The Observers (Chapter 1)

Chapter 1

Blake


I dropped my backpack down beside my desk and the chemistry lab and sat down. I was the only one there. Everyone else was busy in the hallways talking about random things in their life like sports or the latest gossip. The teacher was probably off getting breakfast in the cafeteria or having a teacher conference in the library. There was nearly ten minutes left before school would start and yet I sat in class looking around thinking.

I closed my eyes for a moment. All those people out there were so ignorant and forgetful. They were so mindless. Was I the only one with problems in my life? Money was tight and I was stressed about that. There was the usual drama between my friends that was impossible to avoid whether you were involved directly in it or are merely an advice column. Either way, you were stuck in it and you had to carry the stress of them on your back. There were love interests, not just your friends' but your own. Forced to constantly think about that and trying to push it out of your head only to find it return doubled in strength and pain. There was nothing to do but walk on and wait no matter how hard it was for you. There were the wars, too. Not just terrorists but full out war between other countries. Men were dying and we were losing. The News always hid that pretty well, especially towards the end. They showed the real facts, of course, but they presented it with lies. The battle for blah blah blah is over and some blah blah blah troops on our side died while only blah blah blah troops die for them. It was a hard fight but we know we can win this war. Our determination is still strong. It almost sounds like we're winning. They just left out details like that we lost that battle and said that we were still determined to win while the enemy is even more determined. True information presented deceitfully.

As if all this stress that just piled up wasn't bad enough, there was one more thing and it wasn't homework. It was the nukes. Most of our days are limited, if not all of them. It was nearly WWIII and as the fighting grew more intense, so did the desire to use nuclear bombs. And once the first ones were launched, everyone else would follow and blow each other up. What would follow no one could guess. That is, if we even happened to survive. And no one seemed to care or even know about all this. They just worried about daily things. Hence, I sat all alone, watching everything happen like I was in a movie. I knew more than the characters but couldn't do anything to help. I was so absorbed that all I could do was watch as destiny happened.

I opened my eyes. Nearly 10 minutes had gone by in my thinking period. I wished I would have had more time, but I knew that more time would only lead me into deeper, much more complicated thoughts. A thinker never seems to be satisfied.

The bell rang and school began. Five minutes to class. Everyone in the hallways said bye to their friends and got ready for class. I unzipped my backpack and pulled out books onto my desk. "Time to move on again," I told myself.

The classroom began to fill up as more students enter. They took no notice of me and continued talking with one another, forgetting the world around them. I sighed. Nothing new. Finally, a warm and familiar face entered the room and for a fragment of a second my mind cleared of all thought as it recognized the friendly face.

"Hey Allison!" I greeted kindly.