Chapter 7: Exploring Atlanta
September 30, 2010
Atlanta, Georgia
After a well-needed sleep, Eryn lay in his bed, the time was 11:00 AM. Still drowsy from yesterday's battle, he felt as if he should just sleep in until they went back to Charlotte. However, he had something to do today, which was to explore the city. Jonathan had woken up earlier as he wanted to ask Mr. Moran about exploring the city, to which he was given the all-clear. With that, Eryn got up and grabbed his phone to text a new friend of his.
Eryn S: instructor gave us the all-clear to explore around town, got any good places to check out?
Russell E: Yeah, hold up.
Russell E:
Russell E: This should be good to hang around for the day.
Eryn S: aight thanks
Checking the location out, Eryn saw that it was an arcade. Being the little kid that he is, Eryn's excitement spiked. Immediately after, Eryn texted his crew the link to the location and questioned if it was a sufficient place to hang out for the day; to which they all responded yes. Eryn then got another message on his phone and checked once more.
Russell E: Yo, can me and Kyrie pull up?
Eryn S: uhhh lemme ask
Eryn then switched group chats to his crew.
Eryn S: yall want holy cross commanders to come?
Lillie S: What are their names?
Eryn S: russell and kyrie
Kay D: lol why not
Jonathan H: lol facts i wanna meet em
Tomas M: i dont see why not lolol
Eryn S: we leaving at 12:30 right?
Lillie S: Mhm.
Switching group chats once more, Eryn texted Russell.
Eryn S: you guys can come
Russell E: Nice, Kyrie and I got school right now so we'll be there at 2:00, yeah?
Eryn S: aight
Putting down his phone, Eryn got up and began to change clothes as he wanted to get an early start today and take advantage of the hotel's brunch offer. After putting on some grey sweatpants and slipping on a navy blue hoodie, he made his way toward the door and slid on his shoes. Exiting the room, Eryn then walked towards the elevator and got inside. Eryn's eyes squinted as he attempted to find the ground floor button, with his finger hovering over each button one by one.
Just as he found the ground floor button, another hand slammed it. Eryn's eyes widened in as he looked at who had pressed the button, to his surprise, it was Nicki. Her mouth curled into a smug as she raised her right eyebrow.
"You looked pretty stupid, had to help you." She sneered.
"Oh shut up." Eryn clapped back, to which Nicki chuckled.
"I'm assuming you're here for brunch too?" Nicki questioned, her finger hovering over the button to close the elevator door and pressing it, the elevator began to lower itself.
"Mhm," Eryn responded.
"Nice, got any plans for today?" Nicki asked once more.
"Headed to an arcade with my crew and Holy Cross' commanders, you?" Eryn said.
"Ooo- seems fun," Nicki answered. "I'm probably just gonna chill around here unless my crew wants to do something."
As the conversation wrapped itself up, the elevator stopped and the door flew open. Nicki and Eryn paced outside and peered around to find the cafeteria. The search was short, as the cafeteria was situated right next to the elevator doors. With that, Eryn and Nicki both walked over to have a hearty brunch. The selection of foods at the cafeteria was pretty typical for a regular brunch meal, with the usual being served, such as eggs, bacon, sausages, waffles, pancakes, and an assortment of warm bread.
Eryn decided to have an assortment of everything that the cafeteria offered, with him making sure that everything was proportionate enough so that he could actually finish everything. After picking up his food, Eryn turned around and looked for a place to sit. As his eyes darted around, he saw that the cafeteria was mostly filled with his own team and that there were barely any places to sit.
"Pst." A voice whispered, Eryn turned around and saw that it was Nicki whispering to him. Her fingers pointed towards a table in the distance. "Look."
Obeying Nicki, Eryn turned to where she pointed, Eryn's eyes focused as he attempted to figure out what exactly she was pointing to. A moment later, he figured out what she was pointing at. In a corner sat Peter, alone and eating what seemed to be a hotdog that he swore that was a foot long. Eryn's eyes widened in astonishment as he gazed at the abomination that was Peter's brunch.
"What the hell is that?" Eryn eyed in astonishment.
"No idea, let's find out," Nicki said.
Nicki and Eryn both walked over to the seating area, their eyes still locked on Peter and his hotdog. As they got closer, Peter began to open his mouth for another bite until he noticed them. His face went from enjoyment to distraught as he quickly placed the hotdog back down on the wrapping foil, he then turned around to face Eryn and Nicki.
"Hi, guys," Peter greeted.
"Where'd you get that hotdog?" Nicki responded forthrightly, with a smirk growing on her face.
"Wha- what hotdog?" Peter stuttered.
"That one!" Nicki exclaimed, her fingers pointing at the effortlessly wrapped hotdog.
"Uhhh- nowhere?" Peter droned, embarrassed.
Nicki eyed Peter one more time before calling her verbal shenanigans quits, she then pulled out a chair to sit down and enjoy her brunch. Eryn followed suit, sitting across from Peter and adjacent to Nicki.
"So, what do you have planned, Peter?" Eryn questioned.
"Nothing much, had no idea we were gonna be here for an extra day." Peter replied.
"I see, seems like most of our team doesn't know what to do today." Eryn observed.
The three students continued to munch down on their meals, as Eryn began to finish his meal, he noticed that Peter hadn't finished his hotdog, despite it being nearly halfway eaten and his earlier pacing being much faster. Peter was eating at nearly an eighth of the speed, contrary to earlier. As Eryn gazed at Peter, their eyes locked. Using his knife, Eryn pointed at his hotdog and asked Peter if he was going to eat it. Peter then made a small gesture with his fingers, pointing towards Eryn's left, Eryn saw that he was pointing to Nicki, going to town on the fat stack of pancakes on her plate. Knowing Nicki is more on the teasing side, Eryn understood and went back to eating his own food.
A while after, Eryn finished his food, and with his meal wrapped up, Eryn brought his empty plates to the disposal area, waving goodbye to Peter and Nicki as he did so. With brunch over with, Eryn now had a half hour to spare before he would go to the arcade.
As he walked back to the elevator, Eryn decided that he would just stay and lounge in his room. Walking inside and fumbling with the buttons once again, the elevator rose up and brought Eryn to his designated floor. Opening the door with his keycard, Eryn unlocked the room and faceplanted onto the bed, quickly followed by a loud click, signifying that the door had closed. As Eryn lay on the bed, he felt a sudden surge of exhaustion and fatigue; his eyes began to flutter before Eryn eventually fell asleep.
"Eryn, Eryn!" A voice called out.
Eryn suddenly jolted awake. Looking around, his eyes locked onto the clock, which read 12:40. Realising the time, Eryn got up and dashed toward the door and opened it. Behind the door revealed Tomas and Jonathan, both bearing faces of impatience, Eryn slipped on his shoes before setting foot outside the hotel room.
"Damn man, what took you so long?" Jonathan questioned.
"I passed out, sorry," Eryn explained awkwardly. Tomas and Jonathan both smacked their faces in disappointment.
"Eh whatever, let's go." Tomas gestured.
Closing the door to the hotel room, the trio of friends began walking towards the elevator. After fiddling with some buttons, the door shut and the elevator began to descend. As they traversed down, Eryn began to notice the missing presence of two blonde heads.
"Hey uh, where are Lillie and Kay?" Eryn noticed.
"Yeah- they went ahead because you were taking too long," Tomas informed, with a hint of annoyance.
"Hey, I said sorry!" Eryn clapped back, with a lightened tone.
The three chuckled as the elevator began to slow down, signifying that they had reached the main floor. With a ding, the doors swung open and the three walked out and made their way to the front entrance. Flinging open the doors, all of them were greeted with a bright ray of sunlight, squinting to get a glimpse of what was in front of them. Soon after, the three took in what was in front of them, the sidewalks and streets bustled with people and cars, as if it was the weekend. All of the buildings that lined the streets had some sort of oldish feel to them, as most were composed of bricks lined with pillars. Although it had become fall, the sun's light still shone beautifully, giving a warm blanket of heat. Tomas pulled out a map brochure that he acquired from the hotel; peering into it, he figured out the location of the arcade and began leading the trio to their destination.
"K guys, we gotta go left," Tomas ordered, Jonathan and Eryn both followed along.
The walk toward the arcade was a short one, as it was located just a couple blocks away. Although it was a short walk, it provided the three with a lot of sightseeing, as every building was unique and had its own ring to it. Tomas had his camera out as he was taking photos of the scenery that lay ahead. After a couple of blocks of walking, the trio arrived at the arcade. The most noticeable aspect of the arcade was how big the building was, it ran along the curb of an intersection and was twice the size of the buildings that the three had seen previously.
Once they arrived at the main entrance, the trio walked into the arcade. Immediately, they were hit with bright, flashing lights and bassy EDM music. Over to their left were plenty of arcade machines that could easily entertain a pre-teen for days on end. Before they could be allowed access, they had to get their tokens; luckily, the admission stand was right next to the entrance. Buying their tokens, the trio finally stepped foot into the elusive arcade. Peering at each machine, Eryn and Tomas wondered which machine to use first, but they couldn't choose as all of them looked extremely entertaining. Jonathan however, was attempting to figure out where Kay and Lillie were. Dialling her phone, Jonathan was able to get a hold of Kay.
"Kay?" Jonathan spoke, there was a small pause before a response came back.
"Yeah, where are you guys?" Kay responded.
"We just got in, where are you?" Jonathan said.
"Lillie and I are at the skeeball machines in one of the corners." Kay notified.
"Got it, see you soon," Jonathan replied as he hung up.
Taking note of where Kay and Lillie were, Jonathan got both Eryn's and Tomas's attention and began leading them through the arcade. As the three stumbled through countless people, a machine caught Tomas' eye. Readjusting his footing, Tomas yanked both Eryn and Jonathan, with Jonathan almost losing his footing.
"Dude, what the heck?" Jonathan complained before he noticed what Eryn and Tomas were looking at. "Uh- you guys good?"
Eryn turned towards Jonathan and raised his hand towards what he was looking at, Jonathan's eyes focused in the general direction of Eryn's hand. What he saw made his eyes gleam with excitement, Tomas looked at the two and nodded with a smug face that clearly had intent.
"Mario Kart?" Tomas questioned, already knowing the answer.
"Mario Kart!" Eryn and Jonathan both replied.
The trio bolted towards the arcade machine.
2:00 PM marked the dismissal for the students of Holy Cross Middle School. As the dismissal bell rang, hundreds of students poured out through the doors in order to get home or to hang out after school, some would stay behind and discuss topics of interest. Ever since the school year had started, there had been one topic of debate that would always find itself in every conversation in Holy Cross.
"I'm telling you, the Miami Heat's big three are gonna dominate the league!"
"The Thunder and their big three will dominate!"
"I dunno man, the Thunder are too young, they're no match for Miami."
"You guys have been going on about this since lunch!"
As the crowd rumbled back and forth about basketball, there were two students that quickly isolated themselves from the crowd as they made their way toward the bus station. These two students were Russell and Kyrie, the commanders of Holy Cross' tankery team. Knowing that they had to travel to the arcade, they picked up their pace and got onto the bus which was to be departing soon. Seating themselves in the back aisle, Russell and Kyrie made themselves comfortable as the bus began to roll out of the station. Wanting to start some small talk, Kyrie brought up the NBA as a catalyst.
"So much talk about the NBA recently, who do you think is gonna win the championship this year?" Kyrie asked as the bus rolled forward.
"It's obviously the Heat man," Russell answered. "They're a literal superteam."
"I guess, I've got a feeling they'll choke though," Kyrie conspired, to which Russell laughed.
"In that universe, we're both NBA players and my last name is Westbrook." Russell retorted.
Kyrie chuckled, "Being an NBA player sounds awesome, I'd kill to be in that universe."
"You wouldn't make it Kai, let's be honest." Russell quipped.
"Oh shut the hell up!" Kyrie rebutted.
The two shared another laugh as the bus rolled to a stop, Russell peaked outside and saw that this was the stop they had to disembark at. Dragging Kyrie along with him, the two hopped off the bus and began walking toward the arcade, neither needed any navigational help as they were well acquainted with the area. With the stop being located half a block away from the arcade, this made for a quick and easy walk.
Arriving at the arcade, the two made their way toward an alley that sat between the arcade building and a coffee shop that sat right beside it. Squishing themselves through the various obstacles that stood in their way, the two made their way to the alley entrance of the arcade, which read "employees only". Kyrie knocked on the door with a signature pattern to his knock. Soon after, the door opened and out came an employee, she looked at the two kids before doing a double take on both sides of the alley. Confirming that the coast was clear, the employee let Russell and Kyrie inside. Once inside, the employee ran to the door that led to the main arcade, opening it ajar, the employee shouted.
"Steve, your kids are here!" The employee screamed.
There was a ten-second pause before a response came. "Coming!"
A few seconds later, another employee came inside, he sported extremely wavy hair and a baby face, giving off a stereotypical high school rich bully vibe. The employee looked at the two with a look that screamed "I know why you're here".
"What do you guys want?" The employee named Steve questioned rhetorically.
"You know what's up," Kyrie answered.
Steve sighed. "I don't have many tokens to give you guys this time, HR's already on me."
Pulling out a box of tokens, Steve handed the two a bag of tokens. Although not as much as they were used to, the sheer amount of tokens that were given was ample enough to last the two at least one week of constant playing. Russell and Kyrie ruffled their hands in the bags of tokens as they both grinned in glee. With mischievous intent in mind, the two stuffed the bags of tokens into their pockets and bolted out of the storage room.
"Thanks, Steve!" Kyrie and Russell shouted.
Steve looked at the two as he sighed. "Kids, man."
With the two stocked with tokens, Kyrie and Russell rushed into the main section of the arcade, being sure to hide the obviously illegal amount of tokens that they possessed. The two wandered right into the middle of the main section of the arcade and admired how packed it was for a weekday. After loitering around for a while, Kyrie suggested that the two split up so that the two could locate where Eryn and his friends were. Since they were usuals at this arcade, the two knew all of the areas that would attract the most people, this would hopefully make their search for Eryn easier.
Kyrie decided that he should go towards the ticket-winning machines as in his mind, people always want to win some sort of prize at an arcade. Knowing that the scoring machines were all located near one of the corners of the building, Kyrie quickly made his way there, utilizing a shortcut that made it so that he wouldn't have to crowd surf.
Closing in on the ticket-winning machines, Kyrie noticed that there was also a sizeable crowd in the area, which meant that he had to crowd surf either way. Taking a deep breath, he squeezed himself through the crowd; he was thrown around like he was in a pinball machine but eventually, he got to the other side. After stumbling his way through the crowd, he noticed two girls playing on the skeeball machine, both around his age. Both bore blonde hair but had different hairstyles as one had two braided ponytails and the other wore hers in a wavy middle part. The girl with wavy hair watched as the other attempted to roll the balls into the holes, to which none fell through any of the holes that would dispense tickets. The former began to sigh in disappointment as she began to berate her.
"Lillie, you suck!" Kyrie heard her scream.
"Shut up Kay, I can't focus!" The girl named Lillie rebutted.
The girl named Kay sighed once more. "We're never gonna get enough tickets at this rate."
She lined herself up to the front of the machine and slotted in some tokens to play, the door that held back the balls retracted and the balls were dispersed, ready to be used. Kyrie had a premonition that she also wasn't that competent when it came to skeeball. Feeling the need to help them win at least some tickets, Kyrie approached the two, gesturing to get the two's attention.
"Yo, mind if I play a round?" Kyrie waved, and the two blondes looked at him.
"U-uh sure," Lillie responded.
Kyrie moved in front of the machine as Kay yielded for him. Aligned with the machine, he grabbed a ball from the rack, twisting and fumbling it as he lined up his eyes along with his arms. Kyrie then focused his eyes on the hardest hole to score on; which was the hole in the middle. He then winded his arm about 60 degrees before gently rolling the ball off of his fingers, it cruised in a perfectly straight line before gliding off the ramp and into the hole with a perfect swish.
"Wow!" Kay exclaimed in awe.
Locked in, Kyrie continued to score all nine remaining balls into the same hole, with the same path and trajectory. Not long after, tons and tons of tickets began to print out of the machine; Kyrie could swear that there were money icons on the pupils of the two girls. After a hefty bundle of tickets was dispensed from the machine, Kyrie was then gestured by Kay to play again. Kay loaded some more tokens into the machine and Kyrie went to work once more. Halfway through the game, Kyrie realized that he never learned the names of the two girls; curious, he started some small talk between the three of them.
"Never caught your names, what are they?" Kyrie questioned.
The girl with wavy hair responded, "I'm Kay, and the other is Lillie."
"I see," Kyrie noted. "Names Kyrie."
"Kyrie, what a cool name!" Kay complimented.
"Heh, thanks," Kyrie responded. "Where are you guys from?"
"Charlotte," Lillie answered.
Kyrie began to catch onto something. "Wait, are you guys part of Queen City's tankery team?"
"Y-yeah, is that a problem?" Kay questioned.
"Oh none at all, it's just that I'm from Holy Cross, the school you guys faced," Kyrie affirmed, choosing to hide that he was the vice commander. "I heard it was a good match."
"Mhm, real intense for our first match!" Lillie said.
"Yeah, I heard it was a real eye-opener," Kyrie noted.
"It was, had no idea how it was gonna end." Kay agreed.
After a couple more rounds on the skeeball machine, the three teenagers had mustered up an incredible amount of tickets; with each of them cradling a gigantic bundle of them. The prize counter was conveniently located right at the end of the section of the ticket machines, dozens of people stared in awe as the trio of teens made their way. Arriving at the prize counter, the three dumped the mountain of tickets onto the counter, which caught the attention of the employee running the stand; he turned around and his mouth flew open at the sight of the tickets. Kay and Lillie smirked as the employee began to feed the tickets through a slot machine, it counted all the tickets as the digital display presented the amounts. A while later, all of the tickets were counted up; a receipt of the tickets was then handed to Kay.
"Select any prizes you want!" The employee offered.
"Thank you!" Kay and Lillie said.
Kay and Lillie both eyed the prize wall, they noticed that they could afford everything on the wall, which made them giggle in glee. Kyrie stood to the side, patiently waiting for the two to finish their prize shopping. After eyeing the wall for a minute, Kay and Lillie focused their eyes on one of the top prizes; which was the Nintendo DS. Noticing that they could afford two of them, the two both came to a consensus that they should get the gaming console.
"We'd like two of the DS' please." Lillie requested.
"Of course!" The employee complied, she walked towards the back and brought out two boxes of the yearned DS. Ringing up the total, she noticed that there were some points left over.
"You two ladies have 300 points left, anything else you want to get?" The employee was notified.
"Oh sure, uh- what can we get?" Kay questioned.
"Right down here," The employee pointed towards the transparent countertop.
Kay and Lillie browsed the selection of smaller prizes, which ranged from chocolates to cheap plastic toys. After a quick moment of deciding, the two decided to opt for a chocolate bar.
"We'll take this chocolate bar, I guess." Kay opted.
"Great, have fun with your prizes!" The employee said as she handed Kay and Lillie their prizes.
"Thank you!" Kay and Lillie replied.
They grabbed their prizes and walked away in triumph. Kyrie was patiently waiting for the two, leaning against the guard rail that separated the elevated floor with all of the prizes and food stands from the rest of the arcade. Noticing that they had their prizes, Kyrie walked towards the two ladies. Kay noticed him and tossed him something; Kyrie caught it and realized that it was a chocolate bar.
"Thanks?" Kyrie said as he joined up with the two. "Now that you guys have your prizes, what are you gonna do now?"
Lillie and Kay pondered this question. "Oh, we're gonna try finding our friends, they're also here."
"Alright, I guess I'll help you two with that." Kyrie offered. "What do they look like?"
"One has blonde hair, the other two have brown hair with one curled up while the other is straighter, while also being somewhat fluffy," Lillie explained.
"I see, did they tell you where they were gonna be?" Kyrie questioned.
"Nope, they could be anywhere," Lillie answered.
The three began to search the arcade, checking the lounging areas and machines that Lillie and Kay assumed the three were. Kyrie also texted Russell, to which he got no response. After searching for a decent amount of time, the three noticed a crowd of people gathered around a certain machine. Kyrie immediately recognized it as Mario Kart, he pounded his palm against his head due to him not thinking about that specific arcade machine.
"C'mon, I think your friends are there," Kyrie said as he rushed over to the crowd.
Kay and Lillie followed after him, hurrying down the stairs to see what all the commotion was about. The three surfed through the crowd and finally received their answer. To their surprise, it was Eryn, Tomas, Jonathan and Russell in perhaps the most heated game of Mario Kart in American history. The four players were all in absolute focus, with their hands all gripped onto the steering wheels, sweat pouring from their foreheads and their faces right in front of the screens. The circuit they selected was Rainbow Road, which added to the stress and tension of the race. Kay was barely at an angle to perceive what was happening; Tomas had the lead, with Eryn and Jonathan tailing right behind him. Russell, however, was dead last, his expression was that of defeat. The outcome of the match seemed to have been decided, with Tomas being the winner. However, the next sequence of events was something nobody could have expected.
"This race is mine!" Tomas celebrated with a look of hysteria on his face.
"Ain't no way!" Jonathan snapped.
As Jonathan, Eryn and Tomas closed toward the finish line, Russell ran over a power-up cube and managed to get the triple-green shells. With malicious intent, Russell closed in on the opposing racers and launched all three. Eryn, Jonathan, Tomas and the crowd all looked at the screens in shock as the racers spun out and lost all of their momenta. A moment later, Russell's Yoshi car sped past and crossed the finish line. Russell then got out of his seat and screamed in victory, with the crowd following soon after.
Russell then turned toward the three other racers and started spewing insults, pointing as he did. "Y'all trash! Y'all trash!"
"Oh shut up Russ, you got lucky!" Jonathan rebutted.
"Sounds like a skill issue!" Russell retorted.
Russell kept celebrating his victory as the other three slumped into their chairs in defeat, people from the crowd shook his hand as he did so. Soon after, the crowd dispersed around the arcade, Kay, Lillie and Kyrie moved forward to greet the four racers.
"Talk about a race, huh?" Lillie said as she elbowed Tomas.
"We were playing for hours," Eryn groaned, he then noticed Kyrie was with Lillie and Kay. "Oh, hey Kyrie."
"Yo," Kyrie greeted back, he then turned to Jonathan and Tomas. "Name's Kyrie."
Jonathan and Tomas began a conversation with Kyrie. Catching onto the memo, Kay and Lillie also thought that they should introduce themselves to Russell. Walking over to him, Kay flashed a smile and waved to get his attention. Russell turned his head before reciprocating a smile, nodding his head as he did so.
"Hi, I'm Kay and this is Lillie." Kay greeted.
"Ah, names Russell; commander of Holy Cross' tankery team, nice to meet cha'," Russell replied, he noticed that the two had prize bags. "I'm assuming Kyrie won you those?"
"Mhmm!" Kay answered, to which Russell shook his head and chuckled. Kay then took a moment to realize that Kyrie was the vice commander for Holy Cross. "Kyrie, you're the vice commander aren't you!"
"Yup, didn't really feel like saying so, sorry." Kyrie retorted.
After everyone caught up with each other, Eryn wondered what there was to do next; he squinted at Tomas' watch and saw that it was 4:00 in the afternoon. He waved his arm around to gather everyone's attention, which succeeded.
"What is it, Eryn?" Tomas questioned.
"What should we do now? It's 5:00," Eryn said.
Jonathan's eyes widened in shock. "Damn, it's been that long already?"
Russell and Kyrie exchanged glances, the two knew exactly what the other was thinking and nodded at each other.
"Russ and I know a bunch of places we can eat at if you guys want." Kyrie offered.
"I'm down," Kay said.
"Sure." Jonathan agreed
Russell hopped off the chair and rose his arms into the air to stretch. He then reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone, swinging it upright and unlocking it. Pulling up a browser, Russell searched for the restaurants that he and Kyrie would eat at after a session at the arcade. Having a list of places, Russell began to list the cuisines that the restaurants around the area provided.
"We got burgers, hotdogs, traditional diner food, snacks and dessert, what are you guys feeling?" Russell questioned.
The group pondered for a moment, all of these options sounded like a great way to cool down after an entertaining day at the arcade. Eryn was the first one to suggest one of the places.
"I'm feeling snacks, I want to be able to eat while we drive back," Eryn said, Kay spoke up soon after.
"I'm trying to eat a lot so I can put myself into a food coma for the trip back." Kay pointed out. "Tons of snacks should do the trick."
"Alright, snacks it is I guess." Tomas decided.
"Aight, follow me." Russell gestured, as he and Kyrie made their way toward the front entrance.
The group followed, with Kay and Lillie making sure that they had their prized DS' with them. Walking out of the arcade, Atlanta was still bustling with people, whether it be on the sidewalks or strolling around the park that was situated across the arcade and separated by a busy street. Russell and Kyrie led them to said intersection, which was currently packed with dozens of other pedestrians. A moment later, the light flashed a walking man, which signified that the intersection was clear to cross.
Crossing the intersection led them right to the park entrance, Russell and Kyrie casually walked through, as Eryn and his friends hurried to keep up with them. The park that the group was traversing through was a typical run-of-the-mill park; grassy mounds and fields provided plenty of running space for energetic kids and dogs that aspire to run marathons all day. There was also a basketball court, which provided a good hangout area for teens looking to link up for a casual day in the city. The park itself was adequately occupied, with typical joggers, people walking their dogs and groups of friends making up most of the population inside the said park.
Looking to his left, Eryn saw that they were close to the basketball court, there were a group of kids that looked to be running three on three in the half court. One kid began to dribble the ball up to the three-point line, his defender making sure to give him some space, possibly due to the ball handler not being a good shooter. The kid with the ball began to size him up, dribbling in between his legs and crossing the ball from hand to hand. A moment later, the kid crossed the ball to his right hand and began driving to the basket; the defender shuffled his feet and rotated his hips to keep up with him. Just then, the kid with the ball stopped on a dime and crossed the ball through his right leg and transitioned into a pull-up jump shot. The defender also stopped and tried to contest the shot, but his legs crossed up and he dove in the opposite direction, his ankles "got broken". The other kids in the park, and some spectators screamed in excitement and shock, Eryn covered his mouth and snapped his head in the opposite direction. As he and his friends gained distance, he could hear an "On your head!" chant in the vicinity of the basketball court.
A while later, the group eventually made it to the other side of the park. Another intersection greeted them as they waited patiently for the crosswalk to be traversable. Eryn took this time to observe the buildings that were presented along the street; unlike the buildings around the arcade, these buildings seemed to be a lot more modern and sleek, contrasting the old-fashioned style of infrastructure near the other side of the park. The light finally flashed a walking symbol and the group hurried their way across the street, Russell then turned left and led the group to a decently sized building. The design of the building was that of a 50s-style diner, with lightly coloured walls and an entrance that had beefy door handles
"We're here, let's go." Kyrie gestured, he held the door open for the group.
Entering the store, Eryn got a taste of the appearance of the store; the seats and chairs sported a bright white with light blue and pink accents. The main counter was lined with a beautiful granite material and seats occupied many customers. Eryn observed the dishes that lined the counter; all of them looked highly appetizing, and the foods ranged from loaded fries, bacon sliders or nachos. Now that he thought about it, the dishes were more like appetizers than they were snacks. When Eryn thought of the word "snack", his mind would revert to something like Doritos or Lays chips, not fries with a dollop of chilli, sour cream and cheese sauce. Nonetheless, the food looked delicious, and it would probably be sufficient to put Eryn in a food coma.
Not long after, a waitress made her way over to his group. Her outfit was that of a 50s waiter, sporting a blue and pink striped dress that matched the overall theme of the restaurant. Most surprisingly, the waitress' age was similar to that of Eryn and his friends. Stopping in front of Russell and Kyrie, the three begin to talk as if they are long-time friends.
"Ah, Russ and Kyrie, been a while since I last saw you two here." The waitress greeted.
"Yeah, nice to see you beginning to support the family business, May," Kyrie replied.
May took notice of Eryn and his friends, looking back at Russ and Kyrie, she spoke once more "Table of 7?"
"You bet," Kyrie responded.
May nodded and led the group to a table that was situated in one of the corners, the table was right beside a window, which provided a perfect view of the park that the group had walked through earlier. The group sat down, with Eryn pulling a chair from a smaller table to accommodate himself on the edge of the table. May then laid down some cutlery and menus, with everyone grabbing one to view the various options of food that they had. Eryn flipped through the menu and got an idea of what he wanted already, which was the loaded fries. Looking around, he saw that everyone else except Russell and Kyrie were still flipping through the menu, getting excited at the many options the restaurant offered. Not long after, May came back with a small notepad, ready to take down the group's orders.
"What kind of drinks would you guys like?" May questioned, her pen ready to note down their orders.
"Coke." Everyone responded.
"Sheesh, seven cokes it is," May noted. "Are you guys ready to order your food?"
"Yeah, Kyrie and I will get the Nachos, load them up with everything." Russell said.
"I'll get the uh- fried calamari," Lillie ordered, she looked at Kay. "We were gonna share, right?"
"Get me the bacon sliders, please," Jonathan added.
"Just get me the loaded fries," Eryn said.
"Alright!" May said, she shifted her gaze to Tomas. "You're not gonna order anything?"
"Nah, it's fine." Tomas replied.
"You sure?" May said in a slightly persuading tone.
Tomas' eyes shifted from the menu to May repeatedly; finally, he cracked. "I'll take a banana split."
"Okay, I'll be back with your guys' orders in a moment." May notified. She began to walk away, leaving the group to themselves.
With the group now to themselves, a ground for small talk was opened. Not long after, the group began conversing among themselves with various topics and subjects being the light of the conversation. Eventually, it reached the point where the conversation was about Tankery, to nobody's surprise.
"So, you guys are gonna try and compete in this year's tourney, right?" Kyrie questioned.
This question confused Eryn and his crew. "We're allowed to participate in the nationals?"
"Yup, but it's different for middle schools like ours and yours," Russell answered.
"How does it work?" Lillie asked.
"Basically, middle schools qualify through something called a play-in tournament," Russell explained. "The play-in tournament is used by the North American Tankery Association to allow schools with less fortunate circumstances to be able to compete in the National Tournament. Some other countries in Europe also use this format."
"Normally, all 64 tournament selection slots would be occupied, but four are available for the winners of the play-in tournament," Kyrie added.
"The play-in contenders usually consist of high schools with decent enough records and middle schools. However, middle schools tend to play fewer Tankery matches than high schools, which naturally makes it harder for middle schools to contend for a play-in spot."
"How long do the play-in tournaments last?" Jonathan questioned.
"They're usually only one match, with eight play-in contenders. They also happen around late October." Russell answered.
"I see, thanks for telling us this!" Kay exclaimed.
"Yeah, don't sweat it," Russell said.
A moment later, May came back with a tray full of food and drinks; she carefully, yet swiftly laid down their food and beverages. "Here you guys are, enjoy your food!"
"Thank you!" The group thanked.
Not long after, everyone began to devour their meals. Grabbing a fork, Eryn mixed around his fries before munching down on them. The fries were perfectly crispy while also being fluffy on the inside; the cheese sauce, chilli, and various other condiments complimented the dish's overall flavour, resulting in a rather delicious meal. Looking around, Eryn saw that everyone else was demolishing their meals, with Tomas and Lillie having the discipline to savour their meals. With everyone at least halfway done with their meal, they began to try out each other's food, with Eryn growing quite fond of the calamari that Kay had ordered.
"I forgot to ask about this, but the tournament slots are divided into two conferences right?" Kay questioned.
"Yup, the West and East conference," Kyrie answered. "The play-in spots are divided amongst the conferences, so there are really two play-in spots for our conference, which is the east."
"I'm assuming the winners of each conference verse each other as the national finals?" Lillie asked.
"Mhm, and whoever wins that will represent the U.S in the School's World Tournament," Russell said.
"I see, has any middle school represented a country in the world tournament before?" Tomas questioned.
"Yeah, a middle school in Slovenia managed to upset an undefeated high school and repped them in the tourney," Russell answered. "They got eliminated first round though."
"Still impressive, I couldn't imagine one of our schools representing the U.S." Eryn added.
"Yeah, but it'd be more humiliating than impressive for the US, we've been kinda slumped into the reputation that we aren't that good at Tankery, we haven't won anything since the conception of Tankery itself a near century ago." Kyrie informed.
"Who knows, maybe something will happen soon-" Kay teasingly gestured.
"What do you mean?" Russell questioned, to which Kay pointed at Eryn.
"The hell you want me to do?" Eryn questioned in a rather sarcastic tone.
"Isn't it clear Eryn?" Kay pointed out. "You're the next big thing!"
"Oh god," Eryn sighed. "Your guys' expectations are already too much."
"If ours are too much, imagine what the expectations would be once everyone in the whole world finds out Joel Silva's son is doing Tankery!" Kyrie exclaimed.
Eryn slumped into the seat as he groaned. He couldn't imagine all of the attention and coverage he would get as soon as more people began to have found out, especially with how chaotic it could get. At the same time, however, he was excited about this upcoming attention. Ever since he first decided to follow in the footsteps of his father, he would daydream about all the fame, hype and popularity that would surround him.
"I guess I'll find a way to live up to them then." Eryn resolved.
"Anyway, what time is it?" Lillie questioned. "Pretty dark out."
"It's 6:30," Jonathan said as he checked his watch, his face then shaped into one of horror. "6:30?We gotta go!"
Eryn and his friends immediately shot out of their seats, with them scrambling into their pockets and laying down cash to pay for their meals. Russell and Kyrie quickly yielded for them as they all rushed for the main entrance. Eryn stopped, however, he turned back towards Kyrie and Russell before waving the two goodbyes.
"Thanks for everything!" Eryn shouted, to which Kyrie and Russell reciprocated with a light wave.
After Eryn and his friends exited the restaurant, Russell and Kyrie sat themselves down, waiting for May to come back so that they could pay for their meals. Eventually, May came by to clean up their plates and cups; afterwards, May rang up their total for the meal, which they paid using all of the combined cash that they had acquired from Eryn and his friends along with their own. Telling May to keep the change, Russell and Kyrie made their way out of the restaurant; handshaking each other goodbye, the two went their separate ways.
As the sun had begun to set, Eryn and his friends were still traversing through the park at a jogging pace, so as to not upset their stomachs and cause complications with their digestive systems. At this point in time, every student should be near, or inside the hotel, gathering all of their belongings and getting ready to head out as the bus would be arriving by then. With their pace, however, there was still a big chance that they would still make it in time.
Not long after, Eryn and the gang made it to the end of the park. Stopping at the intersection allowed the group to get a quick breather; looking to his left, Eryn saw that the arcade was still bustling with people, with the overall demographic either being young adults or teenagers. With the crosswalk light turning green, Eryn and his friends dashed across the street, they were now less than 3 blocks away from their hotel.
"C'mon guys, just a few more blocks!" Jonathan panted.
The final stretch to the hotel proved to be a rather scenic one, the evening sky blended well with the lane of buildings that outlined the street. Eryn turned his head back and saw that all of his friends were holding up surprisingly well, if he were to compare their physical conditioning from the tryout to now, there was obviously a noticeable difference. After this thought, the hotel finally came into view; the bus was already parked up at the front, with luggage being loaded into the storage area.
Picking up their pace, Eryn and his friends rushed into the hotel building before making a hard right toward the elevator. As they closed in on the elevator, it opened and out walked Cara, with all of her luggage and belongings. She looked up and saw Eryn and all of his friends making a mad dash toward her. Eyes widened, she clutched all of her luggage and hurdled herself out of the way as Eryn and company bolted past her.
"Woah!" Cara gasped.
"Sorry, Cara!" Eryn shouted with his head turned back.
The group poured into the elevator, with Lillie slamming her fist into the fourth-floor button, all of them collapsed to the floor as the elevator doors slid closed.
"Holy crap," Tomas panted. "We ran a whole marathon!"
"I don't think I'll be able to stand after that," Kay added, gasping for air.
"At least we made it in time," Eryn noted.
Shortly after, the elevator stopped upon reaching the fourth floor. Everyone stumbled back up as the elevator doors slid open, with everyone walking out shortly after. Eryn and Jonathan sprinted for their room, which was conveniently located right beside the elevator area. After Unlocking their door, Jonathan and Eryn both ran inside, gathering all of their belongings before eventually running back out. Before the two made it back to the elevator, Jonathan stopped in his tracks and sprinted towards their hotel room.
"Where are you going?" Eryn asked.
"Forgot to grab something!" Jonathan replied.
Jonathan hurried back to their room, leaving his bag with Eryn. A moment later, Jonathan came bursting out, with a couple of bottles in his hands. Curious, Eryn eyed the bottles as Jonathan stuffed them into his suitcase; he then realized it was a bunch of amenities, such as shampoo and conditioner.
"I'm assuming you ran out of shower products?"
"Yup, not tryna buy more when I can get even better-smelling stuff here," Jonathan answered.
After stuffing the bottles into his bag, Eryn and Jonathan walked to the elevator. As they approached the elevator, they saw that Nicki and Peter were inside with all of their belongings. Not concerned about the space, the two squished into the elevator, the fit being extremely tight. Each person was squished into the four corners of the elevator, with the luggage being crammed into the middle. Eryn pressed the ground floor button, and thus began the slow descent of the elevator, the ride down was quiet, with everyone minding their own business. Eventually, the need to have a conversation grew and Eryn looked around, trying to find something to talk about. His eyes focused on Nicki, who appeared to be holding a rather long object wrapped in tinfoil; Eryn's curiosity got the better of him, as he began to speak.
"What's that in your hand, Nicki?" Eryn questioned.
Nicki's eyes darted from him back to the object repeatedly. "N-nothing?"
"It's a hotdog, the same one I got." Peter deadpanned.
Eryn eyed Nicki, his smile grew into a smirk as his right eyebrow raised up. "How ironic."
"Oh shut up!" Nicki fought back, her cheeks flushed as she was in a rare state of embarrassment. "They had bratwurst!"
"Whatever you say, Nicki," Peter replied.
"What's all this about hotdogs?" Jonathan wondered, he was silently paying attention to the conversation that had transpired.
"Don't worry about it J," Nicki said.
Jonathan's eyes darted to the ceiling as his shoulders slumped. "Aight."
The elevator finally reached the ground floor, a ding sounded as the doors slid open. Grabbing their luggage, the four teens squeezed out one by one and headed for the main lobby. As they arrived, they noticed that the hotel staff was loading up the rest of the baggage and that most of the students were already onboard. Picking up the pace, the four stepped outside and headed for the loading dock, where the hotel staff kindly took their bags and loaded them in. Being sure to thank them, they then made their way to the bus entrance, where Mr. Moran was checking in all of the students. After waiting in line for a short time, Mr. Moran finally got to them and checked off their names and guided them into the bus.
"Nicki, Jonathan, Peter and Eryn, that should be everyone." Mr. Moran double-checked.
Boarding the bus, Eryn saw that there weren't many seats available except toward the end of the bus. Eryn shuffled his way through the aisle, through many exposed limbs of sleeping individuals or bags that have stumbled onto the aisle. Eventually, Eryn discovered a single seat that was right beside the onboard lavatory. The reason for it being a single seat was due to the fact that the door swung into the seat, but Eryn didn't have to worry about this as the lavatory was out of order.
Sitting himself down, Eryn leaned his head against the window as his eyelids began to feel heavy, falling in and out of a slumber. The bus rolled out of the hotel, and drove down the street, before taking a fork that led to I-85; a long, yet peaceful ride home began.