Time can go by so fast and people usually don't notice until they have a reason to.
Joan of Arc had been in a relationship with John Fitzgerald Kennedy for just over five months now. 2024 had been staring her in the face and before she knew it, the first month of the year had passed and now it's late into February.
Valentine's day was last week and they didn't do anything special. They did the same thing they had always done their entire time together. They'd hold each other close and intertwine their tongues for an hour then they'd take a short break which usually lasts five to ten minutes as they went on to do other stuff and then they would go back to getting intimate with each other again.
It's the type of intimate that can be used interchangably with 'agressive.'
That is the main problem. As much as Joan tried to deny it. There really isn't any depth to their relationship. If their's is like a pool, it would be a massive one, just shallow. Waist deep.
She can't even speak to him about anything. Not art. Not music. Not even politics. Which surprised her because she thought his brain was hard wired for that topic.
The nagging feeling she keeps getting everytime she's with him just didn't go away. There's so much more she could be doing.
Instead, all she does is make out, eat sundaes at the Grassy Knoll, and watch increasingly mind numbing movies night after night at his place.
She wouldn't have minded watching all those superhero movies. She had seen the first Spider-Man movie with Abe and Gandhi back when it came out in 2002. She could still remember all the conversations the only two people she could call her friends at the time would have the whole time she was with them. The way they invested themselves in the movie was something that she could relate to.
A full week had passed by before the two had a discussion that wasn't Spider-Man related. When that happened, it was the first time in the new millennia that she looked up at the sky and thanked God.
Now, here in the present day as she makes her way to first period math, she feels as if there's nothing she can thank God for.
No matter how hard she tries, she can never get him into a serious discussion. It's as if there's nothing that's going on between his ears except sex jokes and the occassional mainstream song.
There's just no other way to describe it: She's a complex girl who is dating a simpleton. That's the most polite term she could come up with for him.
Making her way to her seat in class, she sees one of her newest friends, Harriet Tubman, on her phone right next to her.
The two became friends almost immediately after Joan was introduced to the new world that was 2023.
Joan has made a lot of friends from Gen Z and has no enemies. Because why would she? Everybody loves her and it would be straight up foolish to even entertain the idea of disliking her. She is the closest thing to perfection that Clone High will ever see.
Nobody has ever really gone ahead and said that, but Joan has a way of understanding what people think about her. It's a skill she had developed over the course of her life.
"Good morning, Harriet." She said as she sat next to her friend.
Harriet looked up from her phone, having finished immersing herself in whatever she had been looking at.
"Hey Joan." She sounded normal. But something felt off.
Putting her concerned face on, Joan asks the question on her mind. "Is… Is everything alright?"
Harriet looks at her phone. "No… It's so horrible, Joan… Have you even been paying attention?"
"Paying attention? To what?"
Without saying anything else, Harriet showed Joan the video she has on her phone. It had no audio, but Joan only needed a few seconds to piece together what was going on.
"Right wing extremists" She sighed. As if things aren't complicated enough for her already. "They're marching through Main Street right now."
"Actually, no. Confucius recorded this yesterday. He was hanging out with Atilla and Genghis at the time, so they're all safe."
Harriet looks up at the ceiling. It's clear that she's tired, but Joan didn't want to point that out. "Damn RR. I can probably take on one or two of them by myself, but there's at least a hundred of them. Who know's where they are now."
"Wait. Hold on. RR?" Said Joan.
"Replacement Rebellion." Harriet shook her head. "It's getting harder to keep track of how many of these damn groups there are. And there's another thing…" "What?"
"I think two of our former classmates have joined them… Leif Erikson and… Amerigo Vespucci.
They both dropped out the year before you thawed out. Nobody has seen them since."
Joan ran her fingers through her hair. "I can't believe what I'm hearing. Well if anything happens, I got your back, Harriet. We're not going to let this thing beat us."
Harriet smiles. "That's exactly what I've been-"
It was then that a familiar voice interrupted the conversation.
"Joan of Arc!" It was JFK. The goofy smile not fading from his face. Oblivious to the topic of the ongoing conversation.
"I, er uh, just remembered I have an English exam coming up in a few minutes! Seeing that we haven't kissed all day today, I sure could use one for good luck!"
Joan raises an eyebrow. "Since when does luck help with passing tests? Just get smarter!"
Harriet narrows her eyes at JFK as she waves him off.
"Get out of here, JFK! This is not a good time for-"
"Whoa whoa whoa!" JFK interrupted Harriet. "No such thing as never a good time! You've clearly never been in a relationship like mine before!"
He wanted to argue some more, but found himself a little uncomfortable. The look that Harriet is giving him is enough to make him reconsider his thoughts.
"I'll see you around, Joanie… Text me!" He said as he rushed out of the classroom.
Now that the two are alone again, Joan looks at Harriet again. "You,uh… you gonna be okay?"
Harriet took a deep breath to calm herself down before answering. "Yeah, I'm better now.
I don't know how, and I don't know who will be listening, but we have to start educating people."
"Educate…" Joan nods in agreement. "It's not gonna be easy."
"I'm not counting on it."