For Rylie

Chapter 1

"RYLIE!!!"

I jumped when I heard my name being called. I spun around to face one of my best friends walking hurriedly towards me; August McLane. His dark brown hair falling over his eyes was blowing wildly in the wind.

"August," I yawned, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. It was only half past eight in the morning but the cold, wintry breeze was blowing onto my neck, waking me up.

August had caught up and pulled me into a quick hug.

"Good morning," he smiled as he opened the door for me to walk into the building that was school.

Our school was a two story, brick building that had a huge clock above the doors to the entry. It was incredibly old, and not in the polished, rustic old way. It was crumbling down.

That was the main building that August and I were walking into to get to our lockers.

"It's too early for school," I told him, removing my black gloves from my hands and shoving them into the pocket of my jacket.

August's warm laugh echoed through the nearly empty hall. "It's too early for anything!"

We had arrived at my locker and I started to do the combination as August leaned on the locker beside mine, fiddling with the beanie he had on. My lock popped open with a click and the door opened. I smiled at the drawings I had done that were taped inside the door of my locker.

"Ohayou gozaimasu!" A far too loud voice came from behind me.

I looked to August who smiled at the newcomer and hugged her.

I shoved my bag into my locker and closed it again, turning to face Brooklyn.

Her dark hair was hidden under a navy beanie and a smile was gleaming on her face.

I smiled at her without saying anything and hugged her.

Brooklyn was a very loud, very confident person which brought out the quietness in me. I couldn't compete my voice with her, even though she was one of my close friends.

"Oh my God you will never believe what happened!!!" Brook exclaimed, launching into an incredibly detailed explanation of her trip to the snow which involved a guy and hot chocolates and something else. I wasn't really listening.

Thankfully the bell rang and I was saved from trying to muster up a suitable response.

Times like these I felt like a bad friend, but nearly every morning Brook said something else that we would never believe. It got a bit tiring.

I walked to the maths and science building and opened the door to my math room. I saw Tessa sitting towards the back so I slid into the seat beside her.

"Hey Tess," I greeted her, turning to face her. The teacher was always late to this class so I figured I would have some time to catch up with my best friend.

"Hey Rylie! What's happening?" she turned to face me, twirling her pen around her fingers.

"I am so flipping cold," I shivered for emphasis as she laughed. More people were filing into the room but I wasn't paying any attention to them.

"I know! I thought after the warm week last week that winter was coming to an end!" She twirled her blonde hair around her pen while the teacher walked in.

The best thing about Tessa was that we were exactly the same, personality wise. We were both really quiet around everyone except each other and we had known each other since we were three.

I pulled my beanie over my ears as the teacher walked in, silencing everyone with the look that was on his face. The look was cold enough to freeze water into ice.