden bedroom floor. As they settled in for the night, Layla whispered into the dark. "Hey guys?"

"What is it, Layla?" Jamie whispered kindly back. The sound of rustling cloth was heard. "Let's make wishes, please? I know, I know," Layla continued before any of the girls could interrupt. "I know, it's childish. Hey you know what, I um, I think I'm gonna go back to sleep now—"

"I think it's a great idea, Layla!" Kiana whispered loudly.

"Yeah, same!" Delaney added.

"Me too. You wanna go first, Layla?" Lauren asked quietly. Layla smiled an unseen grin in gratitude towards her friends. "Ok then! Hmm, okay, I wish that I could be a girl mermaid, like the ones in H20! Except with a prettier tail." Layla wrinkled her nose and the girls all laughed.

"That sounds amazing!" Kiana squealed. "Can I go next?"

"Sure."

"YES! Okay, um, ohhh, that's a pretty hard decision— oh, of course! I want to be Kiana Flame, the Guardian of Summer!" Unseen in the night, Kiana attempted to strike a heroic pose, failing miserably. Sara snickered at Kiana's futile attempts to escape the clutches of her sleeping bag. "Shut up..." The figure grumbled from underneath the blankets. "How about I go next," Sara suggested. "I want to be my own kind of creature! I basically want to be one where I can transform from human to wolf, anytime I want."

"That sounds amazing, Sara." Vera smiled. "Alright, I'm pretty sure all of you guys know this, but I'd wanna be a Cybertronian femme, which is a female Transformer!" She mimicked the sound of whirring cannons. "Pow, pow! Frag yeah!" The other girls laughed quietly. "I still don't understand why you like to use Transformers curse words so much..." Lauren sighed. "Anyway, for me, I'd like to be a mage from Fairy Tail!"

"What kind of powers?" Delaney asked. "It doesn't really matter to me, as long as it's good!" Lauren declared. "Oh, okay then," Delaney paused. "It's my turn already? NICE! Okay, um, I'd wanna be a Shadowhunter, from the Mortal Instruments? It's really cool, 'cause I can turn invisible and kill everyone!" Delaney joked with a sadistic grin. Vera laughed, but then sighed. "I wish I had had the chance to read that series..."

"Aw, come on, Vera. Lighten up!" Kiana lightly punched her through the sleeping bag. Vera glared playfully at Kiana while rubbing her arm. "Oh, you'd better run, boy, before I whup your ugly aft!" She hissed mockingly in an Irish accent. The girls all laughed and tussled for a bit, then whispered silent farewells and fell into the deep tendrils of sleep.

All was silent for the first few hours of that night, except for the crackling of the occasional branch and the sound of tweeting night birds.

Kiana's House, 5:30 AM

Marjan quickly woke up and got ready for her early shift at her work. Before leaving, she quietly opened the door to Kiana's room to see all the girls sleeping peacefully. She smiled to herself, then gently closed the door and walked out of the house, locking the door behind her.

However, what Marjan failed to notice as she pulled out of the driveway was the faint but noticeable blue glow coming from the window of Kiana's room, and how it pulsed for a few brief moments, before fading, gradually, back into the pitch blackness of the night.