Prolouge

The only person in the car that didn’t make Ivy feel the urge to strangle them was Haley, her best friend, who was now watching the raindrops run down the window with one headphone in, glassy-eyed and full of hope, as usual. She was olive skinned, with silky chestnut brown hair pulled into a high ponytail;-- bouncy curls surrounding her face. Haley had striking hazel eyes and long lashes, along with perfectly manicured eyebrows and nails. She was very attractive and did not suffer the same pitfall in personality as Jace

Everyone in that car was an orphan, and all but one  of them had a loving foster family, Haley. Even though she would never admit this, Ivy and the rest of the group had always thought that Haley’s family only adopted her because of her beauty. From around the time she turned three, they had started signing her up for beauty pageants, And then that was the only thing that mattered to them. Haley was only allowed to  watch TV if she had won first place, and if she got anything other than that…. …..Ivy shuttered at the thought.

They’re ridiculous, insane even Ivy thought. Haley would never dare to say anything bad about them;-- or anyone, really. Ivy always tried to avoid going to Haley’s house, because her ‘parents’ had been trying to convince her to compete in a beauty pageant or go to a photoshoot with Haley. “I’m flattered,” She’d say, “But I don’t think I'm fit for that sort of thing.”  Haley had to sneak out of her house to go to Hollywood with the three of them, And it took a lot of back and forth on her part before she even considered doing that. 

Ivy’s foster parents, on the other hand, were… old. Not rude or oppressive, just… older. They owned eight cats;-- Sherlock, Mocha, Stormy, Pants, wheat, spud, coco, and boots. In Ivy’s case, it wasn’t too bad living with the elderly; There was always candy on the coffee table; The grandma kind that everyone loves. And the cookies…. To die for. Okay, so maybe the food was the only good part , Ivy thought, but food does  play a pretty big role in human satisfaction. 

Tad  had actually grown up with his biological parents until he was about ten-years-old, and while the others were all a little jealous, they knew that made it harder for him. Ivy and Haley had no idea who their parents were… They didn’t know if they died, If they fled the country… They had no clue, and neither did the staff at the orphanage.  And they both couldn’t imagine how hard it would be if the person you loved most left. Ivy and Haley didn't get the chance to know their parents, let alone get the chance to love them. 

When Jace Jace lost his parents he had been on a road trip there was a horrible crash and he was the only one who survived. Jace was only six at the time and the memories of that horrible day had long since been forgotten but every now and again something would trigger him and he would start acting extremely stiff until he could find somewhere private to cry. 

All of them besides Haley, who was adopted, had recently outgrew the foster care system. Currently, They’re all 18 years old.

Lighting struck, and the rain poured even harder as the car struggled and stalled in the mud.“Stupid.. Freaking,” Ivy slammed her head on the steering wheel “MUD.” she complained, exasperated.
Jace took out an earbud. “Ivy, can you take the complaining down a notch? You're interrupting my Lorax soundtrack.” Ivy gaped at him incredulously. “The LORAX soundtrack?” She flailed her arms around exasperatedly “THE LORAX soundtrack? WE HAVE A SITUATION HERE!”

 Jace blinked slowly. “ Well I can see that Someone needs a nap.”
“FINE! YOU DRIVE THEN!” 

 He considered this offer for a second before replying “I’ll pass.” and putting his earbud back in.

“Running into a tree is starting to sound like a pretty good idea right about now…” Ivy said under her breath, returning her eyes to the road. The four of them sat in silence for a while as the rain pounded on the roof of the car. In fact if there had been different circumstances the rain, which created a noise that was quite literally the only thing keeping the occupants of the car from exploding into an argumentative rage, would have been extremely appreciated. It was in fact quite unfair to the rain that this point was not touched upon, and it deeply hurt the rain's feelings, as it had been practicing for quite a while to achieve such a meditative drone. Ivy drove through the night, and when they finally got back onto dry road, The rain had cleared as the sun faded through the foggy horizon, stringing beams of angelic light through the clouds like fairy lights. Ivy, on the other hand, was not feeling very angelic. Everyone in the car was fast asleep, and she’d been listening to Tad’s snoring all night. And to make things worse, she hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep since they started the journey in Phoenix. That snoring is getting annoying, She thought, the sun is up, so……

“ALRIGHTY PEOPLE THE SUN IS RISING AND SO SHOULD YOU!” Ivy’s voice filled the car, followed shortly by the waking groans of her friends. 

Haley yawned and asked over tads and Jaces complaining grunts  “what time is it……??”  

“better question, why did you wake us up”

“Honestly?” said Ivy, “Tad’s snoring was annoying me.” 

Haley blinked groggily. “Huh,” She yawned “Seems reasonable.”

For one beautiful moment, everything was silent.

That wonderful moment, however, did not last long.

“Can we pull over?”  Tad asked weakly

“Why in the world do you need me to pull over”

“ I don’t feel so good…” Tad gagged.

Ivy started to pull over onto the side of the road when in a motion that immediately told Ivy tad was not okay with this plan, Tad's hand shot out from his stomach where he had placed it and firmly grasped Ivy's wrist. “EW! No. I am not throwing up on the side of the road!! I want a gas station.”

“Beggars can't be choosers,” she said exasperated.

“I will throw up in this car.” He quipped 

              …

“Jace, where's the nearest gas station?” Ivy asked, somewhat reluctantly.

Jace paused, looking at his phone with a confused expression. “Actually… right here.” He gestured out the window, and Ivy took a sharp turn to the right and into probably the sketchiest gas station in existence. The windows were shattered, and there were tree like vines growing out of the windows. The car skidded to a stop, and the engine powered off.

“Ummm…. do we have to go in there?” Haley asked skeptically, Putting her earbuds in their case. Jace swung the side door open and beelined for the gas station doors, Tad following quickly after him, leaving the other two thoroughly confused. “I guess so.” Ivy responded dejectedly. The two walked up to the gas station in a confused huddle, and something in the misty air changed. The air felt like it was spinning For a split second . And then… all at once, everything was normal again.

 The gas station bell chimed as they entered, echoing through the empty store. The place was deserted. No people, Just Haley, Jace, Ivy, Tad, and the echoing, dusty gas station. The two had no trouble finding Jace and Tad, Jace had gathered three very stale Dorito bags, and there were very tell-tale signs of Tad coming from the general direction of the bathroom. Ivy looked around skeptically trying to find a food item that somehow hadn’t expired, while Haley investigated the plant life spilling out of the windows and bursting out of the floor. By the time Tad had finished vomiting Jace was furiously scratching lucky number cards for the 1957 lottery, Haley was trying to identify the genus of a spiky looking blue plant growing from under the cash register, and Ivy was incredulously complaining to both of them about how possibly blue gatorade can stay shelf stable for 70 years. 

“How’re we supposed to pay for this?” Haley asked.
Jace looked at her like she was crazy. “That's the thing;--” He smirked “we don’t.” And he turned around and walked out of the gas station without paying. Haley sighed, and put her face in her hand, leaning on a nearby shelf. She was wearing an oversized graphic hoodie, baggy jeans, a white ball cap, and a cross body purse. Ivy was in sweats. Haley always made Ivy look unattractive in comparison, somehow. Tad walked out to join Jace, muttering about how unsanitary the gas station was.
“Well, I’m still putting money on the counter,” Haley stated stubbornly, rummaging through her purse, pulling out a 20-dollar bill, and placing it on the dusty counter. Ivy followed her out, and the gas station bell seemed to echo again, even though they were outside. As Ivy lifted her eyes from the wet pavement she saw her friends, silhouetted in the mist. One thing was clear however, they were no longer at a sketchy gas station on Starsbury Road. They stood stock still feet rooted to the ground taking in their surroundings. The scent in the air was unfamiliar and wet, and the colored luminescence from bright billboards pirouetted off of every wet surface, creating a multifariousness of dizzying shades and shadows that caused the group's vision to blur.