Today was Friday and Azule and his friends had decided to go to Arowana mall to hang out and do some shopping; Arowana mall is the biggest mall in Inkopolis with all the top brands selling there like Takoroka, Rockenberg, Firefin and many more; The mall also hosts Turf Wars sometimes. They arrived at the mall and it was packed with Inklings, Shrimplings (humanoid shrimp people), Shrimp, jellyfish and many others.
"Where should we go? There's plenty stores here and there's even an outlet store further west" Said Sally with eagerness, Reice points over to the open strip where they held Turf wars, there was a bistro right next to it.
Reice steps in front, "Let's grab a bite there." leading them through the traffic of people.
Upon entering the little bistro, there was a sweet aroma that filled the air. The restaurant's signature dish was their pizza with pineapple and vegetables; which they ordered. The pizza was sizzling with the sweet pineapple peeking under the steaming hot cheese, they all took a bite at the same time and tasted the amazing punch of the tomato sauce with the other ingredients. After they had some pizza, Azule was raring to go and compete in some turf wars.
"C'mon guys let's enter!" jumping excitingly, but Reice grabs him by the shoulder.
"Calm yourself, the turf wars not even today, they only hold them on Thursdays and Saturdays." trying to hold him down from jumping and creating attention.
"Okay you idiots, Violet and I will be doing our girls shopping, don't you get killed now." in a nonchalant tone, sprinting off with Violet following her.
"Great job, they ditched us…" whined Reice, who was hoping to fix the mistake he made yesterday.
"I don't know Reice; I think Sally just didn't want to be around you today." in wise tone; Reice is infuriated.
"Why? Why wouldn't she want to be around me?" glaring at Azule like a classic bully from the 50s.
"Cause you tried to put the moves on her yesterday and failed miserably…" looking at him with disappointment; Reice shrinks.
"Did she tell you!?" shrinking even more.
"Yup." giving Reice a thumbs up with a straight face; Reice fell to the floor as if he just saw a ghost.
Azule and Reice stopped at a number of places: from Gamego (Gamestop) to Floorstore (Walmart); but couldn't find anything worth purchasing. They kept on walking until Azule noticed an inkling walking up to people and asking them something, it looked like he'd lost someone; he approached Azule and Reice.
"Sorry to bother you…" he said, "I'm looking for a girl, brown skinned, orange hued tentacles with a white Skalop shirt and red high tops, have you seen her by any chance?" in a worried tone.
"No, we haven't seen anyone like that around here so far, sorry" said Reice, trying to get him to leave; the boy looks disappointed.
"Oh well, thanks for your help anyways" walking off; but Azule stops him at the last minute.
"Wait, we'll help you look for her." decisively much to Reice's displeasure.
"Why did you do that?" whispered Reice.
"I feel like there's a familiar feeling to this guy, like we were meant to meet this guy today for some odd reason." with faith that the sudden feeling wasn't a mistake. The three of them search up and down looking for the guy's missing friend. While walking, Azule spots a SAHS wristband sneaking out from under his maroon red Zekko hoodie sleeve.
"Hey, do you go to SAHS?" Asked Azule, examining his face for further indication; the boy seemed oddly familiar, like he was someone they knew but couldn't name.
"Oh, my apologies, I haven't introduced myself yet, my name is Cobalt, and yes I do attend Squid academy. I'm a first year there, are you guys by any chance first years there too?"
"Yeah, we are. But Cobalt, I have some questions to ask you before we continue searching for your friend." Requested Azule, folding his arms as Cobalt halts and turns to them.
"Sure, lay the question down…"
"Why are we searching for this girl of yours and why have you been coming to the dorm so late?" asked Azule with full conviction; Cobalt began to hesitate with his answer.
"W-well y-you see."-Looking around to check if the coast is clear- "I'm sorry, but all I can say is that she is in some serious danger if we don't find her…" with great worry on his face.
"Wait...Dorm? What dorm are you guys in?" realizing Azule also asked him that question.
"A-7…" Butted Reice into the conversation.
"Oh so we are in the same dorms, huh. Well, the reason why I've been late to the dorm also has connections to the girl I'm searching for." Ashamed that he sounds even more shady and unconvincing than before; Azule and Reice look at each other.
"NO! It's not what you think! It's definitely not what you're thinking!" realizing why the two suddenly had a huge mischievous grin on their faces.
Azule sighed, "Fine, but when we find her you'll have to tell us what's been going on lately ok?"
"Promise!" leading the way again; they continued their search for the missing girl.
Violet and Sally had been shopping from left to right purchasing different things and going to many different stores; they even bought groceries for their dorm.
"Please deliver this to my dorm…" said Violet signing off a package; Sally was stunned by how many bags she was carrying in her hand.
"My goodness Violet, I didn't think you were such a rich girl…" carrying a bag of clothes that she'd just purchased.
"Noooooooooo" waving her hand in denial, "I'm not rich, I just come from a powerful family is all." downplaying her family's reputation as she wasn't very sure if Sally knew about her past from Reice.
"Oh? Ah yeah" whispering to her, "You're the heir to a huge Mafia right? But why are you so hush-hush about it? That's super cool."
Violet wasn't very comfortable with her past since it disallowed her to make any real friends, she did receive some heinous torment in her past from family, rivals and even her classmates.
"Tell me tell me, I want to know more about you from you and not Reice, tell me your past from your perspective." in friendly manner, sitting her on a bench; Violet was very hesitant to tell her past to Sally, but since she shares the same dorm with her and has the same classes with her and she's in the same club as her, Sally, at this point, is becoming her best friend right under her nose-a matter of time.
"Sally, are we, you know, friends? Best friends?" she asked with anticipation that she'll reject the idea.
"You silly!" patting her head "We're both in a club that we founded on the principle of true friendship and trust. I've viewed you as my best friend from yesterday at the park…" she said, poking violet's arm. "But violet, I really would like to know about your past…" in a serious tone "whatever happened then, I won't let it happen now, and that's the truth." with strong resolve. Violet feeling relieved to hear that, told Sally her entire past experiences.
"As you know, I'm heir to the Sororia Family. My childhood was a lie for the most part, fake friends and my parents and family lying to me. I was bullied by my classmates for 5 years straight after they arrested my dad and put him in jail. some family members tried to harass me when my mom wasn't around and most of the time I was being stalked by my uncle." she moved her left tentacle and showed her scar to her "I got this in a scuffle with a robber when he broke into my house, he broke my entire neck and nearly killed me on the spot if I hadn't sounded the alarm beforehand." Sally was horrified by what Violet been through.
"Well, that's quite a tough past you got there…" looking her in the eye with great sympathy and then rubbing her forehead, "I think you deserve to know more about who I am." Violet readies herself for the story of Sally.
"First things first, my full name is Salmona Walleye, I come from a wealthy family, from Grandpa Walter Walleye, the owner of Walleye warehouse. My mom, Hanna Walleye, is a professional turf war player, playing for the Bay west Cods."
"Whaaaaaaat…? But bay west is over in Squirabia!" awed an amazed Violet.
"My dad, Carson Walleye, is a professional baseball player, he plays for Urchins" She adds.
Violet shows concern since both of her parents are away, "do you get lonely?" Sally shook her head no but in her Pink eyes, it was clear she was lonely, wanting a friend she could talk to.
"I get to spend about two months with them each year, my dad's season is March to October; my mom's season is November to January so there's that, plus the workout in the offseason. Of course I get to see them on Christmas, although only that day. My grandparents are too ill to take care of me, so I've spent my last 5 years living by myself." Violet, teary-eyed and sniffling, opens her arms wide to give Sally a hug; Sally leans into her hug with an appreciative smile.
"SO I guess we're officially best friends…" jokes Sally looking at Violet.
"Uh huh" she responded.
