Betrayed

We were about to be launched into space. The NASA Space Station wanted us to build a NASA Space Colony. It was a colony in space where we would live to move away from Earth. It is just in case the Earth explodes or something, you know. The things that usually happen nowadays. Oh, by the way it is the year 2374.

 These things can be expected now. The NASA Space Station had gotten to Neptune and they found an alternative life source and now they hate us for coming to their home planet.  Hold on, let me backup a little bit. My guy best friend, Ryan and I are super nerds about everything space and NASA related. We met when we were in middle school and found out that we both love space. We have been best friends ever since then. We hang out all the time. Mostly talking about science or working on school projects. 

We are always making models and working together on other projects. Sometimes we just make models and stuff for fun. It is really cool to see the acts of science in real life. Ryan always brings some kind of lasagna or cake that his mom told him to bring over for us. She does this all the time. Ryan’s mom loves to cook, recently she has been teaching me how to cook, too. Her name is Mary. It is really cool to see her do it with out a single recipe or anything. She must have an amazing memory.

Ryan is on the school swim team. My family and his family always go to each and every practice and each and every swim meet. He is really good at swimming, surprisingly. He joined the swim team just three years ago, in freshman year. He started with out any experience, but he was already at the same level as the seniors. I guess he is as good at swimming as he is at science.

Then there is his sister, she is eleven years old. She is super cute and always wants to help with projects and stuff that we are working on. Her name is Avery and she loves to play. She is always asking us if we want to play outside. We always say yes, so it is surprising that we get any work done. Avery is adorable though, so it’s okay.

Last, there is his dad. He loves to play basketball and they are usually always playing basketball in their driveway. His name is Jonathan. He loves to tell me that I look “beautiful as always”. Jonathan is really nice.

Our parents are best friends as well. We are all usually over at each other’s houses for dinner. It is almost like we are family, it is kind of cool. I can’t remember when my seventh grade mind decided to walk over to him and say hello. He looked kind of sad, all by himself at the lunch table. 

I sat down and he looked extremely surprised. I said hello and he just stared at me. He was obviously in shock that someone was sitting with him. I asked him what his favorite subject was, and he said that it was science. “Me too!” I said. We have been friends since ever since then, just because of a simple little question. It is really funny how little things like that can get you a friend for life. 

We have both recently turned eighteen. We both applied for the NASA internship and we were accepted. Ryan and I were so happy that we both got accepted. Our families even threw a little party for us. They also got a cake, which was delicious! One month later we started at NASA. I was really nervous and excited. Now two years later we are working at NASA as rocket scientists. 

They ran out of astronauts and put us in training. We went through a lot of work to get here, even though we were just in the training process. They put us through zero gravity chambers and taught us how to control your body in zero gravity. NASA also taught us how to fix things on the ship that might fail. When they got space suits that were in our size, I knew it was almost time for the launch. 

They strapped me and a couple others in, but Ryan wasn’t there. I told them to wait, but they wouldn’t listen. I did not want to leave with out him. They would not stop the count down. I had just seen Ryan a minute ago. He was about to put his space suit on. He left, and then I did not see him after that. I wondered where he was. Maybe his suit had a hole and he needed to get a new one. Maybe he was stuck some where, like in the decontamination tunnel! I did not know, but if he did not come here soon he would be left behind. 

We launched. I was devastated that we had launched with out Ryan. As we hurdled away from the Earth I cried. I was stopped in my tracks when the space ship started to shake violently. It shook more than the simulator said it would. I knew what was wrong when I heard the ship give out a loud roar, that is what it sounded like to me. It was the O-Rings. They had begun to fail. They don’t do that with out some help. It was Ryan! Then the last thing I heard was the loud BANG that the ship made. 

I am sure that everyone on the ground saw the explosion. Including Ryan. I hoped that he was so ashamed of himself that he never showed his face to my family again. I was sure that over the bang of the ship I heard my mother’s scream. I am sure that she was devastated. She was so excited to see me launch into space, too. Now what does she do? Sit around crying? Most likely, yes. Why did I have to love space? Why did I have to love NASA? Why did I have to sit with Ryan? Why did I have to get on the stupid space shuttle? I felt sorry for the other young crewmates on the ship. Did he not think about their lives too? 

I could see Mary, Jonathan, Avery, and Ryan walking over to my house. Mary, holding a casserole. Jonathan, looking at his shoes. Avery, holding a doll and crying. Ryan, acting like he was absolutely devastated. He was very clever, doing this to me and acting like he was sad. No one would suspect him, because he was my best friend, so no one would think he did it.