Dear God, 2180
Okay. I think I’m getting over it. It’s taken me almost a week,
but I can finally turn a corner without totally
freaking out. That… encounter… really scared me. How could
someone have that sort of technology?
Maybe it a government conspiracy, but then what were they
doing in the park? Hiding out? In the middle of
a thunderstorm? It’s just plain freaky! I think I’m over
it though. I think…
School seems so mundane after an adventure like that.
Everything is just like it was before. I guess I need
to learn to be content, hu?
Miss. Andrews must have gotten a new boyfriend, she
was way nice at class. There’s something wrong
with having a teacher with mood swings that are dictated
by who she’s dating. Maybe she’ll marry this one.
Would that help?
And another thing, what’s with Jared? He’s been
hitting on almost every girl over 15! And normally that
wouldn’t bother me (I’ve seen guys do that before) but
his “breaking-up” record is absolutly unbelievable!
One day. One day, is as long as his dates last. Though
one girl (can’t remember her name) actually lasted
two days. It’s like he doesn’t really care about the
girls.
At first I thought he was just being mean, you know
“playing around”, but then I got to talking to Lilly
(she’s into this stuff). Apparently he isn’t interested
in the girls themselves. He just wants information.
Something to do with last weeks storm. Could there be a
link…? Oh, I better not go there. I’ll get myself all
freaked out again!
Anyway, I think I should have a talk with him.
Treating girls like that just isn’t right! Besides
he’s kinda interesting. I’d like to know the reasoning
behind his strange actions (as long as there not related
to you-know-what)…
Love,
Your Daughter,
Corrie Fleece
The bell rang loudly. The quaint school, red stoned
with tall green-leafed trees and a neatly mowed yard,
was emptied amazingly fast. Students of all ages moved
around the large school yard, looking for their rides
or just hanging around with friends. Another school day
had ended (except for those with homework or
detention).
Corrie had seen it all before. With a skill born only
from years of experience, she weaved through the large
mass of students. She glanced about with curiosity, it
was strange knowing people without ever actually
speaking to them. She saw the nerds huddled under “their”
tree, the cool guys hanging around with the cool
girls in the parking lot. It was all so normal. Except
for one thing: Jared.
He walked straight through cliches of every sort,
not caring who he offended. It unnerved her. It just
wasn’t natural. Most people would get their bodies broken
in half for walking through the “cool” guys
crowd or the bully groups. But he just walked straight
through them. Not a care in the world! He seemed to
have an air of nonexistence. Like people never really
saw him. Except for the girls who had crushes on him,
of course, and there were plenty of those.
“Well,” she thought a little angrily. “He’s not going
to break any more hearts while I’m around.” Indeed,
she had heard of another date and drop scenario. It
sickened her. That’s why she was following him through
the crowd of students (though she carefully avoided the
cliches). It would have been easier if she could
walk through crowds like him…
It was hard keeping up with Jared because he had the
advantage. Sometimes she almost had him corned
and then someone would get in the way or she’d hit those
impenetrable walls called “cliches”. She was
about to give up when she was suddenly pushed out of
the throng of students. It took a moment for her to
figure out where she was. Somehow she had ended up at
the west side of the school. This was where all
the buses came to drop off the kids and park.
“Now where could he have gone…”she wondered. Walking
around she found no sign of Jared.
Disappointed she walked over to the sidewalk that
was next to the road that came into the school.
As she meandered home she wondered were Jared could
have gone. Work? Home, maybe? Where was
that? She never actually heard him talk about his
home. As a matter of fact, she rarely heard him say
anything about his life, other then vague references.
“I’m going to have to find out where he lives or
if he works or something if I want to catch him after
school.” She thought.
You may be wondering why she didn’t talk to him
during school. There really isn’t any good answer to
that. It could be that Corrie didn’t want to embarrass
herself (or him). Or perhaps the fact that being around
him during school gave her the creeps. Why? She wasn’t
sure. When he was around people it was like he
wasn’t really himself. Like he was just putting
on a play to benefit everyone else. Why anyone would do
that, she didn’t know. But the fact remained. So that’s
why she planned on cornering him after school. That
hadn’t worked out though. So, either she’d try again,
or she’d find some alternative. Neither option seemed
appealing .
“You finally found me,” said a voice. Corrie
practically jumped out of her skin. Remember: she was
still a little nervous after the storm incident.
When she turned around she was relieved to see it
was only Jared.
“Only Jared?! What am I thinking?” she thought. Now
was her chance! Before she could start her lecture,
though, Jared spoke.
“So what were you doing following me?” he said. Did
she catch a hint of hostility in his voice?
“Well, uh, you see…,”she took a deep breath. Might as
well get this over with fast. “I’ve noticed your
resent trend with the girls in school and I’ve come
here to put a stop to it.”
He looked at her surprised. “Is that all?”
“What do you mean, ‘Is that all’!” she said angrily.
Now he had done it, now she was mad. “You’ve been
messing around with girl’s hearts! You’ve playing with
them. Treating them like their there only for your
benefit. Your reputation--if you ever had one--is about
to be ruined. And all you can say is, ‘Is that all’?
“I didn’t know you cared.” He seemed to be taking
it all in stride. As if he was just having a pleasant
conversation with anybody.
“I wasn’t saying I cared about you, I’m just trying to
warn you to slack off a bit!” She stopped as she
realized what she had just said. “Well, it’s not that I
don’t care about you, it’s just that I’m- I’m….” How
could she explain? She decided that it would be better
to get back to the original point. “Listen, it’s cruel to
play with girls like that. Dating them and dumping them
as if they were a disposable cup.”
“Did you just say a “disposable cup’?
“Well, yea…” Then more angrily. “ I couldn’t think of
anything better to say, okay?”
He looked at her funnily for a moment and burst out
in laughter.
“It’s not funny! This is a important issue…” she
despriatly tried to sound serious. It just seemed to make
him laugh harder. Under her breath she mumbled, “Okay,
maybe it was kinda funny, but not that funny.”
“I’m sorry,” he said as he got himself under control.
“I’ve never heard girls being compared with cups
before.” He smiled at her, only to get a dark look in
return. “I really am sorry.”
“Fine! Laugh all you want! But will you please stop
with the girls?”
“Yeah, okay. Whatever you say.”
“No, I mean it.” She wasn’t going to let him go that
easily.
Jared looked at her for a minute (which made Corrie
very uncomfortable) before answering. “You really
want me to leave them alone, don’t you?”
Her first impulse was to say “Well, DU!” but she
controlled herself. “Yes, I really want you to leave them
alone, if you can help it.”
A sort of half smile crossed his face. “Yeah. Yeah,
I can help it. And I will leave them alone.” He saw her
skeptical look and added, “I promise!” Putting his right
hand on heart, as if to add emphases.
“Good. I’m glad you saw the light.” Corrie said the
last part half jokingly and half serious. She really was
glad he decided to do what she said. It never occurred
to her how easy it was to convince him.
“Anything else?”
“Um… not that I know of…” she said. Now that she
had finished her mission she wasn’t sure what to do.
They stood there, waiting for each other to talk.
“Do something!” she thought to herself. Gulping she did
the only thing that came to mind. She talked. That was
her first mistake.
“So, um, like, where do you live?”
“Live?”
“Yeah. You know, the place you stay at after school?
The other life?”
“Uh…” Why was he fidgeting?
“Something wrong? You don’t have to tell me. It’s
just I’ve never heard you talk about your family or where
you live or anything...” She would have kept going if he
hadn’t of interrupted her.
“No. Nothing’s wrong. I just kind of blanked for a moment.”
“About where you lived?”
“Hey, give me a break! I’m new here.”
That didn’t seem like a good excuse, but you take
what you get. “Okay. Well, if you can’t remember where
you live, then you might as well come over to my house!”
Holy Cows! What was she thinking? She just
invited Mister Heart Breaker over to her house!
“Please don’t take me seriously. Please don’t take me-”
She thought frantically. To late!
“Really?”
“Well, sure!” Stupid! Stupid! Why can’t I ever
just say no? “My house isn’t far from here anyway. Hey!
Maybe my mom would let you have some of her famous cookies.”
How much more of herself could she
take???
“ Sure I’ll come. That’s really nice of you to invite me!”
“Isn’t it though?” She had a smile plastered on her
face through the whole conversation. “I must be totally
insane inviting him over to my house!” she thought.
"What if someone from school sees me? They’ll think
I’m another victim! Worse, what if I am???”