Max finally arrived at the pizzeria. His first idea was to ask Timo about the whereabouts of his backpack.

Max: Hey, big T.

Timo: Ey. Max. You back. But uhhhhh... why?

Max: I forgot my bag in Luke's van, you know where it is.

Timo: The van? Hmmmm. Hmmmmmm.

Max waited expectantly.

Timo: I have no idea.

Max: (sighs) Oh, well... thanks anyway.

Timo: No problem, Max. Good luck finding them. Adios!

Max: Adios.

He walked back out of the restaurant.

Max: Oh brother.

He looked up at the evening sky and sighed.

Max: Maybe I should just wait till tomorrow. Yeah.

Max turned and left on his way to head home.

His thoughts were running with what he would say to his mother.

She'd be happy to know that he'd made friends and following Tiffany's advice, he would have to sugar up his mom or otherwise deal with her fury if and when she finds out what had happened at lunch that day.

But for now, he could play video games.

He skateboarded happily on the way back home without a care in the world.

Mom would be happy, he could game in peace, and he could even take his time skateboarding.

He decided, on a whim, to take a slightly longer route home. He figured he'd buy his mom a cupcake or something with the money in his pockets.

He stopped at a small shop on the way and went off to buy a cupcake from a sweets shop. And there he met the eccentric "Mr. Sweets."

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Sweets: Hiya kid.

Max: Hey.

Sweets: I'm Mr. Sweets. What's ya name?

Name: Sam Hopkins

Age: 33

Occupation: Sweets shop owner

Description: Looks like a mad scientist for some reason

Facts: Apparently, he did really well in college. So he chose this.... on purpose.

Max: Name's Max, Max Hunter.

Sam: OOOOoooh. What a delicious name. Here, have a free sample.

Max: Really?

Sam: Yes. It's my extraordinarily experimental sweet cake.

Max: Experimental?

Sam: Yep. I made it in my lab the other day.

Max: Lab?

Sam: Yes. I combined the natural sweetness in honey with flour. What you have there, my boy, is cake infused with honey.

Max: Woah.

Sam: Indeed. Wanna take a bite?

Max: Of course!

Max took a bite and recoiled immediately.

Max: Woah. It's so good.

Sam: Yep. It's revolutionary! It's evolutionary! It's SCIENCE!

The other customers took a moment to look at him in silence.

Sam: And it's yours for free.

Max: I'll take two.

Sam: Oh, you want more?

Max: Yeah, sure! I wanna give one to someone who's probably been going through a lot.

Sam: (gasp) How sweet of you? Tell ya what. You buy two, I'll give ya two for free.

Max: Really?

Sam: Absosweetly!

Max: Thanks.

Max shortly after exited the shop after buying his sweets and left with a bag on his hands.

He relished the nights air and took a deep breath.

Max: What a weird day.

But he smiled. It was a good day.

He got back on his skateboard and was on his way back home. It was getting late anyway.

As he skateboarded along the street, he thought, "What would tomorrow bring?"

And as he skateboarded, he suddenly decided to eat one of the sweets on the way.

As he munched, he suddenly caught something in the corner of his eye.

It was Luke's van.

Max: Is that... no way!

It was parked on the other side of the street.

Max: What's it doing way out here?

He heard a sound from the direction of the van and quickly hid behind a parked car on the other side of the street.

It was Luke.

Luke: Alright, all geared up?

Tiffany: Yeah.

Ken: Absolutely.

Rose: Right. I'm all ready.

Luke: Great, let's get a move on.

Max: (whisper) Get a move on? At this hour?

All four of them got onto the van, and it started and drove into the freeway.

Max: Where the heck are they going?

In Max's mind, he thought, "His mom raised him well, and he would never ever eavesdrop on other peoples personal problems."

He would never, absolutely never do that. It was wrong.

He got onto his skateboard and faced the freeway the van had driven into.

The intrusion into someone's private life was wrong. His mother had always told him that.

He began to skate into the same freeway.

He smirked.

Max: (thinking: I'm just gonna see what they're up to. It's a school night, but it's alright. I'll be back home before mom knows it. After all, I can just super speed dash there anyway.)

And so he followed the van into the night.