May 2040
Kara's POV:
"Hey", I snap, "Where the hell are we going?".
Shawn rolls his eyes and says, "My house".
"Well, can you put your address into your phone or something? How the hell am I supposed to know where you live?", I scowl. He types his address into his phone, props it up, then goes back to staring out the window. For someone getting a free ride home, he is highly unappreciative.
After a few minutes he asks, "Why were you there today? I told you I would text you when it would be a good time for you to come to another meeting".
"You really think I trust you? You don't even have my number. How would you tell me? By carrier pigeon?", I ask. He looks guiltily at me, but I pretend to busy myself with the rear view mirror.
"If you must know, I asked Jack for it after I saw you last night", he shrugs, as if this is no biggie.
"Jack?", I'm shocked.
"Yes, your boyfriend", he emphasizes.
"We broke up actually", I stare ahead at the road.
"Wow, that did not age well...", he sardonically chuckles, "Did you break up before or after I asked him for your number?".
"It was today, so after", I reply.
His facial expression softens as he says, "Whoa, that's recent. Are you okay?".
"Whatever, you do not have to pretend to care", I start, "By the way, I wanted to break up, so I'm fine". He crosses his arms in disbelief.
"What? We just weren't clicking. It had to end", I reason.
"After years though? Damn I feel for him", Shawn says.
I roll my eyes, "Fuck him".
"See this", he gestures, "this is why I don't do relationships. It's too much".
"But there are good parts to relationships, though", I reason, "We just ran out of ours", I finish with a shrug. "There's laughter, happiness, dates, etc".
"All of which you can have with a fling", he lifts his eyebrows.
"It's different with someone who's exclusively yours", I shrug and say, "which you obviously have not experienced". Shade has been thrown. He's silent after that.
"Turn right here", he points. I pull up in front of his house. As we enter, a round woman is laying spread eagle on the couch. She is comfortable. This woman is covered in only a cropped tank top, and very short shorts. Her short wavy hair is plastered to her sweaty forehead, and I guess that this is Shawn's mother. He gets his shoulder-length blonde waves from her, but everything else is all her.
"Good evening, Ms. Fuller. I'm Kara, Shawn's uh--", I look from him to her, "friend?".
Not even turning my direction, she takes a deep breath and mumbles, "Hmph". Is that even English?
Shawn's already halfway up the stairs when he growls, "Well, are you coming or not?". I almost jump at that. I slowly trail behind him, up the creaky wooden steps.
Once we reach his bedroom, I'm appalled. There is a worn down sock hanging on his doorknob. Once he realizes I've been staring at it for a while, he says, "Oh yea, from my last fling". Eww. "Ugh, what are you waiting for?", he asks.
"I'm not touching that!", I say.
Rolling his eyes, he turns the doorknob like it's no big deal. Now I have frightening images of Shawn with someone else like that floating around my mind. Ugh.
The first thing I notice upon entering is a wall covered in cover art from several albums; I guess they are some of his favorites. I recognize a lot of them, especially Drake's Take Care. Shawn clearly has a soft side.
He has a remarkably large bed. It has to be King sized, covered in black satin sheets. The dark theme of his room overall is not surprising. It reminds me of the gloomy look he always walks around with. There has to be a story around that. I've always wanted to talk to him about the way he walks around with the saddest emotions on his face. I want to tell him everything will be alright, and console him, but he is arrogant and undeserving of my time. I should just get information on the anti-New Worlders *cult*, and leave him alone. No matter what, I need not to get attached, so I'm emotionally distancing myself from him. I'll be in and out I repeat to myself.
"So, let's cut to the chase. What is this cult planning", I ask.
He lifts his right eyebrow in amusement and replies, "First of all, we are not a cult".
"Seems pretty cult-like to me", I roll my eyes.
"One could argue--screw that, many could argue that our New World, founded upon one woman's wrath, in its entirety is a cult", he stares at me, waiting for further argument.
After a few moments of painfully awkward staring, I ask, "Where's your car?".
"Left it at the assembly hall", he shrugs, as if it's no big deal. "I figured that if I didn't leave with you, our story would look more suspicious. It's fine, I'll take an uber to retrieve it", he dangles the keys.
"Assembly hall?", I ridicule, "That place is a glorified dump! It screams more cult than organization, and I think you all are foolish to believe your little group will change what the New World has accomplished", I rant.
"Anyway", he adds, "I wouldn't reveal the plan even if you held a gun to my head", he raises his hand, "Right hand to God".
"I'm leaving then", I pick up my Coldstone uniform hat, as it had fallen from my rant. Then, I hear a light chuckle. "What the hell are you laughing at?", I frown.
"Ahem, nothing", he raises both his hands, silently pleading innocent.
I head out the room, and I swear I catch him stealing a glimpse at my ass. Gross. As I bolt past Shawn's mother, who is still sprawled out on the couch, I grimace. This day has just gotten weirder and weirder.
Jack's POV:
I'm a god at Mortal Kombat. It turns out beating up animated characters is good therapy after a breakup. Although, I'm not as sad as I am relieved. I couldn't fake that relationship any longer, and finally I am free. Of course I had to fake my objection to Kara's decision to break it off, though. I'm a great actor. I smile to myself. Part of my objection was not fake though; our friends and families expect us to be high school sweethearts, and for us to end up together. My dad is already planning our wedding. I feel like I'm letting them down. That feeling vanishes when I think of Jaden: the way he makes me feel when we hang out, our conversations, our kisses. I had never felt that way with Kara. The way he made me feel over Spring Break. I never even attempted to perform some of the things we did with Kara. Part of the reason I stayed with her is because of the fact that she stayed with me through all the rumors that spread about me last year.
Last Year
"Oh, wow", some football player laughs, "If this gets out, their relationship is ruined", she says.
"I know", her teammate laughs. The two pass around a seemingly innocent picture, which can be deemed the opposite if seen in the wrong context. One of the star basketball players (on the mens' team at least) was pictured in a weird position in front of some guy. The guy would remain anonymous, of course, because his face had not been in the shot. However, the basketball player would be ridiculed for his part in the scandalous image.
"Yo, I think I know this dude", one player says.
"Of course you know Jack Thompson, he's one of the star players on the mens' basketball team", another football player says in a "duh" tone.
"No, dingus, I mean the guy without his face in the shot", the former player rolls her eyes, "His name is like Jay or something", she holds her chin in deep thought. "Yea, I can't remember", she shrugs.
Just like that a rumor erupted the halls of the high school.
The literal image that had gone out featured basketball player Jack Thompson kneeling before a mystery student, seemingly wiping something off his pants. Jack could have bumped into the guy and spilled something on accident, or he could have been admiring the guy's pants... there is a myriad of possibilities. Let a random student tell the story, and suddenly Jack was gay. He had been flirting with some guy when he should have been with his girlfriend, Kara Vox (although she referred to herself as Mrs. Thompson in secret). Of course people believed the most scandalous theories rather than the most practical. Kara had obviously been torn because how stupid could she have been to not know about her boyfriend of several years's true sexuality? She went back and forth in her mind, and she prayed for the rumors to end because how could they be true? When she asked, "Is this what it looks like?" to Jack, and he answered, "It was a harmless accident, and I was helping him", she believed him. A third party would always know the truth, though, and the official photographer of the controversial image had never been found.
Regardless of if Jack was faithful to Kara, or if he had indeed been flirting with the mystery guy, the person behind the camera knows the truth: Tiana Smith.
May 2040
Kara's POV:
I'm like a day into the summer, and I have not had one moment to myself. My mind has been occupied with the breakup, a dangerous cult--or the fact that the New World is a cult? I frankly don't know anymore. I miss my friends, and although I can't go into the specifics about my experiences in the last day, I can hang out like a normal 16 year old.
"Kaylynn, are you and Lisa still together?", I ask.
"Of course! Why would we not be together?!", she screams. Ouch!
"Hey, you know my ear is pressed against the phone, right? No need to fucking yell!", I yell back.
"Did Lisa say something about us not being together?", Kaylynn asks frantically.
"No I mean physically, Kay, physically are you with Lisa?", I clarify.
"Ohhh. My paranoia just went through the roof. Okay, I'm back to normal", we sigh in unison.
"I just wanted to invite you two over for an impromptu sleepover. So are you both available?", I ask.
"Yes, of course. We will bring all the sleepover essentials!", she booms. "I just gotta bring Lisa home to pick up some more clothes. We'll be there soon".
"Alright, bye", I hang up. One more person to dial, then this sleepover will be a guaranteed success.
I hear a light knock. "Honey, are your friends staying the night or just visiting?", my mom asks.
"They are staying, if that's alright with you and dad", I reply. She seems reluctant to agree. "I swear we will keep the noise to a minimum. I know you have an early meeting tomorrow, and dad has book club. Pretty pleeease let me have this sleepover", I finish, putting on my sweetest smile.
"Hmph", she sighs, "Fine, but", she puts her index finger up, "keep the noise way down". She crosses her arms.
"Of course, and thank you", I hug her, "I needed this all day--and last night".
"What happened last night... and today?", she asks, concerned. Oh, I got massively rejected by my childhood crush/boyfriend, witnessed an anti-New World faction meeting, broke up with said boyfriend, questioned my political beliefs, and had the longest and strangest encounter with the weirdest boy I've ever met (whom I've known for years)...
"Uh, I just had a long shift at work", I say, "There were so many little kids walking in at 9 am. Little, arrogant, sugar-addicted, chocolate-loving kids", I say, not realizing I am scowling at the topic of the "kids". Mom's jaw is practically on the ground. "You-you know", I stutter, "I'm just a little aggravated with those pesky kids, and I miss my friends". Hopefully she doesn't think I'm fully crazy.
I scratch behind my ear where one of my braids hangs, "Can we order pizza for dinner?", I ask.
"Sure, honey", she heads toward the door, "And I meant what I said about the noise", she points again.
I raise my palms in innocence, "I know, I know".
Soon enough, Kaylynn parks out front, but she enters alone, holding only one duffel bag. Where is Lisa?
A few seconds later, she enters my room, with the most annoyed expression I've ever seen on her. Kaylynn is usually a bubbly person. Despite her skull tattoos and various piercings, which we are all still surprised her mom let her get, she is more energetic than a cheerleader. Does it have anything to do with Lisa's absence? I know Lisa, and she wouldn't just not show up. Her shyness is often misinterpreted for rudeness, but I know better when it comes to her. She wouldn't just not come to my sleepover. Perhaps Kaylynn and Lisa's ideal relationship had not been so ideal.
"Uh, where's Lisa?", I ask.
"I do not want to talk about it", she blurts. Message sent and received; no mentioning Lisa for the rest of the night. Something big happened.
Suddenly, the doorbell rings. Kaylynn turns abruptly, "That better not be Lisa. I cannot deal with her right now", she sighs.
"Oh, no, I invited one more guest. My mom's getting the door", I say.
A few moments later, our tall dark-haired bestfriend enters, and lifting her phone up she says, "Party's here!". With her newly dyed hot pink streaks, and a spaghetti-strapped pink dress to match, I have to admit she looks fine as hell. Work it, girl I scream in my head.
Totally unenthused and disinterested, Kaylynn says, "Hey Tiana".