[BettyBoop]

Chapter 1

Eliza stared out of the classroom window, the sun was bright and the weather outside was hot. She sighed, wanting nothing more than to be outside. She looked at the clock above the board at the front of the class, an hour and a half left. An hour and a half of sitting here hating life and listening to boring presentations about shit she didn’t care about. Tick tock tick tock tick tock.

“ugh” she muttered under her breath.

“Eliza Everhart, do you have something to add?” Mrs Brixton said in her usual patronising tone.

“No, Miss.” Eliza shot back, glaring out of the window not wanting to look back at that woman.

Eliza dragged her feet against the floor forwards and then back again, counting the strokes to pass time. She’d always had issues with her anger, things that shouldn't annoy her so much did, and usually to an extreme level. She has ways of calming herself down, steadying her breathing, moving her feet back and forth simultaneously and rubbing her hands together. She’d never hurt anyone, not physically. She didn’t want to hurt anyone at all, not even their feelings but some people wouldn’t let her be.

People went up to do their presentations one by one and Eliza thought none was more interesting than the last.

"Such a fucking freak" a girl muttered from behind her.

Eliza didn't turn around, she didn't need to, she knew exactly who said it. Tiffany Burbank found a hobby in tormenting Eliza; she seemed to think she was getting to her because she never retaliated and she liked it that way. Little did Tiffany know Eliza never said a word because she knew she couldn't stop at one word, it would turn into hundreds of words. Sharp, hurtful words shouted in Tiffany’s face each like a tiny dagger until she burst into tears at having her rancid personality and the reasons it was so told straight to her in front of the classmates she tried so hard to please. Eliza could read people, she could tell what they were hiding, what they were trying so hard not to let show.

"Tiffany dear, is your presentation prepared? I'm sure we'd love to hear it next" Mrs Brixton's voice chimed through the classroom.

“Of course Miss” Tiffany smiled a sickly, fake smile and got up from her desk, as she stood she leant forward and tugged at Eliza’s ponytail causing her head the jerk back unexpectedly. Eliza took a deep breath and tried to pretend Tiffany didn’t exist.
Tiffany began her presentation and Eliza tried to block it out, she thought about what she’d do when this lesson was over. She knew her friends would be waiting outside for her as usual and that put a smile on her face. She pushed her dark hair back from her face and stretched her arms out above her head, arching her back and sighing.

“Eliza, are you volunteering?” Tiffany piped up.

Eliza fell back to earth and looked up to see the entire class looking at her.
“What? No I-“She began

“That’s so sweet of you! Come up” Tiffany smirked and motioned for Eliza to go up to the front of the classroom.

Eliza looked about her, at her classmates, Mrs Brixton and at that demon Tiffany and she didn’t see any way out. Checking the clock she saw there was only about 15 minutes until the end of the lesson, hopefully she could stall.
Eliza trudged to the front of the classroom with her hands in her pockets.
“Okay, so this is all about animals so I’m going to need you to be a dog. Just get on your hands and knees and bark and stuff. Can you do that?” Tiffany smiled as a few laughs came from the rest of the class.

“I’m not doing that Tiffany” Eliza turned to walk back to her seat

“Eliza Everhart” Mrs Brixton stood up at her desk “I am tired of you being such a nuisance in this class, you volunteered to help Tiffany now will you stop making such a scene”

“I’m not making a scene, you are! You can’t seriously expect me to take this?” Eliza motioned at Tiffany who was trying and succeeding at looking completely innocent.

“Don’t you blame Tiffany, Eliza. I’d like you to apologise to her and to the class for your inappropriate outburst” Mrs Brixton looked, to Eliza, as if she were enjoying this.

Eliza squeezed her eyes closed and clenched her fists; she tried desperately to calm down. She imagined it like boiling water, coming very close to spilling over the edge that she just needed to simmer. Her hands shook and she clenched her teeth in rage, she knew it wasn’t working.
“Eliza?” Mrs Brixton sounded impatient.

All of a sudden Eliza felt something change in her, like she’d been let free from being held down, she took a deep breath and screeched “Will you just FUCK OFF!”.

Eliza’s heart was racing, her eyes were still shut. She found that only now was she able to calm down, she unclenched her fists and waited for whatever it was to come.

Then she waited some more.

Nothing.

She opened her eyes slowly and Mrs Brixton was just staring at her. She looked to Tiffany who was perfectly motionless but smirked still. Eliza stared back for a moment, waiting for someone to say something. It didn’t take her long to realise what she was seeing, or at least not as long as it took her to believe it.
She turned around to the classroom, around 25 other students sat around her, all frozen in their seats.

It made no sense to her, it couldn’t possibly be, but... it seemed that Eliza had stopped time.