The Day Before Zero Day.

the day before zero day.

cal is sitting at the dinner table with his family as they talk about their lives and ask cal about prom which was about two or three days ago. as the conversation leaves the topic of prom, when cal no longer has to talk a lot, he begins to examine his family.

he observes the way his dad stops eating when his siblings talk, the way he gives all of his children his utmost respect. he watches the way his mom’s necklace shines; he remembers it being a gift from cal’s grandmother a couple years before. he spends the longest time staring at his siblings. there’s something about the way they move, something so innocent. cal knows they don’t deserve to grow up without a big brother, but there’s nothing he can do now.

he stops eating. he isn’t hungry. there’s anticipation and excitement in his mind and hurt in his heart. his stomach can’t hold anything else besides the butterflies that fly around nonstop.

before bed, he stops by his parents room to give them a hug and a long good night wish that’s full of ‘i love you’s and ‘sweet dreams.’ he asks his siblings if they want to stay up a bit longer in his room just to talk. he has to bribe them with sugar. they don’t know it’s the last time they’ll talk to him besides a short goodbye in the following morning.

they talk for a couple hours before the three of them start yawning. despite his tiredness, cal does not sleep. he can’t.

-

in the kriegman house, andre is eating a leftover pizza from work while his mom sews and his dad is still closing up shop. he’s alone in his room with greasy hands and lips red from marinara sauce.

his mind is running at a billion miles an hour. it shouldn’t be, really, as he knows both him and cal have planned everything, but he can’t help it. what if it goes wrong? what if he gets pulled over on the way to school? what if someone misinterprets their cause?

he eats the entire pizza. fuel for the following day, he calls it. he almost vomits in his bathroom multiple times. his mom gets worried when he starts pacing around the living room, but he just tells her everything is fine.

he wishes he could call his brother or that he could hug his father. he knows both options are impossible and would raise a slight bit of suspicion. instead, he kisses his mother goodnight and doesn’t wait up for his father to get home.

he falls asleep that night will mel purring on his chest. the key for his father’s guns lays cold underneath his pillow. his outfit for zero day is already ironed and hung up in his closet.

this is his last day.

What SpongeBob characters would Cal and Andre be?

maybe a controversial take (idk if anyone else even has opinions on this) but... cal is spongebob and andre is squidward. (extra content: rachel is sandy)

cal and andre taking cal’s siblings trick or treating.

cal would dress up slightly, maybe wearing a blood soaked white shirt and saying he’s billy from scream. andre would be in his camo shirt and cargo pants. cal says he should at least make an attempt at dressing up. in response, andre says he’s dressed as a soldier, causing cal to roll his eyes.

they drive around in andre’s car to find the “good houses,” aka the ones that give out full candy bars. the boys stay in the car while cal’s siblings run towards the front doors of the houses they chose. andre gives them tricks to get the most candy in one handful while cal warns them not to get the gross flavors of anything.

later that night, when the boys are having a horror movie binge and the kids are asleep, they sneak around and steal some candy from them. they sleep late the next day, stomachs full of beer, chocolate, and pizza andre had nicked from his job and hid in the fridge all night. when they wake up, cal still has dried fake blood all over him and andre’s in an old band t-shirt from cal’s closet.

rachel calls andre ‘andrew,’ and it pisses him off to no end. she even does it when she’s just talking to cal and not andre because she likes to see how worked up cal gets while defending him.

HOLY SHIT???? THIS IS SO GOOD!!!

save me t4t transfem school shooter yuri….😪

(inspired by @operationandre ‘s female zero day headcannons)

I'm pretty sure they did the final words the same night as prom, after Cal told the limo to drop him off at Andres house.

yeah! that’s what i think which is why i made the post where they’re both at home the night before zero day. i just know some people who think the final words was the night before zero day so i made it clear in my tags!! the whole timeline from prom to zero day is a bit muddy so i just wanted to make sure everyone understood!