Chapter Two: Cannabis and Lotuses

Saturday.

Best fucking day of the week. Sunday's not bad either, but Sunday always included knowing that the apocalypse, that is to say Monday, was nigh. Saturday, at least, could use Sunday as a buffer. All Sunday could use as a buffer was a stretch of not enough sleep.

Around ten in the morning, I'd woken up from my deep Friday night beauty sleep, scavenged a light lunch from the contents of the pantry, watched some TV, and then I'd fallen back asleep.

Tonight I was sleeping over at Cruz's place, we were probably going to be up all night, so I wanted to get my rest in now.

After dreaming hazily of a golden city, I woke back up around fifteen minutes ago, and ever since then I've remained motionless under the covers, slowly working up the necessary willpower to get out of bed. When my feet began tapping an impatient rhythm, I finally opened my eyes, and the first thing I noticed was the flashing message icon at the bottom corner of my computer's screen saver, which meant someone had messaged me.

It was probably the Bitch. Even after dumping me last year, my one and only ex still sent me annoying messages every now and then, and the decipherability of those messages depended on how much she'd had to drink. I wasn't in the mood to deal with anything like that right now, but it's the 21st Century. Flashing inboxes can't be ignored.

The alarm clock at my bedside said 4:13pm. Not too early, not too late. Yawning again, I trudged over to my dresser and threw on a shirt before addressing the messages on my computer.

I clicked on my PalHassle inbox and was surprised to find two new conversations. Sure enough, the Bitch had messaged me late last night, when I was asleep. I get that she's a raging alcoholic, but why did she always send me the sloppy messages? Was it because I never responded? It was probably because I never blocked her. I mean, yeah, the messages were annoying, but also kind of amusing. And I guess a little disturbing?

For now, I ignored the Bitch's new messages and focused on the other new conversation, which was much more surprising, because I'd been messaged by the very same asshole my ex had cheated on me with. "Gino Caiazzo?" I frowned at the new messages and realized they had only just been sent within the past minute, and Gino was actually still online. "Why the fuck are you messaging me?"

-gentlemanConsigliere began hassling anomalousThespian at 10:12-

GC: hey dude
GC: dude, u there
GC: helloooo
GC: ur sleepin right now, rnt u
GC: goddamnit
GC: stop leavin ur fuckin account logged in every time u go 2 bed

AT: Gino why the fuck are you messaging me?

GC: duuuude, u left ur account logged in again
GC: gotta stop doing that its fuckin annoying

AT: Gino.
AT: why the fuck are you messaging me?

GC: ur comin 2 cruz's later today right

AT: yes.
AT: wait, what?
AT: you're coming to that?

GC: ok good just making sure byeeee

-gentlemanConsigliere is no longer hassling anomalousThespian-

What the fuck? Now Gino was sleeping over at Cruz's too? God damn it.

Gino happened to be one of Cruz's friends, thanks primarily to Gino's strong preference for buying Cruz's weed, and their mutual enjoyment of several of the same video games. As a result, I occasionally bumped into Gino while hanging out with Cruz, and it was fucking annoying, because Gino Caiazzo is an arrogant prick who looks me in the eye and never brings up the fact that he literally fucked his way into my love life.

Enough of that.

I closed out of my chat window with Gino. For shits and giggles, I opened up the messages from the Bitch, lazily scrolling through them. "You were wasted last night…" I muttered. The Bitch rambled for a while on a range of topics, including what she was currently wearing, as well as her distorted account of the wild house party she'd apparently attended last night. Then she started making fun of my eye color, and I immediately closed out of the chat window.

What a Bitch.

In the interest of killing some time before heading out, I navigated online to a trusty illegal streaming hub and started watching The Nightman Cometh. Theo recommended It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia to me two years ago, saying that it was a treatise on the human condition, and I will stand by him in that argument until the end of time. "Champion of the sun," I sang along to the famous song immortalizing the Dayman's full manifestation of verve. "You're a master of karate and friendship for everyone, Daymaaaaaaaan, stage-freeze!"

Once the episode was over, I exited out of everything, double checking to make sure I was completely logged out of PalHassle before shutting off my computer. Before exiting, I opened my bedroom window and poked my head outside, getting a feel for the weather. It was warmer today than it had been yesterday, around sixty degrees, and beautifully cloudy. Sure, sunny days were nice, but rainy days were cozier.

I yawned one last time.

Slipping my wallet, phone, and ipod into my pockets, I opened my bedroom door and stepped out into the hallway. I went downstairs, threw on my jacket, and was about to shout goodbye to my sister, but then I remembered she wasn't home. She was working through the entire weekend, at her engineering job, where she oversaw construction projects and made sure buildings were up to code. So she claimed, at least. Ever since childhood, I've wondered if my sister actually left for days at a time to complete covert missions and save the world. Even today, I wasn't wholly unconvinced.

As I grabbed the car keys from the dining room table, I noticed movement in the corner of my eye. A shadowy figure was standing in the front hall, but when I turned my head, the phantom was nowhere to be seen. Did I just imagine that? I walked into the front hall and looked around, finding nothing. "Weird..."

I exited through the front door, locking the house behind me, and walking over to the garage, where Little Blue awaited. Cruz lived on the other side of Downingtown, which wasn't too far. It would be a twenty-plus minute drive if traffic was okay, and that meant I was going to need some Hans Zimmer for the trip. After climbing into Little Blue, I plugged in my ipod and queued up Hans Zimmer's original soundtrack for The Last Samurai, otherwise known as Dances With Wolves. Just replace the western frontier with Meiji Restoration Japan, and replace Kevin Costner with Tom Cruise screaming for sake.

The first few tracks of Last Samurai lasted me the quick drive to the Liongate neighborhood, where I found Theo waiting for me by the community center. "Hey, Arbiter," he flashed me a grin as he buckled himself up.

"Hey, Chief," I finished our customary greeting, pulling away from the community center and getting back onto Route 113, leaving Theo's neighborhood behind. "You seem in good spirits. Did you cast a happy hex on yourself?"

"Right." Theo gave me a look. "Because I'm a wizard?"

"Now and forever."

"I'm just excited for tonight. It's been a while since I've hung out with more than two people at a time."

"You gonna be okay with all the cannabis?" I asked Theo, who always got nervous when I had weed, because he did not want to get arrested. Fair enough.

"Well, I thought I'd give it a try," said Theo. "We're all graduating soon. Might not get another chance for a long time. Plus, I brought a few surprises," he jostled his bag.

I gave my friend a sidelong glance. "You mean you want to get blitzed?"

"Blitzed, hexed, and bewitched."

"Beheaded?"

Theo frowned. "No."

"Good, that was a test."

We cruised at high speed down Route 113, passing our high school along the way, continuing through Exton and Lionville, until we were able to merge onto Route 30 just east of Downingtown, where the speed limit plummeted to twenty-five miles per hour. Although I knew Route 30 primarily for its slow traffic and maddeningly frequent traffic lights, the road happened to be historic. Route 30 ran all the way across the country to the West Coast, it was the first paved transcontinental highway in the United States, and most importantly, it was going to help me get to Cruz's place so I could get stoned.

I tapped the brakes, slowing us down as Route 30 brought us through the denser residential and commercial sprawl of Downingtown. Once we passed Kerr Park and crossed the Brandywine Creek, I turned onto Route 322, which brought us out through the other side of Downingtown and into the dense woods beyond.

"Isn't that West?" Theo pointed out the passenger window as we drove past Downingtown West High School.

"Yep, that's West, alright," I confirmed. "You've never been there?"

"Why would I ever find myself at West?" asked Theo.

"They have a wonderful theater stage, a hundred times better than ours," I said. "They also have the stadium, where the East-West game happens."

"Why would I ever want to watch high school football?"

"These are all valid points," I conceded. "The only games I've attended were dates I shared with the Bitch."

"You mean Anna?"

"Yeah, the Bitch, that's what I said, and we didn't even watch the games." I smirked at the memories. "We just made out the whole time."

"Why do you still call her 'The Bitch'? It was over a year ago. You'll be happier if you let it go."

"So would everyone in the Holy Land, and yet the Crusades continue today," I remarked, turning onto the small back road which would bring us to Cruz's place, leaving Route 322 behind. "Cruz invited Gino to hang out tonight, after having already invited me, and to add the maraschino cherry on top, Tami Abramov will be there too."

"Oh cool! I haven't met Tami yet." Theo's grin shrank a little as he noticed my stormy expression and remembered why Tami's presence was significant. "Wait. Wasn't Tami dating Gino when he and Anna had their tryst?"

"Don't call it a tryst, that makes it sound thrilling and risky, just call it like it is. They sloppily hooked up. They fucking cheated." I took a deep breath. "And yeah. Gino and Tami were dating at the time, and they actually continued dating for a while after, until Gino and the Bitch fucked again, and then Tami dumped his sorry ass. It was a whole saga for a while."

"Well, I'm glad to be marching into battle armed with backstory," Theo chuckled. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Yeah, until Gino opens his mouth." I glanced at Theo's bulging backpack. "Gonna tell me what those surprises are?"

Theo shook his head, giving his bag a reassuring pat. "It's almost as if you don't know what the word surprise means."

"I know what the word douchenozzle means."

Theo pointed out the windshield. "Isn't that Cruz's driveway we're about to blow past?"

"Shit." I slammed on the brakes as Cruz's driveway approached, decelerating drastically enough to send Theo and me forward into our seat belts, and I made it ten times worse by swerving perfectly into Cruz's drive way.

"Oh god!" Theo screeched, holding on for dear life. "Jesus suffering fuck!"

"I'm so sorry, Theo." I slowed down to a safe speed and cruised gently along the uphill gravel driveway. "I'm so sorry I turned you back into a Theist. A Theist with amazing profanity. Jesus suffering fuck? I love it. Where'd you get that?"

"I heard it on youtube from Billy Connolly, who said it's a Glasgow thing," Theo muttered. "And I'll accept any apology that is not serving double-duty as a joke."

"Jesus suffering fuck, Theo, I'm sorry, alright? You're right. No more car shenanigans."

Cruz's house finally came into view. It was a small three-story house, with a quaint stone chimney and a satellite dish mounted on the roof. Attached to the house was a smaller extension containing a garage, and that is where we parked. Theo grabbed his bag and we got out of the car, glimpsing the beautiful lake beyond Cruz's back yard, and the towering stony hill on the other side of the lake.

Theo and I walked to the front door, and Theo reached for the doorbell, but I waved his hand away. "No need for that." I opened the unlocked front door without knocking and strolled inside, hearing voices deeper inside, as well as the unmistakable burbling of a bong. I took a moment to bask in the strong aroma of cannabis smoke. "I love it here, it's like living in a weed forest."

Wrinkling his nose at the pungent smell, Theo followed me inside. "Is his grandma home?"

"Of course not."

"Who's that I hear?!" hollered Cruz from deeper inside the house.

"It's me!" I yelled back. "And I found a wild Theo along the way!"

"Theo fucking Gibbons!" Cruz burst into the front hall, smiling ear to ear, hugging me first before moving on to Theo. "It's been a while! How's the passage of time treating you both?"

"Time still passes at a rate of one day per day," I replied.

"I'm doing well," said Theo. "Just trying not to think too much about the rest of my life."

"Trust me, bro, I know," Cruz chuckled. "And you've come to the right place. We have an ancient remedy which may help, but as always, if you don't want to partake, that's totally fine."

"Actually, Theo wants to get blitzed, hexed, and bewitched tonight," I chimed in. "So fire up that bong."

Cruz's smile widened, which should not have been physically possible. "For real?" he asked Theo. "You wanna hop aboard the Cannabine Express?"

"Well, yeah," said Theo. "Yeah, I figured it's our senior year, we're all graduating, and…"

"Say no more." Cruz clapped Theo on the shoulder before stepping into the kitchen. I decided not to mention to Theo that Cruz probably was not going to graduate high school this year, due to poor attendance and chronic flunking. Cruz was very intelligent, but he had a hard time focusing on academia. "The others are here already. Follow me into the rest of the night." Cruz invited us, with dramatic flair, to follow him through the kitchen. "Starting with the den."

Three people already sat on the two couches in the den, and they all went to West like Cruz, so I didn't see them nearly as often. Gino Caiazzo sat alone on one of the couches, while Tami Abramov and Gwen Twymann shared the other. Gwen was in the process of inhaling from Mary J. Magdalene, Cruz's exquisite bong, and Tami had placed herself on the edge of her couch, as far from Gino as possible. The tension was palpable.

I knew Tami and Gwen from Barley Sheaf, a local theater which produced teen musicals every summer, teen musicals for which I usually stage managed. During the summer, when Gwen was not busy with maintaining her impeccable GPA or playing lacrosse, she allowed her natural talents as an actor to shine onstage as part of the teen musical. We weren't close, but we'd acknowledged each other while at Barley Sheaf because we both knew Cruz.

Same deal with Tami, who I met through the teen musicals because she participated in the orchestra pit. She usually brought down the house with her violin, but I've also seen her kick ass with a piano. I'm sure she could kick my ass with her fists and feet, too, but thankfully I've managed to avoid Tami's shit list. "What's up, bitches?" Tami sprang to her feet and came over to hug us. "Long time no see."

"I'm not sure I've ever actually met you in person," Theo said as he accepted the offered hug. "It's nice to meet you."

"You sure we've never met? You look familiar." Tami hugged me next, asking me, "And how are you?"

"Well, Tami Abramov, I'm just dandy," I replied. "Are you doing the teen show this summer?"

"Dunno." Tami shrugged. "Maybe? Probably not. There's a lot of drama between drama people, and I'm not sure I can take another year of it."

Gwen finished hitting the bong and passed it to Gino before getting up and greeting us. "Hello, hello, new arrivals. Welcome."

Theo, who'd never met Gwen before, tried to offer his hand, but Gwen brushed his hand aside and gave him a hug. "Nice to meet you, Theo."

"Good to see you, Gwen," I said, exchanging hugs with her when she finished with Theo. "How about you, are you doing the next Barley Sheaf show?"

"Probably not," Gwen replied. "I'm planning on spending most of the summer travelling."

Well, fuck. Neither of them were coming back this year. I might not do it either, now.

"Hey, smoke these drugs." Gino passed me Mary J. Magdalene. He did not get up, but offered me his fist for a fist-bump, which I pretended not to notice.

And of course, when I accepted the bong, I immediately saw the only thing left in the slider was ash. Gino would hand me a dead bong. "Looks like Mary J. Magdalene needs the Lazarus treatment," I remarked, handing the bong over to Cruz.

"One bong resurrection, coming right up." Cruz grabbed Mary J. Magdalene and brought it over to the computer desk, sitting in the swivel desk chair. He pulled out a large mason jar full of cannabis from the cabinet underneath the computer, unscrewing the jar and packing several sizable nugs into his grinder.

Theo took a seat on the couch next to Gino, Tami and Gwen returned to their seats, and I opted to sit on the carpet while Cruz ground up his cannabis.

"Here we are." Cruz tapped some of the ground cannabis into the slider and brought his swivel chair over to the rest of the group. "As you all may or may not know, on this day, the 11th day of April in the Year of Our Lord 2009, Theo Gibbons has decreed that he shall embrace the one true cannabis. Theo, I therefore bestow upon you the gift of greens. May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out."

"Thank you very much," Theo chuckled, accepting Mary J. Magdalene. "For this experience, and also for the sprinkling of Galadriel. How does it work?"

"Here we go." I took the lighter and pointed at the slider. "This is the slider, because it slides out. What you want to do is hold the lighter's flame just above the slider, and inhale here." I tapped the top of the bong. "The suction of your breath will light the cannabis by pulling in the flame, which fills the bong with smoke. Before you finish breathing in, the slider comes out," I plucked the slider from its receptacle to demonstrate, "which opens a direct airway and sends all that smoke roaring into your lungs. Got it?"

Theo nodded, looking a little overwhelmed. "I think so."

"For your first time, I'll handle the fire and slider," I said, readying the lighter. "All you have to do is breathe."

"Okay, let's do this." Theo stretched, making the motion of cracking his knuckles without actually being able to crack his knuckles. Then he grabbed the bong to keep it steady, and when he started breathing in, the bong burbled and I lit the cannabis for him. After a couple seconds, once the bong's insides were nice and opaque, I pulled out the slider, and Theo barely managed to complete his first ever bong rip before collapsing into a fit of violent coughing while the smoke poured from his mouth.

"Yeah, Theo!" Gwen cheered, giving him a round of applause, which the rest of us joined.

"Bravo!" said Gino. "You've got talent, kid. I always knew you'd go far."

"You didn't say-" Theo coughed several more times before he could regain enough of a breath to finish his thought. "You didn't say it would hurt."

"I mean, you're breathing in hot smoke," I said, replacing the slider and grabbing the bong. "I thought it would be fairly self-evident."

Theo's only response to that was another round of coughing, and an extended middle finger.

"Theo," Cruz giggled, "don't worry about it, we all get wrecked from our first bong rip. It's like being in the navy and crossing the equator for the first time."

I lit up and enjoyed a bong rip of my own. "Wow-wheee!" I howled, peacefully exhaling half of my lungful before succumbing to my own bout of coughing. I shook my head several times, wiping my eyes. "Been a while since I've experienced Mary."

"She is a potent bitch," Gino remarked.

"Don't be hating on Mary J. Magdalene," Cruz playfully punched Gino on the arm. "That's sacrilege."

"Why," asked Tami, "are you talking about the bong like you want to bone it?"

"The bong is pure," Cruz answered cryptically.

I found myself smiling for no reason, drawn by the sudden urge to giggle. Colors popped in sharper relief, and I felt a familiar buzzing sensation around my head. "Oh, here we go," I giggled, passing the bong to Tami. "I got the fish-eye."

"The what?" Gino asked.

"Fish-eye, I got the…when your depth perception gets a little weird, and the world looks like your're seeing it through a fish-eye lens?" I coughed again. "You know?"

"No, I don't know," Gino was chuckling. "I don't speak Retard."

"And now we can add ableism to your list of virtues," muttered Tami, who'd just exhaled a plume of smoke and passed the bong to Gwen.

Gino didn't seem to know what ableism meant, because all he said in response was, "Huh?"

"Pick up a book, for once in your life, and read past the picture on the front cover," Tami suggested.

"C'mon, let's all just take it easy," Cruz held up his hands before Gino could respond. "Chill."

Theo took a breath from his inhaler, and the group's attention focused once more upon him.

"How're you doing over there, Theo buddy?" Cruz asked, reaching over to give Theo a gentle nudge. "Doing good?"

"I don't think I'm really feeling anything." Theo shrugged. "Are you sure one bong was enough?"

Tami snickered.

"Give it a few minutes," suggested Cruz, who rose to his feet and accepted the bong from Gwen, grabbing his mason jar full of cannabis. "Why don't we bring our celebrations outside? The temple awaits."

We put our jackets back on and gathered our things. Gino watched as Theo slung his backpack over his shoulder. "Whatcha got in the pack, man?"

"You'll see," Theo patted his backpack. "It's a surprise."

Cruz led the way out the back door, not bothering to lock it.

I gazed across the backyard, down the hillside and beyond the pine trees, to the giant lake behind Cruz's house. Rising from the middle of the lake was a mossy old stone structure which resembled an ancient Mayan pyramid, and squatting atop the structure was majestic carved stone frog statue. A stone bridge stretched across the lake from the base of the temple to the lakeshore.

"What's with the frog?" Theo started to ask, but the moment he stepped outside, he faltered. Placing one hand on the doorway and the other on his forehead, Theo looked up at the cloudy sky with the expression of someone seeing the world for the first time. He was stoned as fuck, and it was a very precious thing. "Okay…" he murmured. "Okay, I, uh…yeah."

"That's just the berg of the icetip, man," Gino told Theo. "Top of the iceberg. Tip."

"Who speaks Retard, now?" I interjected, grasping my opportunity for petty revenge, and immediately regretting it.

"Really?" Tami glared at me. "You too?"

God damn it, she was right, I should never use that word, Gino just really pisses me off, I mean, fuck. And now I'm as bad as him. Worse, even. "I'm sorry." I will never say that word again.

"Why are you staring at me?" Gino asked me. "Do you want to make out?"

I didn't try hard to hide my disgust. "You wish."

"Because you're definitely not my type," Gino finished. I don't think the asshole even noticed me speaking. "Don't worry, you'll find love someday."

"Sure, so you can fuck your way into that, too," I retorted, earning a wry chuckle from Tami.

"You think a two-month fling with Anna Carrero was love?" Gino blinked in surprise. "Really? Dude. I mean, she did think you were cute, but I didn't know you were such a sappy romantic. It probably amused her."

"Taking it a little far, don't you think?" asked Tami.

"You need to shut the fuck up," I seethed.

Tami glared at me yet again. "Excuse me?"

God damn it. "Not you, Tami."

"Everyone needs to calm down," interrupted Gwen, who shared Theo's good fortune in never having dated any of us in the past. "Or sit in a corner. I don't care. Just stop acting like high schoolers for two seconds."

I rolled my eyes. "We're in high school, Gwen, we act like high-schoolers no matter what we do."

"Hey, cool it back there!" Cruz stopped at the edge of the lake, turning around to address our microcosm of a collapsing civilization. "This is a fight-free fiesta. Leave your baggage on the lakeshore."

"And yet, you invite me and Tweedle Dumb over here," Tami pointed at me, "to the same hangout as Tweedle Fuck," she pointed at Gino with her middle finger. "What were you thinking? Why not just invite Anna, while you're at it?"

"I thought about it, but she would bring booze, and you'll kill each other if you get drunk." Cruz stepped onto the stone bridge to the frog-capped temple, gesturing for us to follow. "Tonight we're gonna learn how to set aside our differences to enjoy a night of revelry and chill vibes, and we're gonna do it the way our ancient ancestors knew worked best."

"By uniting to kill our neighbors for their food and land?" asked Tami.

"What? No." Cruz plucked a joint from behind his ear and lit up, passing it to Tami after taking a long puff. "By getting stoney baloney. Now smoke that joint."

We crossed the rest of the bridge while passing the joint around. It took us a couple minutes to climb the steep flight of stairs carved into the front of the temple, and by the time we reached the top, I was sweating and panting. Cruz, Tami, and Theo sweated and panted right alongside me, which made me feel a little better.

Gwen and Gino, both of whom were athletes, were doing just fine.

At the top of the temple was an open doorway which allowed access to the interior. We ducked inside, passing through a small antechamber into the main room beyond, where a strange sight awaited us.

A large stone platform occupied the center of the main chamber, and mounted upon the platform was a massive purple lotus flower. Which sounds impossible, I know, but I'm looking at it right now, and it's not impossible. I assumed it was some kind of art installment, because it wasn't really a biological flower. I've knocked on the petals, before, and I can tell you they're hard as metal.

Curiously enough, digital strip timers had been mounted on all four sides of the Lotus's square platform, displaying a countdown which was just over an hour away from reaching zero. It was the great mystery of this temple, and it was also why we were hanging out today in the first place. The first time I visited this place was more than five years ago, in 6th Grade, when Cruz and I were still new friends. Back then, the timers had showed a countdown of five years, and it was anyone's guess how long these timers had been counting. Seemed pretty odd, but hey? Whatever.

Cruz deployed his mobile speakers, plugged in his phone, and filled the interior of the temple with some smooth jazz. Then he ground up more cannabis from his jar and repacked the bong. We passed Mary J. Magdelene around, chatted for a while, and eventually found ourselves up on our feet, grooving to the music. Cruz performed some kind of wacky freeform dance, encouraging the rest of us to join. Gwen and Gino both had some really good moves, and they danced together while Theo and I semi-awkwardly did our own thing.

Tami abstained from dancing, producing an instrument case from her sylladex. She placed it on the ground, opened it, and pulled out her violin. Tami tuned the strings for a moment before diving into a sick improvised melody which altered the mood of the jazz into something more uptempo like swing. It was awesome, and it made me actually want to dance. Tami played for a long while, and I wasn't looking at the time, so I have no idea how long. Maybe an hour? Maybe more. I danced my little heart out, and it was wonderful, and even my animosity towards Gino relented in favor of being stoned, merry, and dancing.

After a while, we stopped dancing and rested. From his sylladex, Cruz retrieved a giant throw rug and several bean bag chairs, giving us a comfortable way of resting on the floor of the Lotus chamber. Cruz then got out his laptop, queuing up an episode of Bob Ross. Meanwhile, Theo opened up his backpack, pulling out a six-pack of what I thought was beer, but upon closer inspection I saw that it was not. "Is that root beer?" I asked.

"Sarsaparilla," Theo replied. "It's like root beer, except it's not root beer."

"Good enough for me," Gino shrugged, taking one of the bottles.

Theo handed the other bottles to the rest of us. There were enough for all of us to get one, but Tami refused hers.

"I'd like to keep my teeth," Tami said. "Thanks, though."

Theo then produced a container of Oreos and a huge carton of flavor-blasted goldfish.

Gino stared open-mouthed at the goldfish, which prompted Theo to pass the goldfish to Gino first. After getting the carton, Gino tore it open and shoved a small handful of goldfish into his mouth, closing his eyes and chewing with bliss. "I think I just came…" he mumbled, flecks of tiny orange goldfish debris falling from his mouth.

"Munchies, Theo? You brought munchies?" I pulled Theo into a puny bear hug. "Class act, my friend. That is a good surprise."

"Friends, the Lotus timers are three minutes away from zero," Gwen alerted us.

"YES," crowed Cruz, scooting over to his ipod and changing the music. "And that calls for The Final Countdown." As the iconic opening riff of The Final Countdown burst from Cruz's mobile speakers, he sang along to the beat. "Dada-daaa-dum! Dada-da-da-dum!"

"Anyone care to cast bets on what happens when the countdown runs out?" asked Gino.

"The Lotus will open," said Cruz. "And there may be something for you inside."

"Don't pull that cryptic shit with me again," chided Gino. "Are you going to say you saw it in a dream?"

"Well, I did see it in a dream," Cruz insisted. "Last night, in my dream, I was in a gold city." That got my attention. "And a magic cloud showed me the future. The Lotus opened, and you received a gift. By the way, has everyone received the Sburb beta in the mail, yet?"

Oh shit, I forgot to check my mailbox.

"Yeah, I got it," said Tami.

"Came in the mail yesterday," confirmed Gwen.

"Same." Theo nodded. "Mine arrived after school."

"I'm not actually sure," I admitted. "Forgot to check the mail. Could be sitting in the mailbox right now."

"Check that mailbox when you get home," encouraged Cruz. "We're planning on starting a new game Monday after school."

"Well, I never got around to ordering the beta, and I missed the deadline," said Gino. "So, there's that."

"What? Dude." Cruz mystically waved his hand like he was executing a flawless Jedi mind trick. "Sburb is what you were born to do. In another dream of mine, you were totally playing with us, and-"

"Nope." Gino set down the carton of flavor-blasted goldfish. "I don't care how many of your dreams turned out to be freakishly precognitive. Nothing can change the fact that I missed the deadline. I'll be sitting this one out."

Cruz leaned forward, grabbing a handful of Oreos. "We'll see. I could always ask my abuelita if she has any extras on hand."

"Shut the fuck up, here comes the chorus!" Tami shouted. "It's the FINAL COUNTDOWN!"

The Lotus capsule's timers reached the fifteen-second mark.

"If it turns out to be a bomb, I love you all," said Theo. "It was a good life."

We counted down the final ten seconds aloud, and when the timers zeroed out, several of us screamed, "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" even though 2010 was still eight-and-a-half months away.

The Lotus hummed with energy, and light appeared at the top as the petals, one by one, began to peel open and fall away. More light poured from the opening flower, intensifying until we were forced to look away. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the light subsided, and it was safe to look again.

Resting within the open Lotus capsule were two computer disks emblazoned with the Skaianet logo.

"Well, would you look at that?" Cruz reached down and picked up the disks, inspecting them for a moment before tossing them to Gino. "Looks like you'll be able to play Sburb, after all. Happy April 11th New Years!"