4

Let me introduce myself again. My name is Ari Symone. I am eighteen years old, I live alone with my dad, and I am in my last year of high school. Throughout the last six years, I have seen countless of people with timers, slowly counting down. There's also people without timers, like my dad, a few teachers, some random people... But lots of people have one.

Currently, my timer is at 24 days. I don't know what will happen. Ezra's timer is at 28 days. The thought of them running out scares me. Apart from my dad, Ezra is all I have left. Even though I have many friends, I often feel lonely. Luckily, he always knows how to chase away that feeling.

It's been six years since my mom left, too. I still miss her every day. Although I never heard from her again, I dream of conversations, I imagine she's proud of me. Even when I turned eighteen, she kept quiet. It's funny; we were never really that close, even before she left. Yet I long for her love and acceptance.

Ezra and I are still in the same class. I am the president, thanks to my amazing socializing skills and my ability to bring people together. Naturally, I picked him as my vice-president. I have my happiest moments at school. Happy, but empty, nervous, scared. All of them have timers. All of them are counting down.

Lost in thought, I stare at the wall in front of me. 'Hey, idiot, ready to go?' Ezra's voice immediately gets me back to the present. He's not the shy, little, quiet boy he used to be. But he is still very understanding, and can now read me like a book.

I can feel his eyes piercing right through my fake smile. 'Yeah, let's go! What was taking you so long anyways?' I say, still trying to convince him that my smile is real. He frowns.

We walk out of the school. Ezra keeps frowning. 'Ezya, if you keep that up, you'll get wrinkles prematurely!' I poke his forehead. His frown deepens as he once again hears me use the nickname I gave him when we met. I know it annoys him, but I can't help myself. I can see the worry in his eyes, but he keeps quiet.

We keep walking in silence for a few minutes. I look at him. He's definitely what every sane, not blind person would call handsome. His hairstyle hasn't changed at all; he still had short, spiky black hair. It fits him. Maybe if he lets it grow out, he'll actually be taller than me... The thought makes me chuckle, which causes Ezra to look at me, his frown deepening. I quickly shut up. He is very insecure about the two centimeter difference between him and me. If I say anything about it, he'll probably try to crush my face.

Such an aggressive personality for such a good-looking boy. If there is a God out there, I'll have to thank him for showing me such beauty. The most amazing thing about him are his eyes, though. Never have I seen such a pretty shade of green. It's almost unfair. But that frown is ruining it! I sigh. 'Ezya. What's wrong?'

'I should be the one to ask you that. You've been nervous for the past couple days. What happened?' He looks back at me, scanning my face.

I never told him about my ability to see timers. I'm not planning to. I look at his chest. The timer is still going down, as expected. We'll be on a school break by the time it runs out. I stay silent, not knowing what to say.

Ezra sighs again. 'You're not comfortable with saying it?'

I nod. In a few days, whatever Ezra and I have will change. Every time I see a timer go down to zero, terrible things happen. My aunt committed suicide just a month after. One of my cousins got abducted a week later, but she was found alive. Only the cousin I am closest to, Tama, had nothing bad happen to her. If anything, life is loving her! She's getting married to her boyfriend next week.

My heart sinks as I suddenly realize that this is one of the last times I will normally walk home with Ezra. And here I am, worrying him. I stop walking and grab his sleeve. He turns around. 'What's wrong?'

'Ezya. Whatever happens in the next few weeks, please promise me we will stay friends. That everything will stay like this. Please..' It comes out way softer than I wanted.

He gives me a weird look for a while, then pats me on the head. 'Of course. I don't know what's going through your head right now, but I'm not planning on changing anything about this.' He smiles softly.

I smile back, rubbing my eyes. 'Thanks, Ezya.'

Little did we know that I would be the one to break that promise.