5:36 p.m.
Death-Cast did not call this gang of boys today, and they’re living as if this means their lives can’t be over while they’re alive. They run through the streets, not caring about traffic, as if they’re invincible against speeding cars and completely untouchable by the law. Two boys laugh when one car bangs into another, spinning out of control until it crashes against the wall. The third is too focused on reaching his target and pulling the handgun out of his backpack.
DELILAH GREY
5:37 p.m.
Delilah is still alive. She doesn’t have to test Howie’s pulse to know he isn’t. She saw the way his head banged against the reinforced window, heard the sickening crack that will stay with her forever— Her heartbeat runs wild. In a single day, the same day when she received a call informing her she will die today, Delilah has not only survived an explosion by a bookstore, but also a car accident caused by three boys running through the street.
If Death wanted her, Death had two shots.
Delilah and Death won’t be meeting today.
RUFUS
5:39 p.m.
I wanna keep holding Mateo’s hand, but I gotta hug my people. I move through the crowd, pushing Deckers and others aside to get to the Plutos. We all hit Pause on ourselves—and press Play at the exact same second, like four cars moving at a green light. We group hug, four Plutos coming together in the Pluto Solar System embrace I’ve been wanting for over fifteen hours, ever since I ran out of my own damn funeral.
“I love you guys,” I say. No one cracks homo jokes. We’re past that. They shouldn’t be here, but taking risks is the name of the game today and I’m playing it. “You don’t smell like prison, Tagoe.”
“You should see my new ink,” Tagoe says. “We’ve seen shit.”
“We didn’t see shit,” Malcolm says.
“You guys ain’t shit,” I say.
“Not even house arrest,” Aimee says. “Damn shame.”
We pull apart, but stay really close, as if the crowd is forcing us to squeeze up against each other. They’re all staring at me. Tagoe looks like he wants to pet me. Malcolm looks like he’s seeing a ghost. Aimee looks like she wants another hug. I don’t let Tagoe treat me like a dog or shout “Boo!” at Malcolm, but I move in and hug the hell out of Aimee.
“My bad, Ames,” I say. I didn’t know I was sorry until I saw her face. “I shouldn’t have shut you out like that. Not on a damn End Day.”
“I’m sorry too,” Aimee says. “There’s only one side that matters to me and I’m sorry I was trying to play both. We didn’t have nearly as much time as we should’ve, but you’ll always be more important. Even after . . .”
“Thanks for saying that,” I say.
“I’m sorry I had to say something so obvious,” Aimee says.
“We’re all good,” I say.
I know I helped Mateo live his life, but he helped me get mine back in shape. I wanna be remembered as who I am right now, not for that dumbass mistake I made. I turn and Mateo and Lidia are standing shoulder to shoulder. I pull him over by his elbow.
“This is my Last Friend, Mateo,” I say. “And this is his number one, Lidia.”
The Plutos shake hands with Mateo and Lidia. Solar systems are colliding.
“Are you scared?” Aimee asks us both.
I grab Mateo’s hand and nod. “It’ll be game over, but we won first.”
“Thanks for taking care of our boy,” Malcolm says.
“You’re both honorary Plutos,” Tagoe says. He turns to Malcolm and Aimee. “We should get badges made.”
I give the Plutos a beat-by-beat play of my End Day, and I fill them in on how color found its way to my Instagram.
“Elastic Heart” by Sia comes to an end. “We should be out there. Right?” Aimee says, nodding toward the dance floor.
“Let’s do this.”
Mateo says it before I can.
MATEO
5:48 p.m.
I grab Rufus’s hand and drag him to the dance floor right as a young black guy named Chris takes the stage. Chris says he’s about to perform an original song called “The End.” He raps about final goodbyes, nightmares we want to wake up from, and the inevitable squeeze of Death. If I weren’t standing here with Rufus and our favorite people, I would be depressed. But instead we’re all dancing, something else I never thought I would get to do—not just dancing, but dancing with someone who challenges me to live.
The beat pulses through me and I follow the lead of others, bopping my head and bouncing my shoulders. Rufus does a mock Harlem Shake to either impress me or make me laugh, and it works on both counts, mainly because his confidence is glowing and admirable. We close the space between us, our hands still very much to our sides or in the air, but we’re dancing against each other. Not always in sync, but who cares. We remain pressed together as more people flood the dance floor. Yesterday Mateo would’ve found this claustrophobic, but now? Don’t ever move me.
The song changes and now it’s superfast, but Rufus stills me and puts a hand on my hip. “Dance with me.”
I thought we were dancing already. “Am I doing it wrong?”
“You’re great. I meant a slow dance.”
The beat has only increased, but we place our hands on each other’s shoulders and waist; my fingers dig into him a little, the first time I’m getting to touch someone else like this. We take it slow, and out of all the ways I’ve lived today, maintaining eye contact with Rufus is really hard; it’s easily become the most intense intimacy ever I’ve ever experienced. He leans in to my ear, throwing me into this weird phase where I’m relieved to be free of his gaze but also miss his eyes and the way he looks at me, like I’m good enough, and Rufus says, “I wish we had more time. . . . I wanna ride bikes through empty streets and spend a hundred dollars at an arcade and take the Staten Island ferry just to introduce you to my favorite snow cones.”
I lean in to his ear. “I want to go to Jones Beach and race you to the waves and play in the rain with our friends. But I want quiet nights, too, where we talk about nonsense while watching bad movies.” I want us to have history, something longer than the small window of time we’re actually sharing, with an even longer future, but the dying elephant in the room crushes me. I rest my forehead against his, the both of us sweating. “I have to talk to Lidia.” I kiss Rufus again before we break through the crowd. He grabs my hand from behind, following me through the path I’m clearing.