The next day at school was as normal as it could be under the circumstances. Three teachers had quit in the last two days, and there was a shortage of permanent and even temporary subs. The remaining teachers had to take on bigger classes as other classes were cancelled altogether. As of now, I had no World History.

"Did you hear?" asked Nick as we pushed our way through the crowded halls. I looked at him blankly and he continued. "Yeah, Coach Shukitt and his wife just jet. Didnt tell anyone they quit, just gathered their kids and skipped town."

"For real?" He nodded and we continued to swim through the crowd. Even more teachers were gone than I thought. "I heard Mrs. Merritt quit, too."

"Really? I had homework due that I didnt do, so hopefully."

"Yeah. Soon, theyre going to have to cancel school."

"Wouldnt that just beat all?"

"Oh, it would." I said as we reached one of the rotundas and took a break from the strenuous navigation of the human streams. Up from the stairs and through the double doors emerged Angeline and right behind her Zack with nothing but a CD player. "Wheres your backpack, senorito?"

"I dont think thats proper Spanish." With a smile, he pulled out some candies from his pocket and threw each of us one. "Nah, I didnt think I needed one. Three of my four classes today are reported teacherless."

Now the group as a whole just pushed through the crowd and edged our way through to the next rotunda. Class didnt start for another half hour, so we had time to swim through the crowds that seemed to mill around purposelessly. I noticed as I walked through that crowd, that no one was smiling.

They all expected the world was ending.

"Hey, Zack? Why do you think no ones smiling?" I asked eying a once peppy girl walk by solemnly.

"Who knows? I for one think the drug surplus has run low."

"I attribute this to the counterfeit Zoloft pills circulating around." added Angeline.

"And I think its the sudden plague of abstinence this country has experienced." said Nick with a smile.

"Well, I think its all of these things." I said as we hit the door to the stairs leading to the main rotunda. Usually a place filled with laughter and gossip, it was unsettlingly quiet with only a low murmur where once there was deafening conversations. I found myself missing the loud words that echoed around off of the dead soldiers names painted on the walls.

The four of us pushed our way through the masses of depressed faces and made it outside to the warm air of a lingering summer. The sun had barely begun to peek over the schools roof, but a few rays hit the fine arts building and shone through the huge windows beautifully.

"Damn people. Even the stoners look sober." said Zack. Angeline gave him a sour look mirroring her anti-drug sentiments and Zack smiled in response. We sat down and Zack scanned the people around us before continuing. "Well, except for Danny. Dannys still stoned."

"So is Juan." offered Nick.

"Well, of course. That was implied." That got a weak chuckle from us. Damn, the mood was contagious. I squinted up at the sun to figure out how much more time we had till the bell sounded, but gave up and looked at my watch. Twenty-one minutes.

"Hey, I wonder if Indians celebrate Thanksgiving." said Nick as he pulled out an open bag of Doritos from his bag and munched on one.

"Well, the middle eastern ones or the Cherokee and Apache type ones?" replied Zack.

"The Native Americans, dumbass." said Nick after a moment to see if he was joking or not.

"Oh. Well then, yes."

"Wha?" asked Angeline with mouth agape. "How the hell do you figure?"

"Well, they get all these benefits and such, so I think theyd be thankful." said Zack, defending his statement.

"Bro, they had their land stripped by the white men and were herded to reservations like cattle." I said reasonably.

"Yeah, nice going Nick." said Angeline. "Nick glared at her for a moment before replying.

"You know what? Robbys half white?"

"Um Im Irish."

"Thats still white." said Zack with a laugh.

"Oh but, hey, -Nick stripped Indians of their land!" I said pointing an accusing finger at the only pure white boy in our group. We all laughed and I glanced at my watch. Eighteen minutes. God damn it.

It was then the overwhelming silence overtook us as well and we conformed to the it. We all got lost in our own thoughts and I couldnt help getting lost in theirs. Or at least trying to figure out what they were mentally occupied with at the moment. My guess was Nick was thinking of Angeline and Angeline of Nick. Zack was probably thinking of that new Big Tymers CD. Me, I found myself thinking of girls. You know what, I take back my guess on Zack. He was thinking about girls. Guys are always thinking about girls and nothing else.

I turned towards the hack circle behind me and then let my gaze drift to the left. There, in a little faction of the main group condensed in the middle, were a few rockers to lazy to kick the sack. But that wasnt what caught my eye. There, right by the trash can, holding a coke, was Jade.

I dont know why my eyes were drawn to her. I dont know why I chose to look right at that moment. I dont know why I felt like I had to keep watching, but I did. After a moment, I turned to the group and saw they were staring, too. And a glance around confirmed that the rest of the courtyard had followed suit save a couple of people too obsessed with their hack game.

And Jade didnt seem to notice all of the eyes on her. She just took a swig from her coke and looked down at the hack that fell at her feet. She kicked it off and it arched back into the circle as the rest of the courtyard became an audience.

And then it happened.

It was like I had blinked (everyone would say this or something similar to this when describing it) and then- then the world had ended. Jade was there one second, kicking off the hack and drinking her coke, but then she was gone the next. It was like the world had blinked simultaneously and there was some immense cosmic change in that millisecond of blindness.

But I hadnt blinked.

And the world had just ended.

And we had all expected it. But no one had seen it coming.