"Evangeline!"

"Evan," I snapped back reflexively.

"Evan, what is the beginning line of Austen's Pride and Prejudice?"

Miss Cormin's shrill voice filled the room.

"Easy. "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.'"

Out of all my teachers, Miss Cormin seemed like the only one of my teachers who didn't know how to deal with the fact that I'm pretty much a know it all.

"Very good. Tell me, Evangeline-"

"Evan!"

"Tell me, Evan, do you plan on majoring in English in college?"

"Tell me, Miss Cormin, do you think I care about college?"

I gestured to the outfit I had worn for free day (stupid Christian school uniforms. Damn you, Saint Mary's Academy!): a pair of gray jeans, a black leather belt with a chain attached to it, a long sleeved white T-shirt, and a studded, pinstriped black vest with a fleur de lis on it.

"So you just plan on wasting thousands of dollars in scholarships and not going to college?"

"Yep."

"So you plan on being a bum for the rest of your life."

"Nope." I made a little popping sound on the p.

One of the other things that Miss Cormin couldn't deal with was how much attitude I could cop.

"Evangeline, see me after class."

"Yes, ma'am," I smirked, putting my feet on my desk and rocking back onto the hind legs of my chair. The class laughed.

"Quiet!" Miss Cormin snapped in that I'm-an-adult-and-I-will-punish-you voice that no one ever took seriously.

The bell rang and everyone ran out of the room.

Miss Cormin sat at her desk, head in her hands.

"Please, Evan. Please, think about college."

"You... you called me Evan."

"Yes, Evan. Please, go to college. I can't stand the thought of you not succeeding and then having to work at McDonalds. Please, go and just get some sort of degree.

"I don't want you to end up like me, a dreamer who lit off to find glory and success in New York like me."

"You...?"

"Yes, me. I was a painter. Portraits, mostly."

"Portraits..."

"I've been working on one of you."

"Of me? But you hate me."

"No, Evan, it's not you I hate. I don't like them. And I don't hate them. You are you. You know who you are. You're not like them."

I tried to take this all in.

"I... I need to go. My parents and sister will be wondering where I am."

"Goodbye Evan."

"Bye."

I ran down the halls, shoving past a few nuns. I made a cross across my chest with a smile as I did so.

I grabbed my things from my locker and ran home.

Mom, Dad, and my little sister, Eden, were sitting around the kitchen table.

"Evan," Mom said. "We're going on vacation."

"Cool. Where are we going?"

"We're letting you pick, Sugarplum," Dad said.

'Seriously? Like, even if I wanted to go to Antarctica, we'd go?"

"Well, not Antarctica. North America is our limit."

"NEW YORK!!!!!!!!!!!!" I screamed excitedly.

Mom rolled her eyes and smiled.

"How did we know? Go on, go pack. We're leaving tomorrow."

I flew upstairs and packed my things.

16 hours later, I was in New York City.

A/N: I know it's not RENT yet, but it will be. Next chapter, promise. Reviews are nice.