They Know The End

Matt

2:31 am

I sat in my desk, watching the download bar progress sluggishly. My spirits were dampened and then stomped over by my dad's "generous scolding", as he'd put it.

He would always say that it was for the greater good, for when I'd grow up, get a girlfriend, get married, have babies, retire from working as a doctor, and live through old age.

Funny how all of that changed when I showed him the letter I got.

His face went through all five stages of grief. But it stopped at disbelief. He kneeled down and hugged me, crying into my black hoodie. It was embarrassing. I looked around our unfurnished house to see if no one was watching this happen.

He still hadn't calmed down yet. But he was definitely talking to someone. It was probably my mother, because after a few minutes, he was saying a tirade of curses to himself.

I leaned back on the desk, feeling numb. Sasha left me last minute for some celebration. And being my only friend, it kinda hurt a lot. Now I began to wonder who should I spend the day with.

My family? Nah, they're too problematic. For every one minute of peace, there's always five minutes of arguing between both my Mom and Dad. They had been like this ever since they got married, and they wouldn't stop.

My classmates? Even worse. I always thought they were in a higher league than me, even when they think otherwise of me. If anything, they'd be thrilled to lose their top notcher in class. I had held that position for several school years now, so it was natural for them to feel envious.

My neighbors? I cut off ties with every single one of them long ago. It's an immediate no.

While waiting for the time to pass, I opened my phone and scrolled down CountDowners. It was a social media site for Deckers. Here they recount their experiences before they die. For a long time now, I became fascinated with what stories they could tell, so I made an account to lurk there.

Now, I became one of the people who should recount their story, before I won't be able to.

I considered posting, but I decided against that. Instead, I scrolled through the feed. CountDowners adopted a blue logo, in honor of their collaboration with Last Friend Inc.'s latest creation called Last Message. It was all over social media, but in here, it had a continuous banner showing the latest messages, unlike others where there was a section just for it alone. After all, CountDowners was still a separate entity from Last Friend Inc.

My brows furrowed and I stopped scrolling. Of course. Why didn't I think of it before? I could find myself friends online in Last Friend. It was a great app for Deckers, like me.

I went to the app store and downloaded it. A second later, it was already in my home screen. I audibly gasped. I wished my games would download that fast.

I opened the app and waited for the animation on the blue interface to finish. I selected Register and it prompted me to choose if I was dying or not. I picked dying and I was greeted by a message from the company. Then, I worked on my profile.

Basic Profile
Name: Matthew Payo
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Pronouns: he/him
Nationality/Ethnicity: Filipino
Orientation: straight

Height: <skip>
Weight: <skip>
Allergies/Medical Conditions: <n/a>

Country: Philippines
Province/State: <skip>

Extra Details
Job: <n/a>
Interests: books, video games, sleeping
Favorites: <skip>

Decker Section
Who You Were in Life: A son to very terrible parents, a top-notcher with several regrets, and so very much alone.
Bucket List: Live the best life I could ever have.
Final Thoughts: Help me do it up.