Armagedon

We were laughing, cracking jokes, having a great time despite the tremendous heat and humidity. The room was excruciatingly hot, painfully humid. The very first meeting of debate club was looking like a real success and I couldn't help but be proud of my achievement. Looking around the classroom, I surveyed my new partners in argumentative crime. Jessie was flushed with the heat, telling a story, gesturing wildly in a animated fashion, her blonde curly hair bouncing excitedly. Timmy was deeply enthralled in her tale, periodically laughing and nodding his head enthusiastically, sweat flying as he did so. Neela, always the shy one, sat to the side, listening intently, smiling politely. She looked the least affected by the mucky weather. Perhaps her slight frame had something to do with it. My best friend and VP was munching methodically on a bag of chips, reading the school newspaper, totally oblivious to all the chaos around him. As if sensing my gaze, Craig lifted his head and gave me a Doritoed smile. I couldn't help but crack one of my own in response, as I'm sure he had no idea that his teeth were covered in cheese. The room also included about four other people who were new and, I could tell, not just slightly overwhelmed with the lot of us. Hopefully, we wouldn't scare them away before they got to understand that we really weren't that scary.

Mr. Johnson, sat at his desk, eating an egg sandwich, which I found to be utterly disgusting, but he found absolutely delicous. I could not, for the life of me, understand how something with that texture would possibly taste good. He, however, loved those damned sandwiches, constantly parading that yellowy mess of mayo and egg around me. Not only that, I thought, but how could he possibly keep it fresh in this insanely fiery weather? As I pondered the mystery of our advisor's choice of nourishment, I caught a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye.

Walking through the door of room 1012 was my future husband. Not that he knew it, but whatever. Demetrius was quite possibly the most beautiful human being alive. The best part was that he didn't even know it, which made him that much more alluring. Dark brown curly hair and a tan complexion punctuated his hazel eyes. He had a crooked smile and his nose and cheeks were sprinkled with tiny freckles. He was incredibly tall and always smelled like suntan lotion. I couldn't help but stare as he walked in my general direction and actually made the earth move beneath my feet. Wow.

My daydream was abruptly interrupted as I realized that the movement was not confined to my imagination. A moment of silence was followed by a tremendous BOOM and screams all around. The room was shaking, windows shuddering violently, so violently that I was sure that at any moment they would come crashing in. Somehow I got my wits about me, and began screaming at everyone, "Get down under the desks now! Protect your head and neck!"

The earth was moving an such an aggressive manner, that my stomach felt as if it were in my throat. The ceiling panels began to fall down, one by one, crashing onto the floor and desks. People were trying to scramble underneath the desks, but we were all being thrown around like rag dolls, as if waves were passing beneath their very feet, making balance a moot idea.

Neela was frozen in her seat, her eyes wide and mouth frozen open in a delicate mock scream. "Neela, get down!" I screamed at her, trying to make my way across the room, but continuously being knocked around, feeling like I was on some twisted ride gone terribly wrong. I felt a pop on the top of my head and an excrutiating pain made its way down through my body, like a lightning bolt. I had been hit by a ceiling panel. I felt a hot wave coming down my forehead and I touched my fingers to it, bringing my hand back with a thick coat of black redness. From the hallway, I heard more shrieking, crying. The noise was incredible and the movement in the earth seemed to have no end. I watched as the world ended and then I was gone.