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Sneaker shopping
The final bell rang.
‘Finally done with this!’
It was getting more and more tiresome to sit through these basic high school level classes. What made it even worse was the fact that I was a really good student, so the teachers would quiz me constantly! So I couldn’t even day dream properly let alone focus on my exciting new invention. There was nothing more that I wanted to do than go home and work on it but I had too many things going on today!
The entire day was drab and boring.
I even missed Harry's constant whining and complaining today!
‘He must have gotten sick or something, I have to check up on him when I get home today. Oh no wait, Uncle Ben starts his chemo today at 6 today. So I have to be there! I'm sure Harry will be alright without me for one day!’
On top of all this I had other shopping plans with Will today. Basketball shoes or otherwise commonly known as 'sneakers'.
I was waiting around the gate for Will, we were supposed to meet at 5:10 but he was late.
‘Hmm weird he doesn’t seem to be the kind of person to be late!’
When he did finally appear it was with two girls following him around.
They were brunettes both of them,
“Hey Willie, let's hit the mall when you’re done with the shoes! I’m running low on clothes!” One of them said,
My immediate thought when I heard her was, ‘Who talks like that!’
Will remained quiet and looked stoic as usual.
The other one was looking into her mirror thingy? I don’t know what you call it but it’s used for makeup. Handheld mirror? Portable mirror?
The first girl kept jumping from one topic to another making my head spin with all the tangents she took. While the other was too busy working on her nails. All the while Will walked ahead first without paying attention to either one of them.
He reached to where I was standing,
“You’re here.” He said monotonously.
“I’m here!” I replied,
"Sorry for being late."
"It's alright, I just reached here five min-"
“Oh so this is the guy you were talking about, he looks plain. I thought he would be taller.” the mouthy one interrupted me with her appraisal of me.
'Ugh she's annoying!" I ignored her.
I have enough drama in my life, no need to introduce another character to the mix!
I introduced myself and kept it simple.
“Hello, I’m Peter parker. Pleasure to meet you.”
The mouthy one replied, “I’m Melissa and this is Paige!”
“Nice to meet you both.” I said and then turned to speak with Will
“Let's go, we're getting late.” to which he simply nodded.
From there we kept walking to the student parking lot.
Apparently he had a car so it should be a very brief shopping trip for me. I planned to buy the cheapest and most functional pair of shoes.
Melissa kept on rambling about different things loading one topic after the other. She was a torrent of gossip! When you thought she ended speaking she resumed for another ten minutes non-stop.
Made me really appreciate Harry. He might have been a little dumb socially but at least he's not that dumb!
After some time though her chirping blended into the background sound.
‘So this is why they don’t say anything. They're used to it.’
I still had no idea if they were related to Will or if they were his friends or if one of them was his girlfriend. At this point though honestly…I just wanted to go home.
We reached Will’s modest Toyota.
“I hear Elise was caught giving blowjobs to the entire football team. Can you believe it? What a slut…..…..”
I sat in the front of the car along with Will.
“Did you see the history channel yesterday! Aliens are real and they made the pyramids…………”
Unfortunately I couldn’t afford a music player.
‘God I really miss smartphones!’ Hope someone brings one to the market as soon as possible.
“I really like the vanilla ice cream they sell at the mall, I hope we can get some after shopping today………….”
God give me strength, please!
“Did you hear that Jess stood up for some weird goth kid. Even gave Pam an earful, I mean I know she’s the head cheerleader and all but being nice is gonna be the end of her….”
I don’t know how long I can take this.
“I really do mean it, aliens are real-”
At that point I lost it. I snapped and turned back to face her,
“Can you please..I don’t know please…please be quiet for some time.”
She looked offended and was about to retort back when the other girl spoke for the first time.
“I’m sorry about my sister, please don’t take her too seriously.”
I couldn’t speak..I was too stunned to even move.
‘What kind of psychological attack is this?’
The one who looked sociable was the one who couldn't read the room. While the other one, looked like she wouldn't care if the person she was speaking with dropped dead but she was actually really polite!
To make it even more ironic they were sisters.
'You couldn't write this up!'
“Yeah..sorry about my sister, Peter. We’re kinda used to her now!” Will spoke up while driving.
“Hey you two! Stop siding with the stranger and defend your sister's honour!”
“Wait a minute…you three are like…siblings?”
Melissa forgot about our little quarrel immediately and replied,
“Yeah..Oh that's right..forgot we didn’t introduce ourselves properly. We’re triplets. Yeah that’s right! Wild isn’t it. Like how can three babies come out instead of one. Always wondered about that. Oh yeah…you know what else I heard they cloned a sheep recently…um what was it called? Dolly? Polly? No that’s not it. Maybe Dandelion? Oh, did you guys hear about the new trigonometry teacher? I hear he’s a handsome hunk…”
I turned back and sat quietly. I prayed to god that we would reach there as soon as possible.
-25 minutes later-
“Isn't it weird how fish can’t fly..I mean think about it. Why can’t fish fly?…”
Thankfully we reached the damn Mall finally. I don’t have to be locked inside with her.
I couldn’t get out faster.
“The shop’s name was Extreme sports, right?” I asked Will who simply replied with a nod.
‘Damn these siblings really were something else. One speaks too much, One is completely mute while the other couldn’t be bothered with anything!’
“Okay..I’ll meet you guys there! I need some fresh air.” I said and didn’t turn back, consequences be damned.
“Oof that was something else!” I said to myself.
I entered the Westfield mall. I used the escalator to get to the second floor and found what I was looking for in a second. ‘There it is!’
In red Neon letters it was spelled out “XTREME SPORTS”
'Oh so they cheapened out on a single letter, got it!'
I let out a sigh and said to myself, “Alright let's get this over with!”
Upon entering the store I was rushed by a store employee who had an unsettling smile on him.
“Ah yes, welcome to Xtreme sports. What can I help you with, sir?”
“Um..shoes...Basketball shoes.”
“Yes of course, we have an extensive collection of all the latest brands. Hike, Ruma and Madidas.”
‘I forgot for a second that Nike, Puma and Adidas don’t exist here since I was never a sports fan in this life.’
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Right..yes I’ll take a look at the Hike!”
“Yes sir, if you will follow me.”
Wow these guys really knew how to treat their customers right! If only they could smile like normal human beings!
I followed him to the back and saw entire racks of basketball shoes lined up for display.
“So this is just Hike..?”
“Yes sir!” he said with the familiar corporate friendliness.
“Okay you don’t mind if I took a look around right?”
“Not at all sir.” with the exact same terrifying smile.
I took a walk around looking for one that best fit my price range. Sadly everything was insanely pricey.
‘$500 for a shoe, I know I wasn’t a big sneakerhead but these prices are a little bit nuts!’
I could feel his judging gaze follow me. The guy was really standing there watching my every move like a hawk.
‘Okay dude I know I’m poor but damn chill with the death glares.’
Right then, one pair caught my attention. It was an older model with white and red colours. It was also priced at a reasonable $250. Money I could afford. The only problem was I couldn’t reach it. It was on the top shelf.
‘Lemme see…right there.’ I stood on my toes, extending myself to grab it.
“AH…The Hike air model #1 Good looking out dude!” Another voice boomed near me.
‘Dude?’
It was a white, silver haired boy. He looked young, maybe as young as I was. He was hugging a blonde girl with his right hand.
‘Wait what? Who’s this guy? No..more importantly how the hell did he sneak up on me? I should have been able to sens-’
The employee who escorted me interrupted my thoughts,
“Good selection sir, We’ll have it shipped directly to your home.”
‘Wait a minute..what's happening!’
“Um..excuse me I chose that first!” I jumped into the conversation.
The silver haired dude made a surprised face,
“Wait a minute you don’t work here?”
This guy was starting to piss me off.
“I’m wearing a jacket, wiseguy. Which part of that screams to you that I work here. They all wear black T-shirts here like they do everywhere.”
“Dunno..you just have that face. You know what I mean right?.” he asked the employee who happily nodded away.
“Hey buddy…you know that I’m a customer too right?” I say to the employee with a disgruntled look.
He nodded to me happily and replied, “Oh but of course sir!”
.
.
.
I facepalmed myself.
“Look I chose that first okay! That’s perfect for my price range. I really need that shoe!” I reasoned with him.
He let go of his girlfriend and started talking some more,
“Oh well look buddy..that’s like..” he kept shooting glances at the shoe on the shelf
‘Oh no you don’t.’ I anticipate his movement but he’s incredibly fast.
“That’s like your problem! Finders keepers....that’s the store policy buddy” he finished with glee.
However his happiness turned to shock when he realised I had caught hold of his hand.
‘Oooh you sneaky bastard.’
I jumped up really high and grabbed the shoe from the rack and tucked it away in my chest.
“Hah finders keepers. Isn’t that your store policy, Mr Employee.” I yell out triumphantly.
To which he replied,
“Sir, that's for display, we have a full stock of those. Besides, they're not your size anyways…”
“Oh” - “Oh”
Both me and the silver devil speak at the same time.
“Hey dude you know I was joking about that right?” he laughed with a little embarrassment.
I let go of his hand and did the same while saying,
“Yeah me too! I was just joking around, you know that right.” I say while rubbing the back of my head with embarrassment while secretly keeping the shoe on a nearby rack.
“Babe you know you’re dumb right!” his girlfriend started making fun of him.
All three of us laughed like idiots.
Thankfully the store employee brought us the same shoe in two different sizes.
I tried it out and it fit in like a glove.
‘Yes!!!!’
“That’ll work for me!” I said to the employee.
“Yeah..bag this one too!” the silver haired boy said to him at the same time.
We both looked at each other for a moment and then laughed at each other once again.
“You know you can really jump high, did anyone ever tell you that?”
“And you’re faster than the devil himself.” I reply back with a light hearted laugh.
“Yeah Theo’s like that!” his girlfriend responded from the back with a look of amusement.
“Yeah I’m like that! Look dude sorry about the whole thing, my body just moved when I imagined you with my shoe!”
‘My shoe? What an arrogant bastard but…..he’s charming in his own way I suppose.’
“Well I jumped the gun when I saw you gunning for my shoe too! I guess so I owe you an apology as well.” I say with a sly smile.
He paused for a second and returned a nod.
“I didn’t quite catch your name?”
“Well I didn’t offer it to you.” I reply sarcastically
He let out a small laugh,
“I’m Peter!” I say before his holiness got offended.
“I’m Theodore Wellspring.” He extended his hand. I shook it.
I heard the voice I had been dreading all this time speak,
“So anyways the frogs are apparently turning gay by drinking the water, so I guess tap water is a big No-No for me now! Ale- Oh there he is!”
Melissa and Co found me.
“Oh you’ve got one picked out! That’s cool now we can go get some Ice cream-”
Her brother interrupted her for the first time in this evening,
“Theodore.” He deadpanned.
“Oh if it wasn’t the deadliest school shooter in all of New york! So how’s it going 'Sharpe' Shooter?....God I love your nickname.”
Will remained quiet. Choosing to not antagonise him but Theodore didn’t care about that. He continued with his flurry of taunts.
“So…Here for new kicks. No use in buying shoes Willy, we’re gonna kick your ass again this week!” he said with a smug look.
To which will answered with a stern look,
“We’ll see about that.”
Theodore waved it off.
“Nothing to see. It’s gonna be like stealing candy from a baby. You’re mental if you think you have a chance…” he kept on rambling.
I shifted my focus to the trio of girls speaking to each other instead,
“Hey Mel, it's been a long time! And you too Paigey!”
“Hannah oh my god it’s been so long. I like what you did with your hair girl!” Melissa replied in a hurry.
While the quiet Paige actually responded with a,
“Good to see you again hannah.”
Seems like they were good friends with no signs of hostility, I turned to look at the boys again.
“WE are going to crush you boys. After the game you’ll be crying in the showers!”
“We’ll see about that theodore!” Will didn’t have much to say about his insults.
I came to his rescue.
“You guys know each other..?”
Will answered my question,
“Yeah we’re like neighbours!”
Theodore loudly proclaimed, “WE USED TO BE BEST FRIENDS YOU ASS!”
His girlfriend stepped in to reprimand him.
“Theo we’re outside, lower your voice! Stop acting like a child!” scolding him like he was a child.
“Baby can you believe this..? This brute here tried to say we were just neighbours! What an insensitive gorilla.”
He went to his girlfriend’s side and tried to cuddle with her but she pushed him away.
“God everyone thinks I’m the diva but you’re the real diva aren’t you!” She acquiesced to his attempts at intimacy by finally letting him hug her.
“Everyone knows he’s a giant pain in the ass Hannah.” Melissa surprised me with the sudden jab.
Theodore didn’t let it go unanswered.
“So…how have you been doing motormouth? Seems like you're becoming more tomboyish as days pass!”
“WHAT did you say, you prick? You’re gonna go bald in a few years anyways!”
“You’ve put on some weight again!”
“You’re gonna go bald like in a year max.”
“You’re like not…even...like...the cool kind of tomboy-”
Theodore was losing the battle of wits for some reason.
“Your silver hair isn’t going to last for long. You’re gonna be bald in like two years tops! I guarantee it!”
“HEY shut your dirty mouth!”
“Sure I can shut my mouth whenever I want but you can’t regrow your hair again can you now? You're not so smart now, are you baldy!”
Theodore for the first time looks like he had the wind blown out of him.
“But…I hear new forms of hair..transplants are..being invented! So..” he looked towards his girlfriend for support but she just averted her eyes.
“Baby don’t look away.....you promised they would find a cure to baldness by the time I was 25.”
She shrugged her shoulders and said,
“I just said they might, not they will.”
He ran up to her and playfully started punching her lightly,
“Hannah you big meanie. You promised me your father's company is going to find a cure.”
“Okay…okay stop stop. If you’re well behaved then I’ll ask him again.”
He stopped and hugged her tightly as she began patting his head and said,
“There..there..”
I thought to myself, ‘Damn she’s got him trained and everything! All they need now is a marriage certificate and they’re basically an old couple.’
“Hmph he’s so sensitive about his hair! I don’t know why he keeps picking fights with me.” Melissa said with a wry smile.
“Okay that’s enough out of the both of you!” The quiet Paige scolded them both,
“If you say so, Paigey.”
“You know I always liked you the best Pae!” Theodore admitted.
It was like watching a comedy sitcom. They were all quirky and had unique personalities which meshed well with each other!
“Oh this is Peter, by the way!” Melissa introduced me to the group.
“Yeah we just had a fun encounter right now!” Hannah said,
“Fun encounter..?” Paige said with rising suspicion.
“It’s nothing really.” Theodore answered her.
“I’ll buy your shoe Peter. Dad gave me some money to help you out.” Will said to me, cutting through everyone else.
“Oh no..that’s okay I have mone-”
“Coach Willie asked you to buy him a shoe!” Theodore said with surprise.
“Yeah apparently dad liked him at practice a lot!” Melissa said to him,
“Coach willie buying you shoes? Practise? Impressed?” His face took a serious turn.
“You play for the red hawks? What position? How long has it been since you joined?”
“We don’t have to say anything to you. Peter as the team captain I forbid you to speak to him about our team.” Will said with complete seriousness.
There was none of the lightness or joy in the room anymore.
“Oh great we’re fighting over that stupid game again and here I thought we could make a new friend!” Hannah said with boredom.
“Don’t bother telling me! I’ll see you play this week anyways, don’t spoil it for me and since you were such a nice guy before I’ll even buy you your shoes.”
He looked at the sales employee who was standing there like he was invisible and said to him,
“Put it on my card. Don’t let anyone else pay for it.”
‘Damn that’s spooky. For a moment I forgot he was there. Their corporate training must have been hell.’
"Hey...Don't..dad will get....."
Will tried to interject but stopped midway.
“See you losers on friday! Let's go babe, I don’t want to catch stupid from hanging out too much with them.” Theodore said while walking out of the aisle. Hannah followed him but not before she gave us a quick apology before catching up to him.
“Sorry about that guy, you know how he gets when he’s like that.”
“All too well.” Melissa said with a sad look while glancing at Will.
After they disappeared I spoke again,
“Wow he really bought me a pair of sneakers for free!”
“He was trying to get inside your head! He plays mind games like that.” Will replied,
“By…buying me free shoes?...That's like the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”
“Yeah maybe..but it can be effective sometimes.” he said monotonously,
The girls were looking at different shoes for themselves.
“So he’s like a big deal. In the basketball world I mean?”
He turned to me and said in a deathly serious tone,
“Don't let his looks fool you! That was Theodore Wellspring. He plays for the Green Bulls. Manhattan’s premiere private high school, Trinity high. He’s the current number one ranked high school basketball player in the world. They call him the White Comet!”