Isabella felt as if her brain was about to explode. She was feeling overwhelmed, confused, speechless. Her world was spinning as she tried to take in all the information about the curse, and about Felicity going missing. If they went to follow her, what would their parents do? Would they be considered mad? Would their parents get all worried and call the police to look for them? If they returned without finding any magical flower, would they be thought of as mad people? Would they be placed in the nuthouse?

She took a deep breath and laid her head on her hands. Sky was looking confident as always, but you never knew what people were hiding underneath their smiling faces. Natasha was engaged in a discussion with Avery, the two of them whispering. Somehow nobody seemed to be panicking so much. Isabella thought of the consequences of going after Felicity. She couldn't have gotten that far, could she? Felicity was shy and quiet, but also really determined. What if they never found her? Or worse - what if they died on their trip to find Felicity? A bead of sweat trickled down Isabella's forehead.

Isabella began pacing. Why did Felicity have to be so stubborn about the curse? But what if she was right at the same time? What if we did find a cure to Jordan's disease? What would happen then?

Isabella had never been in such a confusing situation regarding her current best friend. She had always lived a simple normal life as daddy's little girl. Getting everything she wanted and having all the friends she needed.

Friends. Sky was no longer her best friend, she realized, not since... not since - when? She hadn't noticed it at all, but she had stopped going to her weekly sleepovers at Sky's. She had gotten closer to Felicity, instead, and drifted from Sky. But since when? She suddenly felt a pang of sadness as she thought of all the memories of her with Jordan, Sky, Natasha, and Avery. She wanted them back. She wanted them to hang out again. But what if that would never happen? They could die before they found Felicity, if Felicity had already reached the place News Hourly mentioned - a mountain of sorts.

Mountains. Cold, heartless things. Isabella couldn't even begin to imagine herself climbing one. She was never the sporty type - her weak legs always placed her near last in any running race she ever entered. Her arms weren't so toned either. They were rather thin, and weren't used much except for doing the usual stuff. She wasn't in any sports teams at school, and she couldn't even fight for herself when she used to get bullied in second grade. Climbing a mountain? No way.

Isabella thought of the journey ahead of her. What if the flowers are real? What if they found one, and what if the others insisted on finding the others? She thought of the flower of air. It was supposed to be lighter than air itself. Then wouldn't it be flying? Would they have to go skydiving? Parasailing? Riding a hot air balloon? She knew one thing: Skylar was afraid of falling. Despite her name, Sky was never one to go somewhere high up, if she knew there was a chance that she might fall and break a bone or two, or even die. She once told Isabella this, during a time when Isabella challenged her to climb up several chairs stacked on top of each other to get a book on a really tall shelf. After hearing that she was afraid of falling, Isabella had immediately taken down the chairs and taken Sky to buy some ice cream.

Then she thought of the fire flower - ignis something, wasn't it? If the flowers were found at some place that represented them, where would a fire flower be? Inside the crater of an active volcano? At the crater of the earth itself? On the sun? In an evil witch's oven? She shuddered at the thought.

The Earth flower was supposedly deep underground. How deep? Would they have to dig all the way from the North Pole to the South Pole? Isabella had so many questions she needed answers to, yet she didn't know who to ask. The others don't know either, I'm pretty sure. And I'll just be annoying them by asking them all these questions. She sighed again and sat down. She felt her eyes get hot and a tear slid down her cheek. She didn't know why she was crying. She didn't want to cry in front of the others. She hastily wiped her tears away.

Felicity. Jordan. Her two dear friends. She didn't want them to die, and if they didn't go after Felicity, they'd definitely die. But if they did, they'd put their own lives in danger, too. But what if they all died on the journey, and did not find a cure? What if Felicity had suddenly decided that it was a stupid idea and was on her way back? Isabella didn't know what to do, or believe, for that matter. She still wasn't sure if she believed the flowers were real.

She heard someone's phone ring - it was Sky's. Sky picked up the call and left the room. Then she heard her own phone ring. She reached for it. Dad was written in capital letters, accompanied by a smiling picture of him with his new girlfriend - the one who she highly suspected was only there for his money. She hesitated for a moment, then ignored the call. She just didn't feel like speaking to her dad. Her thoughts drifted back to when she was just a little five-year-old.

It was 11 at night. She was supposed to be asleep. But she couldn't sleep. At least not with all the noise downstairs. Her parents were having yet another argument, but this time, it was far worse. Her mother seemed to be throwing things around based on the noise. Her father spoke in his calm, mind voice, while her mother was screaming at him and breaking things. She peeked at them from the top of the stairs, and watched as her mom rushed past her, not noticing her. Her mom had flown into her bedroom, packed up a suitcase, and left in a huff - not even acknowledging Isabella. After she slammed the door behind her and took off in her car, Isabella went downstairs to her dad. He was sitting at the dining table drinking wine, and looking distraught and worked up. That night she got no sleep as she thought of what had happened.

Isabella only came back to reality when she felt the bed sag beneath her. She looked beside her, and there sat Sky, looking dazed as she stared straight forwards.

"Are you okay?" Sky asked, turning to Isabella.

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