Waiting for the World to End

Chapter 1

After pulling into my parking space and shutting off the ignition, I sat back and took a deep breath. My phone started vibrating in the cupholder beside me, and it was my little sister Kandace, of course. Reluctantly, I took the call as I grabbed my backpack from the passenger seat and climbed out of the car.

"You snake. How could you?" Kandace's angry voice came over the line as I shut my door.

"What'd I do now?" I asked, glad she couldn't see the slight smirk on my face. Not that I enjoyed when we argued, she's just so funny when she's mad. I could imagine her scrunched up 'angry' face in my minds eye, and it was kind of adorable.

"I told you to save some pizza for me," she complained into my ear as I walked up to front doors of my high school. "Guess what? You didn't."

"There were only two pieces left," I defended. I'd known good and well what I was getting myself into by eating both slices, and I was willing to take on the consequences; e.g. this phone call.

"Then you should have taken one, obviously."

"One slice of pizza is no meal, and you know it."

Nothing but a loud groan on the other line.

"I love our talks," I said, not sarcastically. "Catch you later."

"See you." Short and grumpy, then the dial tone.

I shoved my phone into my back pocket and strode inside the school, briefly considering buying Kandace poptarts from the vending machine as an apology. The thought fled my mind almost as quickly as it entered. She would be over it by the time she got to her school, and besides, she ate my food all the time.

"Hey, Kaya!" I turned my head to the voice calling me over to the stairwell. It was Josh Shoemaker, a.k.a Josh the Local Very Vocal Conspiracy Theorist/Activist/Liberitarian. A long but deserved title. Whether it was chaining himself to the oldest tree in town, wearing an outfit made of garbage, or prepping for the apocolypse, the guy was always going above and beyond for what he felt strongly about.

Most people had written him off as a nut a long time ago, but I still sometimes tuned in for a rant or collected the occational flyer from him. While I wouldn't quite consider us friends, I definately payed more attention to him than the average classmate. And his antics had admittedly rubbed off on me a bit. He was the reason I had a makeshift survival kit in my backpack.

"Hey," I replied as I approached him, "what's today's protest of choice?"

Josh perked up and smiled, obviously excited someone had asked, before settling into a more serious expression. "Surviellance drones are in our backyard Kaya. Big ones. They've been popping up at airports all over the country, and over the weekend my pals over at DoYouHearWhatISee snatched this picture from our commercial airport, just fifteen miles out." He pulled out his phone and flipped it open. (No, Josh does not believe in smartphones).

I leaned in close to see a surprisingly clear image of a smooth white mushroom shaped aircraft. It was huge, tall as the airport itself and just as, if not more wide. It looked like it came straight out of a scifi movie. "Weird," I muttered, furrowing my brow.

Josh nodded, trying to remain unsmiling but obviously happy I was interested under the surface. "There's talk of what a device could be used for. Its way too big to just be for spying. Personally, well, I'm not quite saying mind control, but-"

"Hey." Someone tapped my shoulder, cutting Josh off. I looked up to see that my best friend PJ had snuck up on us. "You know, AP bio is on the other side of the school, and Danvers is going to throw a hissy fit if you're late."

"Oh, you're right," I realized, looking to the hallway clock. "Sorry Josh, I'll catch you later." PJ had already taken my arm and started towards our first class, barely giving Josh any time to reply. Secretly I was thankful for the interruption and rescue, because Josh was about to lose me completely with his next theory. I admired the guy's passion, but when it came down to his actual beliefs, I always took a hard pass in favor of realism.

We were a good distance away before Josh finally said anything. "Tune in to my human rights podcast!" he called after us. "Stay woke!"

"I don't know why you talk to him," PJ said, shaking his head.

I shrugged, smiling. "He's entertaining."