• Published 22nd Aug 2017
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It's The End Of The World As We Know It - Samey90



It's the final year in school for Indigo and her friends. There are still a lot of challenges to face and she's prepared for all of them... except maybe finding love.

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37. Stairs

The world spun around her. She rested her head against the wall, taking a few deep breaths. It helped her clear her mind a little bit, but unfortunately, it also caused her stomach to twist. She leaned forward, shuddering, before throwing up on the pavement.

“Lemon? You okay there?”

Lemon blinked, but her vision remained blurry. Still dry-heaving, she raised her head and looked around, searching for the source of the voice. “Sour Sweet?” she whispered.

“Why does everyone think I’m my sister?”

“Sweeten Sour.” Lemon staggered towards her. “Nice to see you…”

“Yeah, totally what I needed,” Sweeten Sour muttered. “Hiding at the staircase from my siblings, only to find you puking on the floor. Lovely evening, isn’t it?”

“Indeed.” Lemon wrapped her arm around Sweeten Sour. “Will you take me home? I’m scared of those stairs.”

Sweeten Sour winced. “Eww, you smell! Also, why did you even get so shit-faced? Nobody ever lets me in the bar!”

Lemon hiccuped, causing Sweeten to back off. “Everybody loves me there… I’m so alone... And haven’t you heard of Indigo?”

Sweeten Sour shrugged. “No, what about her?”


Sweet Leaf opened her eyes. She tried to get up, only to roll back on the asphalt, groaning. All she could see was a bit of the sky, as well as the open car door with a broken window. Her nostrils were filled with the smell of fuel; she made another attempt to get up, nearly screaming when her right leg exploded in pain.

Someone appeared above her. Sweet Leaf couldn’t quite see their face, nor she could discern their words. She winced, trying to focus.

“Don’t move,” the paramedic said. “You had an accident.”

Sweet Leaf couldn’t quite remember that fact; she also couldn’t see the sky anymore, just some greyish-blue mass with orange tinges in front of her eyes. However, she noticed that her hearing improved. For a moment, she felt like flying, but then she landed on something soft. She heard the door closing and when the paramedics spoke again, she noticed that their voices now had some additional reverb, as if they were in some small room.

“How’s the driver?” the paramedic asked.

“Surprisingly well, for someone who was inches from being crushed by a truck,” someone else replied. “When we cut her out of the car, she woke up for a moment and muttered something about a baby. The guys are looking everywhere, but there was no baby there. Not even a seat for one.”

There was a brief pause. Sweet Leaf felt someone touched her, but it seemed like it was coming from a great distance; just an echo of a familiar sensation. She tried to see what that was, but the blurry light just above her was blocking most of her view.

“Talk with the doctor,” the paramedic said. “She may be pregnant. She seemed too young, but better safe than sorry.”

“Well, hope she’s better than this one.”

Sweet Leaf shuddered. She tried to get closer to the paramedics, but she couldn’t move, so she focused on listening.

“Typical stuff,” the paramedic said. “No seatbelts. Right after the accident she got out of the car and talked with people, so everyone thought she was fine until she collapsed.”

“Of course,” the other paramedic replied. “At least she’s stable now.”

Sweet Leaf heard someone moving next to her.

“That’s what I don’t like.” The first paramedic’s voice seemed rather close to her. “Stable patients just wait to pull some stunt on you at the worst moment.”

“Her heart rate just went up.” The second paramedic’s voice grew louder, almost hurting Sweet Leaf’s ears. “Do you think she can hear us?”

Sweet Leaf never wanted to nod more in her entire life. She tried to move, but it only ended in sharp chest and leg pain. The fact that she randomly remembered someone in the hospice telling her that hearing was the last sense to go out before death didn’t help; she felt like falling into a bottomless void overcoming her and crushing her lungs. The pain was unbearable. Sweet Leaf could barely hear the paramedics now, even though she was aware of the commotion around her.

Then, like a flickering flame of a burnt candle, the pain disappeared.


A jolt of pain caused Indigo to hiss. She tried to get up, only to find out that something was holding her in place. Groaning, she clenched her eyes shut, trying to turn in her bed. Again, with no success.

“Try not to move too much.”

Indigo opened her eyes and looked around. The world spun around her and she nearly lost consciousness again. After a few attempts, she managed to focus her gaze on the nurse standing next to the bed. “What happened?” she asked.

“You had an accident and you’re in a hospital,” the nurse replied.

“Wow,” Indigo muttered. She tried to remember the accident, but it only made her head hurt. “Dad’s gonna kill me for the car.”

The nurse nodded, her expression remaining unchanged. “Do you remember anything?”

“Not the accident.” Indigo groaned. “I remember that my name is Indigo Zap, I’m eighteen and I want some morphine or something because everything hurts.” She inhaled sharply, clenching her teeth.

“You can’t really take much,” the nurse replied. Indigo couldn’t quite see her and, as she discovered, trying to move her head only made it worse. “But I’ll see what can we do.”

“Okay.” Indigo muttered, staring at the IV bag above her. After a while, her vision blurred and she fell asleep again.

When she woke up, the room was much brighter. She winced and turned away; the sun was hurting her eyes. Immediately, she felt another jolt of pain from her neck. Indigo groaned and cursed under her breath; when she opened her eyes, she saw that someone was sitting by her side.

“Sugarcoat,” she muttered. “I expected many people around my death bed, but you were the last on the list.”

Sugarcoat shrugged. “It’s 2050, many things have changed,” she replied. “You were in a coma for quite a while…”

“You’re either shitting me or we have good plastic surgeons in the future,” Indigo said. “And I see you’re still into our school uniforms.”

“You got me.” Sugarcoat smirked. “Your parents are talking with the doctor now and Bulk seems pretty down right now.”

“Why?” Indigo shuddered. “Is it about the baby?! Did it–”

“No, surprisingly,” Sugarcoat replied. “Little Indy turned out to be pretty tough, but the doctors and your parents are still waiting for the results of some tests. Also, Sunny Flare went hysterical, so they had to escort her out.”

“What even happened?” Indigo asked. “And where is Lemon? Was she in the car with me?”

“Calm down or someone’s gonna kick me out.” Sugarcoat stood up and moved her seat closer to the bed so Indigo could see her better. “I was told not to stress you, but you’re pretty good at this yourself.”

Indigo rolled her eyes. “Oh, forgive me for worrying about you all! Also, I won’t be any less stressed if you keep talking shit.” Indigo fell back on her pillow, panting.

“Lemon’s fine. She wasn’t there.” Sugarcoat took off her glasses and looked at them, as if searching for dirt on the lenses. “For some reason you didn’t notice some idiot in a truck who ran past the red light and t-boned you. You apparently have so much screws and bolts in your left leg that you won’t be let on any plane anytime soon.”

“Fuck planes.” Indigo groaned. “What else did I break? It’s like everything hurts.”

“Left leg, left hand, damaged spine…” Sugarcoat shrugged. “If it hurts, it means you’re still able to move, so there’s that.”

“I’m totally grateful,” Indigo muttered. “Now, why Bulk isn’t here? Are you hiding something?”

“He’s fine,” Sugarcoat replied. “And I’m not hiding anything.”

Indigo winced in pain. “Bullshit,” she spat, exhaling sharply. “I can see you’re hiding something. You keep playing with your glasses.”

Sugarcoat rolled her eyes and put her glasses on. “That’s one of the things I’m not supposed to tell you, but fuck this. For some reason, hell only knows why, Sweet Leaf was in your car.”

Indigo furrowed her eyebrows. “I think I picked her up on my way from school… Not sure why. It’s all kinda blurry.”

“Figures,” Sugarcoat replied. “Anyway, at first it seemed she was fine. She got out of the car on her own and stuff, but then she got worse. She’s here.”

“Is she alright?” Indigo asked, looking at her left, bandaged hand. “Well, I kinda am.”

“Well, she’s most definitely fine,” Sugarcoat replied, standing up. “I need to tell Bulk you’re awake.”

“Dunno…” Indigo muttered. “I may go to sleep again. I’m tired.”

“Yeah, that’d be fine, I guess.” Sugarcoat shrugged. “Rest and heal, I guess.”

She turned back and left the room. After closing the door, she took a few deep breaths and ran down the corridor. A few seconds spent hiding behind the corner and she walked down the stairs, still shuddering.

“How’s she?”

Sugarcoat jumped back. “Don’t sneak on me like that!”

“I keep standing here,” Bulk replied. “It’s you who just ran out as if the ward was on fire.”

“It may soon be.” Sugarcoat sighed. “I almost told Indigo about Sweet Leaf.”

Bulk froze. “What exactly did you tell her?”

“That Sweet Leaf is here,” Sugarcoat replied, lowering her head. “I didn’t tell her that she’s probably braindead and if we don’t pull the plug, she may as well stay here for years, never to wake up. Indigo has enough problems even without knowing that.”

Bulk nodded, resting his back against the wall and rubbing his forehead with his index finger and thumb. “How am I supposed to tell her?”

“Don’t,” Sugarcoat replied. “Someone will, I guess. Nurses like to talk. A teen dying in an accident will be all over the local news. If I couldn’t bring myself to tell her, you won’t either.”

“I’d rather tell her myself,” Bulk said. “She’s pregnant. She barely survived an accident and she can be permanently disabled. If she hears about Sweet Leaf… This may kill her.”

Sugarcoat shook her head. “Indigo is strong. In a few days… After she gets better I may tell her myself.” She shrugged. “Right now, I have Sour, Lemon, and Sunny to deal with.”

“How are they?” Bulk asked.

“You’ve seen Sunny,” Sugarcoat replied. “She doesn’t give a shit about Sweet Leaf, but she wants to rip the other driver apart for Indigo. Lemon… Hell, I don’t want to know how she deals with that. As for Sour, no one told her about the accident yet. Again, she’s not well enough to–”

“She’ll notice that Sweet Leaf stopped coming to her,” Bulk said. “And, as you said, nurses like to talk.”

“Hope they’re less likely to talk around someone who occasionally cuts people with razor blades.” Sugarcoat sighed and walked towards the stairs. “Gotta go… I’d better check if Sunny or Lemon didn’t do anything stupid. I think Indigo sleeps now, but you’d better go to her later.”

Bulk only nodded, watching Sugarcoat as she left.


Lemon Zest staggered, falling into Sweeten Sour’s arms. Wincing, Sweeten helped her up and moved back, dodging all the Lemon’s attempt to grab her.

“So, Indigo is in the hospital and Sweet Leaf may be dead…” Lemon wept, trembling and resting herself against the wall. “Why this keeps happening to me?”

“I’d say it’s happening to everyone else.” Sweeten Sour sighed. “Yet another thing I’ll have to tell Sour…”

“Sour’s a bitch,” Lemon slurred. She finally gave up trying to stand and sat on the stairs, resting her head on her hands.

“I’ll agree not only because you’re drunk, but also because I also think she’s a bitch,” Sweeten Sour replied. “Like, she can just fuck up your life. I know Sweet Leaf. And yet, my first thought wasn’t about her, but about Sour. How Sour will take that, what will Sour do, say, all that shit.”

Lemon hiccuped, her eyes focused on Sweeten Sour.

“Why do I bother? You won’t remember that conversation tomorrow anyway.” Sweeten Sour shook her head.

“Can you… take me home?” Lemon muttered. “Like, really.”

Your home,” Sweeten Sour replied. “I may look like my sister, but I’m not into you at all. Besides, you still reek.”

“Sorry…”

Sweeten Sour helped her up and started to half-lead, half-drag her up the stairs. It wasn’t easy; while Sweeten was indeed similar to her sister, she was also shorter than her and not as strong.

“Thanks, Sour…” Lemon whispered. Her eyes were half-closed and it seemed that her legs didn’t quite follow the rest of the body.

Sweeten Sour sighed. “Sweeten. Call me Sour once more and I’ll push you down…”

“Whatever, Sour,” Lemon replied.

“Oh, come on!”

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