My name is Mike Daniels and I have a story to tell. A story, a terrifying story. The story of a 14-year-old who almost died. My story starts here.

I lie on my lumpy bed, reading my favorite comic book, Wolverine. It's 1:38 in the afternoon and it's a hot March day. I live on the Gold Coast in Florida, It was always very humid out. I could hear the waves coming from the beach, pulling back and then forward. The window was open, blowing hot air into the small, cluttered room. Clothes, books, bags, blankets, and pillows littered the room floor. The walls off-white paint was peeling like always. The lamps were on, barely giving light. The musty white curtains softly blew out and then back, as tiny gusts of wind came in. The floor was a dull wood with scuff marks and stains all over. The door was cracked open and wouldn't shut properly. The closet had clothes pouring out to where the doors couldn't be shut. It smelt of sea and rotting fruit. As I was about to finish the last page I heard a shout come from outside.

"Hey, Mike!" yelled someone.

As I run to my window, I trip over a doll. Its face was dirty and its hair was tangled and a dingy blonde colour. It wore a faded blue dress with missing buttons.

I kept running to the window. As I peered out the window I saw where the noise came from. Kyle and Marcus Ruff. They were twins who looked way too different to be twins.

Kyle was short and scrawny with messy golden hair. His eyes were the colour of fresh grass. Kyle always wore a dirty tank top that was too big on him and black basketball shorts. His shoes were full of holes and were never tied.

Marcus on the other hand was tall and a little chubby. He had an army haircut that went well with his black hair. His eyes were the colour of diamonds. Marcus wore a Blue shirt and khakis. He wore black sandals and a baseball cap.

The only thing that was similar about the two of them was their age and nose.

"Oh, hey Kyle and Marcus. What's up?" Kyle laughed, "Not much I guess." Marcus kinda looked at me like I was a very hard question.

"You wanna come to the movies?" Marcus asked. I felt bad. The last time I went somewhere I got in trouble with the cops.

"I can't go outside because I got in trouble last time." Kyle smiles.

Kyle was the loud, mischievous one when Marcus was the quiet observer.

"Well, that sucks," Kyle says, "would have been fun!" They turn and walk away. I sigh and went back to bed. I pick back up the comic book and begin to read again.

So, yeah I can't even hang out with the only friends I have. Do I feel bad for myself? No. Even though I know it would be so much fun to climb out the window and go down the fire escape to go to the movies with Marcus and Kyle, I knew I would get into too much trouble. I, on the other hand, have a bad boy rep. If you're just trying to make a bad boy reputation for yourself, don't expect it to work. Things like that are just supposed to come naturally to you. I guess it's my hair or eyes that make me irresistible to all the girls at my school. I once had a girl like me so much that she changed her personality entirely!

From the nice, cute, shy girl who wore jean shorts and big baggy t-shirts to the mean, hot, mischievous girl who wore ripped shorts, a shirt that showed her stomach, and long dangly skull earrings. I kinda steered clear of her, which made her kinda mad.

Anyway, I finished my comic and just sat on my bed for a while.

Looking up at the ceiling, wondering why my parents wouldn't want me. My mom might have been young, or they just couldn't afford to have me. Either way, it made me sad thinking about it.

"What's on the ceiling?" someone asks. I look at the door to find Celiea Marcas looking through the door. She's 13. Celiea has long curly black hair, a freckled nose, green eyes, and has the palest skin. She kinda looks like that princess with the seven midget friends. She wore a black shirt and jean shorts. She smiled at me and came in. I kinda had a crush on her.

"Nothing," I said, sitting up, "Just wondering about stuff." I

looked down at my bed. Blue blanket with faded gold stars. It has been my bedding since I was 6. Celiea came over and sat at the foot of the bed.

"Wondering? Wondering about what?" She asked, looking curiously at me. I look up at her. Why wouldn't nobody want to keep her? She was one of the nicest kids I've ever met. I mean, why would anyone want to leave their kids. I sighed and leaned back against my pillow,

"About everything!" I said. Celiea smirked and looked down.

"Your parents?"

"How-,"

"We all do it," Celiea said, cutting me off. She was very thin. Celiea came when I was 5, she was 4. She didn't talk much. I was the first to talk to her. I made a joke and she laughed then we started talking. She has been my best friend here ever since. "Do you, you know… Remember?" I asked. I had never asked her that question before. I always felt like that was a touchy topic. She was chewing her lower lip like she did when she was nervous. "Do I remember my parents?" she asked, looking at me. I slowly nodded. She was four the last time she saw them, so I didn't expect her to remember much. "Yeah, I remember a little bit of my mom's face," she said in a shaky voice like she was about to cry. I felt bad for asking because I knew I wouldn't want to talk about my past either. No orphan actually likes to talk about their past.

"Oh," I said, "Sorry, I shouldn't have." I sighed and looked at my hands. Celiea grabbed my hand and shook her head. "No, I get asked that a lot. Don't feel bad for asking a simple question." I looked up at her. Simple. She said it like the question meant nothing to her. Like she was so used to this life, the life of an orphan, a family she once had didn't mean squat. Her eyes sparkled in the sunlight, they looked like freshly cut emeralds. Her black hair blew in the slight breeze. I have known her for 10 years, and I never noticed the small scar under her left ear. It was small but noticeable.

"Do you trust me?" she asked. The question came from nowhere. Just out of the blue. Did I trust her? We've been friends for 10 years and not once has she stabbed me in the back. "Yeah, I trust you," I said quickly. I didn't want her to think that I didn't trust her. She smiled, "Close your eyes." I arched my eyebrow.

"What?" I ask.

"If you trust me…" She said. I realized she hadn't let go of my hand yet. She was sitting cross-legged right in front of me with a straight face.

"OK, just don't mess up my hair." I joked.

She giggled. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I sat there for a while, my face getting warmer and warmer. I opened my eyes slightly to see Celiea coming towards me for a kiss. OK, this isn't bad, I thought. We were about to kiss when someone barged into the room. I opened my eyes real fast and I saw Celiea lurch back real fast and swore under her breath. Carry Max was standing in the doorway. Carry Max was 13, skinny, short, shoulder-length blonde, glasses, one blue eye one brown eye, and was very tan. She always wore light colours. Right now she wore a large teal shirt with yellow shorts and white sandals.

"Were you guys busy?" Carry asked with a grin. She had a missing tooth and 2 chipped teeth, other than that she was kinda cute, in a sisterly kind of way. I could feel my face heating up.

"No," Celiea said quickly, "Any news?"

I looked at Celiea who had just got off the bed and was walking to the door. She didn't even look at me.

"OH YES!," Carry whispered something into Celiea's ear. Celiea's eyes got wide. "Oh, wow!" Celiea rushed over to me.

"A couple is coming in!" Celiea had a big smile on her face. I frowned, "When?" A couple? What if they took Celiea or me? I don't think I was ready for something like that yet. Celia looked so happy with this news. I looked down at my hands.

Still with a smile on her face says "2 Days!"

That fast? I didn't want it to be that fast. "Oh," I said, still looking at my hands.

Celiea's smile faded, "What's wrong? Thought you would be a lot happier."

Celiea sat down beside me again. I looked at her. She was so hard to read.

"What if we get split up?" I asked. She looked down at her hands again.

"Well, let's just lay here," Celiea says taking my hand. "What?" I ask.

It happened so fast. One second I'm looking at her smile the next moment she's hugging me. She released and smiled at me.

"Just lay here with me," she says and puts her arms around me and her head on my chest.

She closes her eyes and after a few minutes, she falls asleep. A few minutes later, I fall asleep too.