1 Prologue
"Adriana Joaquim..."
September 29th was a pretty cold day for Texas all things considered. Other than that, It's a normal day. The clouds are visible, the grass is green, the wind is soft, the asphalt on the roads is black, the sidewalks are grey, the sky is blue, and the dirt was probably brown.
"Here."
And thanks to the air conditioning unit within the school, the air was even colder.
"Oscar Prem..."
It was freezing. If you were in said building you could feel goosebumps run up and down your arms and legs. It was uncomfortable to say the least, and unbearable if you didn't like the cold. This being in Texas, however, there weren't too many complaints from those inside.
"Here."
In fact, it almost seemed like the people inside weren't worried about the fluctuating temperature at all.
"Karl Anatole..."
Seeing what was happening in the building, it didn't seem that important, however. There was a lady of average height; not abnormally tall nor short. On top of her head rested her smooth, brown hair, fashioned into a small bun in the back, with a left part, further accentuating the style. On her face lay a pair of thin, black rectangular glasses, and underneath the lenses were her hazel eyes, tinged with tiredness, and a soft reassuring note. She wore a large and yellow tee shirt, but it was about one size too big. So much so that the excess fabric drooped below her waist and partially covered the blue jeans she was currently wearing. Peeking from under the shirt, hanging down upon her right thigh was a lanyard with a card with her face on it, and the text 'Ms. Danica.' She was saying names aloud from a roster on her computer while she was sitting down in a swiveling office chair behind a large desk in the front of the room. In response, if that name matched yours, you were to respond with 'here.'
"Here."
It seemed that everyone in the building pretty much got the hold of what to do, as all of them have said the same thing. it was so on point that one would probably think it was a daily routine for them.
"Kathrine Brenden..."
Every day, from Monday to Friday, they were expected to wake up early, get on a bus or some other mode of transport, report to the building, do what they need to do, and leave in the afternoon. If you asked me, something like that seemed 'too routine.'
"Cupcake."
...
"...Cupcake?"
Ms. Danica looked up from her computer.
"..."
"heh..."
She let out a weary, yet genuine chuckle. It wasn't funny, but it was different. After having something be the same for a set period of time, anything different starts to seem appealing. The student herself who induced this chuckle didn't even find it funny herself, she just wanted to do something different. That's all it was.
"ahem, Ruta Elchin..."
What seemed to be different simply returned to normal. The small outlier of an alternate reply and an alternate acknowledgment were cast aside after not even 2 seconds. Ms. Danica lowered her eyes back to the monitor and read out another name.
"Here."
The student, Ruta, probably just wanted to get class over with. Nobody could blame her, nobody would go and say 'why didn't you say cupcake, too?' She might not have even heard the previous exchange, in fact. Simply put, however, Ruta didn't care. She just said 'here' because she was supposed to. Nobody could blame her. In fact, nobody acknowledged her whatsoever. Not enough to affect their actions, anyways. She was quietly sitting, reading something on her phone. Ruta was herself, and she knew this fact. That's all there is to Ruta. She was so nonchalant that it was even hard to get a good look at her if you tried.
...
"Alisa Mumi-"
"Here!"
...
And here's Alisa. it seems like she was listening closely to the teacher who was speaking their names, simply to catch her own. Did she have a reason? Was it just some kind of whim where she decided, 'today, I'm gonna listen to my teacher!'
"... so anyway, did you hear those loud *bang*s yesterday? I heard it from my house but I didn't know what they were."
...She just wanted to make sure the teacher didn't count her absent.
"Yeah, I think it was fireworks. Just kinda weird how they're doing it so early."
"I know right? Maybe we should get some fireworks on the weekend."
"...Where would we even get them, they're not in stock. Plus if we get caught they're illegal right now anyways. It's kinda dumb, but the law's the law."
...Alisa's friend didn't find the joke as amusing as she would've hoped. Maybe the temperature mellowed them out for the day.
"... I know, I was kidding."
...Or maybe Alisa was just pretty bad at making jokes in the first place.
"Paul Levan..."
"..."
For the first time since the class started, someone didn't respond.
"Dude, wasn't it fucking freezing last night?"
"..."
"I know right, I think I saw frost on the grass this morning."
Alisa's friend group, unchallenged, decided to continue their conversation, almost without pause.
"...Paul Levan?..."
"Yeah, shit's almost, like, dangerous."
"...Kinda..."
"..."
One friend group was chattering on, and Paul wasn't answering. Both notions were noticed by the teacher. She, putting two and two together, probably figured that the chance that Paul, who may have been sitting next to said friend group (or may not have) might not have heard her due to the friend group who was talking loudly about something. This would be the third time she called for Paul, but this time...
"Miss Mumina, can you tone down for me just a little bit?"
"..."
"You and your friends?"
"...Sorry, Ms. Danica."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Silence at last.
The group all held mildly pensive faces towards this request, but it's not like they were aiming to make the teacher's life harder, so they obeyed.
"Paul Levan, are you here?"
then...
"...Ah, yeah, I'm here, what is it?"
Whether Paul genuinely couldn't hear because of Alisa and them, or whether he had earphones in, or whether he himself was talking to his friends, or if he was on his phone, or something else entirely...
Wouldn't be known.
All we know, it that Paul heard Ms. Danica the 3rd time, and answered her the 3rd time. In other words, he would not be marked absent. That's the only important part.
"...Gerald Tamar..."
And once again, everything in the class goes back to normal. obviously, Paul isn't called a 4th time. Obviously, Paul doesn't respond twice. So, in tandem with this, Ms. Danica called one more name.
"Present."
And got another reply, just as normal.
Everything about today was truly almost uncomfortably normal. even the abnormalities helped reassure the fact that it was a normal day. Nothing was out of the ordinary at all. Other than the temperature, and maybe the topic of whatever Alisa and her friends were talking about. That's all there was to this day.
"Jordan Kurst..."
"..."
Nothing.
"...Jordan Kurst?"
No reply at all.
...
Jordan Kurst. A dark-skinned young man, 16 years old, almost 17. He wore his thick hair in short dreads. He was a relatively normal height, him being 5'8 almost to the dot. He was smart, so much so that he's never missed an honor roll. A straight-A student. He was 'averagely good.' If someone were to say that C's were 'average,' plain and simple, they'd be lying, in all honesty. In an American household, and an American school system, something close to a 70% is simply not good. If anything, B grades of 80% are considered average. A grades of 90% and higher are what's considered 'good.' Jordan was good. He was kind of athletic but wasn't in any clubs. He was in track and field, way back in middle school, but he s found it kind of annoying to actually have to deal with the schedule, so he quit. He didn't have any facial hair, but if he didn't shave he's sure he would have a mustache or something of some kind. He was a stand-up kid. That's where Jordan was in life. But at the moment, he didn't seem to be responding to Ms. Danica.
"Ca- ..."
Danica chose to ask the class to quiet down once more.
It was quiet already.
Alisa's clique were on their phones, and so was everyone else. Danica didn't initiate warmups today, so they were just waiting for attendance to be done, and start up class.
In other words, there's no excuse for Jordan to be both in the class and unresponsive to his teacher.
...hm.
"Has anyone seen Jordan today?"
"..."
"..."
"...Nah."
"..."
"..."
"... no I didn't see him in the halls today."
"..."
Nobody's seen Jordan at all. It wasn't like him to be late, let alone absent. He was relatively lucky when it came to being on time. Whenever he was 5 minutes late, the teacher forgot attendance. Whenever he was absent, his friends saw him 'go to the bathroom' before class. Whenever he was so tired, he passed out on top of his desk, the teachers seemed to be grading work or something along those lines. That isn't to say that the teachers favored him, just that he was pretty lucky. But today, it seems like that luck somehow ran out. For whatever reason he was absent, and he was discovered quite quickly.
"...absent."
...
"...Didn't think I'd hear 'Jordan' and 'absent' in the same sentence."
"I know right, I was gonna say that. He's usually covered by some bullshit and it always works, right?"
"Yeah, it's kinda funny. He's a pretty lucky guy. Wonder what he'd even be doing"
Alisa's friends once again sparked conversation with her upon hearing about Jordan's apparent absence.
"...Lucky how, Dani?"
"I don't know, he just is. I can't tell you the number of times I've seen that dude drop his books or his bag or whatever and he catches it on his foot, without spilling any paper. It's like he's blessed or something."
"...That just means he's good at catching with his feet. Maybe he's a soccer player."
"Nah, he doesn't do soccer. He kinda did track back in 8th but..."
"That's not my point, wise one. Do you think he's blessed cuz he doesn't drop his books? haha."
...
It seems like the small comment has stemmed off into a full-on debate discussing the matter of Jordan's luck.
"Dude I'm telling you, when he plays basketball and shit he hits three's all the time. Like, while he's moving around too."
"... It's definitely not that serious."
"Nah, he's like a prodigy or some shit, swear to god."
"...I mean, now that you mention it I don't think I've ever seen him mess up in general, you know."
"...You too?"
"I mean, kinda. I haven't paid attention to him, but it's probably true."
"..."
The remaining friend who still finds Jordan's circumstances unlikely has decided to face his phone and occupy himself while Ms. Danica proceeds with taking attendance.
"I gotta ask him to like, rub my head or give me a prayer, you know?"
"...Good luck with that."
"..."
"Even if he is that Lucky, it probably isn't contagious, and he probably wouldn't share it with someone who didn't know he exists until today."
...
"...Yeah, man, I was joking..."
Dani and Alisa decided to cease their conversation.
...
"Ok, so 1 absent, but everyone else is here."
Danica seems to have finally finished her attendance list.
"Who here knows about Reaganomics?"
***************************************************************************************************
"...And Paula Lakshmi."
"Here."
...
October 6th. It was a warm day for Texas all things considered. Other than that, It was a normal day. The clouds are visible, the grass is green, the wind is soft, the asphalt on the roads is black, the sidewalks are grey, the sky is blue, the dirt was probably brown, but it's not like anyone could see it. And thanks to the air conditioning unit within the school, It seemed like an ideal Tuesday.
Ms. Danica has just completed attendance.
"...3 absent..."
Not a lot, considering, but the class only had 21 people in it during a full day.
Ms. Danica slouched back in her office chair and pushed her glasses up her nose bridge using her thumb. She tilted her head backward and stared at the ceiling tiles for a bit.
After that, she scooched her chair in, looked towards the class.
Her eyes looked more tired than usual.
"...Class, before we start the day off, I have some news I'd like to share."
"..-...."
The sound of 18 students putting their phones in their respective pockets was quite audible. The proceeding breathy sigh that came from a choice amount of them, was also audible. The students, all present, looked forward to Ms. Danica, who'd taken the liberty to stand up from her office chair.
"Ahem, So, some of us here might know Jordan. He was pretty quiet, but I know he was pretty impressionable..."
...He would probably be seen talking to his friends in the very back of the class. He wasn't quiet, it just seems that Ms. Danica hadn't caught him...
"..."
The silence was only broken by the low buzz of the white lights emitting from the ceiling.
"... October 3rd, on Sunday, he was found in a car crash..."
"...-!!?"
The bored faces of the students changed simultaneously upon hearing this. If it was just their friend, it would still be distressful to hear, but this was Jordan. Jordan hasn't broken a bone in his life. He wasn't very accident-prone at all. Jordan was a pretty good driver, as well. A car crash...? The students let their surprise be known, consisting of several exclamations.
"...They found him pretty late, so..."
Ms. Danica moved her eyes to the side and furrowed her brow as if thinking of what to say next.
"...He was already gone when they found him..."
"--...."
A lot of students slumped back in their chairs upon hearing this. Not out of relief or anything so vain, but out of disbelief. You never think of your close friend dying. Unfortunate is the only description one could use upon hearing this news.
Almost everyone in the classroom had their eyes averted to the carpeted floor.
"...ngh..."
Ruta had let out a single tear. Upon feeling the warm drop move down her cheek, her face scrunched up, like she'd tasted a lemon. She wiped the tear with her sleeve and dejectedly tilted her face downwards, eyes wide with astonishment.
"..."
"...If you have the time, make sure to give him and his family your prayers. I'm sure many of you have lost a friend today, but please remember to be respectful. He'll be missed, and I'm glad I had him as a student. That's all. I know it'll be hard to continue the school day, but I just want to make sure we get through class okay. If you have something to ask me, please come to me after class."
...
The class remained silent for the remainder of the time it took for Ms. Danica to move back to her seat.
Every small movement made by someone, whether it be adjusting their position in their chair, to pulling their sleeves up, was audible. The silence was painful.
"..."
"...Couldn't have been that Lucky..."
...
Every set of eyes in the classroom centered on Alisa's face as her eyes were stuck to her phone.
She looked up, as she heard several chairs squeak in her direction.
"...Did I say that out loud?"
"...Dude..."
