The End of The F#cking World

ONE

The changes went unnoticed in the Spear household at first.

          Science, in all its different forms, had never been a subject that any of the family members, including Andrew, seemed to grow attached to. Besides, both Cass and Richard only ran a small restaurant on the west side of Charleston. Learning how to count was far more important than learning how to dissect a frog or how the planets and stars aligned every night. Managing the family business was what they had next in store for Andrew- after all, they were about to take him in as their own.

          Of course, as the news first flashed on the screen, neither Cass or Richard realized what the reporter had just said.. It was Sunday noon, the only day when no one had to work. Drake Spear, their older biological son, was still on military deployment. The entire house was quiet without him. It was peace for Andrew.

He was the first one to notice.

          Back resting against the sofa comfortably, left food hanging off the sofa, his fingers never stopped digging themselves in the hem of his sweater. He had to ensure that they wouldn't lift up and expose his scars. For once, his anti-depressants had actually worked, clearing his mind of the voices that always gnawed at the back of his head. Andrew could finally shut his eyes tightly, for a small moment of peace. Days like these were the ones he treasured- ones where he could think straight and he was not being constantly reminded of how worthless he was. Whenever these days came, he made the most out of them, taking in every little thing around him. The noises around him. The routines. The bad habits of others. Familiarity was something he found comfort in.

          Andrew didn't want to believe his ears at first. He had never been interested much in any type of sciences. When the world would end and how it would happen was not high up on the list of things he wanted to know. His days on this Earth were numbered. Maybe he would not be able to lengthen them but he certainly could shorten them. There was nothing he held in less regard than his own life. He didn't understand why he was bothered by the news, his heart aching.

The first thing Cass said to him after he gave a brief and vague explanation about what was happening was, "Andrew, this is a joke right?"

          She knew he wasn't. Never in her past year she had been fostering him had she heard him utter a single joke. That kid barely even smiled. Cass's friends and family had warned her against taking in a child who was as broken and unstable as Andrew. Against taking in children from broken homes. She didn't listen. She didn't care. At the very moment her future foster son stood in front of her, a mess of bruises, scars and a face of uncertainty, she knew he was hers to protect. Andrew was her son.

          Not a hint of hesitation was hinted in how quickly she reacted. She trusted every single one of Andrew's words. Her son may have never been much of a talker and maybe that was why all his words had so much meaning to her. Still, his words hadn't lessened the dread spreading throughout her entire chest. Cass clasped her hand so tightly around her mouth to muffle a scream. Only a small squeak came out.

          Andrew knew that she was terrified and panicking. Despite wanting to help, he couldn't bring himself to get up from the sofa. His legs felt numb. His back was glued to the couch. Trembling ever so slightly, he reached out a hand to his mother. She smiled weakly at him- she was shaking even more than he was. Opening his mouth to say something, all that came out was a squeak.

"Richard?" she called out, in a shaky voice. "You need to see this,"

          As his father rushed into the room, he pushed himself off the sofa and forced himself to walk on his wobbly feet. By the time Richard had managed to reach the room, all that was left on the television screen was 24:07. The earth had slowed down its revolution by eleven minutes. Hoping for the best, most people brushed it off as just something that would happen once and never again. It never stopped.

          Details were something that kept him sane. The 'unnoticed' was what he noticed most. The routines the Spears went through every day without realizing it. The days his neighbour and classmate, Neil Josten, would go out for a run. The time of the day his acquaintance and neighbour, Renee Walker, would spend painting a canvas in her back yard. The number of times his older foster brother would check the clock repeatedly, eagerly waiting for his parents to leave the house so he could do whatever he wanted with his brother. Consistency played a very, very big part of Andrew's life. If he didn't pay enough attention, people like Drake would have an easier time getting to him. Whenever his older 'brother' was home from his deployment, he would escape to the Walker's or off to the Days. Those places were his only escapes.

Forever was still temporary.

           Whenever Cass teased him about spending forever at the Walker's, Andrew's chest twanged with pain. Sometimes 'forever' wasn't enough to escape falling into the palms of his older brother. Words like forever, love, and need were ones that were used too much, eventually losing their meaning over how commonly it was said. Forever became temporary. Love became constantly interchanged with only liking someone. Need was often used as a replacement for want. All those words barely held their meanings anymore, after all the times they were not used properly.

Routines were temporary too.

          Andrew didn't realize a particular difference at first. He weakly stalked off into the backyard, grabbing a red Exy ball from the ground next to the door. Feelings, especially his own, were something that he never understood. By leaving the backyard, he was only half-consciously leaving his foster parents to deal with their paranoia and fears themselves. Throwing the ball up in the air, he caught it in his palm again as gravity pulled it back towards the Earth.

          Back then, gravity was still barely affected. The ball didn't seem to fall any faster or slower than it had before in the previous times Andrew had messed around with it. It was as if nothing had changed. He looked around. There were no obvious changes in the atmosphere. The air still felt the same, the sun rays prickled on his skin- it was a few minutes past noon, the sun still high up. If days were growing longer, the duration of day and night would increase. Both an advantage and disadvantage to him, knowing the sky would stay dark longer made him feel restless. Long nights meant he was stuck in the dark: vulnerable and alone in the darkness.

           Uncertain about what to think of this, he walked back in the house, Exy ball in his hand. Both Cass and her husband eyed him worriedly as he walked past them, trudging up the stairs. Andrew had never been an easy kid. Yet patience was key in the upbringing of a child. She and Richard both agreed on that when they took their foster son in. They believed that everyone deserved love: to be loved and to feel it, even if it was hard for the person themselves to accept it.

"Son? Are you alright?" Richard called out, sharing a nervous look with his wife.

Andrew pretended not to hear him.

Son.