Luke

16

The sun rose and everything fell. Coinciding with the sunrise on April 13th, 2016, at 5:31 am Eastern Standard Time, Gamma Ray Burst 248, better known as “Exodus”, ended its course toward the Earth. About four years earlier, the nearest star to our solar system ended its life and doomed the life on Earth as consequence. To preface: Gamma Ray Bursts are a scientific phenomenon, occurring only a few times every million years in your typical galaxy. They are massive emissions of energy released from cataclysmic supernova explosions which are capable of completely decimating a planet with an unstoppable energy wave, essentially supercooking and superfrying any space rock they come in contact with. Any such emission of energy pointed at Earth would surely turn it from a blue marble into a fried mozzarella ball, erasing the billions of years of biological history that may have occurred on our home planet. This includes every human life, concept or relic that was ever created since the beginning of mankind. Kind of a big deal, don't you think? However, the chances of this sort of disaster happening and eradicating the human race are slim to none. Not only would one of these things have to happen in our galaxy, it would have to be pointed directly at the Earth, which is nearly impossible given how far away we are from the nearest supernova, not to mention the unlikeliness of a gamma ray burst being created by a supernova explosion in the first place. As stated, nearly impossible. As near to impossible as you get. However, on that fateful day of 2016, the Universe's mercy upon our unlikely little planet gave way, and soon humanity realized that “nearly impossible” and “impossible” were two very different things. Life as we knew it, and everything before it, had reached its end. Hence, Exodus.

Operation Exodus

Alex awoke to a firm slap to the face.
“Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty!”
Alex jerked forward, his eyes more open than ever before. To his surprise, he found that he was not in his bed nor lying down. Alex had his entire body tied to a metallic chair. He'd seen this type of thing in movies, but now it was all a little too real. Alex looked up to his captor. Before him was a middle-aged smirking man wearing a fluorescent pink tuxedo and aviator sunglasses. That image was... unlike the movies.
“Okay, I wanna wake up now,” Alex whimpered.
“Oh, we're only just getting started, Mr. Sterling! Latte?” The pink-clad charmer said, holding forth a Starbucks cup. “I know you like lots of sugar, Alex. I already put in a few packets.”
Alex frantically looked around the room. It was very dark, but Alex could tell that he was in a large and spacious room by the echoing that followed every sound. The only objects in his vision were six wooden chairs in a circle behind the pink-suited man, set up as if the space were formerly used for an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Alex attempted to reach up to the coffee cup, but found great difficulty in this task because, well, his arms were bound to a chair.
“Oh, right,” The man said, “We've got the whole 'captive' thing going on. Right.”
“What the hell is happening to me?” Alex asked.
“You're being held captive, I just said that.”
“I know that! I mean, why am I being held captive? What do you want from me?”
“Jesus Christ, I bring you a latte and you just start ripping me a new one? What ever happened to please and thank you?”
“Just tell me what you want.”
“Can I get a please?”
Alex hesitated.
“Fine. Please.” Alex muttered.
“That's the spirit!” The man cheered, pulling out a chair from behind him and taking a seat in front of Alex. “We'll make an interplanetary diplomat out of you yet!”
“What are you even talking about?” Alex asked.
The man cocked up one eyebrow. “They... didn't tell you?” He asked quietly.
“Tell me what? Who's 'they'?”
“Well, this sucks. Looks like we'll have to watch the whole movie, beginning to end.” The man said, rubbing his eyes. “Okay, first things first! I'm Special Agent Martin Clive, you can call me Marty. I already know you very well, by the way, no need to introduce yourself.” Marty set the Starbucks cup on the ground and extended his arm toward Alex, looking for a handshake. He then lowered his hand awkwardly. “Man, I keep forgetting about the whole prisoner aspect of this.” Marty said.
“Okay, Mr. Clive. Would you tell me about the 'prisoner aspect' of this?” Alex inquired.
“What's the magic word, Alex?”
“...please.”
“You catch on quick,” Marty remarked with a smile, dimples indented in his cheeks. “Anyway, I would prefer this to be more of a friendly meeting, but we're kind of in an urgent situation right now and can't have you spreading information to people. Sorry about that!”
“Who's 'we'? And what am I here for?” Alex demanded.
“That latter question I'll get to later. But we're the CIA, believe it or not. You've made it to the big leagues, pal!” Marty said.
“Uh,” Alex said, examining Marty's flamboyant attire, “You don't look like the CIA to me.”
“What, the suit?” Marty asked, “This thing's been in my closet for ages, never worn it to work, God forbid. Not until today, that is. Big day for the whole world, whether they know it or not.”
“I still have no idea what you're talking about!” Alex snapped. “Just explain what this is!”
“Yikes!” Marty said, “They didn't tell you that, either?”
“No one told me anything!” Alex cried, “I took an afternoon nap and now I'm here, and for some reason I don't think it's because a man in a pink suit from the CIA wants to talk to me about international diplomacy, or whatever the hell it was!”
“First of all, afternoon naps are for people my age, kid. You're thirty.” Marty scolded, “Second, it's not international diplomacy, it's interplanetary diplomacy. Like I said, big deal stuff!”
“Please, just tell me why I'm here.” Alex begged, “Please.”
Marty sighed. “Alright,” he said, removing his aviators to expose his blue eyes, “But I don't expect you to like it.”

Marty ascended from his chair, turned around, and disappeared into the darkness. Seconds later, Alex heard a light switch flick, and the entire room was suddenly illuminated. It soon became evident that Alex was not captured by an insane person in his sleep, dragged into a warehouse and tied to a chair. This was something much different.
The room appeared to be a banquet hall. There were chandeliers, tables with fine tablecloths, elegant dishware and glasses, and the overarching feeling of governmental elegance. Standing in the far left corner of the room, about one hundred yards away from Alex's chair, Marty stood in all of his pink-suited glory, his hand resting on an electrical panel that must have controlled the lighting. Marty threw his other hand in the air, waving to Alex.
“What do you think of the space?” Marty called over to Alex, “I know it's a bit over the top, but the decor is nice, don't you think?”
“I... are you...” Alex called back at a loss for words, “Is this for real? Are you with the CIA?”
“Yeah, that's exactly what I said. I appreciate the listening and comprehension skills, you're a real product of American public schooling.” Marty snickered, “Speaking of education, I've got an informative video for you to watch. It should explain everything. Watch and learn!”
Marty pressed a button on the electrical panel, causing a large, theater-like screen to descend from the ceiling behind him.
“Hey Alex, do you prefer lights on or off with films?” Marty asked, as if they were simply friends watching a movie in one of their living rooms.
“I-” Alex began,
“Trick question!” Marty chimed in, “You like lights on, of course. I know you, Alex!”
“Have you been spying on me or something?” Alex asked.
“In a way, yeah.” Marty confided, strolling over to Alex's seat, “Not you in particular, though. The NSA is a powerful thing!”
“So if I'm not anyone in particular,” Alex said, “Why is it that I'm tied to a chair and held captive by a man in a pink suit who claims to be with the CIA?”
“You're kind of annoying, has anyone ever told you that?” Marty scoffed, pulling up a chair next to Alex and sitting down, “Just watch the damn video, I must have seen it a dozen times with the other HIDOs.”
“When you say things like HIDO, you know that I don't know what that means, right?” Alex asked. Marty did not respond.
Marty withdrew a small remote control from his suit pocket and clicked the power button. The giant screen lit up, revealing what seemed to be a DVD menu for a movie or documentary. At the top of the screen, an option labeled “The Situation + HIDO instructions” was lit up. Other options underneath it included “A HIDO's Guide to Interplanetary Diplomacy 1, 2 and 3”, “HIDO Interplanetary Transitional Homes and Technologies” and “Blooper Reel”.
“I didn't know that the CIA made blooper reels.” Alex muttered.
“Oh, we're a fun bunch of people.” Marty said, turning to Alex and winking, “Believe me.”
Marty held up the remote and clicked on “The Situation + HIDO instructions”, initiating the video.

On the screen, there was an office building's kitchenette where a man in a dark suit was turned away from the camera, pouring a cup of coffee. The man turned ninety degrees with his coffee cup, and did a double take when noticing the camera. The man was no other than Marty Clive, although it was hard to recognize him without his pink apparel.
“Oh, hey! Didn't see you there!” Marty said with an amicable smile on his face, “I was just taking my lunch break. Just a regular American doing a regular job. For his country, that is! You see, I work for the Central Intelligence Agency, and we're here to protect people like you.” Marty pointed at the camera with enthusiasm.
The next shot started with elevator music, showing Marty standing in a crowded elevator with other office workers, all of whom seemed to be in a bad mood. “Allow me to introduce myself:” Marty said, “I'm Special Agent Martin Clive, and my regular old job is to recruit regular old people. People like you.” Marty once again pointed at the camera with a grin on his face.
The elevator then opened, and the camera followed Marty as he left the crowded elevator and began walking through a dark, empty hallway. “Recently, my job became a lot harder when I found out about a little thing called 'Operation Exodus'.” Marty said as he walked up to a double doorway at the end of the hall, “You may be wondering: 'What is Operation Exodus, and what does it have to do with me?' Well, let me show you!”
As Marty opened the doors and walked in the room, Alex was surprised to see the very banquet hall that he was trapped in at that moment. The room was set exactly as Alex had seen it earlier, with the tables and dishware organized to perfection. The camera followed Marty to the front of the room, where the projector screen was. Marty stood to the side of it as if he were giving a PowerPoint presentation. The screen lit up, showing the acronym “HIDO” in block letters.
“You may or may not have already been told that you will serve your country as a HIDO: a Human Interplanetary Diplomacy Operative.” Marty began, “You've been drafted by your country to teach extraterrestrial beings of our human culture. This may be the most vital role any group of humans will ever play, because you will be the only living humans soon enough.”
Alex looked over to Marty who was sitting next to him. The CIA agent seemed stoic, almost bored, as if the idea of the totalitarian death of most people meant nothing to him.
The screen changed to display an image of the Earth from space. Marty's voice resounded over the image: “This is our Earth, as we currently know it. Everything seems just fine, doesn't it? Well, that's where you're wrong. Approximately four years ago, a star in our galaxy reached the end of its life and began an unstoppable chain of events. It released a little thing called a Gamma Ray Burst, which is, from what I understand, a concentrated ray of light that will destroy anything it touches. Our scientists calculated that, based on the trajectory of the Burst, our planet lies directly in its cross hairs, and the Burst will come in contact with us on April 13th. This means that all life on Earth will be exterminated, including the human race. No more Christmas, no more commutes to and from work, no more... anything. In less than two days, the tens of thousands of years of human history that we've been cultivating will be gone forever, quite literally in a flash of light. The most bizarre thing is that no one on Earth will know it's coming, and no one will even know that it happened. It'll all just vanish, just like that. Well, not all of it. That's where you come in!”
The screen switched to a panning image of what appeared to be an air base in a desert. Again, Marty's voice spoke over the image: “This is Area 51, America's top priority base of military engineering, experimentation and most importantly, extraterrestrial contact. Yes, the conspiracy theorists were right. This is where you will be transported after viewing this video to board the Gaia-51 – humanity's final project. The Gaia is a self-sustaining aerospace vessel upon which you will live for approximately 545 days. It will be sent off before the Gamma Ray Burst, also known as 'Exodus', reaches our planet. There you will live among your fellow HIDOs in space, until the cruiser from Kepler-452B arrives to pick you up. You may have heard of Kepler-452B, the planet very similar to Earth that NASA discovered about a year ago. What they didn't tell you, however, was that super-intelligent beings live upon said planet, beings that have existed for about 600 million years longer than we've been around. We've been communicating with them ever since the planet's discovery, translating their signals and effectively showing them our friendly intentions. We've been constructing Gaia-51 in secret ever since this event, in preparation to conduct a face-to-face meeting with our friends in the Universe. They've mastered light-speed and teleportation technology, so when we realized that our planet was in danger, we immediately asked them for help. They can teleport within a margin of 1.5 lightyears, meaning that it'll still take them a year or two to actually reach our location. But they're en route as we speak, and you're one of the people who will be able to meet them!”
“You still may be wondering why you, of all people, would be selected for such a task.” Marty said, the camera showing him sitting down in the banquet hall with a meal in front of him, “You with your average life, average job, average family, average hobbies. Well, that's exactly why we chose you! You are an individual who has exhibited abnormally normal behavior throughout your life. If we're going to show alien entities our way of life, we need people who clearly represent our culture, in all of its normalcy. Every sovereign nation involved in Operation Exodus will send two HIDOs from their country to Area 51, two of the most average individuals that they can find! A bit like Noah's Arc, I suppose.”
The camera cut back to the kitchenette, where Marty stood once again with his coffee cup. “This whole ordeal may seem shocking to you, but you should know that your friends and family will know no pain when they meet their end.” Marty said, “I would hardly consider it death, in fact. Much more like... ceasing to exist, I suppose. Everything that we've done here will be physically erased, but in the minds of you HIDOs, we'll live on! If anyone's gonna carry on humanity, it's gonna be you.” Marty yet again pointed at the camera happily. The smiling image of Marty froze, and the credits began to roll across the screen, finishing the last film that would ever be made.

As the screen cut to black, Alex's mind cut to black, as well. He couldn't think. He couldn't believe that this was happening, he didn't believe that this was happening.
“Well, on the upside,” Marty said, “I've got a great stage presence, don't I?”
“I don't...” Alex said, trailing off.
“Believe it?” Marty asked, “Yeah, it still hasn't totally hit me yet. I guess it never really will!”
Marty let out a small chuckle as Alex sat in silence, his eyes wide, his gaze blank.
“God, I hate this part.” Marty said, “All the HIDOs always have that look after I show them that video. You'll get over it, don't worry. Hey, you wanna see the blooper reel?”
Alex did not respond.
“I'll take that as a no, then.”

Marty stood up from his chair and walked behind Alex. “I'm gonna cut you loose now, Alex. Promise me you aren't gonna go running off all crazy like that last guy from Bolivia.” Alex was silent.
“Okay, here we go.” Marty said, kneeling down and setting Alex free. Once Alex was loose, his entire body slumped over, his eyes wide in a state of shock.
“Hey, would that latte I got you earlier make you feel any better, or can I have it?” Marty asked. Once again, Alex did not respond.
“Alright buddy, let's get you on that plane to Area 51!” Marty declared, taking Alex's hand by force and lifting him out of the chair. “This is time sensitive, by the way. I bought a panther a week ago and gotta go home, she gets lonely.”
Marty put his arm around Alex and slowly guided him to the double doors at the end of the banquet hall. “Alrighty. They're waiting for you outside,” Marty said, taking his arm off of Alex's shoulder, “And I'd get going if I were you, all the other HIDOs have been waiting for a few hours now and, you know, the world's ending.” Alex stood in front of the doorway and looked back at Marty like a wounded animal. “Go on.” Marty coaxed, watching Alex move his hand somberly toward the door. Alex stared at the door handle and slowly turned the knob.

Eliza

14

Sorry...My Mistake

The sun rose and everything fell. My dreams fell, my prospects fell, every ounce of dignity that I mistakenly once had ended up leaving in the middle of the night without so much as a note. Having just graduated college, I found myself in my childhood home, completely broke and completely useless. Majoring in elementary education was the main reason that I felt a little bit more suicidal today than I usually do. It was my passion, my livelihood, what I wrote about in my essay to get into college. Four years of studying, pulling all nighters, and a few bouts of trichotillomania which I subsequently solved by taking up a rather successful caffeine addiction to distract myself from my incessant hair pulling. Then I pop out of the completely overpriced school system so broke that I envied the stock brokers from ‘29 for having tall enough buildings to hurl themselves off. I also woke up in the middle of the night with a crippling realization: I don’t like kids.
Not really that I have anything against them but dear God. What has a child ever done for society? I mean other than destroy the mother that it crawled out of while she was screaming, and for the record I have watched horror movies with prettier scenes than the “miracle of birth”. I don’t like kids and I seriously doubt I would enjoy teaching them. I have had multiple teachers that couldn’t care less about their students, and I don’t want to be one of them. But I swear if I had to spend 7 hours a day trying to get them to sit still in their seats and stop eating their erasers, I would most likely have them play a game during recess called “who can kick the chair out from under Ms. Alex?”
And the pay of being a teacher won’t make up for me feeling dead inside every day I wake up; much like today I don’t think I will be able to find the strength to pull myself out of bed. In fact, teachers are paid so pathetically that I would probably have to become a drug dealer’s apprentice just to pay the bills. Maybe in a few years I would work my way up to being a dealer myself, but those kinds of aspirations are reserved for people who don’t lick their glasses clean just so they don’t have to find a sink.
When I really think about it, I’m pretty sure that I would make an awful teacher. Sure I studied hard and I got decent marks in college, but that’s completely different from actually trying to get a child to learn something. The way I explain things has been called “confusing”, “irritating”, “excuse me, why are you talking to my child”, and “who are you to be teaching my child how to read in an Applebee’s”. As much as kids may get on my nerves, I really don’t want to be the one responsible for them going nowhere in their lives. The day that I start dealing to them on the cheap, in exchange for them giving me a McDonalds discount, would probably be the day I realize that I’ve hit rock bottom. Hopefully that will be rock bottom for me.
I really don’t know what I’m going to do. I guess I can just be the teacher who hates her life and looks forward to the weekends solely because she can stay in bed and cry all day. I feel like that may come in the job description. The thing that really gets me is that I’m going to have to work a job that I hate to make money, money that I will then use to pay off the college loans that I accumulated while earning a degree to get a job that I will hate. What kind of sick joke is this? When will Satan get bored? Will someone please kill me? But could they do it for free because as I’ve said, I’m a little tight on cash.
I may as well lean in, suck it up, and go find a job. I honestly don’t know what else there is to do. Maybe I can go back to school in the future, but I’m going to have to find a way to pay for that. Perhaps I could have a child and just collect welfare for the rest of my life. Hey, there’s something that kids have done for society! Alright, I’ll go look for a job now. I’ll check in later.

November 27, 2006

Alex put her journal under her bed and sat up. She allowed herself to sigh heavily as she rose off her queen bed. She noticed her laptop charger, that she thought was charging her computer, by her desk. Alex then remembered that she left her laptop downstairs after looking up different ways to make money without actually having a job. She had come upstairs after debating whether or not getting hit by a car was worth it. Alex needed her laptop to finally look for a job She stepped on some of the wanted ads that her parents kept shoving into her room on her way to the door. She wasn’t sure if she was quite ready to end her wallowing and her self pity party. In opening the door, she would have to face her new life as an adult. Was she ready? Alex stared at the door handle and slowly turned the knob.

Cathleen

15

The sun rose and everything fell-There went a perfect date for Alex the werewolf. She had spent the entire evening chatting up this wolf who vaguely reminded her of Nicholas Cage. (But in a good way, like a refined Nicholas Cage-esque wolf. You know, kind grungy-looking, but with an unnamed redeeming quality that you can’t seem to figure out, but know is there.) They went to this spot in the woods where the trees and stars touched and the moon could be admired in full. For dinner, they both hunted down some lightly marinated rodent and bird a la carte. Her date even had a great sense of humor: ’’Waiter, there’s a hare in my moose’s digestive tract!” She was really enjoying herself. But then, the sun rose and everything fell. She had no other choice but to excrete her fur and fangs upon the sun’s rays and walk the wretched ‘walk of shame’ back to the city. There was no time to tell her Nicholas-Cage-wolf date goodbye. Whenever Alex had been in the same position like this in front of other wolves, they were always repulsed by her humanness. Alex didn’t blame them. Humans kind of grossed her out too.
Alex always knew she would never be perfectly content being even a little human in a post-Twilight existence, stuck with human men who partake in man buns and feelings and low crotch pants. How could she ever find that attractive over a wolf who possessed the musky forest smell of bloody animals, urine, and dead bodies?
But Alex had to fight this inner battle just like her ancestors before had. Being a werewolf wasn’t a choice, neigh, it was her life. She would just have to put up with being human for half the day if it meant she got to be wolf the other.
At the entrance of her human apartment building, Alex stood, staring at the window’s reflection of the other humans walking by.
Alex glowered and thought, "They think they’re so great with five fingers. I bet all they do with them is write with pencils. That and text on the toilet. What a waste."
In Alex’s mind, wolves were the better species. She was even in a club founded by this guy she found online called the K9. They believed in the day of lupus where wolves would dominate the human race. Sure the guy had a criminal record, but Alex respected his ideas. There were few humans who she found worthy of her respect and he and David Letterman were some of them.
On the sidewalk where she stood, a Pomeranian on a pink leash barked at her.
Alex watched the artificially bred pom-pom and thought, "Pathetic excuse for a member of Canis lupus."
In Alex’s mind, dogs were subordinate to wolves. To her, they ‘sold out’ to humans.
“Yo, yo. Alex!” The door-opener of Alex’s apartment complex hollered. With his overweight gut and almost obsessive need to know every tenant’s name, he symbolized the quintessential emotional human. He heaved over to Alex and opened the door, his one job. “Hey, what sup, dawg?”
"I’M NOT A ‘DAWG’, YOU SLIME BALL OF HOMO SAPIEN-NESS. I AM A WERE- WOLF. I DON’ T GO BARKING UP FIRE HYDRANTS; I BARK UP TREES IN THE FREAKING FOREST. " Alex screamed in her mind.
But in response, all Alex did was snarl with her teeth.
“Are you going inside or are you headed to work? Because this door is kind of getting heavy…” The door-opener asked.
Alex was going to go in and change for work, but decided against it. Besides, she liked the smell of the forest that lingered in her clothes. It would remind her of that wonderful, short-lived date she had with the dreamboat wolf. So without saying anything to the door-opener, Alex turned around and walked to work. She wished she could use her arms like front legs and run to work like her wolf-self, but part of being a werewolf was keeping your inner wolf secret. If a human found out you were a werewolf, they might combust from your awesomeness…at least that’s what Alex thought. None of her ancestors ever got around to telling her why. They all had a history of strokes and short life spans. Maybe Alex should look into that sometime.
Alex worked on Wall Street as a secretary. This was the closest she could get to being a wolf on Wall Street. But other than that, there’s not much else to the job she enjoys. Above all, she hated lunch break.
“Where’s the meat?!” Alex growled while clawing at the vending machine.
Brenda took this as an invitation to talk. “We’re trying a more vegan-friendly approach to improve the atmosphere of the work space.”
Alex made a mental note: "Reason why I hate humans number 322: Vegetarians."
Jason giggled. “Like who would even eat meat out of a vending machine, though. That’s gross.”
Alex hunched over to an empty table and watched Brenda and Jason eat.
Alex's inner voice spoke to her. "It’s you versus the humans, remember. That’s the way it’s always been. You’re so much better than them. You’re part wolf, remember? You’re like, awesome. They’re like, not awesome."
She had always been a lone wolf; she just had to remember that.
“Alex, are you sure you don’t want some of my homemade gluten-free humus?” Brenda called over.
Alex growled. “I want protein.” She suddenly felt sick. She couldn’t be around these humans anymore. Any of them.
She got of her seat and began running out of the building, but even she couldn’t stop her super wolf hearing. From off inside the breakroom, now far behind Alex, Jason clucked his tongue. “Looks like someone’s going to be Hungry Like the Wolf, then.”
Brenda squealed. “I love Duran Duran!”
And Alex, already half a mile away, thought to herself: Me too…Me too…

Alex was running on her arms and legs. She didn’t care that anyone would see her like a wolf. In fact, those measly humans and their humus should be honored- they get to see what a real wolf is like. When she arrived at her apartment building, the door-opener started laughing.
“Yo, dawg, just cuz I call you ‘dawg’ don’t mean you need to run like one!”
Alex didn’t bother being nice. “GET OUT OF MY WAY, HUMAN.”
Alex didn’t stop running until she reached her apartment door. She was heaving and wiped her face with the back of her hand to discover it was drenched in a substance lighter than sweat.
For the first time in her life, Alex was crying.
It must have been from the loneliness of being a lone wolf kind of human, from pushing away the humans that interact with her. It must have all added up inside and made her cry. But that was no excuse. When a werewolf cries, they relinquish their wolf-hood. When a werewolf cries, they are subjecting their hardcore wolf-ness to the emotional human state of feelings.
Alex would no longer be part wolf.
Alex spent her first evening as a human in bed, watching Teen Wolf, and eating dog biscuits. To think, less than twenty-four hours ago, she had been on her wolf date, doing wolf things, making fun of sensitive humans.
The next morning the sun rose and Alex got out of bed to examine her human features. There were no visible signs that she had once been a werewolf. After getting ready for work, Alex glanced out the window to see if maybe she had missed the moon.
Nope, just the risen sun.
Alex stared at the door handle and slowly turned the knob.

Dinah

14

The sun rose and everything fell. Like literally, everything. The manga books from the shelf, the drawing utensils from the art desk, the little disco ball on his ceiling, most of the coffee from the cup in his hand, even the cat that sat on his bed. Why? Who knows. What Alex did know, however, is the room that he’d spent hours cleaning and organizing was now in a complete mess and the rage that was building up in his chest made him want to scream.
Everything was ruined!
Everything was out of order!
No!
And all he’d wanted was a cup of coffee.
He also knew that the sudden jolt that took over his house was very uncommon in a place like Syracuse, and deemed it unnatural. But deep down, he knew what this was. It was the world turning against him. As many may know, Lent is a seasonal period that lasts about 40 days and people are forced to give up something during that period to make them a better person and form a closer connection to God. Being a firm believer in God, Alex promised he would not drink a single cup of coffee, but he couldn’t help it! He had a deadline for when he needed the next episode for his webcomic and just couldn’t seem to sleep. Of course it was partially his fault for waiting till the very last minute and spending most of his time trying to get to the next level in Mortal Combat.
Leaving his room, he heads to the kitchen and dumps what was left of his coffee into the sink before grabbing a sanitized napkin and wiping off any excess splatters that held on tight to his shirt. Then he advances to the closet in the hallway. First, a mask to cover his nose and mouth and protect him from any chemicals or dust that might find them. Second, a pair of elastic gloves that reached his elbows to shield him from any splinters and cuts. Third, a scrubbing appliance. Fourth, a duster. Fifth, a broom. Sixth . . . a ruler.
With everything in hand he proceeds back into the room. Using the scrubbing appliance, he rubs at the the covers of the books that had collected dust from the floor before arranging them in alphabetical order based on the author and any series was put in order based on the time they came out. The covers on his bed ended up being a little shuffled so Alex completely pulls the sheets off and remakes it. Any wrinkle, any bubble, and any fold being pressed down to ensure absolute cleanliness. Next, he scrubs the pens that had fallen from his art desk and places them on the table sequentially based on the depth of the marker and, with the ruler, makes sure there’s exactly a half inch of space between each of them.
As you may have noticed, Alex is a bit weird . . . actually, he’s extremely weird. You see, Alex suffers from an over compulsive disorder where dust to him looks like cow poop. He’s had this ongoing feud with bacteria since the day he could talk. The man even has a little compartment on his door where he does all his transactions because he never leaves the house. Ever. At the age 8 when his father figured he was of age to take care of himself, he put him in this house and he hasn’t been outside since. 13 years of never feeling the wind pass his skin and he felt fine. Knows how to read, found a passion for drawing, has a job, and can play video games all he wants without having to wake up early in the morning. What more could he possibly want?
However, because he’s never left his house before it means his interaction with the human species was very . . . limited
Halfway through with cleaning, the loud and obnoxious sound of a phone ringing pulls him away from his work. Alex pulls one of his gloves off before reaching in his back pocket and answering it.
“Hello?” he speaks gruffly, getting up and onto his feet.
“Ooh, ooh! He answered!” A faint voice squeals in the distance. Alex can only squint his eyes in confusion.
“Um . . . who is this?” He asks.
A muffled cough proceeds through the receiver first before an answer follows. “Um, yes, I am the executive secretary of, um, the Washington Tech Facility and our company has been gathering poles, I mean, a poll on the amount of applicants whose refrigerators aren’t running . . . is your refrigerator running?” The voice that travels to Alex’s delicate ears are obviously those of a female attempting to imitate that of a man’s. Not only was it so painfully obvious that this was a prank call, Alex could do anything but realize the acronym for the fake name of this “company” was WTF.
“Don’t ever call this number again.” Alex replies.
“Wa-” but Alex has already hung up and gotten back to work on eliminating the filthy traces of excrement that relaxed on his floor. His floor.
How dare this piece of trash think it can be here on my floor! Alex thinks. It’s preposterous! As if they have no sense of manners or respect at all.
Scrubbing vigorously, Alex’s phone begins to chime. He answers once again without checking the caller ID.
“Hello?” he says.
“Why’d you hang up? I wasn’t done talking to you Mister!” the female is no longer attempting to do a male’s voice and a high pitched and cracked sound trills through his ears.
“Didn’t I tell you never to call this phone ever again?” Alex asks trying to keep his calm, but the anger boiling up inside him only grew the longer he stayed on the phone. Prank calls were only the little fraction of the things that made his skin crawl in fury. His temper and patients were . . . below average.
“Well I wouldn’t of had to do that if you hadn’t hung up so the only person you can really blame is yourself, Mister.” she retorts.
“Who is this?” he pauses. “For real this time.”
“Okay, okay.” she begins. “The truth is I’m actually not the executive secretary of Washing Tech Facility. The company doesn’t even exist. I made it up.” Yeah, like I hadn’t figured that one out, Alex thinks. “My real name is Tequila. I’m the best friend of the next heir to Planet Uranus and I called you because we are in desperate need of your help in order to save our race.”
As soon as the words had left her mouth Alex couldn’t help the snort that left his nose as he sat there listening to this crazy woman make up worse lies than the next. Was she serious?
“And I know it sounds unbelievable, but it’s true!” she continues. “I swear! Just, wait one moment while I try and prove it to you.” Alex couldn’t stand staying on the phone with her any longer, but before he can hang up the phone, the same rumbling that had consumed his room this morning takes over again, jostling him on and over his bed until he’d hit the floor on the other side.
Dazed, and a little bit bruised, Alex sits up on his knees and rubs his back with his phone still in hand. When his eyes open, his vision starts out incredibly blurry. In front of him he can make out blurred visions of orange people in something blue. He blinks, and suddenly the vision is more clear. In the place of his wall and bookcase now sat a gigantic hole and a vehicle that resembled that of the UFO’s he’d seen in movies.
The orange people drew closer and after another blink he could make out their apparel. They wore clothes in the color of a dark sea blue. A more thick, solid piece of cloth circled their neck like halos and a smooth silk draped to their feet like gigantic shawls.
Alex’s jaw drops and the phone that had once been clenched in his hand falls to the floor.
“What the h-” Alex starts but gets cut off by the same voice he’d been with on the phone just moments ago.
“Alex, we need you to come with us.” she says, her deep green orbs piercing through his own and purple hair trilling back with the long wind. He never knew purple and orange could mix so well together, but on her it actually looked nice.
“Who the hell are you?” Alex asks, lips chapped and mouth dry as he sat there quaking in fear. He didn’t know what these freaks could do to him. Oh man, he should have never had that cup of coffee. Why did the world have to be so cruel?
“I told you, I’m Tequila. Princess Champagne's best friend. Our planet’s in trouble and we need you to help us. We need you, Alex Whitner, to save our kind.” she says growing closer until she stood directly on the opposite side of the bed. The others behind her stood there silently with stone cold and distant faces. They looked scary and way less friendly.
“Yeah, I’m not going anywhere with you guys!” Alex exclaims springing up to his feet and sinking more into the wall, thinking that maybe if he pressed hard enough he could go through and run out of this extremely weird situation.
“Fine, if that’s your choice.” she replies easily. Alex let’s out a relieved sigh thinking that this whole thing could finally be all behind him.
“VODKA!” she screams. A big, burly guy emerges from the small crowd who had stood behind her and, in a flash, is now right in front of Alex. With his gigantic fist, he swings it back and nails it right into Alex’s jaw. The impact brings dark spots to Alex’s eyes, and sends him tripping backwards. Vodka strikes him again and now he’s on his knees. It takes three more bashes before Alex’s lights finally blink out.

______________________________________________________________________________

When he wakes up he’s laying on top of a nice, soft, and plush bed. The dark and silk material draped over his abdomen and legs as he rested in probably the most forced but peaceful sleep he’s ever had.
Still a little woozy from the severe hits he’d taken just moments before, he slowly rises from the mattress. When he looks up, his eyes are first faced with three very beautiful women.
The first had skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as dark and eery as the night sky with a short pixie cut. Her aura was a bit weak though and reminded Alex of that of a depressed teenage girl. The second girl’s skin was a nice chocolate color. She had long, straight hair that sailed down and below her lower back. Her figure was thick. Not thick as in fat more thick as in bootylicious curves. And the last girl portrayed the same orange color he’d seen before being kidnapped. Her blonde curls stringed against her ear as the rest of her hair was wrapped in an elegant bun. Her figure wasn’t as thick as the previous girl, but not as frail as the one before that either. In all honesty, even with the strange sunset orange colored skin, she was a beautiful, exotic, and magnificent creature in his eyes. The most amazing thing he’s ever seen.
She takes a step forward.
“Hello, Alex.” she says, her voice even more tranquil than her presence.
Meanwhile the only thing Alex could think was, Oh my god! She knew my name!
“Uh . . . hi.” he replies, still sitting in bed. Was it normal to be talking to a girl while still sitting in bed? Is that like, a step up or another level? Have we made it to third base already?
Alex didn’t talk to many girls, actually, he hasn’t talked to anyone before, at least not face to face. Not even his own mother. Poor women. She died 2 years after Alex was born. It was hard raising a child who screamed whenever he was near someone or came within a centimeter of a god forbidden germ.
“I’d like to apologize on behalf of Vodka. I’d asked them to send you an invitation politely, not bring you here by force. For that, I truly am sorry.” she smiles, sending a round of butterflies fluttering in his stomach. His palms began to sweat, his throat started clogging up, and he was so terribly nervous. I’ve never been this close to a girl before. What should I do? What should I say? Do I touch her?
“My name’s Champagne.” she says sticking her hand out. Palm faced down and fingers in a sophisticated manner.
Alex, misinterpreting the gesture, gave her a fist bump instead of the kiss on the hand like normal people do. Pulling a sanitized napkin from his pocket, he rubs his knuckles clean. She can only smile at the sight of him.
“These are my sisters, Whiskey,” points to Snow White, “and Bon Qui Qui.” gestures to Tiana.
“Bon Qui Qui?” Alex asks after hearing her name. What mother on this earth, well uranus, would ever name their child . . . Bon Qui Qui?
“What, Boo? You got a problem with that? You don’t like my name? You want me to come over there and knock your prissy little teeth out?” Her loud, booming voice ricochets off the walls and into Alex’s eardrums, leaving him deaf for a minute. He quickly comes back to his senses.
“No, no. It’s not that.” he says trying to defend himself and keep all of his teeth. “It’s just that I noticed that a lot of the people here are named after alcohol. Yours isn’t so I was just curious about that is all . . . “
“What you mean Bon Qui Qui ain’t a drink? Bon Qui Qui is the best toxin around. It’s like the high without having to sniff anything into your nose.” she laughs.
Alex shoots a fake smile her way before deciding to finally get out of bed.
“I know you didn’t want to come here so we have a Starship on it’s way to take you back to Earth.” Champagne continues. “We don’t want you doing something you don’t want to. We’ll just find someone els-”
“Wait! What?” Alex's voice screeches at a very unmanly pitch. He coughs to get his masculinity back. “I mean, I’m already here. I might as well help. What do you want me to do? I’ll do anything you ask me to!” His voice comes out rushed, like a chipmunk in love.
“We need you to defeat The Germ.” she states.
“The Germ?” Alex asks extremely confused. He hated germs. Germs were his pet peeve, his number one enemy. Heck, they were the devil themselves.
“Uranus is a very highly immaculate and hygienic planet. The best in the entire universe. In it’s entire 4.503 billion years of existence, we have never contracted a single pathogen. That is, until last fall. Our neighboring planet, Saturn, somehow had terrorists infiltrate our security. We’d managed to eliminate them before it became a huge threat, but unfortunately, there was The Germ. None of us here can get to a close enough proximity to destroy The Germ because to us, getting within a 5 foot radius of The Germ is like willingly jumping onto a landmine. It will kill us instantly.” Alex gasps. Champagne only nods. Bon Qui Qui is in the background on her phone and Whiskey is staring off into space with sad eyes. She still hasn’t said a word.
“We’d gotten word around here that you’re skills in defending yourself against germs are absolutely superb. We need you to help us kill The Germ before it leaks and contaminates our food supply and water.”
“What can I do?” Alex asks enthusiastically. Most of the words that had left her mouth go through one ear and out the other. His eyes are fixated on her lips but not what she was actually saying. The sight of them had him thinking about all the other things those lips could do . . .
“Well, you’ll need to meet our dad first. He’ll tell you exactly what needs to be done before you can move forward.” she says.
Did I hear that correctly? Alex envisages. I’m meeting who?
“I’m meeting your dad! He doesn’t own a gun, does he?” Alex exclaims aloud, probably too loud. This was one of the fastest moving relationships he’s ever had.
“Yes, you’re meeting him and no, he doesn’t own a gun. Technology like that is not needed here.” she answers. Alex lets out a huge sigh of relief. “The Germ’s located underneath one of our vacation houses. That’s where our father is right now. We’ll have to cross town to reach it.”
“Awesome! Let’s go!” Alex cheers enthusiastically. He was ready to go anywhere with a beauty like her.
“Hold on.” she states, holding out a hand to keep him from moving. “First, you must wear this.” she says grabbing something that looked like a fishbowl and placing it over his head. “The air in here is purified for humans, so as soon as you step out there, you’ll die.”
“Oh.” Alex gulps.
“Ready?”
“Yep!”
“Whatever.” Whiskey speaks up for the first time. “I’m gonna go torture some squirrels in the backyard.” she leaves.
“I’m gonna go hang out with Boo at his place. LeRoy say he wanna show me something so I’mma go. Bye!” She also exits.
Alone at last. Alex sighs.

______________________________________________________________________________

They’re floating high in the air in this makeshift contraption many Alcoholics (creatures of Uranus) call Hoverboards. Everything is so bright and loud and bursting with energy. Though the sky outside stood forever dark, the blinding lights that came from the sidewalk pathways, roads, and buildings lit up the entire atmosphere. Orange people were everywhere. Gambling in street corners, making out against walls, playing strip poker in front of buildings, and so on and so forth.
But what had really caught Alex’s attention was the huge crowd that circled around and a sign that read URANUS SHOWDOWN.
“What’s all that about?” Alex asks as they draw nearer.
“That?” Champagne’s head gestures toward the direction. Alex murmurs in response. “That’s the Uranus Showdown. Two competitors compete and basically make fun of each other’s butts. The winner gets to shop free at the local mall for a month. It’s one of the biggest events here. It can be very entertaining.”
Alex tunes in to the words once he’s in ears reach.
“Uranus is so fat, that when you go to the airport they charge you two tickets for your seats.” The smaller and less developed female says.
Ooh! Burn!
“Uranus is so flat, that when your boyfriend tries grabbing it his pinky can’t even get anything.” The bigger and more developed female shoots back.
Shot’s fired!
“Uranus is so fat, that when Kim Kardashian wears your jeans her butt looks flat. Bam, WHAT!”
Whoa. Where’d you go? She threw so much shade, I can’t even see you anymore.
“Oh yeah, well Uranus is so flat, that botox can’t even do anything to help you.”
Oh my god! She didn’t? Oh my god! She did! Okay, this is heating up. I have got to hear the rest of this.
Alex leans in a little more to try listen in but the distance is so large it’s impossible to make out anything. So instead, every time they hit a bump in the road, he holds on tighter to Champagne’s waist and tries his best to not let a gap come between them.
When they arrive at the vacation house, a tall stark man is already waiting for them at the steps. Alex immediately lets go of her hips, not wanting to make a bad first impression on her father.
“Welcome, Alex.” his deep booming voice portrays the power and domination he has over his people alone. “I am King Scotch. You may call me Your Majesty.”
“Yes, your majesty. It is an honor to meet you.” he responds.
“I am sure Champagne has already told you why you’re here.” he starts. “Now you must follow me. Champagne, you wait right here. This shouldn’t take too long.”
King Scotch starts his way inside and Alex hesitates, not wanting to leave Champagne behind or be alone with her father either.
“Go.” she whispers quietly. “I’ll be fine. You won’t be happy if you see how my father gets when he’s angry. He’s a very impatient man.”
Alex is off without a second thought. He seems small standing near such a large man, but the trip to their destination is short and silent.
Finally they reach a door grazed in many locks and heavy steel. He felt like a spy infiltrating a top secret government facility. It was awesome!
King Scotch hands Alex plastic gloves, which he puts on, and a spray can that says: The Germ Killer.
“Spray this on the germ and come back.” King Scotch states.
“Really? That’s it?” Alex questions.
“Yes. That’s all. Go straight, take a right, the door’s on your left. Open it, spray The Germ, dispose of the things I gave you and your clothes, then come back.”
“Well, okay. I can do that easy!”
King Scotch unbolts the doors and shoves Alex inside.
“I can do this no problem.” he says to himself in the darkness.
Trying to remember King Scotch’s directions, Alex feels his way forward and takes a right. He slides his hand onto the left side of the wall until his fingers meet a doorknob. Opening it, he immediately realizes he was in the wrong room. And it’s not because he just remembered the right course in order to get to the destination, but because of the screen in front of him and a small man that sat frozen in his chair. On the screen it read, PLAN TO TAKE OVER EARTH.
Alex’s eyes drop back down to the man, then up to the screen, and at the man again.
“I think I have the wrong room.” Alex finally says after a few seconds of tense silence. Then he closes the door behind him and makes his way to the real objective.
Opening the door, he walks into the empty room. The supposedly dangerous Germ that was here was no where to be seen. Alex squinted deeper into the distance trying to make out the slightest of movements, but with no avail does he see anything.
Then suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he sees a slight but noticeable movement. Before he can turn around, something jumps on his back and sends him on the ground, face first. The Germ Killer that had been in his hand flies from his grip and rolls across the floor.
Whatever had decided to jump him was large and strong. Alex knew it had to be The Germ. Flailing and splatting around, Alex is able to turn himself face to face with this Germ. It was a green, slimy looking thing with see through gooey insides. It’s eyes were holes and it’s mouth is two slimy strings of something that kind of looked like cheese. And get this, it had arms. Arms! When Alex had signed up for this he did not expect to be battling a bacteria that was bigger than him and had arms!
Bringing his legs back, Alex uses all his momentum to kick The Germ off of him. Once he’s freed, he quickly turns over and starts crawling towards The Germ Killer spray. Before he can reach it something grabs his leg, sending him back a few inches. Alex grips as tight to the floor as he can, trying to be as heavy as humanly possible as he claws his way to the can.
Alex finds a steel pole connected to the wall nearby (which was kind of lucky considering, how many times can you find a pole sticking out of a wall?) and grabs hold of it, turning him sideways. He now laid elevated a couple inches from the ground, his fingers gradually slipping as he tried to grip on tighter. The Germ inches closer until his head is level with Alex’s, meanwhile Alex is trying to stretch his fingers to grab hold of The Germ Killer. The Germ opens its mouth. Inside a black hole with a stringy, sticky substance stretched out inside has Alex trying to stretch quicker. He knew what The Germ was going to do. The Germ was going to cough all over him and give him the cooties. He was going to make Alex sick! And Alex has never been sick. With a sudden drive coursing through Alex’s veins, he reaches The Germ Killer and holds it in his hands. The Germ breathes in, and Alex sends a long stream of spray right into it’s mouth. The Germ jerks back, letting go of Alex, and topples to the floor, coughing. Alex sits up and moves in closer. He sprays again, and again, and again. Until the spray can is empty and The Germ has stopped moving.
He’d done it. Alex Whitner has killed The Germ.

Having already disposed of the materials and his clothes, he walks down the hall (butt naked) and finds King Scotch once more.
“I did it.” Alex says. Proud and confident even without any clothes on.
“Good. Now put these clothes on.” He hands Alex the bundle of clothing. “A Starship will be waiting outside for you as soon as you finish. You did good work today, son. You are forever in our favor.”
Alex can only smile as he watches the King retreat. He’d never felt so capable in his life. Who knew being a neat freak would come in handy some day?
Once he has his clothes on he exists the building and finds Champagne standing near the Starship. She smiles as soon as he spots him coming down the stairs.
“You did it!” she squeals once he’s closer.
“Yeah, I did it.” he repeats.
Her smile is so wide and wonderful that he can’t help but smile too. He loved seeing her so . . . lively.
“Thank you.” she says, getting to her toes and pressing her perfect luscious lips against his cheeks. She leaves a hot trace that has his cheeks turning a vibrant red. Once she’s back on her heels she grabs a metal stamper from her pocket and grabs his hand.
“Here’s my number.” she says pressing the material into his palm so that it left the imprint of numerical values. “Call me when you finally decide to leave your house. I might come and visit sometime soon.”
Alex stares at the imprint on his hand, smiles, and strides up and into the Starship with pride. A new kind of pride. A lover’s kind of pride.
“Oh, and before I forget, I saw this strange dude when I was down there who had plans on the computer to take over Earth. Would you like maybe, stop him or something?” Alex asks.
“I’ll see what I can do.” Champagne replies.
“Okay, well, see you soon!” And then he’s gone.
________________________________________________________________________

Alex is lying on his bed when he wakes up.
That was the strangest dream. He thinks as he sits up. He stretches his arms and yarns to get the sleepiness out of this system. As he raises his hand he notices something on his right palm. A number . . . ?
Holy smokes! It wasn’t a dream!
Feeling a rush swipe through him he lunges out of the mattress and picks up the cellphone that had been lying on the floor next to his bed where he’d last left it. In a rush he forgets his shoes and races to the door. He hesitates when he reaches it, thinking of all the germs that would be on the other side. But he’d defeated the greatest germ of them all, and if he could do that, he could do anything. Plus, he really wanted to see bae. Alex stared at the door handle and slowly turned the knob.

Alyssa

16

Manic Pixie Dream Boy
The sun rose and everything fell. Everything in Alex’s life seemed to fall away. Her hope, meaning, and dreams. She grabbed a pair of headphones from her desk and blasted Glowing Fairies, an underground indie band that may or may not actually exist. Closing her eyes, she thought of how no one seemed to understand her. Not even her Boring Disposable Boyfriend…or ex-boyfriend as of an hour ago.
Charles, her Boring Disposable Boyfriend, had met her at her favorite, small coffee shop. He’d, of course, only ordered plain water, while she sipped from her black, eerily complex coffee. Charles was always too simple, too ordinary for Alex. Whenever she spouted some complicated literature analysis, he just stared blankly at her and nodded, even though she knew he didn’t understand her complex thoughts. He was, after all, a boy, and boys were too stupid to understand intelligent conversation.
So she broke up with him. Charles had looked upset, but Alex felt free. She was finally free from her suffocating relationship.
“You’re just too…boring for me,” she explained to him.
“What do you mean?” he asked her.
“Charles, you don’t even know who the Glowing Fairies are and the literature you read is tasteless…if it can even be called literature,” she said.
He’d left and Alex felt no remorse. She downed her burning hot coffee, which scorched her throat and left.
The sun had set, eclipsing the world in utter darkness. She had not realized that while she sat in the coffee shop, hours had gone by. As she drove away she began to feel it: a creeping sadness taking over. The streetlights in her neighborhood illuminated the street. The darkness surrounded the street lights and the light they illuminated. Alex thought that it completely represented her feelings. She thought it was beautiful…in a sad way. As sadness, she thought, is beautiful.
Then she saw a tall, shadowy figure running across the lawn, straight towards her car. Eileen locked her doors instantly and jumped when he pressed his face against the passenger side window. She sighed when she noticed it was her neighbor, Tom. His blonde hair was messy and his cheeks were flushed.
When she rolled down the window, he folded his arms against the door. “What are you doing at this hour?” he inquired.
“Driving home,” she muttered.
He raised an eyebrow. Reaching inside, he unlocked the door and jumped into the passenger seat. Alex began to protest, but he shushed her. “Just drive,” he told her. Alex gave him a questioning look, but he gestured forward. She still didn’t move. When Tom reached across, as if to grab the steering wheel, she pushed his arms away and drove forward.
He looked anxious. Tom wore a thick sweater that she knew he probably made himself out of llama hair. His beat up Converse were covered in Sharpie doodles, as were his jeans. He was crazy and eccentric and made Alex both confused and curious. He was new and exciting and, well, the complete opposite of Charles, her Boring Disposable Ex-Boyfriend. Charles was always clean and wore nice polo shirts and khakis. Like most boys, Charles did not understand Alex. Tom was different. Tom was not like other boys.
She didn’t stop driving until they pulled up into a grass field that faced a dark lake. The moon was reflected in its surface. Just like the streetlights, the lake was also sadly beautiful. Tom jumped out of the car and raced towards the sad, beautiful lake.
“What are you doing?” Alex called to him. He just waved his arms, gesturing for her to follow him.
She laughed to herself and jogged towards him. He stood at the edge of the water, his shoes off. Stretching his arms towards the sky, he looked at her. “It’s so calm. The water. The world. Right now, at night.”
Alex nodded.
“It’s so rare to find a place this…quiet. In the world.”
Alex nodded, who somehow understood his nonsense. His crazy, beautiful nonsense. She took his hand and stared out at the lake.
Tom pulled away and ran into the water, clothes still on. Alex laughed. “Are you crazy?”
“A little. Come in the water!” he yelled. Alex crossed her arms and shook her head. “Come on! You have to live a little!”
Alex considered this. He was right. In order to actually live you had to jump into a lake fully-clothed at night. She couldn’t believe what she was about to do. And then she ran and jumped into the lake.
Tom smiled as she surfaced, his blue eyes shining in the moonlight. His eyes, like the streetlights and the lake, were sadly beautiful. They showed sadness. And beauty. At that moment, Alex realized that Tom understood her. Not like her other boyfriends or other boys. Even though she’d barely spoken to him and she barely knew him, he understood her. They barely said anything, but Alex felt like Tom understood her in a crazy, sad, beautiful way.
“I was thinking. About what you said,” she began. “The world is never quiet, except when people sleep or there’s no life or something. Like you’re in the middle of nowhere.” Tom nodded. “Maybe when all life dies on Earth, the world will finally be quiet.” She shook her head and look down self-consciously. “I don’t know. It’s stupid.”
Tom smiled. “Maybe.” Alex thought that he was sadly beautiful.
They each stood there in the water, talking about the complexity of quietness in the world. They shared theories about quietness and the world and how complex humans were and how complex life was and how complex quietness was.
Eventually, they left. Alex dropped Tom off and drove back home. Her clothes clung to her uncomfortably. She felt changed. She was changed. She truly lived. Tom literally showed her to live.
When she got home, she stopped to ponder life. Maybe she had to do crazy stuff every once in a while. Maybe she had to jump into a lake fully-clothed sometimes. Alex stared at the door handle and slowly turned the knob.

Ellington

17

The sun rose and everything fell in London; babies, people, artifacts,trees, cats, dogs, baby Jesus. It never made sense to me why the buildings never fell on Fall Day, such a wretched day. This was the day when all of London knew Fall was coming to settle, I hated the date along with others of course. My tea had spilled on my shirt; oh the agony. I’d say I was having a rather splendid start to fall day being burned by hot tea and being crushed by tons of furniture. I lifted myself up and looked around, my shack was completely trashed. There was a rustle somewhere in the back of the room and I remember my best mate Alex had stayed the last few weeks at my shack with me in preparation to Fall Day. Of course he has family he could go to like his insane mother who tried to kill him with a beach towel and a loaf of bread. Alex was a ginger and his mom was superstitious so of course she thought her baby had Satan in him. Which was pretty foolish because when I joined their Thanksgiving dinner his mother dyed her hair red. She also through the turkey knife at Alex, crazy wench that one is. I’d never say that aloud because Alex is defensive for her and she might pop and attack me with bread. Anyway, Alex couldn’t stay at his house either. Alex is rather wealthy and he decides to spend the bulk of his wealth of massive sculptures of superheroes. His mansion is an emporium of action-statues. They’re awfully detailed too, so you can see the body imprints beneath the ultra tight spandex each hero has-most of them are guys. I don’t know why anyone would want that to surrounding them everyday, but Alex is a strange man. I was quite the money maker myself I just spent on much more important things.
Alex was buried under a pile of my extensive, um, “literature” collection.
“Mate are you alright?” I asked. Alex said nothing he just pushed his hand out with a thumbs up. I glanced around again in disgust of my ruined shack. The length of time to clean this place was ungodly. I started cleaning for a while and made my way to the living room and saw my couches overturned and my telley was face down still playing SpongeBob that I left on this morning. Alex came trudging in exhausted for an odd reason.

“Hey, you’ve got quite a collection of literature,” Alex said, he seemed out of breathe “If you weren’t my best mate I’d call you a pervert.”

I looked at him suspiciously and realized he was exhausted from enjoying my “literature.” That must be why he took so long to get out of the pile of my extensive collection, the strain of getting out of magazines shouldn’t have been that heavy. How dare he judge me? Alex’s face got deadly serious and he rarely gets serious, obviously this guy collects 8 feet statues of men in spandex. His eyes were resting on the telly. I trace his eyes and saw he was looking at a small furry tail barely wagging under my tv. I screamed as loud as I could.
“NO!!”
I rushed to the television and pulled off of my sweet companion Puggles, my adorable pug. Once fat, he now has a physically impossible body structure, his round pudgy body was rectangular. It was like watching Tom and Jerry and how they were crushed by items and flattened, only this was real and Puggles wasn’t going to get up and chase a mouse-he’s a dog.
“I can’t believe this. Why Puggles, he was so young! he was just a pup.”
“Just to be clear he was like 12 in dog years. That’s like late 60’s in human years. I’d say he had it coming to him.” Alex said, I glared at him with red puffy eyes.
“Sorry, sorry,” he said raising his hands in submission.
“Why? It should’ve been Alex- no, It should’ve been Alex’s mum.”
“Hey you leave my lovely mum alone.”
“She tries to murder you every time you see her.”
“Patricia is still my mother Henry.”
“Shhh! Don’t say her name out loud,” I said looking around frantically, half expecting her to pop out my dead dog. Which reminded me of my dead Puggles and I began to tear up again.
“Hey now, hey now Henry. It’ll be ok. Puggles may have been a crazy mutt but he’s a dog nevertheless. You know what they say about dogs right mate?” Alex said trying to cheer me up.
“That..all dogs g-go the heaven?” I sobbed and sniffled.
“That’s right mate Puggles doesn’t deserve heaven but that’s where he’s goin’, Just like the movie.”
“I’ve never seen the movie,”
“Wait what?”
“I’ve never seen the movie so I don’t know what you mean.”
“It doesn’t matter let’s clean your shack up Henry, I’ll bury the mutt.
“He’s not a mutt! He’s a person too like you and I.”
“Whatever,” Alex sniffed and picked up Puggles and went towards the backyard. I mourned for a few more minutes and I recovered enough to start cleaning my upside-down house. I started with my shelves for my literature collection and put them back up on the wall. The shelves went from ceiling to floor and covered every wall in the room. It was a lot of shelves to put back up and usually my literature helps relieve plenty of stress but I just wasn’t feeling it today. I hear Alex come back in and start cleaning or at least I hoped he was cleaning- or even knew how. He’s had maids to pick up after him since birth. In the next 3 hours i had almost restored all of my shelves, I decided to take a break and went to the kitchen for a drink and a sandwich. Alex was already there eating up all of my leftover fish and chips from the other day, I didn’t mind because leftover chips are quite gross to me. I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a glass of milk and sat there chatting with Alex until he had to use the bathroom.
“Give me a sec, I gotta use the loo.” he said. I nodded and he walked out, I was finishing my milk when I heard Alex yell out, causing me to spew my milk.

“AGH! My arse!”
“Alex, mate, go easy on that toilet, man.” I joked.
“I didn’t even make it to the loo yet Arthur, come help me.” He growled.
“You don’t need help foolish wanker,” something said. I froze halfway to the bathroom,
“Alex you got someone in there with ya mate?” I asked. He didn’t answer. I raced down the hallway and saw Alex standing still in shock, staring at my door.
“Well I must be all dolled up today the way you’re staring at me Alex honey”
“Who said that?” I asked.
“Well I did of course,” it spoke again. I found myself looking at a door and I suppose the door was talking.
“So my door can talk?” I asked
“Wrong, your doorknob can talk,” the doorknob said.
“What kind of voodoo bullsh-” Alex said in awe.
“Mate, I’m just as lost as you,”
“Well, it’s not that hard to grasp. Your doorknob can talk, nothing too out of the ordinary.” the handle said.
“W-well do you have a name?” I stammered.
“I’m a doorknob you silly Brit who would’ve named me?”
“I don’t know,”
“I’m fooling with ya crazy British guy and his friend, ‘course I have a name, take a guess”
Alex and I looked at each other with so much confusion, I’m pretty sure we could see the gears turning in each others head.
“Um, Rumpelstiltskin?” Alex guessed.
“Rumplestilt-? What! No, clever but not close.” the doorknob said.
“Well what it is?” I asked.
“Oh, it’s DK Turn.”
“Ha! What are you a DJ?” Alex asked.
“Quiet before you get knocked on your arse again Brit.”
“Are you not, like, a british door knob?”
“Oh heavens no, I’m an import from America.”
“Well do you want anything?”
“I want freedom,”
“Freedom?”
“Aye, I’ve slaved for you brits for over a millenia and I’ve finally grown tired. I think it’s time to fight for my own land and for liberty.” DK said, he actually glowed quite vibrantly when he started talking about freedom. I grabbed Alex shoulder and steered him into a two man huddle.
“Did he just say-?” he started
“Ya, a door knob wants to be the start of the American Revolution,” I responded
“You think he can pull that off?”
“Well he can talking, who know what the hell else he can do.”
“You think there might be others?” Alex asked. We held a gaze for a moment and then I had an idea.
“This is ridiculous, get a pen and find a bird feather, I have old parchment hanging on my wall in my bedroom,”
“Are you going to write a Declaration of Independence?”
“Damn right I am,”
“But that was like years ago we barely know what’s on it, plus we’re British so, how the hell would we know anything.”
“Who cares mate? Just go do it. I’m going to take him out of the hinge.”
He nodded and walked off to get the items. I went for a screwdriver. I found a new silver door knob to replace DK and went back to the bathroom door.
“Hey there Brits. Have you finally come to free me?”
“Yes, I do. I hereby liberate DK, you are now a free doorknob. Alex get your butt in here!” Alex came running with parchment and pen. Alex told DK to sign and he’d be free. It got silent.
“I don’t exactly have hands,” DK said “I suppose my signature would be DK in pretty letters.”
Alex decided to write it down for him and it turns out Alex has magnificent cursive skills even on parchment.
“I have on request before you set me free.” DK said.
“What is it?” Alex grumbled.
“Give me a good turn one last time,” DK requested. Alex and I looked at eachother and he just shrugged. Alex stepped forward. Alex stared at the door handle and slowly turned the knob.

Ellington

17

The sun rose and everything fell in London; babies, people, artifacts,trees, cats, dogs, baby Jesus. It never made sense to me why the buildings never fell on Fall Day, such a wretched day. This was the day when all of London knew Fall was coming to settle, I hated the date along with others of course. My tea had spilled on my shirt; oh the agony. I’d say I was having a rather splendid start to fall day being burned by hot tea and being crushed by tons of furniture. I lifted myself up and looked around, my shack was completely trashed. There was a rustle somewhere in the back of the room and I remember my best mate Alex had stayed the last few weeks at my shack with me in preparation to Fall Day. Of course he has family he could go to like his insane mother who tried to kill him with a beach towel and a loaf of bread. Alex was a ginger and his mom was superstitious so of course she thought her baby had Satan in him. Which was pretty foolish because when I joined their Thanksgiving dinner his mother dyed her hair red. She also through the turkey knife at Alex, crazy wench that one is. I’d never say that aloud because Alex is defensive for her and she might pop and attack me with bread. Anyway, Alex couldn’t stay at his house either. Alex is rather wealthy and he decides to spend the bulk of his wealth of massive sculptures of superheroes. His mansion is an emporium of action-statues. They’re awfully detailed too, so you can see the body imprints beneath the ultra tight spandex each hero has-most of them are guys. I don’t know why anyone would want that to surrounding them everyday, but Alex is a strange man. I was quite the money maker myself I just spent on much more important things.
Alex was buried under a pile of my extensive, um, “literature” collection.
“Mate are you alright?” I asked. Alex said nothing he just pushed his hand out with a thumbs up. I glanced around again in disgust of my ruined shack. The length of time to clean this place was ungodly. I started cleaning for a while and made my way to the living room and saw my couches overturned and my telley was face down still playing SpongeBob that I left on this morning. Alex came trudging in exhausted for an odd reason.

“Hey, you’ve got quite a collection of literature,” Alex said, he seemed out of breathe “If you weren’t my best mate I’d call you a pervert.”

I looked at him suspiciously and realized he was exhausted from enjoying my “literature.” That must be why he took so long to get out of the pile of my extensive collection, the strain of getting out of magazines shouldn’t have been that heavy. How dare he judge me? Alex’s face got deadly serious and he rarely gets serious, obviously this guy collects 8 feet statues of men in spandex. His eyes were resting on the telly. I trace his eyes and saw he was looking at a small furry tail barely wagging under my tv. I screamed as loud as I could.
“NO!!”
I rushed to the television and pulled off of my sweet companion Puggles, my adorable pug. Once fat, he now has a physically impossible body structure, his round pudgy body was rectangular. It was like watching Tom and Jerry and how they were crushed by items and flattened, only this was real and Puggles wasn’t going to get up and chase a mouse-he’s a dog.
“I can’t believe this. Why Puggles, he was so young! he was just a pup.”
“Just to be clear he was like 12 in dog years. That’s like late 60’s in human years. I’d say he had it coming to him.” Alex said, I glared at him with red puffy eyes.
“Sorry, sorry,” he said raising his hands in submission.
“Why? It should’ve been Alex- no, It should’ve been Alex’s mum.”
“Hey you leave my lovely mum alone.”
“She tries to murder you every time you see her.”
“Patricia is still my mother Henry.”
“Shhh! Don’t say her name out loud,” I said looking around frantically, half expecting her to pop out my dead dog. Which reminded me of my dead Puggles and I began to tear up again.
“Hey now, hey now Henry. It’ll be ok. Puggles may have been a crazy mutt but he’s a dog nevertheless. You know what they say about dogs right mate?” Alex said trying to cheer me up.
“That..all dogs g-go the heaven?” I sobbed and sniffled.
“That’s right mate Puggles doesn’t deserve heaven but that’s where he’s goin’, Just like the movie.”
“I’ve never seen the movie,”
“Wait what?”
“I’ve never seen the movie so I don’t know what you mean.”
“It doesn’t matter let’s clean your shack up Henry, I’ll bury the mutt.
“He’s not a mutt! He’s a person too like you and I.”
“Whatever,” Alex sniffed and picked up Puggles and went towards the backyard. I mourned for a few more minutes and I recovered enough to start cleaning my upside-down house. I started with my shelves for my literature collection and put them back up on the wall. The shelves went from ceiling to floor and covered every wall in the room. It was a lot of shelves to put back up and usually my literature helps relieve plenty of stress but I just wasn’t feeling it today. I hear Alex come back in and start cleaning or at least I hoped he was cleaning- or even knew how. He’s had maids to pick up after him since birth. In the next 3 hours i had almost restored all of my shelves, I decided to take a break and went to the kitchen for a drink and a sandwich. Alex was already there eating up all of my leftover fish and chips from the other day, I didn’t mind because leftover chips are quite gross to me. I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a glass of milk and sat there chatting with Alex until he had to use the bathroom.
“Give me a sec, I gotta use the loo.” he said. I nodded and he walked out, I was finishing my milk when I heard Alex yell out, causing me to spew my milk.

“AGH! My arse!”
“Alex, mate, go easy on that toilet, man.” I joked.
“I didn’t even make it to the loo yet Arthur, come help me.” He growled.
“You don’t need help foolish wanker,” something said. I froze halfway to the bathroom,
“Alex you got someone in there with ya mate?” I asked. He didn’t answer. I raced down the hallway and saw Alex standing still in shock, staring at my door.
“Well I must be all dolled up today the way you’re staring at me Alex honey”
“Who said that?” I asked.
“Well I did of course,” it spoke again. I found myself looking at a door and I suppose the door was talking.
“So my door can talk?” I asked
“Wrong, your doorknob can talk,” the doorknob said.
“What kind of voodoo bullsh-” Alex said in awe.
“Mate, I’m just as lost as you,”
“Well, it’s not that hard to grasp. Your doorknob can talk, nothing too out of the ordinary.” the handle said.
“W-well do you have a name?” I stammered.
“I’m a doorknob you silly Brit who would’ve named me?”
“I don’t know,”
“I’m fooling with ya crazy British guy and his friend, ‘course I have a name, take a guess”
Alex and I looked at each other with so much confusion, I’m pretty sure we could see the gears turning in each others head.
“Um, Rumpelstiltskin?” Alex guessed.
“Rumplestilt-? What! No, clever but not close.” the doorknob said.
“Well what it is?” I asked.
“Oh, it’s DK Turn.”
“Ha! What are you a DJ?” Alex asked.
“Quiet before you get knocked on your arse again Brit.”
“Are you not, like, a british door knob?”
“Oh heavens no, I’m an import from America.”
“Well do you want anything?”
“I want freedom,”
“Freedom?”
“Aye, I’ve slaved for you brits for over a millenia and I’ve finally grown tired. I think it’s time to fight for my own land and for liberty.” DK said, he actually glowed quite vibrantly when he started talking about freedom. I grabbed Alex shoulder and steered him into a two man huddle.
“Did he just say-?” he started
“Ya, a door knob wants to be the start of the American Revolution,” I responded
“You think he can pull that off?”
“Well he can talking, who know what the hell else he can do.”
“You think there might be others?” Alex asked. We held a gaze for a moment and then I had an idea.
“This is ridiculous, get a pen and find a bird feather, I have old parchment hanging on my wall in my bedroom,”
“Are you going to write a Declaration of Independence?”
“Damn right I am,”
“But that was like years ago we barely know what’s on it, plus we’re British so, how the hell would we know anything.”
“Who cares mate? Just go do it. I’m going to take him out of the hinge.”
He nodded and walked off to get the items. I went for a screwdriver. I found a new silver door knob to replace DK and went back to the bathroom door.
“Hey there Brits. Have you finally come to free me?”
“Yes, I do. I hereby liberate DK, you are now a free doorknob. Alex get your butt in here!” Alex came running with parchment and pen. Alex told DK to sign and he’d be free. It got silent.
“I don’t exactly have hands,” DK said “I suppose my signature would be DK in pretty letters.”
Alex decided to write it down for him and it turns out Alex has magnificent cursive skills even on parchment.
“I have on request before you set me free.” DK said.
“What is it?” Alex grumbled.
“Give me a good turn one last time,” DK requested. Alex and I looked at eachother and he just shrugged. Alex stepped forward. Alex stared at the door handle and slowly turned the knob.

Grace

15

The sun rose, vanquishing the darkness, and everything fell, like my risk of cervical cancer did after I started eating papayas every day. Well, it wasn’t “everything,” just a tree as tall as a twenty-foot pole and us while running from it. Our stupid backpacks made us all tumble to the ground, narrowly missing a huge branch. All those textbooks and calculators, but nothing that could get us out of these woods. If only I had a smartphone with a GPS; I would be having lots of fun in the first day of my math support class right now. Cathy had an iPhone, but her parents blocked everything on it they thought could corrupt her, including internet and Apple Maps.
As we dusted ourselves off, I said, “We should walk back. I’m pretty sure we’re lost. Thanks, Alex.” I glared at him because it was his idea to take this “shortcut” on the first day of high school, practically leading us to get crushed by a tree and ruining my new skirt.
“Sike,” Alex said.
“I said we should turn around forty minutes ago!” Larry, your typical fat best friend minus the being-funny part, whined.
“Well, it was too dark to hear you.” Looking around, I realized I had no idea which direction we came from. If I were autistic I’d love it—no sounds, no civilization, just trees and grass—but I’m not.
“Um, I think we came…that way?” I pointed at a tree, and we walked toward the one we think I might have pointed to. Someone sniffed.
“Larry, are you crying?” asked Alex, raking the dirt out of his wavy brown hair as if his hand were a rake.
He quickly wiped his eyes. “No, I was just thinking about the Great Depression.”
“Yeah, I’m bummed too,” Alex said, sighing. “I brought these curtains from my house for the homeless people drive at school and everything. And now they won’t get them.”
“And I brought a bunch of cute erasers, but we’re probably going to die in these woods before I can use them.” Cathy kicked a rock, upset.
“I brought my gun for school, but now I can’t use it,” I said. I looked around for any sign that we were going the right way, but everything was as uninteresting as Cathy’s face.
“Mia, you don’t seem the type,” said Alex. I was offended.
“See, your judging people is the reason why so many teens hurt themselves these days. Labels have negative impacts, so think about the possible repercussions before judging people.”
“Calm down, Mia.” Cathy pointed to something on the side. “Why does there happen to be a random cabin in the woods?”
A quaint log cabin sat about thirty feet away from us. It was a little suspicious, but who cared if a witch was waiting to burn us alive? I was sick of missing school and falling behind every second. Besides, I could stab her in the neck with the knife in my pocket, if needed. The rest of my friends all thought the same thing, and we jogged to the door. Alex stared at the door handle and slowly turned the knob.

Elsie YeaLim

13

The sun rose and everything fell.

The majority of everything and everyone in the entire universe were randomly transported to different places—like a new country, a new planet, a new galaxy, whatever.

To you, none of this really matters. You’re one of the lucky ones—part of the minority. Wherever you live, you’ve just woken up today but nothing much out of the ordinary happened. But then again, you’re probably plenty bored of your monotonous, colorless life. You’re probably cursing the universe for not picking you up and dropping you off in a soup of confusion. So this story is for you. Even though you wouldn’t be able to experience it first hand, at least you can take a virtual, literary tour.

So… Alex, this rather unfortunate fellow, found himself in a mysterious dark road. He was surrounded by one other living thing: a dog. Or was it a dog? Anyway, the dog wasn’t a nice puppy—when it spotted Alex, it let out a feral snarl.

Alex let out a high-pitched, totally girly shriek, and began running away from the dog. To be honest, he was extremely stupid. First of all, he probably didn’t know exactly how fast the dog was capable of running. Secondly, he didn’t know where he was or whether or not this dog was actually a dog or not. Because in a situation like this, one doesn’t know if he is in an alternate universe with dog-looking things that are actually rabid dinosaurs in disguise… or something else. Third, he didn’t know where the road led. Oh, and not to mention that it was all dark and stuff.

But anyway, he ran, shrieking all the way down the road.

The dog ran after him, and too bad for Alex, the dog was extremely capable at running. It caught up to Alex in seconds. The dog also proved to be a wolf up close. It started going to metamorphosis and turned into a rabid dinosaur. Things like this happen, because it wasn’t anywhere on planet Earth that Alex got dropped off on. Regardless, the rabid dinosaur ran with Alex until the end of the road… where there was nothing.

Nothing.

Or perhaps it wasn’t “nothing”, because “nothing” cannot exist. There has to be something, whether it’s solid, liquid, gas, or plasma. Or perhaps a fifth something, because science on Earth couldn’t answer to every weird thing in the universe. It was probably air and empty space that greeted Alex at the end of the road.

Alex could see stars. The world that he had landed in was what people in the olden days believed the Earth to be. Square, and flat. And where he was standing was the end of the square. Plus there was a rabid dinosaur towering over him. Why the rabid dinosaur didn’t eat him up, Alex did not know.

Alex screamed, “I want to get out of here!”

How English worked in this other world is anyone’s guess, but a genie appeared in front of Alex. It was just like the genie with Aladdin’s lamp, blue and fat and all.

“You made a wish, sir?” the genie asked.

“Yes!” Alex exclaimed. There is actually scientific research about how people do and say absurdly insane things when they are fearful or some other form of delirious. “I did make a wish! Get me a girlfriend! Now!”

A girl appeared next to Alex.

Before Alex could look at her face, the dinosaur gobbled her up. The rabid dinosaur’s was actually a weird species of dinosaurs that could only devour female prey.

The genie bowed. “Wish granted. Sort of. Sir, you have two left. Please go on, or press the ‘Save For Later’ button.”

“Where’s the ‘Save For Later’ button? I want to press the ‘Save For Later’ button,” Alex replied, frantically searching for it.

“Is that your second wish, sir?”

“No, no!” Alex cried. “Absolutely not! My second wish is to kill that rabid dinosaur!” The said rabid dinosaur was drooling on Alex’s shoulder after a delicious meal.

“Ah. Alright,” the genie said.

Suddenly Alex was standing in full gear, with a sword in his hand and daggers on his belt. “What the crap?” he looked up at the genie, demanding an explanation.

“You said you wanted to kill the rabid dinosaur, so I’ve prepared you for the fight,” the genie explained calmly.

“Screw this!” Alex screamed. That was when he finally remembered his real wish, of getting home. “Aghhh! Whatever! Third wish! You’d better do this right! I want to go back to my house!”

That wish was also stupid, because he there might be another “my house” somewhere in the universe. He wasn’t specific enough with his request, but nevertheless, the genie bowed. “As you wish, sir.” A door appeared before Alex.

Being the idiot that he was, Alex probably didn’t realize the flaw in his words. Alex was kind of amazed that genies actually existed, and the whole encounter and experience.

And without a second thought… and still in full battle gear…

Alex stared at the door handle and slowly turned the knob.

Jackson

17

The sun rose and everything fell. The nik nacks became enjoyable. The fermenting ferret odor transformed into the smell of Wayne; the only guy he secretly loved smelling when they hugged. Bottles of wine were now clear jugs of pinot. Tonic water was refreshing. His freaky Friday dreams had finally come to fruition. Alex didn't care that it was with an old woman. Excited to see the old bag he had become he looked in mirror, and was confused to why he still saw himself. He ran out of a massive house surprised how well his legs worked, and received a happy good morning from a neighbor going to work. He scanned for the closest old Buik, knowing the keys in his pocket would work, and hopped in. He took some time to look through the photos on the phone he had. Euphoria spilled out of Alex's wrinkly old cheeks as he saw pictures of himself on the red carpet and late night shows with different celebrities. "Holy shit I'm famous" he screams in his car. A text pops up from Bill asking where he was. Being a smart guy Alex tells bill he's too drunk to drive there and that he needs to be picked up. Billy angrily texts that he'll be there in 10 minutes. Pleased with his little lie; Alex stands in front of his new house waiting happy that his idea to fulfill the celebrity's plans actually worked. A brand new luxory sedan flies around the corner. He puts the window down. And very calmly says "Aubrey get in the fucking car you owe me." The second Aubrey left Billy's lips Alex knew exactly who he really was. "Now!" The man screamed. Alex barley opened the door and got in before the man sped off. The whole time Alex prayed that the favor Aubrey owed the man was sexual because that was the least terrifying outcome he could think of. They pull into an abandoned house that looked unsafe to walk in. "Come on hurry up". Alex unable to speak follows the man up to the door. The door revealed the prestine interior of the unlivable looking house. Which sadly did not surprise Alex."Your running out of time youre the only person that will do this go!", he yells. Bill slams the door behind them sits on a couch and turns the TV on. A tear rolls down Alex's face. The hope of a sexual favor with him fanishes. Escape is not possible to Alex, Bill has the look of the man that is either a serial killer or a mayor of some town. Bill was neither, and it scared the shit out of Alex. Bill laughingly says." Maybe it'll be easier drunk haha." A tear rolls down Alex's face. Billy then yells "go!" as he points to a black door at the end of a barren yellow hallway. Alex begins the delerious long walk down the hall. As he approaches the door he sees an "that was easy button" laying on the ground by the door. Upon seeing it Alec bursts into tears. Soon after Billy says from the living room. "Why do you always cry before you go in. Do it already." Alex stared at the door handle and slowly turned the knob.

Ellie

17

The sun rose and everything fell. Today was the day my life turned upside-down. Yawning, I walked into my mom and dad’s room to see what they were doing. The moment I walked through the doorway, I saw my dad (not my mom) squatting on the floor, painting his toenails in dazzling red. I rubbed my eyes, trying to awake from my fantasy-like dreams. But it was not a dream. It was real. My own dad, an Olympian in his golden days, was actually crouching down on his bum, polishing and drying his own nails in scarlet red.
Then, during breakfast, while dad was scooping up his cheerios with a hand bombarded by red fingernails, he abruptly declared out of nowhere that he was going to transform into a chick! Sixty-five years of living as a man, but why now all of a sudden? My sisters and I simultaneously dropped our spoons into our cereal bowls, splashing milk all over. 
 “What? Are you crazy, dad?”
“Yeah, I’m dead-serious, hon. Since the moment I was born, I have behaved, thought, and desired as a woman. Now, I’m sick of hiding my true identity and I ain’t gonna care of how people think of me, young lady. Don’t you dare call me crazy. You darn don’t even have a single idea of what I gotta go through for the past six decades!”
“But Dad… I seriously think you’re just in mid-life crisis. Maybe you’ll get over it in a few weeks. But changing yourself into a woman… I think you’re outta your mind, insane, for god’s sake!”
“Whatevaaa, girl. You hush your mouth, miss. I’m gonna live my life.”
With his strong black accent, my dad defied strongly. My sisters and I were paralyzed in complete shock.
“Is it April Fool’s Day, today?” My six-year-old younger sister innocently asked.
“No, honey, it’s July.”
My dad was as stubborn as a bull, or maybe I should now say, a cow . He was completely obstinate about transforming into a woman. He had even made appointments with the doctor. He seemed to have probed about the issue for quite a while and no matter what we said, or how strongly we persuaded him, he would not change his mind.
“So dad! ” I asked nonchalantly, “When is the big d-day for your metamorphosis?”
“Next week Friday,” he replied, while brushing his hair in a very feminine manner.
Did I just hear correctly? Next week… that was so soon, no, that was way too soon! Not only was I not at all ready for this, but I just wanted to put my dad into a coma so that he would stop spurting his wild and unrealistic thoughts.
I stomped back up to my room, sat down, and began to roll the wheels in my head. After about an hour or so, the light bulb finally turned on, and I came up with the perfect plan. I rummaged like a wildcat through my closet and fervently fetched out a barbie doll’s wig of silver blond hair, (this one I got for my high school play) two bra cups, (size C, I suppose) some make-up tools, (my favs) seven-inch shiny silver high heels, (ones I bought from Steve Madden, but I barely wear because I can’t even walk in them) and a pink dress (the one I wore for high school prom, uggh). With these, I rushed back down the stairs to where my dad was. This time, he was watching one of his favorite TV shows, Drop Dead Diva.
Blocking the TV screen, I blurted out,
 “Dad! I challenge you to a diva mission. If you pass this test, I will grant you the permission of transforming from Alex into Alexandria.”
“What are you tryin’ to do, honey?”
“You have to live life as a complete woman without getting caught for a day.”
“K, kay~”
Dad didn’t even look up at me.
“Dad. Put these on and walk around Hollywood like you own it.”
When my dad saw the wig, make-up, dress, high heels, and bra cups in my hands, his face instantly lit up. 
 “OH. MY, GOSH. You are totally a doll. Come on, gimme those. I wanna try them on right now!” My dad was as excited as a kid getting his birthday presents. 
He eagerly put his wig on his head, stuffed the bra cups into his top, applied full make-up, (where in the world did he learn how to do that) and twirled in the shiny pink dress. Finally, he slipped on the pair of Steve Madden 7-inch heels and stood up. Woah, a giant woman was in front of me!
 “Hey gurl, now I’m ready. Let’s go out and have the time of our lives. But first, let me take a selfie.”
***
Minutes later, I found myself in the mall being dragged around my dad, or Miss Alex. I was soo embarrassed that I kept a distance from him the whole time. I was afraid that people would look at dad weirdly and talk behind his back. Then, what if they think weird about me? That’s even worse. Technically, I was shopping with my dad, a drag queen. But, at the same time I felt like I was here with one of my best girlfriends. He used all his knowledge from Cosmopolitan and Instyle to choose the best fashion items for me, I mean, us. To my surprise, most other people did not even recognize my dad as a man, but instead, viewed him as an ordinary woman. Some people even told me that I had a gorgeous mother.
“Dad, what do you think of this shirt?”
“Umm… I don’t think you look good in orange. That orange is ugly and it’s hard to pull off, especially with your skin tone. Speaking of which, why don’t you try this on?”
He chose me a white shirt instead, and I loved how it looked on me. In the end, our hands were full of the latest shopping items. I was in fact, happier to shop with my dad, and slowly my thoughts about him started to change.
Our next stop was Cheesecake Factory.
“Could we have a red velvet cake, two cups of coffee, and a small vanilla pudding?” My dad ordered.
“Sure, maam. Would you like some sugar in your coffee? By the way, I love your nails. Where did you get those colors?” The waitress asked, peering into his bright red nails. 
 “Oh, thanks. I just did them myself.” My dad answered proudly, with a grand smile on his face. While we were enjoying our dessert, my dad asked me an unexpected question.
“So… do you have a boyfriend, hon?”
“Why do you ask…?”
“Well… I’m just curious about my daughter’s sweet love stories,” my dad said in a teasing way.
“Umm… I do actually, but I don’t think he likes me. He doesn’t reply to my texts right away, and he never makes the first move. But I really like him. Do you have any tips for me?”
“Oh, poor honey. Here’s what you should do. First, don’t explicitly show that you like him. Don’t text him first all the time, don’t ask him out, and don’t flirt with him too much. Play hard to get. Guys love challenge. Make him want you. Make him desire you. You are my daughter, and you have the pretty genes. You can get any guy you want. Oh, and please do something with your hair, darling. I think it would look much better if you trimmed it a bit, and maybe get a perm.”
Although I just nodded my head as I took a sip of my coffee, inside, I was actually persuaded. I was slowly starting to accept my father’s new sexual identity, and to be honest, I did not hate it. 
 On our way home, my dad suddenly started to sing.
“If I were a girl, even just for a day, I’d roll out of bed in the morning and put on all my make up and go. Shop with the girls and get my nails done. I would chase after boys and never get confronted for it.”
***
For a whole day, my dad was my perfect best girl friend, and I had the time of my life. I slowly began to understand how hard it must have been for my dad to live inside a shell for sixty-five years as someone who he really wasn’t. I decided that it was now time for him to emerge into the world as a colorful, shining, and confident butterfly.
“Dad, you know what? You have officially passed the mission.”
Dad looked into my eyes with sincerity.
“Thank you for understanding sweetie. And thank you for giving me a chance and accepting me as who I am.” Just as I was about to burst into tears, my younger sister ran in.
“Daddy! Let’s play with my Barbie dolls!” exclaimed my youngest sister. 
 “Sure! Let’s go!”
“Daddy’s the best!”
The two ran into the playroom with their favorite barbie dolls. While watching them, I had never seen my dad look so happy. He didn’t even look that exuberant when he won the gold medal. Now, I could understand my dad’s true feelings and how important it was to love oneself and the people around you.
***
Finally, it was d-day. My mom, sisters, and I were waiting anxiously at home for my dad, I mean, my second mom. It was time for her to arrive. It was time for her to awake and live a new life. We heard the car pull into the driveway, and footsteps approaching the door. My hands were pressed against my sweaty palms, my heart beating rapidly.
Then Alex, or Alexandria, slowly turned the knob.

Jill

16

The sun rose and everything fell. Societies, civilizations, infrastructure. As the great orb of celestial light climbed toward its zenith in the sky, the empire of humanity crumbled into ruins, leaving only a few desperate souls to fend for themselves among the decaying abyss.
Alex woke up to the sound of his alarm and, more distantly, the sound of feral dogs ripping apart sinners in the street.
“Boy, I sure am glad I shared that Share If You Love Jesus Ignore if You Want Bad Luck Forever post last week,” Alex thought to himself, casually brushing his teeth as lava rained from the sky.
“I mean, who would’ve thought that the only ones spared from eternal damnation are those who consistently shared every social media post they saw that threatened bad luck?” he mused, fondly reminiscing about a grainy image of starving African children encaptioned “1 like = 1 prayer share or die” that he retweeted one fine summer’s day in 2011.
Alex picked out one of his pairs of plaid cargo shorts to go with his bright red JanSport® T-shirt. Casually grabbing a box of cereal from his desk, he walked through his dark, empty house. He missed his family sometimes, but he knew that if they really cared about their own survival, they would've taken social media a little more seriously.
In the week since the apocalypse set in, Alex had begun to think about his life. He wondered what his future would look like, and how many others were spared from total destruction like he was. He considered his new role in restoring humanity as he watched the falling brimstone blanket the streets outside his house. He had eaten 12 bags of Doritos in the past 3 days.
Alex considered going outside to see if anyone else were alive, and working to form a new society, to restore order unto the dying Earth, but he pulled out his phone instead.
“Ha! I have all the time in the world!” he remarked, to no one.
Disappointed in his lack of social media notifications, Alex rolled his eyes. “God, why did all my followers have to die in a fiery inferno? Sharing pictures isn’t even that hard” he mumbled, scrolling through his Facebook feed.
Alex remained this way for hours, sitting on his couch, scouring Facebook, mindlessly devouring cocoa puff after cocoa puff, when suddenly, a picture appeared on his screen. It was a watermarked clip-art drawing of a shooting star.
Someone had captioned it “This is a shooting star! share 2 make a wish & ur dreams will come tru!!1! scroll past and regret it 4evr!”
Alex knew what to do. It was just like a thousand other posts he had seen a thousand other times. But As he moved his finger toward the “share” button, there was a loud crack of thunder in the sky. Alex jumped, and his finger hit the “newsfeed” button instead. The page refreshed and scrolled to the top.

“NOOOOOOO!” Alex cried. He had scrolled past the post without sharing it. It had disappeared into the endless stream of images and statuses that filled his phone’s small screen.
“NONONONNO-” he repeated, desperately thumbing his way through the facebook app, trying to find the post again, but it was too late. The thunder grew louder and the house began to shake.
“PLEASE!” Alex called out. “IT WASN”T MY FAULT!” but the thunder continued to grow. He could hear screams now, inhuman, rising all around him, and he fell to his knees, cocoa puffs flying in all directions, as the earth shifted and rocked below him.
Suddenly, everything went silent, and the house was still. Alex looked around himself, sobbing, trying to collect what was happening. He rose slowly from his knees when he heard it.
3 loud knocks at his door.
Alex felt the hairs on his neck stand up as he turned to face the door. He swallowed.
3 more knocks, louder this time.
Alex began to walk, slowly, toward the knocks.
3 more knocks, and the door began to shake, its hinges rattling.
Alex stared at the door handle and slowly turned the knob.

Halle

13 (+9 months)

The sun rose and everything fell. His dignity, his pride, his ego. Oh that fell hard. But let's rewind a little. Maybe then you'll understand.

It was March 11; the Friday that would change everything.

It was Alex's big night, a night that he'd be able to prove to the rest of his school and their families what he was made of. That behind those chunky round glasses, and awkward lanky frame was a young man worth remembering. A young man that would make it to Hollywood and walk down the red carpet with his beloved Aleyah Cole. A man that would make Hollywood babies with her and live in a humongous mansion with their own white picket fence that would reach precisely 28 feet and 6 inches.

That was, until his clumsy feet got the better of him and stumbled... and stumbled... and stumbled. Until tripping over a bench and falling, head first, into the set.

A sharp pain started in his head and his glasses almost flew off his face. They hung on the bridge of his nose, but just barely.

It was after 6:30 in the morning. The sun was steadily rising outside their community high school as everything on that stage fell.

The backdrops, the props, the buildings, the table, the clouds, the moon. Even Alex. Especially Alex.

It was one of those mornings. You know that morning. The one when you're in a brilliant mood. The one when you're happy as can be, imaging your dream girl running into your arms and galloping away into the sunset with you on the back of a white, magnificent horse. You're soaring on morning adrenaline, feeling as if nothing could go wrong. But boy. Did it go wrong.

They sat there laughing at him. His friends, Brad, Tiffany, and then Aleyah. Oh Aleyah! Why did Alex have to trip and embarrass himself in front of her? It was mortifying! Completely horrid! Alex had been planning all week to make this his big chance. To have oh so beautiful Aleyah realize that Alex was right there in front of her all this time; her shining knight in armor to take her away from the God-awful teenage boy named Brad.

Pain filled his whole body. Nonetheless, especially in his chest. Especially in his heart.

Blood rushed to his cheeks, filled his head and replacing the oxygen. The world was spinning around him. Please can this not be real. Please can this not be real. Alex thought. And he looked up. Her beautiful face the one thing that attracted him. He looked at her rosy cheeks and bright smile. Her halcyon laughter blended with the room as Brad snaked his arm around her waist. The arm that was supposed to be Alex's.

Tiffany glanced at them, a look on her face. You know that one look? Well it was the look. And everyone was oblivious to it. Even the humiliated Alex Carrow.

One thing was for sure, though. One thing was definitely certain. Alex had completely and utterly ruined this entire day embarrassing himself like that. He hated how clumsy he was, how awkward he could be. And now, the mortification. Oh this embarrassment is one like no other!

"You okay, man?" The devil, I mean Brad yelled out chuckling. Alex just grumbled, picked himself up, and shoved the debris away from him.

"Just fine, thank you," Alex spat. Anger clouded his mind as Brad pulled the love of his life closer to him. Fire was just sizzling under Alex's skin, ready at any moment to burst and go all Charizard on him.

"Oh, come on, Alex," Aleyah smiled her stunning smile. He could just melt right then and there. "Why don't we just leave a bit early and get on with our little road trip. The set's already ruined, so they're more than likely canceling the show."

Tiffany grinned, "Yeah. Let's start our spring break early. It's only 6:45. Nobody will know it was us." A sneaky smile crept on all their faces. And as Alex looked back at the damage he'd just done, he couldn't have agreed faster.

"Alright. Let's go."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Come on Brad. You're acting like this is a crime scene," whisper yelled Tiffany. "News flash! We're leaving a high school building! Not some, like, jail cell or whatever!"

"Sssshhhhh!" Brad shushed. "You're loud, annoying voice is gonna get us caught, idiot!"

Tiffany fumed. "I'm not an idiot, you jerk. My GPA is a steady 2.0."

Brad snorted, "It's better to let someone think you're an idiot than to open your mouth and prove it."

Alex choked on his saliva as Tiffany scoffed. "You know, if I were to slap you right now, it'd be considered animal abuse." Tiffany flipped her hair off her shoulder.

"You know, if I wanted to kill myself, I'd climb up your ego and jump to your IQ," Brad spat.

"Oh oh," Alex whispered to Aleyah as he pushed up his slipping glasses. "Shot's fired."

Tiffany scoffed. "I wasn't born with enough middle fingers to let you know how I feel about you."

"Shhhhh!" whispered Brad. "What did I say about that high pitched voice of yours? They'll be able to hear that annoying-ness a mile away."

Tiffany only scoffed. "That's not what you said la- hmmmm!"

"Ssshhhhhh!" Brad looked almost anxious as he slapped his hand over Tiffany's mouth. Alex wondered why.

"Can we get on with this, please," Aleyah grabbed hold of Brad's arm and pulled him in for a light kiss. Those lips should've been Alex's.

"Alright, babe." He kissed her back. He actually had the nerve to kiss her back! Why if they weren't in school and Alex had extra packed muscles, he would've landed one on him.

As Alex's face set into a scowl, years crept by until they actually made it out of the school. It was already nearing 7:15, and teacher's would be filing in soon.

The only thing that seemed to be going right today was the fact that they'd all planned to leave right after the play was finished that night. Bags already packed and gas already full, they started the car and was on their way to one exciting road trip!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Hours passed in silence before they started up their little routine.

"We're going on a trip!" Tiffany yelled beside Alex.

"In our favorite SUV!" Alex bobbed his head.

"Zooming through the highway!" followed Brad.

"We're too sexy for you!" and even though Aleyah's voice cracked, Alex seemed to fall in love with her even more.

"Climb aboard," they all belted out, "get ready to explore! There's so much to find on our little road trip!"

A couple more hours passed by as their laughter and chatter filled the car.

"Hey. What time is it?" Tiffany asked tiredly.

"Time for you to get a watch," Brad smirked.

"You know what, piggy? I bet your brain feels as good as new, seeing that you never use it." Tiffany's eyes squinted into a glare. "You do not want to get it twisted with me jerk-off." This only made Brad's smirk grow.

"I got it twisted a long time ago, sweetie," there was an undertone in his voice, but no one paid attention to it. Tiffany responded by rolling her eyes.

"Now seriously. What time is it?" Tiffany asked Alex.

He checked his phone. "6:30. Maybe we should just check in for the night, you guys. We can settle down and relax. And after breakfast tomorrow, we can go over our plans for the trip, okay?"

"Sounds good to me, what do you think piggy?" Tiffany said. Aleyah rolled her eyes while Alex bit on his tongue.

"I mean, I guess." Brad shrugged. "There's a hotel not too far from here. Let's stay there."

And just moments later, they had made it.

"I'm heading inside for the night." Tiffany yawned. "I'll see you guys later."

"Yeah. Me too," Brad said before walking away with Tiffany.

They all had keys to the room, so it wasn't much of a problem for Alex and his fantasy lover.

And as Alex thought about it, with him and Aleyah standing there together, Alex could swear that this was fate. Seriously Alex, Aleyah. A., A.! A.C., A.C.! It was fate!

Flipping his hair to the side like he'd practiced countless times in front of the mirror, Alex coughed to get his soon to be lover's attention.

"So I guess it's just you and me then." He winked. Or at least... tried to. His left eye twitched terribly as his right eye closed half way. His face scrunched up into an ugly sight and those glasses, unappealing and massive, sat on his nose like a big gaping removable pimple.

"Are you okay?" Aleyah frowned. Alex just laughed and waved it off.

"Yeah. I mean, we could like, I don't know." His voice got deeper, hoping for his seductiveness to take place. "Go out or something." That all backfired when his voice cracked.

"Oh yeah!" Aleyah piped up. "I saw a Subway just a few blocks down from here! You wanna go? I'm starving!"

Alex's eyes brightened as he fixed his composure, voice getting a little higher. "Sure, okay. That's great. That's.... it's great."

It took all of him not to burst out in his happy dance routine. He wasn't willing to see Aleyah's reaction to his oh-so-awesome choreography. He'll save that for their third date.

And so they spent their time walking to Subway, sharing a Steak and Cheese footlong sandwich (which Alex had so happily paid for), and walking back to the hotel they would be staying in.

"That sandwich tasted so good," Aleyah groaned. "I should've gotten another one."

"Well I could've-"

"No time for that," Aleyah cut Alex off as a smirk settled on her face. "For now at least."

Alex rose an eyebrow. "What?"

Aleyah smiled. "Whoever makes it back to the hotel last has to pay for both our meals tomorrow. Ready. Set. Go!"

A moment passed. Alex frowned. Aleyah's words were still settling in, and by the time they registered, Aleyah was already half a block away from him.

"Oh that sexy, conniving piece of Heaven," Alex groaned before dashing after her.

Aleyah's laughter followed them all the way down the streets and up the hotel stairs to their room. They were neck and neck now, Alex only a bit behind from Aleyah's bony elbows and long nails swiping and jabbing him.

Aleyah already had the key out and was opening the door, cheeks flushed and lungs pleading for air.

"Ha! You owe me breakfast!" Aleyah stuck her tongue out at him as she swung open the door, only to see.... And hear!

Oh God! The sight!

"Oh, Tiffany! I love you so much!"

And....

"Piggy! Yes piggy! I love you so so much, baby!"

And there was clothes on the floor, and.... and small, opened packages and shoes and it was not PG. Not PG at all! PG-13? R rated? X rated? Heck! It was bloody Z rated! Oh dear Lord! Their eyes!

"Aaaaaaaahhhh!" Alex screamed in unison to Aleyah's, "What the overzealous heinous annihilation are you guys doing?"

"Shoot!" Brad yelled before falling out of the bed.

"Aaaaahhhhhhh!" Tiffany screamed as she threw on a t-shirt. Well too late for that Tiffany. The image was already scarring A. A.'s minds. "Al. It's not what it looks like!"

But by that time, the damage was already done. "I can't believe you guys right now! After all I did for you!" Aleyah yelled at Tiffany. "And you! You filthy, rotten, son of a despicable pig! I can't believe this right now!"

All Alex could do was rejoice. His hand twitched, his neck snapped to the side. It was moments before his happy dance would consume him.

"Get out." Aleyah's eyes were narrowed, a steel, icy blue. Tears were running down Tiffany's face.

"It's all a misunderstanding. I'm sorry, Al. I'm so so sorry."

But Aleyah... she was beyond belligerent. "Get out of here before I give you something to cry about. You were supposed to be my friend." She shook her head as Tiffany scrambled from the bed in shame.

Alex's legs ached now. His heart hammering in his chest, the need to shake his hips and shimmy 1 to the left 2 to the right 3 to the left to the right now jump! was so overwhelming. He could barely keep it in anymore.

"I'm sorry, babe." Brad, now fully clothed, thank you very much, reached out to touch Alex's soon to be lover. Before Alex could react and do a few 'manly' shoves Brad's way, Brad was already crouched over in pain, grabbing hold of his stomach.

"Don't touch me," Aleyah seethed. "I don't associate myself with sleazy, wretched cheaters."

Alex's heart swelled as he listened to Aleyah's sexy diversity of the English language. His toes curled in his shoes. The sweat from his crowding joy made the glasses on his face slip down his nose.

"I'm sorry," Tiffany murmured before following Brad out the room.

"Oh and Brad." The two stopped at Aleyah's voice. Brad turned to face her. "If you're going to be two faced, at least make one of them pretty." And with that, she slammed the door close.

Silence passed over the hotel room as Aleyah walked over to the couch and sat down. Her shoulders were shaking and her eyes filled with water.

Alex, however, was oblivious to it all. A swagger in his step, he sashayed over to Aleyah. "Soooooo," he drawled out. "That was.... quite the scene, huh?" An awkward chuckle slash snort left his mouth as he sat down next to Aleyah. "Really dramatic." He wiggled his eyebrows, scooting closer to her.

It was silent as Alex beamed down on the confused and hurt girl.

"Alex, what on earth are you doing?" she sniffed.

Smile growing wider, Alex rolled his shoulders back as he breathed in a deep, lungful of air. "I mean. It's just wonderful, huh?"

"Wonderful?" Bewilderment grew on Aleyah's face even more. "Are you kidding me right now?"

Alex's smile dropped faster than a bullet as he stuttered. "I mean. It's just. It was. It was awful. I mean," he scoffed, "Like just awful, right?" He scooted closer to her and fake yawned. Just slowly, slowly stretching his arms to rest behind Aleyah's head.

"I just don't know how they could do something like that, you know?" Aleyah sniffed. "It's just that, I thought he loved me, you know?" She placed her head on Alex's shoulder. He could've sworn. He felt the connection, the electricity. Fate was calling out to them. Just in a few minutes, and she'll be yelling out her unconditional love for him. Alex grinned at the thought. And soon after that, they'd take the places of Tiffany and Brad and make babies together and have two girls and live in a nice house with a white picket fence. Just as he dreamed of. Alex sighed.

"I know it's really hard to try and understand this. I mean, it's hard to see things from Brad's point of view cause we can't seem to get our heads that far up our behinds. But one day it'll all make sense."

"And he was so sweet, too," Aleyah sobbed as Alex rubbed her back.

"People like Brad are the reason I'm on medication," muttered Alex.

"What?"

"Nothing." Alex grinned and Aleyah sighed.

"How could he do this? The idea of it is just so ugly right now..." She shook her head.

"I don't believe in plastic surgery or anything, but in Brad's case, he can go right ahead." Aleyah chuckled as her body relaxed against Alex's even more. "And hey! My parents always taught me to give away my used toys to the less fortunate." By this time, Aleyah was in a full out laugh.

"I needed that, Alex. I need you. I really need you here with me." Alex's heart melted as he heard her angelic voice mutter those words. He was soaring higher and higher into the sky. Could this day get any better?

This was the time. This was it. It was now or never. Alex took a deep breath as he turned to fully face Aleyah. His eyes softened at her rosy cheeks and big, puffy eyes.

"Aleyah?" he watched as she sniffed, her nose red and lips titled down.

"Yeah?" He now had her undivided attention.

"I just wanted to say that," he took a deep breath, calming down those intensely excited eagles flapping away in his stomach. "I love you. I have always loved you, and I will always love you, Aleyah."

Alex watched as her lips parted and beamed at him. Her eyes brightened at his words, just like a spot light for that play he had destroyed earlier that day. And as she spoke her next words, Alex couldn't have been happier.

"Aww, Alex," she sniffed. "I love you, too!" And as her thin arms wrapped around his broad shoulders, dainty body fitting perfectly against his, Alex sat there in shock. There were fireworks, rainbows, stars, and explosions! The audience was cheering, and there was a standing ovation and flowers and bright, gleaming lights and he just couldn't contain the grin that etched across his face. It was a dream come true! Perfect! He could see their children graduating, Aleyah and him getting old and still hitting the clubs together, and-

"You will always be my best friend." The fireworks did a whole 180 and were coming down on him fast. The rainbows cracked and began to collapse; big dull chunks of it hailing down on him. The stars turned to black holes, the explosions found his rib cage and they were exploding, ricocheting off his weeping heart. The audience transformed into an angry mob, booing at him. All he could see were tomatoes and tomatoes covering the stage and his costume. His kids withered away, his house erupted in flames, and dreams turned into ash. Aleyah unwrapped her arms from around him. It was then that he snapped out of his grief.

"Pffft! Yeah!" Alex stated, waving his hand in a spastic matter. "Best friends! Ha!" He laughed. "I mean," he clapped his hands. "Wooh! Best. Friends!"

Aleyah scrunched up her petite nose as she frowned. "Yeah...."

Alex nodded. "Yeah. Best friends. That's just. That's awesome."

Aleyah smiled. "Yup!"

Alex clenched his jaw. "Wonderful."

"Splendid."

"Completely fantastic."

Aleyah chuckled. "You are a very unorthodox guy, Alex." She crossed her arms.

And in that very moment, feeling hurt, rejected, and just so done, Alex did what he did best. He started acting.

"Of course," he mustered up a fraudulent smile and winked. "And don't forget dreamy, charming, sexy, and I mean really really sexy." Aleyah laughed, making his heart break even more. Tears were hiding behind his eyes, just waiting to burst out and cascade down his face.

And just as he was about to let it all out, there was a knock on the door. "It's the police! Open the door!"

Looking at each other perplexed, Alex got up from the couch and walked over to the door, looking out the peep hole. "Shoot!" He whisper yelled as he turned back to look at Aleyah.

"What? What is it?" She hastily got up from the couch.

"It's the police," Alex gulped.

"And so? Open it!" Aleyah whispered.

"But, but," Alex cracked his knuckles as his nerves took over. "But they have Brad and Tiffany and," he took another deep breath, "And Principal Williams and Mr. Murphy. The play instructor!"

They stared at each other wide eyed as another knock sounded on the door. "Open up now! It's the police!" Taking a deep breath, the two gave each other one last look before preparing themselves for the worst.

And maybe, just maybe, if they were thrown in jail that night, they could fall in love there. They could find a way to make babies, their big house would be the huge prison building, their white picket fence can be those dangerous grey fences, and their two daughters could be rebels like them.

It was worth a shot, and if they were to spend forever in a cell together, they could make it happen.

The tiniest of smiles spread across Alex's face. Hope. That's one thing he was willing to hold on to.

Alex stared at the door handle and slowly turned the knob.

Sophia

17

The sun rose and everything fell. My life, my reputation, my health; I'M ONLY 14! And what IS this stuff burning my eyes: vinegar, tomato sauce, and a myriad of other culinary juices? It's WAY too early to be dealing with this mess that fell from some immature bloat's idea of a prank, but I know just who dun it; McGregor, bane of nearly every decently attractive male's existence in the city. He’s so wretched that no one—not even his own father, the principal—refers to him by his first name. One might as well say that he no longer has a name. He used to be an okay kind of guy though, until a chain of events led him to lose all sense of human decency and honor; McGregor is an animal, but I might have been the inciting incident to his tragedy. It all started six years ago, Miss Smith's class, third grade.

McGregor was the popular kid in class, perhaps even in the whole school—I’m not joking—he even had a girlfriend in the third grade; he WAS EIGHT! What kind of kid has a girlfriend in third grade? He was already messed up before I got there, but I digress. Back to the story, he had it good; top grades, a girl, pretty decent athletic ability—for a third grader—his future was as bright as the sun evaporating his mysterious concoction off my body. However, all good things must come to an end. I transferred into his class. No big deal, just another newbie from a different state who moved into town; an average occurrence. Not to McGregor. His looks are okay, but I am stunning; simply, too beautiful. Even as a third grader, girls flocked to me. Unfortunately, so did his girl, but that wasn’t the end. I beat him at every sport and in every grade, everything he had aside from his extraordinarily large amount of wealth—did I forget to mention that he was too rich for his own good—became mine. Surprisingly, McGregor used to have a best friend, Alex Springer; however, I won Alex over to me with my exceptional charm—we’re still super tight. That was the last straw.

For the next six years McGregor was fueled with jealousy, rage, and too many fancy pastries; his grades fell, his athletic ability became almost nothing, and he could not focus on anything aside from appearances. He pestered and pranked every good looking guy at school—in some infantile attempt to be the most physically attractive one enrolled—but he didn’t stop with childish pranks. He resorted to straight up vandalism and even blackmailing some guys who tried to stand against him. The only reason he hasn’t been sent to juvy is because he bribes the authorities—there’s something majorly wrong with our town. He widened his radius and didn’t stop with just our school, but every school in the whole city; every guy I’ve met here is living in anxiety. He especially focuses on both me and Alex though—some sort of grudge that he hasn’t let go off yet—but we both know he won’t do anything too “serious,” like murder, so we try our best to ignore him. However, he just has to ruin us. Fast forward to the first day of freshman year.

It was barely dawn, but the whole school was notified by the principal that buses were going to be arriving at 6am, so we all stood out there in the blue haze of day. When everyone had finally arrived at school, the principal wasn’t there; he was late—actually, we were all at least an hour early. It was eerily calm this morning; McGregor had finally begun to calm down this summer, so we didn’t expect much to happen this year. Alex and I were pushed to the front door when the principle arrived, and since he couldn’t get to the door because of the crowd of children, he tossed his keys to us. Without my senses about me, I grabbed the keys and quickly unlocked the door. I glanced at Alex, giving him the honor of letting everyone in—he really looked like he wanted to. Alex stared at the door handle and slowly turned the knob.

Shelby

15

The sun rose and everything fell. Well, just everything in the kitchen. This is the twentieth time Alex has probably slammed the microwave door now. “Please stop putting things in my microwave now, you said all you wanted to do was make nachos and now i’m not really sure what you’re doing.” It’s now six in the morning, and they’ve been up all night which is typical. “Winston, you don’t understand, this is for science. It is all for science” Alex told Winston, as he began mixing some battery liquid in a green bowl. Winston slid another nacho into his mouth watching, and began to say while chewing “You’re only doing this because your mom doesn’t let you have marshmallows anymore because you and the dog would alwa-” Winston stopped speaking after he realized there was gray smoke filling the room, coming from the microwave.
“Alex, turn off the damn microwave!” Winston demanded, while grabbing magazines to wave the smoke from the detector,
“Don’t yell at me, just give it a few more seconds” he responded, which seemed not to be the right response, due to Winstons abrupt stop to waving the magazines, to just turn around, slap Alex with the magazines then press the open button on the microwave.
“Or said please.” Alex said, sounding agitated.
As soon as the words left his mouth the smoke alarm went off and Winston threw the magazines across the room.
“I’m going to bed” shouted Winston, as he walked off away from the sound of the alarm
“Winston wait, how do I shut this off!”
“I don’t know, you might wanna figure that out.”
Alex stood aside the table, watching Winston walk up the stairs while the alarm went off.
“What if your mom wakes up?” Alex tried to shout over the alarm, getting no response. “Winston? Please help me."
-
The alarm clock buzzing reminded Winston of the smoke alarm from last night. His first idea was to throw a pillow at it but he knew it wouldn't help. Not to mention it was covered in Alex's drool. He already seemed to be awake though, laying sprawled on the floor eating potato chips and play a video game. “Turn off the alarm, you're already up.” Winston said to Alex
“And you need to get up.”
They were the most irritable set of friends you could find in all honesty, but they always told people two idiots make a perfect pair.
Winston sat up, looking around the room to gaze upon an empty jar sitting on the floor.
“Alex, where did that jar come from” he said casually.
“The basement” was the response he got. Alex picked up the jar and tossed it to Winston, and as he caught it he dropped it onto the ground in disgust, as his hands were covered in a slimy liquid.
“What the hell,” Winston said frustrated “Alex whats in this jar!”
Alex looks up to Winston as he casually said “Nothing, he got out.”
Which brought Alex to his second time of walking away, he opened up the door to hear beeping, wondering why the alarm clock started again. He then realized it was the smoke alarm, still going off from the night before. He sighed and closed the door while in his bedroom. “Oh, your mom couldn't figure out how to shut it off, so she left.” Alex said.
Winston realized he never had a worry in the world. Which frankly irritated him. He was then determined to shut off the irritable alarm, opening his door quickly, he then slammed it shut. All he heard was plenty of crashes, like broken glass. Alex stared at the door handle and slowly turned the knob.

(Use this one not that one, i messed up the ending.)

Shelby

15 years and 11.7 months

The sun rose and everything fell. Well, just everything in the kitchen. This is the twentieth time Alex has probably slammed the microwave door now. “Please stop putting things in my microwave now, you said all you wanted to do was make nachos and now i’m not really sure what you’re doing.” It’s now six in the morning, and they’ve been up all night which is typical. “Winston, you don’t understand, this is for science. It is all for science” Alex told Winston, as he began mixing some battery liquid in a green bowl. Winston slid another nacho into his mouth watching, and began to say while chewing “You’re only doing this because your mom doesn’t let you have marshmallows anymore because you and the dog would alwa-” Winston stopped speaking after he realized there was gray smoke filling the room, coming from the microwave.
“Alex, turn off the damn microwave!” Winston demanded, while grabbing magazines to wave the smoke from the detector,
“Don’t yell at me, just give it a few more seconds” he responded, which seemed not to be the right response, due to Winstons abrupt stop to waving the magazines, to just turn around, slap Alex with the magazines then press the open button on the microwave.
“Or said please.” Alex said, sounding agitated.
As soon as the words left his mouth the smoke alarm went off and Winston threw the magazines across the room.
“I’m going to bed” shouted Winston, as he walked off away from the sound of the alarm
“Winston wait, how do I shut this off!”
“I don’t know, you might wanna figure that out.”
Alex stood aside the table, watching Winston walk up the stairs while the alarm went off.
“What if your mom wakes up?” Alex tried to shout over the alarm, getting no response. “Winston? Please help me."
-
The alarm clock buzzing reminded Winston of the smoke alarm from last night. His first idea was to throw a pillow at it but he knew it wouldn't help. Not to mention it was covered in Alex's drool. He already seemed to be awake though, laying sprawled on the floor eating potato chips and play a video game. “Turn off the alarm, you're already up.” Winston said to Alex
“And you need to get up.”
They were the most irritable set of friends you could find in all honesty, but they always told people two idiots make a perfect pair.
Winston sat up, looking around the room to gaze upon an empty jar sitting on the floor.
“Alex, where did that jar come from” he said casually.
“The basement” was the response he got. Alex picked up the jar and tossed it to Winston, and as he caught it he dropped it onto the ground in disgust, as his hands were covered in a slimy liquid.
“What the hell,” Winston said frustrated “Alex whats in this jar!”
Alex looks up to Winston as he casually said “Nothing, he got out.”
Which brought Alex to his second time of walking away, he opened up the door to hear beeping, wondering why the alarm clock started again. He then realized it was the smoke alarm, still going off from the night before. He sighed and closed the door while in his bedroom. “Oh, your mom couldn't figure out how to shut it off, so she left.” Alex said.
Winston realized he never had a worry in the world. Which frankly irritated him. He was then determined to shut off the irritable alarm, opening his door quickly, he then slammed it shut. Hearing another loud noise. Looking down the steps, he saw each photo frame on the ground. Smashed. That was it. Winston gave up.
That is the story of the grounding to last a summer. Burnt marshmallow fluff, an irritable alarm, and the slugs that somehow ended up in the marshmallow fluff.

Thomas

15

PART I
The sun rose and everything fell. But that wouldn’t be possible, right? You see, the sun itself exerts a gravitational force that pulls everything towards it. So that means that if we fell, we would get right back up and be attracted to the sun. Simple physics, right?
The class roared with laughter. Everyone except for Thomas. Of course though, it was his own joke. It’s impossible to laugh at your own joke, or else the joke would lose its face value. But specifically, Thomas only wanted one person in class to laugh. That was Natalie. He and at least another 99% of the male population at Beverly High considered her the most beautiful girl in the school. She had a fit body, with an overly-attractive face. He and Natalie were best of friends, despite their gender differences. They hung out with each other all of the time, along with William (Thomas’ wingman) and Kelly (Natalie’s bestie).
William and Thomas were both part of Varsity basketball, but Thomas wasn’t the jock type, unlike William and the rest of the teammates. He was a fit Asian teen, and was considered attractive by all of the girls in the school. He had a big ego, but instead of being known for his sports, he was known specifically for his academics. He was ranked at number 6 out of all 753 students in the school, and had a 4.38 GPA. He carried the school’s debate team to win the 2015 NFL (National Forensics League Tournament) policy debate tournament, and ranked in the top 1 percent in the world for Science Olympiad. Not a nerd, but a hero. He was revered by most people in the school as a smart, yet athletic kid.
Now, Natalie was different from Thomas. She was track and field star, along with Kelly. She and Kelly were the face of the female track team, and without them, Beverly High wouldn’t be able to compete in Tier one sports for track. Natalie’s academics were also good too, ranking at number 15 out of the 753 kids at Beverly high. She had an above-par 4.18 GPA, and excelled at singing. But her fame was brought by her attractiveness. She was beautiful. She was of German and Chinese descent. Her hair was a special tint of brown, and her eyes glimmered like the stars. No one dared to think dirty thoughts of her (except for Thomas), and everyone considered her the beauty of the school.
William was a pure jock. His grades were average, and he didn’t really like to study. However, he had an “over-the-top body”. He had huge biceps, and a Southern California tanned six pack. He was 6-foot 4, and stood out in the crowd. His height brought him fame as the co-captain of the boys varsity basketball team. William was pure Caucasian. All of his features were uber masculine, filled with the very essence of what it meant to be a man. He and Thomas have known each other the longest, and consider each other best friends.
Kelly was a track star. But her grades were always shadowed by Natalie. She had a perfect 4.0 GPA, but that only let her be ranked 61 out of 753 kids. But one thing for sure, her own beauty was on par with Natalie. Kelly was the more outgoing type of person in the group, and fell for almost every guy she met. Her long dating history has turned many guys away from her, but still, her regal blonde status kept many guys in check to date her. Kelly’s parents were movie stars, so much of her life was sheltered. Usually, paparazzi would try their best to interview Kelly, but with the help of the gang, she could usually avoid the intimidating questioning.
During lunch, the gang met up. Apparently, they were considered the exclusive popular group that was full of talent. There was the jock (William), the god (Thomas), the queen (Natalie), and the hottie (Kelly).
But the gang didn’t see themselves that way. They were the most intimate of friends, and they knew each other the best. Despite all of them being such different people on the outside, on the inside, they were the same. Fun and genuine people.
--- PART II
Today was going to be Alexandra’s first day of school. She just moved here just with her father from New York after her father pursued his dreams of becoming a film producer. Her mother was a professional model, and owned a fashion firm in New York, but sadly was too busy managing her firm to come to California with Alexandra and her father.
Her father bought a house on Beverly Hills Blvd. As Alexandra walked into the house, she was amazed how huge the house was. Compared to her family’s 13 million dollar penthouse in New York, this house was much more amazing. For only 6 million, the Beverly Hills house was at least 5 times bigger. She guessed the house was at least on a 4 acre property. That was big compared to a 2400 sq. foot penthouse. She loved every aspect about the new house. She loved the dark maple wood flooring, the luxurious crown molding, and most of all, the modern feel to the house. She loved how everything was open-concept, and the efficient use of glass to provide a bright feel. She went into her new room, got her back-pack, and went into her dad’s Porsche 911 to go to school.
As Alexandra arrived onto the driveway of the school, she noticed how regal the school felt. There were many luxury cars around her, and everyone was dressed fashionably. Her father then pointed at the car in front of them, and said ‘Wow! A Ferrari 488 GTB’. Alexandra looked, and just then, a handsome Asian kid stepped out of the car. He then met up with another hot jock, and they went into school together. Alexandra was dumbfounded. She’d already seem two hot guys on the first day of school.
--- Thomas and William walked into school. Thomas, being a fan of cars, couldn’t stop staring at the Porsche that was behind his dad’s car when they were on the drive-way. Even though it was only a regular Porsche, he couldn’t stop but to be curious who owned that Porsche. Walking past the gate, he turned around, and saw a magnificently beautiful girl walk out. Thomas guessed the girl was around his age, perhaps a new student. He hoped he could see her again soon.
As Thomas and William walked into their AP Physics class, the teacher told Thomas there would be a new student, and Thomas would be the perfect person the take care of her. Thomas’ eyes suddenly glimmered. The teacher said “her”, which meant that it might be the girl he saw that morning. So, he gladly said “YES, I WILL”, and sat down next to an empty seat.
Natalie walked into the room, and instantly took the seat next to Thomas. Thomas wanted to tell Natalie to move, but he couldn’t. He was sitting next to one of his best friends, and the school beauty. So, he decided to tell Natalie that he was entrusted to guiding a new student.
Natalie was surprised. Why would Thomas be guiding a girl? But she then thought that it was okay. Natalie secretly liked Thomas, and she was worried that the new student might steal Thomas away; but after some thinking, she considered that the chances of someone matching her own beauty would be less than a billionth chance.
--- Alexandra was nervous. It was a new school. Not only to that, she had an AP class first thing in the morning. She entered room 2C27. The first person she saw was that hot Asian kid who got out of the Ferrari. Suddenly, he stood up, grabbed her hand and introduced himself. Alexandra blushed. She thought he was going to confess to her, or at least that’s what it seemed like when he held her hands. The Asian kid then told her that he would be her school buddy for the next week, and would guide her around school. Alexandra was relieved. She had such a hot, yet friendly person to help her. Then, the boy brought Alexandra to his desk, and told her the seat behind him was empty, and that she should sit there. Alexandra glanced at the seat next to him, and she saw a beauty.
Over the course of the class, Alexandra saw how the two interacted. They looked so intimate. Suddenly, Alexandra was scared. What if they were dating? Alexandra was starting to fall for Thomas.
--- When class ended, Thomas introduced Alexandra to Natalie. He told Alexandra that Natalie was one of his best friends, and nothing more.
The “nothing more” hurt Natalie. She wanted to be something more. She took a look at Alexandra. Natalie was shocked. Alexandra was as beautiful as her, if not, even more. And not only to that, some aspects of Alexandra’s body was better than her own. Her chest must have been slightly larger, and her buttocks slightly leaner. Not only to that, she had a British accent, and was clearly a mix of Chinese and English descent. Natalie knew that Alexandra was serious competition (Thomas loved British accents). She had to take back Thomas ASAP.
---Thomas took Alexandra’s hand, and took her to AP Calculus. He actually was starting to enjoy being a guide. He felt powerful. Then it hit him. He was holding that girl’s hand tightly. Thomas blushed, and then asked Alexandra if it was ok with her. Alexandra giggled, and said it was ok. With that Thomas brought her closer to him, and told her class would start in less than a minute. The two rushed into class, just nearly missing the bell.
---Kelly saw the two walk into class. She stared at them. Why were they holding hands? And why were they so close to each other?
---Thomas chose a seat in the front, and naturally, Alexandra sat right next to him. For the first time, Thomas took a look at her. Suddenly, he turned the other way as Alexandra was about to ask him a question. He thought to himself that Alexandra was uber-hot. He compared her to Natalie, and every aspect of Alexandra was better. Legs, looks, practically everything physical.
---Alexandra wanted to ask Thomas about how homework went about in class. But when she saw Thomas suddenly looking away from her, she had a feeling that he was staring at her. Alexandra got nervous. Did she look weird? Was she too ugly? Alexandra knew that the girls at this school were all pretty, and maybe she was the only one that was below average. Maybe her chest was too big, her buttocks were too fat, maybe her face didn’t have enough make-up, if she put any on at all.
---Thomas thought that Alexandra was perfect. He saw how she did math, and she clearly was smart. She told the teacher that he taught wrong, and explained the correct way to solve the problem. Thomas thought that Alexandra was perfect. He was starting to fall for her.
---At lunch, Thomas brought Alexandra to the cafeteria (Still holding her hands). Since this morning, many rumors have spread around saying that the new student and Thomas were dating. Having been together so closely, these types of rumors easily arose, especially with Thomas being revered so highly among the school population. Alex was embarrassed. She didn’t know such rumors would spawn on her very first day.
---Thomas could care less for the rumors though. Like most rumors, they would die out soon, and never return to the realm of earth. He was attracted to Alexandra, and didn’t want to lose this chance. He introduced Alexandra to the gang.
---Alexandra stared at Thomas’ friends. They all seemed to be nice. But the one thing that hit her was that they were all super-attractive. There was a muscular hunk, and then there was another hottie next to Natalie. Alexandra was surprised that Beverly High had so many attractive people who attended school.
---William and Kelly stared at Alexandra. It was the first time they saw someone prettier than Natalie. Both of them noticed that Alexandra was getting lots of attention from everyone around the school, especially from the lecherous guys.
---Alexandra felt slightly uncomfortable though. She noticed that two of Thomas’ friends kept staring at her. Was it because she looked weird? Her mom told her that she was too ugly to get a boyfriend once. She was worried. Was everything all right? Maybe she didn’t fit in.
---Natalie looked at Alexandra with scorn. She spent almost a whole day with Thomas. More than that, but because Alexandra’s house was being repainted, Thomas invited Alexandra over to his house to stay for a day. Natalie rarely got to go over to Thomas’ house, despite being intimate friends. The only person who constantly went to Thomas’ house was William, but that was only because they were “bro’s for life”. She hoped that Thomas and Alexandra would stop being so close to each other.
---Afterschool, Thomas, William, and Alexandra went to Thomas’ house. It was a modern house, and to be honest, resembled Iron Man’s Malibu beach house. Glass covered the house, and white accents were everywhere. On the driveway was parked a black Range Rover Supercharged and a Mercedes 2 door AMG convertible. Thomas told them that those were his mom’s cars, and his dads were all in the underground garage. Thomas gave Alexandra a tour of the house while William waited in the living room, watching some Top Gear (without Jeremy Clarkson).
---Alexandra thought to herself that this house was amazing. As they entered the underground garage, she stared into amazement. There were at least 18 cars in here, ranging from classic Ferrari’s, to new exotics such as the McLaren P1 or the Porsche 918 Spyder. She guessed that the cars worth in the garage must have already been at least 100 million dollars altogether. Thomas then brought Alexandra to his room, and told her to wait here. Alexandra took a look around the room. The walls were all white, filled with light. She was in heaven (metaphorically speaking). Thomas and William immediately came back, and then told Alexandra if she would leave the room for a second.
---With Alexandra out of the room, Thomas and William did some men’s talk. Thomas told William how he was in love in Alexandra, and wanted to ask her out. He said that he’d never seen such a beautiful girl that was pure on both the outside and the inside. William agreed, and told Thomas to go for it. Thomas made up his mind. When Alexandra came back into the room, she would tell her his feelings.
---Alexandra heard everything. She couldn’t help but eavesdrop. She was so excited. She also liked Thomas, if not obsessed with him. She HAD to return his feelings. She couldn’t wait. Quietly so she wouldn’t surprise Thomas, Alexandra stared at the door handle, and slowly turned the knob.

Ross

16

The sun rose and everything fell. Alex thought the sound was coming from some type of storm outside of his bedroom: “THUD, THUD, THUD….” To an outsider, it sounded as if God had eaten a whole heap of Indian food and barely made it to the can because that mystery storm came down with divine force.

In a sleep-deprived daze, Alex stumbled out of bed and looked out of his window. He saw nothing. There was no storm. “Then what could’ve made that sound,” he muttered to himself. He began to look around his room. He opened his toy chest and peered in. Nothing. He timidly gazed under his bed to see if he had an unwanted visitor. Nothing. But he still heard that overpowering “THUD, THUD, THUD….” “What could that be,” he muttered to himself.

And then he heard the screaming, “Aaaah, Aaaah, Aaaah,” coming out in short bursts. Frustrated and terrified, Alex decided to bust his door open. He looked to one end of the hall, then the other: no one was stomping and no one was screaming. He closed his door and back-stepped into his room. He pivoted around and stopped immediately. In front of him was a man in his mid-forties, sporting a scruffy beard, a pair of wings, and a hot pink, sparkly leotard. Jumping up and down, Alex screams, “You must be the Tooth Fairy! The ‘THUD’ sound must have been you looking for my room. But why were you screaming? Oh, you must have gone to Billy’s house before coming here! His teeth are brown and disgusting. But wait, I didn’t lose any teeth?”

“Relax, kid. You’re going to have an aneurysm! I’m not the Tooth Fairy,” he responded, “I am the Truth Fairy.”

Puzzled, Alex asks, “The truth about what?”

“Aha, the truth about the ‘THUDs’ and the ‘Aaaahs.’ See, I’m going to put this bluntly: those sounds, the ones that sounded like a holy Hershey squirt, weren’t coming from the heavens, but from a place much closer.”

“Did they come from my heart?”

“Well, no. They came from your parents’ bedroom.”

“Are mommy and daddy getting hurted?” He began to sob: “What’s happening to mommy and daddy?”

“Well, you see, mommy and daddy are going at it like a couple of raccoons fighting over the stem of a two-week-old banana peel.”

“Mommy and daddy are fighting?” The sobbing began to intensify: “But why?”

“Oh Ally-Al, your parents aren’t fighting, they’re fornicating.”

“What’s forkliftating?”

“Why fornicating is what led to me, and you, and poo-teeth Billy too!”

“But what is it?”

“Sorry kid, ask your parents. You seriously expect a middle-aged magical being to give you ‘the talk’? I only came here to tell the truth, not traumatize you for the rest of your life. I bring joy to the children. I don’t rob their innocence! I must leave now! May the truth set you free!”

“Wait, before you go, can I forbolate?”

“I’m out of here!” With that, the Truth Fairy snapped his fingers and disappeared, leaving a cloud of…well there was no cloud. But nonetheless, Alex needed to find out what the hell this so-called “fornaltutation” was. So, with a curious grin, he swung open his bedroom door and skipped down the hallway towards his parents’ room. He arrived at his parents’ door only to hear the ‘THUDs’ and ‘Aaaahs’ reaching record volume. Alex stared at the door handle and slowly turned the knob.

Mollie

17

A Broken System
The sun rose and everything fell.
Alex Carrinay stared at her destructed solar system diorama resentfully. Ten minutes of failed attempts at balancing painted rubber balls on Popsicle sticks to no avail.
“Why is everything so hard?!” She shouted at her nanny, Plecinta, who was dusting Alex’s shelves as she did every afternoon.
“That looks beautiful, Alex. You’re so talented.”
“Ugh, no one gets me,” she responded with a waft of teenage angst that whooshed right into Plecinta’s face, causing her hair to blow in the breeze of Eminem lyrics, Snapchat selfies, and reckless weekends. “I’m getting Mom.”
Ms. Carrinay’s cheeks ached from her plastered on smile. She was a Brooklyn-minded mom with an Upper East Side daughter: she had to balance her spiritual-yogi-organic lifestyle with her daughter’s Wildfox sweatshirts, Soulcycle classes, and Le Pain Quotidien brunches.
Alex found her mother outside in the garden, tending to her vegetables while humming the Grateful Dead’s “Black Throated Wind.”
“MOM. I need you to help me with my science project!!”
“Sweetie, what have I always told you about asking for help? Either you do it alone, or have someone do it for you, but don’t go so far as insulting your own intelligence by asking for help. These are basic rules of feminism!”
“MOM. I need you to do my science project for me.”
“Coming sweetie!”
Alex resembled Ms. Carrinay more than Mr. Carrinay.
Her beachey waves sprang effortlessly into place with every step she took. Alex loved her prominent cheekbones, clear skin, and slim frame— all courtesy of her mother. They jotted up the porch steps: Alex, shaking her hips as she walked, and Ms. Carrinay admiring the sky’s midday blue.
Atop Alex’s faux fur shag rug lay her dismantled solar system.
“Wow hun! Did you do this all yourself?!”
“Can you just add some stuff to it or something?”
“I’ll try, but I don’t see how this could get any better! I’m just so proud of you.”
Alex grabbed her phone and left to meet her friends.
Ms. Carrinay had loved science ever since the 8th grade when her teacher, Mr. Nepot told her there was more to life than science, and maybe she should focus on other things. She said his words gave her “drive.”
She gathered the solar system parts in the basket she weaved for Alex on a cruise, after the tour guide explained how long it took the natives to learn the art of weaving, “something Westerners would never master.”
First, Ms. Carrinay lugged the furniture from the ground floor out to the yard. She painted the empty living room a deep, navy blue, and hung thousands of tiny Christmas lights along the walls. She spent hours making giant rubber band balls and painting them like planets while listening to the ladies on The View react to Whoopi Goldberg’s shoes. The balls were connected to a single cable wire that Ms. Carrinay fastened around the doorknob. She switched on the Christmas lights, and pulled the cable wire tightly to hang the “planets.” She remembered from Physics Class with Mr. Nepot that the tension on the wire that clung to the doorknob and the planets was absolutely necessary for keeping the planets afloat. “Focus on other things?! Look at me now!” She thought triumphantly. Finally, the sun rose.
Mr. and Mrs. Karmpile, the Carrinay’s neighbors, stared through their kitchen window, stunned. Across the street, the Carrinay’s house glowed. Light seeped through the open windows like a spotlight on the night sky. The spinning planets’ reflections shimmied across nearby rooftops and danced through the shadowy streets.
Alex pulled up to the house and shielded her eyes from the glare. “Good thing I gave her a push with my original diorama” she thought. As Alex approached the house the glare grew stronger, and she struggled to find the front entrance. Alex stared at the door handle and slowly turned the knob.

Laina

15

The sun rose and everything fell. Alex’s mattress, Alex’s blankets; and then, finally, Alex.

“What happened?” Alex’s father threw the door open, panting. Briefly Alex reflected that his father slept in the next room, and that panting after a ten-yard sprint was probably not so good.

“Your bunk bed collapsed.” Alex crawled out of a pile of sheets and splintered wood and gingerly touched his nose. “I appreciate your desire to create environmentally conscious bedroom furniture. But—“ He held up a bedpost. What is this made of, anyway?”

“Sorghum, wheat, and recycled frozen yogurt cups. That bunk bed is 100% edible,” Alex’s father said proudly. He flipped on the lights and checked his watch. “Hey, it held for six hours.” He squinted out the window. “It’s not even dawn.” Without turning around he asked, “You ok?”

“Well…” Alex’s father finally turned and peered at him, and Alex gestured at his bloody nose.

“Pfft.” Alex’s father waved his hand dismissively. “That’s nothing. That’s weak nasal structure; and I’ll tell you something, you get that from your mother’s side of the family. Her father, her brother –-lowlifes; couldn’t appreciate my need to invent, to create. And you know why? Weak nasal structure.” Alex’s father waved a wrench in Alex’s direction and prepared to dismantle the bed’s remains. “Remember this: deviation of septum equals deviation of character. You know who said that? Nostradamus. Nostradamus is Greek for Nostrils of Fortitude.”

“Nostradamus was French.” I tipped my head back. “Is there any possibility that you own a towel?”

“How is my son such a wuss?” Alex’s father threw the wrench aside. “The bed is old news, anyway. Meet me in the kitchen.” He jogged down the hall to the stairs, the sound of his wheezing carrying throughout the house.

“Pace yourself!” Alex yelled after him, stuffing a pillowcase under his nose. “You’re uninsured!” Alex could picture it: his father collapsed on the floor, sprawled across the linoleum he’d made entirely from crushed auto parts. “Call 911,” he’d wheeze on the phone to Alex. “I’m in the kitchen, on a carburetor.” Alex sighed and found his father at the table, brandishing something above his head.

“What is that?” Alex asked. “Is that corn on the cob?”

“It is!” Alex’s father proclaimed. “And what is wrong with this particular corncob?”

Alex collapsed into a kitchen chair. “Can we move this along? Is there a bed where I can nap and it won’t end in carnage?”

“Fine.” Alex’s father leaned forward. “I’ll tell you what’s wrong with it. This!”

He tapped the decorative plastic handle jammed into each side of the corn. “Corn on the cob holders. What man wants to hold a dainty gizmo when he eats corn on the cob? And women, too.” He yanked out the holder by its metal prongs and waved it in front of Alex. “Women are better than this. Must we surrender our dignity to enjoy this great nation’s agricultural grain byproducts?”

So this was it, then. An impending coronary and dementia. “Yes,” Alex nodded. He cleared his throat. “Well, you’ve certainly pointed out America’s biggest problem.”

“Pointed out, nothing. I’ve solved it!” Alex’s father bent beneath the table and came back up to display an ear of corn, sandwiched between two doorknobs. “Corn on the knob! Corn on the knob, you get it?”

“I do.” Alex nodded. “You know, let’s revisit your organic bunk bed. I’ve stopped bleeding internally.”

“Here’s what I did. I found an old doorknob, and it’s got this little metal stem, yeah? And I just…” Alex’s father yanked the doorknob out of the corn and then shoved it back in again. “It’s decorative, and it’s useful! My slogan is, ‘Eat what you shuck, but don’t look like a shmuck’.”

“Well, now I’m sold.” Alex stood up. “Thanks for letting me stay over. I’m going back to mom’s.”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute.” Alex’s father held up a hand. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I need some doorknobs with character. Like the one’s at your mother’s house. Those doors are what—fifty years old? And the doorknobs, they’re crystal, right?”

“I can buy you ones just like those at Home Depot.”

Alex’s father looked hurt. “I do have some values,” he said indignantly. “I’d never ask you to spend your hard-earned money on me. I just want you to steal from your mother.”

My nose was starting to throb. “That,” I reached for the pillowcase, “will not end well for me.”

“Oh, come on. So, she lives without doorknobs for a few days. What’s the worst that can happen? Besides, as I recall, she’s more the ‘kick-in-the-door” type. When was the last time she even turned a knob? Let the doorknobs be appreciated, showcased among the maize.”

“Maybe. Is there food for breakfast? Or should I make an omelette out of my mattress?”

“Alex.” Alex’s father stood up and put his hand on Alex’s shoulder. “I believe in this. I could be King of the Knobs.”

“Or…we could talk about getting you a regular 9 to 5 job. With benefits!”

Alex slipped out as his father’s tirade ascended. “—me work with lousy corporations? Poisoning our societies—“ His father angrily violated an ear of corn with a doorknob. Kernels everywhere.

Alex tried to hide his face when he got home. No luck. “Your nose!” Alex’s mother cried from the couch. “He beat you, didn’t he?” She peered at him over her reading glasses.

“No, mom, he didn’t beat me. He built an environmentally friendly bunk bed that was…wobbly.”

“Ah-hah! He subjected you to hazardous home goods.“ She reached for her phone. “I’m alerting my lawyer.”

“Mom, it’s nothing. Don’t do that to him. I’m fine.”

But she was already waving him away, gnawing on the end of her glasses as she poked angrily at her phone.

This wouldn’t end well for his father, Alex knew. Another few months of non-visitation, of Alex’s father defending himself: “Who hasn’t heard of recycled frozen yogurt containers as bunk bed construction material? It’s my fault the boy has his mother’s nostrils?”

He climbed the stairs slowly, eyeing the doorknob to his mother’s bedroom. It glittered in the late afternoon sun; a rosette of cut crystal that, Alex had to admit, might actually look nice holding up an ear of corn. What good was it doing here, hidden in an upstairs hallway? He heard his mother yelling threats on the phone. Alex made his decision: he would bring his father every doorknob from every door in his house. His mother would be upset, of course, and a little worried. At best, he would have to replace every doorknob. At worst, there would be psychological testing to explain his newfound obsession with entryways. But it would be worth it, if it brought his father some self-worth. Alex stared at the door handle and slowly turned the knob.