Ben Bowler stood at the front door of his school and overlooked the road that led to their rivals building. Even though he couldn’t see their school, he knew what they were doing. They were celebrating the win against their team and it made his sick. He wasn’t a fan of the riverhawks and thinking of their smiling faces made Ben want to punch the wall.

Clenching his hand around the doorframe, he tried to move his gaze away from the road. Their school was a few miles away from the home of the Riverhawks and it didn’t reassure him. He could still hear the taunting, annoying, little voice of Yasmin Heart. To be truthful with himself, he was surprised at how blunt she was. No one had ever been that rude to him before and it made him a bit dazed.

“You’re still out here?” A voice asked snapping him out of his staring session. Turning towards the student parking lot, he saw his best friend Dustin standing there, looking at him. Dustin was a few inches shorter than he was, but still was able to beat him in any competition. “I thought you’d be inside, planning the next demise for RiverRidge.” Ben shrugged.

“I guess I didn’t feel like doing it inside,” he replied back following his friend into the high school. The halls were covered with students, chatting about the loss and how disappointed they were. “I’ll never hear enough about the game.” Dustin nodded and opened the door to the library.

“We lost pretty badly,” he answered. “They sure are determined.” Ben didn’t get it. With ever rude insult they threw at RiverRidge, it was like they were always a step ahead of Mountain Valley and it drove him crazy. “I saw you ran into a friend.” Ben let out a laugh that was a mix of hate and sarcasm.

“Friend?” He said hearing his voice go a pitch higher. “Yasmin is not my friend.” Dustin raised a bushy eyebrow before sitting on a chair backwards.

“You know her name.” Ben sighed and laid his backpack on the table as he sat across of him.

“Just cause I know her, doesn’t mean we like each other. We both find each completely intolerable.” Ben explained running his hands through his hair. Dustin shrugged, clearly not believing the story.

“Whatever you wanna call it, you had a little argument?” He questioned. Ben perked up at the sound of the argument.

“How did you know about our argument?” Dustin chuckled and held up his smartphone where his screen glowed brightly.

“Dude, it’s all over the school blog. Nickie is all over the details like how you got roasted by a Riverhawk. Do you realize what that’ll do to your reputation?” Dustin asked making Ben feel worse about this.

“I know, I know, but-” he got cut off by Nickie rushing in, breathing heavily and holding her sides. Her red hair hung in her face as she looked at them with anxious eyes.

“You guys!” she said between heavy breaths.

“What’s up Nickie?” Dustin asked looking at the tired girl. She held up a finger before motioning toward the door.

“Something strange happened! You need to come outside now!” Before the boys could reply, she ran out. They wasted no time getting up and going into the cold air. They gawked as the parking lot was torn to shreds. The cars were turned sideways and on top of each other, the trees were pulled out of the ground and the grey ground was torn in half. Ben glanced at his friend before looking at the principal who tried to calm the students down.

“It was just an earthquake,” he reassured. “Calm down.” Ben shook his head. It didn’t make sense. If it was an earthquake, they didn’t feel anything.

“We didn’t feel any earthquake,” Dustin pointed out. Nickie nodded before turning to them and showing them the RiverRidge blog with pictures of one side of the school completely destroyed.

“But apparently RiverRidge did,” she stated. In the midst of all the silence, a slow rumbling woke the students from their dazed state. They all rushed out into the parking lot as the school itself started shaking. Dustin and Ben looked up as the rumbling continued and the school swiftly moved a few meters. The students went into a gawking session once again. Ben dropped his phone and stared shocked at what just happened.

“Did...our school just…” Dustin asked looking at Ben who stared at the building.

“Our school just moved.”

-------

Yasmin and Hazel walked through the rubble of the destroyed side of the school. Doors were hanging off it’s hinges and glass sprawled over the floor made it hard to walk.  Yasmin looked around before picking up a iphone with a shattered screen. Brushing the dust off, she showed it to Hazel.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

“That was an insane earthquake,” Hazel stated trying to be careful of where to step. Yasmin nodded.

“And what’s strange is that one side of the school is completely destroyed but the commons is perfectly fine.” She looked behind her where a solid line showed between destroyed and totally fine. The students walked around, trying to help each other figure out what had gone wrong.

The earthquake had happened again, but stronger. The students on the north side of the school were told to evacuate as the earthquake began to destroy everything. Yasmin looked around and saw Hazel pondering something.

“What is it?” she questioned. Hazel turned and moved her curly blond hair out of her face.

“Just...what if there is something about in the history books?” she suggested. Yasmin nodded. “I’ll go look. Are you going to be okay doing this alone?”

“Yeah,” Yasmin answered. “I’ll be fine. I might make sure Adam and the theater kids are okay. I heard that the theater room took a pretty big hit.” Hazel nodded before carefully making her way up the stairs and down the second floor hallway.

Knocking on the theater door, Yasmin peeked in to see the room a disaster. The desks were all over the place and the stage was caved in. She inched her body into the classroom before hearing chatter in the dressing room. Making her way towards there through all the rubble, she caught a glimpse of Adam’s dark hair.

“Adam!” she screamed jumping over some rubble and running toward her friend. He looked at her as if she was crazy before embracing her with a tight hug.

“What are you doing here? Don’t you know it’s dangerous?” he questioned her while hugging her tightly. Yasmin pulled away and looked at his dark eyes.

“I was making sure you and everyone else was okay,” she answered. “I heard this place took quite a hit from the earthquake.” Adam nodded and gestured towards the destroyed dressing room that everyone tried to fix up.

“It was serious,” he answered. “Thankfully, the auditorium is okay along with the sets and costumes.” Yasmin saw a breath of relief leave Adam’s strong built body before she followed him into the Auditorium.

“The theater room isn’t the only place that took quite a hitting. The whole north side of the school is destroyed.” Yasmin explained. Adam looked at her weirdly before opening the auditorium door and gesturing in. “Hazel went to the library to find out if it’s common.” Adam nodded at the statement.

“Sounds like Hazel,” he stated before rearranging the set. “Yas?” She looked at him before noticing an uneasiness in his tone of voice.

“What is it?” Adam stood up and walked to her.

“You’re okay?” He questioned. Yasmin nodded, not sure where this was going. “Okay, then...I need you to leave.” She stepped back as a stinging pain stabbed her in the chest.

“W-what?” She searched his face for any signs of doubt but instead found determination.

“I can’t risk anything happening to you,” he explained. “What if something more serious happens?” She shook her head and took a huge step back.

“I can’t just leave, Adam.” she said quietly. A tear fell down her cheek. “I’m needed here. People need-”

“What about me?” he suddenly shot at her. “What about what I need from you?” Yasmin stood there in complete shock as she listened to his words shoot at her. “It’s like every time I need something, there’s something more important.” Yasmin shook her head.

“That’s-”

“Like the play?” She felt her mouth shoot open as she listened to Adam’s anger.

“That wasn’t my fault! I didn’t make it-” she got cut off by him scoffing.

“Because you didn’t try hard enough,” he shot at her. “Yasmin…” she turned to leave. She couldn’t handle him seeing her cry, seeing that he had hit a sensitive nerve.

“I’m sorry, Adam.” she said quietly before running out. She ran up the stairs, down the hall and to the library entryway. Wiping her tears away, and putting on her best smile, she slowly entered the library. Hazel sat over a book, reading intently. She looked up when she heard Yasmin pull out a chair.

“Yasmin,” she said. “Perfect timing! You won’t believe what I found.”

Yasmin leaned over the table and looked at a newspaper article. Bold letters jumped out at her.

Forest Green High and their rival SeaSky high found collided!!! The student’s rival stronger than ever!! They aren’t too happy about it, but the new school, Forest Sky now holds the strongest rival ever! It’s said to happen overnight and-

“Where’s the rest of the article?” Yasmin asked turning the page. Hazel shrugged.

“I don’t know. But that’s not all,” she said leaning down to her backpack. “I found this also in the old history section.” Yasmin examined the old box that she held. It was carved in an old fashioned manner, with decorative embroidery around it. A red jewel held the lid shut.

“What is it?” Yasmin asked taking it and examining it. Hazel shrugged and shut the book. That’s when Yasmin noticed the same detail on the cover of the book.

“I don’t know. I found them in the old history section. Thought maybe they’d be able to help us.” Yasmin nodded and put both in her backpack.

“It’s a good start,” she replied. “Now-”

“Should we tell the kids at Mountain Valley?” Hazel cut in. “We do have another competition with them.” Yasmin thought about it. Was it worth it to let the rival know?

“No,” she answered. “If the same thing is happening to them, then they should have a lead as well.” Hazel gave an uncertain expression making Yasmin roll her eyes. “Come on, let’s head to lunch. I want to get there before all the good food runs out.”