Julie Molina

Sometimes I just want to kill Alex.

Why did this boy think it was okay to do that? Out of all the things...

And what did he do exactly? He embarrassed me in front of nick... NICK.. the guy I've had a crush on for forever.

I let out a huff just thinking about it and fall on my bed.

I lay there with the dreaded memory for a few minutes when my phone rings.

I don't even need to look at who's calling to know who it is.

I hit the accept button and put the phone to my ear, playing with the string on my sweat pants as I wait for the call to connect.

"I'm mad at you," I say immediately when I begin to hear background noise.

The voice on the other end sighs. "I know, I'm sorry," Alex started. "I shouldn't have embarrassed you in front of Nick, It wasn't funny."

I stare at the ceiling as I debate if I'm gonna forgive him or not.

"I forgive you.. though you're wrong, it made him laugh so.."

"Yeah... So did you see the new report Nasa put out?" Alex asks to break the awkward silence that had been created.

"No. What did it say?" I question and get up, walking over to my bay window.

I could hear Alex get up as well. I can't hear it but I know he's pacing.

"That the sun is getting closer. The heat is starting to kill plants."

I frown a little. "Lex, you really need to stop reading about these things. It's not helping with your anxiety at all."

"I know.. but I can't not read them. It's not some made-up story or something happening to only one part of the world Jules, it's happening to the whole world." Alex says in a panicky tone.

"I know, I know," I sigh sadly and look out my window, seeing how the sun had gotten closer to earth than the day before. "It gets closer every day."

"Do you think it could start affecting humans? The way it's affecting plants?"

Honestly, if this is the end of the world, I'm more worried about how it's gonna affect Alex's anxiety than how it affects me.

I think for a second, what do I really think about all of this? "I think that-"

Before I could even say my thoughts, there was a knock on my door. "Hold on," I tell Alex and set my phone down, getting up and opening the door, just to see that it's my mom.

"What's up?"

"We're having family dinner tonight," My mom tells. "I'm making your favorite" She grinned at me.

I frown a little. "I have a lot of homework to do." That wasn't a lie, I really did.

My mom also frowned a little. "Oh okay.. that's fine. I'll leave your plate in the microwave. If you need any help, let me know," My mom walks off after telling me all of that.

I shut my door and walk back over to where I was sitting previously. "I'm back," I say to Alex after picking up my phone.

Little did I know that would've been the last family dinner I would've been able to have.

It's another boring day at school. I'm sitting in my least favorite class, calculus, while not paying attention.

No wonder I'm failing.

Alex on the other hand is taking notes like the good student he is.

While I wasn't paying attention, the teacher had turned on the tv.

I look up at it with a raised eyebrow, why did she turn it on?

I glance over Alex who was fully invested, so I decided to watch it.

"This is the end of the world as we know it," The news reporter says dramatically.

The news reporter took his papers and read through them quickly. He did not know what he was doing and it was showing.

"The sun has gotten closer to the earth's orbit. Yesterday, it was about 89.272 million miles away, which was enough to start killing our planets.. but now it's about 85.733 million miles away. It's starting to cause radiation levels to rise, and it's starting to kill people. Don't worry, it's nowhere near us.. yet, so in case, the radiation levels reach the US, the president Caleb Covington has-"

"Okay enough of that," The teacher says and shuts the tv off.

I look over at her before remembering this was exactly what Alex was worried about. I snap my head to look in his direction. He began bouncing his knee, that's one of the things he does when he gets really anxious.

Alex was starting to pop his fingers as if they were his knuckles. Oh, Alex... I frown.

Alex raised one of his shaking hands to get the teacher's attention.

"Yes, Alex?"

"Can I go to the restroom?" He tried to ask as normal as possible which made me frown even more.

The teacher nodded in response. "Hall pass."

Alex stands up and scurries over to the hall passes, dropping them all as he tried to pick one up.

I look at him in pity before raising my hand as well, the teacher clearly annoyed.

"Yes, Julie?"

"Can I go to the bathroom as well?"

The teacher debated for a second. "Come back quickly."

I nod and rush over to Alex, almost tripping over my desk in the meantime.

I help Alex pick up all the hall passes and hand him one.

"Are you okay?" I whisper and he shook his head.

"Meet me outside." I murmur and leave the classroom, walking to the outside of the school.

I make myself at home on a bench until I see Alex walkout.

The tall, blonde boy had tears streaming down his face.

This caused me to get up immediately and pull him into a hug.

Alex hugged me back almost instantly.

"It's hot," He mumbles.

He's right. I feel like I'm getting a sunburn "Yeah, it is."

Alex started to shake a little, "I feel like I'm gonna have a panic attack."

Alex saying this made me feel heavy. I've helped Alex through a lot of panic attacks, i know what helps him through it, but it still makes me feel as if a ton of bricks fell down on me. What if I freak out and don't know what to do?

I loosen my grip on him a little bit just in case he felt claustrophobic. "We're gonna be okay," I say softly and rub his back, trying to stop the shaking at least.

Alex tightened his grip around me. I know he didn't believe me, I didn't even believe myself.

"You're gonna be okay, Alex."

Alex took a deep breath and pulled out of the hug. "I'm not worried about me," He explains and rubs his eyes. "I'm worried about you and my family."

My face softened at his words.

"I'll be okay, I promise."

And I'm not going to break that promise.

"Julie, can you get the mail?" My dad yelled at me from downstairs.

I groan and get up from my bed which I was laying on. It's so much work to go downstairs and go outside.

Plus, it was so hot out, but that was to be expected.

The sun problem had gotten worse. The government stated that we weren't supposed to leave our house. We could go outside if we wanted, but it couldn't be for over two minutes and luckily, the mail only took 10 seconds.

I slip on my shoes and rush downstairs, looking over at my dad to see what he was doing that made me have to get the mail.

Ah, he's working.

I open the door and walk to the mailbox as quickly as possible.

I think saying that it was hot was an understatement. I immediately started sweating as soon as i stepped out of the doorframe, and I felt as if I could get sunburnt, like how my skin felt standing outside with Alex.

I rub the sweat off my face and open the mailbox, pulling the mail out and looking through it. Maybe there's something for me.

One of the letters stood out more than the other ones. It had a round stamp on it and also one around the return address.

It was labeled to the Molina family, not just Rose and Ray like important letters (as this one seems) usually are.

I open it quickly because I needed to get back inside.

Apparently, when I'm under stress or rushing, I can't open the mail. It took me a good 20 seconds to be able to pull the letter out.

I unfolded the letter and my eyes began to read through.

'Dear Molina family.
I hope this letter finds you all in good health. As I'm sure you are all aware, the sun has been causing a deadly heatwave. It has started to compress and heat up at its core. Many scientists have confirmed that it will only get worse and the only way to survive it will be to find shelter. We have built 10 bunkers all over the country and your family has been selected for one of them. The location of the bunker you have been chosen for will remain top secret until the time comes, but we can assure you all that it will be soon. We will also be sending out guidelines for the bunker in a few days. Remember to stay indoors, cover your windows, and don't come out unless absolutely necessary.
Sincerely,
President Caleb Covington'

I audibly gasped when I finished the letter. I knew deep down that it would get this bad, but I never wanted to accept it.

And now my family is just expected to pack up all our things and live underground? What if the bunker doesn't work? What if something happens in the bunker that kills us all? I'm supposed to just leave the other members of my family to die and leave my friends and best friend Alex behind?

I hate this whole situation, I really do.

I was so entranced with my thoughts that I didn't even notice the pain on the top of my hand until I snapped out of them.

I glance at my hand and see that it's burning. The heat from the sun was hitting my hand, and it was scorching hot. I scream and run inside, shutting the door and zooming the kitchen. I turn on the cold water from the sink and run it over my hand.

It really burned, not literally this time.

The pain had felt like something was piercing into my skin, and it hurt. One of the worst physical pains I have ever felt.

I turn off the Fossett and gently patted my hand dry, but I couldn't help overhear what my parents and Carlos were watching.

I heard the annoying voice of our president, he was talking about the sun, and that's what made me remember the letter.

That made me break. I had been so focused on how Alex was reacting and how the world was that I never had time to process it myself.

My mother noticed me crying and instantly ran towards me.

She asked what was wrong and I pointed at the letter, but she must've seen my hand because she didn't care to grab that.

My mom carefully picked up my band and examined it. "Oh, baby.." She frowned at it and walked over to the medicine cabinet.

"The only reason it happened was that I read one of the letters that got sent to us." I managed to say through my tears.

Rose grabbed a bandage and an ointment out of the cabinet. "What was so important that could make you get yourself burnt?" She asked and began to wrap my hand.

"There was a letter from the president in the mail."

My dad gets up and walks over when I say that. "The president"

I shake my head yes and point at the letter.

My dad grabs it and I watch his eyes as he reads it. He handed it over to my mom when he finished.

I repeated the same thing I did with him with her. Carlos had even walked over and joined in on reading it.

My mom's jaw dropped and she put a hand over her mouth. My dad noticed this and pulled her into a hug. Carlos and I join in after a bit.

We all just stand there embraced, crying together.

It's the end of the world, and I'm not prepared.