Chapter 2 from Rebels with Guts Part One, The Fall of Nations by Skylar

Chapter Two, My First Kiss

(James) May 9th, 2065

  I walked home from the Library with my new computer code cracking book under my arm. I had jitters all over because I had promised myself the next time I saw Beth May the cute, nice girl from school I'd tell her I loved her.  But I'd been telling myself this for years and every time my nerves got the best of me. 

  My reminiscing on my dismal thought was interrupted by the earth violently shaking under me. I was nocked off my feet; I fell like a ton of bricks onto my back. I lay sprawled on the ground near the street sign for Eljen and Creston roads as the ground continued to shake. 

  My book had skidded across the pavement and lay on its side in a large pot hole. I was about to attempt to get up when I saw a car heading straight for me. Shaken violently by the earthquake the car skidded along. The driver a beautiful teenaged girl tried frantically to regain control of the car.

  I braced myself for the worst, praying a little prayer. "Please don't make this hurt a lot." 

  Then a miracle happened; just before the car was going to hit me the driver slammed the brakes and the car stopped with its front bumper inches from my head. 

   The driver threw the door open and ran towards me, "OH MY GOSH! JAMES!? Are you okay?!" She said leaning down over me. I realized with a lurch that the girl was Beth May!

  "BETH!? Oh no! Not now I was supposed to be acting cool not lying on the ground! Oh this is all wrong!" I moaned looking up at her.

  "What's wrong? And why oh no?" She said in a mix between compassion and annoyance.

 "Oh alright I guess it's worth a shot," I took a deep breath,"Beth May I know I might be last guy you'd ever want to be with, but I love you." I said looking up at her.

   What happened next I totally hadn't expected she put her hands on the back of my neck leaned down and kissed me full on the lips. The kiss lasted about ten seconds and those were the best ten seconds of my life. 

   As she pulled away and helped me up, a building behind us exploded. I grabbed Beth and pushed her behind a dumpster.

  "Are you okay?!" I asked wondering if I had hearts in my eyes? "Your a great kisser!" I added sheepishly.

  She playfully slapped me, then added "I know." 

   "But what's going on? Why are there suddenly a bunch of earthquakes and explosions?!" She asked peering out from behind the dumpster. 

  "I think the answer to your question is up there." I pointed up at the sky.

  In the sky there was an airplane dropping bombs; farther in the distance were more bombers.

  "Oh my gosh we're being bombed!" She gasped looking up. "Should we run? We need to find cover!" She said all in a jumble.

   "Okay." I said. 

   Suddenly I heard a child scream and a little girl with her brown hair in two little pigtails and piercing blue eyes, who slightly resembled Beth came running out from behind a wall as a bomb exploded near the spot she'd just been at!

  "Rosie! Over here!" Beth shouted standing up and waving her arms. The little girl ran towards them and fell crying into her arms.

  "Beth! They blew up are house," She moaned her face buried in Beth's white blouse. 

   "Oh my gosh! Beth gasped.

   "I'm scared Beth!"

   "Don't worry me and James will protect you." Beth said reassuringly 

   "Who's James?" Rosie asked sniffling.

    "James this is Rosie my little sister; Rosie this is my new boyfriend James." Beth said giving me a squeeze.

  Inside my head; "oh my gosh! Oh MY Gosh! OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!She called me her BOYFRIEND!!!!!!"

On the outside; I have a weak smile on my face and I shake Rosie's little hand.

  "I thought Mommy said you weren't aloud to have a boyfriend till you were 18?" Rosie said questioningly.

   "Sweetie who says she had to know, and it's not like he's my first boyfriend." She said. I felt as though she had just stabbed me. I mean I know she'd obviously had boyfriends before me, but was I just a toy to her?! Would she play with me then cast me aside and find someone better?!

  I cast this aside, a bomb had nearly blown up Beth's little sister and I was worried about how devoted she was to me what kind of loony was I?!

   "Beth we need to find a bomb shelter or something!" I shouted as another bomb went off not to far from us. 

  "There's a bomb shelter under the middle school!" She shouted back sheltering Rosie from the falling debris. 

  "How do we get there?" I asked.

   "There's a man hole in the football locker room that's right above it, but we need to be really careful the school might get bombed!" Beth said grabbing the lids of the garbage cans we were hiding behind. "We can use these to cover are heads from falling debris. 

   "Okay there are only two how will we protect Rosie?" I asked plugging my ears to keep out the screams of people a few blocks away were another bomb had just gone off.

  At this Beth took her back pack off her back and dumped out the content. An assortment of book, pencils, pens, pieces of paper, and other school related things went tumbling onto the ground. "It's not like I'll need this stuff if there's no school left to go to." She said in a very matter of fact tone.

  She looked down at the pile and retrieved a few things a small book with the word diary on the cover of it and a few pieces of paper one of which had the words: will always love you my sweet little girl, love, Dad. On it. She stuffed the papers in her pocket and then she turned to me and said, "Can you put this in your bags it's important to me?" 

  "Sure," I took the small book and placed it in my backpack. "Who's your dad anyway you never talk about him?" I asked remember the piece of paper I'd got a glimpse of.

  "You wouldn't know him, he's dead." She said, looking as though she wanted to cry.

   "Never mind, let's just get to the bomb shelter." I said, afraid I'd upset her.

  "Right!" Beth said, regaining her composure.

    We ran like there was no tomorrow praying we wouldn't die. Rosie was tucked away in Beth's now empty backpack because she thought that would be a safe enough place to keep her since she couldn't run as fast as us.

  Over are heads I saw a chopper with a spotlight surveying the debris for trapped citizens. Then it's spotlight fell on us; I was blinded by the extremely bright light. 

   I loud clear voice said, "young citizens we will be dropping a rope ladder, please climb it and get in the chopper. We will take you to safety." 

  A long rope ladder unrolled from the chopper. The end of it hit the ground about a yard from me Beth and Rosie.

  "Come on James!" Beth said, grabbing my hand.

   We ran as fast as we could things erupting around us every few seconds. 

   "You first," I said gesturing to the ladder. 

   "No I have Rosie, she'll slow me down." She said.

   "Give me her." I said holding out my hands.

   She gave me a look that said 'I hope you know what your doing.' Then handed me the backpack that Rosie was stuffed in. I slung it over my back and began to climb the rope ladder as fast as I could. It was a very hard climb considering the rope ladder was very flimsy and it was very windy. Ash flew into my eyes as I climbed Beth close behind me.

   Suddenly the ladder shook violently. Beth shrieked from below me.  

"Beth whats wrong?' I asked looking down at her. Beth was hanging on to the remaining part of a half severed rope which was the remains of what used to be the bottom of the rope ladder.

"Grab my hand!" I said holding my hand out to her. She grabbed for it, but her hand slipped through my fingers, She fell as the last bit of the rope snapped. She fell about 40 stories down to the ground. The ground around where she fell exploded, and I knew she was dead.

"No! Beth! You can't be dead! No!" I moaned and shouted the whole way up the rest of the ladder because I knew the only girl I'd ever loved was dead.