[Opening shot] Static. Fade in on tall brick walls and a cast iron gate. Sunshine, a cloudless blue sky, the perfect day to be alive.
[Voice Over] Ah, beautiful Victoria Falls High, home of the world's strangest kids ever to terrorize the planet, carnivorous lunch food, and me.
[Pan shot 180° right] Focus on a smiling Chinese girl holding the camera. "Sam Andrews, your narrator, director, and cameraman."
[VO] Hey, Miss, is this gonna take long? I got otha people to pick up, y'know.
[Sam] Oh yeah, sorry. Hang on.
[Pan down] Focus on sidewalk.
[Sound] Luggage being dragged around.
[VO] Okay-
[Sound] Engine starts, tires squeal.
[VO] Hey, wait! My pack's still in there!
[Camera shakes] "Come back!"
[Silence.] "Oh hell."
[Static]

Sam pushed open the door to her room, a large Adidas bag hanging off her shoulder and a trunk dragging behind her. Her backpack was noticeably missing. "Stupid cab drivers, I oughta-" A burst of loud music drowned out her mutterings.

"IIIIIIII WANNA PUBLISH ZINES AND RAGE AGAINST MACHINES, I WANNA PIERCE MY TONGUE-" In her dorm room, sitting on the bed, was a young blonde girl. She seemed thoroughly engrossed in a copy of the Spiral Dance and the loud radio blaring next to her. Sam grinned.

"PARANOIA, PARANOIA, EVERYBODY'S COMING TO GET ME!" She crept up behind the girl and tapped her on the shoulder.

"BOO!"

"Hey!" She jumped about two feet off the mattress, and came tumbling down on the floor. "Owww…"

"Sorry, Amy." Sam helped Amy up. Amy stood and rubbed her back. "Still the Master of Disaster, I see."

"Yeah. Ow, that hurt." She picked her book up off the floor and tossed it on the bed. "Hey Sam. Nice camera." She looked the video camera over. "Hey, where's your backpack?"

Sam darkened. "Don't ask. Just don't ask." Sam dragged in her stuff and started unpacking. "So you're my roomie this year?"

"Umm… technically, yeah, but I'll probably be spending a lot of nights at home, if that's okay with you. The head honcho guys said no candles, so I'll be there maybe a couple'a' nights a month."

"That's fine, no problem. But you can't blame them about the candles. You'd probably burn the place down some night." Sam grinned evilly and Amy looked slightly offended.

"I'm very careful with my rituals, and you know it. I only cut myself a few times, and I never burned anyone but me."

"I'm just kiddin', you know it. What's your schedule this year? Are you going to take Top Tech with me?" Amy frowned and pulled a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket. "I asked Stark about it, but she gave me that look, y'know, the one where she's trying not to be brutally honest, and said that they wouldn't have room for me on the crew."

"Geez, Amy, that's kinda rough for Stark." She pulled open her dresser and started stowing folded jeans inside. "Her loss though. It probably wouldn't have been as much fun this year anyway. Brian graduated last year, and he was the best. What else do you have?"

The two went over their schedules and checked each other's classes.

"Gods, girl, think you have enough science classes?" Amy scanned down Sam's schedule. Anatomy, Physics, AP Biology and Health Science. "Are you going to have time for Tech with all those classes?"

"You're asking *me* about time? I'm a friggin' human stopwatch! Watch me!" For a split second, Sam became a blur of color, then returned to focus. All the bags around her were unpacked, her favorite "The Scream" poster was pinned to the wall next to a Yankees pennant, and a stack of school supplies were arranged on the desk. Amy laughed. "I've been practicing sleeping with it on, so I can get a full nights sleep in like a minute, and still have time for all these projects and stuff."

"I wish I could do that." Amy frowned a little, feeling a slight pang of jealousy for her best friend. To her, Sam had everything: the grades, the family, the decent relationship with the teachers, the kewl powers, the looks. Sam, she thought, was perfect. And I'm just… me: bad grades, no dad and the most stupid power ever to exist. Before Sam could notice, she shook the feelings away and covered it with a grin. "Remember that night last year when I had five projects all due the next morning and I hadn't started two of them?"

Sam chuckled. "And you were up all night-"

"And then I drank Misty's whole bottle of Mountain Dew-"

"And the NoDoz pills."

"And I was soooo wired." She laughed.

"Did you ever figure out how much caffeine you had?"

"Something like 3000.. um.." she fumbled for the right measurement. "Milligrams, yeah."

"Heh. I'm surprised you didn't have a heart attack." Sam folded up her Adidas bag and shoved it in the bottom of the closet. "So, you want to go to orientation? Pick on the freshmen?"

"Terrorize the new kids?"

"That too."

"Let's go for it." As they walked out, Amy looked over at Sam. "Do you suppose we ought to be a little nicer to the new kids? I mean, we were the new ones, once." Sam stared upwards like she was thinking for a moment, then they said in unison, "Nah!"

It was good to be back.

"Hey, do you think the store will sell backpacks this year?"


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