Chapter 9

Inkopolis Plaza…

Wow, this place is a ghost town. Almost no one's here. He wasn't wrong though, these battles are crazy. Some of these squids had nearly unlimited specials, some never ran out of ink, it honestly looked pretty unfair at times, but was interesting to watch. We were actually watching one right now.

"So…what's with the goggles?" He asked.

"My mom has me keep them on." I'm getting tired of explaining this. "To hide my eyes."

He looked at me, raising an eyebrow.

"All right, I won't pry into your personal business." He said. "…yet."

I scooted away from him.

"Wait, won't they show when you're in Octopus form?" He asked.

"Interestingly enough, they actually stay over my eyes when I shift." I told him. "These were my dad's but I don't know why his goggles are so special."

"That's interesting…" He remarked. "What's your name, anyway?"

"Octim." I told him. "Tim for short. And you?"

"Ivan." He replied.

"So when did you move here from the Octarian settlements?" He seemed very curious. "Most Octolings I've met tell me they moved here either two years ago or just recently."

"I actually grew up in Cirrina countryside." I told him.

"Huh, that's very interesting…" He remarked again. "So you wanna head over to the Arcade?"

"Sure!" I followed him out.

The arcade here was pretty cool, on par with The Shoal in fact. This probably had the highest concentration of people outside the arenas, which still wasn't much, but…

"Is that Pearl?!" I saw her playing Squid Jump.

"Oh yeah." Ivan said. "She comes here sometimes for the arcade."

I walked over to her.

"Aw man!" She lost her last life and turned to see me. "Oh, uh…hello."

"Y-you're Pearl from Off the Hook!" I said. "I saw you on TV before coming here! Huh. You actually aren't as short in person."

"That's just because Marina's really tall." She said. "So you're a fan?"

"Yeah!" I got excited. "Your rapping and Marina's scrubbing, I actually wanna be a DJ myself!"

"Wow, Reena's already inspiring others to play music." She remarked. "So watcha got, kid?"

"I…uh…haven't actually started yet." I admitted. "I haven't found anyone who can teach me."

"Geez, sorry kid." She felt my pain. "I'd ask Marina, but our schedules have been busy lately. I don't think she has the time."

"I was afraid you'd say that…" I lamented.

"Hey, it's never easy to start, but you'll find someone to help." She patted me on the back. "I mean, I was in bands for a while, but I only really got big after forming Off the Hook."

"Thanks for the kind words." I said.

"Here, have this too." She signed my shirt. "Now if I die in a drive-by splatting, you can sell that shirt and pay for a DJ teacher guy."

"That's very thoughtful in an extremely morbid way." I told her.

"No problem!" She then looked at her phone. "Oh splat! I gotta go! It's almost time for the next stage rotation!"

She then ran out the door and Superjumped out of here.

"Wow…I just met Pearl." I was in awe.

"Hey, play your cards right and you may meet the other half of the group." Ivan told me.

I hope I do…well, back to the Square.

Later…

I walked back with Ivan. Can't risk being alone in this city…afterwards I walked back to the apartment, Lisa was waiting on the couch.

"There you are!" She was expecting me. "I have another plan!"

I facepalmed.

"What is it now?" I groaned.

"We'll go to the movies and I'll text Benny that I'm going with you!" She said.

Fine…" I rolled my eyes, not that she could see.

"Alright, I'm texting him now!" She informed me. "We'll see a totally mushy romance flick. That'll get him! Now come on!"

It only took us a few minutes to get to the theatre.

"Alright…yes!" She pointed at the movie list. "Shellside Story! We're just in time!"

We soon got into the theatre and after a few minutes it started. I don't know whether or not most people were working or turfing, if it must've been out for a while, or a combination of the two, because there was no one else in the theatre. It was…awkward…

Later…

The movie was…interesting. I've never seen a romance movie before…heck, I've never been in a romance before. It felt…weird…but I couldn't stop watching.

"Are…are you crying?" She stared at me.

"The…the guy died and it was so sad…" I whimpered.

"You know it was based off a story where both the lovers died, right?" She raised an eyebrow.

"They did?!" I got more sad.

"Hey, easy." She told me. "It's just a story."

"Right, right…" I moved my goggles slightly to wipe a tear away. I saw her try to take a peek, but to no avail.

The movie ended shortly after and we got up to leave.

"Benny texted me!" She said as we got to the steps.

"What'd he say?" I asked. "Lisa?"

She froze.

I looked at her phone to see Ben texted. "Cool. Enjoy the movie!"

She then collapsed and slowly rolled like a ragdoll down the stairs. I picked up her phone and rushed over.

"You okay?!" I was actually a little worried.

She said nothing and just had a blank facial expression. She just blinked and shook her head.

"Should I leave you alone or…" Wait. "You want me to carry you?"

She shook her head yes, her expression still unchanging.

"Ugh…" I picked her up and carried her as far as the room's entrance before setting her on her feet. "I can't and won't carry you any further."

She was able to stand, but she still said nothing all the way back to the apartment. Andrea was on her phone while Ben was watching TV.

"Oh, hey Lisa." Ben noticed us. "How was the movie?"

She still said nothing, but I could tell she was screaming on the inside. She just walked into her room and shut the door.

"What's with her?" Ben wondered.

We then heard banging sounds against the wall.

"I'll check on her." Andrea got up.

I sat down on the couch to see what was on.

"You know she's trying to make you jealous, right?" I looked at Ben.

"Yeah, I know." He did?! "It's just…we've spent all of our time together since we got to the city. I need a little space."

"Why don't you just tell her?" I asked.

"Because she'd think I was saying I want to break up." He told me. "So I'll make it happen indirectly. I have it all planned out in my mind. Trust me weird kid, it'll work. I'm a genius."

"Great…now I know this'll end badly…" I groaned.