The Falling of Lauren Johnson

Chapter Fifteen

Okay Lauren, if mom or dad asks, I had a great time at Melissa's house. We sat around and talked with her parents and they told us stories of their lives before they met each other. We listened to some of the government-regulated music, not like there was at that club. I listened to Melissa and Katelyn talk about what they want out of their future lives and we talked about school. Do not mention Elliot, Maddox, the club, the date, or that kiss. The kiss. His lips on mine felt... I don't know, I can't describe it. It was almost like a connection between us. A spark or something like that. I walked up the steps to my home, feeling relief that I have made it home with out any trouble.

"Lauren, is that you?" I hear my mom call out from the kitchen.

"Yeah mom, it's me." I call back. I make my way back to the kitchen and I see my mom sitting at the table organizing a vase of flowers.

"How was Melissa's house?" She asks as she rearranges a set of light pink peonies into a vase. Just like the flower that Elliot gave me. She knows. She knows about Elliot. Remain calm and just breathe. She can't know about him.

"Oh, it was good. We just sat around and talked pretty much the whole weekend." Chill, and keep calm Lauren.

"Oh, I'm glad you had fun Lauren."

"Yeah, so umm... where is Dad?"

"You're father went back down to the plant to go talk to his old boss and see if he can get his job back. He should be home around dinner time." My mom says nonchalantly. I'm happy that Dad is getting back into the swing of things, but isn't it too soon to go back to a place that caused so many years of hardship because of what they were producing? I love Dad, but I don't want to see anything happen to him.

I give my mom a hug and then head back up into my room to look at some of my schoolwork, but then it hits me; the career assignment and commencement is on Friday. I haven't put any thought into what I want to do for the rest of my life, not that I have a say in it anyways. All I've been thinking about is Elliot. Speaking of Elliot, how am I going to continue seeing him after I've moved to the other end of the sector? I mean now, he's just across a river and a field, but when I move, there will be a whole sector between us, the city commerce and business sector. We'll never be able to get through that security.

I force myself to lay down on my bed and shut my eyes. Its been a long weekend, and I can't continue to be so hard on my body. I pull the blanket up to my neck, turn onto my side, and I slowly giving the sleep my body so desperately desires.

A loud, consistent banging enters my dream state and takes hold of me, forcing itself into my bones. It provides a dull, uncomfortable ache, and wills me back into the land of the conscious.

"Lauren, Lauren honey, wakeup." I hear my mom call from the other side of my door. I suck in a deep breath and force myself up off of the bed and I pad over to my door, swinging it open, only to reveal my mother, wide-eyed with a look of complete terror. "L-Lauren, something terrible has happened."

Immediately my stomach sinks as my mom latches onto my wrist and pulls me in the direction of the stairs, taking two at a time. I watch my mom as she guides me to the front door. Added to the terror, an omniscient sense of fear takes over her being. As soon as I step outside, I immediately feel an uneasiness, and an overwhelming sense of sickness settles over me. A gray smoke fills the air above the business center in the middle of the city. One of the tall, spindling towers emits smoke from its windows, and I can somewhat make out the sounds of distant screaming.

I remember when I was younger, my father would take me outside onto the front lawn, before all of the drugs changed him, and swing me around as I screamed with joy. Then afterwards, he'd turn me toward the bustling city center of the sector, and he'd point out a tall, winding, gray tower with a multitude of windows, and tell me "You see that tower? That's where your Daddy works". As I stare at the same tower years later, now editing smoke and flames, only one thought comes to mind: daddy.