Apocalypse Come

         I knew they'd mock me. Anna and her whining sneer, Adam's condescending baby talk. It would all be directed at me. I walked down the brightly lit hall and tried to ignore the stares of my classmates at their lockers. Someone walking by hit me in the back, just enough to make me stumble.

         "Hey, crazy. I thought the world was supposed to end today," Adam's voice rang as predicted. Well, it was supposed to end today. I would have welcomed it. I was sick of the world, or at least my world. Could you blame me?

         The library at least looked empty, so I entered. Even the old librarian was gone. Perfect. Anna peeked her head in just long enough to wrinkle her stupid nose at me.

         "We're all dead. Yup," she said, and walked away before I could reply. Nobody ever listened to me. Still, they had a point. Why didn't the world end? It was supposed to. Maybe the Mayan calender was wrong. Maybe there were other signs I didn't know about. Curious, I logged onto the school computer and tried researching. Every website was blocked. School computers were always blocked. I groaned and used a proxy. Teachers were always trying to make things more difficult for us.

          There I found theories--so many theories. Someone had misread the Mayan calender. Estimates ranged from three days off to two years. I discovered other clues too--Nostradamus, and Biblical passages. The world would end shortly. I could feel another apocalypse brewing up, and knew I wasn't an idiot. I printed some pages to show Adam and Anna who knew what.

         "What is that freak doing?" I heard someone say as they passed the door. I ignored them.