The Night the World Was Supposed to End

The Night the World Was Supposed to End - Brie Klaesner (Timberland High School, Twelfth Grade)

I cannot believe it's only my second time driving to school and my radio is already broken. I'm happy to have a car and everything, but I feel a little embarrassed being 16 and showing up to school in an old soccer mom van. The screech of the old brake pads breaks my thought. I honk my horn twice, in two cartoonish beeps. Damon busts out the door and sprints to my car. Damon is my best friend's little brother, so he's practically my brother too, just less annoying to me. We exchange good mornings as we wait for Josh. Josh has been my best friend since the 2nd grade. People joke about us being twins all the time, because we both have light brown hair, and bright green eyes. The front door opens again and I see Jenny waving at me, I wave right back, Jenny is pretty much my second mom too. Josh takes his sweet time walking to the car. “No music still?” Josh asks. 

“Nope, it's only been two days.” I replied. 

“Guess we'll just have to talk then.” He says. 

“OMG, did I tell you that Bradly said happy birthday to me on Tuesday?” “Only every day since it happened.” Josh said, rolling his eyes. 

“Who’s Bradley?” Damon asks. 

“He's nobody.” I quickly respond.

“He's the guy that Claire has a big fat crush on!” Josh says with a giggle. 

“I do not!” I yell, unable to hide the embarrassment on my face. 

As we arrive at the elementary school Damon gathers his things and hops out of the car. “Have a good day!” Josh and I shout from the car in unison. 

We arrived at the highschool parking lot shortly after. About 0.3 seconds after I put the van in park the doors were ripped open by Jenna and Michelle. They excitedly sit down, lean forward, and start to question me. 

“Soooo…” Says Jenna. 

“What?” I ask. 

“Oh you know what! Did he call you yet?” Michelle asks. Josh rolls his eyes and gets out of the car. 

“I'm going to Cooper’s car.” He states, closing the car door a little harder than usual. “Dramatic much? What's his problem?” Says Jenna. 

I just shrug. I know that he gets mad that I have a crush on Bradly, they've been teammates for years, and he hates when I get crushes on his teammates. It's probably because I talk his ear off about them but I can't help it! 

“Anyway, did he?” Michelle continues. 

“Well no..” I say quietly. They both just sighed and we started to walk into the building. I walked into my first hour, spanish. I hate having Spanish in the morning, it's too early for my brain to try to process another language. It just sounds like gibberish to me. The only good thing about this class is sitting next to Bradly. I sit down at my desk next to him and pretend to be busy organizing my backpack.

“Hey Claire.” I hear from behind my shoulder. 

“Hey,” I replied awkwardly. 

“Can you believe the world is going to end in a few days.” Bradly says. 

“Oh, come on, you know that’s not real right.” I replied. 

It's a whole thing, people think the world is going to end because the computers will crash on New Years. I think it's a bunch of bologna, but sometimes I wonder if it's true. I haven't really done anything with my life. I just turned 16, I haven't had a boyfriend (let alone held hands with a boy), I haven't gone to a party, I haven't left the country. There’s so much I haven't done that I need to do before I die, if this supposed apocalypse is real of course. 

“I'm just saying, I think we should hang out before the world ends.” He says. I think my heart just stopped. Does he talk like this to all the girls he knows? Am I doing an awkwardly long pause? I snap back to reality to answer. 

“Uh, yeah totally.” I say. 

“No, I'm serious, let's hang. When are you free?” He asks. 

“Well I'm super busy over Christmas break.” I say, “But I don't really have any plans for New Years I guess.” I replied. 

“Well perfect, Josh is throwing a party I'll take you.” He says. 

“Oh yeah, sure.”I say. 

“Perfect, it's a date.” He says. 

He just smiled then turned around. I'm really excited to go on a “date” with Bradly, but I'm a little pissed Josh never told me about him throwing a party. Guess he's not getting a ride home today.

In the blink of an eye, two weeks have passed and it's New Year's Eve. I have been getting ready for hours and I still haven't picked out an outfit. I think I’ll just go with the basics, a white tank top, a flannel, and some jeans. It's plain, but I have no idea what to wear so it will have to do. I hear a car honking outside my house. I sprint downstairs and tell my mom goodbye as I run out the door, overnight bag in hand. I open the passenger door and sit down. “You ready?” Bradley asks. 

“Super ready.” I say nervously. 

We arrive at Josh’s house and walk in the door. I didn't even know Josh knew this many people. Bradley offers to get me a drink as I scan the crowd for Jenna and Michelle. Before I can find them, they find me and pounce on my shoulders. 

“So is he here?” They ask in unison. 

“Yeah, he's grabbing me a drink.” 

It seems I've summoned him, because moments later, he's walking up with two red solo cups in hand. 

“What is it?” I ask. 

“Not sure,” he says with a smile, “What's it matter, it might be our last night on earth.” “Yeah, I guess.” I say as I take a sip. 

I'm still so shocked that I'm here, at a party, with my crush, doing teenager things. It's just weird to me. But it's our last night alive right? Why not live it. It's about an hour until midnight, and Bradly has not left my side. Am I crazy or is this out of the blue? Maybe he was just too scared to make a move for a while. But scared of me, please I am the least scary person probably on the planet.

“Hey guys! It's so nice to see you here!” says a familiar voice. 

I turn to see it's Bradly's ex-girlfriend Katie. SHes wearing probably the smallest tank top ive ever seen, even though it's literally 36 degrees, and a pair of baggy jeans. I look up at Bradly to see an annoyed facial expression. 

“What do you want?” He says. 

“Oh, come on, I'm just being nice and saying hi. I can't say hi to you anymore?” She says tilting her head and making puppy dog eyes, “Oh, I'm sorry, what's your name again?” 

“It's Claire.” I say. She already knows my name. We've been lab partners since freshman year. 

“Well I just wanted to ask Bradly who his New Years kiss is going to be this year.” She says. 

I totally forgot that it was a tradition. I didn't know I could possibly be having to kiss Bradly tonight. 

“Can you just buzz off Katie.” Bradley says. She makes a sour face and walks away. “Sorry about her, she's still not over the breakup.” 

“Wow, really? I couldn't even tell.” I say sarcastically. 

It's almost midnight and Bradly still hasn't left my side. We’ve pretty much been doing laps around the house talking to random people. I was distracted by some random conversation about unicycles before I heard people starting to yell, “10…9…8…” I nervously look over at Bradly. Do you think he’ll actually kiss me? OMG is he gonna remember that I was just talking about unicycles. My train of thought it's broken by Bradly grabbing my face and kissing me.

People are cheering in the background, not for us obviously, but it felt like the world stopped. We both pull away and he smiles. I think there's a look of shock on my face, but I'm too distracted by how shocked I am. The world didn't end that night, but I wouldn't be too mad if those were my last moments.