Synopsis: After worldwide apocalyptic social collapse, nineteen-year-old Javier Bautista develops perspective of his place in a wildly different society to the one in which he grew up. Javier has Asperger's and gains deep insight into his relationships with others as those closest to him gradually unravel the maze of emotional baggage surrounding his complicated character. Javier's family, newly defined to include bond as well as blood, begin to see in him glimpses of the humanity within themselves that they have lost as the struggle to survive has taken such a costly toll on their human conscience. Facing his greatest fears and coming to accept his newfound role among those who have chosen to congregate around him, Javier's confidence increases as we see him journey across a desolate landscape into adulthood while confronting life and death moral dilemmas along the way, exploring romance, both gay and straight, and overcoming nearly insurmountable environmental and human obstacles.
Chapter 1, Part 1: Chicago, Monday, May 23, 2033
A terrifying feeling of discomfort wells up within me as I look around. I don't want to be here, in this classroom, with these people whom I've never met before. Twenty-five. Five rows and five columns. I knew the number of desks a second after walking through the door. Patterns draw my attention, and sometimes I use numbers and words to escape the real world. I'm escaping now.
My mom wants me to start learning Thai because she just got a job in Thailand and doesn't want to leave my younger brother and me here in Chicago for the next three years. I don't want to go to Thailand, and I don't want to learn Thai. What's more, I wish that guy two rows over would stop staring at me. I could pretend he's gay, imagine he's attracted to me, take it as a compliment, but I know better. Lots of people stare at me, but not for that reason. If I had a dollar for every time someone told me that Asperger's was a different ability and not a disability, I could retire now at 19.
Tapping my desk screen, the course title and description appear with a question asking me if I want to pay $87 plus 12.5% sales tax for the book. Not my money. Mom's paying for this. I'll get reimbursed later. I tap yes, and I see the almost invisible flicker of light out of the corner of my eye from the remote retinal scanner protruding from my desk's far right corner. The book suddenly appears on the screen ... and my phone ... and my tablet ... and probably on my computer in my bedroom at home.
My brother and I would be fine here in Chicago by ourselves while Mom's in Thailand. Mateo's 17, but he's normal, whatever normal means. Is anyone really normal? Everyone has something wrong with them, but most people try to hide it in order to just fit in. Fitting in is overrated. Not fitting in is actually liberating. Story of my life. I've seen pictures and read articles about Portland, Oregon. In Portland, it's cool to be weird. That's the place for me. Not Thailand.
Strawberry. Mango. A hint of honey? My keen sense of smell is sometimes distracting. I conclude that the girl with long blond hair sitting at the desk in front of me uses that kind of shampoo. The world is unpredictable, so I retreat into my brain again.
Mateo and I can look after each other, but when we explained this to our mom, she brought up the issue of renting out our house here in Chicago during her three-year contract in Thailand. She did, in fact, get a really good deal because the university in Chiang Mai is willing to pay for Mateo's international school tuition which isn't cheap, probably because she's a highly acclaimed agronomist. She also said it would be good for us to travel and experience another culture. As for me, I don't know what I'm going to do there. But then, what am I doing here? I'm done with high school, but I haven't taken any college courses yet. There's another reason my mom wants us to go with her. She says it'll be a bonding experience. Maybe.
If I have to learn another language, why couldn't it be Spanish? I'm Latino, but I was born here in Chicago, and Mom was born here as well. Like me, she doesn't speak Spanish, not much anyway. My best friend Maxime, the only person I really know very well outside my family, is in the same situation. He was born here, and his ancestors came from France, but he speaks hardly any French, which is even more surprising because Chicago is closer to eastern Canada than Mexico. Why didn't Mom get a job in any one of a hundred countries that speaks Spanish? Only one country on the planet speaks Thai.
Interrupting my thoughts, the girl in front of me, about my age I'd guess, turns around and introduces herself. "I'm Sam, short for Samantha."
I'm caught off guard, so I freeze up. After an awkward silence, I attempt humor and finally blurt out, "Donkey sandwich." I think it's funny. She's not laughing. I'm not surprised. Years of experience have taught me that my attempts at humor usually confuse or offend people. She looks confused. Conversations with unfamiliar people make me nervous, so I sometimes say whatever comes into my mind just to fill the void.
"What?" the girl asks.
When all else fails, the truth is best. "Ass burger. Donkey sandwich. It's an inside joke," I tell her, trying to sound reasonably sane. I thought it was funny, but of course, my attempt at humor was inappropriate as usual. I wonder if she gets the joke. The joke's on me anyway because now I look like an ass.
"I hope that's not your name," she says, smiling. I like her smile. People almost never smile at me.
"No, it's Javier. Short for nothing." I do that a lot, too. Copy people. Sometimes I'm successful. Short for nothing! What is that supposed to mean? I'm still an ass.
"Okay," she says while staring at me. Now I know she thinks I'm an ass. She smiles. I wonder why. I don't smile back. "You're not short, and you're not nothing," she says.
"How do you know?" I say as if I want to argue. Damn! That sounded rude. I'm surprised she doesn't just give up, turn around, and ignore me. I wish she would. I'm used to people ignoring me, or worse. I can handle it. Situations like this, however, I find very difficult. I can't read other people the way they can read me. It's not fair. Did I hurt her feelings? I didn't mean to hurt her. I feel like crap.
She's quiet now. Is she flummoxed? I like that word. Finally she says, "Well, even though you're sitting, I can see you're probably about six feet tall, and nobody's nothing."
"Five eleven," I blurt out, proud that I've given her correct information. Hopefully she'll be pleased with this. I don't feel like an ass now. However, experience has also taught me that what I think of myself, what I think other people think of me, and what other people actually think of me are usually three completely different things. It's pointless to dwell on it. But I do. I can't help it. I've always been this way.
"I sit corrected," she says. She made a joke, like I did with donkey sandwich. Does this mean we're connecting on some social level? Then she leans in closer and whispers, "You have nice eyes." Now it's my turn to say `Okay,' but I don't. I should, though, because that might be considered playful banter, which is useful when making small talk. I've read about it.
Wait! That comment about my eyes -- it's a pick up line. I've seen it in movies. Yeah, I guess she's right about my eyes. Other people have said the same thing. She's staring at me. I can feel her gaze even though I'm not making eye contact. Maybe I should respond. I ponder ...
"You have beautiful, uh, hair," I manage to utter before too much time has elapsed. Then I take a quick glance at her and look away even more quickly. Maybe I should've said eyes instead of hair, but that would've been copying too much. Overthinking, overthinking, overthinking. This is what leads to my meltdowns. Focus, damn it! Sam ... that's her name. Yeah, short for Samantha. I'm sweating.
When I have time to prepare for social situations, alcohol is my choice. It works just like medicine. My brain seems to slow down and work better with it. For an even better effect, I combine it with my prescription Adderall. In addition to being an Aspie, I also have ADD. That's my wonderful brain. Sometimes before involving myself with a gathering of strangers, I take 10 mg of Adderall about 45 minutes before the event and 50 ml of 80-proof vodka (when Mom's not around) about five minutes before the event. Then my brain is relaxed, yet quite focused for the next few hours. It's a fascinating state to be in, like I'm someone else, or me with a different personality. But I can't be that way all the time for obvious reasons. Today would've been a good day to do that.
Looking into my eyes, Sam says, "I like you, Javier."
"I like you, too, Sam," I quickly respond in agreement, not really knowing what else to say. I read somewhere that people like to hear their own names. Maybe I really do like her, and maybe this won't be such a bad class after all.
Chapter 1, Part 2 will be coming soon.
Below is a list of characters which Nifty may or may not decide is helpful. I'll leave it up to Nifty whether or not to include it.
Characters
(as of June 2033)
Javier Bautista, our protagonist, is 19 years old and was born on March 9, 2014. He has ADD and mild Asperger's. His hobbies are swimming, drawing, and reading. He prefers individual sports and doesn't like to play racquetball with strangers. He has to get to know people first before he feels comfortable with them. His best and only friend since kindergarten is Maxime Lafayette. His ethnic background is Latino, but he doesn't speak much Spanish.
Samantha Garrett (Sam) is 20 years old, and was born on October 14, 2012. She and Javier meet on their first day of Thai language class. In chapter one, there is a hint of romance between Sam and Javier, but this is not to be. Sam later falls for Javier's younger brother Mateo. Sam knows a lot about guns, medicine, and hand-to-hand combat because of R.O.T.C. during her last two years of high school. Sam has blond hair, blue eyes, and fair skin.
Mateo Bautista is 17 years old, and was born on September 27, 2015. He's Javier's brother. He's very social, always playfully flirty, a total jock, and plays some sport or works out every day. Besides sports, cooking is his only other hobby. Unlike his brother, he loves team sports. He speaks even less Spanish than Javier, but knows some pick-up lines. He has a lot of friends.
Maxime Lafayette is 18 years old and was born on November 3, 2014. He's the ultimate computer geek, can hack into almost anything, and tends to forget to bathe. He also farts a lot and could care less what other people think of him. His attitude comes out when he's on edge. Maxime's not athletic or social because he prefers computers to people, except his best friend Javier. Maxime and Mateo develop an amusing rivalry as the novel progresses in which the geek and the jock often antagonize each other. Maxime and Javier later develop romantic feelings for one another.
Juanita Bautista is 46 years old and was born on January 18, 1987. She is Javier and Mateo's mother. She's a highly-acclaimed agro-economist and just got a three-year contract at Chiang Mai University in Thailand. Her husband, Raphael, died while traveling abroad when Mateo was a baby. Like her two sons, Juanita doesn't speak much Spanish.
Camille Lafayette is 42 and was born on July 19, 1993. She is Maxime's mother. She and her husband are army captains on a secret mission. The Department of Defense built a bunker under their house so that they could survive almost any kind of apocalyptic event and then later oversee rebuilding projects in their area. Camille likes to paint landscapes in her free time. She's speaks a little French, due mostly to Chicago's proximity to Eastern Canada.
Antione Lafayette is 43 and was born on April 22, 1990. He is Maxime's father and Camille's husband.
Emilia Garcia is 23 years old and was born on May 17, 2010. She has a four-year-old son named Hugo. Her parents had a food truck, so her skills are management, food preparation, and automotive mechanics. She gardens in her free time. Hugo was born on September 9, 2028.
Jayden Delacroix is 21 years old, was born on August 25, 2011, and has smooth, clear, very dark skin -- as black as black skin can be. Jayden is bi and was a seminary student, but he dropped out of college just before the apocalypse. He espouses anti-establishment views and refuses to recognize authority. Jayden is highly intelligent and has been regularly running marathons several times a year since his early teens. He survives by hiding in the upper floors of a 235-floor skyscraper and wearing an animal costume. Nanoparticles can't go above about 500 feet because the wind is too strong. They also don't attack animals.
Hong Ling is 33 years old and was born on January 5, 2000. She is originally from Beijing and has lived in the U.S. for almost a decade. Hong Ling and Jayden become best friends because they share strong anti-bigotry views. Hong Ling is an engineer and survives in an above-ground positive pressure lab. She knows a lot about nanoparticles. She explains that nanoparticles shut down around midnight because their power source is entirely solar.
Kevin Hamilton is me. I'm writing myself (James Elmore) into my novel, kind of like what Alfred Hitchcock did with some of his TV shows. Almost everything about Kevin's life is the same as my life (so far anyway). Kevin dies a peaceful death in July 2058 at the age of 97. He survives the apocalypse by staying in an underwater exercise area for training astronauts.
Constance Ogilvie is 23 years old and was born on March 22, 2010. Constance is a physics grad student at University of Michigan. She's also an artist who paints portraits and landscapes, and she writes poetry. She has pale skin, freckles, and red hair. She lets only the people she really likes, such as Maxime, get away with calling her Ginger. Similar to Mateo, Constance brings attitude out in Maxime. She and her boyfriend survive first by using a wind tunnel and later, after her boyfriend is killed, by escaping to a magnetic particle accelerator.
Jenna Jameson just turned 55 and was born on June 5, 1978. Jenna is a Black Canadian and regards herself as an American because Canada is in North America. Before the apocalypse, she was an international cultural attaché for the Canadian government as well as a socio-archeological historian. Jenna has a wry sense of humor and has grown very tired of U.S. egocentrism in relation to the world at large. She was working at the temporary moon base on June 10, 2033 when the apocalypse began.
Jung Hae Suk is 28 and was born and grew up in Seoul on February 22, 2006. He was the lead pilot on the Mars mission scheduled for launch in summer 2035. He and Jenna have formed a special relationship.
Aslan is Maxime's Irish Terrier.
Hedwig is Javier's short-hair grey tabby.
Adam is an A.I. from Kevin's habitat.
Nan is Maxime's pet nanocloud.