Heroes Of Virtue[ON HOLD]

Volume 1 ~ Chapter 1

      Tap.

            Tap.

                  Tap.

     Evangeline's mind wandered as she sat at her desk. Her pencil tapped on the side of her desk once every few seconds. She knew that she was being taught something, just like everyone else in her class, but her mind couldn't seem to focus on anything. Then again, what else was new? Evangeline's mind often wandered when in class. She learned very quickly that her best work was done on her own. That included teaching herself things. As much as she liked her Calc Teacher, Mrs. Aulderwood, she couldn't help but tune her out. It was nothing against the older woman's voice, of course. This was just always how Evangeline's mind had worked.

      Tap.

            Tap.

                  Tap.

     Evangeline's pencil continued tapping as she turned her head, her yellow eyes gazing out the window. It was a nice day out there. Not too many clouds were in the sky, there being just enough to help lessen the blindingly bright rays of the sun. Anything, she thought, was better than being stuck in this school. It could be raining hot coals and she'd still rather be out there than here.

      Tap.

            Tap.

                  Ta-

     "Could you knock that off?!" An angry voice whispered, making Evangeline jump. She turned her head, noticing the boy sitting beside her glaring at her. "You're annoying the shit outta me, so cut it out!"

     "Sorry..." Evangeline watched as the teen turned back to face the front of the classroom and let out a physical huff of air, something most likely retaining to whatever his Virtue was. Even though she didn't know what his Virtue was, she was still jealous. She was fifteen, yet she still didn't have a Virtue. Everyone else got theirs between the ages of seven and eleven. Most people thought that Evangeline was never going to get hers. It made sense that they would think that, with how long it had been since the window usually closed for everyone else. Evangeline still had some hope though. She had heard stories of people who got their Virtues late, one was even around her age when they finally got it. Getting a late Virtue was still rare though and, since she would be in eleventh grade soon, her hope was slowly dwindling.

     Ever since she was a little girl, Evangeline had dreamed of becoming a hero. The sad truth about it though was that she would most likely never become a hero like she always wanted. Her and her best friend, Maggie, had talked about what they wished their Virtues would be for years. When Maggie finally got hers at the age of seven, they both assumed that Evangeline wouldn't be far behind. That was nine years ago now.
    
     Evangeline let out a sigh before looking back out the window. Despite the beauty outside, it was still rather bland. It was the courtyard to a school of a small town, after all. In her mind, she conjured up the image of a butterfly. She smiled as she watched her conjured daydream fly around just on the other side of the window. The butterfly's brilliantly colored wings lit up the outside, the contrast in brightness somehow working to make everything pop out in their own way. She felt mesmerized, her eyes following the butterfly as if she were in a trance. Never before had one of her daydreams seemed so strangely real.

     "Evangeline, are you alright?" Mrs. Aulderwood's voice being right beside Evangeline was a sure shock. She could have sworn that just moments before, her teacher was at the opposite side of the room. 'Wait, where did the others go?' "Evangeline?"

     Snapping her head from the rest of the room and to her teacher, Evangeline gave a small smile. "Sorry. Yeah, I'm fine. Just zoning out." She then glanced around the room again. "Is it lunch time already?"