I jump into the pod with all of my might and crouch next to Juan. I count all of the heads in the pod. 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9. Nine? I count again. Shouldn't there be 11? I look around the pod. Rafael? Check. Rodney? Check. Tasha? Check. Sadie? Check. Adam? Check. Lila? Check. Juan? Check. Jojo? Check. Tracy? Che- wait a second! Where's Tracy? And where's Owen? I look around the pod frantically. "It's okay. It's okay, Dawn," Rafael tries to comfort me, but it's no use. "But-but-but-but-but Tracy! Where's Tracy?" I cry out. Tracy's one of my best friends! I just can't be in my own life without her! "Sssshhhh, it's okay." Oh, Rafael. Still trying to comfort me. But I don't know if I can be comforted! As I sob into Rafael's arm, the bangs are getting deafening. "I'm sorry Dawn, but we really have to go if we want to make it out alive," Juan says, even though I know he doesn't want to. One little secret is that he and Tracy used to like each other, and I don't really think either of them has really moved on all the way. Just because someone is with a different person than the one that they used to like doesn't necessarily mean they've moved on from that person, trust me. "I'm really sorry, Dawn. We really have to go," Juan resigns himself to Tracy's fate. As I sniffle, I mumble through strangled tears, "Okay." I really don't feel okay with this AT ALL, but I know I have to let the rest of my friends live. Juan fiddles with the handles frantically as something huge smashes into the earth. He continues to push buttons as a robotic voice says, "okay. taking off at 3334.6 mph. prepare in 3. 2. 1." We shoot up into the sky at the fastest speed ever. I'm almost enjoying myself until I remember Tracy's down there, in that earth below that is blasted to smithereens. I start crying again, remembering that huge crash and everything flying apart only a few seconds ago, as we blasted away, only saving our own lives but no other helpless innocent people down there. As tears stream down my cheeks, I become suddenly aware of 2 random people staring at me. "Are you okay?" One asks. She's tall with brown hair and has a uniform with a tarnished nametag. I can just barely make out: Hi, I'm Whitney. Below that, in really tiny print, I have to squint my eyes really hard to see Student Volunteer. I snap my head up to see that her hand is out. How long has she been holding it there? My face flushing, I shake her hand. "I'm Dawn," I say softly, shyly. The girl gives me a huge smile, flashing her silver braces. "I'm Whitney. Nice to meet you." "I'm Carol," pipes up the other girl. She has her hair twisted up in a waterfall of marvelous braids, coming up at the peak and falling gently down near her chin. "Hey," I greet Carol. "Um, it's nice meeting you guys and stuff, but why are you here?" Asks Whitney. "Well, the world just exploded and this thing seemed safe enough," answers Adam. Oh, god. Not Adam. I look over at him and Sadie, but I'm surprised to find him over in the corner reading and Sadie up here with the rest of us. What is going on?  What is this logic? I shake my head. Must just be a fluke. I tune back in to Carol, who is currently giving Adam a piece of her mind. I've literally known this girl for 2 minutes, and I like her already! I smile to myself, burning the image of Carol yelling at Adam in my mind forever. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a wonderful friendship. "AND," Oh, wait. Started listening again at the wrong time. "&*&^&%^&%(^#$##$%*^&&(*^%^$%#!" Nope, not writing that! All right, then. As Carol continues to chew Adam out for... well... being Adam?, I look at everyone else. I see Sadie, feeling bad for Adam, Juan reading with Lila reading right beside him (perfectness!), Rodney looking slightly amused with his lips upturned just a little bit, Tasha reading too (duh. Who wouldn't want to read through these colorful words?), Jojo trying not to laugh, and Rafael... looking at me? He does this? I thought I was the only one who takes mind notes on everyone! And I thought only I was staring at Rafael (sorry really can't help myself), and not the other way too! I guess this is a good thing, but I'm just a little surprised, that's all. As I look at Rafael again, I see that he's not watching me anymore but joining the Jojo club where he tries really hard not to laugh but really just fails miserably. I try not to laugh at him trying not to laugh at Jojo trying not to laugh at Carol trying to be mad at Adam. As I try not to die, I know everyone else is trying really hard, too. This is what makes us friends, you know? We have the serious moments (very rarely), the happy moments (mostly), the sad moments (never), the hilarious moments (always), and we just get each other. We can make new friends, have relationships, have common enemies, and have huge, confusing secrets, and nothing will change. We have each others backs. "AND THAT'S WHY YOU DO NOT SAY STUPID THINGS!" There we go. I count down in my head. 3... 2... 1... Everyone bursts out laughing. On time as usual! After everyone recovers, Whitney wipes tears from her eyes. "So, exactly what happened?" She asks, still shaking a little bit. "Well... There was this huge explosion down below on earth, and it looks like no one else got out." I start to sob again, thinking of Tracy and Owen, running right behind me. They were so close, and now... Rafael is right behind me, trying again to comfort me, even though he knows nothing can make me feel better about Tracy. As I look up, I see that Carol looks confused. "Um, why are you crying?" She asks gently. I see Rodney across the room, his head cocked ever so slightly to the side. I nod at him. "Well," Rodney starts, not really knowing how to say this without hurting my feelings, "We may seem like such good friends, like there's nothing missing, but..." He fades out. No one has really accepted this part yet. "Tracy and Owen," I whisper, so softly I have no clue how everyone knows to look at me. "They..." I choke down my tears. "They were on the ground when we took off." Then the tears come back out. There was no stopping them. Rafael looks at me, then at Carol, then at me. I nod and hiccup. Sure. He can make friends! I can't stop him from that! I go over to Rodney, who has sheltered my secrets and been there for me when I needed it most, understood things that even Tracy never could, and always has been there to comfort me if I ever needed it. I sit next to him and he really does comfort me, knowing exactly what to say to cheer me up. At the mention of Oreos, I straighten up right away. "Where?!" I shout, jumping up. Sadie laughs from across the room. "She found out about the Oreos, didn't she?" I nod, bouncing up and down. Cookies!!!!!!!! As we parade down to the cookie stash, I jump the entire way through. I wasn't the kangaroo in the school play in 5th grade for nothing! Once we spot the amazing assortment of cookie types, I tear open a pack of Oreos at once and bite into the amazingness that only cookies can supply. Okay, I'm feeling a lot better. Nothing can fix this problem about Tracy, but now I want to do something about it! I walk back to everyone having fun reading and talking and stuff, and I clear my throat. Everyone looks up at me (and seeing as I'm short, I don't get to use this phrase a lot, so I use it when I can!) and I say, "What do we do now?" Jojo wiggles her eyebrows mischievously. "NO MORE GAMES! SPARE ME!" Shouts Juan, throwing up his arms. But Jojo just can't commit to something once another person has suggested it. I don't think it's in her DNA. "No, I had a different idea..."

OKAY PEOPLESES! HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER AND PLEASE TELL ME WHAT TO FIX IF YOU DID NOT! SIDE NOTE: I DO REALIZE PEOPLESES IS NOT A WORD! IT IS JUST PART OF MY AMAZING MELIKETOSMILE4 GRAMMAR! SORRY THIS ONE TOOK SO LONG TO WRITE, IT WAS KIND OF A LONG CHAPTER FOR ME PLUS I WAS REALLY BUSY. THANKS FOR READING!!!!

~meliketosmile4