Panic Age

1

Tomorrow is my eighteenth birthday. I'm excited to be older but I'm also nervous. Like everyone else that turns eighteen you find out the age you're going to die. I could be dying at eighteen. Or who knows maybe I'll die when I'm one hundred. I wont know until tomorrow. The way you find out is because as soon as you're born the doctors inject you with some sort of chemical that will instantly have a number growing into your skin at the age eighteen like I said before.

Some people died before they turned eighteen so they would have never figured out when they would of died. Which is sad.

"Riley are you ready for school?" I heard my mom shout from downstairs.

"One second!" I yelled back.

I quickly went into the bathroom and looked at the freckles that covered most of my face. "Well this is the last day I'd be able to have any type of predictions of what number will be here tomorrow." I said to myself brushing my fingers across my cheek. I stepped away from the mirror and left the room.

I made my way downstairs to see my parents in the kitchen waiting for me, along with my little brother, Max. My dad was lucky to get the number 89 and my mom got the number 92. So they would be dying old. I was only hoping I would be getting the same numbers or somewhere close.

"Alright Max it's time to leave for school." My dad said patting his back. Max looked up from his toys and smiled at my dad. Max was in kindergarten so he has a lot more years ahead of him unlike me.

We all piled into the truck and made our way to our schools. Of course Max was dropped off first since his school was first. My mom walked him inside and quickly came back to the truck.

My school was like a five more minute drive so it was closen.

"Are you ready for tomorrow Riley?" My mom asks.

"I am. But I'm nervous." I said.

"We were too but I'm sure you'll end up just as lucky as us." My dad said.

"Yeah." I said.

"Once you wake up tomorrow morning be sure to let us know first what your number is before you tell anyone. Okay?" My dad says.

"Yeah I will." Talking about this made me more nervous some how.

Finally we pulled into the parking lot of my school and I said my goodbyes to my parents and made my way to the inside of the school. I got to my locker before I tried to find my friends.

"Riley!" I heard my name echo through the halls. I turned to see my bestfriend Callie smiling and waving at me.

Once she gets close to me I smile and say, "Hey Callie." Callies birthday was three days after mine so soon she would figure out her panic age too. We call it that because once you get the age youd die at you kind of panic. You don't know when you will die during that age. It could be any time it could he the same day as you turn that age or the day before your next birthday. We were both pretty nervous about it but we decided to try and not think about it.

"Are you having a party tomorrow?" Callie asks.

"Well I was just thinking about having you, Kevin and Josh over." I said grabbing my binder for Chemistry and shutting my locker. Kevin is Callie's boyfriend and Josh is the guy that I like but he doesnt see me like that. But hes been in our friend group for over a year now since he moved here.

"Oh okay well seems fun." She says with a smile. Her eyes avert to behind me and she adds, "Speaking of the devils."

I turn around to see Kevin and Josh walking toward us.

"What's up girls." Kevin says once he gets closer and wraps a arm around Callie. 

"We were just talking about tomorrow. Rileys going to just have us over tomorrow." Callie says.

"Sweet." Josh says with a grin. I smile back at him.

---

Finally I was home after a long day of questions and everything. Thankfully today was Friday and I wont have to be at school tomorrow. It was currently 11 o'clock at night and I couldn't decide if I should stay up until 12 to watch the number grow on my skin. Most people go to sleep and wait until the next day but I was too nervous to fall asleep.

But finally I just decided that I was just going to lay in bed until I fall asleep.

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Alright! Hello readers. I did not come up with this idea on my own. A app called tik tok has had videos based off something like this and I am going to be making a book out of it. I have so many ideas and I cant wait to get more into this book:)

~Julia