End of tomorrow

Chapter 10

Students bustled out of the unnaturally quiet cafeteria, taking their lunch trays with them, leaving only few of the unfortunate year eleven students who had nowhere to go. Alessa sat surveying the cafeteria, her eyes occasionally darting to her phone laid next to her tray before taking a bite out of her pasta and chewing without tasting before starting the process all over again. Alessa had been on edge ever since she saw the news reporter describing the horrific event of the snow storm in California, eerily similar to the one she saw in her dream. It didn't help Alessa had the urge to phone home to see what's going on - she had a weird chill up her spine since the start of lunch, the same chill she experienced not only a night ago. Deciding to listen to her instincts, Alessa reached for her phone, her finger hovering over the dial button when she snapped her head towards Sarah, her heart hammering.

"W-what? What did you say?"

All heads at the table turned to Alessa's sudden outburst.

Alessa ignored the eyes and concentrated her gaze on Sarah.

"You mean about the ice-caps in Antarctica?"

Alessa nodded her head in confirmation, her hands starting to get clammy.

"Well," Sarah shifted in her seat at the intense look she was receiving from Alessa. "I heard it from Gina - you know the one at the party." Both Sarah and grimaced at the memory. "She sponsors polar bears and stuff like that so keeps in touch with the news about Antarctica. She found out the weather in Antarctica is actually getting - "

"Cooler with water freezing at an alarming pace," finished off Alessa with a monotone voice.

Sarah flashed her a weird look before continuing. "Like Alessa said, the water is freezing which is a miracle considering only months ago, the scientists were raving about ice caps melting and - "

"It's not a miracle," interrupted Alessa, the images of a frozen, barren land clear in her mind. "Despite the increase in pollution over the years and us being aware of the consequences of this on the environment, the Earth is cooling and will continue to cool."

Sarah stared at Alessa with a gaping mouth. Alessa turned her head, blinking her eyes to get rid of the images only to meet four pairs of confused eyes.

"What do you mean by the Earth 'will continue to cool'?"

Alessa swivelled her head to meet a pair of hazel eyes. Alessa now mimicked Sarah, her mouth opening and closing at loss of words.

Ethan slid into the chair, placing his tray on the table, his eyes still trained on Alessa.

Alessa's mind was frazzled by what she discovered and her inability to shake off the cold feeling, Alessa decided to tell the truth. "I don't know. It-it just came out."

Alessa ducked her head to avoid Ethan's gaze and whilst mumbling something about not feeling hungry, Alessa picked her tray and all but dashed from the table, leaving the clustered girls on the table to deal with Ethan.

She sighed in relief once Alessa was out of Ethan's eyesight. She always found Ethan had the ability to read her as easy as her grandmother - that was one of the things she admired and also was scared of him.

Alessa looked at the phone screen with Lily's picture. She thought that it possibly wasn't a good idea to ask Lily what's happening at home after the Jayson incident. Tapping back to the contact list, Alessa clicked on the name she hoped would get rid of the cold feeling in her spine.

Alessa typed her message and pressed send in time for the warning bell to ring. She placed her phone in her bag and hurried out of the halls towards her class, knowing the cafeteria will soon empty out along with Sarah and Ethan. Glad she doesn't have any lessons with Ethan, Alessa stepped into the empty classroom and waited for the teacher and students to arrive.