Generation Why Bother

It was rough, trying to sleep that night. Tegan and I had pulled out our sleeping bags and slept on the floor in an attempt to feel at least some amount of fun, like we were camping one last time before our lives would change forever, and Chuck and Riley gave up their spots on the guest beds to sleep on the couch. I guessed they wanted to keep us company or something.

So many things were in place. It seemed like we were all ready for the incoming danger, finally, and yet there was still such a long way to go. None of us really knew anything. We didn’t know what the danger would be or what form it would take – the only thing we could go by was the monitor and its approximation of time and distance, and even then it hadn’t shown where the danger was going. That gave us a theory that whatever it was would follow us, yet even then, we had no clue.

The best we could do was just get through that day and hope for the best in terms of when and where it was going to happen. Besides, if nothing else, at least we got a free concert and we got to hang out in a plane with the band…

I kept tossing and turning in my sleeping bag, trying to doze off and always finding my heart pounding and my mouth dry. There were so many ways for everything to just screw up right then and there and leave us all dead, and for that I had to wonder how the band was taking this beyond their cool exteriors.

I sighed, hoping not to wake anyone.

Tegan rustled in her sleeping pod. “Oshie, if you’re awake, say ‘penis.’” Her whisper shook me from the forced daze I’d slipped into.

“Penis,” I murmured back.

“Did you see it coming at all? I mean, Andy being Johnny Cool’s creator?” she continued. I could hardly see her through the darkness of the apartment living room.

“I probably should have,” I confessed. “The degree in visual arts, the fact that he can draw him perfectly, how he’s gonna pitch a cartoon…”

A deep voice suddenly came from the couch. “And the fact that he’s a grown-up child,” Riley popped in.

I heard Tegan jump at the sound of the foreign voice. “You’re awake too?”

“You guys really don’t know how to quietly whisper.”

“And to be fair, I’ve been awake,” Chuck spoke, adding himself to the mix with a sleepless tone.

I smirked a bit and tried to get a few more opinions. “Are you guys nervous too or is it just me?”

“Fuck you talkin’ about, of course I’m nervous,” Riley said flatly, not even whispering anymore.

“What he said,” Chuck mimicked.

Tegan groaned, muffling her voice with her pillow. “We gotta bite the bullet at some point. There’s no getting out of it now.”

The rest of us just kind of shared a sigh and thus we were lulled into a silence.

“Anyone else think it’s kinda funny how Andy got gypped and only gets a day to learn his power even though he was the most enthusiastic about it?” Riley said, a smile in his voice.

“He’s probably not gonna just stop using it after tomorrow, though,” I pointed out. “Heck, twenty bucks says Put’emup Put’emup uses their powers in their shows to entertain people even more.”

“Dude, how rad would that be?” Tegan gushed.

“Pretty sweet, I’d have to admit,” Chuck answered.

Riley flipped over on the couch to face Tegan and I. “I bet the band’s actually excited for tomorrow. At least Andy and Mick, anyway. They seem like they’d be looking forward to it.”

“That’s ‘cause they’ve been having to deal with this stuff for a lot longer than we have and now the day they’ve been waiting for is finally here,” Tegan explained, just a theory.

“So…why are the four of us just sitting here and being all nervous?” Riley pointed out.

I folded my hands behind my head and lay on my back. “We’re teenagers, it’s probably natural.”

The others got quiet, and for a second I regretted causing such a silence, but maybe it was for the better. We did have to sleep, after all. I thought they’d fallen asleep until Riley spoke up again.

“You know, this whole thing has just been so vague,” he said. “I didn’t even know you guys existed before me and Chuck got reeled into this, and I hardly even knew about the band. And now we’re here months later and I still couldn’t tell you what the hell we’re doing or why any of this is happening.”

“Andy could probably relay it all back to you,” Tegan suggested. “I can’t remember any of it either. I guess he’s just got a knack for memorizing out-of-this-world kinds of stories.”

“All I know is that it’s one of those intergalactic good-versus-evil things,” I feebly added.

“It’s funny. We’ve all been brought together by this stupid crap and the powers we’ve gained, but I feel like there’s been so much more going on that’s diverted everyone’s attention away from the main thing – the danger,” Riley said, his words slow against the thick tense air.

I closed my eyes as he said it, and I saw the words form against the backs of my eyelids in bright pinks and neon greens. There was so much truth in it that I just had to revel in the statement for a moment, and I planned on opening my eyes again and contributing to his thoughts partially because it was a rare moment in which he wasn’t being rude, and partially because the conversation probably would’ve gotten even deeper and even more interesting. I couldn’t open my eyes though, because sleep had finally set in upon my chest and my brain, and I had slipped into a dreamless slumber.