After leaving the office, Vin migrated to his dorm. As expected, it was barren. But at the very least, it was real.
He repeated many of the same steps, opening the curtains, exploring the space, then sitting on the hard floor. Miyo was released, and they began searching for necessities. Luckily, he hadn't made the same mistakes as his dream and had all 1000 points to shop with.
Uneventful.
Little could be said about his extravagant spree of buying toilet paper, an air mattress, cleaning supplies, etc. However, he recalled meeting an odd character at the skate shop where he purchased a skateboard.
As he browsed the shelves, they approached with an obviously vigilant stroll. The shopkeeper winked at Vin and suggested he follow them to a 'special storage room.' Precisely the kind of line a criminal gives before killing someone or offering them illegal goods.
Vin indifferently followed them to a side door in the shop. The fellow scrambled through boxes and hastily unearthed one broad package in particular. They rowdily forced it into Vin's arms, advised him to keep hushed, then prodded him from the backroom.
Any sensible person would have had questions, but his naïve, untainted palms accepted the item without a second thought. And, of course, he was then screwed because inside the box were nine pounds of hardcore DRUGS-
No, not really.
Everything made sense when he looked inside and saw the custom longboard he'd ordered weeks ago. His foremost thought was that Soap had raised hell to have the ride less-than-legally imported into the island.
It was a secret, and as he and Miyo glanced at the blackish-purple sun on the midnight deck, they determined to take it to the grave.
<>
After procuring all the necessary goods, Vin exited the mart with loaded arms. Several clear bags were weighing down his body, and even Miyo hauled their loot.
He held up his phone, which scanned his face and unlocked, opened his bank register, and surveyed all the automated entries.
Transaction Register
Date Transactions Points Balance 01/12 Welcome +1000 1000.00 01/12 Toilet P -4.00 996.00 01/12 Kens Air Mattresses -20.00 976.00 01/12
Cleaning Bleach, BaNkAi
-3.00 973.00 01/12 8-in-1 Bath soap/substance? -11.50 961.50 01/12 Toothbrush/Paste Combo -7.00 954.50 01/12 Pen, Pencil, Notebook Set -12.00 942.50 01/12 Men's pajamas set -20.00 922.50 01/12 Generic backpack -10.50 912.00 01/12 Perfectly legal skate shop - Longboard purchase -350.00 562.00 01/12 How-to-lie 101 - Guidebook -3.00 559.00 01/12 Hand soap - scrub off your dirty hands -1.00 558.00
While initially irritated by the entrance procedure, he was beginning to obtain a sense of adulthood. Signing legal documents and shopping for himself seemed trivial, but the freedom was foreign. As such, it was riveting.
"It's just us, Miyo," he said with a scoff. "No guardians; we can do whatever we want."
"My first time living alone... How should we decorate our room? Posters? I want to paint the walls a unique color."
Vin smiled subtly and resisted a giggle. "Not that I've ever painted before, but you'll help, right?" He asked, glancing toward Miyo, who flew along his flank. The ever-so-amicable creature spiraled in delight, rocking the plastic bag it carried.
Humored by the bird's zest, Vin tightened his hands so his luggage wouldn't fall, then whirlwinded alongside his companion.
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"Race to the parking lot!" he exclaimed, indulging his childish urges. He took off, bobbing, and rattling like a loaded rack on wheels.
For a moment, he thought of Soap and how the man would cheer if he saw him being so immature.
Laughter and mummers of irrelevant onlookers were left behind as he raced down the building's walkways. Miyo dashed in front of him, always five feet ahead, just within reach to encourage their owner to push further.
Both of the frolicking bodies rowdily trampled from the construction to the outside. Vin was happy to be disencumbered from the conditioned building and once again under the direct sun.
Miyo was still riled and joyfully flew in rings around him. Vin spun to try and match the creature's speedy circles but was lapped serval times. He cracked up and dizzily questioned, "What's gotten into you, buddy?"
"You're going to break the bottles in the bag!" Laughed Vin. "I don't have money to buy more supplies! Slow down before I get serious," he joked.
As they lollygagged, a man's voice cartwheeled over and discontinued their festivity. "How fun," he said.
Vin quit the disco he was having, straightened, and explored the disturbance. He was met by four students, all outfitted in uniform and sporting a red necktie or ribbon.
A light-skinned male stepped forth from the pack and slapped his hands together in apology. "Sorry, sorry," he said meekly.
The man looked familiar, but he was sure they'd never crossed paths in the hospital. However, in a sense, Vin had met him before, just not in person.
He was handsome and slim, with short, styled raven-like hair and piercings on the top and bottom of his ears. He'd known him to cast a devil-like guise because this was the racer that smirked as they pulled his board mid-jump. In his dream, that was.
"Forgive me; it's just; one of our members was injured, so now we're short one person for our race." The boy turned and motioned to the other three individuals, who genially waved.
Another male, etched with neck tattoos, firmly presented themselves in an Italian accident as Tony. He held out an anticipatory handshake that Vin rejected, then arrogantly nodded. Around the same age, his dark hair was greased back, and he relaxed his hand at the rear of his belt like he'd draw a gun.
Next to him, holding her head downward, was an evasive long-haired girl named Adele. Her white, short-sleeved sailor top exposed the bandage around her left upper arm and right elbow.
Over one more was another female student who didn't introduce themselves but appeared serene while fidgeting with her sizeable silver hoop earrings. Light blue eyes, deviously arced eyebrows, with cranberry hair short on the sides but long in the back.
"I understand it's short notice, but we could really use the help!" Exclaimed the leading male, pleading desperately.
Vin peered at him silently, still floored that the man was so different from his dream construct. The thing about Vin's fantasy land was that most people were formed based on the TV's depictions. With that, Vin figured the announcers were just exaggerating his character to make him into a sinful man.
Since he hadn't ridden a skateboard in years, Vin saw the appeal as an opportunity to practice before the semester started the next day. He accepted, and the man fist-pumped in delight. "Perfect! Thank you so much. Let's exchange contact information, so I can send you the race details."
The student withdrew his phone, tapped the screen, then held it outward. Vin mimicked him, and both of the phones thumped. After a second, the stranger giggled and pressed an icon on Vin's display. "You have to turn on share mode, or it won't work."
"Ah, my bad," muttered Vin. The phone chimed, and he spotted the new contact, 'Crow Harlow.'
It was impossible to tell if that was his real name since Vin had uncovered he could adjust his own personal information.
"Vin Dance, that's a unique name," commented the stranger. "We're all dragons, so let's work together," he added.
"Right," returned Vin. With that, the small group took their leave, and minutes later, he received the invitation.
Mode Faction Race Type Skate(All) Participants 5 v 5 Rules None Start Time 2:00 pm Entry Fee 1,666 Total Prize 16,660
Without analyzing the entirety of the page, Vin spotted the entry, blinked, then closed the invite. He lamely dragged the message to his phone's trash and returned his device to its home in his pants.
"There's a skatepark on campus we can practice at," he stated. Miyo was satisfied with that and followed, but another digital chime sounded and revised their agenda.
New Chat Request!
12:44 - Crow: By the way! I'll pay for your entry since you're doing me a big favor. Please reply to my text, so I know you're still interested. 😅
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12:45 - Vin: I'll need another invite.
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12:45 - Crow: Sure! We're going up against the Lion faction, so bring your A-Game.
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12:46 - Vin: k.
Decided, Vin stopped at the dorms to drop off his baggage. He drew the curtains, conjuring the sole source of illumination for the barren room. He'd been taught to avoid using electrical lights when possible, so he forgot to purchase a lamp for the night. There was a notepad app on his phone, so he started a shopping list for his next mall trip.
There was some time before the race, so he unpacked and stored the goods he had purchased. It wasn't much, and after, he sat in the room's corner and explored his device. Filtering through apps, revising his schedule for the next day, and taking a moment to revel in his achievement.
"Look, Miyo," he said, displaying his phone screen toward his fiery brother. "Aside from when I had our family's numbers, this is my first real contact."
"I know this doesn't make us friends, but-" Vin slouched, narrowed his gaze, and tensed his knees together. "Maybe we'll do good at the race and hang out after. Skate around as a group, grab dinner, friend stuff... Ya know?"
Miyo soared into a backflip, then perched on his hand. Vin chuckled, then calmly shut his eyelids. "Soap won't believe it when I tell him we made friends. Bet he'd have a heart attack if I bring home a girlfri-"
Vin's face warmed like an Easy-bake oven, and his heart actually attacked. It rebelled and pumped irregularly when he mentioned the 'GF' word.
For someone who virtually lost their life before adolescence, Vin never experienced a first love or 'dating.' He could likely list the girls he'd conversed with on two hands.
Embarrassed at the thought of himself with a girlfr- A lady companion. He leaped to his feet, shook his head then grabbed his skateboard before fleeing the room.