The Purge, Miguel Mora

01

January 2nd, 2024.

3:00 Pm

3RD PERSON OMNISCENT 

Alani stared at the clock mounted above Ms. Peterson's whiteboard, watching the second hand tick away the final moments of eighth period. The late afternoon sun streamed through the classroom windows, casting long shadows across her chemistry notes. Her pencil tapped anxiously against her desk as she waited, dreading the moment she'd have to head home.

When the bell finally rang, she gathered her textbooks and lingered with her lab partner Jasmine as long as she could. "Sure you don't want to come over to study?" Jasmine offered, noticing Alani's hesitation.

"Can't," Alani sighed. "Dad's actually home tonight, so Mom's making me come straight home for 'family dinner.'" She rolled her eyes, making air quotes with her fingers.

The walk home felt too short. Alani dragged her feet, watching autumn leaves skitter across the sidewalk. Each step closer to her house made her shoulders tense up a little more. She pulled out her phone, checking the time – 3:45. Maybe if she was lucky, her dad would still be on a work call.

"I'm home," she called out quietly as she stepped through the front door. The house was filled with an uncomfortable silence, broken only by the sound of pots clanking in the kitchen.

Her mom appeared in the hallway, looking tired. "Hey, honey. How was school?"

"Fine," Alani mumbled, already heading for the stairs.

"Wait – your father wants everyone at dinner tonight. No eating in your room."

Alani's jaw clenched. "Why? He hasn't eaten with us in like two weeks."

"Please, Alani. Just... try tonight? For me?"

Dinner was exactly what she'd expected. Her dad spent most of the time on his phone, occasionally looking up to make some comment about her grades or how she needed to "apply herself more." Her mom picked at her food, jumping in with forced cheerfulness whenever the silence stretched too long.

"A B-minus in Chemistry?" her dad finally said, scrolling through the parent portal on his phone. "You know that's not good enough for college applications."

"I'm a sophomore," Alani muttered. "And I'm still learning the material."

"That's just excuses. When I was your age—"

"When you were my age, you weren't even around," Alani snapped, pushing back from the table. "Can I be excused?"

Her mom's "Alani..." came at the same time as her dad's sharp "Sit down."

"I have homework," she said, already walking away. She heard her parents' voices rise behind her – her dad's angry, her mom's pleading – but she kept walking, taking the stairs two at a time.

In her room, Alani went through her nighttime routine on autopilot, trying to block out the muffled argument downstairs. She moisturized her hair and wrapped it in her silk bonnet, changed into her star-patterned pajamas, and crawled into bed. Her phone buzzed with a text from her mom: "He means well. Get some rest, baby."

Alani didn't respond. Instead, she opened her group chat with Maddie, Val and her other friends, losing herself in their conversations until her eyes grew heavy. As she drifted off to sleep, she thought about tomorrow – maybe she'd go to the library early, or see if she could spend the day at Jasmine's. Anything to avoid another "family" weekend at home