Atdonus High

Episode 19: The Couple That Jumped

Middle of Who-Knows-Where

Who-Knows-When

In Atdonus Highschool

00:02am, Alex and Angela were in Angela’s room.

Angela was curled up on her bed while Alex stood nearby. It was the night where Alex had set fire to the school classrooms, where he had gotten himself expelled along with Angela. He sat beside her bed and stared into the darkness. He assumed Angela was sleeping, it had been a long day for her, so it was understandable. In the dark, there was no need for words, no need for actions, only understanding towards the other.

Alex could not close his eyes, he felt something within him, something he had never felt in such a long time. He pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged his legs. Pressing his forehead against his leg. He shivered slightly, not feeling too good.

There was shifting behind him, and a blanket was thrown over him. He felt Angela sling her arms over his shoulders, she put her head on his. She asked in a tired voice, “What are you thinking about?”

The atmosphere was still, because to them, only they existed, in their own bubble. Alex tugged the blanket away, Angela lifting up her arms slightly so that he could do so. He looked up at her, and she down at him, a gentle smile on her face, her eyes sleepy. Alex looked into her eyes, the ever so dim moonlight casting a silver hue over them. Alex had rarely seen Angela look so down around him, she was normally energetic and the one to put a foot forward. Alex would follow, that was all he had needed to do, only occasionally taking charge.

“Nothing much.” Alex replied, his voice soft.

Angela looked at him and adjusted his head so that he looked forward, she rested her chin on his head once again. Alex tried not to move, Angela’s breathing could be felt by him. The silence was calming, to both of them, silence was calming. They could do whatever they want without the interruption of others. Outsiders, these people had ruined their lives.

“Are you sad?” Angela asked before yawning.

“Not really.” Alex replied.

“You’re lying.”

Angela rolled over to Alex’s side, her head hanging from the edge of the bed. Her black hair dangled below her head. She looked at the ceiling, her head beside Alex’s. Angela tried reaching out, but her hand slumped on the bed again with a soft thud.

“What do you want to be in the future?” Angela asked.

“There is no point.” Alex replied bluntly. “There is no future for us.”

“There can be.” Angela said. “If we try...”

Even as she said it, she knew it was impossible for them. They were criminals, murderers that were allowed just three years before receiving their punishment. Since they were expelled, they would have to return to their prison life where they would wait until they turned 18 years of age.

00:15am, Angela trembled.

“Are you sad?” This time, it was Alex’s turn to ask.

“I’m not...” She replied.

Alex threw the blanket on Angela and sat down on the bed next to her. She looked at him from beneath the sheets. Alex simply said, “I assume you were cold.”

She covered her face with the blanket and shuffled closer to Alex. There was silence for a few seconds, or maybe a few minutes. Eventually, Angela said something. Her voice was weak, trembling, and cracking. “I wanted to be an athlete... maybe go to the Olympics... you know, win a few medals...”

Alex listened, it was the only thing he could do, to just listen carefully and respectfully. He stayed still as Angel was wrapped in her blanket from head to toe. She reached out and held Alex’s hand, her fingers cold on touch, or was it Alex’s hand which was cold?

“Hey, what did you want to be in the future?” Angela asked.

“I don’t know.” Alex replied softly. “I have never known.”

She squeezed his hand. There were no words, no eye contact, but he understood what she wanted him to do. She said, “I guess be a Scientist?”

“What a grand dream.” Angela tried to laugh, her laugh choppy. “An athlete and a scientist, would we even have time for each other?”

“Then I’ll be a househusband.” Alex suggested.

“Sounds good.”

Angela had pulled the sheets off and wrapped it around herself. She adjusted her position to sit beside Alex on the bed. Alex did not react, only waiting.

When she sat down, she leaned against his shoulder despite Alex being shorter than herself. Angela said softly, “Did You have fun with me?”

“Of course.” He replied without hesitation.

“If only I met you first...”

There was a moment, a moment where both of them imagined the same thing. What if Alex had met Angela earlier? It was a pleasant thought, instead of Nate, what if Angela’s first love had been Alex all along? He imagined her helping drive off the scammer with her tenacious personality, he would have been saved long ago. Angela imagined Alex being there and actually loving her, she would not have ended up killing Nate. In fact, had they met earlier, they would not have been criminals, they would not be in jail, they would be living ordinary lives. And maybe, just maybe, they would have achieved all their dreams together, maybe have a family of their own.

But reality was much too different.

“Hey.” Angela mumbled.

“Yes?” Alex asked back.

“Don’t leave me...” She said, sliding off his shoulder.

Alex caught her before she could fall forward. He looked at Angela, her eyes closed and body relaxed. She had a peaceful expression on her face, she was already asleep. But she managed to mumble again, “Don’t leave me...”

“I will never.” Alex promised, laying her down on the bed.

Criminals they were. They could not run away. Alex had his family’s inheritance that was seized by the government, but otherwise nowhere else to return to. Angela’s family’s whereabouts was unknown to Angela, and she doubted they would have remained in the same house. With nowhere to return, their only other option would be to run away. But even that was impossible. Both of them had the barcode tattooed to their necks, and the tattoos of the number of people their were deemed to have killed. Alex had two each on either bicep. Angela had two on either bicep too, but an additional two on her left ankle which was mostly hidden. With those marks, it was impossible for them to do anything, nothing was possible.

“Love you...” Angela muttered in her sleep.

“Love you too.” Alex whispered.

Without letting go of her hand, he sat on the ground, hanging his head.

00:26am, they both fell asleep holding hands.

7:02am, Alex opened his eyes.

It was the day where the students could leave freely until their parents came to pick them up. Alex and Angela were unaware, but planned to leave anyways. Alex opened his eyes, seeing the morning sunlight streaming through the window. Angela was behind him, still sound asleep, her eyes closed. She seemed at peace, so Alex refused to wake her up. Instead, he looked at her from where he was, not moving a muscle that would disrupt her sleep.

7:24am, Angela opened her eyes slowly.

She shifted herself, blinking a few times. She felt like she barely got any sleep at all, there was too much on her mind. But all those thoughts cleared when she saw Alex’s pale eyes looking at her. She gave him a morning smile and asked, “What you doing?”

“Looking.” Alex replied honestly.

Angela woke up, Alex letting go of her hand. She stretched and got off the bed with a single hop, standing in front of Alex in her pyjamas. She pointed at him and said, “Let’s go, let’s get out of this school.”

“Where to?” Alex asked.

“That’s not important.” Angela nodded. “We’re going to leave and not return. I’m not going to see this school ever again, I don’t like it.”

She grabbed her school uniform and changed into it while Alex stood at the door, waiting. There was no point in running away, there was no way for them to escape. Running away may cause them to be together longer, but just how long could they keep it up? A month or year at most, definitely not their whole lives. They did not own passports, they could not leave the town to begin with. Angela stepped up to Alex, looking at her uniform, then at Alex. Alex also wore his uniform, as unlikely as it seemed.

“Go change.” Angela told Alex.

“What to?” Alex asked.

“Anything not your school uniform. We’re going for a date right now.” Angela decided on the spot.

Alex went back to his room as instructed and changed his attire, taking a shower while he was at it. Angela too, rummaged through her clothes to find one suitable for going out on a date with Alex.

7:53am, Angela stood at the courtyard, which was crowded.

People gave her looks, none of them approached her as they whispered amongst themselves. Soon enough, the courtyard emptied itself, leaving only Angela standing there by herself. It was understandable, she had almost killed two of her friends after all, and her boyfriend was an arsonist.

7:58am, Alex reached the courtyard.

Angela wore a long skirt that reached her ankles, which surprised Alex. At most, he would see her in her school uniform’s skirt, but he did not expect Angela to own any other skirt. Alex himself wore shorts and a long sleeved shirt along with his scarf. He felt underdressed compared to Angela. Angela wore a white long-sleeved button-up collared shirt that covered her arms, a long thin black tie and she wore boots with socks. She smiled at Alex, saying, “Ready to go?”

Blending in with the crowd, they left.

8:17am, Angela and Alex walked at the side of the streets.

Angela stretched her arms in the sunlight, saying, “I wished I could wear a sleeveless dress!”

“It is cold.” Alex told her.

“Doesn’t matter!” She laughed. “The cold can’t beat me.”

She stopped and held Alex’s right hand, coughing. “Maybe a bit.”

Alex noticed that Angela had barely brought anything along with her. She had claimed to have wanted to leave the school forever, she had brought barely anything to run away with. It was probably the best for them, to not have any attachment to anything.

“A cafe, seems nice.” Angela commented. “Should we go get some cakes?”

“Okay.” Alex replied, already being pulled along by Angela towards the cafe.

She entered and saw two free seats. Alex sat down while Angela went to get the cake and drinks. She walked up to the counter and happily said, “I’ll have the chocolate cake with extra chocolate surprised with more chocolate with a tint of chocolate.”

She paused to take a breath. “That’s a long name.”

“Anything else?” The cashier asked, laughing lightly.

“One coffee and one tea, light amounts of sugar please.”

“Would your like a free bagel? It comes with the chocolate cake.” The cashier told Angela.

“Sure, I’ll take it.” Angela said.

She got the food and went to where Alex sat. Alex had looked around, people looked at him, but he was barely bothered by it anymore. Angela sat across from him, a slice of cake between them. Angela also put a bagel down beside her before pushing the tea over to Alex. Alex looked at the tea for a second before staring at the cake.

“I realise we’re weird for having cake this early.” Angela commented.

“What cake is this?” Alex asked.

“You want me to say the full name?”

“Sure.”

Angela cleared her throat. “Chocolate cake with extra chocolate surprised with more chocolate with a tint of chocolate.”

“That’s a long name.”

“I know, right? It’s funny.”

8:43am, they left the cafe.

“Please come again.” The cashier said as they left.

“No promises!” Angela replied, waving goodbye.

They walked along the streets again, it was an normal day like any other, and Angela was doing what ever she found fun with Alex. But Alex could tell that her heart wasn’t really into it, there was something bugging her. Her smile was less cheeky, the glint in her eyes when she was happy was dimmer, and her actions were less cheerful compared to usual. Alex felt the same way, he was trying to hide it, but he was less active than usual.

1:28pm, they sat in the park, having done a variety of things.

Angela sat in a restaurant, her elbow on the table as she stared at Alex. Alex had his hands beneath the table, looking back at her. She covered her mouth and said, “Left.”

Alex put his hands up and revealed the coin in his left hand. Angela smiled and took the coin before Alex revealed a coin in his other hand. She looked at it and laughed out loud before they were kicked out the restaurant for being too noisy.

5:21pm, they were taking a stroll through town, stopping where ever they wanted.

They had stopped at a comic store, a Jewelry store, a sports shop, a clothing shop, and who knows what else. Angela led Alex forward, the a familiar place. A park, the same park where Alex and Angela confessed their love to each other. Angela sat down, stretching her legs in front of her. Alex sat beside her, not doing what she did.

Angela looked at the people around them. Joggers, cyclist, other couples. It was the afternoon, but the weather wasn’t hot in the slightest, it felt like the perfect weather for a nap. Angela sat there and stared at the sky.

“Did you have fun?” Angela asked.

“Yes.”

“You better never lie to me.”

“I would never.”

“Do you love me?”

“Yes.”

“Would you kill another person for me?”

“Yes.”

Angela leaned in closer to Alex and whispered something. Alex’s eyes widened slightly as he replied, “Gladly.”

Angela’s eyes lit up and she stood up. She dragged Alex along, not saying a word. There was no need for words, only actions. It started to get late as they walked, hand in hand, slowly down the street. Angela had led Alex to a building.

6:10pm, they entered the building.

Angela picked the lock of the old building and they got access to the roof. Angela hopped forward, Alex walking after her. She spread her arms, the setting sun casting an orange light on her. Alex watched as she stopped. Angela had asked to go to a tall building where they could watch the sunset together. The building was quite tall, and no buildings blocked the view of the sunset. Alex watched as Angel balanced on the edge of the roof, walking without fear.

“I had fun, I really did.” Angela said.

Alex remained silent.

6:21pm, the sun started to properly set.

As time passed, it got darker. The two stood on the roof, facing each other. Angela faced Alex, standing near the edge of the roof. She stood with her hands behind her back, her eyes tearing up.

“I know I’m weird.” She said, rubbing her eyes. “You don’t have to do it too.”

Alex did not respond.

“I won’t force you.” Angela said. “I really won’t, so you can live on for a few more years!”

Alex walked up to her and extended a hand. “You told me not to lie, but you are lying.”

Angela grabbed his hand and pulled closer to him, squeezing him close. She gripped his shirt tightly, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. She shouted, “I wanted to grow up! I wanted to live with you! I wanted to have a family!”

Alex did not say anything.

“But if we go back, we won’t be together anymore, and it’s not like we can always run away!” She sobbed. “At least for me... you can still fight for it, you could explain what happened, and you can escape the sentence! You can live!”

“I can.” Alex said, patting her back.

“You don’t have to be executed!” Angela said. “You can live if you go back, you don’t have to run away with me.”

“I know.” Alex said, squeezing her tighter.

“Then go! Go live!” Angela cried, her voice strained.

“Don’t lie.” Alex whispered. “What do you truly feel?”

Alex himself was tearing up, shaking uncontrollably. He held Angela in front of him, rubbing her tears with a thumb. Her eyes showed sadness never before seen, Angela had never felt so weak. Alex was unable to express as much as Angela, but obviously he would still want to live.

“You don’t have to...” Angela said, softer. “You don’t need to...”

Alex put Angela at arms length. “I will do whatever you like.”

Angela saw Alex’s teary eyes and punched him lightly in the chest. “You’re unfair.”

She hugged him one more time and whispered what she whispered to him in the park.

“Would you die with me?”

As her soulmate, she would rather die with him than be alive separated from him. To Alex, Angela was everything. She saved him from his depression, made him functional as a human again. Without her, he would have already died in the corner of the gym room. Angela was his everything, he would never want to let go of her.

“Gladly.”

Angela stepped back, holding Alex in her arms, and by pulling him along, they were over the edge. The setting sun had disappeared, replaced with darkness. The city light turned on, bright and brilliant. The lights reflected off each other’s eyes. They both looked into each other’s eyes, Angela cracking a smile, her tears falling after her. Angela hugged Alex closer, not ever going to let go, and Alex held her back as they plummeted through the darkness of night, the brilliant city light went dark.

Until the next life, Goodbye.