**This is a continuation of my previous story “A never-ending 2020,” click the link to read part one now before continuing on to part two!

About a month and a half had gone by and nothing had changed. Sometimes I couldn’t even remember what day it was (as if I was in 2021). All the clocks, calendars, billboards, and even my phone still read “December 31, 2020.” The creepy voice hadn’t returned, but every day I had the same weird feeling that it was going to come back at any moment. Every day I woke up in my house, tired and lonely, walked to the convenience store down the street to grab something to eat, and took a walk around the neighborhood to see if anyone else was here with me. Nobody. How could there not be at least one other person in this town who was as angry at 2020 as I was?

One morning as I was in the grocery store, I noticed the Valentine’s Day chocolates, flowers, and stuffed animals everywhere. Why did stores always put holiday stuff out so early? For a split second I began thinking of what I could get my family for Valentine’s Day, but then I realized…that wasn’t possible. One of the main reasons getting out of 2020 was so important to me was because 2021 happened to be my last year of high school. No more holidays already at home; no more quality time with friends; no more weekend family gatherings; everything would be different. As I grabbed one of everything for myself and painted the sad pictures of the future in my head, I walked back home with tears in my eyes.

“I’m never going to get out of here! I am all alone and this is the worst Valentine’s Day ever!” I said screaming at the top of my lungs.

All of a sudden as I was stopped on the sidewalk, a tall, dark-haired teenage boy about my age was running around and knocking on front doors. As he swung his head around he looked right at me.

“Hello? Who are you? Are you real or are you the mysterious voice?!” he said with fear in his eyes.

“My name is Olivia. I promise I am not the voice. I have been hearing it too. But wait…who are YOU?!”

“I am not the voice either, I swear! My name is Charlie, are you all alone, too?”

As he started nearing closer I could tell he was speaking the truth, and that he was truly all alone just like me.

“Yes…yes I am,” I said shyly.

“You hated 2020 as much as I did, huh?” he said with a chuckle.

“Yeah it was the worst,” I said with a laugh.

“Well at least we have each other now. Come on, let’s go.”

“Where are we going?”

“To have some fun!”

He took my hand and we started running down the middle of the street. Even though I didn’t know him, I felt like I could trust him, and I knew that we were going to be great friends (that might just be because we are literally the only two people in the world right now, but that’s okay.)

Days went by and we spent every second together. We “bought” each other Valentine’s Day gifts, watched an endless amount of romantic movies, ate lots of popcorn and chocolate, went to all the amusement parks and restaurants, and even played board games. Charlie and I became true friends and honestly, now I didn’t know if I wanted to go to 2021.

“Olivia, spending time with you and playing games has been the best time ever, but I need to tell you something,” he said nervously.

“Sure, of course Charlie, you can tell me anything. What is it?”

“I’m not going to be here for much…”

A bright light interrupted his phrase and as it hovered over top of his head, all of a sudden…he was gone.

To be continued…