With his sweatshirt hood pulled down over his head and brow, Jesse checked his watch and cringed. Damn, I’m gonna be late, he thought. As he hurried along to his first class, he realized that the heavy pack slung across his shoulder wasn’t helping his progress. As he approached a crosswalk, he waited for the light to change—and checked his watch again. Just as soon as the light turned yellow for oncoming traffic, Jesse took a step off the curb and—trying to time the light turning red—started sprinting for the sidewalk across the wet, glistening street. A silver Lexus, speeding up to beat the red light, raced toward the crosswalk. Jesse looked left to see the sharp teeth of the car’s front grill just inches from him. Oh, God, he thought and as he held his breath, the car’s tires let out an eerie shriek—just before taking a hard, mind numbing bite out of his side. As Jesse went down, the world quickly faded to black—and disappeared. After squealing sideways, the car jerked to a sudden stop.
