May 15, school day at 9:44 AM. I wasn't always in situations like this. I tried to avoid something like this but, it was never possible. I'm human after all. Anyway, my life is just about end, or at least that's what thought. I'm 14 years old and I'm in the 9th grade. My name is Ellie Anderson, and this is the story of my life, or end of my life. "Sit down class ", said Ms.West. "Today we are learning about calculus!". The whole class groaned including me. I'm not a fan of math but at least I'm not writing a whole essay in one day. Anyway, I try to understand what's going on. My friend David turns to me and whispers,"Hey dude". I said hey back. I knew David for a long time now. Ever since he moved here, we been best buds. We usually go to movies, football games, play football, and also egg houses. We likely get in trouble afterwards. "What's so interesting Ms. Anderson", said Ms.West. "Oh nothing, I said". I feel embarrassed. BINGGGGGGGGGGGG. I get up and put my backpack on my back. I then put my headphones on and listen to some music. I go to locker to put away my math notebooks and heard some interesting things. I take my headphones off and listen closely. "Hey have you heard about the party tomorrow?", said one girl. "Uh, hell yeah I'm going!", Said the other girl. I totally forgot. There's a party being held at Dan's place. Danny is the most popular and rich kid at school. Also, he's really hot. I don't think I have a chance on getting invited. The last time I went to one of his parties, I was drugged and had a hotdog in my mouth while being naked. I never told anyway, I don't think I have the confidence. David comes running towards me. "Dude, are you doing to the party?", he asked. I looked at him confusingly. "David, you need to be invited in order to go", I said. "Leave that to me", David said while pulling out an invitation. I have the most surprised look ever. "Don't worry about me", David said. I forgot to tell you, David's transgender. Everyone despises of him and I don't know why. I feel bad, he doesn't deserve to be treated like that. But, he seems okay with it. We do our handshake and leave school. I skateboard my way towards my house. I open the door and drop my backpack on the ground. I leap on the couch and feel relaxed. Suddenly, I feel sudden tapping. I opened my eyes and it was mom. "Don't think your getting off that easily", she said. I groan and do my chores as expected. I fold the clothes then put them in the washing machine. During so, I do the dishes and clean the sink. I then got the clothes and let them dry. Lastly, I took out the garbage and sat on the couch turning on the tv. I drift asleep , thinking to myself, how should I do it? Should I tell them? Or sneak out? It was a Debate in my head. I then decided that I should ask them first. "DINNERS READY!", mom exclaimed. I run to the table almost knocking it over. I sit aside dad. I see that spaghetti is for dinner. I take my fork and slurp noodle by noodle. "So how was school?", dad said. "I was fine I guess, not a lot happened", I said. We once again say in silence eating and slurping our noodles. I then gain the courage to ask them. "Hey, is it's okay if I go to-"no", said dad. "You are NOT going to that party you hear me? I don't want you to get hurt. Many teenagers go missing while at parties". "I AM NOT A BABY ANYMORE, WHY CAN'T YOU SEE THAT???", I exclaimed. I stomp up towards my room and finally drifting off. Saturday morning, 8:00. There's nothing in store for me except the party. I go down stairs and try to forget what happened yesterday. I go the fridge and notice a letter clipped on it. It reads, "Dear Ellie, me and your father had to flee the town due to a family emergency. We will be back on Monday and YOU ARE NOT TO LEAVE THE HOUSE NOR GO TO THAT PARTY. IF I CATCH YOU LEAVING THE HOUSE YOU ARE GROUNDED FOR 3 MONTHS. I want you to stay safe due to the hurricane. Please baby, be safe. Love, mom and father". I put the note down and get something to eat. I grab a banana until I heard a honk. It was David in his honda. I call him asking what he's wants. "Dude why are you here?", I ask. "The party starts now dude", he said. I quickly go upstairs and put something on. I chose to wear a shirt that says, "RUN THE WORLD", and I put on skinny jeans. I then jump in David's car and we head to Danny's place. It was a 20 minute drive to Danny's house and it was pretty awkward for all of us. We arrive at the door and David rings the doorbell. I get cold feet, I never felt like I belong here. Then, a random girl opens the door and welcomes us. We go inside and I see more than 20 people at the party. Some are already drinking and some are doing drugs early in the morning. "Well, welcome to the cool kid gang!", David said. I groan and I sit down. I watch all the people dance around and have fun. For me this was no one fun at all. 20 minutes later I drift to sleep by accident and now I look like a bum on the street. Just black was all I saw, it wasn't until I was being tapped by someone. I opened my eyes to see "The Danny" himself. He offers help and I got up in surprise. I look at the time and ended up being 10:00 Am . This party had been going on go for hours now. "Come play spin the bottle with us, it's gonna be fun", he winks while after. He takes my hand into a bedroom where 2 girls and 3 boys sit together in a circle. I join among the 5 and sit down. "Okay get ready everyone", said a random girl. The bottle was spinned. It was slowly turning around pointing at a girl with long blonde hair. She was forced to kiss a boy with brown hair and bright blue eyes. They went into the closet and did god knows what. The ones remaining discussed and laughed. I look really stupid right now. "So you managed to get invited huh?", said a girl with long extensions. "Uh….yeah that's about it", I said awkwardly. She giggles afterward. The 2 then came out of the closet with smiles on their face and disoriented clothes. To be honest, I have a bad feeling about this. Plus, it's just too awkward. Where even is David? I hope he's okay. Maybe I'm being paranoid. Once again, the bottle was spinned and it slowly landed on me. I had to kiss DANNY himself. He gave me a huge smile and grabbed my hand. We went into the closet and closed it. We looked at each other very weirdly. "Listen, we both know we don't wanna do this but let's just wait for 2 minutes and then leave", said David. I strongly agreed and proceeded to sit for 2 minutes. We then came out and everyone laughing. The circle had soon gone together to get some drinks. I followed along. I then realized that it was alcohol even thought we are all sorely underaged. Mom always to told me never to drink but, this could be my only time so I took my chance. However Danny took the cup out of my hand and stated, "Don't take this one, it's reserved". I looked at him confusingly but went along. I sat down along with many many other People. Music was pumped up, people danced, and people did drugs. It was all too much so I took a sip of my cup. It tasted like hand sanitizer. I then have a weird feeling in my stomach Until I heard a loud beep on the tv. It was a hurricane alert. My stomach dropped, I began to sweat. "Mom was right huh…", I said. Everyone had noticed and gone into a panic. People began to scream or cry. No one had any what to do. I then felt numb, I gagged. My stomach was hurting extremely and a fell to the ground. My vision became blurry and had gone black. I completely laid on the ground completely. "What have I gotten myself into",I said to myself. It all went black, just blackness. All hope seemed loss. I just….wanna die at this point. I start to feel a warm gleam on eyelids and I manage to open my eyes, regaining consciousness. I open my eyes completely to see myself in a room with rusty walls and tiny bugs crawling all over. I have no idea what to do. I see nothing but walls. I had been approached by another person who scared me half to death. It was David. I hugged him as hard as I can. "What's going on??!", I exclaimed. "That bastard had spiked our drinks and locked us down here", he said. Not only was it me and David but 2 more people. A girl with black hair and had glasses on as well. Also, a boy with brown hair and had a jean jacket on. "So we aren't the only ones", said the girl. "Listen, you don't know how serious this is, but we are in grave danger". I had a scared look on my face. "We are gonna be here for a very very long time but we need to act FAST", said the boy. "Who are you anyway?", I asked. "My name is Chloe and this is Maxwell, Max for short", said Chloe. "Okay, your names?". "I'm Ellie and this is David", I said. We all stared at each other. "Okay the first thing we need to do is find a way to get out and get the hell of out of here", said David. "We can't, the door is locked from the other side, there are no windows and also there are chains around the door", said Max. "Also, you see that pipe? It is gonna rain heavy tonight and that pipe is this houses water supply. It's broken, meaning that the rain is going to enter this basement. If we don't figure out a way within these few hours, we will ALL drown". Everyone went into a shock. We all then looked for things to try to get out. I stumbled upon old boxes filled with family items. Something had caught my attention. There was a picture frame with a picture in it. That picture was of me. When I was drugged. "That asshole", I said to myself. I smashed the frame into bits and pieces out of anger. 30 minute had passed. It's 1:00 and the hurricane is getting vicious. Many house are being destroyed along with a lot of debri. I'm losing faith if I'm gonna get out alive. I don't know what to do. Well if I'm gonna die, I should make my last call. I dial my parents number. "Hello?", said mom. "Mom, I want you to know I may die and this may be our last time talking to each other. I always loved you, so as dad too. So, if I die, thank you for everything. Tell dad I love him". I then hung up, leaving myself with tears running down. "God help me", I said to myself. David approaches me sitting on the ground with me. "Hey, it's okay, we can get out of here. Wait, does your phone still work?", asked David. "It's dead", I said. "Danm, well listen I'm here for you", said David. He looks at me with a sweet smile. I look at him with a smile too with red teary eyes. He puts his hands around my waist and then kisses me. I never experienced this but, it may be my only chance. I kissed him back. It was silent after a while. Water then came rushing out of the pipes. We all reacted fast to find something. I looked around and found a tool box. I opened the rusty tool box full of nails and hammers. I then grabbed the duct tape and began to tape the pipe while water is racing down my face. David Came running with nails and hammers. "To hell with it", said David. He then hammered the nails into the pipe which only made little holes for water to come out. I quickly pushed David away and tape is all real good. The result was okay but it ain't gonna last. We all feel relieved. Anyway, we all sit down and relax. My stomach then growls loudly. "I should've eaten the food they had", I say to myself. David then takes something out of his pocket and gives us each of it. I did not know what it was until I noticed the brand. It was a Hershey's chocolate bar. We all felt so thankful and began to eat. David day next to me and ate his bar. I then began to drift asleep on David's lap. While dreaming, I once again think to myself, do I deserve this? What went wrong? What could I done to avoid this? I then came to the conclusion that this was gonna happen anyway. So for this, I'm going to drown and die. I hope mom and dad are okay. I really do. See, my dad isn't my real dad. My old dad had his throat slit and wallet stolen. Mom was so...broken afterwards. That's we met Bruce. He's a total asshole. He acts as if he's my real dad and bosses me around. He's even considering moving in. I want to stop that at all costs, for mom's sake, but what can a kid like me do when your about to die? I once again drift off into darkness. I feel hard tapping and open my eyes to see Chloe with a panicked face. "What's going on?", I ask. "We been asleep for 4 hours and the pipe had broken a loose. Now all the water had gotten onto the floor!", exclaimed Chloe. I soon noticed that all the water had gotten gotten to at least our waists. We had to think fast, well, it's actually too late. "Guys, I can't stop it, it's gonna keep rushing and rushing. We have to get out, NOW", exclaimed Max. Me and David go to the tool box and gain the hammer. David then began smashing through the wooden door to the point where the chains are. "How the hell did they have time to put up chains! They must intended this!", exclaimed David. We tries to tear them off but it's no use. We needed something much more heavier. I go back downstairs and stumble on something sharp. It was a cherished axe won in a apple cutting contest that Danny's dad won for him. I picked it up very slowly due to its weight and give it to David. He then swings it almost hitting me and falls back. He falls down the stairs leading to his leg pressing against the axe. Lastly, it leading to his leg being pierced by the axe. His leg began to bleed so much. "OH HELL, MY LEG", screamed David. I tried to help him but Chloe pulled me back and said, "IT'S TOO LATE, WE HAVE TO GET OUT NOW". I refused and tried to help David. I tried to lift the axe but it only made more blood sprout. His left leg is gone basically. I felt so bad, but, I can't help him. Even if I wanted to, it's gonna get us both killed. David holds my face and tells me, "Ellie, you have to go, your my best friend and I want you to have the best life possible. You have to move on without me Ellie, but don't forget me." I then cried with tears running down my face but, David smiles and I smile back. The water is rising towards the doorway. Max then fully opens the door leaving a pathway. I ran up the stairs but then look at David, he's slowly drowning but still has his happy face on. For the last time ever, I go back and then kiss David. I run up the stairs towards Max and Chloe. We all discovered the destruction of this house and the debri. Water was also coming into the house. We all ran and reached for the door. We opened the door so see rivers in the streets. Many people drowned including pets and children. We then saw a rescue boat with the hospital cross. They drove towards us and demanded us to get in. They gave us each blankets to warm up. We all were silent along the way they were taking us. They took us to a survivor camp where all the survivors were put. They asked us to go inside and rest. I saw kids from my high school, young adults, and also toddlers. I decided to ask for a phone and call my mom. I told her everything. And with that, I'm grounded for 3 months, but she only did it cuz she cared about me. However, Bruce is nowhere to be found. Mom said she's coming and gonna pick me up. So I say goodbye to max and Chloe. I give them my numbers. "Let's hang out sometime okay?", I said. Then I hear a honk, that should be mom's car. I then get in and moms starts her yelling. During the yelling I felt so lost. I was mad. So I told her. "DAVID IS DEAD", I screamed. Mom why silent. This is the first time I got my mom to shut up. She notices my tears and grabs be towards her chest. I cry, and continue to cry after the horrors of tonight. Lesson learned, i'm never going to a party again. Tuesday, May 21st. Today is David's funeral. These past few days were okay. I haven't heard from Chloe or max yet. Mom is still traumatized over Bruce's death. A funeral won't be held for him, luckily. I tried to forget what happened. I also heard that Danny is dead as well. He was crushed by debri. I know he put me through hell but...he didn't deserve it, neither did I. Gladly, his parents are suing, there isn't anyone to sue. As I was saying, I'm trying to forget what happened. I'm trying to move on. Mom mentioned that we are moving to New Jersey. She says that Florida isn't "safe" anymore for us. That's a relief so I won't have to worry about hurricanes anymore. Anyway, Mom and I got ready and drove to the cemetery. David's family members were there. His Mom and his dad. Also his sister too. I never knew he had siblings. So, each and one of us had paid their respects and also cried as well. It was my turn. I stepped up and said, "I love you, I always have". I cried over his grave and mother had hugged me. We both went into the act and drove home. June 1st, 12:00, we had arrived at New Jersey and it isn't as exciting as Florida but much cooler and much safer. I still had Chloe's and Max's numbers. I talked to them time to time and we began easy best friends. Well, the neighbors are pretty quiet and they don't do much. They are a elderly couple. Anyway, our house is not that bad. It had a bathroom, kitchen, living room, and 2 bedrooms. I went into my new room and unpacked a little more. Mom came in a gave me a box that had a sticker on it. It read, "Belongs to David". I open the box to see David's things. His pens, notes, toys, etc. what caught my eye was a voice recorder. I played it. It was David and his sister beatboxing. I burst of laughter due to how stupid it was. It wasn't until heard a the doorbell. I went past my mom and opened the door. There were 2 figures. They said, "Hey Ellie!". Maybe, my life isn't over completely. I have everything I need right here. I smile and cry at the same time. Like I said, I'm just a normal human being.

FLOOD