Kayla Nero sat in the library with Ella, waiting for Piper. Kayla was reading Insignia, the first book in an explosive, futuristic story. (it exists and I finished reading the series this morning. Go read it! It's by S. J. Kincaid) Ella was drawing a picture of Kayla reading the book.

Kayla closed the book and placed it on a nearby table. "Where's Piper?" she demanded. "She is always the first person to come to school. Always. And now she isn't at school at all. Is she sick or something? She would text us if she was!"

Ella pulled out her phone, sighing. "I'll text her." They were both silent and she sent the text.

Kayla was worried about Piper. They always told each other everything.

Ella put her phone away. "She has do not disturb on. Can't get through." The bell rang. Ella desperately looked at me. "Time to go to homeroom. See ya in first period," and she left the library. Kayla quickly checked out the book she was reading, and headed off the homeroom.

She didn't pay much attention to the announcements, instead wondering what happened to Piper. How Kayla got through the school day with that much worry, she didn't know.

After a very, very long school day, Kayla was content with crashing on her forest green Popasan chair and watching some good ol' Youtube on her TV.

***

Piper was sitting on her Popasan chair as well. Kayla, Piper and Ella had gotten them as first-day-of-school presents, in their favorite colors. Piper's was a sky blue.

Her phone had been silent all day, which was strange. They should have texted by now. They always did. She had even tried texting them while they were on break, but nothing would get through. It was like they were ignoring her.

Her mom had been kind enough to let her stay at home. Piper wasn't ready to face her friends, not yet. It was better when they talked through a screen. Then she could mask herself as much as she wanted.

A bluebird tapped on the window. Piper opened the window, allowing the bird to fly around her room. It was surprisingly tame, and not afraid of her at all. It sat on her shoulder and sang in her ear. She smiled for the first time all day. Because of the lack of communication with Amanda, it seemed to make the burden easier to carry. She was able to handle it now.

The bird sat on her phone and pecked it a few times. It appeared to be opening up her texts.

The phone buzzed as some messages came through. Kayla and Ella had been texting her throughout the day, but nothing had gone through. The bluebird appeared to have fixed it.

The bluebird twittered a few times, then flew out the window again. Was this the work of a hacker? They would have to be seriously good to hack all of their phones, with all of their security. But that still didn't explain the bluebird. It knew about the phone, and not only that, it fixed it.

What on earth was going on?

A/N Why is texted and texting not in Wattpad's dictionary? I try to spellcheck and that comes up as incorrect. Yeah, short chapter, but this is the beginning of Piper, Kayla and Ella's story. I know it's chapter 2, but this is sort of the real beginning. In my mind anyway.

Yeah.