Side by Side

Chapter 2- Naomy's pov

My alarm o'clock rang at 6 am in the morning. Little did I know it was my last time waking up in this bed. I immediately looked at my phone, and the news from the attacks. People were already going crazy over the soon-to-be lack of oil supply. People lined up at the gas station the whole night. We were lucky as my father and Thomas only had to wait two hours yesterday night to get gas. A breaking news alert showed up on my phone. All oil supplies, including the ones underground, and coal supplies are not usable due to an unknown substance. Things were going to get heated. The school informed us that today we should come as usual. I went downstairs to have breakfast. My mom had already left for an urgent meeting with the State's council in London, she left a note on my door, adding "I love you, I'm proud of you have a great day at school !!" I don't know if it was the current situation that made my mom write this emotional note but it still made me smile. My dad was sitting at the kitchen counter, visibly worried. During the night I heard my parents fighting but my dad shrugged it off when I asked him about it. Thomas was still sleeping. People were texting non-stop about the news on the class group chats on Snapchat and WhatsApp. I turned my notifications off already too stressed about the last events. The whole world was in shock, but the repercussions were not yet visible as gas stations were still functioning for now.

Thomas arrived in the kitchen, not bothering to say hello, and grabbed a toast, and smoothie prepared by my dad before taking his car's keys, but my dad interrupted him,

"You're not taking your car we need to save gas we don't know what tomorrow is gonna be like and if the oil supplies have been permanently damaged".

"Seriously? They're gonna find a solution eventually."

"I don't know I hope, for now, let's just take my car". Thankfully my parents owned a Tesla, an electric car, I got in the back and my brother took the front seat next to my dad.

"See you should just have bought me a Tesla," said Thomas joking around, "but seriously I don't get why we have to go no one is going to be at school with everything going on". We drove past the gas station where the police was blocking the entrance, and drivers were getting out of their cars and protesting. Then we drove past the big english style mantions. Caldi was a very rich town near London. I had instantly loved it when we moved here 2 years ago, even if the weather was not as nice as the South of France were we moved from for my mother's work. 

"They are requisitioning oil supplies for rationing already" my dad explained. It felt surreal. Things were slowly unwinding before us but we could only watch, uncertain of what would happen.

"We have to keep things as normal as possible for now, for as long as we can" our dad reminded us, trying to sound as calm as possible even if he looked worried "do you guys have any tests today?" Thomas did not bother answering too absorbed by his phone.

"Yes I have a math test, it should be all right though," I answered. My father's phone started ringing. He looked at the name on his phone and his facial expression darkened.

"I have to pick up, I'll drop you off here, walk together until you are at school and text us if anything's going on there, good luck with your exam!" We got out of the car and started our 10 minutes' walk towards high school. We walked in silence before Thomas stopped.

"Wait" he ordered me. I waited for him to give an explanation while he was just typing on his phone, a few seconds later his best friend Jack came around the corner. He also had to give up his car ride for today and walk instead. He was tall, with dark skin, brown eyes, and a smile on his face. He was the only friend of my brother who I actually liked and he was not ignoring me like the rest of his friends. I smiled back at him.