Sage watched as a beautiful brunette walked onto the bus and stared with awe. She was so pretty. All he could do was stare. He gulped nervously as she came closer. Then to his luck, she ended up sitting beside him. His heart pounded loudly against his ribcage. To him, it was a wonder how nobody was hearing it. He glanced around just to make sure, but no one was paying him any attention. His palms began to sweat, and he clenched his fists so that nobody would see. Breathe, he told himself. Breathe. - To his luck, she sat down beside him. He glanced over, and his heart raced even faster and harder. He went to speak, but then shyly turned away. Not to soon after, another girl joined her. He looked over at the duo. She looked younger than the brunette did, but not by much. He listened to their conversation, trying his hardest not to look directly at her, nor make it seem like he was eavesdropping. He didn't want them to think that he was rude. Not that he cared, but it wasn't the way to start off a friendship. “Hey, by any chance do you know where they’re taking us?” The younger girl asked the brunette beside her. "Not a clue." Terry replied, "I asked and the driver wouldn't tell me... I'm Terraline. Most people call me Terry." Terraline. What a beautiful name. He smiled to himself, but coughed to cover it up. - “Well, I’m not sure if I can say that it’s nice to meet you seeing the situation that we are in but nonetheless, my name is Tia.” The girl said with a slight smirk before continuing. “Did guys in suits come after you as well? They visited me and my family as we were leaving the hospital and from what I could gather we’re going to some sort of institution, or rather a school for freaks as one of them loosely stated. Either way, my brothers were quite pissy when they came to visit me so if you ask me I don’t think these guys should be trusted.” - Sage turned over, finally deciding to join the conversation. "Hi." He greeted. His voice was a mixture of a British and Australian accent. "I'm not the only one who got attacked by a group of men, I take it?" He commented. "I don't think they're to be trusted either, because they drugged my tea. I thought that was a good way to start off my brunch, don't you?" He leaned back against the window, turning to face them. "I'm Sage." He introduced himself and held his hand out for them to shake. "Did anyone else get terribly ill, then miraculously recover?" - Sage had gotten sick a week and a half ago and had been sent to one of the best hospitals his parents could afford. There, he'd gotten sick, so sick, that he couldn't move or open his eyes. His parents had bought the medication he needed, but hadn't gone out of their way. Sure they had given him the best hospital serviced that one could get, but that was it. He'd finally recovered a week later and had been brought home. His parents had thrown him a small "Welcome home" party, and then that had been the last of it. Sage would have appreciated the gesture if they had actually put effort into it. But like always, they didn't. He sighed, pushing the memories away, and looking back at Terry and Tia. ________________________________________________________________________________________ The familiar sound of gunshots filled the air, piercing the serene silence. Willow couldn't find it in her to jump anymore. It was so common and was as familiar as the sound of rain, or an alarm. She sighed,shaking her head. She couldn't wait to leave this darn neighborhood, but on the other hand, she could. Will didn't want to leave her parents in this awful mess, but she had no choice but to go. It was a nuisance. She had just gotten a job to help pay their rent and now she had to go? Granted her parents worked, but every little thing helped. Sure she could work the corner and get money faster, but there was no way in heck she would do that. - Turning to face the mirror, she glanced at it to see her reflection. Her long, straight auburn hair tickled her back and framed her face. Soft, warm blue eyes stared back at her and met her reflection. She wore a black tank top with a gold skull, with a lace back, a pair of black leather pants, spiky black combat boots, and a black hoodie. In addition, she had on a pair of leather fingerless gloves with a black beanie. She wasn't a particular fan of dressing this way, but she needed to make sure that she didn't look like an easy victim. It was a dog eat dog world in her city, and only the fittest survived. So far, she had done well. Willow sighed and put the hoodie on to make herself be less noticeable and also took a pair of cheap, tinted sunglasses and put them on as well. - She stepped away and examined her small, cramped bedroom one last time before departing. She wanted to say goodbye to her parents, but they were in bed after being up all night and worrying. She didn't want to wake them. With a sigh, Willow left her house. She stuffed her hands in her pockets and moved her switch blade, gas pepper spray, and hand held tazer, to her pockets before heading off to the bus stop. She drew the hoodie close to her but held her head high and kept a close eye on her surroundings. Nothing was out of the ordinary. If one were to count the continuous, harmonic sound of gunshots. It was almost music to her ears. Almost. If there wasn't gunshots, then something was even more wrong. - Willow sighed, recalling how the ambulances had been late arriving at her house when she had fallen desperately ill. Her parents hadn't been able to afford the best health care, but they had given it their all. They took turns staying with her and helping her in the hospital. The staff had been great, since they appreciated kinder people, rather then the cruel and rude people. When she had finally recovered, they had bought her some things she had been wanting for a while. She had felt guilty and told them they could return it, but they had refused. Willow had then accepted it, and thanked her lucky stars she was still alive. Now that she was alive and going to a new school, she could only hope that things would be better there than they were at home.