Chapter 1 • Jessica
The sky, the daylight, and Jessica were all beautiful things that made my time wonderful. I sat out on the balcony with Jessica, bathing in the shade that kept us cool from the warm sun. I crawled up to my girlfriend and kissed her on the lips while my cousin pretended nothing was going on as he sipped on his Pina Colada. He enjoys his own independence, and so does his girlfriend who is out somewhere else at the moment.
Jessica called my name and looked at her open palm facing towards the sky. Her long blonde hair flipped to the side when she turned to me, said “Your favorite weather is here,” and she smiled a smile that mesmerized me. A smile that was meant for me. Sunny days are enjoyable, but rain makes it all the more comfortable. It made things feel less fabricated.
I peered into the sky and saw big, gray clouds covering up the skies above us. Rain sprinkled down, and Mark went back in with an empty glass in hand and browsed his news feed on the couch. I hopped into his now vacant chair and scooted closer to Jessica. I looked at the rolling clouds fill the sky and chuckled, “I don’t believe in superstitions, and I find it silly that kids do but I remember this one day in fifth grade, it was pouring out and one of the girls told the teacher during talk time that bad things happen when it rains.”
Jessica grinned and hopped onto me, “Oh yeah? Well, we’re going to have a good time,” she says, her eyes giving it away that she’s teasing. I smile back. She rests her head against my chest and I wrap my arms around her soft waist. The warmth emanating from her body contrasted with the cold droplets of rain on her skin and clothes. Her voice vibrates through me as she asks why I would bring that topic up if I didn’t believe in superstitions.
“It was just a random memory I had,” I told her. We kept each other cozy under the crying sky. Mark broke our silent cuddle session. “Guys, did you get the news about the random terrorist attacks lately?”
We both replied to him with a “yeah”.
“Well, get this, they say we should stay indoors from now. They say it’s a cult that’s growing out of control and that we should refrain from talking to anyone we don’t know. The government account literally said that we can legally kill anyone who attacks.” Jessica pushed herself off of my chest and went inside to sit on the couch. I followed her in and went to the kitchen which is a few feet behind the couch next to the stairs to the hallway.
A wave of adrenaline hit me after I thought about the news. I liked the idea of change. It kept things refreshed. I stared off into nothingness as my fantasies of fighting off bad guys amused me. Of course, I was not going to fight off these people. I don’t like hurting people, even if they are bad. I’m sure the government will deal with this.
I went to my room that I shared with Jessica, slipped into what I call my fancy pants and a nice top, and went back to the kitchen to make myself something to eat, being greeted by a YouTube video playing on our smart TV. Mark looked back at me, told me to see the video and he restarted it from the beginning. The host stated the recent information we just learned, made his opinion and even tried connecting the dots of controversial news from the past. One tidbit that sucked the adrenaline out of me was that other users reported that police and military were abducting people from some homes and that they only said it was for background checks, yet these people never came back.
