🫶🏽Alan Gratz one-shots🫶🏽

💐𝒜𝒦ℐℛ𝒜: 𝒯𝒲𝒪 𝒟ℰ𝒢ℛℰℰ𝒮💐

      Y/N's perspective:

•ONE YEAR AFTER THE MORRIS FIRE- 2023•

I got up and stretched my legs. I was exhausted. The Morris Fire had only happened a year ago, but I was still having nightmares. The vivid dreams of Morris' fiery jaws reaching out for me, the aching pain of the burns on my arms, and the thought of all my friends and classmates who had died. It was the start of 8th grade, and I was supposed to be at school early for introductions and things.
     I pulled my hair back into a messy bun and put on a plain white shirt and an oversized sweater. It may be California, but it was still cold, especially in the Sierra Nevada area where I live. I brushed m'y teeth and went downstairs for some breakfast.
"Hi, honey. How are you feeling?"
Mom asks me this every morning.
     "I'm fine, mom, thanks," I tell her as I grab the bowl of Lucky Charms on the counter. "Not really excited for school, though." I take a bite.
     "That's understandable, honey." Mom walks over to me and puts a hand on my shoulder. "I know things have been hard since the fire, but you're doing great. Trust me."
    I nodded while taking another bite of cereal. I wasn't in the mood for sweet talk, but then again, I wasn't in the mood for anything lately.

     After I ate my cereal, grabbed my bag, and said goodbye to my parents, I walked to the bus était ion and sat down. I pulled out a stick of watermelon gum and popped it in my mouth. As I was chewing and staring off into space, a noticed a girl sit down next to me. She was Asian American, with dark hair pulled into a ponytail. She looked familiar, but I couldnt out my finger on it. I turned and took out another stick of gum. "Hi!" She jumped a little, then turned to look at me. "Hi...!" I could tell she seemed a little nervous, so I offered her a stick of gum.
     "Do you want some? It's watermelon!"
The girls eyes brightened as she took the stick and unwrapped the foul covering. "Thanks! I'm Akira Kristensen. What's your name?"
"Y/N. Your name is really pretty!"
"Thanks! Yours is too!"

     When we arrived at school and got our schedules, we found out we were in 4 or of 6 of our classes! Math, Science, History, and PE. We also found out that we had a lot in common. We both loved horses, and Akira actually had two of her own! Hers was named Dodger, and her dad's was named Elwood. We also found out we didn't live to far away from each other! We made plans to hang out after school tomorrow at my house, since hers was still partially destroyed from the Morris fire.
    
That's another thing we had in common.

     The Morris fire.
Akira and I both were in the fire, and we talked about our experiences at recess. We became fast friends and ate lunch together. I'm so glad I got to meet her! We also talk about one other thing: climate change. We talked about how there might be another Morris fire. Something bigger, badder, and even worse than what we went through. Akira told me her dad didn't believe in climate change, and I related to that with my uncle. He told me "Climate change isn't real," or, "It's just 'nature being nature.'" Akira also mentioned that she was in a rally called "Kids Against Climate Change," and is still close friends with the organizer. I told her that I had been there, and her speech was amazing. That's when I realized: that's where I had recognized her! I thought it was just a coincidence! Meeting Akira showed me that everyone was connected in someway, and so was the world when it came to climate change.

And I was ready to talk to her about all of it.

🎀WORD COUNT:668🎀

💫A/N: I hope you enjoyed this story! I'm going to be writing about *almost* all the characters from every historical fiction novel Alan Gratz has made because his books are SO underrated!!!!💫