Andrew J. Brandt - Mixtape for the End of the World

Collective Soul Heavy

Pearl Jam Even Flow

Goo Goo Dolls Fallin Down

Buckcherry Lit Up

Tal Bachman Shes So High

Eve 6 Inside Out

Silverchair Tomorrow

New Radicals You Get What You Give

Live I Alone

Lit My Own Worst Enemy

Nirvana Smells Like Teen Spirit

Matchbox Twenty Argue

Creed Illusion

Incubus Pardon Me

Bush Comedown

Incubus Stellar

Gin Blossoms Hey Jealousy

Pearl Jam Spin the Black Circle

Filter Take A Picture

Vertical Horizon Youre A God

Silverchair Anas Song (Open Fire)

Bush Letting the Cables Sleep

U2 One

Our Lady Peace One Man Army

Collective Soul Tremble for My Beloved

U2 Until the End of the World

Tonic You Wanted More

Blue Handle Publishing

Amarillo, TX

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and events are products of the authors imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright 2021 Andrew J Brandt

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or any portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address:

Blue Handle Publishing

2608 Wolflin #963

Amarillo, TX 79109

First Ebook Edition May 2021

For information about bulk, educational and other special discounts,

please contact

Blue Handle Publishing.

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www.bluehandlepublishing.com

Cover Design: Derek Porterfield

Interior Design: Caprock Concepts

Editing: Brandon Biggers

Print ISBN: 9798573489360

AT 11:59PM ON December 31, 1999, the world would end. All the computers would shut down, the satellites would fall from the sky and all the rich people would hole up in their bunkers until it was safe to come out. The news every day was inundated with talks of the coming aftermath of something called Y2K.

Derrick wondered, staring out the window from the backseat of his mothers Toyota Corolla, how it had come to this. How could the smartest minds that ever lived, who created the computers on which everything ran, have missed this one thing? It had something to do with two digits, the 19 in front of the 99. And once it rolled over to 00, making the computers think that it was actually 1900 and not 2000, it was all over. It was all their fault.

He would be witness to the end of the world, and he would do it without any of the friends he grew up with. That thought made him more sad than anything.

Ahead of them, the U-Haul driven by Doug, his moms fianc, took the exit from the highway and after a few more minutes, they were on Main Street of this small town that would be their new home. The wedding wasnt until the first weekend of October, but Doug and their mother had sat the kids down around the weekend of July 4th and told them the plan. She would transfer her position as bank officer to a branch in Mount Vernon.

The soon-to-be-newlyweds were much more excited about it than Derrick was, though he feigned happiness. In reality, he was justsad. Sad to move away from home, away from everything hed known.

Though Clearwater was a small town, it was the only place theyd ever lived. Moving to a new place in the middle of high school sounded stressful.

Cassandra was much less diplomatic with her reaction, and she ended up crying at the kitchen table, arguing that her graduation was just two years away and she wanted to graduate in Clearwater. She, too, eventually capitulated.

We dont want to move you guys in the middle of the semester, so we are going to move to Mount Vernon the week before school starts next month, their mother had told them.

Dee and I both think that it will help alleviate any issues in getting acclimated to the new town and the new school instead of moving you guys in October after the wedding, Doug had said.

Small towns had this uncanny ability to resemble each other, their Main Street arteries lined with buildings that housed mom-and-pops, pawn shops and hardware stores. In fact, judging from the stores and the buildings, he could see that Mount Vernon wasnt much bigger than the town theyd left.

As they passed the line of stores and shops, one of the storefronts caught his attention. An electric guitar hung in the window that faced the street, seemingly welcoming him to this new town. For a fleeting second as Derrick saw the Corollas pewter reflection in the stores window, he felt happiness. He made note of the shops name, which was written in a bold red font on a chipping white sign above the door.

Sherman Music Store.

Once they were all settled into Dougs house, with their things unpacked, Derrick vowed to visit Sherman Music Store and gawk at the instruments that hed wish he had the money for.

This town looks stupid, mom, Cassandra whined.

Derrick and Cassandra were what some people called Irish twins, born exactly eleven months apart. They both had the same unruly hair that fell in curls, except Cassandras was much longer and it fell over her shoulders in coiled cascades of blonde that bounced every time they hit a pothole in the street.