You think your life is crazy, yes? Prepare to change your mind. I'm Bethany Manson, and my life is - well, to put it simply, insane.

Most stories start with a pretty normal person. I could tell you that mine is the same way, make it easier for you, but that would be an almost complete lie. I don't need another whopper like that in my life. But I only lie to protect myself. I know it's so cliché, but just because it's cliché doesn't mean it's not true. If I told everyone how I was different... Let's just say that's not a good idea. I'd rather not spend the rest of my life in an insane asylum.

I know what you're thinking, too. If I'm so scared to tell everyone, why am I pouring my feelings into a book? The answer? A teenage girl has to have someplace to vent her feelings, especially when they're as complicated and unheard of as mine.

Ever since my sixteenth birthday, I've had these mysterious blue flashes. And no, they're not some cool coming-of-age gift or something. These flashes are accompanied by visions of things that haven't happened yet, which really creeps me out, to be totally honest with you.

They weren't always visions; they started out as dreams. The first time I dreamed one of these things up, I just thought it was pretty cool. I mean, it was pretty great to know that my brother Spencer was planning a prank on me before I found out the hard way. Anyway, the next few times, I just thought, Hmm. Weird, but still cool. Well, imagine my thoughts when the dreams began happening regularly. Basically, they involved wondering if I was going totally insane. Who knows? Maybe I was. This could just be the story of a mad woman.

After a month or two, the dreams went away. Good, right? Wrong. Now, instead of visiting me in my sleep, these little flashes decided they weren't nocturnal anymore and crept their way into my daily life. Well, maybe not daily, but either way, I've had enough of those things.

I'll admit it: sometimes these visions can be a blessing. I mean, who wouldn't mind knowing that Mr. Drall is handing out one of his terrifying pop quizzes on Tuesday? But - I swear there's always a "but" - lately, I've had visions that no one would want to see, especially not me. These kinds of images aren't meant to be going around in someone's head. Again, let me be honest; they scare me.

The visions take me by surprise every time, no matter how much I've seen one.

"Oh, please," I plead when that blue flash enters my mind's eye and clouds the vision of my regular ones. "Not again. Not now."

But of course, the vision goes on anyway. It's not like it would ever listen to me.


Give me advice on this, please! I've redone the prologue quite a few times but I'm still not totally happy with it.