Liza stood on top of the mountain. She gazed over the beautiful landscape before her, tasting the pine wood through the air. She listened to the soft chirping of the native birds emanating the nearby forest. An eagle flew over the snowcapped mountain tops and glided easily through the thin air. Liza smirked as she closed her eyes. She leaned forward and slowly started to plummet off the side. The feeling of free falling suddenly gripped at her chest. She felt icy winds burn her face and Liza’s stomach starting to churn with panic.

               “Liza, are you even listening to me?” An irritated voice barked.

               Suddenly, Liza’s eyes flash open. She was sitting in a lousy desk with drool practically falling out of her mouth. Before Liza, stands a grumpy old lady named Mrs. Cormacki. Her arms are crossed and you can practically see the steam blowing out of her ears. She started to shake her head, “Liza, this is the third time this year! One more and it’s a detention!” Mrs. Cormacki pointed her finger peevishly.

               “S-sorry. It won’t happen again.” Liza lies. She sat up in her seat and glances at the front board. There are so many different equations, you could wrap them around the world twice!

“I’m never becoming a teacher,” Liza said to herself as she thought about Mrs. Cormacki, who was divorced and lived with about seven cats. How could she go to college for four years and then want to go back to school? Liza is astonished by the idea of spending any more time than she needs to in a classroom. “I’m going to go as far away as possible from this little town. I’m going to New York, or LA or maybe Chicago!” Liza thought to herself.

               But isn’t there a lot of crime in cities like those? I wonder what it would be like to be a cop in a big city.  In a split second, Liza was dreaming of being an undercover cop in the crime ridden city of New York.  Liza made her way through the bustling streets as she ran through her mission details; locate the notorious Crime Lord, Juno Steel.

 The soft snow floated from the sky and left a thin layer of white on the sidewalk. There were scarfs shielding the faces of woman, and they hustled through the streets with their children who were expanded to human marshmallows. The kids waddled through the street grasping their mothers hand for stability. Liza hid her face in her fluffy black jacket. Her ears felt like icicles and she regretted not wearing a hat.

Word on the street was that Juno had a base in the alley next to Granton’s Bakery. All she needed to do was locate the base and hopefully find some proof. She shoved her way through the streets and relaxed her muscles as she escaped the gusts of icy winds. As she shuddered her way through the alley, she couldn’t help but feel as if someone was watching her in the shadows.

               “Look what we’ve got ‘ere!” Said a male voice from behind her. Liza spun around and faced the ragged man. He had a daunting smile on his scarred face. The man was wearing an army green sweatshirt and black shoes that were falling apart by the second.

               Suddenly, three other guys surrounded Liza, blocking all exits.

               “I’m just passing through,” Liza retorted confidently.

               The men started to chuckle. Their laugh sounded more like hyenas on drugs. Finally, the first man spoke again. “You can leave but only after a payment.” The man rubbed his thumb and pointer finger together as a sign for he wanted money. He started to strut toward Liza with a slight limp. It looked like he hurt his knee recently.

               “Maybe I should have thought this plan through…” Liza thought to herself.

               When the man was only an arm length away, Liza suddenly swung her leg with such force at his injured knee that he crushed onto the ground. “Get her!” Yelled the fallen man as he attempted to stand. The other three men ran toward her and one grabbed her arm. Liza clenched her free fist and swung at the man, aiming for the nose. He staggered back, blood dripping from his nose as he shot her a fuming glare. The other two men seized her arms quickly. Liza pretended to give up.

               “Please don’t hurt me!” she yelped innocently.

               The man Liza punched stomped over to face her. His face was in full revenge mode as he raised his clenched knuckles. As his fist got near, Liza let her body go loose under the firm hands, and her body slid almost a foot. The man still swung but missed her completely. He smashed his friend right in the jaw. The man who got punched loosed his grip enough that Liza slipped out and fell to the floor. She jolted her leg straight up and kicked the bleeding man where no man wants to ever be kicked. The other man who was still holding on to Liza’s arm looked at her, confused. She took advantage of the dazed man and yanked her still-gripped arm to the floor.  The man let out a gasp as he belly flopped onto the icy snow. Liza sprung onto her feet in a flash and-.

               DING. DING. DING.

               Liza snapped back into reality as the bell rung loudly.

               “Now don’t forget to do questions 2-7 for tomorrow!” Mrs. Cormacki shouted to the rest of the class.

               A sea of students hustled out of the classroom. In a matter of seconds, Liza was the only student in the room. Mrs. Cormacki leaned on a desk in front of her.

               “You don’t enjoy school much, do you?” she huffed.

               Liza tried to wave off the distress she felt. “Not really.” Liza gave a forced laugh. She quickly threw on her backpack to escape the awkward situation. Liza hurried to the door but Mrs. Cormacki’s voice stopped her.

               “Are you aware that you have a D in this class right now? I know you’re a smart kid, Liza, but you need to start listening and caring about what we learn. Otherwise, you will have to retake this class next year as a senior.”

               Liza plastered her face with a fake surprised look. Liza knew her grades already and thought that she could easily get her grade back up to a C. All she needed to do was turn in a couple of papers. “I’ll get right on that Mrs. Cormacki!” She added a little enthusiasm so that hopefully Mrs. C. wouldn’t bother her about this again.

               Mrs. Cormacki gave her a suspicious look but finally dismissed her. Liza darted out of the room so fast that she collided with another student. The student gave her a slanted glare as he shoved his way past her. Liza made her way over to the Lunch Room, keeping her eyes to the floor the entire time. When she finally reached her favorite lunch table, in the corner as far as possible from the loud senior jocks, she parked herself down in a slightly lopsided seat. She scanned around the room for her usual friends.

               Liza squinted through the farthest window, and saw something very unfamiliar. It seemed like an animal-or something else. The thing’s huge eyes stared hungrily through that window and its mouth was dripping in saliva. Its skin looked grimy and reptilian-like. The brown creature stood on two powerful legs, keeping its balance with a giant tail that was longer than a school bus. The animal had two little nubs for arms that seemed useless to its powerful body. Abruptly, an ear-splitting roar engulfed the lunchroom. Liza stared with her mouth slightly parted in awe as the creature slashed the glass window with its tail.

               The school didn’t really have a procedure for giant dinosaur attack, so the crowded room of teenagers started to panic and bolt out of the Lunch Room. Several shrieks fill the air as the dinosaur roared again. This time, the sound rumbled Liza’s whole body as she sat there frozen in horror.

               Suddenly, the dinosaur was gone. The kids were back in their seats eating as if nothing had happened.

               “I really need to find a hobby,” Liza sighed.