Apocalypse Dreams

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

"You just have to go out and ask," Brock said while staring out the window.

"What!!" Jack and I both exclaimed from the leather backseat of the car. The air conditioning was the only thing keeping us alive at that point in this summer heat.

"You... can't just do that," Red interrupted from the passenger seat of the vehicle. The black color of the car did not help with this heat as it felt like we had been burning for the past ten minutes.

"There are rules to this," Red mentioned while hogging up all the air coming from the vents.

"How hard can it be?" Brock asked while turning his head around to face Jack. "Got your mother, didn't I?"

"It was an arranged marriage, wasn't it?" Red asked while grinning.

Jack did not reply as he was too busy staring at Lindsay from his Writing class. Her light brown complexion gave a subtle glow in the limited amount of sun shining through the roof that only had a primary job to provide shade. The whites of her teeth reflected from the rays of the sun as her laugh seemed to hypnotize Jack and steer him deeper and deeper in a trance. Her blonde highlights could be abundantly clear in this instance and it seemed to match her beige colored sweater. The car was parked in the busy "student drop-off zone" in front of the library, where she sat with her friends as she chatted away.

"All I'm saying is that you can literally just talk to her instead of, you know... stalking her," Brock responded.

"Look, times have changed," Red argued. "Nowadays, you have to put on the fake smile, suit, and tie, buy some flowers at the gift shop, spend some on a cute card that says something incredibly stupid like 'When I saw you, I just knew you were the one' or something, then you gotta come up with something witty to start off the conversation with or she thinks you're a total drag, blah, blah, blah."

"That's awfully specific," I said. "Either way, I think you're right. Can't just go in looking like that." I stared at Jack who was wearing possibly the darkest gray shirt, with the darkest beige pants that I had ever seen. The most boring set of combinations were exhibited as he would give off the impression of the dullest man alive; a rock dressed the same outfit would seem to be more entertaining than he. The black dress shoes were not helping, particularly since this was just High School. However, he was nervous for the start of freshman year; the entire concept of "casual wear" definitely did not rub off on him. His gelled, comb-over hairstyle made him seem even less interesting as he fit the status quo of a "nerd".

Red, on the other hand, was the polar opposite. From the slicked-back hairstyle to his clear skin complexion, to his casual plain red round neck t-shirt, to his shorts, all the way to his sneakers. Red seemed to ooze with confidence and ego. I never understood how they got along in the first place.

Jack looked at me with a disappointed look on his face, while Red gave me a look of pride. "Maybe just say hello, or something, I don't know..."

My voice faded off as pure silence struck the car, except for the car engine still running. "Well either way, just get out of my car already," Brock replied while staring outside. "It looks like we're planning on robbing a bank or something."

As we started to open the door and leave the '87 Chevy Blazer, I caught a glimpse of Jack's depressed, acne riddled face as he stepped out.

"Hey, maybe we could all play games when we get home," I said while walking towards the school gate.

The entire first day of school had been atrocious as the entire time we veered off course and began to daydream. Spending a couple months of summer vacation only to return to school for monotonous teachers to regurgitate word for word the material from the book while delving into their personal stories was certainly displeasing in many ways. The only thing I focused on was the joy of still having a childhood, or a sense of freedom in terms of being in that stage of life transitioning from an irresponsible teenage brat to a fully developed responsible adult. High school was the time to relax and enjoy till the next phase in life and looking around to see Jack and Red excited to discuss what video games we were going to play when we got home made me realize and appreciate the importance of having this sense of identity. Eventually, we would all have to grow up. It was certain that natural circumstances like these would be the catalyst to turn a boy into a man.