2049 First Five Chapters NEW PDF
Page 5
Suddenly, another wave of depression washed over me. I don’t
know why. James's story was probably hilarious like they usually were, but for some reason, I just tuned out and started thinking about Sydney again and what to ask James about the phone call. James noticed my 40
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sudden sullenness and asked soothingly, "Hey Thomas, is everything alright?" Come on Thomas, stop being such a coward and just talk to him about the damn phone call already! But despite what my inner voice was saying, I still just said plainly,
"Yeah, I’m good." James didn’t buy it. He saw straight through me, almost like he knew I had something to ask him.
"Is there something you need to talk about man?" he asked in his persuasive voice. See, this is why I liked James so much. The trait of a real friend is that they can always tell if there’s something wrong with you. And if they find out that you’re a little down or upset, they know immediately how to make things better. Reluctantly, I took a deep, shaky breath and decided to finally tell him about the call.
"You remember me telling you about Sydney right?" As soon as he heard her name, he immediately seemed to double the amount of concern on his face.
"I remember you telling me. What about her?"
"Well, after that whole incident during my tutoring session, I stopped answering her calls and avoided talking to her at school. But I’ve sort of regretted shutting her completely out of my life. I’ve considered calling her a few times, but I’ve never had the guts to do it.
But just an hour or so ago, I got a missed call from her. Should I call her back? Or do you think it’s just a butt dial or something?" I expected him to tell me to go for it and just call her back in the optimistic way James usually told me to do things, so it surprised me when he said,
"Yeah, it was probably just a butt dial." I had gotten my hopes up that he would say something else so when he said this, my heart sank like a rock. Noticing my sudden gloomy face, James interjected, "Don’t worry dude. There are plenty more fish in the sea." I wanted to agree with him and just say, ‘yeah, you’re right dude’ and just leave this whole drama involving Sydney behind, but a part of me just couldn't let go. I muttered under my breath,
"Yeah…I thought so." I sighed and aimlessly wiggled the straw in my empty cup and pushed around the ice. Suddenly, Jame’s eyes began to twinkle and a mischievous grin developed on his face.
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"Hey, I know what’ll make you feel better…" he said, gleefully rubbing his hands together. "Watch this." He slid out from the booth and stood right in the middle of the aisle and started singing out loud "Hey Jude" by the Beatles for the entire restaurant to hear.
"Hey Tom, don’t make it bad, take a sad song and make it
better." I covered my mouth to hide the embarrassed expression on my face. I hated it so much when he did this in public, but what can I say, he had a great voice and it’s my favorite song, so I couldn’t help but smile and forget all of my troubles. "Remember, don’t let her under your skin, then you will start, to make things better." He ended the verse and took a big, phony bow. People who were eating put down their burgers and started clapping. One guy even tossed a rose, (where he was hiding that rose, I still have yet to figure out) and James caught it in his mouth and walked back to our table and stuck it into the straw of my drink. "How was that for a little dinner and a show?" he said, nudging me with his elbow, still grinning from ear to ear.
"That was quite the show," I responded. "Maybe the best yet."
"Why thank you!" He took another phony bow while shoving the last few fries into his mouth. Suddenly, I remembered my plans to run away looked down at my phone. It was already 9:00.
"Oh crap! Sorry dude, I completely lost track of time. I got a train to catch at 9:30," I said in a panic as I gathered all my stuff and prepared to leave.
"Awe man. Train? Where you headed? Weekend vacation?" he asked.
"Yeah...something like that. I’m headed to the Bay, alone. I need some time to clear my head and figure some personal stuff out. I won’t be gone for long," I replied tersely, double-checking to see if I had everything I came with.
"Alright, well, see you later…oh and remember: don't let her under your skin!" he said in a sing-songy voice again.
"Will do." I gave him a strong bro hug and opened the door to face the cold night.
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*
*
*
I unchained my bike from the rack, put the hood of my thin
hoodie up, and started pedaling down the dimly lit street. Night had officially set in and the cool air nipped at my exposed skin, and I shivered as I rode opposing the wind. My teeth chattered and the wind howled against my ears, which were going numb from the cold.
Man, I sure wish I brought a jacket. But then it occurred to me, I did bring a jacket. Did I drop it while I was biking to In-N-Out?
Ohhh… I must have left it on the chair at the table me and James were sitting at. I glanced down at my watch,
9:06. I couldn’t miss the train because it was the last train
leaving from the local station for the night. I bit my lip and considered whether or not I should turn back. I reasoned it’d be colder up north and I would definitely need my jacket.
Annoyed with myself for losing time, I turned my bike around
and peddled back down the street to N’In’Out as fast as I could. The wind was against my back now, but it still froze the back of my neck even though I wore a thin hoodie. I just hope nobody took my jacket. I really don’t feel like freezing to death today.
Finally, after what felt like forever, I arrived at the turn outlet for In-N-Out. I pulled up to the now almost empty parking lot and placed my bike so that it rested against the bike rack, I didn’t bother to chain it.
Right before entering, I looked back behind me at the parking lot and noticed that James's car was still there.
Huh, that’s strange. Maybe he forgot something also. I shrugged off the thought and walked through the doors towards the table James and I sat at.
I noticed a couple making out as I got closer. When I say
making out, I mean they were really going at it with like tongue and everything. It was really gross. I could even hear them from standing about 100 feet away. It was embarrassing seeing the couple make out like that, but I needed my jacket, so I approached the table anyway.
Suddenly, the guy kissing the girl turned around, and I froze. It was 43
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James. He saw me also and froze. I locked eyes with him confused, then I looked over at the girl he was so sleazily making out with.
My heart froze. It was Sydney. Her lips were still bright red from all the sucking face she did with James. She stared at me with frightened deer-like eyes. Her big, blue eyes suddenly didn't seem so beautiful, and Jame’s face didn’t seem so charming. They disgusted me.
I couldn’t even look at them. I looked at James and then back at Sydney, who both hadn't moved an inch since I spotted them, trying to piece together what my eyes were telling me but what my mind knew couldn't possibly be true. I looked back at James again. I could feel ten thousand different emotions flooding into my head at once, making my face feel excruciatingly hot and red. James’s expression turned to fear. He stammered,
"Thomas…I…I can explain…" But before he could finish his stupid ‘explanation’, I shouted so loud my spit flew from my mouth,
"Go to hell! Both of you!" Then I sprinted out the doors, back into the cold night, without my jacket. I didn’t care anymore if I froze to death. I grabbed my bike and fiercely started pedaling away from the parking lot in a random direction as fast as I could: as if I thought I could run away from what I just witnessed and pretend like it never happened.
As I peddled through the cold night, images of James's fearful
face and Sydney’s wide blue eyes kept replaying in my mind over and over again.
The detached voice of my mother started echoing inside my skull. I started screaming, "Stop! Stop!" but the words didn’t seem to exit my mouth. They were swallowed and taken by the winter wind. I trusted James. James was my rock, my immovable, one of the last dependable people in my life. And now he was nothing to me but a traitor and a liar.
My snow globe of a world had been dropped by careless hands,
shattering into a million pieces. I felt nothing, only a maddening pounding in my head that wouldn't stop no matter how loudly I
screamed. Tears attempted to escape my eyes, but they too were consumed by the hungry darkness surrounding me. My vision started feeling blurry. I looked down at my hands and imagined that they were disappearing. My body turned limp, like it had no more reason to 44
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function, and I lost control of the handlebars. My bike flung my fragile state into the air, sprawling me onto the black pavement. I didn’t feel the impact. Only a pounding in my head that wouldn't stop, no matter how many times I beat my head against the darkness.
I wanted to die. I wanted to be absorbed by the night. I
wanted to have never existed. Everything was too much. I laid face down on the pavement with my mouth wide open, dripping blood and saliva, screaming for the darkness to take me. But the world was too cruel and left me an aimless soul to suffer in my hell of a world. I persisted. I screamed more for the darkness to take me, but it never did.
I waited and waited lying silent on the ground, crying, trying to create a puddle to drown myself. The tears and haunting images of James, Sydney, and my mom kept coming, but death never came. So I laid there, intending for either the cold or a passing car to end it. I waited for what felt like years until I opened my eyes again.
Suddenly, I saw a glimmer of light, a moment of clarity. I
reached out and seized it with anxious fingers. A voice from deep within me, barely audible, began to whisper. The time machine. The time machine. It’s the answer to all your problems. Get the Tesla coil. I knew it was wrong, but I listened to this voice. My only option for a brighter future was the Tesla coil. With it, I could complete my time machine, travel back in time, stop the dreadful car crash from ever happening, and stitch the broken pieces of my life back together. This was my only option. This dreadful idea was my only hope. I had to do it. I had to steal the Tesla coil.
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