CHAPTER 1
THE FIRST 24 HOURS
CHAPTER 1
Amanda was in the architecture studio, holding her graduation gown up to the light shining in from the skylights above, smoothing the fabric between her fingers as if she could press away the years of stress and struggle each wrinkle represented. It wasn’t the first time she’d worn a graduation gown like this. High school, sure—but that didn’t count, this was different, this was the culmination of four years of hard work, late nights, and moments where she almost walked away from it all.
Manny—Emmanuel— her boyfriend, was sitting at her old desk, his legs crossed with one ankle resting on his knee, and his phone in hand. He’d come to spend the morning with her right before graduation, which meant a lot in her mind. It wasn’t as quiet as she thought, except for the soft swish of the gown fabric as she laid it out carefully on the desk that she called home for the last agonizing year of university life.
She didn’t expect to feel as excited as she did, the warm feeling of satisfaction was blooming in her chest, a flutter of disbelief that after all this time, she’d done it. The degree was finally hers. Her parents were flying in later that day for the ceremony from Reno, the flight to Vegas was just an hour by plane, so it wasn’t too bad as some of her graduating peers had family flying in from out of the country. The timing was perfect, for the most part.
Her parents had been divorced for years. She’d stopped keeping track of their grievances against each other after she moved to Vegas; they were as predictable as the sunrise unfortunately. But they’d promised her they would be civil for the graduation, and that was enough to keep her from worrying—too much.
“Hey, Manny,” Amanda asked looking at him, holding the cap in her hands now, “where are we going to eat after the ceremony, do you know?”
He didn’t look up from his phone, his thumb still moving across the phone screen. “Not sure. Your dad’s the one who picked the place. Want me to text him and ask?”
Amanda shook her head with a small smile. “No, it’s fine, I’m sure he chose something fancy. I just hope he and Mom get along, you know how they can be—especially when money comes up.”
He gave a half-shrug. “Yeah, I know. Your dad always wants what’s best for you.”
And that was it, no more talking with him. His attention returned to the glowing screen in front of him, and from where she stood, she could see headlines about protests sweeping the West Coast. The images—crowds pressed together, signs waving, flashing of police lights—were becoming familiar this year.
It wasn’t a surprise to her, the new president, President Trump, had been sworn in earlier that year, and public opinion was split, to say the least. She wasn’t thrilled about him either. She’d hoped the former vice president would win, though she wasn’t convinced she would’ve been much better either. Last semester was tough; she’d had better things to worry about—like finishing her final project and not drowning under her other coursework from her already busy schedule.
That’s when she saw Lucas coming over to her, he was the VP for their club chapter and in charge of arranging the “Get Together” after the graduation ceremony. Today, though, he didn’t have his usual smile, his eyes darted around the room, his shoulders tight. He wasn't one to be nervous, then again, she knew that he got high before class sometimes, and even during. Maybe he was having a hard time trying to calm himself down since he had to plan everything. Plus, his girlfriend was there too.
“Hey,” he said, “have you heard?”
Amanda looked up. “Heard what?”
“The school’s thinking about postponing graduation.”
Her stomach sank at what he said. “You’re kidding…”
“No. There are protests down the street, cops have been spotted over in Chinatown dealing with protesters. People are breaking into shops, stealing whatever they can at gun point. They’re headed this way from what I’ve heard—toward campus and near the Strip.”
She exhaled sharply. “Of all days…”
“Yeah,” he said. “I heard faculty talking about it when I turned in the food receipts for later today.”
Amanda shook her head, forcing her voice to sound calmer than she truly felt. “Well, until they tell us it’s canceled, we’re still going.”
Lucas nodded slowly. “Alright. I’m not saying anything until it’s official.”
The thought lingered like a stone in her shoe, an annoying stone. She didn’t want to think about it, but it pressed at her anyway. Las Vegas wasn’t perfect—someone always seemed to be mad at someone else in this city—but it was home, for now. And with just under three million people packed into this desert city, it could be worse.
The air in the studio had a charged hum to it. Fifteen of them, all in various stages of pre-ceremony preparation. Their ages ranged from early twenties to Bryant, who was sixty-five and finally finished his degree after years of working at it. Silver hair and a round belly, he had the calm patience of someone who’d seen much more than finals and critiques.
Most of her classmates were in their twenties, though there were a few in their thirties. Ashlynn was one of them—stylish, confident, already working in interior design architecture here in Vegas. She’d landed her footing early; she was one of the lucky ones in her class.
Jeremy was harder to ignore. They’d worked together in their second year on group projects, but by the third year, his job and his attitude made group work miserable. The arrogance and rudeness he had was the kind of stress she didn’t need, so she’d cut ties with him professionally and academically.
“You, okay?” Manny’s voice pulled her out of her past thoughts.
“Yeah,” she said. “Just thinking about the last four years.”
“You were spacing out,” he said.
She gave a half-smile, fake. “I’m fine.”
He decided to go with it and went back to his phone from what she saw. She let her gaze wander again—and that’s when she saw Nathanael.
From the start, she hadn’t liked him at all. Lucas had told her about his traditional ideas on men’s and women’s roles, and that was enough for her to dislike him. Normally, she didn’t give people like him a second glance.
But today, he wasn’t talking to Jeremy or anyone else for that matter. His phone was in his hands, his thumbs moving with sharp, decisive taps.
She knew he’d been in the Army during the wars in the Middle East, though she wasn’t sure in what capacity. He worked now, but she didn’t know where he worked. What she did know was that he was talented. His models were meticulous, his understanding of construction unmatched in their class, and his ability to interpret floor plans into three dimensional structures was outright astounding. Not that she’d ever tell him, ever.
He looked up, of course, just her luck. He smiled at her and nodded his head as he would always do. Amanda just looked away as if she wasn't doing anything wrong. How did he know she was looking at him? Not that she cared, she just didn't want to seem like a weirdo.
As she looked away, Nathanael got up and walked out of the studio. She let out a quiet sigh. She didn't know she'd been holding her breath. Oh well, he needed to go anyway. She had better things to do, especially in trying to figure out what was going on with this possible cancellation.
“I’m heading to the staff office,” she told Manny. “I want to find out if the cancellation rumors are true.”
“Okay. I’ll be here.”
The faculty offices were upstairs on the second floor, close to the main classrooms and drawing studio. She figured Professor Xi would know if the graduation was going to be cancelled. But when she reached his office, he was mid-conversation on the phone speaking Mandarin furiously. She’d never seen him like that.
Amanda thought of Professor Yun Hee instead— though not your typical Korean professor, even though she was not sociable. She was tall and slender with jet black hair, her most distinctive feature was her height. She was taller than most Korean men, which as a woman, made her stand out more back home. By American standards though, she was slightly taller than your average woman. Her office door was open.
“Hi,” Amanda said, knocking lightly, “I was wondering if you’ve heard about the ceremony. Is the ceremony really going to be cancelled?”
“Yes,” she said simply. “The Dean will announce it soon via email or text. The university wants everyone safe since there’s looting nearby.”
“My parents are flying in from Reno,” Amanda said. “Will the ceremony be rescheduled?”
“I don’t know,” she replied. “It should be announced if the ceremony will happen another day. I'm sorry, I don't know much more."
“Okay. Thanks.”
As Amanda
left Yun Hee's office, she couldn't feel any more frustrated than she was. No recognition, no applause, nothing. The least the Dean could do is change the
date or something like that. She walked
back towards the studio to let everybody know what was going on. She was sure some of them would at least want
to know what was going on before the email was sent out. Frustration burned under her skin as she
walked. As she walked out of the faculty
offices, she saw Professor Xi rush out of his office. He looked angry for someone who was a good
professor in her opinion. Probably that
phone call he had, Amanda thought.
Amanda decided to stop by the
bathroom. She was nervous and all the
water she drank that morning before her workout started to rear its ugly
head. As she passed the men's bathroom,
she heard Nathanael's voice. He was
talking on his phone aggressively. She
needed to 'go', but she wanted to hear what was going on. She was curious and nosy sometimes, and he
was swearing, which made things more interesting since he never did that. Nathanael was talking in a different tone of
voice too, which is not something she heard from him before either.
She decided to prop herself up next to the men's bathroom door and listen. Hopefully no one would see her. Again, the last thing she wanted was to be labeled a weirdo. She leaned closer to the door entrance...
“…this happen?! There were measures in place to ensure this couldn’t happen!”
Amanda leaned slightly closer, her curiosity outweighing her sense of impropriety.
“How much time do we have? … TODAY? That’s not enough time. Which areas will be hit hardest? … Too much ground to cover. We don’t have enough people stateside to hold order. What about ‘Echo’? Is he in a safe area?”
A pause, then:
“You’re kidding me. What’s he doing there? Get him to safety. Take his family—they’re scattered across the West Coast.”
Another pause.
“What do I want you to do? Find him! Drag him if you have to! Just get it fuckin' done!”
The intensity in his voice made her skin prickle. Wow! She had never heard Nathanael talk like that before. It was like listening to a whole different person. Considering how mad he sounded at the person on the other side of the line, she was glad she was just listening.
“What about the men and the Chinooks? … Good. Families too? … Okay. Send me confirmation when you’re wheels up. We don’t have much time—I hate thinking about the surprise we’re going to have today.”
The word “surprise” radiated in her mind.
“Text me the details. Both my cell and SAT phone. Make sure everything’s in place at ‘FC.’ ‘Echo’ went through a lot to get it there—nothing had better be missing. … Perfect. All five should make it to Vegas in two hours if nothing goes wrong. Departure time? … Good. I’ll be at the pickup point before then. Then we’ll get my daughter from my house on the way.”
Amanda heard someone coming down the hall. She rushed into the women's bathroom, trying not to make any noise in case Nathanael might hear her. It was John. She caught him going into the men's bathroom. At that point Nathanael's demeanor changed. It was creepy when Nathanael’s tone changed instantly.
“Hey, John! How’s it going?”
John responded, “Just nervous you know. My fiancé is here and I'm just a little afraid to walk on stage you know. What if I fall?"
“It's all good, you're not going to fall. Besides, if you fall, you'll have it on video so you can remember, it'll be funny. Hey, let me get out of here. I've just been on the phone about dinner reservations." Amanda heard Nathanael talk again.
When he returned to his call, his voice was smooth and calm, like she knew him to be. “Send me the info we discussed as soon as it’s ready. No missing details. Thank you. Have a good day.”
The contrast unsettled her, which voice was the real Nathanael?
And with
that, Nathanael hung up his phone. That
last portion was disturbing. He switched
to his "normal" self, which, just thinking about it, made Amanda
wonder which of those two personalities was the real him. She leaned back into the bathroom counter,
not thinking about the biological urge that made her head to the women's
bathroom in the first place.
What was all that talk about? I mean yeah, she knew he had another job, but
what was it? Chinooks? What were those? Helicopters?
And what did families have to do with anything? And who was 'Echo'? Was he that important? The urge was coming back... Did she really have time to think about these
things? Graduation was cancelled, not
officially yet, but still. What was she
going to do now?