1 ~Chapter 1~

Farli looked across the street quickly to confirm there were no cars, then ran to the other side. She was about to have a giant concert at her school, and she couldn't afford to be late, because she was performing the violin duet. To her relief, the school came into view, and Farli smiled, panting heavily. She was 10 minutes early.

Meanwhile, her best friend, Marco, was running around his house, looking for his dress shoes.

"Where did I put them?" He muttered. Finally, he grabbed them and held them up above his head in victory. Then he shoved them on and bolted out the door, viola swinging behind him.

13 minutes later, Marco burst through the double doors of the school and saw the entire orchestra walking through the hall towards the auditorium. Farli got out of line and dragged him into place. Hurriedly he re-tied his shoe, as it had fallen loose while he was running.

"Marco!" Farli whispered in his ear. "Why are you so late?" She asked. Marco just shrugged. In fact, the two had switched places that day. Usually, Marco was always early and Farli was the one rolling out of bed, but responsibility kept the concert on Farli's mind the entire day. Meanwhile, Marco wasn't really committed to the orchestra, staying only because he was the only person still playing viola in the 7th grade. Then the doors opened, and the concert started. While everyone was getting into their seats, the orchestra teacher, Ms. Rebecca, gave introductions.

"...And I hope you enjoy our first piece, Warrior Legacy." She finished and turned to face the Orchestra, as she raised her hands, everyone got into playing position, and began. As the song went through the duo came on, but only the bass clarinet playing the duo Marco stole a quick glance at Farli, unsurprised to see her frozen.

"Geez, freezing during her big moment. She couldn't handle any sort of pressure." He muttered. But as the piece ended, Farli was still frozen like a petrified log. Concerned for her newfound trauma from responsibility, Marco got up and walked over to the frozen girl. As he approached, she seemed to take no notice of his existence. Carefully Marco navigated through the tight lines of stands and chairs. Then, very carefully, touched her hair, as she was always sensitive about the short strands protruding from her head, and was surprised to find that her hair was sturdy as a rock. Feeling her face, it felt more like touching a statue. Quickly he started experimenting with his now frozen friend. First, he punched her, and when that just bruised his knuckles, he kicked her chair out from under her, she miraculously stayed in the exact place she had been the whole time, and he heard gasps from the crowd. Suddenly Marco's face went red as he remembered he was being watched by at least 400 people. Pretending they didn't exist, he stood on her head and found it much like standing on a pillar, only round. Then he heard a lot of phones as everyone rushed to call 911 about this strange phenomenon. 1 hour later there was police tape on the stage. Marco wanted to leave already, but he couldn't stop wondering what happened to his friend. He decided that it would probably be over tomorrow.

It was not over the next day. As the end of school bell rang, Marco sighed and went home. The auditorium had been closed all day, and there was a frozen student there.

"Tomorrow's another day." He convinced himself.

The next day there was no change.

Or the next.

Or the next.

Eventually, she had been frozen so long that the government closed the school and turned it into a science lab. After 1 month, Marco was prepared to give up on life when a scientist showed up at the door, smiling like there was no tomorrow.

"Can I help you with anything?" Marco's mom asked, raising an eyebrow. The scientist showed off his perfect teeth, then stepped aside, showing him a black limousine, like he was in some sort of movie. Marco smiled politely and rushed to the limo, where he opened the door and hopped in excitedly.

"Just wait a minute." Marco's mom said. Why should I get into a car with a random man that shows up at my house with no warning?" The man smiled wider.

"Because the president is waiting in the car." He said, and walked to the driver's door. Marco's mom shook her head with disbelief but got in the car anyway. She nearly fainted when the president was actually there, sitting next to her son.

"I'll bet that you're wondering why I'm here, so I'll get straight to the point. I want Marco to be there when Farli unfreezes." The president said. Ms. Mayor tried to respond, but her mouth wouldn't make a sound.

"Though we've calculated that to be in about 1000 years. And before you have time to answer, we do have the means of making Marco immortal for that long, thanks to our research on Farli, but the elixir We've concocted will only work on someone with a child's body mass." the president continued. Marco's eyes shown with excitement. Finally, Ms. Mayor remembered how to breathe, and she stated flatly,

"No thank you." Marco's jaw dropped like lead.

"WHAT??! Why aren't I allowed to go and become immortal?" He asked loudly.

"Well, first, how come it only works on children?" She asked.

"Well, the elixir can only keep so much body mass from aging for so long, and to go 1000 years, you'd need a small body mass." The president explained. Ms. Mayor thought through it. If her son became immortal, he could become the smartest man on earth. A celebrity. A god. Suddenly this idea sounded much more agreeable.

"Fine." She said. Marco whooped in victory and the limo started the short drive to the lab.

"Woah," Marco said. He no longer recognized the school. Everywhere there was a scientist doing something with chemicals, or writing stuff down. Several people bumped into them as they walked down the hall. The president smiled as they entered what one was the auditorium. Inside the auditorium the chairs were gone, replaced by tables and people walking around. Up on the stage, there was a Mass of scientists, crowding around Farli, who was still holding her imaginary violin, as they took it from her. Something else that Marco noticed was that her hair was longer. Noticing his interest, the president started speaking.

"Amazing, is it not? even though it's indestructible, her hair keeps growing. We plan to put her in a box in a few years, as we've already collected all the data we can." He said. Then he lead him over to a seat in the upper right corner of the room.

"Wait here." He told Marco, and left the corner the talk to a scientist. Unbeknownst to him, a man with a needle snuck up behind his back. Taking a deep breath, the man stabbed Marco's shoulder and injected the elixir into his bloodstream. Marco froze so suddenly that the man thought he did something wrong, but when he took the needle out he was immediately backhanded.

"What was that for!?" He asked angrily. The president walked back over and patted Marco on the shoulder.

"Sorry. I thought you might get scared if I told you that it required a shot, so I did it behind your back." He said. Marco calmed himself down enough to sit back down.

"So asked am I immortal now?" He asked. The president laughed.

"Well, I can tell you one thing: you've got a long wait ahead of you."