Meanwhile...
It was around this time that the trio had finally arrived at the town's park; the one that was about five blocks south of the Town Hall, as opposed to the one that was right next to it. It was pretty much like every other walled-up park that one would usually see in...any city ever; there was nothing but your usual fountain in the middle of the intersection, trees, bushes, benches, the works; but for the most part, the only real fun thing to do around here was nothing more but the skatepark. It should also be noted that there used to be a playground at this park at one point, but due to the skatepark being built, it was taken down due to the public losing interest in it; not that anyone, not even the kids, were all really that interested in it to begin with. Regardless, it was just your typical everyday park; no more, no less.
After the trio had parked, they began to make their way down the concrete path to where the skatepark was; however, unlike how it was during the ride here, Tim was...eerily silent during their walk; he just silently walked behind his other two friends, watching them as they were talking to each other about...cars, or something. He wasn't so sure if he wanted to join in on their conversation, especially after having to upset Katie by asking about her mother. He wasn't so sure what happened before he and Chaz moved in next door, or where the tomboy's mother currently was, or if they still have contact with each other or not; but whatever's the case, Tim hoped that nothing bad or serious happened to her. At the very least, he was thankful that his question didn't wind up ruining their new friendship with the young dentist because of that.
Along the way, Katie couldn't help but notice a small flock of pigeons scattered around one of the nearby benches, which instantly reminded her of something upon seeing them. "Say, I don't think I've ever mentioned this to you guys yet; but do you know where I've attended college?" The tomboy asked, only to receive a shrug from the biker, and absolutely nothing from the blue-haired boy. "Me and one of my closest friends attended one down in Simhatten, New York."
"Really?" Chaz asked, immediately intrigued by this bit of information. "You were in Simhatten for the last four years?"
"Yeah...although, I only selected to attend one down there because was my cousin, Vance, actually attends one of the universities in that town." Katie answered while nodding her head. "Also, I've always wanted to travel the world as a kid since I had a huge love for geography back then, so..."
"You know, it's actually pretty funny that you've been down in New York, because...coincidentally enough, I'm actually from Simhatten myself."
"You were?" The tomboy received an honest nod after she asked this. "Interesting, but...what made you decide to come up here to Simport?"
"Well, uh..." Chaz paused for a second, feeling a bit awkward to mention the actual reasoning behind that. "Let's just say that I had to make some...very difficult decision-making back before I moved up here."
"What about?"
Chaz was still unsure about telling his new friend about that part of his past or not, but rather than lie or ignore the question altogether, he decided to be honest with her. "Let's just say that I don't exactly have that great of a relationship with my parents, unlike you..." He started off explaining as honestly as he possibly could. "My mom walked out on us back when I was five, and as for my dad...well, he was one angry son of a bitch, that's all I can really say about him."
"Oh..." That was the only word that could come out of Katie's mouth after hearing this part of the biker's story.
"Every single day, ever since my mom walked out on us, it was just nonstop arguing between me and my dad ever since; and then, eventually, one argument escalated extremely quickly-" Chaz immediately paused, not wanting to go into detail about that specific argument. "Let's just say that was enough for me to ultimately decide on walking out on him..."
"Jesus..." Katie muttered, still clearly disheartened.
"The dude was an asshole to me and my mom anyway, so it was probably inevitable that I would've left him behind at some point; and honestly, seeing how my life turned out living here, I think I can say that I made the right choice." Chaz glanced behind himself at his best friend, before facing the studious girl once again, who proceeded to ask him another question.
"If you don't mind me asking, when exactly did all of this happen?"
"All the way back in 2007; the year in which I was just starting the fifth grade." Chaz simply answered as he kept his eyes facing forward. "Man, that was a long ass time ago..."
"Damn...that long?" Katie asked in surprise, before glancing behind herself at the blue-haired boy behind them. "So, when have you met him?"
"We've met around the beginning of middle-school." Tim answered, now joining into the conversation. "We were both playing dodgeball during P.E. class at one point, which was when we decided to talk; then we found out that we both have a liking for fixing cars the moment we got to our auto-class, and-"
"You guys have an auto-class at your middle school?" Katie asked with an eyebrow raised, clearly in disbelief at this bit of information.
"The class was purely for eighth-graders only, and we weren't allowed to fix or add modifications to cars, unless they were toy ones." Chaz explained to the tomboy. "We mostly just build and fix bikes."
"Oh, then that makes much more sense." Katie says while slowly nodding her head. "It would've been interesting if the Royal Academy had something like that."
"It would've made our lives a hell of a lot more fun, I can tell you that." The biker says in a joking manner, before suddenly frowning and saying his next sentence more seriously. "I did make the suggestion to Rosalyn, but she turned it down and called the idea 'inane' or something like that..."
"Truthfully, I think the cost of all the requirements needed for a class such as that to be quite...extravagant."
"That's a good point..." Chaz admitted, before deciding to revert the conversation back to what they were previously talking about seconds ago. "So, anyway, how was it like living in Simhatten?"
"Awesome, but...the only downside was that my dad wasn't there to enjoy all the wonderful sights with me and Crystal."
"Crystal?" Chaz asked with an eyebrow raised.
"She's my best friend."
"Oh, right." The biker then said while nodding his head slightly.
"Anyway...while I was there, I've had the courtesy to take a few photos of all the sights we've seen; but mainly ones that I was interested the most." Katie explained as she pulled her phone out of her pocket, handing it over to the biker once it's out. "I think my personal favorite out of all of the ones I've collected would have to be the one where I was visiting the Empire State Building by myself one time, and I've decided to see how the city looked from the top of it."
"Wow...it's like you've taken a picture of every single place that town has in store..." Chaz says in amazement, looking through the photos that were in the tomboy's phone.
"Like I've said before, I have a love for geography." Katie was then given back her phone. "I'm hoping to travel more of the world someday, and hopefully take more pictures of all the beautiful sights that I come across; presumably, somewhere in Europe is where I'm hoping to go to next, but I haven't fully decided yet."
"Well, I hope you have fun over there if you actually do."
"I'm sure I will." Katie then faced forward, seeing that they were now arriving at the skatepark. "Here we are, boys." She said as she walked up to the gate. "You ready to see what I can do?"
"You bet." The two boys said in unison.
"Awesome, then let's go." The trio entered the skatepark, ready to finally get their hangout started.
It took a bit before Katie could actually start showing off her skateboarding skills; she needed to make sure she was fully-prepared for this one-hundred percent. The tomboy needed at least five things before she could do anything around here: her helmet, her elbow-pads, her knee-pads, her fingerless-gloves, and...obviously, her own skateboard; all of which, she thankfully had with her. Once she had her safety equipment on and once she had her skateboard by her side, Katie climbed up to the top of one of the ramps and looked down at the two boys standing down below, who were both looking up at her.
"Alright, I'm all set!" Katie announced before pointing at the biker. "Turn that radio on for me, Chaz; I want this to be epic!"
"Alright!" Chaz says as he picks up the radio off of the nearby bench, turning it on for the young dentist; the song that started to play was 'Pump It' by the Black Eyed Peas.
Katie placed her skateboard down under her foot, then turned to look at Chaz and Tim one more time; and after seeing the two give her a nod in unison, she threw herself off the base and skated down the ramp, heading off to one of the many rails that were located around the park. When she rode up to one of the rails, she immediately leaped up and grinds across it; then once she was on the other side, she immediately grabbed a hold of pole at the very end, twirled around it, and then grinds back the other way. Once she was back onto the ground, the tomboy glanced over to Chaz and Tim, who so far seem rather unamused by what they were seeing...or at least the former was anyway.
"Dude, I could do that with my eyes closed!" The biker stated as he shook his head, before turning towards the half-pipe he was standing right next to. "Show is what you can do on this!"
"Then you better move out of the way!" Katie shouts as she was heading right towards where the two boys were; thankfully, they both dodged her just in time.
Katie leaps onto the half-pipe and began to swerve around the middle part for a bit, before eventually getting some momentum in order to go higher up the ramps. She kept going back and forth on both of the ramps, until she was finally able to get some air to do every trick she can in the book; from flips to spins, to even twirls. After about a few more tries of this, she eventually got tired and began swerving around the middle area again, where she decided to see if Chaz and Tim were impressed or not; and needless to say, the former was starting to like it...but it didn't seem like the latter was really looking too good after seeing all the tricks she was pulling off just then.
"Not bad, Kate!" Chaz said as he gave the tomboy two thumbs-up, before tossing her a water bottle that he had purchased from one of the vending-machines moments prior.
"Thanks!" The tomboy shouts back, before taking a sip from the bottle she was given.
"I think I'm gonna be sick if I see more spinning..." Tim, who now looked dizzy, says as he randomly fainted to the ground.
"Now, let's see what moves you can do in the bowl over there." Chaz says as he pointed to the large circular gap that was just close by to them.
"You've read my mind, dude!" Katie shouts as she skated her way over to that section of the park. Once she got to the bowl, Katie leaped into the air and landed inside of it; then she began doing what she's previously done on the half-pipe, except she's doing less spinning around this time...for Tim's sake.
After placing his best friend down on one of the benches, Chaz ran over to continue watching what their new friend can do, and hopefully give her a few pointers in the process. "Hey, I've got an idea!" He announced to the tomboy, before pointing at a street-lamp that was at one end of the bowl. "Try that first trick you did, but with that lamp over there!"
Katie did exactly what the biker said and headed over to the part of the bowl where the street-lamp, where once she got there, she leaned up and grabbed a hold of its pole; then she twirled around a few times, keeping her feet in the air so that she, and her board, don't end up touching the ground; and then finally, she tossed herself back into the bowl and rode over to Chaz. "So, how was that?" The former asked as she gave the latter a confident smirk, all while pulling herself out of the bowl.
"Well...I'm not impressed." Chaz replied bluntly as he turned the radio off, causing the girl to frown; he then gave her a smirk soon after. "I'm extremely impressed."
Katie's smirk returned to her face. "Extremely?" She asked him. "I wouldn't say that it's anything different from anyone I've ever seen, let alone you..."
"That doesn't mean I can't still find you cool, right?" Chaz asked, before proceeding to pull out his own skateboard out of his backpack. "Anyways, are you ready to see what I can do?"
"Go for it!"
Without hesitation, Chaz hopped onto his skateboard and leapt onto the half-pipe; then he began swerving around the middle part of the ramp, just like what his studious friend had done on here minutes ago. "You know, there's actually one stunt that you haven't done on here." The former of the two said to the other. "It's a bit risky, but it actually connects to the bowl over there."
"What exactly is this 'stunt' that you're talking about?" Katie asked, now getting confused, and mostly concerned, about what the biker was talking about.
"You'll see."
"Uh...okay, I guess..."
For the next few minutes or so, Chaz simply continued riding his board from one ramp to the other, getting some momentum with each and every time he went up in the air. It went on like this for the next five to ten minutes, until suddenly, he felt like he had finally gain enough altitude in order to do the stunt he told Katie about; and the stunt that he wound up doing not only surprised his new friend, but some of the other skaters who were currently hanging around here. No words can describe what everyone in that park, with the exception of Tim who was still passed out on the bench, had witnessed.
In one fast swift, Chaz flew off the side of the half-pipe flying into the air towards the direction of where the skating-bowl was; thankfully, he was able to hold his board under his feet while all of this was going on. He looked around himself, seeing all of the shocked and surprised faces that were down below him, before suddenly positioning himself to safely ride along the side of the bowl; and just in time too. Once he was at the bottom, Chaz swiftly glided down into the bowl and rode over to where the street-lamp was, grabbing a hold of it in order to stop himself; afterwards, all of the skaters that were around the area applauded what the biker had pulled off.
"So, impressed?" Chaz asked the tomboy as the latter ran up to him.
"Impressed?!" Katie asked, clearly horrified at what she had just witnessed. "ARE YOU INSANE?!! YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN YOURSELF KILLED!!!"
"Chill out, dude; I knew what I was doing." The biker said in an attempt to calm down his new friends. "Besides, this wouldn't be the first stunt I've done."
"It's not?!"
"No, it wouldn't. You should see half the stuff that Tim and I do whenever we're hanging out at the Boardwalk; one of them was literally a flaming-hoop trick." Chaz quickly noticed that everything that he was saying wasn't reassuring the tomboy whatsoever. "Uh...why don't we talk about this more over lunch? My treat."
"Fine..." The skater muttered as she rolled her eyes; she was starting to get a little hungry anyway. "But I get to chose where we go to eat."
"That...works too."
It was around this moment, Tim finally woke up. "Oh...well, now my head hurts...what did I miss?" He muttered as he sat up, all while rubbing the side of his head, before suddenly noticing his two other friends heading off to the exit. "Hey, wait for me!" He then shouts as he quickly got up from the bench and ran towards them.
Meanwhile...
"So, it looks like everything's in order." Crystal says as she was looking over one of the applications that she previously took out of her bag, before proceeding to hand it over to the cashier at the pharmacy she was currently at. "What do you think, sir?"
"Hmm..." The cashier silently looked over the application for a few good seconds, before giving it a firm nod. "The good news is that it looks promising, Mrs. Montell; however, the bad news is that we've already got enough employees in our pharmacy's roster."
"Oh..." The rebel's smile immediately faltered after hearing the second part of the pharmacist's sentence.
"Now, don't get too discouraged about this just yet, because a decision hasn't been made." The cashier assured as he placed the application into one of the counter's drawers down below. "When the manager comes in later on today, I'll hand this over to him, and if he believes that you're capable of working here, then he'll call you and let you know."
"Thanks."
After shaking hands with the cashier, Crystal left the pharmacy to venture out to find another. So far, she's already gotten at least nine or ten of them done in this entire town, which one would think is a good enough feat; but knowing how big this city actually was, that's not saying much. As a matter of fact, the rebel completely forgot how many pharmacies were even in Simport; and it's times like these were she wished Katie was here, helping her out...at least she'd know how many there were around here.
After venturing out into the town for another twenty minutes, Crystal was moments away from walking passed a random coffee-shop that was somewhere deep in the DownTown area; but right before she could get anywhere past it, a familiar face came walking out of the building, recognizing the rebel almost instantly once she saw her. "Oh, hello there, fair Crystal..." The girl said, much to the rebel's dismay.
"Hello to you too, Stacy..." Crystal muttered as she glared at the British woman standing before her.
"Hmm...I wilt sayeth, dear girl; that's certainly an outfit that I wouldst never imagineth thee to be seen wearing." Stacy then commented as he stared down at the rebel's current attire.
"If you're thinking about calling me a 'nerd', then you're gonna get another thing coming to you." Crystal snarled bitterly, as she began to walk past the former drama student. "I'm busy doing some 'application-delivering', and the last thing that I need, or want, is for the 'Royal Academy's biggest alpha-bitch', outside of Summer Baxter, to come along and distract me while I'm doing this; so...bye."
Stacy stood there, glaring at the rebel as she was walking away from her, before eventually deciding and follow her; she had a few more minutes of her break left anyway. "To be perfectly honest with thee, I wouldst not have called thee a 'nerd'..." She started off saying, before a sly smirk appeared on her face. "However, I highly doubt that Derek wouldst beest too thrilled to be seeing thou don such an outfit."
"If Derek has a problem with it, then I could care less about it; because in case you haven't figured out, me and that fucking asshole aren't together anymore, and we never will be." Crystal stated, not even daring to look back at the girl following behind her. "James and Sapphire are cousins, and knowing that you're his stepsister now, I thought you'd be aware of this already."
"Quite frankly, I don't speak with fair Sapphire whenever she comes by the house; but she does tend to stare at me silently whenever I approach her."
"Maybe it's because she's scare to talk to one of the biggest she-devils of our school..." Crystal muttered, loud enough for the British girl to hear her.
"Classy..." Stacy replied under her breath, now glaring at the rebellious tomboy. "I believeth that thy typical impolite attitude was the reason why Derek decided to dump thee."
"You're pushing it, Verily..." Crystal then threatened as she turned her head to glare at the girl in pink behind her. "Also, Derek didn't dump me, I dumped him."
"Really?"
"After I found out he was cheating on me with that Brandi bitch with the eyepatch, I went to his house and punched the asshole in the face; and he still wants me to take him back..." The rebel shook her head in disgust, all while letting out an annoyed huff. "Honestly, I knew I should've just listened to Raven and Violet when they told me he wasn't worth my time..."
"Personally, I always thought you two would've been good for each other; you two have got to be the most reckless students I've ever known..."
"Don't compare me to that prick..." Crystal muttered, giving the drama girl a serious glare. "I'm not as reckless as him-"
"This coming from the girl who was willing to make the lives of the entire cheer-squad a living hell during any chance she gets, especially Summer Baxter." Stacy interrupts, a smirk appearing on her face after she says this; because she knew she was now getting on the goth's nerves by bringing Summer into the mix. "You were always so jealous of that girl..."
"You're pushing your luck, Verily..."
"Fair Summer has merely everything that thou dost not; from natural beauty to a man whom she wilt soon call her husband one day-"
"So, everything that you don't have either?"
Stacy's eyes widened at the sudden comment, before they quickly narrowed into a very disdainful glare. "Nonsense, thy imbecile; because just like Summer, I'm gorgeous!" She retorts back, now getting extremely bitter with the tomboy.
"True, but unlike her, you don't have a boyfriend of your own just like I do; in fact, unlike me, you haven't dated anyone yet." Crystal retorts back immediately after, which was when she proceeded to continue talking when she noticed the British woman was about to retort back again. "Every single boy who had participated in our school's drama-club are all out and about dating other girls, leaving you all alone with nothing more but your own hand to go to every night, instead of 'charming man whom you'll one day call your husband'."
"I-" Stacy stopped in her tracks, now completely dumbfounded by everything that was just said to her; the sight of this only made Crystal smirk.
"I think we're done here, Verily; because I've got business to attend to." Crystal faces forward, happily walking away from the petrified drama girl, who's confused look turned into that of disdain again.
"Bitch..." Stacy muttered, before turning around and walking back to her father's theater.
Note: It's been awhile since I've used Stacy in this story; I think I've only used her in, like, one chapter. Now, here she is again, this time pestering Crystal during her, as she likes to put it, 'application-delivery' (I told you Derek wouldn't be the only person she'll stumble into on her rendezvous around the city). Also, Chaz seemed to have made a very bad impression on Katie by pulling off a dangerous, yet awesome (to an extent), stunt at the skatepark; let's hope our tomboyish dentist isn't going to be too upset when she questions the boys about this.
Anyways, let's take a look at the reviews that we have for today...
lordgemini: I believe there's a bit of a misunderstanding there: that pharmacist wasn't James, that was...some other guy; although, with the comic book, I guess one could say that he's probably either Brendan, Rob, or maybe even Spencer. Knowing both of them, I'm pretty sure one would've end up noticing the other; with Crystal probably calling him 'Loser-ton', or James taking a double-take on the rebel. Regardless, James has a different job in this story; presumably, like last time, it's most likely the gas station, but I haven't fully decided yet.
That should be it for now, I'll see you guys in the next chapter when it comes out.