Chapter 3:

Jake (A Bet With The Universe)

The End


There’s just one hour left. One hour until everything I care about fades out of existence. I honestly still can’t accept it. There’s no way the world will end after an hour...will it?

This past month has just been a blur for me. Mom cheated on dad, and divorced him. And now he’s left the house. Mom’s on the phone with him right now. My brother’s want him here, and won’t stop bugging her about it. I don’t really care. The main thing I want to do right now is see Ethan again. I can’t stop thinking about the fight we had. If there really is one hour left...I want to set things right.

I look out of my window. The only way I’ll be able to leave the house right now is by getting out of my bedroom window. No way mom will let me leave the house when “the end of the world” is gonna happen. I quickly open the window and crawl across the roof. The brick tiles are cold and hard, but I work through the annoyances. I need to see Ethan one more time.

I look around for a way to get off the roof, but I can’t see anything that can help me. So I tumbled off the roof. My arms and legs throbbed with the pain, but I slowly got up. I could feel something wet on my knee, and looked down at my right leg. Blood was dripping out of a small red wound, and I stared at it for a short moment before shaking my head. I began to run. One foot in front of the other.

One foot in front of the other.

The night sky is beautiful. A clear oasis of inky darkness with a few glittering points brightening it up. I smile as I run on the dirty, old roads. I’ve never really noticed how much I should appreciate what I have. The night sky. The roads. A house. A car. Good food. And the love of my life.

If I survive this, I swear that I’ll appreciate everything. Every. Little. Thing.

….

I arrive at Ethan’s house, and walk up to his door. I raise my hand to ring the bell, but quickly put it down. Instead, I pull out my phone. I scroll through my contacts, and press on Ethan’s number, before pressing the phone against my ear.

“...Hello?” I hear his voice, and smile to myself. It’s so comforting, and soft. Yet so outspoken and loud at the same time.

“Ethan, I’m at your front door. I want to talk to you.” Immediately Ethan yells out in anger.

“What the- Why are you at my house?! What the hell do you want?!” I sigh, and begin walking a bit away from the door.

“I’m here to make up with you-”

“How many times do I have to tell you, Jake!? I’m not gay! I don’t want you in my life anymore! I don’t want to date you! I don’t want to have anything to do with some gay retard!” He screams. I stare at the ground for a moment. I don’t even know what to say. What should I do? How do I handle this? Ethan doesn’t give me a chance to respond, though. “I’d like to spend my last hour on this planet with my family. Is that okay with you? Or is your stupid clingy ass gonna try to get me out of the house to fuck you?” I begin to feel hot. Everything is spinning. My cheeks are burning up. I don’t want to be on this call anymore. Apparently, Ethan was on the same wavelength. He hangs up without another word.

I stare at the ground, and my face continues to burn. I can feel tears slowly emerging from my eyes. I’m crying. The tear droplets plop onto the ground, wetting the concrete below me. I drop my phone, and it falls onto the floor, before tumbling away and coming to a sudden stop.

I turn around, and head out. Where am I going? I don’t really know. All I can think about is death. Should I die? Should I? Should I? Should I? What should I do? I tumble onto the ground, my tears coming out at full force now. And so I scream. I scream with all of the strength I can muster. All of the pain I can muster.

What...should...I...do?

I look up at the sky. The stars. They still continue to glimmer. I stare at them for a few minutes, before I fall onto my back, and begin laughing. The laughs of a maniac. I hate this. I hate this. But I don’t want to die yet.

No...I just don’t want to be the one responsible for my own death. As I laugh, I make a bet. A bet with the universe.

If the world ends in around an hour, I’ll have gotten my wish. I’ll have died, with no hope and happiness.

However, if the world doesn’t end in an hour, I lose. I’ll have to keep on going.

Let's see what happens, universe.