In Time

Chapter 1.

Beep! Beep! Beep! The sound of Apollo's alarm clock shoots through his nervous system and jolts him awake. He looked over to his typical red LED clock, and it read 7:13am, Monday. He overslept. 'Probably because I needed to finish that stupid speech or whatever..." He said. Sighing heavily, he uses the sponginess of his bed to push himself up. Apollo looks around his small, 5x5 meter room, still unable to grasp the dimensions. Suddenly, Stella barges into his room, fully dressed and ready for school with a stern look on her face. In the process of her entering, she kicks a few boxes away.

"Get up already Apollo!" Apollo smiles awkwardly as he averts her gaze. 'Even though I'm older by 6 minutes, she still acts as if she's more mature.' Apollo thought to himself. He grudgingly takes his time to get up and get dressed.

"HURRY UP IT'S GRADUATION DAY!" Stella screams. Apollo stiffens, suddenly realising his mistake to hit the snooze button one too many times. Speeding up instantly, he grabs all his stuff and heads to the kitchen half-dressed, where his mother resides.

"Stella, why didn't you wake me up earlier!?" Apollo stares at her in disbelief.

"Ha, why should I? I always wake you up early, and I just decided to repay the favour! Now I get to watch you struggle like you did to me a couple of weeks back!" Stella says triumphantly. 'How do you even remember an event like that from weeks ago? And also, I've been tirelessly waking you up every single day except that one day!" Apollo shouted at her in his mind. 'And it's graduation day. Just my luck...'

Apollo catches a glimpse of his mother's dead glare, but he pays no mind, crunching away at his toast while dressing up. Apollo finishes his food and puts the plate in the sink before running off to Stella in the front gate. He doesn't look back.

Although being twins, Apollo and Stella are polar opposites, the North and South of the compass. Stella is popular at school, the class representative, smart, athletic, and caring. Apollo is smart, very smart in fact, however he's very lazy. He never applies himself, he completely avoids people only talking if needed, has a snarky reply to anything, and has no friends. He's 'naturally athletic' but doesn't do any sports. Apollo sighs as he pulls out a cigarette on his walk to school with Stella. Their clunky school shoes hit the dull pavement at equal increments, in complete sync with each other.

"Put that disgusting thing away, I don't want to be seen next to you while you're ruining your lungs." Stella said.

"Then don't walk next to me. Look, your mates are up ahead! Better hide!" Apollo retorted sarcastically. Stella looks to the direction in shock, only to realise a few seconds later that she had been tricked. Stella shoots Apollo a dirty stare and smacks the cigarette out of Apollo's mouth. She sprints away triumphantly.

"Oi!" Apollo shouts. He sprints after her, only to see her pull away from his sight meter by meter. Of course, Apollo was fast, but Stella did track and field. He runs out of breath, and slacks over his knees panting.

"Damn she's fast..." Apollo says out loud. He quickly catches his breath and pulls out another cigarette. He checks his watch, and it reads 7:40. 'I still got time...' he thinks. He pulls out his lighter, and just as he's about to light it, a water droplet falls down on top of his head. He grunts and sighs in dissatisfaction, and puts back his cigarette, preparing to get drenched. 'It was a clear day...' He thought. 'I don't have the patience to deal with a thunderstorm.'

"Would you rather be able to look into the future a day at a time, or go back to the past while retaining all your memories?"

"That's easy, I'd choose going back in ti- "In a sudden shock, Apollo looks around to try and locate the source of the sound.

"Your wish will be granted." The mysterious voice called back. Apollo, still looking for the source of the voice, shouted back, "Are you a god? Surely you can't have the 'power' to suddenly push someone back in time." Apollo said sarcastically, however there was an unease in his stomach, as if he was about to be proven wrong. There was no voice. The rain started to pour.

Apollo started to run, holding his bag above his head in a poor attempt to stop the rain from hitting his face. He couldn't get the mystery voice out of his head. He eventually figured that it was a prank, like every other sane person would. But he still couldn't get the uneasy feeling out of his head. While he was thinking about this, he saw a foot enter his field of vision, and straight after, he saw the ground come up to his face as he fell to the floor.

Groaning, he got up and looked back and shouted, "What the hell was that for asshole!?" only to see he's in a playground filled with children. 'Huh?' Apollo thought. 'No way- 'He stood in disbelief. Was what the mysterious voice said true? Was that voice really a god? He faced the girl that was standing in front of Apollo. To his shock, it was Dana, his childhood friend that had disappeared without a trace when they were 10 years old. Images of Dana coupled with the headlines "MISSING GIRL" flew past Apollo's mind. Dana has her mouth wide open, staring back at Apollo. 'She looks a little young...' He thought.

"Teacher! Mr. Park! Apollo just said a bad word!" Dana screams.

"What are you, five?" Apollo sardonically says.

"Actually, I'm 9 and 358 days old! Get it right stupid! And anyway, you just said a really bad word! I'm going to tell on you!" Apollo realizing what Dana said and what the 'god' said, hushes Dana in worry.

"Please don't tell on me, I'll do anything you want!" Apollo looks back at the giant adult figure striding towards them. He figured that he needed a lot more time to figure out what really was going on, and he didn't want to be in trouble. He grips Dana with his tiny hands, not used to the dimensions of his body yet. "Please don't tell on me please?" Dana stays silent with a grin.

The teacher, Mr. Park, walks up to them. "What's the matter? Did Apollo say a bad word to you?"

"Yes, he said the A-word to my face!" Dana says with a serious grin.

"Well, Dana tripped me first, so..." Apollo says, snapping into character right away.

"You two, come to the principal's office right now." Mr. Park says sternly. Apollo looks at Dana, and Dana looks back with horror. Apollo turns away attempting to hide his confusion that's written across his face.

'What that god thing said was real??? Where am I right now? Is this my old primary school? What the hell is going on?' The world around him warped harshly, and he held his chin with his fingers. A sudden panic takes over his mind as he starts hyperventilating uncontrollably. In front of the principal's door, Apollo collapses.