"Wake UP, you lazy bum!" 𝘞𝘈𝘊𝘒!

Sonny: "Uack! WHAT THE HELL, EMILY! What did you do that for?"

Emily: "Because if you're not putting in college applications, you need to put in job applications before Mom and Dad kick you out, dumbass!"

Sonny: "Ugh, it's 7 AM. It's too early for you to be this annoying."

Emily: "Well, it's because you need to get your shit together."

Sonny: "I'm only taking a year off before college. What's the big deal?"

Emily: "Ugh, you're such a loser. 𝘐 already know what I want to do with my life and where I want to go for college, and you will always be a loser, and in a few years, I'll be able to leave here and be away from you!"

Sonny: "Yeah, love ya too."

Emily: "For real. You'll need to do something soon. You're my big bro. You should be setting a better example."

Sonny: " I know. I'll start applying for a job since I can't decide what to do."

Emily: "I'm just looking out for you. Whether it's encouragement or a kick in the ass, I'm here."

(A few hours later)

𝘊𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴! Sonny: "Hmm?" [𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨]

"Hello?"

Lucas: "Hey! Are you busy? Let's get lunch."

Sonny: "Sorry, I can't. I'm putting in job applications."

Lucas: " Ha, parents getting on your case, I see."

Sonny: "Not yet, but my sister is."

Lucas: " Well, you still gotta eat. Take a break and meet me at Burger Busters."

Sonny: "Damn, I'm on the other side of town."

Lucas: "Better move it then, and don't keep us waiting."

Sonny: "Us?"

It's been eight months since I graduated high school. My parents were upset that I wanted to take a year break before college, but they accepted it as long as I did something in the meantime.

On the other hand, my sister gives me a hard time whenever she can because of it.

I'm glad I have my best friend, Lucas. We grew up together. His family moved to a more affluent neighborhood before the end of the school year when his dad earned a senior position at the tech company he works for.

Thankfully his family's newfound wealth didn't change him, and he's still the same guy I grew up with.

Even though he moved away, he chose Burger Busters because it's close to my home, making it easier for me. He is a good guy.

[There he is. I told you he wouldn't take long, Jessica.]

Look at him, dressed up, sitting with his new beautiful girlfriend Alana and Jessica, my crush. Yup, this is a surprise double date. Is Jessica aware of this?

Sonny: " Hey girls. I wasn't expecting you two to be here." (Staring daggers at Lucas)

I mean, I'm happy for him. Not long after high school, he started dating her, though before, Alana wouldn't give him the time of day. Clothes do make the man the jerk.

We all hung out at the restaurant for around an hour. We talked about our plans for the future. Lucas will work for his dad at the tech company, Alana is trying to make it as a model, and Jessica wants to go into fashion—ambitious careers but goals worth striving for.

Alana and Jessica want to work together since they're trying to enter into similar industries.

Then theirs me sitting around, trying to figure out what I want to do.

'Ask Jessica out already' is the look he's giving me, and I nod back at him. I've liked her for a while but wanted to know if she felt the same.

We have fun hanging out, but I'm afraid of rejection. Meanwhile, the girls were having a conversation about music and pop culture.

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Sonny: "Hey Jessica?"

Jessica: "Yeah?"

Sonny: "Would you like to see a movie with me this weekend?"

At that moment, it felt as if the entire restaurant fell silent, waiting for her response, then her eyes got brighter.

Jessica's face lights up, "I'd love to!"

Lucas: "On that note, we'll be leaving. Have fun, you two."

She moved to the seat across from me, and we started talking about getting to know each other better and exchanging numbers.

We talked for a couple more hours, and the sun started setting.

Sonny: "Oh, I forgot I need to give Lucas his game back."

Jessica: "Ok. Call me when you have time."

As Sonny arrived home, he opened the front door.

Emily: "Mom, the losers' home." - 𝘚𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩

Mom: "Hi, honey."

Sonny: " Hey, Mom."

Mom: "Emily said you were putting in job applications."

Sonny: "I was for a while then-"

Emily: "Then he was on a date!"

Sonny: " It wasn't a, hey, wait! You were watching me, you little snot?"

Emily: "I was there. You didn't notice me."

Mom: "What's her name?"

Emily: "It's Jessica-"

Sonny: "Shut UP!"

Mom: "When can I meet her?"

Sonny: "Not happening!" 𝘌𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨

Sonny to Emily: "And you be quiet! Ugh, I'm going back out for a bit. I forgot I need to give Lucas his game back."

Mom: "Ok, honey, don't be out too late, and be safe."

Sonny walks to his room.

Sonny: "Here it is. Bloodbane. It's currently the number one trending game, and it was a pretty challenging RPG."

As Sonny is leaving his home, he hears Emily making kissy noises.

Sonny: "When I return, I'm destroying your stuffed animals."

Emily: "I was kidding! You better not!"

Opening the front door, Sonny: "Too late, say goodbye to your childhood."

Emily: "What!? No! Mom! Sonny is gonna-" he closed the door behind him.

After walking to the bus station, I got on the B-route westbound bus.

𝘗𝘪𝘯𝘨! (Sonny grabs his phone from his pocket) [𝘛𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢]

[𝘏𝘪! 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸?]

[Not really. I'm heading to Lucas's to give him his game back. So I can talk right now.]

𝘊𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴!

"Hello." (I didn't think she would call)

"..𝘏𝘪. 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶."

"You'll never bother me."

𝘎𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘴 "𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺."

"I was surprised to see you there, but I'm glad you were cause I had a lot of fun too."

"𝘐'𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦...𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥?"

(She felt the same way I did.)

"Y-yes! Absolutely!" (She wants to be my girlfriend!)

𝘚𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 "....𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺."

"𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘰!" (Am I on speaker?)

"𝘚𝘏𝘜𝘛 𝘜𝘗!" - 𝘒𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘺 𝘕𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴

"𝘖𝘬 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘺." - 𝘓𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨

𝘈𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 "Alright." - 𝘛𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴

"𝘖𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘢-" 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘌𝘯𝘥

"It sounded like Alana is with her."

(The bus comes to Sonny's stop, and he gets off)

I thought about my indecisiveness and how not making up my mind led me to Jessica. Indecision is sometimes good, I thought.

"The first thing I'm doing is punching his stupid face for tricking me into a double date." 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦

"Well, I shouldn't be mad. It led to my crush becoming my girlfriend." 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳

"Now I just need to get a job, and I'll be set. We should probably double-date more often cause that was kind of fun." 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘌𝘖 𝘞𝘌𝘌𝘖 𝘞𝘌𝘌𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘰

"UGH! Why are those sirens always so damn loud? Hmm...where are they going?"

"Wait-"

"They aren't turning onto his street, are they?"

I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my chest and started running towards Lucas' house. Thiers no way it's his house.

I was with him only a couple of hours ago, I thought to myself, but I kept running.

As I got closer, I saw a bright light and smoke in the sky.

I'm finally on his street and.....

"NO...."

As I ran up to the house, I was shouted at to stay back. I checked the area looking for Lucas but did not find him.

I repeatedly screamed out his name but didn't get a response.

Neighbors were watching, and one said they saw a young man enter the home earlier but never saw anyone leave when the fire started and wasn't sure if someone was in there.

The firefighters weren't entering the home, saying the fire was too much.

All I could think about was my best friend, my childhood best friend.

The person I would do anything for and would do anything for me.

Indecisiveness.

If I wasn't so indecisive, I 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 have a job right now. So I 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 have money to treat Lucas to a fun night out instead of him always dining me, and then his home...wouldn't be on fire right now.

These people want to put out the fire before entering, but if he's in there, it will be too late, so I...

..Ran into the house. "LUCAAASS!!"

I don't know why I did it, but I was feeling compelled to. "LUCAS! ARE YOU HERE!?"

It's a pretty big house, but I kept looking. I was inhaling smoke and getting lightheaded. I started having trouble breathing, but I kept looking.

Then...I found him.

He was lying on the floor unconscious or worse. I grabbed him and began pulling him toward the front door.

I'm struggling to move him. It's getting harder to breathe, and I feel like I will pass out any second.

"The front door."

I muster the strength to keep going, then suddenly. 𝘞𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥!

A searing hot piece of the wood structure for the second floor above us broke off and impaled me.

"AAAAAGGHHH!!"

The pain was immense. I tried to remove the wood from my abdomen. What little strength I had was gone. Blood covered my hands, soaked my shirt, and spilled onto the floor.

"FUCK! GRRN!" I looked at Lucas for the last time, then heard what sounded like wood being broken apart.

I looked up with my last breath of air and saw the second floor collapse on me.

And just like that, I was dead.

I wish things could have been different. I wish I were more assertive and grabbed life by the balls. But, yes, it would have been different.

(A bright light shines from inside the home and then disappears)

But no point in dwelling on everything and what could have been. All I know is...

..my life is over.