Ba-dump! My heart throbbed against my ribcage. Ba-Dump! The screams of my parents echoed in my eardrums. BA-DUMP! I took a deep breath and...

     "GOOOAL!" the commentator's voice erupted in the loudspeakers followed by a huge roar from the crowd. Before I could register any of it, my teammates were all shouting in victory and suddenly I was in the air, hands supporting my body in uncomfortable places. Air horns blared and the bright stadium lights shone in my eyes, dazing me a bit. I looked down and found a soccer ball resting against a large, white net. My cheeks started to hurt and I realized that I was smiling this huge, stupid smile. I looked over at the crowd and spotted my parents waving their arms in victory, probably screaming though the sound was easily drowned out by the squealing contest my teammates were competing in below me. I pumped my fists in the air, causing another huge roar from the crowd which led to them chanting: "Asperat Trojans! Asperat Trojans!"

                                                                                       ~*~

     The next morning, I woke to the smell of waffles and bacon. My eyelids fluttered open and a pair of smiling eyes met mine. 

     "There she is," my mother said gently, a bright smile lighting up the tan skin on her face. "Good morning, my sweet girl!"

     "Good morning, Mama," I yawned, deciding to let the fact that she was just staring at me as I slept slide. She was probably just excited about my leading our win last night.

     "When you're ready, Papa and I made your favorite breakfast," she said as she stroked my hair behind my ears.

     "Really?" The news immediately removed the eery feeling and replaced it with a full-toothed grin. "Awesome! Thanks, Mama. I'll be in there in a minute."

     "Anything for my little soccer queen," she smiled at me once more as she stepped out of the room, closing the door gently behind her.

     I sat up and stretched out my arms, almost immediately regretting it, though, as pain throbbed throughout my sore muscles. I groaned and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, slipping out of bed. After stretching out as much as I could without worrying about passing out, I slinked into the bathroom and washed my face, smoothed out my frizzy, auburn hair, and brushed my teeth before making my way into the dining room. Sitting on the table were 5 plates of steaming waffles and a pile of peppered eggs.

     "Hey, Champ!" my father said through a smile, reaching over and ruffling my hair as I sat down.

     "Paaa!" I whined. "I just brushed my hair."

     "Geooorge!" my mother screeched from the kitchen.

     Papa rolled his eyes and gave me his wide-eyed look, causing me to muffle a giggle into my hand. He stood and joined my mother in the kitchen. While they began bickering - something about burning bacon - I slipped out my phone and pulled up Leroy's contact in SMS.

McDonald's in two hours?

     The three bubbles slid up, forming a conga line before his reply popped up on my screen.

why

To catch up

cant we do that over txt

Sure, but I want to do it in person. I haven't seen you in forever

i just saw you 3 days ago bridgette

Tell me about it

fine. if ur late im leaving

     I smirked and shimmied my phone back into the pocket of my jammies. A shriek of laughter filled the air from Alyssa, my 5-year-old sister, as she ran into the room followed by Alexander, my 13-year-old brother. They tumbled into their chairs and immediately began arguing about whether they could already eat or not. I rolled my eyes at them when they tried to drag me into it, letting them beef it out because using all of their energy would be the only way to get them to shut up - engaging in their activity would only fuel them. My parents re-entered the room with a pan that reeked of smoke stronger than California wildfires. Papa sat down as Mama slid charcoal-colored slices of bacon onto our plates. Mama smiled at us apologetically and we all laughed and joined hands. We bowed our heads and prayed and not a second after "amen," we began digging into our food. That would be the last normal meal my family ever had together.

                                                                                       ~*~

     The table at the booth shook a little as Leroy placed his Nike backpack down. He plopped into the seat causing the table to violently shake for a second. "Been to the gym recently?" I snickered, though he was anything but fat. In fact, he was one of the thinnest-looking boys I knew. His arms had muscle, but you could never tell with the clothes he wore. The bright McDonald's lighting complemented his hollow cheeks and made his dark, shaggy hair look rather greasy.

     He just glared at me in return and slipped his phone out of his pocket. Kicking his feet up onto the table, he didn't send me so much as a glance as he began typing away. Ugh. Why's he gotta be such an asshole all the time? I leaned forward and snatched his phone from him, setting it on the seat next to me.

     "Hey!" Leroy barked. "Give it back, bro!"

     "Ya know, I don't think I will," I said calmly, knowing it would tick him off. His cheeks got all red, like fresh blood against a pale whiteboard, and he opened his mouth as if to say something, but before a word could come out of his mouth I held up my finger. "No phones today. The first to pick up their phone has to pay for the lunch that I ordered for us."

     On cue, a waitress walked up to our table and set down trays with a dozen hamburgers, fries, and two large vanilla milkshakes. Leroy's jaw dropped as the waitress placed down a receipt with "$25.89" marked on the "Total" line. I smirked at him challengingly.

     "I'm not paying for that," Leroy snapped. "Now give me back my phone."

     "You see, I don't have any money on me... but I know that you do," I replied slyly. "They won't let us out of here without trouble if someone doesn't pay."

     The heat returned to Leroy's cheeks and I just laughed. I know, I know, it was super wrong of me. But the only way I would get him to actually speak to me in person was by beating him at his own game. I smiled at him and leaned forward, resting my chin on my folded hands. "So, how's life, Leroy?"

     After a milkshake, Leroy's anger simmered and we actually had a conversation that didn't include him telling me to shut up or bragging about how he had left me on read the day before. To be honest, I had really missed talking to him like that. I hadn't heard his laugh since, what, 5th grade? Not that he had during lunch. Anyway, he ended up paying but I promised I'd pay him back later.

     Once we had filled up on milkshakes on fries, we walked outside to Leroy's car. We were in the same grade, but he was a couple of months older than me- making him 16 and eligible for a license, which he had. We hopped into his 2019 Toyota Prius AWD-e and he started the engine.

     "Thanks for driving me home, by the way," I said as he backed out.

     "Whatever," he replied, turning back to Asshole Leroy, though I thought I caught a small smile on his lips out of the corner of my eyes. He turned on the radio to 96.5, our favorite station. We jammed out to Ariana Grande (Leroy wasn't a fan of her but he couldn't resist 7 Rings - who could?) until we reached an intersection. He hated the next song that aired so he turned the radio off and we sat in silence as the car approached a stoplight. I sighed and leaned against my arm, gazing at the sky through the car window. A couple of clouds dotted the bright blue sky but otherwise, it was clear, which was why that purple haze lingering below a cloud was so strange.

     "Hey, Leroy, what is tha-"

     "Shit!" Leroy slammed his fists against the steering wheel. "I forgot my phone at McDonald's!"

     "Oh, God, here we go."

     The light turned green and Leroy sped dangerously into a U-turn back towards the MickyD's. I held onto the roof handle tightly as he weaved his way through cars to race whatever thief was about to steal his precious 8-year-old Samsung. We reached the fast-food restaurant once I had ejected enough anxiety sweat to fill a bucket. He glanced over at me and sneered before running into McDonald's.

     I felt my eyebrows crease a little in the middle as I redirected my attention to the abnormal purple haze. It had grown considerably and had begun fading into red and yellow around the edges. There were large, dark purple spots in the middle, almost like the nucleus of a cell. Opening the car door, I pulled out my phone and raised it to take a picture. I pressed the power button but it didn't turn on. Frowning, I tried again, yet the results didn't change. I tried holding it down this time but the same black screen met my eyes. I almost disregarded it as a dead battery until it began sparking.

     Tiny flames shot up from the iPhone and I screamed, dropping it onto the pavement. A second later, Leroy pushed his way out of the McDonald's, concern written all over his face. "Bridgette, are you good?" Before I could reply there were several large crashes to our left. We both jumped in shock and whipped our heads around as a woman screamed. Several cars had smashed into one another, each visibly beyond repair. The last one lit up in a bright yellow fire and suddenly there was chaos in the streets. Abruptly, every car in sight that wasn't parked either jolted to a halt or crashed into something. The stoplights flickered out and confused shrieks erupted everywhere.

     My intuition screamed at me until I obeyed and looked back at the purple haze in the sky. This time Leroy followed my gaze.

     "What... is that?" he wondered aloud. If I had an answer I surely would have supplied him with it, but I didn't have anything but questions myself. Whatever this thing was, it was causing... something. I didn't know what.

     "Come on, let's get out of here." I grabbed his wrist and we ran back to the car, quickly hopping into our seats. Leroy shoved the key into the ignition but the car didn't start; the engine didn't even whirr. Then the car began to softly vibrate. It began to shake and...