Bright red ink bled into a circle that hugged November 30th.
Once proud X's that boldly marked march and may, slowly grew timid as they approached it, as if they blamed themselves for the passage of time.
There are three days left, only three days.
*BZZzzzz*... *zzZZzz*...*zzZZzz*...*zzzzZZZZzzzz*
The sound of the ceiling light slowly drifted in and out of my consciousness...
Like thoughts...
Like time...
Like people...
I feel a small cockroach slowly crawl across my little finger... then my ring... then to my middle... before stopping at my pointer...
I didn't turn my head to look at him... but I could feel him...
He just stood there, testing me, nay, asking me to kill him...
I will...
He sporadically stopped and started up my arm... then my chest... the base of my neck... my throat... under my chin... my chin... then onto my face... my lower lip... my upper lip... my nose... then he balanced precariously on my left eyelids.
"You know..." he didn't move as I spoke, "the world is gonna end... and it's all my fault."
The two of us laid there, the only two people in the world who knew what was going to happen on November 30th... And there's nothing I can do about it anymore.
---
NOVEMBER 23rd, 4:53 PM- ALMOST ONE WEEK BEFORE THE EARTH EXPLODES
The late afternoon sun pierced my vision and washed the park in a rich, golden hue. Despite her harsh stare, the sun had little effect on the cold autumn weather, and my last line of defense, an old red pullover, held no power against the occasional light breeze.
-Okay… One more hour, then I'm leaving
Honestly, I had already accepted the fact that she wasn't coming a long time ago, probably since before I arrived.
She seemed way too good to be real even when we were texting. A short, blonde cutie who asks ME out? No way.
'Meet me at 3:24!' She said. Obviously she was messing with me, who schedules a meetup at 3:24? Who schedules anything at 3:24?
-She was probably a robot terrorist or a scammer or something.
I leaned over my right, and then my left shoulder to try and spot any potential muggers or robot terrorists, there were a few. One was an old man with a long, white beard who was walking an equally ancient labrador poodle, another was a little woman walking (or rather being walked by) two disagreeable pitbulls at the same time.
-Nah, no way
By far the most suspicious suspect is the girl sitting on the bench on the other side of the walkway, facing mine. She had gotten here maybe five or so minutes after I did, and has been totally eyeing me down this whole time. Not in a good way, either, I've been through enough to know that that's the kind of look people give to someone they've pegged as a criminal.
Her snow white skin, her black, pin straight hair, her calculating gaze, and even the way she carried herself seemed so cold and unforgiving, the complete opposite of my type. She dressed in a dark blue cashmere sweater, the kind with a bunch of kitted designs on it, a black pair of skin tight leggings and some brown snow boots.
There was only one cute thing about her, she wore a light pink hair-clip, with a little bunny charm on it, that she was constantly switching between wearing on the left, and right side of her face, depending on where the wind was coming from. So actually two things.
She sat in stark contrast to the golden grass field framing her, and if she'd sat a little more to the left, the sun would've given her a halo. To most, she would be stunning, to me, she's just okay.
The sun hid behind the horizon, and the gold was replaced by a thick, dark blue coat. Turns out, the sun had been doing a lot in the effort to combat the cold. I stepped my feet up onto the bench and curled up into a little ball to try and save as much heat as I could, but I suddenly felt an even colder and darker presence loom over me.
-
Although I had been forced to do this, the feeling of getting 'stood up' was majorly shitty. It confused me, our conversations via text seemed to have been going well, and he was quick to accept my invitation...
I leaned over and tapped a few times on my head with my pointer finger, trying to think of some reason why he had ghosted me. I had done everything right, I scheduled the date six minutes before I was planning on arriving, effectively creating a situation where I arrived fashionably late, and I was plenty seductive in our conversations, so it must be…
-He's just not into blonde girls
That explains it! A shame, really, I was genuinely looking forward to our date. I'll have to inform the lady that not every boy finds her attractive.
Now, on to the more important matter,
-That guy is totally a rapist!
The golden sun setting behind me cast my shadow to the tip of his beaten, white converse. He sat on the bench opposing mine, across the walkway; the mysterious gold and black thicket behind him framed him as a total creepo.
His face had seemed… normal enough at first, like the typical white teenager's. He had eyes that were unmistakably brown even from fourteen feet away, a nose, a mouth, and short brown hair.
He wore an old, over-sized red jumper and a pair of light blue jeans that had the appearance of once being dark. He mumbled and whispered to himself and occasionally checked over his shoulders, but mostly for the last hour and a half, he was looking at me.
His presence wasn't threatening so much as it was infuriating. His rude gaze and unflattering nature opposed literally all preconceived notions of a gentleman.
Between the rapist, getting stood up, and the constant wind, this was turning out to be a really shitty afternoon.
-When the sun sets, I'll confront him
-
I looked up to try and make out the demon that stood before me. There she was, the girl in the blue sweater,
-I knew it! She was just waiting for the sun to set-
"Are you a pervert?" … even the crickets shut up, "You were planning on using me without my permission, weren't you?"
-Wh- WHAT THE HELL!
Shit! I can't believe I could be so slow! Obviously some random guy sitting across from you for three hours is totally creepy! My face must've turned pale white, I could feel the bullets of sweat shooting down my face. I scrambled my thoughts together to try and think of a way out of the situation
-I have to say something... Think…
-
-His face turned white… Perhaps I was wrong?
-
"Um... It would be impossible to rape you and get away with it! It's like, 6 in the afternoon, there are too many people around for that!" only later did I realize how creepy I sounded "I- I was waiting here for a date- *BLAM*