Mixtape For The End of the World

40. Gabe dies in an explosion with his song playing in the background.

40. Gabe dies in an explosion with his song playing in the background.

As it turned out, Sunday was not Gabe Saporta's last day on Earth. He called me the next morning, just to prove that he was still alive, but neither of us really knew what to say. Gabe's life could end at any moment. He could drop dead in the middle of the conversation, or he could live for another eighty years before meeting his fiery doom. Perhaps that was always true, but since all of the visions had run out, we were all more aware of Gabe's impending death than usual.

In the last few days before I was supposed to leave, I spent most of my time packing for college and working at Fall Out Bros. Pizza. Whenever I had free time, I spent it with Gabe. We went to visit Brendon on Monday, and I even had dinner at Vegan Square with Gabe and Patrick.

Gabe, of course, flirted with my boyfriend incessantly. "Anything you say can and will be held against you, so only say my name," he said. "It will be held against you."

Patrick just rolled his eyes. He may not have wanted to get involved in the visions, but even he wanted to be nice to Gabe in what might have been his final moments.

All of a sudden, Gabe's song started playing in the restaurant. Gabe and I suddenly began to panic, while Patrick just seemed confused. "We're all going to die!" I shouted, but Patrick still didn't get it.

However, the song just played, and nothing happened. There was no explosion, the apocalypse didn't come, and Gabe didn't die, but there was always a chance that this might happen again.

Two days before Gabe was supposed to leave for Rutgers, and one day before I was supposed to leave for DePaul, Gabe called me. "There's a block party tonight," Gabe said. "Do you want to go?"

"Sure, that sounds like a lot of fun," I said. I hadn't even asked my parents, but they would probably say yes, as long as I finished packing. I couldn't say no to Gabe anymore now that the visions had run out. He could have suggested that we kill all our friends, and I would have told him that I was killing before killing was cool. "Is Brendon coming too?"

"I wish," Gabe said. "Brendon's foot still hasn't completely healed. He's not up for walking around, so it will just be you and me."

I smiled and said, "Sounds good. What time do you want to go there?"

"Sometime this evening," Gabe said. "It's downtown, and I heard that they got a professional DJ."

"If the DJ doesn't play The Cure, I'm not going to be happy," I said.

"You're not usually happy anyways," Gabe pointed out.

"You're right," I said. "Should I pick you after work? I can even bring you a slice of pizza."

"That sounds good, although there will be plenty to eat at the block party," Gabe said. "See you then!"

I hung up, and after I was mostly done packing, I went to work. It was my last day at Fall Out Bros., but Billie still insisted on keeping me busy with deliveries. I did as I was told, driving all around town to deliver pizzas. I was still furious that Billie Joe had made me Employee of the Month. It was all his fault that Gabe was about to die.

When Joe and I finished delivering pizzas, I said, "It's been nice working with you this summer."

"You too," Joe said. "Have fun at DePaul, Pete."

I then went inside to say goodbye to Billie. However, he found me first. He enveloped me in a hug and then said, "Give 'em hell, kid."

"Thanks, Billie," I said.