Chapter Two: Second Recess

The adults at Nicholas Cage Lower Elementary School didn't understand the front playground. First off, it was completely barren of shade. The only shade found was at the far back of the playground near a small drop into a stream and the adult wouldn't let any of the kids over there. Next, it had old playground equipment. All of the three metal playscapes were rusted and left your hands smelling like metal and calloused. The swing sets did the same. So, the front playground wasn't that fun unless you were a jock and could find fun in running around and getting extremely sweaty.

So mostly, Karkat and his friends sat around and talked. Sometimes they would swing on the swings to try and get a cool breeze, but that wasn't very helpful.

"Man," Dave began. "Isn't it bogus that they banned stuffed animals this year?"

"Why are you bringing this up?" Karkat asked Dave.

"Because, I was thinking about Webkinz," Dave replied.

"I'm not even sure my account's still active," Terezi informed Dave. "It was supposed to be reactivated over the summer but I was too busy in Europe to even think about Webkinz."

"Man, that sucks," John informed Terezi.

"It does," Terezi agreed. "But at least I still have my penguin on Club Penguin!"

"You have a Club Penguin?" Dave asked Terezi and he ripped up some grass.

"Yep," Terezi answered. "DragonSlayer7!"

"Coolkid25," Dave added.

"NicCage14," John threw out.

"SquiddlesLover," Jade included. "Surprisingly, no one had taken that name yet!"

"Why are we rattling off our penguin names?" Rose asked her friends as she was in the middle of trying to convince Kanaya to read Harry Potter by dragging the first book out on the playground.

"I dunno I thought we were still talking about Webkinz," Karkat replied.

"Oh yeah, I just got an awesome new Webkinz," Dave turned the subject off of penguins and onto Webkinz.

"But we were just talking about penguins!" Karkat exclaimed wondering where this conversation was going.

"It's an Endangered Polar Bear," Dave explained. "I named it Slushie."

"Cool," everyone, excluding Rose and Kanaya who were indulging in Harry Potter, said at once.

"The last Webkinz I got was the Storming Dragon," Terezi added.

"Terezi," Karkat turned to his friend. "That came out at the end of last school year. If you put it on Webkinz, then that means that your account didn't expire."

"Oh," Terezi remembered. "Right. Thanks Karkat!"

"The last Webkinz I got was another walrus," John explained. "I got another one because I wasn't sure if Paul or John was the walrus."

"It was a Signature dog . . . oh! The Signature Australian Shepard!" Jade added.

"The last Webkinz I got was the Alpaca someone gave me for my birthday," Karkat tried to remember who gave him the Alpaca.

"I got it for you," Jade reminded Karkat.

"Oh! Right. Sorry Jade," Karkat apologized. "I want to buy on of the Signature Webkinz but I'm saving my money for the new Pokémon game."

"I know that the last Webkinz Rose got was the Signature Barn Owl," Dave informed everyone.

"Did she name it after a Harry Potter owl?" Terezi asked.

"I am right here you know," Rose interrupted the conversation. "And no, I did not."

"She named it after the main character of a book series about owls, Guardians of Ga'Hoole. Sore or something," Dave tried to remember.

"Soren," Kanaya remembered. "I mean, if you are talking about the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series."

"Kinda like the Soarin ride at Disney," Dave brought up the argument again.

"Universal was better than Disney and no Dave, you did not feel something brush up against your foot on that ride and you did not smell apples," Rose argued.

"I swear I did!" Dave replied.

"Just because you swear it does not mean that it is true," Rose replied.

"So did you see what the next party was going to be on Club Penguin?" John asked everyone who wasn't watching Rose and Dave argue.

"No," Karkat replied.

"It doesn't look that interesting to me," Kanaya added

"I think it looks cool," Terezi objected.

At that moment the bell rang and everyone was free from the heat. Well, Karkat still had to sit next to Equius, who was running around all recess with Nepeta, and he already had a sweating problem to boot.