Remi speeds home. A drive that normally should take four hours takes only two. Yet I don't think either of us cares about getting a speeding ticket now. I filled him in on what happened, and his face paled when he heard it. Then Remi put me into his fancy car and insisted he drive, citing the reason that I was mentally unstable to drive.

But entering town is a pain. We stop right behind at least two hundred cars waiting to enter. I can tell this is going to be a long wait. Partly because it's Friday, and everyone is coming home from the bigger cities.

"So Jay is your..."

"Friend," I mutter.

Remi glances at me. "Okay."

The word friend hangs in the air.

I frown. "So can we use this time to talk about her?"

"What do you want to know?" He says shortly, pressing hard on the honk. "Damn the cars," Remi mumbles.

I crack a smile. Nothing is funny now, and maybe that's why I'm smiling. "I think Evangeline is your Louise Tryston. They look alike, too alike to be different people. I think we should compare stories."

Remi honks again, then turns to me, an intense look in his eyes. "Alright. You start."

"I..." taking a deep breath, I continue. "I called her Evangeline. She..."

13 years ago, when I was 14.

I was crying again.

The popular clique in school had bullied me as always. Only this time the bullying was worse, because today I had somehow offended the queen bee. She glared at me as she spat out words. I thought of the saying: sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will cut me deeply. It had never been more true as she snarled word after word, laced with venom. I shut my eyes tightly, curling up into a smaller person, a smaller soul.

"Your parents are dead, because you caused them to die. You have no friends, because you chased them away. You should be kneeling in front of us now. Why aren't you? You scumbag. Do you know everyone views you as a loser, a screw up? They say everyone is valuable. But you are just garbage."

"Aurelia," a cold haughty voice called. A wintry wind blew in between the queen bee and I, and when I looked up, a girl with red curls and blue eyes was standing in front of me.

Aurelia paused and her tone switched to one of extreme annoyance. Well, she was already angry with me, so I guess this was the final straw. "And who are you? Trash as well?"

The girl leaned forward and laughed in her face. "I don't give two shits about you. But I'm warning you- stop bullying Angel."

She knew my name?

And then the gorgeous girl reached out to me and pulled me to my feet. She smoothed down my black wavy hair which had fallen askew around my shoulders, not arranged in a neat halo like hers was. Placing her hands on my shoulder, she whispered "You are okay now."

She led us out of there, leaving stunned girls in her wake. I think they knew, even then, that Evangeline was not one to mess with.

Once we were out of sight, Evangeline gripped my hand tighter and sighed. "Oh gosh, was I okay? I was so scared. I'm so sorry, I should have come earlier-"

"No," I said gratefully. "Thank you so much. If you ever need anything, please just ask me for help."

Evangeline looked at me, her eyes shining brightly. The sun reflected off them and made her look like she was an angel descended from heaven. "Alright. I want you to repay me now."

"With what?"

Her next words were so soft I could barely catch them. "Be my friend."

And from that day on, we became friends. Best friends. She was two years younger than me, but age didn't matter in our world.

We painted nails, had sleepovers, watched movies, ate food together. We had deep conversations and played in the sun like children. She taught me to ice skate, and we would watch clips of the famous figure skater Siran Christi, while shoving popcorn into our mouths.

But things took a turn for the worse. At twenty one, (when I was twenty three)Evangeline lost herself to a sea of depression. I could see her fluctuating sadness levels, now displayed prominently. That was when I learned to use my ability: I assigned a certain shade of grey an estimated percentage. Light grey would be around 10-20% sadness, and so on.

That didn't help though, did it? Rather than approaching Evangeline directly, I simply put numbers to her sorrow. I was cowardly and despicable.

One stormy night, I went to her house. The faded yellow door stood in front of me, and I rapped on it. Evangeline knew it was me without asking, we were just that close. She pulled it open and we collapsed into each other's arms.

My next sentences were a garbled mess. "Evangeline, you can't keep doing this to yourself, let's get you some help, you don't deserve to suffer alone, I know you're depressed, Evangeline, listen to me..."

She had said nothing then, just cried. I had hugged her and whispered "You are okay now."

A week later, when I was touring a university campus and considering going there, she died. Her adoptive mother called me and said grimly "She's dead. That ungrateful child. To die on us after we spent so much money-"

"How can you say that?" My words were a scream. "What are you talking about?"

At the funeral, a letter was shoved into my hand. I read it as tears spilled from my eyes and dripped onto the thin paper I was holding.

Dear Angel,

We used to have great times, didn't we? You were Angel and I was Ev-angel-line, as Jay would call us. The two angels. You were really like an angel to me. You could brighten up my day and make me feel blessed.

But you see, that was temporary. I'm now going to explain something that you can never tell anyone, and I trust you, Angel. Don't betray me.

I have a daughter: her name is Lyra. She is a baby now. I will never go into the details of how she was conceived, because it is too painful. But I love her, and I wish you could help take care of her. I'm sorry. I know it's a lot to ask, I know I've overstepped my boundaries. I hate myself for asking you this, because it means I'm too weak to carry on living.

Angel- I've another secret. I'm from a rich family, the richest in the country, maybe. As a girl, I grew up surrounded by servants and nannies. And a wonderful older brother. I will never know the full story of why I was taken away from my family, and I will never reunite with my older brother... I think my old name was Louise. It's been so long, so I don't know. I can remember no other details. You're wondering how all this happened, how could I possibly have been taken. But remember- criminals thrive where the law isn't upheld, and no one enforces the law in our country.

Perhaps now you understand that I was depressed for years, because of everything that happened. I'm sorry, Angel. Live a blessed life. I love you. 

~Your dearest Ev-angel-line

"And that's what happened," I mumble after telling Remi everything.

Remi doesn't speak for a long time. Then he says quietly "I've looked for her for years and never found her. I can't believe she was living in your town under a new name." He rubs his eyes in frustration and continues "I had a falling out with my parents because of that, and since then our relationship has been strained. They believed she was dead but I never really did. And now-" his voice breaks painfully.

"Evangeline...Louise was a beautiful girl, Remi. Trust me. She was the purest, sweetest girl alive."

"It's strange that the two people who loved her the most met each other," Remi says softly. "It's almost like fate."

And so we heal together. On this night, in the car behind dozens of cars, Remi and I share stories on Evangeline/Louise and we slowly try to patch our wounds back up. It is a long process, because our wounds have been exposed for years, but for the first time, we are trying to recover.

Finally, we enter town, and I point Remi in the right direction of the bar. When we reach, Boss glances sharply at Remi. Remi sticks out in the seedy streets, because of how well dressed he is. "Jay got beaten up, Angel."

I hang my head. "I'm sorry."

Boss looks furious. You see, I usually disguise myself and change my name, then scam people of their money. It's con science, after all; everything has to be done to perfection and precision. It turns out that I didn't do a good enough job the last time, and that's why a previous customer I scammed is back. This is a major screw up.

Boss raises a hand to strike me, and a resounding slap lands on my cheek. A stinging sensation blooms on my cheeks like a blush. "Do you know Jay almost died?" He shouts.

He raises his hand again. I am terrified because I've never seen Boss so unhinged, he is normally a fool that I make fun of. But of course that was an act. He didn't get to be a boss by being foolish and nice.

Quick as lightning, Remi grabs Boss's arm and pushes it back towards Boss, who stumbles. "Don't touch Angel."

"How about you handle this situation, then?" Boss demands angrily.

Remi sighs and draws out a wad of cash. "Give the idiot who's asking for his money back this."

"No, no. I have some money," I cut in. But my heart is sinking because I've been saving up for a few years now to get a small place for Lyra and I, and if I pay the previous customer guy now, all that money will be gone.

"Angel, let me do this," Remi says in a low voice, placing a hand on my shoulder.

And that is that.

I rush in to see Jay while Remi and Boss work it out. He's sitting up, quite alert, and brightens when he sees me. I feel like a load has been lifted off my shoulders. Relief shoots through me and I run to Jay's side. Jay's platinum blond hair is tousled and he looks like he's just walked through a tornado, but at least he doesn't look too hurt.

When I see his right leg, though, which is wrapped tightly in a white bandage, guilt shoots through me. "I'm so sorry," I blurt out.

He pulls me in and gives me a hug. "Angel, it's never your fault. Are you okay?"

"Don't be an idiot," I say in disgust. "Have you seen yourself?"

He laughs then. "The old Angel is back. I like your snarky self best."

He turns serious then. "Angel, I think I'll quit this business. Not because of you," he hastens to add. "But because I think I should live respectably. I don't want to be a dad or a husband that works in a gang. I think I'll join the police."

I chuckle at him. "Honestly, you'll be great in the police force. But will your past crimes catch up with you?"

Jay grins at me. "I won't let them. Besides, the police force is mainly made up of thugs."

"Then why are you joining?" I ask, confused. Jay is right, the police themselves are quite corrupt and nasty. They get fat on beer and do nothing else to help ease the crime rate in town- not that I'm complaining, because I contribute to the increasing crime rate- but I don't know why Jay would join them.

"I'm going to make sure the police do their job," he states confidently.

Looking at Jay, I know he can do it. He's very intelligent and will be able to accomplish whatever he wants to. Joy rises in me and surges up to the surface until I can't resist, and I have to kiss him. "Jay, you're going to be the coolest policeman alive."

"Yes, because I wouldn't want to be a dead policeman," he murmurs against my cheek.

Pulling away, I say seriously "I should leave the crime life too."

Jay smiles at me. "Yeah, maybe it's time for a fresh start for both of us."

Three years ago, Jay and I joined the crime life because we were dirt poor and desperate, and Boss offered us quick cash. But now at 27, going on to 28, we can see that the crime life isn't a sustainable one. It's not good to live off hurting others and ruining their lives.

The question is, can we adapt to a normal life after nearly three years spent as criminals? That's my main worry now. And also... "But Boss won't let me go," I protest. "I'm literally his cash cow. He'll go bankrupt without me."

Jay smirks. "Is that a problem?" He asks.

We share a smile. "I guess it isn't my problem," I tell him.

"So this is your friend?" A new voice cuts in coolly. He sounds mad.

Slowly, Jay and I turn to meet Remi.

"Uh, Jay, say hi to Remi," I announce.

Readers: was this too confusing? Sorry. I don't really think this chapter is well written, but I tried to clear up things in this. Watch out for the next chapter- it was the easiest to write out of everything. Lol, you'll see why. (It isn't an author's note.)

Vote and comment please. It makes me really happy.