"Get out of here!" Dustin screams at me, slamming his hand onto a button on the control pad. The door of the pod splits open, but I'm on the opposite side of the machine.

The thick smoke blurs my vision, and tears fall onto the ground as I walk, my hand held up against my brow, trying not to trip.

The poisonous gas in the air makes it hard to breathe, and I remember something from the past, an echo.

The day Chance left.

I hate him. Who does he think he is, to kick me around and command me to do things, and spit at me? I roll my eyes, ignoring the calls of my name from the house as I get onto my hoverboard.

"Amber, darling!" Mom calls from the house. "Come on, Chance's here!"

I gag. Like I want to see him ever again. Scoffing, I continue moving onwards, just as a sharp scream that's so distinctly my mother's pierces the air.

I whip around, and lose my balance, gripping the closest house's wall to support me, my heart a hummingbird in my chest.

What's going on?

Upon regaining my balance, I zoom back to the house, and press a hand against my mouth.

It's on fire. My parents are already in their pod, but my mother stares worriedly at the burning house. Chance's parents are nowhere to be found. I land on the stone walkway leading to my house, and rush towards the pod.

"Mom! Dad! What's going on?" I yell, hoping they can hear me over the crackling fire.

"I...I think I set something off. I-"

"Where are Chance's parents?" Despite my despise towards Chance, his parents are the nicest people on the planet.

"Inside." My father replies, clearly not intending to go rescue them.

Selfish.

Turning around, I can feel the searing heat penetrate my clothes, making sweat bead on my back. "Amber, don't go in there!" My mother cries.

I don't care.

I run towards the house, the heat repelling. I force myself to move on, and step inside the house through the open door.

What I see makes me want to vomit.

Chance's parents lie on the ground, blood coating their skin, their breathing shallow as the flames creep towards them.

"Missus Adams, a-are you," I stutter, the smoke causing tears to form in my eyes, "o-okay?"

I start to cough violently from the acrid, pungent smoke, the smell filling my nostrils.

"A-Amber," Chance's father says, "take care of our son. He can be a little stubborn at times, but you can take care of him. I-I trust you."

Tears stream down my face, but I can't speak as I bury my nose in my arm. Chance's parents' eyelids flutter. I want to ask them to wait, hoping I can change things, but the fire comes closer, and I'm forced to leave them.

I'm sorry, I think as I hear their screams, and tears start to rain down. My breath comes in ragged gasps and I start hiccuping, but I still call out, "Chance? Chance, where are you?"

The fire is licking at the furniture below, and burning, burning, burning with it's coppery flames, creeping closer, up the stairs. My heart pounds hard.

I'm scared. I'm so, so, so scared.

But no one's there to help me.

"Amber!" Strong arms wrap around me, and I scream, before looking up and realising that Chance is there.

"C-Chance," I sob, "y-your p-parents,"

Chance's face goes grave as I bury my face in his shirt. There's no other source of comfort.

Only the boy I hate.

The boy I grew up with.

The boy who I'd loved.

That boy.

"Shh," he whispers, stroking my back. I hate that he can calm me down, that he's so amazing in every single way when I need him to. "I'm going to get you out of here, baby girl," he says.

I hiccup harder.

"Come on," he leads me to my room, before opening the door calmly. Tears streak my face.

He drops to the floor, and requests for me to do the same before he opens the window, and gestures for me to jump out.

All it takes is one look out the window for me to immediately shake my head.

"I'm not going out there," I say.

"Why? The pampered princess is afraid?" He says, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

I bite my tongue, before lifting one leg out the window. And the other. Before I know it my legs are dangling above the ground.

"Hurry up," Chance presses, and I close my eyes, before falling.

The pain that I feel when I hit the ground is excruciating, and I groan, rubbing my sore shoulder. Tears prickle my eyes, and I begin to cough again.

The last thing I see is the boy with the black hair and ocean eyes grabbing his hoverboard and flying off into the distance.

I drop to the floor immediately, and begin crawling towards the exit. A flame licks its path towards me, and I crawl faster, my palms aching from supporting my weight.

And finally, finally, I get to the exit.

And the door shuts. I climb to my feet, my head spinning.

Let me out of there, I beg, let me out.

And then the door splits open once more, and someone catches me.
And despite me wanting for it to be him, it isn't Chance.

"Corinne? Are you okay?" Dustin ask me, shaking me slightly. I force myself to nod, but that sends my world spinning in circles.

"I'm sorry, Cor..." Dustin trails off. I give him a cold, hard stare, shaking out of his grasp.

"Don't 'sorry' me. If you were sorry, you wouldn't have done this in the first place!" I yell, as the pod goes up in flames. I cover my nose and mouth with my arm, trying not to inhale the poisonous chemical-smelling has the pod is giving out.

Dustin stares at the ground like a little kid. I storm off without him, but apart from the occasional light that comes from who-knows-what-it looks like it just comes out of the air, there's no other source of light.

I look around, making sure that there isn't anyone coming to attack me. The ground is uneven, and the air cold, raising goosebumps on my skin.

"Corinne, wait," Dustin jogs to catch up with me. I ignore him and increase my pace, when I trip over an uneven patch on the ground, and start falling forward. I keep my arms up to break my fall, but I still hit the ground anyway, but what catches me by surprise is that I start sinking into the ground. I climb to my feet, the ground still partially wet on my face.

It hardens when I stand, and I can't peel it off, and I know I look ridiculous, trying to tear off something as hard as cement off my face

Then an idea pops into my head.

I get onto my knees, and sure enough, it becomes sticky again. I tear it off with my fingers, and it plops onto the ground.

Strange. So I need to "fall" before I can get it off? It's like the people down here have hidden something underneath the ground.

I climb to my feet again, and scowl when I see that the ground has hardened on my pants. I sigh, and move on, although I don't see anything in the distance.

It's just me and the darkness, and my throbbing head. I don't trust my instincts, or the person next to me, even though a few weeks ago I'd laugh at anyone who told me Dustin was crazy.

I'd ask for their medical certificate.

"Corinne, there's something up ahead," Dustin says, and I glance up.

And there, far far away, I can see the tiniest dot of a structure. I squint, trying to get a better view. I take a step closer, but Dustin grabs my hand, and points below him.

Then I realise that I'm standing on the edge of a cliff. A steep one.

And at the bottom of it is a girl with dirty blonde hair, who calls out, "Dustin?"

A thousand questions hit me at once. Who is that girl? How does Dustin know her? Why is she here? My mind is buzzing with so many questions that even when someone calls me.

"Corinne?" Dustin calls.

"Yeah...?" I reply, still in a daze. When I realise it's Dustin, I snap, "What do you want?"

Appalled at my sudden outburst, Dustin backs off. "Woah. I'm just asking if you want to come."

"And why should I? I don't even know her. And I don't trust you." I snap.

"Well then, don't say I didn't warn you. Stay here for all you want. If I were you, I wouldn't. Good luck."

I grit my teeth. Did he take lessons or what? Why is he so good at persuading people?

"Fine. If anything happens, I blaming it on you."

"Okay. Sure. No problem." Dustin grins.

He turns and...

jumps down the cliff. Surprisingly, he lands on the ground as swiftly as ever. How does he do that? He doesn't even fall to his death. Though that might be great yet so ungreat at the same time.

"C'mon." Dustin urges, currently under the cliff, with the strange girl, "It's fun."

"No. I'm not trying at that. No chance." I spit, hugging my arms. How could I know if I could trust Dustin. He might just want me dead after all that's happened. If I fell to my death... I shudder.

Just like on the day Chance left.

"Really? Pampered princes, aren't you?" Did he just...? Oh no, he didn't. Nobody calls me that. Except Chance.

In a fit of anger, I charge towards him. Downwards. It was a bad choice.

Bad mistake.

I'm falling down. Down towards Dustin. Down towards my death. My eyes are closed. I knew I shouldn't have trusted Dustin. I should have let Chance beat him up. I should have-

I land on something. It's soft, but hard. I know it's impossible but it's hard to describe it. It's just so comfy. Like a bed.

"Corinne, really?" Dustin cracks up.

I crack my eyes open. Light fills and I shake my head, before my vision clears. Dustin is standing right in front of me. And he's too close. Startled, I jump back. However, I bump into someone else, probably the dirty blonde girl. She doesn't show it, but I know she hates me. Her elbows hit me on my back. And I know it's on purpose. Why did she have to be so mean?

"Ow! Watch it!" I shout.

Dirty Blonde snickers and mocks, "What? I didn't do anything."

Fuming mad, I turn around. "I know you hit me on purpose. Just admit it, coward."

"What? I am not. You are the coward." She retaliates, clearly not standing down.

"Woah. Did a bee just buzz by? Ouch." I reply, with my best effort. I know that it's lame, but hey, at least I won.

"You..." Left with no words to say, Dirty Blonde is left speechless.

Oh yeah! Victory goes to... Corinne, once again. I could hear the drumrolls and the applause. Happiness just came too soon.

Didn't she learn not to judge a book by its cover? I mean, I may not look like one, but I'm an expert at quarrels. Ring me and I'll appear. No worries.

Just kidding.

It's amazing how I can joke at a time like this. I know I'm not supposed to, but I just can't help myself.

Corinne: one. Dirty blonde stuck-up girl who doesn't know her place: zero.

Wait a second.

There are people living in the Black Hole? I take some time to digest that, calming my currently racing heart down.

People don't die down here, they're still alive.

Maybe my parents are too.

Suddenly, hope starts to fill my heart. I don't feel despair anymore. Instead, I'm bubbling and alive with hope. If my parents are alive, then-

"C'mon, girls, really? At a time like this? Girls really know when to fight." Dustin groans, yet so sarcastically again.

When did he even learn to do that? He was a quiet boy before this. But I have to admit, it's annoying-disturbing my train of thoughts.

"Shut up." Dirty Blonde and I shout.

Although we did not start on good terms, one thing's for sure. Girls can't stand it when boys interrupts girl talks. Even the greatest enemies will agree with another when it comes to that.

"Girls, I hate to tell you this but we have to leave. Now." Dustin says with a note of urgency in his voice.

"Okay." Dirty Blonde shrugs and places her arms on her hips, cocking them to a side. Wow. She does respond fast. I have to give credit to her for that.

"Corinne?" Dustin asks.

"I-" I start to say, but am cut off by the annoying Dirty Blonde, yet again, "Of course she is." Yes, I'm starting to hate her. She is just so annoying don't you think?

Dirty Blonde gives me the look and raises her eyebrows. "You are, aren't you?" she mocks me.

How persistent can she be? Is she going to always mock me all the time? I didn't offend her in any way, did I? I check her. Nope, I'm sure I've never met someone like her before. Then why must she do this?

"It's fine if we leave you here, I totally support it." Dirty Blonde shouts.

I snap out of my stupor and realise that they have already set off, putting a distance between us.

Sighing, I dash towards them. Besides, I can't go anywhere else in this...other world. I don't even know where this place was.

"Where are we going?" I mutter under my breath.

Although I'm sure we're far away from each other, Dirty Blonde still catches it. "To headquarters."

"Like I know where that is," I say.

Dirty Blonde just scoffs, and walks on.

"Headquarters is an important place in the Black Hole," Dustin states matter-of-factly.

"You guys have been communicating?" My voice hitches. "It's against the law!"

"And whose law may that be, Corinne?" Dirty Blonde sneers.

"How did you know my name?" I stop dead in my tracks.

"That's for me to know, and you to find out," she says, not even bothering to turn her head. And I freeze.

I know that sentence all too well.

"Chance, if you don't tell me where we're going, I'm going to start crying," I threaten, knowing that the last thing Chance would want to see is a crying Amber.

Chance rolls his eyes. "I'm still not saying,"

And if you are wondering why a seven year old is operating a pod...I don't know. It's just how it works, I guess. We're allowed to after we turn six. But a miniature one, though. After we turn fifteen we can operate the larger one.

"Chance..." I whine, "where are we going?"

"That's for me to know, and for you to find out," he says with a playful smirk. I pout, crossing my arms.

Chance brought me to the park, to teach me how to skateboard. Like the skateboard. Not the hover board, but the ancient thing on wheels called a skateboard.

It wasn't too hard for me to learn, actually, since I knew how to ride a hoverboard, but the thought of me going too fast and slamming into someone and accidentally pushing that person into the Black Hole...I'd shudder.

Eventually, I started liking the skateboard. It was so fun and exciting. I loved the feel of adrenaline as I went faster and faster. But of course, due to safety reasons, I couldn't go as fast as I wanted to. That, was one of the disadvantages. The people who had altered the skateboard made sure that we could swerve it, but it was not as fun as the real one, the one that existed a few decades ago, according to what Chance told me.

"Seriously? Are you going to stop every one minute? And, take that smile off your face!" Dirty Blonde calls.

It's only then when I realise that I have stopped in my tracks and that I had on my foolish grin again. I wipe it off my face immediately.

Wait...

Who was she to criticise me? She was just a girl that lives in the Black Hole. Why should she have control over me? I was the one who had a real life, not her.

"Whatever." I roll my eyes.

"You..." Dirty Blonde grits her teeth, pointing her finger at me.

Too bad! I stick my tongue out at her. Dirty Blonde stamps her feet and continues walking. Bet that meant that she admitted defeat. Happiness just comes too soon. Again.

Corinne: two. Dirty blonde stuck-up girl who doesn't know her place: zero.