There's a moment in life when everything seems to happen in a single second.

When I'd read books that said things like that, I always shook my head, not believing it. I'd gotten into trouble loads of times, but that feeling had never risen inside me. I got chased by Rottweilers- and still didn't feel that feeling.

But on December 11th, I felt that feeling. I hated it, not being able to make everything go the normal speed and just... just happen. Maybe it was God's way of saying "Watch closely- something you won't like it about to happen."

And I didn't like it one bit.

The day was December 11th, and everything seemed to be glowing. Waking up in the morning hadn't been unpleasant as usual, for I'd woken to the sweet smell of pancakes and syrup. Maybe my sister had burst into my room, demanding I wake up with a grin, or I'd miss all of the food. She'd declaired she'd eat it all if I didn't come.

It was Sunday, so there wasn't any school. My parents –who were usually bickering like mad- weren't speaking, which made the house feel more comfertable. Don't get me wrong, if your parents didn't talk to eachother, it'd feel awkward and weird. But with us, them not talking was as close to a dream as I got in my home.

My little sister, Evangeline, and I sat in the frontyard. I was teaching her how to ride a bike without training wheels, and she was trying her hardest. I had to laugh at her failed attempts. She flushed and tried again. And again.

"Eva, you're doing it all wrong!" I hooted hysterically. She stuck her tounge out at me. For a five year old, she was oddly grown-up. "You can't just lift your feet and hope it'll move."

"Uh-uh. I can do that!" She protested, climbing up on the bike and trying again. She lifted her feet and placed them on the pedals –albeit too slowly- and toppled over. "Ow! Owie!" She cried, sitting up and grabbing her knee. I hurried forward, examining it. Just a cut. There was a lot of blood, but that was only making it look worse than it really was. I led her inside and cleaned the cut, ignoring her winces as the medicine stung.

"Oh, you big baby." I accused.

"It hu-urts!" Eva complained ruthlessly. Shaking my head, I wondered how such a small person could have so many problems with the world. If it wasn't "it hurts" whenever she got a small injury, it was "I want that" to something she didn't need. It annoyed me to no end, but being the older sibling, I knew making a scene would just make her want it more.

It was nearly eight fifteen, and we'd just had dinner. The whole family. It had never been done before! Our parents hadn't caused a scene like the one that caused us to stop going out all together before. It seemed perfect. We were halfway to our car when Eva stopped suddenly.

"Ah!" She exclaimed. "I forgot my teddy!" She had a special teddy bear. It was bubblegum pink with its fur curled as curly as possible. Small and large purple-red hearts were dotted all over it, and its circular black eyes looked like the toes of polished dress shoes. She turned back to get it, but I smiled brightly, stopping her.

"Hey, I'll get it. You stay here." My parents were waiting by the car, watching me run back into the resteraunt. I went to the booth and wasn't very surprised to see that the teddy bear wasn't there. I walked over to one of the workers waiting to show us to our table and tapped his shoulder. He looked over and smiled. I grinned back. "My little sister left her teddy bear here, and... well, she wont go home without it." My grin turned sheepish. "Do you happen to know where it is?"

"Is it pink with hearts on it?" The man asked. I nodded, and he pulled something out from under the desk-like podium he stood by. It was the bear. "Is this it?"

"Oh, yeah!" I exclaimed. "Thank you so much, sir. My sister would've been so disappointed." I wiped a fake drop of sweat off my brow, and he laughed.

"Sure, miss." He smiled. "Have a nice day, now!"

"I will. You too!" With that, I ran out the door and into the parkinglot. The car was parked far away from the resteraunt, a few blocks down and across a street. I had to cross a busy intersection to get there, though. I looked both ways and crossed. When I was halfway across, a headlight's glow flooded my vision. Like I said before, time seemed to stop, like in a book. The teddy bear in my clutches dropped from my hands, and my eyes widened. I watched helplessly as the car became bigger, and I felt smaller every second. When the car collided with my body, my vision was swallowed whole by blackness.


Evangeline Atlivaik leaned on the wall beside the classroom door. Her eyes stared at the small lettering beside the door, written in script. Classroom 1-A. She sighed. The morning was a blur of waking up, getting dressed in blue jeans and a black My Chemical Romance T-shirt, chowing down bacon and eggs, and heading to her new school. There was a uniform involved, but Evangeline didn't even bother to look at the clothing. She'd walked to school, heading out earlier than needed. She'd been told to wait outside while the teacher introduced the subject of a new student before actually introducing her.

Evangeline clutched her messenger bag tightly, reaching in and stroking the small, fuzzy stuffed teddy bear that hid inside. It was a large bag, so her school supplies hid the fact a stuffed animal was hitch-hiking inside the bag. She closed her eyes.

The door swung open and the teacher strolled out. "The teacher" was a middle aged woman with a bad temper and already graying hair, named Ms. Bennett. Evangeline jumped and ripped her hand out of the bag, facing Bennett in surprise.

"You may come in now." Bennett's tone indicated that she'd called Evangeline in multiple times. Evangeline shrugged, not caring very much.

"Okay." She mumbled, striding past the frowning teacher and into the classroom. The boys "oohed" and the girls sized her up. She felt like a fish on display at a commoner grocery store.

Evangeline wouldn't call herself pretty or beautiful without hesitating if anyone asked. She was no prize. Long, sleek bleached blond hair hung aloof and few colorful streaks raced through some parts. Her eyes were cloudy- a gray that imitated Bennett's hair quite well, in fact. She was taller than the average high school girl, but not taller than most of the boys she'd seen passing in the halls early that morning. She was dressed in a punk-ish style outfit. As said before, she wore a My Chemical Romance T-shirt –which she saw some students glancing at in confusion- and dark wash skinny jeans. On her feet were a pair of mismatched converse and the rims on her narrow glasses were neon green. She didn't care that the girls turned to eachother and whispered about how odd her style was. Didn't bother to feel offended as the boys made comments about wether or not they thought she was beautiful. She didn't have the heart to care anymore.

"I'm Evangeline." She said in a dry tone. Why bother to sound perky and preppy when she didn't care at all? She didn't say anything more, and Bennett raised an eyebrow.

"Go sit in the empty seat by the window, third row." She ordered, and Evangeline obligued. She sat with empty eyes staring out the window, ignoring every gossipping student and all of the glares the teacher shot at her for not paying attention. Finally, Bennett called her out on it.

"Miss Atlivaik?" She said, not having any trouble pronouncing the unusual last name. Slowly, very slowly, Evangeline turned her head toward Bennett. She raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"Can you repeat what I just said?" Bennett asked snarkily.

Instead of doing as requested, Evangeline replied "Fuel, oxygen, heat, and ignition."

"... What?" Bennett sounded stricken.

"You asked what the key elements to fire are," Evangeline said. "The key elements are fuel, oxygen, heat, and ignition."

Bennett's face grew a strange red color, and Evangeline surpressed a smirk. She kept an impassive, yet slightly bored, expression. Bennett turned away sharply, and continued her lecture. Evangeline returned to her sky-gazing.

She hated science, anyway.