Endless Recess

Shining Star| Part 1

Emma was locked inside the storage room, for the last few days she had been trying to make all sorts of new gadgets to make living in the school more bearable.

She sat on a desk, filled with pieces, electronic and mechanic.

It was early in the morning and breakfast had already been eaten, as the room was illuminated by the light coming from the window, she sat directly under its light.

She was busy tinkering with the objects when tiny shadows began to slowly fill everything she could see.

It was coming from outside the window.

Excitedly, she looked to her left and confirmed with a wide smile her suspicion.

Without a second thought, she rushed to the window and opened it.

It was snowing.

The white dots fell from the sky continuously, countless of them as far as the eye could see.

She laughed briefly, filled with joy, and stretched her arms through the open window.

It was cold and slightly windy, but that didn't stop her.

Then the hallway got filled with laugher and rushed feet, she could hear everyone looking going to the roof.

And it couldn't have happened on a better occasion, since today, It is Christmas.

She walked back to the desk and began storing all the objects inside one of the dozens of backpacks filled with all sorts of items.

Once everything was inside the backpacks, she stood and thought for a moment, recalling a conversation she had with Mat not so long ago.

Bringing a smile to her face.

A few days ago, she sat with Mathew on desks inside her bedroom, staring at the outside world in melancholic silence.

"Do you think it will snow?" He asked her while watching the sky darken.

"Right now?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"Of course not" He rolled his eyes " Soon, maybe at Christmas? that would be nice"

"I hope it does, even if everything is so messed up, a nice coating of snow on everything would make it look less grim and depressed"

"But more lonely" He remarked.

She contemplated his words, realizing how the snow covering the city, without the lights, without the people, may make it look even more dead than it is.

They shared a solemn silence for a moment before Mathew began laughing out of nowhere.

"I was thinking, if it snows, we HAVE to make a snow fort and throw snowballs at Heather!" He said, surprisingly excited.

"Where did that came from?" She asked smiling too but not less confused "That would be fun though." She fantasized with her angry face.

"She dumped Mason"

"What?" She looked at him in shock " Heather broke up with Mason?"

"Yeah, he didn't want to let me know the details"

"I see..." She returned her attention to the outside world.

While she had feelings for Mason, she had never tried to pursue them, since he was dating Heather, and no matter how bad they got along, it never felt well in her mind to do something like that.

But now that Mason is single, maybe not that day, but soon, she could try to get closer to him.

"Geez, can you be any more obvious?" Mathew groaned playfully.

"S-sorry" She smiled awkwardly" I'm not gonna do anything NOW, I'm not a piranha!"

"But you are thirsty" He laughed as he poked her playfully.

"Shut up!!" She tried to contain her laugher without success as she slapped his hands.

Soon they halted their teasing and stared at the outside world once again.

"When it snows, you can bet I'm coming to get you" He said, smiling gently.

" I will be waiting, then." She replied with an equal smile.

The door was opened out of nowhere, she turned around to join Mathew's excitement, but that didn't happen.

"Yo!" Sarah said enthusiastically from the hallway "It's snowing!"

"Y-yeah, I see" A little bit disappointed, she turned back to carry the backpacks to a nearby pile.

Noticing her mood, Sarah stepped forward and looked at her with a bit of concern.

"Everything alright?"

"Mhm!" Emma nodded and walked up to Sarah, her face now the same as always "You came to tell me that? or do you have something in mind?"

"Everyone is going to the roof, so I figured you may be too caught up with all those trinkets of yours, didn't want you to miss the Christmas miracle!" She slapped her on the back.

"Everyone?" She asked as she steps into the hallway and glances at Annie's bedroom door.

"If you mean the others, I don't know about them" Sarah said closing the door.

Yesterday's events were fresh in her mind, like everyone else.

After Annie took the group under her wing and stop any objections before they could be made, no one had seen them.

They took the only classroom that was empty left, closest to the dining hall, even when offered to rearrange the rooms so they could have individual bedrooms.

And she hadn't seen Mathew either.

She shook the ideas out of her head and after taking a deep breath she moved forward, it was a long trek from her bedroom to the stairs leading up to the roof.

"Do you think they will make trouble?" Sarah asked following her close behind.

"I don't think they will, Annie knows them better than anyone else right?"

" She does, but that makes me a little uneasy"

" Hey, you were the one who told me to not judge Annie for her past rumors"

" Well that guy, Gabriel, he really has something wrong about him"

"What do you mean?" She had her doubts about him, after what happened with Mat, but still wanted to buy Annie's words and his apology, so it was a little surprising that Sarah didn't.

" A year ago I met him in the gym I was going to, we didn't speak to each other or anything, but he did make quite the first impression."

"I suppose it's not good."

"In the slightest, he fought with one of the instructors over some of the training equipment, words became insults and then punches, very quickly, the guy has a temperament."

Emma worried, he had already injured Mathew gruesomely, and if he was quick to anger, who was to say he wouldn't harm someone else?

"Do you know something about the others?" She asked looking at Sarah.

"Not really, all I know is that Owen was a bit of a bully, and Audrey had been expelled for having s*x at the school grounds once, not all that worrying if you ask me"

"Hmm, what about Jonathan?"

"Well, I never heard or saw that one, he does look out of place don't you think?" Sarah snickers " Like, he seems his place is with Brook and Jason" she laughed as she finished the sentence.

" Maybe a little" Emma joined in laughter briefly.

Then when she looked ahead she halted, in front of her was the toppled locker separating the second floor from the first.

And resting next to it, the small altar that had been made for Layla.

A painful sensation attacked her heart, and she clutches her chest as her face twists slightly with grief.

"Are you okay?" Sarah asked, looking at her with sympathy.

"Being busy helps but...It still hurts"

Sarah remained silent next to Emma for a while, until she seemed more relaxed.

"Thank you" She whispered.

"You are welcome" Sarah said softly.

Even if she said nothing, simply staying there with her felt like a comforting hand.

It felt so long ago and at the same time, so close when she spoke with Layla. The wound was still there, the hole in her chest when she lost her best friend, it was smaller, more bearable, but it still hurt.

Without a word, they resumed their path and walked up the stairs.

As soon as they step onto the roof they saw many others from the group looking at the snow excitedly.

Everyone was with their groups, the snow seemed to fill with energy and joy, a simple thing, yet capable of moving everyone so much.

Among all of them, Emma saw Mason resting on the short wall of the roof, looking ahead at the city.

Her heart began beating fast, she had her hands in the pocket of her hoodie and she squeezed the cloth tightly with her hands.

With her eyes, she desperately tried to find Heather, and eventually, she found her far away from Mason sitting on the floor with her friends.

She was looking at Mason, but then returned her attention to the conversation around her.

"S-Sarah? Do you mind if I leave you alone for a bit and go talk with Mason?" She asked nervously.

Sarah, slowly growing a pleased smile from ear to ear, immediately picked up what Emma wished for.

"Suuuuuureeee~" She said before slapping her on the ass "I'll be with the dumb lords over there" She pointed at Brook, Jason, and Luca "Good luck" Finally, she whispered and winked as she walked up to the noisy guys.

Emma tried to walk as confidently as she could until she was close enough for Mason to notice her.

He looked in her direction, forcing her to freeze in place as a simple look from him made her fluster, especially when he smiled.

Which he did.

"Hey!" Emma said joining him on the short wall, close to him but not enough " It's raining uh?"

"It's, snowing" He replied coldly.

"Y-yeah! that" She wanted to slap her face badly " It's been a few years since it last snowed."

Mason's smile seemed to wear off.

And so did Emma's.

This is horrible. She thought.

Now she was trapped in an awkward situation, having seemingly ended the conversation before it even began.

She was about to leave when she forced herself to stay in place, she looked around and saw Adam and Jose chatting with each other.

He was completely alone, Heather was off the picture, this was her time, her moment, and she had to seize it.

Besides, there was a lot she wanted to talk about with Mason, not only for her interest but because she is genuinely worried about him.

"Remember when we used to play cops and burglars?" She asked leaning closer.

"Yeah, It was a little mean of us to never let Mathew be a cop" he said, smiling a little bit.

"And when you beat my ass in basketball and I had to eat a WORM" She stared at him with faked anger "You monster"

Mason, laughed.

It was a hearty laugh.

"Jesus, I can't believe you did it, almost threw up too" He looked at her.

Emma looked away almost immediately, moving the hair from her face and resting her head on her hand, she could feel her face burn.

"But I don't think it would do us too much good to think about the past, even if it brings in good memories, that's all they are." He said losing the fleeting joy in his face.

"How can you say that, Mason?" Emma asked, returning his eyes to his, a mixture of shock and sadness in her face " Without those good memories, how will we ever return to how things were before? If we don't remember it?"

"That's where you are wrong, things will never return to normal, this is our world now, f****d up and diseased" he squinted his eyes as he looked back at the city "Just look at it Emma, how can things possibly return to normal?"

"What would the alternative be? forget it all and give up on this world?" She did look at the city, and rather than finding herself demoralized, she was invigorated by what she saw " The world is wounded and sick, but eventually it will heal and allow us to return to how things were, and our wounds will heal"

"It sounds a little naive, don't you think? that we would be able to leave everything we have seen and gone through"

"I don't mean that, of course, we will have problems forgetting all of this hell, if any of us can at all... Hopes and dreams, we need them, Mason, hoping that things will be better, dreaming with a future that is not as harsh...they keep us going when all we can see is the abyss"

The two remained in silence for a moment, until Mason squeezed his eyes with his fingers as if they hurt, Emma got closer and stroke his back.

"I'm just tired, you know? How many times have we...almost died? and I'm afraid that if I let myself hope, If something really bad happens like it almost did to Mathew, I'm gonna lose it"

She was taken by surprise, not even before he changed had he opened up to her, not that she had tried before, but it felt unexpected for him to do so even under these circumstances.

"Do you imagine how would things be if I wasn't here, Emma?" He asked looking directly at her " So you think you would have gotten out to get medicine? or food? hell, even the decision of staying in here instead of running away when it all began...I feel responsible for everyone in here"

It was then that Emma realized something, just how much pressure Mason must have felt before and even now as they spoke.

From his point of view, if the group starved it was his fault, if anyone fell ill it was his fault...if anyone died...

His detachment, his distance, his coldness, all this time she has focused on anyone but him, and he was the one who needed the most support.

She approached a hand but he quickly steps back making her retract it immediately.

"Enough " He said, his usually stern face now with a little bit of anger " forget I said any of that"

She agreed silently and the two of them stood there in contemplating silence.

Looking at the dead city surrounding her, at the white sky with not a single bird, at the sea of corpses in the streets...

Was it alright to hope?

Is there even a point to hope?

The door opened again and all the groups went silent as the others step forward to join the roof.

First Annie, then Owen, Audrey, Jonathan, and finally, Gabriel.

As if a ghost had taken everyone's voices, the roof became as quiet as the city.

"Come on, let's be grown-ups about this" Mr. Asher said standing from the desks made tables "I know many of you are unsure of how to be with them, because of yesterday's incident, but let's try to get along, alright?"

He spoke in a tone and in a way very characteristic of a middle-aged man teacher, reassuring, firm, and knowledgeable.

Slowly, everyone returned to their conversations, and Annie's group walked up to the desks sitting together.

Emma returned her eyes to the city and now it was Annie's words that ringed in her head.

Talks about leaving behind the world she knew, forgetting about a rescue ever happening or for things to go back to the way they used to be.

To give up Hope.

And from her current point of view, it was hard to find an argument against it.

Everything seemed so...dead. But there had to be more, the world is big and filled with people and places.

She turned around and looked back when she hear electronic music, coming from Audrey's cellphone, it was loud and not bad at all.

Audrey left the cellphone on the table and approached Jose and Adam, from the distance she couldn't hear what she said, but it was flirting with one of them... or maybe both?.

Then Owen approached Sarah with Jonathan next to him, it was clear that Brook and Jason felt a little intimidated, but soon they seemed to be teasing Jonathan while Sarah and Owen laughed.

Only Gabriel and Annie sat together staring at everyone.

Without the filth and cloth wrappings around them, they looked much more presentable.

The noise, the laughter... was it Christmas? the snow? or something else?

There HAD to be hope.

How else could everyone be in such high spirits? that has to be the answer.

Even if the chances seemed so low, even if it looked so unlikely, it was that hope that would let them claim their lives back.

And the scenery around her proved of it.

" Maybe you should stop looking forward" She said, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him gently " And look around you."

Mason did just that.

For a moment he took his vision away from what laid ahead, and he turned his head to see what was behind.

He saw his friends and classmates laughing, even the new ones whom he dislikes.

For some reason, something about this scene, made him feel better.

"Hm" He returned his attention to the city "Maybe I'm wrong" he said, a ting smile on his face.

"Maybe, I sure hope you are" Emma said teasingly and they both laughed softly.

She once again stared at the city, but it no longer felt as suffocatingly depressing as before.

They may not have their lives back, but at the very least, surrounded by all this death, for at least that day.

It felt like they were living.

The snow had begun to accumulate on the streets and buildings below, it was getting a little bit uncomfortable to look at all the white snow.

I bet Mat would-

Mathew.

How could she ignore her friend?.

Once again she had been selfish, she should have tried to find him and see how he was doing, but instead, she was there trying to get close to Mason and not with her friend who had recently been injured.

"Mason, you know where is Mat?" She hastily asked him.

"Since Annie it's here and he is not, I suppose he must be getting ready to move to her bedroom"

Wait...what?

"He is moving in with her?"

"I don't know since when they grew so close, but yeah, they may be dating or something, either way, he slept in her bedroom last night, and when I confronted him about it he just ignored me, he must be moving his things"

Emma thanked Mason and waved goodbye before rushing to the stairs.

As she passed near the desks made tables, she crossed eyes with Annie, her smirk and intimidating eyes somehow managing to daunt her even if it was only a brief second.

She rushed past the stairs and soon reached Mathew's bedroom, without thinking twice she opened the door.

And there he stood.

All the room seemed cleaned and the pile of clothes he would use for a bed was now resting on a nearby desk.

He was storing some clothes inside backpacks when he turned around after Emma walked in.

"Emma? what are you doing here?"

*I'm coming to see how you are doing of course!" She walked inside and punched him in the arm.

However, something was different.

Immediately she noticed, how he wasn't smiling or reacting at all, rather, he just seemed to ignore her and kept storing the clothes inside the backpack.

"So, how is your wound?"

"Hurts a lot now and then, but usually it's just an inconvenience" he sounded neither excited nor sad.

"And you are going to stay with Annie from now on? Mat has she been telling you things?" Her concern grew.

"Like everyone else, yes, she has"

For the past few days, she had tried to no longer think of Annie as someone who could cause harm... but then yesterday's accident and the way Mathew had tried to stir everyone's feelings so they expelled the others...this had to be work of her.

"Mathew, what has she told you?"

"The same Mason has, how we must survive in this world and adapt...why are you so interested in it?"

"I- You have been acting differently, what you tried to do yesterday, it didn't seem like you" She walked closer to him as he turned around.

"I said and did what I thought was right, what's wrong with that?" He asked, turning around to face her.

"You know that if we had thrown them...they would have very likely died?"

Mathew's expression was emotionless, and he stared at her with a coldness unlike any she had ever felt from him, not even Mason had seemed so...inhuman.

"Yes, I was aware of it" He replied coldly.

"Mathew, that is not right! you are acting very weird"

The sensation she felt while speaking with him right in that room was way too familiar.

It felt like being in Annie's overwhelming presence.

"At that moment I thought of them as enemies, I don't care what could ha happened to them"

"What is wrong with you?! you-"

Mathew raises his hand and covers his mouth.

"Silence, listen"

She freed herself from his grasp and only then realized, that a humming sound, mechanical, far away, was barely perceptible.

But then, seemingly, both of them recognized the peculiar sound.

Mathew rushed out of the room before Emma could do anything, she instead ran to the nearby window and opened it.

Once she leaned forward through the open window it became as clear as day.

"A helicopter"