Months passed by like a slow relentless tide, rolling across an ocean. The news of the recession were now too much to ignore. The recession didn’t arrive with a crash or a single dramatic news headline, announcing that it was here for good. It crept in quietly and slowly, at first as whispers in business boardrooms, and then as nervous jokes in cafés, and later as front-page stories that no one could ignore anymore. But it did not seem like there was anything to do, but stand and watch for it to come and go, as it always did historically.Interest rates kept climbing high like there was no tomorrow, while consumer spending slowed down, approaching a halt. Small businesses were shuttering every days. People could no longer keep up as always. Unemployment ticked upward little by little, week by week, until the numbers became impossible to dismiss as some sort of coincidence by those who doubted that there was even anything like a recession coming. They are their words everytime they

Nathan and Rhea were sitting together in the living room late that afternoon. The sunlight from outside slanted through the tall windows, turning the hardwood floor into a warm gold color. Rhea had just finished her afternoon chores; although she still wore her simple maid uniform, which recieved quite a little complain from Nathan. She had let her hair down, and the apron she had worn was now folded neatly over the arm of the couch.She sat close to him. Although they were not quite touching, they were still close enough that he could smell the faint lavender from her shampoo.After being close for a few minutes, she reached over and gently touched the edge of the bandage on his left shoulder. “Does it still hurt?” she asked quietly.Nathan gave a small shrug with his good shoulder. “Less every day. The doctor says I’ll be out of the stupid sling in another week or two. I just have to be careful with how I move, or else I stand the chance to feel even more excruciating pain."Rhea

The morning light was still soft when Nathan woke up to his phone ringing on his nightstand. He was at the time half-asleep, with the sheets of the bed tangled around his legs, and the now occasional slight ache in his shoulder, which still served as a reminder of everything that had happened to him. He reached for the phone without looking where his hand was taking him, and then drew the phone towards his face. He grew a little wary face when he saw the name on the screen. Gene’s name glowed on the screen. A lot of things ran through his mind at the time, all pertaining to why she was even calling.He answered immediately. “Gene?” he said in his morning voice, yawning as the words escaped his mouth.Her voice came through broken and wet with tears. “Nathan… you already picked someone, didn’t you?" She asked. The question was an accusation. One that Nathan had never thought was going layered on him.Nathan sat up fast, wincing at the slight pull in his shoulder. “What? No. What a

The next day, the townhouse was bathed in the usual hush of the mid morning, with sunlight, pouring through the tall windows of the living room, casting very long golden rectangles across the polished hardwood floor of the rooms.Nathan sat on the couch of the living room, with his laptop balanced on his knees, reviewing the latest Kickstart reports. He was trying to focus on the numbers, donor lists, and the next batch of the kids accepted into the project, but his mind kept drifting away and back.The doorbell rang, causing Nathan to frown. He wasn’t expecting any visits.He set the laptop aside and walked to the door, with his bare feet silent on the cold wooden floor. When he opened it, Donna stood on the doorstep.She looked beautiful, with her perfectly styled dark hair falling in loose waves around her face and on her back, while she wore a tailored cream coat over a simple but expensive black dress, with heels that clicked softly as she shifted her weight like she was nervous

The recession had grown from just mere whispers to roars from angry mobs parading across the cities and streets.It was the same thing everywhere, from factories closing, to layoffs surging, food prices climbing up, and the families struggling to keep the lights on. The country was bleeding. And soon the entire world would soon get to feel the same pain. The pain was no longer abstract. It now had faces marching around with placards and anger.That anger found a target at ESU. The school was a place for the richest of the rich to send their children to, and so ESU attracted much of the hate anger from the masses. A large crowd had gathered outside the university’s grand iron gates. Hundreds of protestors, many of them who were just ordinary citizens, and students from nearby public colleges, and activists, now held signs that read:“ELITE SCHOOLS FOR ELITE POCKETS”“TEAR DOWN THE GATES”“THE RICH KIDS DON’T SUFFER — WHY SHOULD WE?”At the front of the crowd stood Martha Thunberg, w