A world in magic. A world in control of the Life Elementals. The most powerful. Life, Lunar, Darkness, Light, Ghost, Nature, Water, Fire, Earth. Then there's people with no power. 10 variations of people. Life,  being the strongest and most feared, with the power control death, give someone's life to someone else, predict death, stop death, stop a life from starting, switch peoples lives, hurt someone with no evidence, do things like homework or getting ready really quickly, and so forth. The world has only encountered one. Now dead. Me. Honestly, the world is scared, waiting and watching their backs. "Watch out," they said, “Don't travel alone.” Ha! They should be scared of me! Pfft! Only one Life Elemental! Silly! Though, I'm not the only powerful one. Lunar, Darkness, and Ghost get close. But I still hadn't met any of those when I was on earth! Just fake ones! Queen Luna and King Grey not counting as Lunar and Darkness. Think they can take over the world! I mean, they do rule, but whatever. Try that when someone figures out. There's another. Hiding. Queen Luna and King Grey did have a daughter. It's not rumors. I watched, from above.

Michi lifted the wave higher and surfed on it. She giggled as she fell off her surfboard. But she screamed when Zac lifted her, above the water. “Get off of me you dumbo!” She pushed her dirty blonde bangs to the side.

“And why should I do that, love?”

“And why should you not, jerk?”

“Why should I stop, princess?”

Instead of replying with words or more nicknames, she replied by slapping him in the face with the water. She tried to stay stable, but Zac dropped her before Michi could strike again. She hurriedly swam away, hauling her surfboard with her. She stepped out of the water and walked to her older brother. “He's a weirdo.” Drake, Michi's older brother, nodded in agreement and said, “Yes. He is.”

Hazel chatted with Will, really in a flirty mood. “Tomorrow night?” She had long black bangs covering her eyes and hair halfway down her back. She pushed her hair out of her left eye and waited for Will's answer.

“Sure. Meet you there.” He pushed his wavy blonde hair out of his face. Hazel smiled and looked at his blue eye, then at his Element. Earth. The lowest element. But no one cares, because he had mastered it.

She stopped smiling. That's when it hit Hazel. Is he dating her because she is popular, or because he liked her? As for Hazel, she dated Will for both reasons, because she has always had a boyfriend. In the middle of breakups, she always quickly found a new boy, but this time she liked Will a lot and hoped they'd stay together.

She smiled again. Get wrecked, stupid Sasha!, Hazel thought, he's mine now, and you're gone! Out of my way! Stay with those other girls! They only put me at the top! As Will left, she looked around. A girl and a boy, both with dirty blonde hair walked closer. Those must be their chairs next to me. I think I've seen them at school. Hm.

Instead of saying hello or completely ignoring them, she decided to bring her doughnut float to the Ring of Rocks, where she couldn't float away.

The Ring of Rocks is a huge circular rock in the water, very thick, that is like a huge pool in the lake. There are things like rock slides and man-made swings, like activities inside the Ring. She walked out into the water and got inside her float before she was waist down. She tried pushing herself with her hand until she could grab onto the Ring of Rocks and get off of her float, using her knees to sit on the Ring.

She stood up and showed the person at the front of the Ring her pass to be at the lake, just extra security. She climbed up the ladder carved into the huge rock. She walked outwards for a while until she was at the center of the Ring. She grabbed her float and set it in the Ring, sitting onto it and pushing off of the Ring so that she would float inside.

It was dangerous, but she looked at the sun directly anyways. She wished she could just swim around, but she couldn't.

Her mother had died and her father had run away before they taught her. It was a little embarrassing, so she had only told Will.

She watched people on the shore or surfing. She looked around and realized she was one of the five people at the Ring, minus the lifeguards and people standing near a slide or swing for safety. There were usually a lot more people there.

As she floated around, she opened her eyes and flipped her body over so she could look at the water. There were plants and seaweed, like usual, but there was something off about one of them.

She looked closer. It was a dark shade of something, she thought it was green, but she couldn't quite set her finger on it. As she wondered what was wrong with the plant, it grew. What? She was confused, and by looking at only her face you could tell.

The plant quickly jolted upwards above the water and curled around her neck. She screamed. The plant pulled her into the water, causing her doughnut float to flip upside down.

Her hands flung up to her neck, as she kicked at the plant and pulled, The plant squeezed tighter around her neck. She realized the plant was black, but then it didn't matter, because all she cared about was getting out of the plant's firm grip.

Her sight was blurry, but she could swear she saw a lifeguard dive into the water, as she flailed to escape. She ran out of breath, and hope. she closed her eyes and didn't open them.

Michi and Drake were on their phones, Drake listening to the news. The news quickly changed. “A girl, floating in the Ring of Rocks has just been attacked by a plant. It sounds weird because the plant had somehow inherited the Black Virus, which we are unsure of at the moment. She is alive but unconscious, still at the Ring of Rocks. The plant had a firm grip on her neck. They cut the plant off, saving her. She should be fine in a few minutes, while scientists are still trying to figure out how the plant had been infected with a man-made virus. People think that humans or elementals had purposely posed the attack…" 

“Michi! There's a girl in the Ring! She's been attacked by a plant!”

“What kind of nonsense is this?”

“There! Look! On that water bridge! She almost died!”

“Now I'm starting to believe you. Let's see if she's okay." Michi walked toward the girl and Drake followed. The girl looked miserable and embarrassed. “Hey, are you okay?" Michi asked.

“Yes. I'm fine.” The girl snapped. She kept walking.

“Wait, uhh… Your neck is like… a red color, do you want-”

The girl turned her head. “No.”

“Sunscreen?”

“I said no.” The girl walked towards the beach chair next to Michi's and grabbed a towel and a mirror. She put the towel on the chair and used the mirror to look at her ruined makeup. She grabbed more makeup out of her bag, but first removed the makeup she was wearing, save from her mascara. Michi realized she also had what looked like a red and white pill. The girl grabbed the pill and screwed off the white part, which turned out to be lipstick. “My name is Michi.”

“Hazel. My name's Hazel."

“Nice to meet you.”

Hazel finished her makeup faster than Michi could ever do it, and it looked perfect.

Hazel put her makeup in her bag and brought out her light pink, yellow and blue volleyball. Again, Michi sparked an annoying comment. “You play volleyball?”

“Yes, I do, get out of my face.” She put her glamorized volleyball uniform on and picked up her bag and towel. She slipped on her shoes, walking surprisingly perfect in light yellow sandals with very tall heels.

Hazel had finished her volleyball game, her team won, and Michi had lost a surfing competition by three points, losing in second place, and Drake had won first. They had all chosen to return to the beach, getting dark. They laid down, no one else there. They chatted a bit, Michi, Drake, and Hazel getting to know each other. But then they fell into a suspicious sleep.

Michi rolled over. “One more minute, Dra…” She opened her eyes and jumped up. She looked around. Hazel. Drake. Trees. Lots of trees. And a bench.

It seemed they were in a forest. She rubbed her head. “Drake? Hazel?” Drake opened his eyes and quickly stood up, in a scared karate position. Michi stood up and put his arms down. “We're fine.” Michi walked over to Hazel. “Should I wake her up?” Drake shrugged. “It wouldn't do any harm, would it?” Michi looked at Drake, then looked back at Hazel. She touched her arm. Hazel jolted up and screamed. Michi eyed Drake. “Drake, no harm?” Hazel seemed to be staring. It was confirmed when Hazel pushed her hair out of her left eye. “What the heck did you do!?” Michi looked at Hazel.

“Nothing. Geez.”

“And I was going to the mall today, and I don't know where my bag is! Much less my coverup! How cruel! And… Wait, where are we?”

“Look around. A forest.”

Hazel rolled her eyes. “I know it's a forest. But where?”

“In a forest.”

“Where is the forest?”

“On earth.”

“More specific.”

“In the USA. Probably.”

“Where in the USA?”

“Hopefully California still."

“Where in California?”

“Hopefully still Berkeley.”

“You don't have a clue, do you?”

“No clue.”

“Well, that's great.”

“Thank you.” Michi smiled a fake smile.  Hazel looked around once again. She walked towards the bench and screamed. She ran back, looked down at the dirty ground and screamed again, falling onto her towel. “I'm dreaming, aren't I?”

“No. You're just scared of the ground.”

“Shut up.”

“Oh, also, I'm pretty sure that's your bag over there.” Michi pointed to the gray bag that said: ‘Hazel.’

“No! That is not my bag! It's so… Gray… And… Plain."

“I would go check it out.”

“I don't wanna get my feet dir… Nevermind. I'll just go grab it.” Hazel walked over and picked up the bag. She walked back and sat on her towel. She pulled out a white T-shirt dress, with the word 'BOSTON' sewn on in blue. Hazel put it on. “I'm not even a Red Sox fan. Or a Celtics fan, for that matter. But why is the inscription blue?"

“That doesn't matter.” Michi chimed in. “If you want a coverup, that's the closest thing you got to it.”

“Whatever! I just want to get out of… Wherever the heck ‘here’ is." Drake finally spoke, breaking up the girl's conversation, saying, “The first time I agree with her.”

“Hey! I have good opinions, and a real fashion style.”

“Who says I don't?”

“Every boy in the world. You all just wear sneakers, a sports tee-shirt, a jacket or flannel and jeans. Seriously, all boys do that!” Michi looked at Hazel, silently agreeing. Drake, again, commented.

“I call dibs on eating Hazel first if we get hungry!”

“Oh no, you don't! You won't eat me even in your dreams!”

“Yes, I will! Be happy to!”

“No, you won't! You know dreams are just our memories bouncing off each other and combining, so you can't dream about eating me if you don't have memories of me, eating, murdering, the taste of body parts, and cooking a person over a fire. And I'm not gonna let you eat me, by the way."

“I know someone who does have those memories. But fine. I call dibs on slapping you, then!”

“No, you don't.” Hazel walked over to Drake and grabbed his hand. “No, this is not weird.” Hazel twisted his arm, spun him in a three-sixty twice, and let go. He fell to the ground. “See? Not weird.”

“No, it's deadly. But first, OW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?”

“First wanting to eat me, then slap me. What kind of person does that?”

“What kind of person does what you just did to me?”

“My dad. Dads. Doesn't that make sense? You should know unless you have a single mother. My dad taught me. He said it was a normal thing to teach kids at home. Now I'm realizing how weird that sounds. But he was an honest person. I think."

“Um… Hazel, no one else's dad does that.”

“Hm. Always thought it was a little weird.” Michi thought that was more of an understatement. She changed the topic to something more important. “How are we gonna get out of here?”

Hazel had the same question as Michi. She answered with a simple, “I don't know,”

Will and some other boy walked through the trees, as if on cue. Hazel ran up to Will and hugged him. “Will! Are you okay? When did you get here?” Will pushed Hazel away to reassure her that everything was okay. After he did, he asked Hazel, “What about you? Are you okay?”

“Yes, except that I hate my outfit, everyone wants to eat me, I'm still in a swimsuit, I don't have a hairbrush or comb, my feet are dirty, my towel is dirty, I somehow don't have any makeup on, and there's a spider on that bench!”

“So basically all your nightmares have come true?”

“YES HELP ME!"

“Calm down. You are okay. Your outfit is fine, I don't want to eat you, you have a coverup for your swimsuit, you don't need to brush your hair, I have your shoes right here, you can wash your towel, you still look beautiful without makeup, and I can kill the spider.”

“Thank you for my shoes and… Wait, why am I the only one who didn't start with shoes in the first place?” Hazel looked around to see. everyone shrugging. “And… Uh… Who knows this guy?” Hazel pointed to the only person she didn't know, which was standing right next to Will. Everyone except Hazel and the random guy raised their hand. The guy spoke for the first time. “Seems you missed out on one of the best guys in the world.”

“No, I did not. You are already annoying.”

“Whatever, cutie.”

“I HAVE A BOYFRIEND! HE IS STANDING IN FRONT OF ME RIGHT NOW!” Will pulled her towards him and lifted her. Will smiled and said, “Now holding you. But hey, you can't blame him. You are really cute.”

“Okay, sure, but he sucks.”

“Yes, he does,” Will smirked. The guy standing next to him, who had enough of their trash talk, jumped in to introduce himself, “Um… Well, I'm Zeke. Michi and Drake's cousin. Sorry for being an idiot.”

Hazel looked at Zeke. He had curly dark hair with a purple streak and the left side, which revealed his element. Fire. Hazel spoke again.

“Just don't go crazy and set the forest on fire.”

“Deal.”

It was lots and lots of silence before Hazel realized there was a pretty clear lake getting closer to them. And closer.