7 Minutes Till Heaven

Minnie holds her skirt down as she climbs the stairs of Seften Academy, glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one is behind her. She’s already the talk of the school. The girls poke fun at her unkempt hair, her inexpensive shoes, and most especially her outgrown school uniform. Her father hadn’t been able to afford a new uniform since freshman year. Minnie didn’t have any choice but to wear the same uniform all the way through high school. Minnie could deal with the petty, snarky comments from her female classmates–they were ones to talk anyway. It was the boys’ comments that bothered her more. Even now, at the tender age of eighteen, Minnie hated the way men treated her. If it wasn’t borderline bullying, it was overt sexualization. Somehow, while her reputation deteriorated at Seften Academy, her popularity had only increased. Minnie didn’t want any of it. She didn’t want the attention and she didn’t want the shame.

Minnie reaches the top of the stairs, pushing open the heavy metal door to the school’s garden rooftop. She takes a deep breath before scanning the roof for any of her schoolmates. She’s the only one here–she always is in the winter. It’s almost spring, but the other students are too fragile to invade Minnie’s frigid safe space. Minnie walks to the edge of the roof, looking over the sprawling city. She pulls a mint-flavored vape attached to a lanyard necklace from her shirt, glancing over her shoulder once more for any educational vultures, before taking a drag. She’s going to quit soon, really. It’s her New Year’s resolution.

Minnie pulls her phone from her plaid skirt’s waistband. She didn’t care what anyone said–brainrot was good for the soul. She sighs as she swipes through her phone. Social media has been disappointing lately. For what feels like years now, her algorithm had been replaced with politics and social justice warriors, with the dopamine hits from genuinely fun content being far and few between. Especially in the last few days, digital doomsayers had increased tenfold. Pretty much everyone thought the world was on the brink of non-existence these days. Minnie didn’t listen to any of the noise. Her father had told her a million times over–people are always predicting the end, maybe even yearning for it.

Minnie had too much to live for–too much to entertain fantasies of the apocalypse. Any day now, her college acceptance letters would be arriving in the mail. Well, hopefully they were acceptance letters and not rejections. Bonnie Wethers had already received her first response, from NYU. Minnie tries not to smile at the memory of Bonnie’s tears. After months of Bonnie slandering Minnie’s name, Minnie couldn’t help but feel the universe was finally setting things right, delivering a delicious slice of salted cosmic justice to those who need it most.

Minnie swipes past another video about compromised nuclear codes, or something of that nature. Aside from college, she had a laundry list of ambitions to sort through. The world ending any time soon would be a travesty, a personal slight against her dreams after all the work she’d put in the last four years. She had endured the continuous years of bullying with as little complaint as possible, all because she wanted to attend the most expensive art school in the world. Dad was further from a penny short to fulfill that dream for her, so scholarships were Minnie’s only hope. It wasn’t just a hope now though. Her 4.0 GPA, which had cost her literal blood, sweat, and tears, was an invisible badge Minnie wore with absolute pride.

Minnie takes another drag of her vape as the metal access door to the roof creaks open. She turns around to lay her eyes on the intruder, fumbling her vape as she spins on her heel. It’s Michael James, star quarterback of The Seften Angels. Minnie rolls her eyes before averting them back towards her private gaze of the city. She hates Mike. She couldn’t prove it, but she was fairly certain that he was one of the students most involved in those petty, vile rumors about her. She’d seen the way he looked at her when they passed each other in the halls, that sly devilish smirk on his perfectly chiseled face. That was the worst part. Mikey was objectively, and thoroughly handsome–the kind of man Minnie pictured at night when she curled up with a spicy novel. His face was just so stunningly punchable.

Minnie doesn’t hear Mikey move again after the door opens and closes with a creak. She instinctively pulls her skirt down a half-inch–she can feel his lingering presence. Minnie takes a deep pull of her vape one last time before tucking it back into her shirt. She locks her phone, pushing it back into her waistband as she leans over the railing of the roof. She lets her thoughts wander away from Michael. No good can come from paying him any mind. She ignores the sudden buzzing of her phone as she tries to visualize her next art piece. She bites her lip as she rearranges the mental portrait in her mind. She’s particularly untalented when it comes to drawing hands, and it’s becoming the bane of her very existence. She hopes that whomever reviews her application doesn’t notice the complete omission of hands in her portfolio. Maybe she should’ve gone with a more abstract art style as a baseline.

“Minnie? I mean, Minerva?”

Minnie looks over her shoulder at the tall, beefy boy. “What?” She’s in no mood to talk. She rarely is.

“I just wanted to say,” Mikey begins, his eyes flickering to the floor as he rubs the back of his head. “I think you’re really cool. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

Minnie turns around fully to face the jock, her arms crossed tightly across her chest. “Is this some kind of prank?” She doesn’t trust this one bit.

“P-prank?” Mikey’s eyes are wide and innocent, in stark contrast to his usually devious demeanor. “I didn’t think about that, but–”

“Listen here, asshole,” Minnie says, stepping towards Mikey and jabbing her pointer finger into his chest. “You think I don’t know the kind of shit you’re saying about me? That I’m the class slut, that I give blowjobs to anyone who asks between periods?”

“I…” Mikey seems stunned.

“Well, Mikey? If you didn’t, who did? Minnie pulls her hand away from Mikey with a steadfast glare into his eyes. “Or are you stupid enough to believe the rumors and you’re here to get your dick wet?”

“I didn’t spread any rumors about you!” Mikey snaps, his eyes pleading and wettening.

Minnie takes in the handsome boy’s expression. “Okay, geez. Fine. You didn’t do it. Then what do you want?”

“I just wanted to tell you…” Mikey looks back down to the floor, wind whipping his hair away from his face. “I wanted to let you know before…”

“Before what? Spit it out.”

Mikey looks up from the floor. “Didn’t you see?”

“See what?”

Mikey runs a hand through his hair, but it isn’t frustration, it’s… exasperation? “We only have fourteen minutes.”

“Fourteen minutes?” Minnie’s expression softens in curiosity. “Fourteen minutes until what?”

“Check your phone. It’s everywhere. The nukes…”

“Oh my god. Shut the fuck up.” Minnie turns away from Mikey, returning to her place of peace. She knew it was a prank. “You guys think you’re so funny, but we’ll see who’s laughing when you all end up working at fast food joints for the rest of your lives.”

“I’m not joking!” Mikey pulls Minnie’s shoulder, forcing her to face him. “Is your phone not going off? Everyone’s freaking the fuck out.”

“What are you—” Minnie’s phone is going off. It hasn’t stopped.

Minnie pulls her phone from her waistband. She’s instantly bombarded with an array of texts from friends and family, and notifications from social media. She’s still trying to soak it all in when she hears a violent thunder cracking through the air. She turns around, witnessing the aftermath of an explosion from a residential apartment building in the distance, black smoking pouring from what she assumes is now a gaping chasm in its walls.

“They launched the nukes,” Mikey almost whispers. “And then we launched them back, or maybe we launched them first. I don’t know…”

Minnie looks over the railing. Down below she can see classmates and faculty fleeing the building like ants scurrying away from a flood. “Fourteen minutes?”

“That’s what they’re saying online…” Mikey pulls out his phone. “Ten minutes…”

“My life…” Minnie’s eyes are wide in shock when she turns again to face Mikey. “M-my dad... Art school… I did everything I was supposed to… I have a 4.0 GPA…”

“You’re telling me…” Mikey clenches his fists. “Four years of football… I don’t even fucking like football.”

“You don’t like football?” Minnie isn’t sure why she asked. She knows the revelation doesn’t matter now. The only thing that matters now is… What does matter?

“I only played because I was taller than everyone else, and my dyslexia, uhh…” Mikey straightens his posture, morphing back into the air of dominance he usually manifests. “I don’t know why I’m… Just forget about it.”

“No, I’m sorry,” Minnie replies softly. “I didn’t know you, uhh, had learning difficulties. I always thought you were just kind of a meathead. No offense…”

Mikey laughs. “Everyone thinks that. I’m actually kind of a nerd, to be honest. I prefer a good audiobook or movie to a sports game any day.” Mikey’s smile slowly fades. “I should’ve watched more movies…”

“Me too,” Minnie laments. “There are a lot of things I didn’t get to do…” The reality begins to sink in for her, her skin growing moist with nervous sweat. “I have to call my family.”

“You could try,” Mikey says with a sigh. “I think the cell towers are overloaded already. I couldn’t even reach my grandma.”

Minnie’s already calling her father. “Well, maybe you should try again,” She says with slight annoyance as the phone continues to ring. “You’re wasting your time talking to me. If we only have ten minutes to live then you better make it count.” Minnie listens to the repetitive tones of the phone call trying to connect.

“Nine minutes,” Mikey corrects. “And, to be honest, I’m right where I want to be.”

“You want to die at school?” Minnie raises an eyebrow at Mikey as she presses the phone closer to her ear in frustration. “Too bad the yearbooks aren’t out yet. I had you pegged as ‘Most Likely To Die On The Football Field.’ I guess I wasn’t far off.”

Mikey lets out another deep laugh. “See? You’re funny, Minerva. I always thought so, but I was so…” Mikey looks at the blue sky above. “I was nervous. Too nervous to tell you. It feels so stupid now.”

“You were nervous? Since when do jocks get nervous?” Minnie slides the phone away from her ear, tiring of its endless ringing.

“All the time. Before a big game, and especially before a big test,” Mikey admits.

“Yeah, but why would you be nervous talking to me?”

“Oh..” Mikey searches for the right words. “I guess it doesn’t matter now, right?” Mikey looks from Minnie’s eyes, before darting his eyes away to nothing in particular. “I’ve had a crush on you for years,” he mutters.

“What?”

Something breaks in Minnie. A wall of denial she didn’t know was there crumbles as her heart skips a beat. One hand reaches out to grab the freezing rooftop railing for support. She’s overreacting, surely. She doesn’t feel anything for Mikey. Up until a literal minute ago, she thought of him as another nuisance, an enemy even. She commands her blood to cool, refusing to blush at Mikey’s confession. The world was ending. She didn’t have time for the stupid antics of high school boys.

“I had a crush on you,” Mikey says with more confidence, looking Minnie directly in the eyes. “Well, have. I have a crush on you.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“When I got the notification—about the missles—I was thinking about this zombie movie I watched one time.”

“Seriously, Mikey. What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Let me finish.” Mikey gently holds up a palm to Minnie. “I realized that I wasn’t gonna be able to make a phone call, and even if I made it to my car, I’d never make it home before, well, the end. Then I thought about you. I know you always come up here for lunch.”

“What, are you stalking me?”

“No. Nothing like that, Minerva.”

“Jesus Christ,” Minnie groans. “Just call me Minnie. I don’t wanna die being called by my grandmother’s name.”

“Okay, Minnie,” Mikey delivers with a soft tone to his voice. “Anyway, I figured I wanted to do at least one thing that really matters in my life before…”

“Talking to me?” Minnie glances back at her phone. Her attempted call has ended and been replaced with a message that indicates no cellular service. “You want to spend your last nine minutes on Earth talking to me?”

“Yeah… I do.” Mikey steps closer, right into Minnie’s personal space. “Eight minutes.”

“Well, no offense, Mikey,” Minnie begins as she is enveloped in Mikey’s athletic musk. “But I’m not sure that I want to—”

Mikey locks his lips with Minnie’s as he holds her arms in his toughened hands. Her immediate reaction is a push against his chest, but she relents, just for a moment. Just long enough to have this first, stolen, kiss last longer than a brief flicker of desperation. She kisses him back, not with love, but with unfocused curiosity. She wants to know what she’s been missing all this time. She doesn’t understand it. All she tastes is remnants of school lunch.

“Okay!” Minnie shoves Mikey away. “You got what you wanted.”

“I’m sorry, Minnie,” Mikey says as he stumbles easily back into his natural balance. “I just wanted to know what it was like…”

“Oh, please. You think I haven’t heard the rumors? You think I don’t know how many girls you’ve been with?” She doesn’t. “I guess I don’t. A dozen? Twice that?”

“So you believe rumors too…” It isn’t a question.

“W-what?” Minnie can’t stop herself from blushing this time.

“That was my first kiss,” Mikey whispers. “All that stuff they say about me are just rumors. The boys hired a stripper for my eighteenth birthday party a few months ago and locked me in the room with her, but… I didn’t do anything…”

“I-I’m sorry, Mikey.” Minnie looks at her feet.

“It’s okay. No use arguing with only minutes to live, right?” Mikey smiles.

“That was my first kiss too,” Minnie admits.

“Oh…”

The silence passes by for just a moment, but right now, it feels like a wasted eternity.

“I want to do more,” Minnie declares.

“Do more?”

“I’ve never fucked either,” Minnie spits out. “I thought I’d have time in college for that, but…”

“R-right, right…” Mikey rubs the back of his neck. “We only have a few minutes though.”

“How long does it take?”

“You mean…” Mikey bites his bottom lip before responding. “I don’t know. I think it’s supposed to take all night. That’s what the guys say.”

“That’s not what the girls say,” Minnie furrows her brow. “How long do we have?”

Mikey looks at this phone. “Seven minutes and fifty-eight seconds.”

“Okay then.” Minnie begins unbuttoning her school shirt.

“What are you doing?”

“I told you, didn’t I?” Minnie says as she discards the shirt to the ground, exposing her chest, her vape hanging between her breasts from its lanyard. She couldn’t afford bras. The irony of living her life worried about such a trivial restriction, only for it all to end in an equally meaningless way, eats deeply at her. “I want to do more. Don’t you?”

Mikey’s eyes dart up from the soft flesh of Minnie’s breasts. “No. I mean, yes. I do, but what if somebody sees us?” He looks around the garden rooftop nervously.

“I guess we’d go to jail for six or seven minutes,” Minnie says as another explosion echoes from the city.

“Right,” Mikey mutters as he watches Minnie slide her skirt down past her hips and past her supple thighs. Her phone clatters to the ground as she steps out of her skirt. “I just wanted to get to know you better is all.”

“You wanna get to know me better?” Minnie feels her skin crawl in the cold, her nipples hardening in the wind. Mikey’s hesitance is beginning to make her feel stupid. “Then get to know me.” Minnie takes Mikey’s large hand and places it over her right tit.

“O-okay,” Mikey sputters, hesitantly following Minnie’s lead and gripping onto her chest. “What do you want to do after art school?”

Minnie’s eyes stay on Mikey. His eyes are focused entirely on her breasts. “I would’ve liked to curate my own art exhibition,” Minnie says all too honestly. It sounded like a pipe dream before, but now it’s worse than that–it was an impossibility. “How’d you know I was going to art school? I never said anything in class.”

“Last year, or maybe the year before, you did a presentation on, uhh… What was it?” Mikey puts his free hand on Minnie’s other breast. “Fibonacci before Fibonacci?”

Minnie flinches and draws a shallow breath at Mikey’s touch. She was ready the first time, but Mikey’s refound assertiveness surprises her. “Y-yeah.”

“It was like a two and a half hour presentation, easily the longest one.” Mikey continues.

“Sorry if I bored you,” Minnie mutters defensively.

“No,” Mikey squeezes Minnie’s breasts firmly. “I liked it. I just thought that anyone that put together something like that was definitely going to art school.” Mikey looks up into Minnie’s eyes with his trademark charming smile.

“D-don’t look at me!” Minnie feels her face growing hotter.

“Okay.” Mikey releases his grip on Minnie, and then bends down on one knee as if he were about to propose on a football field. “May I?”

Minnie glances down at Mikey for a swift moment to see him gesturing. “Y-you want to lick it?”

Minnie feels like she might faint. All the confidence that led to this moment, all the bravado, seems to fade. For a moment, she tries to will herself to wake up from this awkward dream, but another nearby explosion confirms her reality. Somehow, Minnie had ended up on the rooftop with star quarterback, Mikey James, kneeling below her and asking to taste her hairy coochie. Of course she hadn’t shaved. This is the most attention she had received in her entire lifetime. She couldn’t have expected this.

“Is that okay?” Mikey pinches a tuft of Minnie’s pubic hair poking out from her cheap cotton panties and courses it through his fingers. “I’ll be gentle. I’ve seen videos about, uhh, doing it.”

“J-just do it,” Minnie looks away and leans her back against the rooftop railing to support her as she pulls her panties down below her bottom and spreads her legs slightly. “We only have a few minutes. Just do it. But don’t blame me if you don’t like it. My reproductive organs weren’t waiting for some stupid jock to come along and—” Minnie moans.

Mikey puts the entirety of his tongue over Minnie’s sex with a complete and lustful pass from her entrance to her clitoris. He stops for a moment of contemplation, licking his lips, and then diving headfirst for another taste as he pulls her panties down to the ground and pushes her legs open further. He’s feverish at first, as if trying to find and claim every single flavor Minnie’s folds hide. When her hands grab into his own hair, he refocuses with the tip of his tongue aimed at her begging button. He twirls his tongue around her clit, consistently, but never predictably. The moment Minnie thinks she might have a grip, Mikey kisses her flower, sending a spark between her legs. It’s hardly an interlude. Mikey locks his lips around her sopping sex, flicking it lightly, quickly, but with a drumming force that makes Minnie spasm at each frequent reintroduction.

“M-Mikey, I c-can’t,” Minnie tries to get the words out of her mouth.

The pressure is intense beyond her belief. Minnie thinks she’ll fade away at this very moment. She can’t breathe—or at least she doesn’t feel the oxygen passing into her lungs. Even behind her blurred vision, she can see her chest heaving with the exertion. It feels like she’s bursting into stardust. She wants to scream, but she can’t. It’s as if she were stuck in stasis, unable to escape this prison of pleasure, this prison of her own making. And then… it comes.

A wave of ecstasy washes over Minnie, so much stronger than what she could achieve alone in the private confines of her bedroom. She pulls Mikey’s head deeper into the mess her pulsating pussy is undoubtedly creating on his lips and chin. Minnie throws her head back and up towards the sky as she reaches Nirvana. Each wave of her first true orgasm feels like a bullet piercing her soul as another bullet fills the hole left behind. She only realizes the loud ringing in her ears when it fades away and is replaced by the sound of her own voice squealing like a pig in the wind.

She’s out of breath, regrettably so, because with her neck still twisted towards the clouds above, she can see it coming. As if she were watching a train wreck, and not her inevitable demise, Minnie simply observes as the mass in the sky comes closer, and grows bigger. She just watches. There’s no point warning Mikey–there was hardly enough time for post-nut clarity. She simply takes her own shaking hand, runs a finger over her creamy folds, and steals a final taste.

Everything was black.

No, wait. There was red too. Fire? And screaming. So much screaming. Maybe. Minnie can’t recall. She holds her skirt down as she climbs the stairs, glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one is behind her. She reaches the top of the stairs, pushing open the heavy metal door to the school’s garden rooftop. She takes a deep breath before scanning the roof for Mikey. Wait… She pushes the thought away. Why would she be looking for Mikey? She’s the only one here, as always. Minnie walks to the edge of the roof, looking over the sprawling city canvas. She pulls the vape from her shirt, glancing over her shoulder once more for Mikey, before tasting her fingers.

“What the fuck?” Minnie mutters to herself, flinching at her own action as she fumbles again for her vape. “Why do my fingers taste like…”