No fate but what we makes for ourselves. A simple phrase that has been passed down to family member after family member for years.
Where it had first started no one would ever know. But for a selected few that key phrase would mean everything to them in so many different ways. To some it represented hope. To others it represented survival.
A word that has echoed through a small family for the past fifthteen years. A word that continues to echo through the mind of a lone teenager as he roams the hallways of a local high school in Red Valley, New Mexico.
To anyone else he would look like a normal student looking around his new environment for the first time. In reality though this wasn't exactly the case.
He was looking around his surroundings. However what he was truly looking for was every single escape route nearby in case an attack was to occur.
An unusual situation but if you heard his story then you would be in for a shock. The very same shock that he had happened to him at such a young age.
The story of Judgment Day. The day an artificial intelligence system known as Skynet had taken over everything bringing the world into a nuclear war instantly. Bombs after bombs falling all across the globe leaving nothing but a wasteland behind.
A story that he had never believed. Up until years ago when he had seen them in the flesh. Seen the very things that he had been warned about. The terminators. A cybernetic organism covered with living tissue.
The monsters of his mother's nightmares. The monsters that had ruled over the globe in another timeline.
Monsters that he had watched do battle with clear objectives in mind. One aiming to terminate him. The other to protect him. Objectives that were very clear to him ever since his mother had told him of his fate.
The fate of being the world's savior in the coming war. The war between man and machine. A war that looked to be as though it would never happened with the combined efforts of his mother and terminator protector along with himself.
But why couldn't he shake off this feeling that it wasn't over? Was it because it had been drilled into his mind at a young age or was it because he truly believed the legend.
The legend he hoped to never have to live through. The legend of John Connor.
With his eyes constantly glancing around his surroundings over each door he passes on by taking in the numbers being displayed over the door in big black lettering glancing back down towards the small sheet of paper in his hand finding that the classroom that he needs should be coming up shortly looking back up without saying a word as he passes on by a group of his fellow classmates and looks back up towards a nearby classroom to find the room that he is seeking just ahead turning around the corner just as he is about to enter inside seeing movement out of the corner of his eye turning away from the almost empty classroom slowly John turns his head to the side.
Instantly as he watches a brunette girl coming down from the opposite end of the hallway with her own class schedule firmly in her hands unable to take his eyes away as he looks at the girl as though he is in some sort of trace hearing the sound of a bell going off the echoes through the hallways suddenly without having a chance to react John's eyes go slightly wide when he sees the girl looking up in his direction.
Ignoring his fellow classmates that start to pass on by him into the classroom staring off towards the mysterious brunette as he watches a small smile come across the girl's face feeling his face starting to burn up slightly returning the smile breaking off eye contact turning on his heels slowly John makes his way inside of the classroom and makes his way over towards one of the very firsts desks next to the classroom's door.
Placing his backpack down onto the ground slowly taking his seat as he looks up to see the mysterious brunette walking by him trying his hardest to keep the blush that is threatening to break across his face under control remaining totally silent as John watches the girl take the desk right next to his own on his left instantly as he sees the girl look in his direction to send a smile his way feeling his face burning up snapping his head back forward unaware to his knowledge a wide smile forms across the girl's face.
" Alright class! Alright settle down! Settle down now. Please take your seats and we'll get started."
Keeping his eyes focused in on his teacher trying his best to keep his focus on him hearing some class instructions about what to expect in class feeling a pair of eyes looking at him glancing away from the teacher and towards his side as he sees the brunette girl looking over towards him with a small smile across her face returning the smile slowly turning his attention back towards the teacher seeing movement out of the corner of his eye turning his head slightly John watches the girl lean slightly out of her seat towards him.
" What's your name?"
Taking a quick glance seeing his teacher staring off at the other end of the room towards the back of the class slowly John turns to look back at the girl.
" John."
" Cameron."
Feeling a smile forming across his face as he watches Cameron return the smile before turning her head back forward to look towards the teacher following in her example John turns to look back towards the teacher.
Keeping her eyes over on John as she sees him occasionally glancing put towards her throughout the period to only watch his cheeks start to blush bright red slightly suppressing the urge to smile each and every single time she catches him in the act within a blink of an eye as she hears the sound of the school bell ringing signaling the end of the class getting up from her seat turning her head to the side seeing John slowly exiting out of the classroom rounding her desk quickly Cameron takes off after him hoping to catch up with him.
" John?"
Slowing down his pace looking over his shoulder as he sees Cameron quickly making it to his side to smile towards him returning the smile slowly John turns his head back forward.
" I haven't seen you around here before. Are you new here?"
Glancing back over towards Cameron seeing her tucking a loose piece of her hair behind her ear feeling his smile widening slowly John nods his head before he turns his head back forward to glance around the lockers looking for his assigned locker.
" Yeah, I just moved here with my mom actually."
" Really? Sucks for you."
Unable to suppress it as he lets out a chuckle to only hear Cameron giggling by his side stopping at his assigned locker grabbing a hold of the lock slowly John starts to undo the lock as he glances up to see Cameron leaning up against a nearby locker smiling down towards him.
" So what does she do?"
" Huh?"
Hearing her letting out a giggle that sounds so angelic to him feeling a smile forming across his face slowly John watches Cameron shake her head.
" Your mom. What does she do for work?"
" Honestly, I have no idea."
Suddenly as he hears Cameron bursting out laughing unable to help himself letting out a chuckle John watches her shake her head as a wide smile comes across her face.
" Oh come on. She must be important if she had to move you guys here for her job. I bet she works for some big time company."
Keeping his eyes focused on his lock shrugging his shoulders glancing up as he sees Cameron rolling her eyes despite the smile that is across her face returning the smile with a tug John pops the lock off and opens up his locker to place his new books inside.
" What about you? What do your parents do?"
" I don't have any."
Glancing over towards Cameron seeing her looking down towards the ground instantly feeling his smile disappearing reaching out gently John lays his hand down on her shoulder causing her to look up towards him.
" I'm sorry. I…."
Shaking her head feeling her lips curling up into a smile reaching up gently Cameron lays her hand down on John's own.
" It's okay. You couldn't have known. We only just met. Besides it's in the past now."
Returning the smile feeling her hand leaving his own reaching out John closes his locker with a thud before slowly without taking his eyes away from Cameron for not even one second he starts to make his way down the hallway with her following closely by his side.
" I recently just moved here myself. Can i see your class schedule? It would be nice to have a couple of classes with someone that i know."
Nodding his head reaching back John retrieves the small slip of paper from his back pocket and gently hands it over to a smiling Cameron before suddenly after a couple of seconds he watches her smile widen even more.
" Well isn't this a pleasant surprise."
Glancing to her side seeing John looking at her with a curious look reaching into her jeans pocket slowly Cameron extends an almost identical sheet of paper towards John to feel him gently take the paper in his hand.
Looking down towards the class schedule as he looks down the paper to see an almost perfect copy of his own exact for one different class in the middle of the day glancing back up John sees a wide smile across Cameron's face.
" I guess you're stuck with me."
Feeling a smile breaking across his face nodding his head reaching out gently John exchanges class schedules with Cameron and tucks his own away in his pocket as he sees her doing the same.
" And who says that's a bad thing?"
Nodding her head slightly feeling her smile only widening reaching out gently taking his hand within her own turning on her heels with a gentle tug slowly Cameron leads John down the hallway in the direction of their next class.
Glancing down towards the class schedule in his hands and then back up finding that he is standing before the right classroom reaching out with a flick of her wrist as he opens up the classroom door to find the entire classroom empty letting go of the knob slowly emerging inside reaching back John tucks his class schedule into his back pocket before slowly as he looks around his surroundings finding the room completely full of computers that looked a couple of years out of date shaking his head taking on last peak over his shoulder finding nobody but a few students passing by going over to a computer stationed at the far end of the room reaching down with a couple taps on the keyboard he watches the computer come to life.
Quickly going through the computer's systems finding his earlier hunch to be right clicking into the internet browser finding the school's website come up as the home page glancing quickly back over his shoulder not seeing anybody turning back towards the screen within only a minute as he hacks through the school's security systems and brings up their main screen clicking down on the option of student database with lighting fast speed John types in Cameron Phillips into the search bar before instantly he watches a new screen pop up.
Scrolling down the screen seeing all the information across the screen looking up towards the far right hand corner as he sees a picture of Cameron's smiling face unable to look away as he stares at the picture in silence just as he starts to scroll down suddenly feeling someone hugging him from behind instantly John jumps up in surprise to hear a giggle coming from behind.
" You're full of secrets."
Closing his eyes slightly feeling his cheeks starting to burn up turning his head upward as he sees Cameron smiling over towards the computer screen before she turns her sights on him instantly feeling his cheeks burning up John quickly clicks out of the menu hearing another giggle coming from behind.
" If you wanted to get to know me better all you had to do was ask."
Instantly as he feels his whole face burning up as though it was on fire hearing Cameron laughing from behind turning his head back around slowly John watches her take a seat next to him beside an open computer.
" You any good with them?"
" I'm okay, I guess."
Staring directly into her eyes seeing a are you kidding me looking letting out a chuckle reaching back John nervously scratches the back of his neck.
" Alright i'm actually really good with them."
" Uh huh. That's what i thought."
Seeing a smile coming across her face letting out another chuckle slowly John nods his head.
" Personally i don't like using them. With all of the personal data that is shared online it's really creepy thinking that one person or thing could really take over with time and a little effort if they really wanted too. You know what i mean?"
Trying his best to hide the look of realization from her words nodding his head as he sees a small smile come across Cameron's face returning the smile slowly John watches her nod her head at his computer screen.
" Do you want to get together after school sometime? Maybe help me with this computer stuff?"
Just as he opens his mouth to respond instantly as an image of his mother comes flooding into his mind rambling off the same speech that he had heard countless times in the past shaking these thoughts away looking back towards Cameron seeing her awaiting his answer forcing a smile across his face slowly John takes a deep breathe.
" I would really like that but it's my mom. She's not like other moms. A lot different to tell you the honest truth. She's quite umm…."
" Uptight?"
Letting out a chuckle feeling a genuine smile coming across his face slowly John nods his head.
" That's putting it mildly. She's not used to change."
Nodding her head as she tilts her head slightly and looks up towards the ceiling seeing John staring at her at the corner of her eye suddenly as a wide smile forms across her face slowly Cameron turns her head back to look at him.
" How about i meet her then? I can drive you home after school and meet her. Maybe help show her around town a little bit. That should get me in her good graces."
Taking a few seconds to think about it suddenly as he nods his head instantly John watches Cameron's smile widen even further before slowly after a few seconds of staring at her smiling face with his own face mirroring her own suddenly John sees her nodding her head at his computer screen.
" You're going to want to take that off the screen. The teacher's coming."
Snapping his head back towards the screen as he quickly closes the screen to hear the sound of students entering into the classroom without having any chance to react suddenly feeling a pair of lips pecking him on the cheek feeling his cheeks burning slightly turning his head to the side John sees Cameron glancing over towards him with a smile before as he returns the smile he looks over his shoulder to see the teacher entering into the room.
Feeling the rocky bumps of the dusty road beneath her feet keeping her foot firm on the gas pedal as she travels down the road in her jeep away from the town and in the direction of the new safehouse that she is calling her own ignoring the feeling of the wind breezing through the air Sarah keeps her eyes locked forward and focused on the road before her.
Traveling up the road at high speed seeing her destination coming up just as she slows down the jeep's speed to find a truck parked in the driveway of the safehouse feeling a surge of panic running through her reaching back Sarah grabs a hold of a concealed handgun she had hidden away in the back waistband of her jeans before slowly as she brings the jeep to a stop right behind the parked truck reaching up with her free hand with a twist of her wrist instantly she turns off the ignition.
Cocking back on the barrell unbuckling her seatbelt with haste leaping out of the jeep making sure to keep her head down slowly Sarah moves across the sides of the vehicles using them as cover looking around for any possible shooters in the area.
Not finding any anywhere in sight moving across the sides breaking off into a run in a sudden motion Sarah brings herself to a stop at the front door to lean her back up against the side a few feet away from the door before slowly reaching out she wiggles the knob.
Finding that the door is unlocked being as quiet as she can slowly opening up the doorway taking a deep breath instantly Sarah emerges inside making sure to close the door silently behind her before slowly with her eyes constantly glancing around making sure to listen in closely for any sort of sound she makes her way forward through the house.
After only a few seconds of hearing nothing but silence instantly as she hears a pair of voices coming from nearby moving through the house in silence slowly as she nears the direction that she heard the voices coming from to hear John's voice along with another female's that she never heard before emerging behind a corner as she takes a peek into the room to see John sitting on a couch next to a brunette girl feeling her panic evaporating reaching back Sarah tucks the handgun back away and covers it with her shirt.
Staring at the back of the brunette's head as she hears John letting out a chuckle turning her sights over towards him just as she sees a smile coming across his face feeling her lips turning upward instantly Sarah clears her throat causing John and the mysterious girl to turn to look at her.
" Well i guess, I don't have to ask you then if you met any pretty girls in school today?"
Instantly getting the reaction that she was looking for in John's face turning completely scarlet seeing movement out of the corner of her eye turning her head slightly Sarah watches as the brunette girl that was sitting next to her son slowly circles around the couch and extends a hand out towards her.
" Hello Mrs Reese. My name is Cameron Phillips. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Feeling an instant liking to the girl from how up front she is with a smile coming across her face reaching out gently Sarah takes Cameron's hand within her own and gives it a firm shake.
" The pleasure is all mine but please do me a favor and call me Sarah. Mrs Reese just makes me sound old."
" But mom? You are old."
Snapping her head to look at John with a small mock glare as she watches John raise up his hands in mock surrender feeling her lips curling up into a grin shaking her head gently Sarah lets go of Cameron's hand before she turns her sights back on her.
" So keeping my son out of trouble i hope?"
" Off course. I asked if John wanted a study partner for home and here we are."
" Is that so?"
Keeping her eyes locked on Sarah as she watches her turn to look at John with a stern look that she is desperately trying to cover up with a forced smile suppressing the urge to glare at her keeping the smile on her face slowly Cameron watches Sarah turn to look back towards her.
" So what have you learned so far?"
" Well John knows his history quite well. He is almost a genius when it comes to computers. Although he does struggle a bit with math but it can be fixed easily with a little work.
Oh and John has a crush on me. He just doesn't want to admit it."
Instantly as he watches the two females turn to look towards him with almost matching smiles across their faces feeling his cheeks burning up reaching out John covers his face with a nearby pillow causing him to hear them bursting out laughing.