Friday morning began like any other school day: with a blaring alarm and my mother screaming at me to get my ‘ass in gear’ from down the stairs. The only reason I managed to get out of bed at all was the fact that there was only a single month left of high school. A few exams were all that stood between me and freedom.

‘Freedom’ being college and wasting away my summer at some soul-sucking job. But hey, at least it wasn’t the shitshow that was Oakdale High.

A shower and a quick breakfast later and I was sauntering up Park Street with my younger sister bobbing along at my heels. Park Street ran through the center of our sleepy New England town from where the Atlantic Ocean crashed up against the old wharf to where the high school was perched atop Lone Oak Hill. Halfway between home in downtown Oakdale and school was the old catholic church and the small park that gave the road its name. An expanse of green grass and an old steel playground marked the edge of downtown. It was here that I spotted a familiar figure lounging on the rusting swingset and looking with trepidation at the sand beneath his feet.

“Hey Kevin!” I called out.

Kevin glanced up at the sound of my voice. His face brightened.

“Hi James! Sarah.” Kevin responded, rising to his feet and jogging over.

Where I was all scrawny limbs and sharp angles, Kevin was strong and fit, and, well, handsome. He wore athletic pants to my jeans and nice button-down shirt to my dumb hoodie. His shirt sleeves rippled with muscle built from years of hard training with the varsity lacrosse team. His wavy brown hair was styled to part around his forehead and he held himself with a sort of cool confidence I really hated sometimes.

When he fell into step beside us I reached up and gave him a bro-hug from the side which he returned with a smile. A flicker of something resembling jealousy crossed my sister’s face before she covered it with a snort and continued ahead.

“Get a room.” She muttered, rolling her eyes towards the sky.

“Jealous?” I taunted, but instead of her usual reaction to my banter, I saw that she had frozen in her tracks, her eyes locked upon the sky.

“Guys.” She whispered. “Look up.”

My first instinct was to ignore the obvious bait, but something in her voice had me craning my neck to look up at the blue sky. Except… it wasn’t blue. A jagged line of red light stretched across the sky from horizon to horizon, illuminating the backs of the clouds in a spectrum of red and purple. A blanket of warm colors descended across Oakdale.

“What the fuck.” Kevin said, his words mirroring my thoughts perfectly.

**********

We finished our walk to school speculating to each other in hushed whispers. Whatever it was, it wasn’t from Earth. At high school my sister left to join her dumbass friends on the softball team while Kevin and I headed towards the senior lockers. Word of the strange ‘Rift’ - or so people were calling it, had gotten around and the students were crowding around the windows shouting their speculations.

Nothing productive happened during the first period, and by the second the teachers all but gave up on their class plans. By lunch a few of the students had left - called home by their parents so that they could be together during the ‘end of the world’ or some nonsense. For me I grabbed lunch and slid my tray onto the table where the other social misfits and I gathered together each afternoon. Safety in numbers and all that. To my surprise, Kevin joined me at the table instead of sitting with the Lacrosse team like usual.

“I can’t deal with those meatheads today.” He muttered to me.

The sound of his voice caused the two across the table from me to tear their eyes from their phones. Gretchen Dean, a scrawny kid who was competing for valedictorian, gave Kevin an awkward head-bob.

“Hey.” Dean said in a deep voice that contrasted his thin frame in an almost comical fashion.

“I can imagine.” I shrugged at Kevin. “Sometimes I feel like we’re the only sane people in a world full of idiots.”

“Hey, speak for yourself.” Gretchen said. “I’m proud of being the crazy goth bitch.”

“Hardly crazy, and hardly goth.” I said, glancing over to where the last member of our little quartet slouched over her lunch. Today she wore a loose, black sweatshirt over the preppy clothes her parents made her wear to school. She had redone her makeup in the bathroom before classes started to resemble something not quite goth, but distinctly Gretchen. A brass pentacle hung from a leather string about her neck.

“Aliens! OooooooOOOooo.” Gretchen said, wiggling her fingers.

“What? No. There has to be more logical answers.” Dean grumbled.

“At this point I really wouldn’t be surprised.” I said. “What do you think Kevin?”

Kevin shrugged, then tapped his phone. “The internet seems to claim that people began disappearing when this Rift appeared.”

“See? Aliens.” Gretchen said.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“I saw that too.” I nodded to Kevin. “Some guy’s girlfriend went to take a nap and just disappeared.”

“That could be anything though.” Dean said. “I’m not saying that Aliens are impossible, but we need to keep our minds open for other possibilities. Besides, it’s not like everyone who fell asleep just disappeared right? Right?”

“The Jury is still out.” I said.

“Ok, if not aliens, what if it’s a zombie apocalypse?” Gretchen said. “Which one of us would die first?”

All three of them looked at me.

“What?” I sputtered, offended. “Why me? Why not Dean?”

“Because unlike you, Dean is actually smart.” Gretchen grinned at me.

“Hey, I’m smart!”

“You can do math and code and stuff, but are you actually smart?” Gretchen shrugged. “I’ve seen your essays. You couldn’t write your way out of a cardboard box.”

“That’s hurtful.” I sighed. “And true.”

**********

The rest of the school day proved uneventful. Kevin and I had gym after lunch - some pointless class called ‘PE Activities’ in which we played flag football outside under the crimson sky. Afterwards Kevin did his usual locker room routine of glaring at himself in the mirror before donning his school clothes once more. Most thought him vain, but I always saw the little look of disappointment in his reflection - as if something wasn’t quite right.

By the time the last bell rang, the sun hung as a brilliant yellow orb amidst a sea of red. The so-called rift appeared not as a line of red, but had split into two discrete sides with a black void hanging between them. I felt a distinct sense of wrongness about it.

Kevin’s lacrosse practice was canceled, but my sister’s softball wasn’t, so I met my friend in the school parking lot after school. He sat on the curb looking nearly as listless as he did this morning. The brief light burning in his eyes at my arrival faded into a blank stare as he joined me on our walk home down Park street. I sent him a concerned glance.

“What's up?” I asked

He shrugged, glancing up at the sky.

“Yes yes, doom and gloom, we’re all going to die.” I said as nonchalantly as I could. Between the panic on the news and my overactive imagination, it was hard to think the worst wasn’t going to happen. When Kevin didn’t respond, I heaved a sigh.

“Anything you want to talk about?” I tried again, but Kevin said nothing. Silence followed us all the way to the park where I’d met him this morning.

“What do you think of me?” He asked suddenly.

“Um, you’re a pretty cool guy?” I said, somewhat confused by the change in topic. Kevin sent his listless gaze back to the pavement.

“Yeah.” He said. “Maybe.”

I didn’t really understand. “You sound like that’s a bad thing.” I said.

Kevin sucked in a deep breath and tried to steady himself. “No… It’s not a bad thing. I’m a cool guy. My parents are proud. I just… It’s just that…” He seemed to struggle with something, but in the end shook his head. “Never mind.”

“I’m willing to listen if you ever need someone to talk to.” I said, and Kevin nodded.

“See you online in a few?” He asked, breaking off from the sidewalk towards his house behind the park.

“Yeah.” I said. I’ll be on.

**********

My parents owned a restaurant in downtown Oakdale over which our family’s apartment perched. My sister and I would get a free meal downstairs, but after that I was on my own for most of the evening. Tonight I spent that time hunched over my tiny wooden desk shoved into the corner of the shoebox that was my room. Gretchen, Dean, Kevin, and I muttered to each other over voice chat while we read over the endless new stories on popular websites.

“It looks like people really are disappearing. There are hundreds of videos being posted of people just… disappearing when they fall asleep.” Kevin said. I could hear his parents shouting something about the end times in the background.

“Not everyone though.” I said. “Just most.”

“See Aliens!” Gretchen said and I could almost see her wiggling her arms about like that ancient meme.

“Or the end of the world, or one of a thousand other far more logical explanations.” Dean said, taking the bait and setting off another pointless squabble. I swear those two just liked arguing for the sake of it.

I slumped back in my chair with an exhausted sigh and checked the clock. 9:30 PM. No matter how worked up I felt, I found my energy slipping away. Downstairs I could hear my parents and my sister arguing over the television which was tuned to the local news channel. None of us had gone to be yet. I wondered who would be the first.

That question was answered when my sister thumped up the stairs and knocked on my door. She opened it and shoved her head inside. She looked as exhausted as I felt.

“I’m going to sleep.” She said, looking at me in challenge.

“Yeah? So what?” I said, but I could tell she was anxious about it.

“Mom and dad want to try staying up the entire night but…”

“You’re curious.” I finished. I knew. I could feel it too. I needed to know what lay beyond.

“I’d rather not go alone.” She said.

“Your friends?”

“Are idiots. Please?”

“I will.” I nodded. “Though maybe not right away.”

My sister gave me a faint smile and left, closing the door behind her.

“You’re really going to sleep?” Kevin asked through my headset.

“You could hear her?” I sighed.

“You’re mic literally picks up everything.” Gretchen said. “And I mean everything you mouth-breather.”

“I will soon. What about all of you?” I asked and heard three murmurs of confirmation. “Wherever we end up, we should vow to find each other again.”

“Should we still be alive.” Dean finished.

“Should we still exist.” Gretchen corrected.

“Agreed?” I asked.

“Agreed.” The others echoed.

“Then… good night.”

I ended the call and shut down my computer before tiptoeing out to my sister’s room across the hall. The door was ajar, and when I pushed it open I saw nothing but an empty bed with a head-shaped depression on the pillow. With a frown I left, heading back into my room where I sat on the edge of my own bed, grim thoughts whirling in my head. All I needed to do was close my eyes and the answers to all my fears would be answered.

But could I bring myself to do it?

In the end, my tired mind decided for me. I flopped into bed, not bothering to disrobe or even slip beneath the covers. I simply closed my eyes and sleep took me.