Eve stood outside the school, sucking in a deep breath, steeling herself as she tried to prepare herself for talking to Jane, promising to apologize to her the moment she saw her.

"Is the door stuck or are you just admiring the unchanging beauty of the door that leads into a life of misery?"

Eve gasped and turned quickly, still not used to people talking to her first, smiling slightly as she saw the amused smirk of Lance, his brow raised curiously.

"You scared me." She glared accusingly at him and he laughed at her, "Yeah right. I might have startled you but I doubt very seriously that you were actually scared."

Eve smiled tightly, biting her tongue slightly as she shrugged, "What can I say? My biggest fear was realized every single day for twelve years… so …"

He frowned as he once again tried to match her to his memories and finding nothing, wincing guiltily, "Sorry. What was your fear again?"

He couldn't understand how he couldn't remember her. Her dark hair fell gently down her shoulders and her pale skin was perfect and flawless, her eyes a deep deep blue, seeming to sparkle with what he could only describe as starlight. Not that he'd say that out loud or anything. Ever.

Eve smiled again, it never quite reaching her eyes, something he was beginning to notice about her is that few ever did, "My biggest fear since my dad's crash has been being alone. I hate it. It's quiet and cold and people forget you're there."

She swallows thickly as he feels his chest ache in sympathy for this small girl in front of him, cursing quietly, "I… I'm sorry Eve… I really don't know why I don't remember you…"

Eve sighed and shook her head, plastering a wide smile, "Don't worry. I lied yesterday anyways…. I'm a new student, I transferred in the other day and thought I'd try to convince people they'd forgotten."

It's a lie. A big fat lie and an obvious one too but he gobbles it up, laughing softly, shaking his head in amusement, "So you were just pulling my leg the entire the time? That's low…"

Eve nodded slowly, "Have you seen Jane anywhere? I have to talk to her about something…"

He smiled widely, "I just got here princess, and you've been blocking the door the whole time."

Eve looked behind her again and yelped slightly, stepping out of the way and walking through the doors quickly, "So hey, how do you know Jane anyways? You guys seemed kind of close yesterday."

She sighed at his question, "We met in kindergarten. I was maybe five when my dad got into his crash and… shortly after Jane came along like some miracle to make everything better…. I never figured out why."

Lance frowned, "So you did go to kindergarten with us? It's been so long I probably wouldn't recognize you to save my life now huh? So what? Did you transfer, keep in touch?"

Eve nodded quickly, "Yeah, we've stayed close."

They walked in silence for a bit, stopping at her locker so she could grab some books and then started heading to their first hour, Jane suspiciously missing from the hallways, usually finding a bit of time to fly by and bug her.

Eve sat in her usual seat, watching Lance and then soon after Neil and then the rest of their class. She smiled welcomingly at them and gave a friendly wave as she pulled out her phone, shooting her best friend a text before the bell rang, "Meet me after class."

Eve sighed and leaned back in her seat, reaching down into her back to pull out her sketchbook, spreading it open and flipping to the nearest blank, beginning to sketch out the form of some being, letting her pencil fly across they paper, oblivious to the class around her, even as it started, having already caught up on the days lesson and used to being ignored as she drew as the teacher spoke.

Eve's phone pings but no one looks at her besides the curious glance from Lance as she pulled it out and read Jane's text, "Ok…"

Eve sighed at the text and then turned back to her drawing, noticing the bewildered gaze of the boy next to her. She shook her head, forcing a smile and pointing to the board, "Pay attention."

She looked down at the picture and shivered at the sight of what she had made and snapped it shut, raising her hand suddenly, causing the teacher to blink in confusion and hesitantly ask her what she needed.

"I'm… I'm not feeling well…. May I go to the restroom?"

The teacher nodded slowly and watched her the entire time as she walked out and the door had barely closed when she heard the expected, "Has she been in this class all year?"

Eve sighed, leaning against the door and sighing, tears filling her eyes as she slid down the smooth metal and onto the floor, feeling weak and pitiful and tired, "Shit…."

She trembled slightly with suppressed cries and instead sucked in a shaky pitiful breath, pushing herself to her feet, "Its ok. I'm ok. I… I'm ok…"

She plastered on one of her small smiles, thinking to herself as she did that she could be a pro at faking this whole living thing and opened the door, walking in quietly and nodding to the teacher, ignoring the stares of all those around her until Lance sighed, "Guys. Relax. So what if she's new?"

Eve winced slightly and shot him a thankful smile and kept her head low for the rest of the hour, gathering her things and hurrying from the room when the bell rang, leaving Lance behind in blurred confusion, wondering what he had done.

Jane was standing at a water fountain down the hall and smiled uneasily at Eve when she saw her, noticing Eve's own uneasy behavior as she glanced around nervously and shifted every few seconds, clutching her sketchbook close to her and speaking softly, "I… I just wanted to say thank you. And I'm sorry. And it's ok. I'm ok. I swear. Are we good?"

Jane blinked and nodded slowly, obvious confused by her old friend's behavior, "Yeah. Yeah sure." She hesitated, "Are… Are you sure you're ok?"

Eve sighed heavily and nodded, "Yeah. I'm fine. I have to go. I'm sorry."

With that, Eve shook her head, eyes suddenly filled with tears again and hurried down the crowded hall, Jane calling out for her, worried and confused, trying her best to chase after her but Eve did not slow, the crowd seeming to part for her in its effort to ignore her.

Suddenly, she ran into a solid shape that sent her books flying and reached for her elbows to steady her. She looked up at the figure and nearly sobbed when she saw the concerned face of Lance, her former bully and bane of her existence. She dropped to the floor to gather her things hurriedly, trying to minimize her time in his presence and flinching when he offered her some of her scattered papers, "Just- Just…. Give them to me Monday yeah? I'm sorry. I'm… I'm fine."

She stood hurriedly, rushing from the school.

Jane walked up beside the bewildered Lance, puffing slightly from the effort to get past the crowd and watched as Eve only seemed to get further and further from their reach and sighed. She noticed the papers in Lance's grasp and reached to gently take them from him, flipping through the sketchbook slowly, and paling, "She's remembering…"

Lance looked at her sharply, confused, "Remembering what? What does that picture have to do with remembering anything?"

Jane looked down at the sketchbook, flipping through picture after picture of the same thing.

The being she had drawn had been tall and great and powerful with four wings, two diagonally coated in feathers and the others leather bound. It seemed to be both coated in shadows and gleaming with light. It face was expressionless in a whole different way Lance had never wanted to think about, having no face at all and yet managing to be gentle and terrifying by doing so.

Its feet were bare and it was donned in robes of a flowing texture and yet chains bound it tightly, seeming almost painful. In its arms was the figure of what seemed to be a child and in its chest there was a hole.

It was terrifying and beautiful and sad and she had drawn it before the hour had ended.

Jane looked up sorrowfully from the book and at Lance, "It has everything to do with it. It's the only reason she isn't dead…"

Lance looked at her startled but found no answer in the girl's face as she gazed down the now empty hall where her friend was now long gone.

"Daddy? Daddy, do you… remember anything about the crash? I know it was a long time ago but…. Do you?" Eve slid into bed with her unresponsive father, finding comfort in his soft breathing and gentle sleepy smile he only wore when he wasn't awake.

She smiled softly at him, pushing his overlong hair from his face, feeling as though the whole world as she knew it was growing blurrier by the second, wanting nothing more than to just close her eyes as her father did and let her worries melt away.

But she couldn't.

She sighed and shook her head tiredly, "Of course you don't. Even if you did, you wouldn't be able to tell me. Sorry I asked daddy… I just… I just wish there was someone- anyone – who I could talk to who could actually respond to my questions. To hold me and comfort me and give me answers and tell me everything is going to be ok…. But that person was you…. And you don't remember me unless it's time to eat…"

Tears welled within her eyes, growing hot and wet and obnoxious, "I… I just want you back daddy… Please… Please come back to me…"

She cried softly, staying quiet so as not to wake her father who was sleeping like a babe, unaware to his daughter's sorrow nor to the power rising within her