Deidra looked around as her classmates and teachers stared back at her in shock. Oh s***. It wasn’t just a nightmare. This time, it was reality. The fire alarm was blaring, but nobody moved. What remained of the ceiling sprinklers spurted water down on them all; drenching their hair and clothes. Everyone was still watching her. She wouldn’t have cared so much, but Cody James was gaping at her in the worst way. Even his shaggy black skater hair under his beanie couldn’t hide the astonished horror on his face.
Deidra took a moment to observe her surroundings. A large area of the ceiling of the school cafeteria was singed off, exposing melted pipes. Some of which leaked strange gases into the air, filling the room with an unpleasant odor that didn’t help the smell of burnt cafeteria. Several tables were still on fire, others merely smoked. She stared back at those watching her. No one appeared to be hurt, then again, there seemed to be fewer students than before. Images of incineration came to mind, but Deidra pushed them away before they became too detailed. Her philosophy teacher, Ms. Thomas, stepped forward looking as though she was going to say something.

“Deidra—”

She ran. She had no other choice. Out of the cafeteria, past the graffiti-covered lockers, off of school grounds, and into the woods. Damn it. Aunt Sandra was going to be pissed. Not to mention that it would mean moving again, coming up with a new identity and destroying any record of the life she had built here. She would have to start all over. Completely from scratch. Again. Not that it was that bad, but it meant that she had to lie to her new potential friends. How could she get close to anyone if she had to lie about her past? This time she had thought that it would all work out. She was good friends with a variety of kids, and Cody James seemed like he had been considering asking her out. Until today. Now she had no hope of living that stable life she fantasized she would have here. Perhaps it really was too good to be true. She was a freak. She needed to tell Aunt Sandra what happened so that the witnesses’ memories could be erased and replaced. The burns in the cafeteria would be some spontaneous gas explosion. Deidra would have been absent that day. Or maybe she would have moved away months before the incident.