• tab This was not how she imagined her summer would end up. Originally, Jenna had planned to spend the next eight weeks lounging around her house, hanging out with friends and getting her summer assignments done. But things had taken a turn for the worse and somehow the idea of rebuilding her shattered social life didn’t seem like such a fun idea. So now, Jenna was sitting in a stuffy taxi en-route to her grandmother’s apartment complex.
    tab Eight weeks of parental-free fun in sunny Florida wasn’t the worst form of punishment, but the cast on Jenna’s right leg temporarily limited her ability to have fun.
    tab “One more week of this monstrous thing,” she mumbled as she cranked up the rock music on her iPod until it had drowned out the sound of the country music blasting through the taxi radio.
    tab It had been her parent’s idea to send her down to Florida. Considering the circumstances Jenna was lucky to be getting away from home. Florida was ten times better than the hell hole she was leaving behind. She just wished that her cast had come off before she’d left.
    tab Fifteen minutes later the taxi pulled onto an entry ramp that led up to a towering apartment building. After the driver kindly helped her out of his car, Jenna balanced unsteadily on her crutches as she took in the view. The building was actually in a nice location. There was a boardwalk just behind it, and just beyond the boardwalk was the ocean. Looking at the building, Jenna dimly wondered if there was anyone living there that was under the age of forty.
    tab It has fifteen stories; there’s bound to be someone my age she thought as she hobbled towards the entrance. But before she got there, the door opened and a group of six people walked out. Jenna automatically noticed three things: they were all her age; three girls in the group were identically: tall, thin, and blond; and the remaining guys who, although they varied in appearance, all looked like models cut fresh from a teen magazine.
    tab “Nice cast,” one of the girls sneered as she and her other blond clones laughed like hyena’s.
    tab Jenna watched the group move away, their laughter echoing until they disappeared down the street.
    tab So much for a warm welcome Jenna thought bitterly as she walked through the opened doors. Once inside, she was greeted with a refreshing blast of cool air. It felt so good after sitting in a poorly ventilated taxi for forty minutes. After the initial shock of cold air wore away, she noticed for the first time the lobby of her home for the rest of the summer. Unlike all the other apartment buildings she had been in, this one had a grand lobby, as if it had been taken straight out of a five-star hotel. White marble floors, a stone fireplace in the corner, a massive skylight that showed the bright blue sky, there was no doubt in her mind that she’d walked into the wrong building.
    tab “Excuse me, can I help you?”
    tab Startled, Jenna turned and saw a large reception desk. Standing behind the dark wooden desk stood a young woman with short black hair.
    tab Making her way over to the desk with difficulty, Jenna reached into her bag and pulled out a map, “Yeah, I think my taxi dropped me off in the wrong place.” Handing the lady a pen she pointed the map. “Can you show me how to get to the White Sands apartment building?”
    tab The lady laughed, “I get that question far too often. Sweetie, this is the White Sands building.”
    tab Jenna must have been staring because the woman quickly stopped laughing. Reaching behind the desk, she produced a small cream-colored card. Taking it in her hand, Jenna flipped the card over and sure enough, there in navy lettering was the name ‘White Sands’.
    tab “So how may I help you today?” The lady asked as she started typing on her keyboard.
    tab Blinking, Jenna suddenly remembered why she was there in the first place. “Um Lymen, I’m Dahlia Lymen’s granddaughter.”
    tab Jenna was greeted with a warm smile, “Oh, you’re Jenna! Dahlia has been talking non-stop about you. I’m Sara by the way.”
    tab Smiling Jenna shook Sara’s warm hand.
    tab “This will just take a few minutes,” Sara assured her before picking up the phone on her desk.
    tab While Sara called Dahlia to come down and retrieve her, Jenna moved away from the desk to get a look around. At the other end of the lobby was a big door with a sign that read ‘Grand Ballroom’. Curious, Jenna pulled the door open and snuck inside.
    tab The room truly was grand. The floor was wooden and there were large black marble columns laced throughout the wide room. And in the middle, there was a large crystal chandelier. At one end of the room, there was a large stage that had a velvety red curtain stretched across it. On the other end there was a bunch of tables with tablecloths over them. Gold chairs lined the far wall, some stacked on top of each other. Jenna was just about to walk back out, when she heard a soft voice.
    tab “Wow, how did you get the cast?”
    tab Spinning around, Jenna watched a girl with frizzy dark blond hair crawl out from under a table. Even though it was summer, the girl was wearing paint-splattered overalls over a long-sleeved purple shirt. Before Jenna could say anything, the girl reached into her pocket and pulled out a battered box of colored pencils. Without saying a word, the girl sat down on her knees and pulled out a black pencil and started to draw on the cast.
    tab “What…what are doing?” Jenna stammered as the girl pulled out another color.
    tab “I noticed that none of your friends wrote on your cast,” she spoke a light airy voice, the kind that only knew how to sound happy. “I’m Cassidy in case you were wondering,” she replied as she started to shade in the figure she had drawn.
    tab “Jenna. Um...can I ask why you were under the table? Her leg was getting tired from standing for so long and she desperately wished to sit down.
    tab Cassidy continued to draw, “I was hiding. The knights are looking for me.”
    tab Knights? That was what she had just said wasn’t it?
    tab “Cass,” another voice shouted, “what are you doing?”
    tab Smiling, Cassidy jumped to her feet and rushed past Jenna. Turning around, she watched Cassidy approach two guys that looked to be the same age as her. It had been the one with long brown hair that seemed to have a mind of its own that was talking to Cassidy. The other guy, who had short blond hair and towered over his friend, kept glancing over at Jenna, his expression unreadable.
    tab “Jenna,” Cassidy called and waved her over. “These are my friends, Nate and Theo.”
    tab The guy with brown hair shot Jenna a look that made her skin tingle, “Actually, it’s Nathan and Theodore and if you don’t mind, we’re kind of in the middle of something.”
    tab Surprised by Nathan’s cold tone, Jenna took a step back, unable to find her voice.
    tab “What’s with the proper name crap?” Cassidy asked as she folded her arms, “Jenna’s the girl the Dahlia was talking about, the one we promised to include in our game.”
    tab Nathan took a step towards Cassidy and Theodore followed suit, “You’re the one that promised, I already told you that we’re against it.”
    tab Back and forth, Jenna watched the three of them argue. From what she heard, Jenna understood that they were talking about some game that involved knights, wizards, and a whole bunch of other fantasy junk. Weren’t they a bit old to be playing make-believe?
    tab “Hey, listen its ok, you don’t have to include me if you don’t want too,” Jenna said, attempting to stop the arguing. It didn’t matter to her if she was included, though the thought of having made at least one friend would have been nice.
    tab Nathan turned and glared at her, “Good cause you were never invited to begin with.” He snapped before turning on his heel and storming out of the room with Cassidy and Theodore following behind him. Even once they were out of the room, Jenna could still hear Cassidy trying to get Nathan to include her in their game.
    tab “Oh, there you are,” a familiar voice called. Turning around Jenna saw Dahlia walk into the room looking younger then ever. Even though she was seventy, Dahlia stilled acted as if she was fresh into her thirties. She even refused to have Jenna refer to her as ‘grandma’. Roller-skating before sunrise, swimming at midnight, Dahlia was determined to live her life to its fullest.
    tab “How are you doing cupcake?” Dahlia asked as she threw her muscular arms around Jenna.
    tab “Good,” she lied. She decided not to mention Cassidy and her friends to Dahlia; it would only upset her to know that she had been rejected. “Just a little tired from the flight.”
    tab As Dahlia helped Jenna to the elevator, she made a remark about the picture that Cassidy had drawn. Noticing it for the first time, Jenna lifted her leg and got a better look at the drawing. It was knight wearing detailed silver armor. In his hands, he wielded a long sword and a shield. Glancing at it closer, Jenna realized that the knight resembled Nathan, down to the serious frown upon his face. It didn’t just resemble Nathan it was Nathan! Besides the drawing was a little note.
    tab ‘Let this brave knight protect you from all that threatens to bring you harm.’
    tab ***************************************************************************
    tab Plunging his sword into the mud, Nate sank down upon a rock as his traveling companions rushed to join him.
    tab “What is your problem?” The sorceress Cass asked as she reached him. “Would it hurt you to be nice for once in your life?”
    tab Standing besides his friends, the elfin prince Theo crossed his arms, “Give him a break, you had no right promising the good witch Dahlia that we’d protect the princess.”
    tab It was rare for Theo to speak, but when he did, both Nate and Cass knew to listen. Theo usually let his eyes do the talking for him. They were that shade of blue that made people feel like he could see right through them. A person could just glance at those glassy orbs and know just what he was feeling.
    tab Sighing Nate stood up and walked over to ledge of the cliff that they were standing on. Just beneath them was the majestic White Sand beach where mermaids and sea monsters dwelt in the deep blue water. Today they were supposed to fight the dreaded three-headed serpent that had been tormenting the other inhabitants of the beach. Instead, they had been given a new assignment, protect a princess from a foreign land and help her make friends. Funny, the only friends that Nate had were Cass and Theo and they were all he ever needed. Since they had met eleven years before, when they were six, they had always stuck together, fighting off their enemies and going on countless adventures.
    tab “Please Nate,” Cass whispered as she put her hand on his shoulder, “she doesn’t know anybody here and you saw her cast. Nobody had signed it. Did it ever occur to you that maybe she is an outsider like us?”
    tab Shoving her hand away, Nate snatched his sword out of the mud and started down the hill towards the beach. Her an outsider? That was laugh. He knew her type, the kind that spent more time on her appearance than anything else. She was the kind of girl who, on any other occasion, wouldn’t even notice a bunch of so-called ‘freaks’ like them.
    tab Sure people like her existed in the real world, but not when he was here. Here in Fantasia, he called the shots. Whatever and whoever he wanted to be, he was. In this world he was a brave knight instead of a target for stupid jocks to practice throwing paper balls at. Here Cass was a powerful sorceress whose paintings came alive rather than a girl whose stepbrothers destroyed her precious pictures. And Theo, who worked three jobs just to take of his sick mother, became an elfin prince who could heal anything that he touched. The last thing this place needed was some stuck up b***h of a princess to boss them around. Until he had met Theo and Cass, he had been alone, but after they met and created Fantasia, he suddenly was able to tolerate the harsh world that he lived in. No matter how hard life got, he could always just close his eyes, use his imagination and journey to Fantasia, where nothing could hurt him.
    tab “Sorry Cass, but I refuse to allow that girl to join us. Only outcasts can come here anyway.” With that said, he lifted his sword and charged forward, heading straight towards the three-headed blond haired sea serpent who laughed like it had swallowed a hyena.
    tab *********************************************************************************