Reconcile › P. Parker [2]

001. last day

› CHAPTER ONE ‹

His black sneakers squeaked against the freshly waxed tiles in Midtown School of Science and Technology's hallway. Students walked around, talking to their friends and calling out for their teacher's attention, while some slammed their lockers closed and others silently surrounded the televisions in the hall which was relaying the school news. Raleigh Ridley kept his head down with his hands protectively gripping his backpack straps. He was finally feeling the fatigue from his lack of sleep the last few nights and it was weighing him down and he was struggling to keep his mind focused on his last day of school before summer vacation.

He was passing by one of the large televisions in the hall when he heard the loud Whitney Houston music playing over the news segment. His eyebrows pinched together as he stopped among the small crowd of students; however, the moment he turned to the TV, he regretted checking to see what was playing.

A blurry picture of young Steve Rogers appeared on the screen for a quick second, before fading and showing Natasha Romanoff. A ripple effect passed over the late woman's picture and for a short second Vision popped up, before fading to black. For a few instants, it stayed dark until an old picture of Tony Stark emerged—back from when the man still sold weapons.

Raleigh took a diminutive step back from the screen, catching the attention of a couple of people watching the screen. He ignored their confused gazes and continued staring at the picture of Tony Stark. His hands dropped from his backpack straps and subconsciously his trembling fingers moved to start picking at the bandage on the back of his left hand. The familiar feeling of panic crawled over his shoulders and squeezed at his chest, but he remained immobile as he watched the picture switch back to the school news anchors. He really wanted to leave.

"Gone. But not forgotten." Betty Brant's voice fills the air as the song awkwardly shuts off mid-chorus.

Jason Ionello, the male news anchor thanked the ones who made the video tribute, but Raleigh wasn't feeling thankful.

"This year has been nothing short of—" Betty tried to say something else, but Jason spoke up, cursing as his word bleeped. They argued before Betty continued with what she was saying. "Historic. Over five years ago, half of all life in the universe, including our own Midtown High was wiped from existence."

A video of the school's basketball halftime show appeared on the screen. Some of the band members and the people in front of the person videotaping disappeared in a burst of dust. The people there screamed while instruments and other things crashed to the ground and Raleigh clenched his eyes shut. He couldn't stand seeing the decimation all over again, he couldn't stand seeing people lose their loved ones right in front of them one more time. He couldn't continue reliving Thor, Steve, and Trystan's panic and grief-stricken expressions.

Suddenly a palm settles on his shoulder and he recoils from the touch. He refocused his sight and finds Jaron Miller standing beside him, holding his hands up in surprise. Raleigh gasped and forcefully eased his posture. Jaron was one of the survivors of what the world called the Blip. He had only been eleven at the time of the Blip and from what he heard his parents and older, but now younger, sister had turned to dust, leaving him an orphan and shoved into overstuffed homes for ones just like him. He had been one of the lucky ones at the time to be adopted by a kind family; however, when everyone was recovered it created a stressor for him and many kids in his position.