Aug. 27, Thorne Blackwood's Residence, Charles Street, Vancouver; Late Evening
"Welcome back, Thorne," greeted Thorne's grandfather. "You had a long day, huh?"
"Indeed," responded Thorne. "I met a girl-"
"Uh-huh? Is that so?" his grandfather asked. "Is she your girlfriend now?"
"Ugh…" groaned Thorne. "No. I'm fine for now. I'm gonna go to my room. Are you making dinner?"
"No, I already ate while you were gone. You can make yourself something."
"Thanks. See ya." And with that, Thorne was off to his room. He dropped his bags on the ground next to his bed and jumped in, maybe too aggressively. He pulled out his phone. Of course, there wasn't anyone trying to talk to him. Why would there be? But, at least he could browse the media.
After a quick shower, he went to bed. He fell asleep quite quickly, tired out from his long day of traveling. And his long week of travelling all the way from the edge of Albert to Vancouver. He was out like a light before he even knew it.
Aug. 27-28, Commander's Quarters, Time Unverified
"Greetings," Thorne heard. Groggily, he wiped at his eyes. Where was he? Everything was a dark, except for the gentle static colour of a large screen. As his eyes adjusted, he noticed that the location looked like a… film studio? He must have been dreaming.
"I'd explain, but you wouldn't believe me," the voice spoke again. Thorne adjusted his eyes again, and saw a tall, broad figure sitting in front of the huge static screen. The figure was sat at an executive-looking desk. "Call me Commander."
Thorne felt his immediate surroundings. It appeared that he was sitting in a chair. All things considered, it was an exceptionally comfortable chair. "Who are you, and where am I?" he asked. "I'm dreaming, right?"
"Eh, close enough to it," explained the figure. "It's good to finally meet you. Boy, do you have an exciting year ahead of you, Agent."
"Agent?" Thorne asked. "My name is Thorne."
"I know."
"Who are you?"
"I told you," the figure responded. "Commander, to you." Commander continued, cutting off Thorne who was about to ask another question. "Don't lose sight of your true self, got it? Of course, if I didn't believe in your stone-hard conviction, I wouldn't have chosen to meet you here. However, your identity will be your greatest asset in the coming months. Use it powerfully."
"My identity? What do you-" Thorne tried to asked, but before he could finish, the screen's static light flickered off. It left the entire studio in utter darkness. However, there was something left. Though everything around it was dark, the item before Thorne seemed to have its own light. It was… a thin card, about the size or slightly larger than a playing card. He reached out to it, having nothing else to do.
"Though a Trickster may lack experience in the world, He will never fall victim to what others tell Him. His specialty is abiding by His own rules." A voice echoed. It sounded vaguely like Thorne's own voice, but it couldn't have been, since Thorne wasn't talking. "Be aware of your self, Trickster," the voice suggested. "Your greatest power is your self. Defy the beliefs of others, and do not be tempted to wear the mask offered to you by society. Only then can you awaken to the truth you deserve."
The card dissipated into the darkness, leaving Thorne feeling a strange feeling in both his chest and his stomach. Soon, he too faded into the darkness.
Aug. 28, Thorne Blackwood's Residence, Charles Street, Vancouver; Early Morning
"Thorne, are you awake yet?" Thorne's grandfather called. "Get up, lazy boy."
"Huh?" Thorne gasped, sitting up in his bed. "I- uh- I'm up."
"Get out of bed," his grandfather ordered. "And get dressed. I won't have you living like you did at your parents' place."
Thorne groaned and got out of bed. He got dressed in an appropriate outfit for the late-August weather. His first instinct was to check his phone. Oh! To his surprise, he had received a friend request overnight. It was from Heather Holland. He accepted it, and went down to make himself breakfast.
Feeling lazy, he scrambled himself some eggs and poured them into a buttered pan. As they sizzled, his grandfather came downstairs. "There you are."
"Yeah, what's up?" Thorne asked.
"You're finally up. You know you're starting school in ten days," his grandfather reminded.
"Yes. I know. But that's ten days away. I'll be fine sleeping in for a couple more days of summer," Thorne argued. "You want eggs? I'm making some."
"No," his grandfather replied. "I'm gonna watch TV."
"Like always?" Thorne joked.
"Don't be rude, Thorne," his grandfather responded, and took a seat on his favourite leather sofa.
The eggs were quite good. Thorne silently congratulated himself on getting a bit better at cooking over the summer.
He got a message from Heather while eating. He checked his phone to see what she was saying.
"Do you ever get off that thing?" scoffed his grandfather.
Thorne ignored the rude interruption and checked the message that he'd received.
"Hey. It's me, the girl from the skytrain. We met yesterday. I saw your name and sent you a friend request. But you know that, LOL."
"Hey," he texted back. "What's up?"
"Oh, nothing," texted Heather. "Kinda stressed about school TBH. It's our last year of high school. I bet it's going to be tough." She continued texting, "It must be even more stressful for you. Switching schools for Grade 12 must really suck."
"I've been trying not to think about it TBH," responded Thorne. "Thanks for making me remember, aahh."
"Sorry!" texted Heather, including a flustered face at the end of her message. "Wanna hang out today?"
"Sure. I don't know where anything is though," he replied.
"Same! And I've lived here since I was ten! LOL!" she sent. "How about we go to Dollar Star?"
"Sure," he responded. "I could go for some wildly overpriced coffee."
"LOL!" Heather sent back. "Great! Meet me there at noon?"
"Wait, which one?" Thorne asked.
"Oh right. LOL," she texted. "The one on North Commercial Dr.?"
"Um… ok…" Thorne replied jokingly. In reality, he had no clue where that was. "I'll find it, LOL."
Aug. 28, Dollar Star, North Commercial Street, Vancouver; Noon
"Oh, hey, you made it!" Heather waved. "I was worried you'd get lost."
"GPS's," Thorne chuckled. "The real heroes of the modern day."
Heather had already received her order. She was drinking some ice frappuccino with caramel and whip cream on top.
"That looks good," Thorne commented.
"It is good!" Heather replied.
Thorne went up to the counter and ordered a drink for himself. Instead of getting a coffee like he'd mentioned, he instead ordered a refreshing fruit drink with dragonfruit juice in it. After receiving it, he went back to the table where Heather was sitting, on her phone.
"Who even does that?" Heather posted online, attaching an image of some girl reading a book and taking notes under the shade of a tree. "Doing homework in the middle of August, huh? What a no-life."
The subject of the photograph was a short girl with a small frame, and fluffy brown hair. She was wearing a skirt and a polo shirt. It was a strange outfit, but it at least looked comfortable in the hot, humid Southern B.C. weather.
Thorne hadn't seen Heather post the image or the caption. He sat down in the tall stool and placed his drink on the table. "For a Dollar Star on North Commercial Dr., at noon in the middle of August, it's not that busy."
"No," Heather replied. "It really isn't, huh? It's usually a hell of a lot busier, actually." Her phone dinged. Thorne noticed a cute black cat-shaped charm attached to the corner of her phone. "Ooh!" she gasped in response to the ding on her phone. "Wow, six likes on my new post already!"
"Oh, what post?" Thorne asked.
"Oh, nothing," Heather insisted. "Just something on this page I'm on with some… friends."
"Alright," Thorne responded. He sipped his drink and sighed from the refreshing, cooling taste of sugary fruit on a hot day.
They talked for a while longer about school and the upcoming Grade 12 year. Apparently, Thorne and Heather had at least two classes together in the first semester., those two classes being Math and English. Thorne also discussed how he had been put into a newly-enlisted Social Psychology class against his will. After a while, they both got up and said farewell. As Thorne packed up his bag, Heather was already on her way to the door.
"Oh, by the way," Heather added.
"Yeah?" Thorne acknowledged.
"You like sushi?"
"Oh, totally!"
"There's a great place, and it's not far from school," Heather explained. "It's called Ayaka Sushi. Maybe we should meet there sometime."
"Ooh, I've heard lots of good things about Vancouver sushi," Thorne smiled. "Let's talk about it later. See you later."
"See ya!" And with that, Heather was out the door.
Thorne found himself lost on the way back. Even finding the skytrain station was difficult. The GPS seemed to want to direct him down a very inconvenient path.
