Number Days Oneshots Chapter 4: Bryce, a misc. games fanfic

I was informed by 4Isrbetterden2 that I fucked up and turned Alexis into Jade somewhere. Thanks for telling me! I fixed it. I should probably get a beta reader.

I stare at the number that's being presented to me through my phone. What could this even mean? Is it symbolic? Does it stand for days, hours, minutes, etc? I hope not minutes, because only having 12 minutes to live is a fucking drag.

"...Huh. Your number's much lower than mine." The unknown voice sent shivers down my spine. This was already getting to be too much for me. What if this person is here to murder me horribly?! That was not my plan for today!

I look up, and notice that he's RIGHT NEXT TO ME.

Literally right next to me! How did I not notice him there beforehand?!

Luckily, I managed to not freak out, but I still took a few steps backward (just to be safe), and took in this new person that had totally not just scared the life out of me.

He had short, dirty blonde hair (making me instantly think of my two little freaks, is this another one of their schemes?!), white-framed glasses with no bottom frame (how do the lens stay in place?), light blue eyes, an orange-and-white striped shirt, and brown baggy pants. All in all, he looks sort of nerdy. Not that that's a bad thing... it's just that you always have to be wary of those quiet ones. They usually end up having been the true killer all along!

"...Did she pass out while standing?" This male stranger waved his hand in front of my face, which I swatted away, "Oh, you're alive?"

"Are you here to take me to the torture chamber?!" The stranger's eyes widened, and now he took a few steps back, holding his hands up in the 'I surrender' universal gesture.

"I'm not taking you anywhere, chill out..." He lowered his hands back into his pockets when I calm down, "...I'm Thane."

"Alexis." After taking another deep breath, I give him a tiny smile, "So... that means that you're stuck here too, right?"

"Yeah."

"How long?"

"A few hours, I think. My watch broke, and none of the clocks here work, so I could be wrong."

"...Wow. That sounds rough. I only just got here." I can't imagine being stuck here for a long period of time, not knowing how long you've been here, and not having anyone around to talk to.

"...That's weird."

"I was here all day with my friends, and we were leaving... but now they're gone." Oh man, now that I think about it, Kat is going to flip her shit when she finds out! She already didn't want to come to the amusement park, this is going to totally be used as ammo for denying future excursions... if I make it out of here!

"Yeah, I was just about to leave too. I was working in the arcade, and my shift had ended when everyone disappeared." He sighed, and looked at me, "...It's nice to actually be talking to somebody right now. I ran into another guy earlier, but he didn't seem to want anything to do with me."

Ah, so we're not the only two here. That's semi-reassuring. "How could you tell?"

"He was shouting obscenities at me and running away from me."

"...Oh. Well, maybe he'll come find us later?"

"Probably. There's no way out of here, he has no choice. . . ." He started saying more stuff, but I got tired of exchanging words with him. Not that I don't like intelligent conversations, but... I'm feeling sort of tired right now. ". . .I guess we'll just figure it out later, huh?"

Shoot, does he want an answer? "...Uh, yeah."

Thane must be way more perceptible to other's feelings than I thought. "Are you tired?"

"Eh, kind of."

"Well, you can go wait for me at the café and rest. I have to go... check up on some things. I'll catch up with you later."

FAMOUS LAST WORDS: YOU GO WAIT FOR ME, I'LL BE RIGHT BACK.

He's even blonde! The blonde ones always die quickly...!

"Wait!" I stop him before he can leave. I can tell he's slightly irritated, but he still complies with my demand.

"What? Are you scared of being alone?"

"...What? No! It's just that you'll probably be horribly murdered, so I'm just trying to help you out. Is it really that important?"

"...Well, I was going to go to the bathroom." Thane sounded amused, but still with that hint of irritation.

"...O-oh. I'm sorry... I'll go on ahead and wait then, I guess."

"Okay, seeya." Thane takes off, and I watch him get away before I leave myself.

Heres to hoping he doesn't get axed to death by the irritable stranger.

As I walk into the café, the little bell on the door chimes, indicating my arrival. I'm pleasantly surprised to see two people inside; one even turns to me as I walk in!

The guy that turned to me is incredibly tall (impressive! How did he manage that?), has nice chocolate brown hair, bright green eyes, and a rather (adorably) nerdy blue sweater vest with a red argyle pattern across the middle.

There was also a little girl sitting in a booth in the far corner of the café. I swear, she could pass for Kat if she was just a little bit taller, and wasn't wearing pink... or if she had glasses. I guess that's quite a few differences, so they're probably not alike at all? That's a shame. It'd be slightly comforting if one of my friends were here...

The tall guy gives me a nice, big, friendly smile as he approaches me. "Hi! My name is Bryce, what's yours?"

I return his level of enthusiasm, because why not? "Alexis. Nice to meet you, Bryce."

"The pleasure's all mine."

"...So, you're trapped here too?"

"Yeah... bummer, isn't it?" His smile dropped for just a second, but then it came back halfway. "But I'm glad you got here. The more the merrier, you know?"

"Oh, I agree... so, who's your companion over there?" I point to the girl who's just been sitting there like an iron maiden, not budging or speaking, just watching us two talk.

Bryce casually shrugs, "I have no idea. She's been there since before I got here, I think. She won't talk to me at all... I hope I didn't do something that offended her."

Near the end of his sentence, Bryce's tone took a turn down Sad Guy Street, home to all the nice guys who are sad. That doesn't seem to suit him, in my opinion (even though I've literally just met him), so I tried to cheer him up.

"I'm sure it's nothing personal. You look like you're a good guy."

Bryce seemed like I caught him off guard, because he was stunned for a few moments. "...Uh, I hope so...th-thanks."

He brightened up considerably now, "Man, it's been such a long day! I'm going to sleep super well tonight!"

"...How can you still be so..." The exact word I wanted to use seemed to escape me, "...cheery? Especially in a situation like this? I must admit, keeping your cool at this time is quite impressive."

"I'm not as impressive as you seem to think... Actually, I was freaking out earlier, when I thought I was the only one here..." Bryce laughed, "... but now that I know I'm not alone, I can relax. After all, we'll get through this together, right?"

I couldn't help but grin at him, "...Yeah, you're right. We'll get out of here for sure."

It's rather inconvenient that we were interrupted at that exact moment by a surely enraged individual that was shouting.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" I guess Thane found that guy from earlier.

"I will when you listen to me!"

"Hell no!" Well, this guy sure sounds like a decent fellow.

"What the..."

Thane seemed to have been leading him towards the café, because the two of them suddenly came crashing through the café door. Luckily, Bryce caught the two of them before they could crash to the ground and start a fight. I guess he's not just tall, but also strong?

The new guy, who seemed pretty angry, had caramel colored hair, gray eyes, and a green jacket. Kat would love that jacket. I wonder where he got it.

The irate stranger kept trying (in vain) to fight away Bryce's grip on his arm, "I don't need any help! Let go of me!"

Thane calmed down, and ignored Spencer when he took notice of me standing right next to his captor. "Oh, Alexis."

"What are you doing...?"

"Just chasing a nincompoop." Thane gestured towards the irate stranger, who got even angrier.

"Who's a nincompoop?!" I can tell that he was trying to start a fight, but he wouldn't be getting anywhere with Bryce still holding him back.

Thane, yet again, ignored him, turning his attention towards their captor. "...So, who's the sweater vest?"

I know it's not that common to see sweater vests... but c'mon! He's adorable! "This is Bryce."

Bryce waved with his one free hand (he had let go of Thane, since he didn't show any violent tendencies), "Yo."

"Is this the guy you were chasing? What's his name?"

Thane shrugged, "Beats me."

Somehow, the irate stranger only then seemed to notice that he was surrounded by people, because he flipped his lid. "WHO ARE ALL YOU PEOPLE?!"

Bryce let go of Spencer (who then took several side-steps away from him), "Why don't we all introduce ours-"

Thane interrupts Bryce before he even finishes (wow, rude!), "Thane!"

It didn't seem to upset Bryce, so I went next, "Alexis!"

Suddenly, a soft, yet somewhat musical, voice spoke up from behind us. "...Lena."

We turned to see the little girl (Lena, apparently) staring at us, but she continued to ignore us, sinking back into her silence.

Now the irate stranger went, "Spencer!"

"Bob!"

There was a short silence as we all stared at Bryce, who was beaming at us. I leaned over and lightly punched him in the arm.

"That's not your name!" Bryce started laughing, and I couldn't help but join in.

. . . .

"...So, everyone here got this creepy text?" Everyone (with the exception of Lena, who just held up her phone) murmured their agreement, "And now all of our phones display these weird numbers instead of the time..."

"Yep! Thane's number is 29, Alexis's is 12, Spencer's is 22, Lena's is 20, and mine is 17. Alexis... your number is really low, compared to the rest of us." Bryce looked at me, concern showing through his voice. It was kind of endearing, really.

"Yeah, I know... Why does mine have to be the lowest?" I sighed. Thane was grumbling about his number too, but what is he complaining about? His number is the highest!

Spencer completely ruined the tension by yawning, "God, why am I so damn tired? It's not even late outside..."

"You too? I'm also feeling pretty tired."

"Seriously? I've been working all day and I still have plenty of energy." Thane scoffed at Spencer, not seeming to be indicating anything at me. I guess they just rub each other the wrong way. How unfortunate, since it looks like we'll be together in the long run.

Spencer didn't even seem to realize that Thane was making a jab at him; he was too busy staring at his phone in frustration. "Crap... hold on a second, my phone's dying."

He made the half-step journey to the café's plug-in, and plugged in his phone to charge, tapping his foot impatiently. That's... peculiar. Do people normally carry those things with them?

Bryce hummed, "I feel just fine too. Maybe you two just had a long day?"

"You're probably right... we did throws cards off the roller coaster, fight our way through the arcade, toss change in the fountain, ran away from angry employees for throwing change in the fountain and littering cards, Jay nearly drowned in the pool because nobody grabbed her goggles, and Kat dragged us onto the spinning rides several times." I chuckle at the end, I think the staff might never let us back into the park ever again.

"...Your friends sound... interesting, Alexis." Bryce looked like he might burst out laughing again, he was grinning so big.

I grin back at him, "Really? I think so too."

Spencer interrupted our chatter, "I just noticed something."

We all turn to him, "Our numbers, they add up to 100..."

Thane arched an eyebrow, "...Well, you're right, but does that mean anything?"

"Of course! It has to!" Spencer sounded overconfident, with a pinch of insecurity.

Thane narrowed his eyes, annoyed. "Don't just assume something like that and think it has meaning."

"I give a shit about what you think!" Even though he said that, Spencer looked a little jarred, which he solved... by getting angry. It almost seemed like there was another to-be-argument about to happen, but Bryce managed to douse it before it could become a proper fire.

"Hey, let's all calm down. We can go find a place to sleep for tonight, and then pick this back up tomorrow."

"...Sleep? Right now? Why the hell would I go to sleep right now? It's still light out." Spencer's eyes and tone indicated that he was as confused as a Spinda is about how to move straight.

"...But... didn't you just say you were tired?" Now Bryce was confused too, but it wasn't like a Spinda, it was like a newborn Ponyta, which is much cuter.

"...I..did.." Spencer scrunched his face, trying to think hard, when his phone beeped, letting everyone know that it was finished charging. "...OH!"

I guess sworn enemies have some kind of telepathy, because Thane sounded just as surprised as Spencer, "For real?! Really?!"

"That's too freaky!" I got tired of listening to their telepathic (but verbal) banter.

"What are you two even talking about?!" Spencer turned to me, and held out his hand.

"Alexis, let me see your phone."

I stare at it, before looking up at him. "...Okay, but be careful." I place my hand gently into his hand.

Spencer turns back to the plug-in, and switches my phone out for his. After that, he turns back to me, his foot tapping being the only sound in the café.

"...So?" Spencer stares at me, waiting for a response.

"What?"

"Are you feeling... different...? Less tired, maybe...?" The others turn to me now as well. I feel slightly pressured, but I still manage to focus on my inner being. I can feel something bubbling up from the soles of my feet. It kind of tickles, and I sort of have the urge to dance around...

My eyes widened, "...Oh my gosh! I don't feel tired at all!"

Thane sighs, "Okay, so the battery life of our phones is directly linked to our own energy."

"That could get scary..."

"Well, we should all try to be more careful than we usually are with our phones." Thane ruffled his hand through his hair.

Spencer snorts, "No fucking shit, you must be a god damn genius."

It was then that I remembered something that could potentially be a problem. "Oh.. but I don't have my phone charger..."

Bryce smiled sadly, "Me too, I didn't think I'd be stranded in the park, so I didn't grab it. I guess we're both out of luck, huh?"

"Well, you two are in luck. They sell phone chargers in the cinema."

Bryce and I brightened up considerably, "R-really?"

I grin, "That's super lucky!" ...If not odd. Why are they selling cell phone chargers in the cinema, when they don't let you use phones in the building?

...Oh well, you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, I suppose.

"Yeah, but you should probably make sure that you have enough money. I tried stealing some popcorn from there, but the doors kept me locked in until I put money on the counter."

"What the hell is wrong with this place?" Spencer growled. "Let's just focus on escaping, we don't have to worry about these stupid numbers as long as they don't drop down to zero."

We all agree to meet up later, and split up.

I spent the next day just exploring the park, seeing if there was anything to do to pass the time. I didn't find anything! Whenever I tried to get on a ride, it wouldn't start, even if it was just the carousel! I can't even go for a swim, there's some kind of barrier around it, preventing me from getting inside.

The only thing I could actually take part in is the arcade. I spent literally all day there once I found that out! Their games are so rad...! I tried my hand at the pinball first, but I wasn't very successful... or any sort of successful. I turned my attention to the shooter game, which is totally my thing! I racked up tickets like crazy, it's a wonder they didn't run out. After playing all day, I decided to choose a prize, but I didn't find anything that I wanted. Well, that game player looks pretty nifty... but I already have one. I decided on the mp3 player. It had a voice recorder, which Kat has told me is pretty good for mp3s. Maybe I can use it as a bribe if the day ever comes where I need to.

I stuff the mp3 in my hoodie's pocket. At the very least, I have this dark purple striped hoodie that Kat&Jay gave me for my birthday a few months ago. It makes me feel like they're here with me.

I walked around the front of the park, trying to find somebody to talk to. I ran into Lena, but she only gave me a compliment on my black hair, and then she went on her way. I decided to go north to the carousel, just so I could sit on the little horsies.

I spotted Bryce by the carousel, he had his back facing me. I sneak up on him, and clamped my hands on each of his shoulders.

"BOO!" He started a little, but emitted no noise. He turned to face me, and laughed.

"Oh, it's just you, Alexis. You surprised me."

I giggle, "I got you good, hm?"

"...I suppose you did." Bryce grinned, amused.

"So, what'cha doing?" I sat down on the rim of the carousel, deciding that playing on the horses might make me look extremely childish (which I am, but I don't want Bryce to know that).

"I've just been thinking... what exactly lies beyond that glass dome? Is the rest of the world's population out there, or are we the only people here?" That's... pretty deep.

"...Well, maybe there's actually nothing else on the other side." I tilted my head, smiling.

He seemed to think hard about that, "A different dimension or an illusion, right? Huh... that's a rather... interesting thought." Now he looked to me, but I was staring at my feet that I was jiggling around in a dance, "...Are you feeling all right? Or are you the type to fake their happiness?"

"I think everyone fakes their own happiness... sometimes." I looked back up at him, and was surprised by the expression he had on his face. It was wiped away in a flash, making me wonder if it was even there in the first place. It was a mixture of admiration and pleasant surprise, but I've only just met Bryce a few days ago, there's no way he likes me. "...What's wrong?"

He started again, "...Sorry. I said something weird, didn't I? I guess I can't help but worry over silly things like this..."

"No- Don't apologize! I don't mind at all. In fact, it's rather sweet of you to be worrying about my well being." It was then that my phone alerted me that I need to charge it. Luckily, I had purchased a nice charger after we all split up days ago. "...Excuse me, I have to go charge my phone now."

I hopped up from the rim of the carousel and started walking towards the café, but Bryce started trotting until he was right beside me. "Oh, I'll come with."

"You don't have to."

"You're right, I don't have to... but I want to. It's nice talking to you." He grinned, deciding to wait outside while I quickly charge up my phone.

When I walked outside, I got to the heartbreaking sight of Bryce trying to convince Lena to join us for a group talk, but she ignored him and briskly walked away. I shake my head, and give him a little pat on the shoulder, along with a lopsided smile.

"It's okay, Bryce. We can always invite her for later chats." He looked down at me with an appreciative face.

"Thanks... maybe Lena doesn't dislike us, but she's just shy around strangers?"

"Hopefully she'll open up to us in time."

He chuckles, "We sound like parents talking about their withdrawn adopted child...I-I mean, we're all like a kind of awkward family now, aren't we?"

"Mhm," I hum, "That sounds pretty nice."

We sit down at one of the café's tables as we speak, and Bryce looks at me curiously. "...What about you?"

"What?" I turn my attention away from tapping my fingers, but I don't exactly look him in the eyes.

"If you had the choice, would you rather be here alone or stuck with these strangers that you don't know if you can really trust?" Well, that took me by surprise.

"...What kind of question is that? Didn't you just say that we're like a family? I don't mind being here with you guys at all!" I swear a light pink dusted Bryce's face, but it was probably just the heat getting to him. Sweater vests tend to get hot.

"Th-that's good. I'm glad you're open enough to trust us. Most people would have a hard time getting along with strangers, especially in a case like this."

"You're certainly optimistic, aren't you?"

"I suppose so... this situation isn't all that bad, since I got to meet you."

"...Just me?"

He laughed awkwardly, not seeming to have noticed it before I pointed it out, "Well, the others are nice too, but you... you're a really interesting person. I don't just run into people like you every day."

"Oh... thank you. I find you interesting too." I grin at him. Wow, Bryce is such a nice fellow! Making sure I feel alright, insisting that we're like family (Kat and Mel have that same obsession, so it's not like I'm not used to it); whoever ends up being his wife will be a lucky lass. I can just imagine it now...

"Hey, Bryce." I inquired, finally noticing that he had gotten us a pitcher of water, and had poured it into little plastic cups.

"Yes?" He started to take a drink, and I briefly wondered if this was the right time to be asking this question. Eh, I've got nothing to lose.

"First of all, thanks for the cup." I grin, taking a sip of water myself, "...And second, do you have a girlfriend?"

Just as I predicted, Bryce spat all of the water out of his mouth (luckily, none of it hit me), and started stumbling all over his words. "Wh-what?! N-no, of c-course I don't! W-why did you even ask th-that?!"

I shrug, "I don't know. I was just curious, I guess...Sorry, did that make you uncomfortable?"

"N-no, not at all! In fact-" Bryce was cut off by the sound of loud arguing. Gosh, I wonder who it could possibly be?!

"Uh, let's go see what's going on, shall we? Things might get bad." I place my cup back on the table, and stand up, gesturing for Bryce to follow. I could hear the scraping of the chair when he got up, but he made no attempt to talk to me again. I guess I had really shocked him.

...But the reaction I got from him was adorable, and was just what I wanted!

Heheheh...

Anyway, when we finally made our way to the root of where the two of them were fighting, we saw that they were fighting over a machine lying on the ground... it looked broken.

"Will you two stop fighting? What even is that thing?" Bryce nearly bumped into me, but he managed to stop himself, and took the spot to my right, separating me from Thane.

Speaking of Thane, he whipped around when I spoke up. "It's some kind of broken machine. We're trying to figure out what to do with it."

Well, DUH it's a machine... Sheesh, do I look stupid? "Well, does it look like it's fixable? We can probably fix it ourselves if it is."

"I don't know how to fix these things!" Spencer protested.

Thane adjusted his glasses, "I could probably do it. I was in the robotics club at school, so I know the basics of electrical engineering."

"Wow Thane, that's pretty impressive." Bryce wasn't being sarcastic, like I assume Spencer will be.

Just as I expected, Spencer sneered at Thane. "Pfft. All high school robot clubs are for nerds and wannabes."

"...Oh.. but I'm in the robotics club at my school too..." I frowned, not particularly liking the diss he was making at me, even if it was indirectly, and unintended. "...I'm a nerd...?"

"See what you did? You made Alexis sad!" Thane jeered at Spencer, using me as ammo for getting revenge. Bryce started to awkwardly pat my head. That was actually really comfortable, since the twins had the same tendency to feel up people's hair.

"W-what? No! I didn't mean that against her, just you!" Spencer saw my sad little face, and heaved a heavy sigh, "...I'm sorry, Alexis."

I beamed at him, "It's okay, since you apologized! Anyway, I think we should fix it, since we don't really have anything else to do at the moment."

Spencer was just standing there now, stuttering to himself. Gosh, I hope he's not sick! That'd be awful, what if we don't have any medicine?!

Bryce laughed, "I was just about to say the same thing. So, are we all in agreement?"

"Sure, it seems like an easy enough fix. Just a few missing parts." I hummed, staring at the broken scrap metal on the ground.

"Well, the parts aren't just going to be lying around, you know... There's no use trying to find something you'll never obtain." Spencer sighed.

"How will we know if we don't actually look?" Thane sounded exasperated, with a tint of angry. I hum my agreement.

It was then that I noticed who was missing, "Oh... but Lena's not here. We should look for her too."

"Yeah, it's safe to stick together in a group, rather than straying off."

Spencer sighed, and persisted in his pursuit of annoying Thane to death. "Okay, but seriously, what are we going to do when we don't find all of the missing parts we need for this piece of shit?"

"We can worry about that when the time comes, Spencer." Bryce sighed, and we all split up to cover more ground. However, I'm pretty sure Spencer ran off to the spot under the roller coaster... guess I know who won't have anything when we regroup.

Anyway, I'm the last one to leave, but when I get in front of the Alix the Cat gift shop, I hear the beeping of my phone, telling me that I've... got a new text message?

I open up my phone, and look at it.

When falling damp tree unveils ghost

"...Wow, does this person not know anything but cryptic typing?" I stuff my phone back into my pocket, deciding that I'd just bring it up later when we regroup.

I decided to go and start looking near the pool house first, and would make my way in a zigzag across the park. When I get there, I find a metallic object jutting out of the ground between the pool and the pool house. Did that thing only break recently? It had to have only been recently, because this definitely wasn't here earlier.

Next was the actual front entrance. I thought looking in the fountain was a solid idea, but there were no little bumps in the change (Sheesh, we threw loads of change!), and I doubt the other parts are paper thin, since they're made of metal.

I scratch that out, and make my way over to the arcade. Standing there, crouching on the ground curiously was Bryce.

"Bryce, you found anything yet?" Bryce started, but calmed down immediately when he saw that it was just me.

"No, not yet. You?" I held up my metallic trophy.

"I found it sticking out of the ground by the pool house..." I looked up at the wall of the arcade for just a second, because I swore that there was something bright flashing light into my eyes. Surprise! It was another robot part, STICKING OUT OF THE WALL OF THE BUILDING! "O-oh my god! Did that robot explode?! Bryce, look!"

I pointed at the part, which was well out of my reach. He stood up, and easily plucked it out of the wall. "Well... that's a peculiar place to find a robot part. Good eye, Alexis." He handed me the part, grinning.

"Well, your height is really handy, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but it sometimes makes people think that I'm older than I really am." Bryce sighed.

"I guess people just aren't use to seeing what's not normal to them." I snicker.

"Oh? What do you consider to be 'normal'?" He sounded amused.

"Being what others expect, of course."

"Really?" Bryce looked at me, surprised, "...I suppose that's the truest answer to what most consider 'normal' too."

"Mmm. Well, I'm going on ahead! See you later!" I wave at him as I walk away towards the cinema, intent on finding more parts. If I find more, maybe Bryce will think I'm cool! (*^*)

At the cinema, I wasn't able to find anything until I spent a half hour crawling around on the ground, finally finding it hiding behind the Mr. Antitouch statue. After that, I jogged over to the Saki pool, but there wasn't anything to be found.

I go towards the café, and look around, moving some chairs to see if it would help. Somehow, it does! I found another part sticking out of the ground... right next to the chair where I was sitting earlier? Was that there earlier?

...I don't think so, but maybe I just didn't notice. I wasn't exactly watching the scenery, after all.

I grab it, and make my way towards the carousel. It doesn't even take me half a second to notice the big piece of scrap metal lying on the carousel. Now, I KNOW that wasn't there earlier! Is this amusement park haunted?!

I decided to go and search through the ferris wheel and the roller coaster, just to be thorough. The ferris wheel yielded no results, sadly, but I had much more success at the roller coaster!

Not only could I see a robot part sticking out of the backseat, but Lena was there too! She was gripping her right arm with her left hand, and was surely startled when she saw me.

I raise a hand in greeting, "Hello."

"Hi." Okay, I got a response. So far so good...

"Do you know that the others are looking for you?" No response.

"...Do you just not like the others?" Lena shook her head.

"No... I'm just... afraid of tall people. I get extremely nervous, and usually can't speak whenever I see somebody taller than me... So I wear this wide-brimmed hat... to block the view of the world above me."

"Ah, so that's why you'll only talk to me?" She nods, "And that's also why you can't stand Bryce?"

She looked down at the ground, seeming to be remorseful of her actions, even if they weren't done on purpose. "...It's not that I can't stand him... he's just... too tall for comfort. Much too tall... but then again, I'm really short, even for a girl... so most people tower over me."

"Even then, you should try and apologize to Bryce. Poor guy thinks you hate him."

She frowns, and looks up at me with pleading eyes, "...Can I do so later...?"

"Yeah, no pressure. Do it when you feel comfortable. Just don't wait until the last second, okay?" I took that opportunity to snatch the robot part from the roller coaster. "All right, now that I've got these parts, why don't the two of us return to the meeting place?"

Lena nods, and holds my hand as the two of us make our way over to the restrooms.

"Well, did we get everything?" Spencer huffed, even though I knew that he hadn't looked for the parts at all.

Thane stood up from examining the robot."...We're still missing a few screws, but they're probably unimportant. We should be able to get on fine without them."

"But.. wow, Alexis! You were the only one to find any parts!" Bryce grinned, ruffling my hair. If I wasn't so used to it, I might drop 'eep's all over the place like Jade does.

"W-well.. you helped me get one too..." I think I heard Lena laughing quietly. She was still standing next to me, even though Bryce was just on the other side.

Bryce didn't seem to hear her (or, if he did, he didn't show it), instead pulling his phone out of his pocket, "Since we're all here... Am I the only one who got another weird text?"

I fumble through my hoodie's pocket, "Are you talking about the one with the falling tree and ghost?"

Thane nodded, "Yeah, I got it too. Perhaps it's just a bad case of auto correct?" His dry tone indicated sarcasm in play, but that didn't stop Spencer.

"What are you, stupid? I doubt this is just a coincidence... it's probably from whoever sent us the first text as well." Spencer sneered at Thane, shaking his head in disgust.

"It has to mean something... maybe we're supposed to read it a certain way?"

"'Ghost unveils damp tree falling when'...?" I wanted to contribute something more useful than a few robot parts, but... puzzles are hard.

Bryce grinned, taking my initiative, "'Falling tree ghost when damp unveils'...?"

We continued to go back and forth between the two of us, but we didn't come up with anything usable. In the meantime, Spencer and Thane started spouting random garbage from their mouths.

"You guys aren't even making sense!" I groan at them, and turn my attention to the robot. "Thane, are you fixing this, or am I?"

"I'll do it, hand me the parts." Thane held out his hand, which I graciously dropped all six metal parts into. I think I almost snapped his wrist, but he showed no sign of pain, except for the slight twitch in his eye.

. . .

"And..." Thane set the plug-in plate back in place (why does it even have one?), "...that should do it."

The robot looked like a weird box that should have been a snack machine, but on wheels. The creepy vacant look on its face was scary too.

After five minutes, Spencer burst into laughter. "See? What did I tell you! It's not working, this was a total waste of time."

"Maybe we should kick it or something?" I moved my foot forward to do the honors, but I was stopped when the robot suddenly booted up, it's eyes losing the pitch-blackness.

"You did it! It's really working!" Bryce sounded so pumped... god that's so nerdy it's... just... so... adorable! (;n;)

The little robot started emitting a weird aura, as well as various 'beeps'. "The name's Cashy. Nice to meet y'all."

"...Cute." I look at Lena, who is practically melting at the sight of... 'Cashy'. Weird tastes, this one.

"So... what does this piece of scrap metal do?" Spencer glared at Cashy, not even bothering to use the proper name.

"First of all, you piece of absolute shit, I JUST said my name's Cashy. Second," Cashy's voice took on a friendlier tone, "I like to eat, sleep, drink, and party all night long with the most beautiful women!"

"Wh-what?" Spencer looked stunned at the sudden shifting of Cashy's emotions.

"Nah, I'm kidding. I'm just a robot that stores and deposits money." Cashy let out a weird mechanical laugh, which sounded really creepy.

"So, like an ATM?" I chuckled, amused at the punny name. Jay would love this, she adores puns, especially bad ones.

"You got it, Girly! You just gotta hook me up with that little charger of yours, and bam! I give you cash in exchange for some battery life. Pretty sweet, huh?"

I grin at Cashy, somewhat enjoying talking with a mechanical object. I wonder who programmed it? "Yeah, that sounds pretty nifty."

Thane narrowed his eyes at Cashy, taking a step away from it. "...I don't remember finding any money inside this thing... Oh, wait... maybe that's what the locked safe was for."

Cashy whipped around to face Thane, wheeling extremely close to him. "So it was you that repaired me? I should sue your ass for sexual harrassment!"

"...What."

"You looked and touched all my private part's without my permission, didn't you?! Huh? Huh?" It didn't sound like Cashy was really serious about his pursuit of Thane; it was like Cashy got some kind of sick joy from taunting people.

"Gosh, Thane! He's right!" Bryce snickered at Thane's misfortune. I, of course, couldn't resist joining in.

"Oh my god... I-I don't even-"

Spencer cut off Thane's soon-to-be tirade, "Let's cut to the chase. What do you know about this place, and the numbers, you stupid robot?"

"You little cunt...! I ain't tellin' you shit now! Even then, all I know is money. Money is everything. If you've got money, you've got ladies hanging off of you. If you've got ladies, you've got plenty of-" I have no idea what he said next, because Bryce clamped his hands over my ears, and Spencer covered Lena's (how did he get over here so fast? He was standing behind Thane!). Cashy seemed to have finished talking several minutes later, because he suddenly rolled away, running over Bryce' feet in the process. There was a loud CRUNCH.

"Tally ho, mofos!" Was the last thing I heard from him.

Spencer snapped the moment Cashy was out of sight, "What the hell is wrong with that thing?!"

I ignored that, and turned to Bryce, spastically flapping my arms everywhere. "Oh my gosh! Bryce, are you okay?!"

"O-ow... Y-yeah, I'm fine! Just stings a little..." Bryce gave me a lopsided smile, trying to not show any sign of pain. That wasn't very convincing, considering his eyes were that of a kicked puppy's, and they were slightly tearing up. I would imagine that a heavy metal robot wheeling over your feet would not feel too pleasant.

"...Well... anyway, that sure was..." I trailed off, not being able to find the right word.

No matter, everyone, because Lena saved us from our awkward silence!

"...Cute." I looked at her, and I swear, there were mini pink hearts floating above her head.

Spencer sighed, ignoring Lena (good choice of action!), "Man... we spent all that time looking for parts, and fixing it... yet we still don't know shit."

"Aww... I hope we can get out of here soon. I'm starting to get pretty hungry." Bryce whined, his stomach protesting. The others agreed, even Lena looked a tad bit hungry!

Suddenly, the wallet I had been keeping in my back pocket was incredibly heavy, as though it was reminding me of its existence. "Oh, um... I could go get everyone food, if that's okay..."

"Really? Are you sure?" Thane arched an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it's no problem! I didn't spend any money when I was with my friends, except for the few sodas I bought, so I have like, thirty dollars on me." And, if need be, I'd borrow a few dollars from Mel's wallet... but I'd pay him back! I swear! "Anyway, I'll be right back!"

As I was turning to leave, Thane told me that they'd be waiting in the gift shop. I waved in response, and jogged towards the café. However, I only made it to the carousel before Bryce interrupted me.

"Alexis! Wait up!" I stopped, waiting for Bryce to catch up.

"What's up, Bryce?"

"I.. I just wanted to know if you needed any help?"

"Oh, thanks, but no, I don't need help. It's just food, y'know?"

"...You... you're amazing." Both of my eyebrows go up, this is not what I was expecting at all!

"W-what?"

"You always seem to know what you're doing... you probably know what you want in life, huh?"

I wave my hand offhandedly, "Not really... It's kind of hard to know what you want when you haven't done much."

"...Really?" The amazement in his voice makes me look at him, his green eyes just staring at me, showing no emotion. I nod, "...It''s nice to know that the people who we perceive as better aren't so different from the rest of us after all."

"...You think I'm better than average person?" My face heated up, incredibly flattered by this compliment, even if he didn't mean it that way.

Now Bryce was panicking, "W-Well, haven't you ever wanted to be someone else?"

"...Mmm, sometimes."

"E-exactly! Sometimes, it's hard not to envy what you admire about others, right?"

"...I suppose." I stare at him, not believing his makeshift excuse. "If you'll excuse me... I'm going to go get our food. Why don't you go wait with the others?"

Without waiting for an answer, I rushed over to the café.

I had grabbed all the food I could possibly get, since there was five of us, for godssake! I was fighting a losing battle when I tried to struggle to bring the bags outside of the café. Another alert came from my phone, and I nearly dropped everything. After some struggling, I finally manage to gently place the bags on the ground, and took out my phone with a huff. How dare my phone interrupt me making a contribution to the group!

I did a double take at my phone, when I thought it just had another cryptic text... it actually was alerting me of my new number.

The number 4.

How did my number get so low?! My number was at 23 when I went into the café!

I growl, and shove my phone back into my pocket. I see a flash of red, before it eventually steadies, revealing a rather tall guy, who can't be much older than me. He had pleasantly dark red hair, blood red eyes, a nice, black, sleeveless hoodie, and a bright yellow shirt.

When I looked up into his face, the guy's eyes widened considerably. "A-A person...!"

"...Uhhh..." I had no idea what to say. Who is this guy? I've never seen him before in my life!

I didn't even need to say anything after all, because this albino stranger skipped (yes, skipped!) up to me, stopping just a foot away, beaming at me like I'm an angel.

"Hi!" His enthusiasm certainly was welcome, but he had yet to introduce himself.

"Hi, uh...?" I hinted, hoping he would get it.

Well, I was halfway there, "What's your name?"

"Alexis. You?" I guess you just have to be blunt with cheery guys like him.

"Alexis is a great name! You're so adorable!...Oh, I'm Arlo!"

"Well... it's nice to meet you, Arlo. How long have you been here?" He didn't respond right away, it looked like he was nervously calculating an answer... but that's crazy talk! There's no need for anxiety here, right?

"Mmm~ Not too long ago, I think... This place is huge, though! I got lost the moment I appeared here!"

"Oh, so that means you're just like the rest of us..." I muttered, mostly to myself. I didn't expect him to hear me!

"Th-there are other people here?!" Arlo looked around, excitedly (but also nervously?).

"Yeah, of course there is. They're all waiting for me back at the gift shop... don't worry, they're all... pretty nice..." I couldn't look him in the eyes, knowing Spencer and Thane's tendency to jeer at each other. What if they annoyed this poor guy?

"Oh, phew! I was freaking out because I couldn't find anyone anywhere! I thought I was all alone...!" He sounded so insecure, I nearly started bawling at the puppy dog face he started to make. "Hey, Alexis~ Will you be my best friend?"

"...S-sure..." I wasn't even able to bring up the smallest desire of wanting to turn him down, not that I'd have that desire in the first place.

"Really?"

"O-of course!" Arlo enveloped me in a bear hug, taking me by surprise.

"I like you, Alexis! You're nice! We're going to be the bestest of friends!" He squealed, and I could not help laughing at his childish nature.

"I'm sure we will be. Now, let's get back to the others, and I'll introduce you, okay? The others are probably starting to wonder what's taking me so long..."

"Okay!"

Arlo tries to take all of the bags, but I insist on carrying at least one myself. Luckily, we weren't that far away from our destination to begin with.

"Finally! It's about time, Alexis, I was getting so hungry I was about to eat Thane's leg... though that wouldn't taste too good..." I was blessed to hear Spencer's sweet, caring voice the moment I stepped through the door. "...Is that all you bought?"

I shook my head as I set my stuff on the table, and opened the door for Arlo to come inside. I had to lead him to the table, since the bags covered up his view. Now that there was six of us to feed, I'm glad I bought a bunch of food, because the others started digging in immediately, with occasional glances at Arlo, who just hugged me continuously while I ate. Bryce was staring at us the entire time, not even trying to be discreet about it.

"...Um, Alexis?" I turned my head towards Bryce, letting him know that I was listening, "...Is that an acquaintance, or a friend... or something...?"

"Oh yeah... Guys, this is Arlo." I gesture towards my personal heating blanket, who grins mischievously at everyone, "I met him outside of the café ten minutes ago. He's new to all this."

"Hello!" Arlo let go of me with one of his arms to wave enthusiastically.

"...You mean you're total strangers?" Spencer raised an eyebrow at Arlo, who was now petting my head.

"Nuh uh! Alexis and I are bestest friends!"

"Oh? Since when?" Even Thane sounded curious.

"Since ten minutes ago!" Arlo looked super accomplished. The others looked to me, but I just merely shrugged, as if to say 'meh, what can you do?'.

"...Well. It's.. nice to meet you, Arlo." It might have been just me, but did Bryce actually sound hostile towards Arlo for a moment?

...Probably just my imagination.

Anyway, the others decided to introduce themselves, rather than wait for me to introduce them,

"Thane."

"Spencer!" Spencer seemed set on outshining Thane, even if it was just in introductions.

Lena looked up from the cake she was nibbling on, "...Lena."

"Ale-Oh, wait. You already know my name..." I trail off, slightly laughing.

"Bob...!" I didn't even need to wait, I good-naturedly poked Bryce in the side with my elbow.

"Your name is Bryce!" Bryce smiled, ignoring me completely.

"Soo, Arlo." Arlo looked up at Bryce, who was only a few inches taller, "Where are you from?"

I thought I saw a flash of panic go through Arlo's eyes, but then it was gone, drowning in his wide smile. "I actually live here in East Cigam."

"Oh? I live here as well. Maybe we've seen each other-" Spencer cut off Thane's curious attempts at befriending Arlo.

"South Cigam for me..." I saw Spencer glance at Bryce, and instantly knew what was coming, "...Let me guess, Sweater Vest here is from West Cigam?"

"Whoa... how'd you know?" Bryce sounded like an amazed little kid that was just shown a magic trick for the first time.

"...Lucky guess." Spencer turned his attention back towards his food.

I saw the realization make it's way through Bryce's face, and he sadly frowned, a little whimper slipping out. "You... You think I'm weird?"

Spencer coughed, reciting the rumor that circles West Cigam. "'Weird things happen in West Cigam'."

Glad to know you're that predictable, Spencer. I sigh inwardly.

"Well, this didn't happen in West Cigam, so you can't blame Bryce." I soothed, and then tried to change the conversation. "What about you, Lena? Where are you from?"

She nibbled a bit more on her slice of funnel cake, before glancing up at me. I almost thought she wasn't going to participate in the discussion, since we had added yet another tall guy.. but..

"...North Cigam." I smile gently at her.

"That's nice, I've heard that North Cigam is a pleasant place to be." I turn my attention back to the food, particularly those hamburgers... "This means we're all from different areas of Cigam... exciting!"

There was some silence, and exchanged glances (I didn't notice, I was too far gone in burger heaven), but Thane was the one to speak up in the end. "Wait, Alexis."

I tilted my head up to look at him, "Yes?"

"Where are you from?"

"Oh... did I not say it? I'm sorry! I'm from Central Cigam." I grin, and dig back into my burger.

"...Seriously?" Spencer's surprised tone made me look back up.

"...Yeah, is something wrong? Lost a long-distance girlfriend that lives in my area?"

His face burned in embarrassment, "No! I was just curious, that's all! I've never been there... so I just wanted to know what it was like, is all..."

"Oh... well, it's pretty normal, I guess. Nothing too special." I shrug.

"Maybe when we leave, we could all go on a tour of each other's neighborhoods? I really want to see where you live, Alexis!" Bryce gave me puppy eyes, pouting the most adorable pout ever.

"M-maybe. That depends on how soon we get out." The sooner we leave, the less likely Jay will be mopping up the blood from my cold, dead corpse. "...Maybe I'll even introduce you guys to my pals, if we're lucky."

Thane looked suddenly very attentive, but then started talking about something else the moment he noticed me staring at him. "So, Arlo... what's your number?"

Arlo was startled at the sudden change of topic, "H-huh?... You mean my phone number?"

"...No. I meant the number on your phone." I could practically envision the words going in through one ear, and out the other, dumping themselves onto the floor. Bryce must have been able to see it too, because he started to explain it in an easier way, gently.

"All of our phones display a number instead of the time here."

"...Really? Uh..." Arlo scoots away from me so that he can search his pockets for his phone. Eventually, he starts turning around in circles. "I can't find it...I think I lost it somewhere." Arlo rubs his neck, smiling sheepishly.

"What?!" Echoed from all of our grouplings (except Lena, who just proceeded to stop nibbling on her cake altogether; it fell to the ground).

"It's okay, it's not the first time I've lost it! I'm pretty skilled at misplacing things on occasion." Arlo started to laugh nervously, but it slowly died down once he noticed the looks he was getting. "...What?"

Spencer started shaking him by the shoulder, "Oh my god... this is bad... this is so bad..."

"...Huh?"

"You won't be able to charge your phone if you don't even have it!" Spencer smacked Arlo upside the head, sending the poor lad into a fit of whimpers and (possibly crocodile) tears.

"W-well, yeah... Duh?" Now, even dense little Arlo seemed to be getting the fact that what was going on wasn't a good thing.

Spencer sighed, smacking his palm to his face, and dragging it up his face. "Ah, that's right... you're new to whole thing. Okay, so, our energy is directly linked to how much battery life is in our phones, and we have to keep charging them, or else we'll become exhausted."

This appeared to shake Arlo pretty badly, "Wha... R-really?!" I could've sworn I heard him say 'That's weird...' "...This is bad, isn't it?"

Thane tried to calm Arlo down, "We could call your number as we walk around the park... unless you left it on silent."

Arlo seemed to get even more downcast the more we talked to him.

"Arlo... you didn't..." I gasp at him.

"...I did. It's on silent." He tried to crack a weak smile, but it wasn't very convincing, so he sighed instead. "B-but my phone has a pretty long battery life when it's not in use, even if it's on! Maybe we'll find it before it runs out?"

Spencer just seemed to make a small side-glance at my phone, that I had taken out just to see if my number had changed... it hadn't... and Spencer noticed.

"A-Alexis! What happened to your number?!" If that wasn't bad enough, he just HAD to shout it for everyone to hear!

"I-I don't know... it just dropped suddenly." I had no idea how to respond, everyone was staring at me so intensely.

"How long have you been hiding it?" Thane sound aggravated.

"Um, it dropped right before I met up with Arlo, so... not long."

"So Alexis's number went from it's original 12 down to 4... Mine went from 29 to 35, Bryce's: 17 to 15, Lena's: 20 to 24... and Spencer's stayed the same at 22." Cue curious glare at Spencer from Thane.

I felt a large hand squeeze my shoulder really tightly, but I didn't yelp, because it was just Bryce.

"But... Alexis, your number is seriously... it's dangerously low! You're so close to hitting zero...!" Even his concern for my possible-soon-to-be-maybe death is adorable!

Thane sighs dejectedly, "I thought that I was onto something.. but after seeing all of our numbers... I don't know."

"Oh, yeaah. Remember that one time when this whole thing made sense?...Yeah, me neither." Spencer's sarcasm was slightly appreciated. It's nice to know he at least has the humor to tease Thane, even at a time like this.

Bryce ignored those two's short skirmish, "Is there anything that you've done that might have caused this to happen?"

By now, his eyes were starting to get watery and puppyish, adding to his adorableness! It was semi-distracting, so I couldn't bring myself to look at him anymore; I averted my eyes to look at my feet instead. "...I-I don't know... nothing comes to mind."

Spencer rubbed his chin in deep thought, "...Do you think that maybe our social interactions affect our numbers?"

Thane sighed again, "Perhaps... but how?"

"My head huuurts~!" Arlo whines. I pat his shoulder in comfort.

What should I do...? There's nothing I can logically think of...

"...It's alright. I don't mind if my number drops to zero."

There's a long, stunned silence as everyone stares at me for my sudden outburst. Nobody looks too terribly pleased with that statement... especially Bryce. He looks like he is- oh, he actually is starting to cry.

"W-what." Arlo is the first one to actually say something, even though it's only one word.

"Well, if my number drops to zero, I get to leave, right? At least then I won't have to worry about all this anymore."

"No way." I was a little startled by how serious Spencer got suddenly. "You don't get to leave just because you want to. Things can't just be that easy. That's... too unfair to the rest of us." Is it just me, or did Spencer glance over at Bryce? Maybe he was just wondering why the hell Bryce is crying (but it's silent crying!).

"...But..." What? I have nothing to really say, I'm just too... in shock? Maybe.

"I agree with Spencer." Thane stares me down, "We only have each other right now, we shouldn't focus on losing everything."

Lena nods viciously, appearing to be quite upset. I was too busy staring at Lena's head, wondering if her hat was going to fall off, to notice Bryce reach out and pull me into a oxygen-killing hug, which is located on his LAP by the way, since we're sitting on the floor (nobody wanted to bother grabbing chairs from the café, I guess).

"Please try to be stronger for us~" I could only stumble over my words, my face was on fire, and I was not able to move at all.

Arlo started patting my head, but I'm pretty sure he was actually trying to pull me out of Bryce's grip, "Everything's going to be all right, Alexis~"

"We should just focus on one problem at a time, okay?" Thane's voice was full of amusement. I guess I know who's not going to be helping me, thanks Thane! What a pal. Spencer's not moving to help me either, I think. I don't even know. All I can see is blue fabric. Speaking of not helping me, though... is Lena laughing? I'm pretty sure I can hear her laughing at me. Great.

"Yeah, don't worry about me! I always find my phone sooner or later." Arlo laughed, but I could sense a tint of frustration. He was now just plain out trying to pry me off of Bryce (who wasn't budging at all).

I finally manage to at least get the space to breathe, and try smacking Bryce (not possible), "O-okay! Alright! I get it! Please let me breathe!"

It seemed to finally register in Bryce's mind what he was doing, because he practically threw me off him, stuttering up a storm.

"O-oh jeez! I-I'm s-sorry! I don't even know w-what I was doing...!" He curled up into a ball, and everyone laughed at him (except me, I was just sitting there, overheated).

We all agreed to meet up at tomorrow and ride the ferris wheel, and then go for a nice swim. Then the next day we'll ride the roller coaster and watch an evening movie. I don't know why Arlo was so insistent on this, when I know by experience that the rides aren't working! It's disappointing...

Anyway, for the rest of the day we're just going to wander around, I guess. I walk outside of the gift shop, and I (literally) run into Bryce, who jumps a little when I bump into him. He turns around and sees that it's me, and turned red.

"O-oh, hi Alexis..."

I know for a fact that if you act casual after something embarrassing, the other party will calm down too, so that's exactly what I did. "Hey Bryce!"

"Uh... how have you been?" Smooth, Bryce. You totally didn't just see me five minutes ago.

"I'm great, what about you~?" He seemed to finally calm down (at least a little bit).

"Same." We stood there in an awkward silence (on his part, at least), until I managed to come up with a nice question to take his mind off things.

"Hey, can I ask you something? Besides what I just asked, that is." Bryce was pretty eager to talk about something, anything... ADORABLE!

"Of course, you can ask anything!"

"So, did you come to the amusement alone?"

"Nope, I came by myself." That's... weird. Does he have no friends?...No, that's impossible. He's such a nice guy!

"Why'd you do that? Do you really like amusement parks or something?" I mean.. even Jay wouldn't come to an amusement park by herself.

He laughed, "Oh, (pfft) no. I came here to gather data for my project. I needed large groups of people for it, and the amusement park opening was the best opportunity."

"What's it for? Social studies?"

"No, I'm planning on majoring in psychology... Well, I've only just started my studies, but I already have my heart set on it... does that sound weird?"

"No, that's great! What's your project on?" He grins, and starts explaining a bunch of things. He turned away, choosing to sit on the bench in front of the gift shop.

"Well, I was comparing people who came here alone, and people who arrived with groups. Many of the people who were alone either sought for groups to join, or mingled with other solo visitors, because if they were complete strangers, they felt the need to conform and be part of a group. They'd even change their behavior and opinions just to fit in and be like the others. They say that 'birds of a feathre flock together', but sheesh! Those people were practically plucking out their own feathers to replace them with fake, plastic ones! I started to question what exactly makes an individual an 'individual'. Are we really individuals if we're willing to change how we think and feel so easily to be accepted by others?...But then, I saw your group." He turned to me with a small smile, "The six of your seemed to be having a lot of fun, even though there were clearly differing opinions. One of you was even trying to beat down the rest of your friends! I thought that maybe it was just a coincidence, and that it was just a rare occurrence... but then I actually met you, and we teamed up with the others."

Bryce laughs fondly, "Even though we were grouped together without any prior knowledge of each other, none of us felt a need to change in order to fit in. And, because we kept our real feathers... we all still have the ability to fly."

I was busy in my own thoughts, like: JESUS CHRIST, BRYCE SAW US?! WE'RE NOT EXACTLY THE NICEST GROUP... KAT EVEN TRIED TO STRANGLE MEL JUST WHEN WE GOT INSIDE THE PARK!... Gosh, I hope he didn't see that... but then again, he said 'one of you was even trying to beat down the rest of your friends!'... wait. He could be talking about when we were forced to leave the arcade, and Kat was super pissed about it, since she didn't get to exchange her tickets.

Poor Mel got most of the abuse, since everyone but me would hit her back. I mean, I'd probably smack her too, but Kat just doesn't hit me. It must be because of my rad black hair, since it's her favorite hair color. Go me!

Apparently, I was too quiet for too long, because Bryce frowned and looked at his feet, looking all sad and in despair. "O-oh... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to talk that much... I'm just weird, huh? To be so interested in such an odd subject..."

Even his dejected face is adorable!

"N-no! I don't think being weird is a bad thing. Weird people are good for the world!" He looks at me, his eyes full of hope. S-so cute...

"...You really think so?"

"Well, yeah! Without somebody thinking outside the box, nothing new would ever be discovered, because everyone would think the same. If that happened, we'd never really advance, would we?"

He started chuckling, "Heh... True."

"Besides, Kat and Jay are into psychology too, so I don't find the subject weird at all! I even enjoy listening to them ramble about various things they think about society."

"Oh, really? I definitely want to meet them now... if the Kat girl won't hurt me..."

Now I laughed, "Oh, as long as you start talking about something interesting first thing instead of asking 'how are you/life/school', she's not going to immediately hate you." ...Possibly.

"...Well, that's good to know, I suppose. I hope she doesn't have anything against quirky people... since I'm from West Cigam and all.."

"She doesn't discriminate over stupid things like that. What's West Cigam like?"

He laughs, "Oh, it's weird for sure! You can never know what's going to happen next. Most of the people I know have actually never been over here in East Cigam. I guess the grand opening of Pactheland was the perfect excuse for most people to come here."

"...Do you regret coming here?" He flails his arms around.

"Oh no, not at all! I'm actually having a really good time here, I even think I'm lucky to be in this situation... don't tell the others, though."

I grin at his cheerfulness, "...Lucky? You're pretty optimistic."

Bryce rubs the back of his neck, laughing, "I guess I'm a man of adventure."

Then, he sighed. "...Aw man, I was so close to finishing my project, too."

"Well, at least you'll be able to work on it once we get out of here."

"...Yeah, I guess. Though, there are a few more important things I should settle before I jump back into it..."

It was then, as Bryce stared off into space thinking about his project, that I spotted Lena crouching behind one of the carousel's horsies, watching us engage in our conversation. She noticed me staring at her, and let out an 'eep' as she tried to hide herself better.

I turn to Bryce, "Hey, can you got wait for me over there, in front of the carousel, but by the café?"

He nods, and I turn back to Lena, walk over to her, and crouch down.

"Psst, Lena. It's okay, Bryce isn't here. Do you need something?" She peeks over the side of the pony, and tugs her hat down over her eyes, mumbling something.

"...I'm sorry, what?"

". . .anted. . .orry. . ."

"Can you speak louder? I can't hear you at all."

Her face turns pink, and she starts shaking like a little chihuahua, "I-I wanted to speak with B-Bryce..."

"Oh, well that's good. I just secluded him from everyone." I gestured towards Bryce, who was just staring off into space, "Go ahead."

"...B-but weren't you busy talking?"

"Ah, that's all that's stopping you? It's no problem, we're all pals here. I can wait, and it's really no big deal if you want to talk to him. Go on, be my guest! You can do it, Lena!" That last sentence was to encourage her, since I could see the nervousness in her movements.

"O-okay... here I go...!" She gets up slowly, and stumbles over to Bryce, taking one last look back at me, who is now hiding behind one of the horsies to 'monitor' her progress with socializing with taller individuals. Kat would be so proud! Anyway, I gave her a thumbs up, and she tugged on Bryce's shirt.

"Huh?" Bryce spun around, trying to find who had just tried to get his attention. I almost thought Lena was in his blind spot, but then he looked down at her, "Oh, Lena! What's up?"

Lena shuffled her feet in discomfort, "...I..." She didn't even make a coherent sentence, just that one letter.

Bryce waited for five minutes, but when he gathered that she wasn't going to speak anymore, he smiled, trying to egg her on. "Yes? What is it, Lena?"

There was an even longer silence, but Bryce broke it again with a sigh, "...You never look at anyone (except Alexis) in the eyes. Why is that?"

More silence, but now Lena was staring at the ground, holding herself tight. Bryce crouched down so that he could look her in the eyes. "...Look at me, please?"

Slowly, Lena managed to look up into Bryce's eyes, taking off her hat. Then, suddenly, it was like the floodgate of her mind was opened!

"...I can't look up. I get too nervous, and lose my voice whenever I see a face that's looking down at mine. That's why I always wear this hat, it's to block the view of those who are above me in height. It's really inconvenient... because I'm much shorter than the other people my age... I-I'm sorry... I was scared of you... since you're tall... and your face is really high up... but, I'd really like to be friends... if you don't mind..." Lena turned her range of sight back down to the ground, and kicked a tiny pebble.

After a little while, Bryce starts laughing, startling all of the life out of Lena. "Oh, so that's it? Gosh, that's a relief! I thought you just straight up hated me."

"...I know. That's why I had to tell you... that I'm sorry. I just wasn't brave enough to do it on my own. Alexis really helped me out. Thanks to her, I'm going to be a stronger person now. I'm going to try and start looking at people in the eyes, instead of at my feet... but for now, I still can't do it. I... hope that we can be friends someday... maybe..."

Bryce reached out and ruffled her hair, "You're already my friend, Lena. You've been my friend this whole time, because you're honest, and I trust you. However, I'd like to become a better friend by adjusting to your needs. So, whenever you want to talk to me, I'll crouch down just like this, okay? After all, you don't have a problem talking to me right now, right?"

"...No."

"Then that settles it. We're friends!" Lena stared at Bryce, her mouth slightly opened.

"...U-um... okay! Th-thank you... I have a friend..."

Bryce smiled gently, "Don't forget about Alexis. I'm sure she considers you a friend too. Why don't you ask her, and thank her at the same time?"

He looked over at me, who was slightly tearing up at the pure feelings of friendship I was getting.

"...Alexis, why are you crying?" That's when all the tears started cascading down like water flies out of a broken dam.

"F-friendship...!" I made my way over to Lena, and just smothered her in a hug. "Of course I'll be your friend, little darling! You and I, we'll be great friends, and then people will be screaming into the sunset 'WHY IS THEIR FRIENDSHIP SO BEAUTIFUL?!' for all eternity!"

The two of them weren't able to say anything as I just stood there sobbing all over Lena's hair.

The next day, I was the first one to show up at the ferris wheel. I guess that's what I get for waking up at seven AM. After an hour and a half, Bryce comes up, beaming when he sees me standing there.

"Good morning, Alexis! Have you been waiting here long?" Too cute... but it might be better if I lie.

"Oh, not at all... isn't the weather looking really nice?" Perfect~! I am the best at changing topics!

"Oh, yeah... I hope that the weather in our world is as nice as this when we leave. It's been a long time since I've had a picnic... I'll probably just pack a few sandwiches and go."

I tilt my head, "All by yourself?"

"No, of course not. It'd be nice if you..." Cue blushing and stuttering (SO CUTE!), "a-and the others(!) wouldn't mind joining me...?"

"I don't know about the others... but I'd love to go!" Kat will probably tag along, since she hates it when any of us interact with other people, but that can easily be changed... I'll just bribe her with a sufficient amount of Sprite.

I look around, soaking in the view of all the giantic statues of various mascots. "There sure are a lot of mascots here... but they're all adorable!"

Bryce laughs, "I agree, but Saki is my favorite. Not only is she green, my favorite color, but designing a mascot based off a sock is quite clever."

"Oh yes, she's quite the little cutie, isn't she?" Say it... say iiiit...!

"Very! Not as cute as you, though..." He coughed, realizing his slip up, and flushed a deep red, "I-I mean... what? Did I just say that out loud?"

YES! THAT'S JUST WHAT I WANTED.

JUST.

SO.

ADORABLE...!

"Heh...heh..." I started laughing, but I managed to choke words out between my fit of laughter, "...Y-yeah... but, I don't really (HAH)... mind..."

He looks at me in a mixture of embarrassment and wonder, "...You don't?"

"HEY! HI ALEXIS!" Arlo's loud, yet cheery, voice booms out, almost making me want to kill him. HE JUST RUINED THE PERFECT ATMOSPHERE!

Arlo comes barreling out of nowhere, tackling me in a hug. "YAYYY! I WANNA RIDE THE FERRIS WHEEL WITH ALEXIS!"

I peeked over Arlo's arms to see Bryce's mouth twitching. Aww... jealousy is adorable!

"Arlo! Stop running ahead! I already told you that we set up a specific group for each cabin...!" I saw the others running to catch up (except Lena, who just magically teleported beside Bryce). Thane smacked Arlo upside the head, and Bryce pulled me behind him when Arlo let go of me to grab his head and whine.

"Owww...!"

Ignoring him, Thane turned to the three of us (Bryce, Lena, me), "Alright, so we have to split into groups since one cabin can't hold all six of us. I'm going with Arlo, Spencer's going with Bryce... and Lena wants to go alone."

"...No, I'll go with Alexis... if she wants to..." I felt a pang of guilt, because I already knew where I'd be going into.

"Come with ussssss, Alexis~~!" Arlo sang, trying to convince me, but his tone-deafness wasn't helping him. Not to mention the fact that he rUINED EVERYTHING!

"Knock it off, Arlo! Alexis can make her own damn decisions." Spencer grumbled, smacking Arlo upside the head. I almost felt bad for him about that, but, again, HE RUINED EVERYTHING!

"So, who do you want to go with, Alexis?" Thane looked at me with a mixture of amusement and pity.

"I'll go with Bryce and Spencer, if they don't mind..."

"Oh, we don't mind at all, right Spencer?" Bryce grinned at Spencer, who edged away from him.

"...Yeah, it's no problem." Thane's amusement increased, but he just shrugged, getting into a yellow cabin with Arlo, who was showing every sign of depression.

Lena patted my arm as the two of them climbed into a red (a rather pleasant shade, I might add) cabin, "...Good luck."

. . . .

None of us said a single thing for a long while, a heavy, awkward atmosphere crushing down upon us. We're all just staring at each other for no reason.

Bryce seems to finally have thought of a topic, because he looks to me and starts talking (I'm sure it'll be quite delightful), "Hey, Alexis. What's your favorite color?"

...What. Is that a psychology question? Whatever, I guess I'll respond.

"Blue. My favorite color is royal blue."

Spencer gives me a weird look, "...Really?"

"Yeah, why?"

"...I don't know. I just pegged you as a purple person." I laugh at him.

"...A lot of people that I know who like blue are quite compassionate... and they tend to like red."

"...The pokemon character or the color?"

"...The color."

"Oh. Well, I do like red... but Red from pokemon is also pretty rad..." The two of them stare at me rather hard.

"...Anyway, Bryce... Was the silence getting to you that bad?"

Bryce shakes his head, "...Oh! No, I ask nearly everyone I meet that question."

"So you determine their personalities just from their favorite color?"

"No! That'd be terrible! I just observe their behaviors and speech to see how similar or different they are to the other people who like the same color."

"Has this always been your thing...?"

"Oh, you didn't know, Spencer? Bryce is majoring in psychology." Bryce turns a light pink.

Spencer sighs, "That explains a bunch..."

I wonder what he means by that...?

Bryce grinned at Spencer (who flinched, for some reason), "So, Spencer... what's your favorite color?"

"...Huh? Me?... I don't have one." Bryce raised an eyebrow at him, and I could already see a twinkle of mischeif in his eyes.

"...Oh. You're one of those guys..."

Spencer did not take kindly to that taunt, "What's THAT supposed to mean?!"

"...Alexis, what do you think?" The two of them turn to me, who was just bemusedly watching.

"...Oh, you mean the fear of nail clippers that all people without a favorite color have, right? Kat's told me about it all the time, I swear..." I shake my head, managing to maintain a completely serious facade. Gosh, Kat would just be incredibly proud of me! I've been eavesdropping, lying, and tricking others! If I could steal things, that'd be major points!... But not only is that illegal, but I don't find it that great.

"Correct! Just as I'd expect from a friend of yours, Alexis!"

Spencer looked startled, "What?"

"It's true. A study at Reton University has been done on this! They interviewed over 100 people with no favorite color, and 80% of them had vuchipsalidiphobia, the fear of nail clippers." Oh my, Kat would be proud of Bryce's lying too.

"...R-really?" Spencer was totally duped, he was obviously thinking way too hard about this. "...Well, they do cut things... and the nail files on them are rather pointy and sharp..."

"You're thinking really hard about this, aren't you?" Bryce's grin grew bigger, and that's when Spencer knew he'd been had.

"Shit... you were just messing with me."

"Heh! You're smart, Spencer. I was surprised you even bought into it even a little bit."

"Don't use your damn psychology tests on me!" Bryce started laughing at Spencer's embarrassment.

Spencer turned to me with an exasperated look, "But, really, Alexis? Nail clippers? Geez, what else is going on in that mind of yours?"

I start laughing evilly, "...Do you really want to know~?"

He turned away, not looking at either of us. "...No, I have a bad feeling about that path."

"Aww..."

Spencer squinted his eyes, and pointed above us, "Is that Arlo and Thane? Why the hell is Arlo jumping around in his cabin?... Is that Thane screaming his head off?"

Thane practically threw himself out of his cabin when he got out, and honestly, I don't blame him! How could Arlo think that bouncing around in the cabin was a good idea?

That didn't stop Spencer from making fun of him, though.

"Hahaha! You're such a wimp! You're really THAT scared of heights? Why'd you voluntarily go on, then?" Thane got up, and glared at Spencer.

"Shut up! Let's just go!" And then he stomped off, angrily mumbling about how he's stuck with a bunch of idiots. Why's he including Bryce, Lena, and I? We didn't do anything to him... Oh, I guess Bryce and I laughed at him when Cashy said he was a sexual predator, but c'mon, that was a joke!

I sighed, and went on ahead of the others.

As I was passing by the café to get to the pool house, I ran into Bryce and Arlo, who somehow got ahead of me (maybe they used a shortcut?).

Bryce saw me first, "Hi, Alexis!"

"What are you two up?"

"I was just talking with Arlo... Anyway, Arlo, can I ask you something?"

Arlo beamed at him, "Sure thing!"

"So, you haven't forgotten that you'll be in serious trouble if your phone runs out of power, right?" Arlo's face lost some color.

"O-oh... y-yeah. I looked all over yesterday... but I still haven't found it yet." He started to nervously laugh.

"...I envy how you remain so optimistic, despite having the worst position of all." Wow, this is coming from Bryce, aka Mr. Smiles!

Arlo shrugs, "Well, what can 'ya do? Moping around feeling sorry for myself won't do much, right? I'll just hope for the best and see how things go. Maybe a miracle will happen, and my phone will turn up."

"Wow... that's a really great way of looking at things, Arlo." I smile admiringly at Arlo. His whole demeanor changes, and it looks like he's gonna jump me for another hug, but Bryce saves me.

"So, what's your phone look like? That'll help us find it quicker, maybe, if we know what we're looking for."

"Oh, uh... well, it's... small... and gray. I wish it was a better color... like red. If it was red, I totally would have found it by now!"

Bryce took his phone out of his pocket, showing it to Arlo. "Really? My phone's gray too. Are they the same model?"

"Ooh! Does it have a camera?" Arlo just takes it without even asking, reminding me of two certain blonde girls...

"...Uh, it does, but the pictures usually come out blurry." I don't think Arlo was even listening, because he found the button that opens it up.

"Whoa! There's a button that makes it flip open!" He started giggling, pressing the button and closing it repeatedly.

"It's a neat feature, huh? It helps prevent butt-dialing." Again, it didn't seem like Arlo was listening...

"...Hey, Arlo... you shouldn't play with it like that-"

Too late! Arlo had already dropped Bryce's phone, knocking the battery right out of it. I glance at Bryce to see if he's angry... but his eyes turn BLACK and he FALLS RIGHT OVER, all stiff and dead!

The two of us stare at his supposedly dead body, and finally we flip our shit.

"AAAAAAAAHHH!" Arlo screams.

"GYAHHH!"

"I'M SORRY! I-I'M SO SORRY!"

"OH MY GOD, BRYCE!"

HOW IS NOBODY HEARING US SCREAM?!

"W-wait! H-hold on...! I can fix it!" Arlo picks up the battery, and the phone, but his hands are too jittery, so they keep juggling back and forth.

"What are you doing?!" I screech at him.

"I-I just have to put this thing back in, right? RIGHT?!"

"I don't know! B-be careful! Don't drop it!" Arlo finally manages to stick the battery back into the phone, and... nothing happens.

"...Oh no... Did I break him...?" Right then, the color came back into Bryce's eye, and he jumped back into the spot he was previously standing. He looks back and forth between the two of us, confused by our suddenly pale faces, and freaked out postures.

"...Huh?"

I stare over at Arlo, ignoring Bryce, "...W-what would've happened... if his phone had broken?"

"...I don't think we should ever find out..."

Bryce was even more confused now, and slightly unnerved by our secret (to him, anyway) talk. "What? Did something happen? Why are you guys...?"

Arlo shoves Bryce's phone back into his hands. "U-uh...!"

"N-nothing! It's... nothing..."

"Uh, y-yeah...!"

"...?"

I ran ahead of the two of them, finding Thane just standing in front of the pool house, staring at his phone.

"...Thane? What are you doing? Shouldn't you just go in?" He turned around, looking like he was about to blow, but he settled down when he saw me.

"Oh, it's just you, Alexis. I was just thinking while I waited for the others... 'when falling damp tree unveils ghost'... it has to mean something, right?"

"...Maybe it's symbolic?"

"...Well, that doesn't bode well. The whole 'ghost' thing makes me think that somebody's going to die."

I take in a sharp breath, "O-oh geez! Don't say that! N-nobody's going to die...!"

Or, at the very least, while we're in here, I hope. I'm definitely going to die when I get back...

"How do you know?" Jesus... that sure got me stumped. I guess I really can't just assume things...

"...I'm just kidding."

I sigh, "Geez... Don't do that!"

Thane proceeds to freak out (while still having a complete poker face... impressive!), "S-sorry! I didn't mean to scare you."

"...Oh my gosh... What if you're actually right, though...? If it's symbolic, then it actually makes sense." Maybe, if the yellow cabin had fallen, the sky would rain, or something? I mean, obviously Thane and Arlo would have died... Would the rain have sent us home?

"'Oh, yeaah. Remember that one time when this whole thing made sense?...Yeah, me neither.'"

"...What?"

He shrugged, "Quote, Spencer. It's the one think he's said that I actually like, but I hate how he's always jumping to conclusions. Seriously, don't be like him and assume things so quickly. Even... even if they seem plausible. It's like love. You have to give your heart time to decide how you really feel about a person."

I just stare at him, with my jaw slightly slack. Who knew that even Thane was capable of liking somebody?

...That's rather harsh of me. I didn't mean it like that.

He started flipping out, his face a dark scarlet. "U-uh, I mean... th-that was just an analogy!"

I give him a smug grin, "Suuure it was, Thane!"

He turned around with a huff, "Sh-shut up...!" And then he ran into the pool house.

I laugh, and follow him in.

I wonder what the girl who captured Thane's heart is like?

Hehe...

I'm really glad I packed my good swimsuit! It's really rad, it's a nice shade of lavender, with little blue flowers all over it! It's just the cutest piece of clothing ever! (o7o)

I look over at our favorite duo, who seem to be emitting sparks between the two of them. They seem to be fighting over the fact that Spencer doesn't have a swimsuit with him.

"Heh, can you not swim or something?" This greatly amuses Thane, who seems to thinking of revenge on Spencer.

"I can swim just fine, thank you very much, asshat!" Spencer glowers at Thane, who remains unfazed.

"...Really?" He took a few steps towards Spencer, and took out Spencer's phone. Spencer was clearly taken by surprise, but he was even more surprised (like everyone else) when Thane shoved him into the pool!

Luckily, Spencer wasn't kidding when he said he could swim, because he immediately resurfaced, but he was fuming mad. Which is the correct reaction, I guess.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU FUCKING IDIOT! I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU! THANE, GET YOUR GOD DAMN ASS DOWN HERE! COME FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN, AND SUBMIT TO YOUR FATE OF BEING HORRIBLY DROWNED BY MY HANDS!"

"There we go, that's the spirit!" Thane almost sounded PLEASED by Spencer's threats of horribly murdering him! Anyway, he gently tossed Spencer's phone onto the cement (I internally cringed at the memory of Bryce's 'incident'), and jumped into the pool to start up a fist fight with Spencer.

Bryce laughed, "Play nice, you two. Don't get blood in the pool."

I wasn't too interested in their little skirmish... plus, it didn't look like they'd be finishing anytime soon, so I walked over to where Bryce was lying on a lounge chair, and sat down beside him.

"...It's a nice day, huh?" Did he forget that I already told him that earlier?...Whatever, not important.

"Yeah, it is. Aren't you going to swim?"

Bryce grimaced, "...Let's just say that I'm not the most graceful swimmer there ever was."

"So?" Jay can't swim at all without goggles, that's why she sank like a rock

"Well... the way I swim is embarrassing..."

"You? Embarrassed? I can't imagine it." Well, except for all those other times... but they don't count! I'm talking about consciously embarrassed!

"...Maybe I'm embarrassed because you're here." Welp, there goes my assumption. And my nice Puerto Rican complexion, which is now a reddish color.

"H-huh?"

"Well, who wouldn't want to impress such a cute girl like you?" Oh my god... how can he remain so calm!?... Is he joking with me?

I sigh, and cuddle my chin onto my knees, wrapping my arms around them to curl into a ball. "Why would you joke about that?"

"...You think I'm joking?"

"Well, yeah..." He stares at me with a peculiar expression.

"...Aw, you caught me." I let out a sigh of disappointment. I was slightly hoping he was going to say that I shouldn't assume things like that, but I guess Thane was right in the sense that I shouldn't just think things are going to happen like how I want.

"I knew it... You shouldn't fool around about that kind of stuff."

"Why not?" He sat up slightly, leaning on one elbow as he stares at me.

"...Well... it's because it's.. mean." AND CRUEL. AND KILLS HEARTS.

"Huh?"

"I mean, I know I'm not that cute, but..."

"...What? But you are a cute girl."

"...Will you stop that?" I snap at him, but I instantly regret it. "...Sorry."

"...Sorry. I was only joking about being embarrassed around you."

"R-really?... O-oh..." Way to go, Alexis. Assume the unjoking.

"Don't be so modest, Alexis. You're cute, trust me. Especially in that swimsuit." My face heats back up.

"A-are you always this blunt...?" I mean, even his earlier statements and actions have been pretty... bold.

"I suppose embarrassment just doesn't come easy to a guy like me."

"...Heh...!" I start giggling, but it slowly turns into laughter, "..S-sure."

The moment we all got back into our normal clothes, Spencer and Thane stomped off to the arcade, shouting about continuing their fight, since Arlo forced them made to stop.

"Hm... interesting. Let's go watch, shall we?" The rest of us slowly catch up to them.

. . .

"Ahh, it's yet another battle for male dominance. Did you know, Alexis, that this is quite common amongst young teenage males?"

"...Bryce, you're hardly older than the rest of us." Well, the others. I'm only sixteen, and I have a feeling that the rest of them are at least eighteen.

"Actually, Lena's the oldest of the group."

"Oh, really?" How does he know that? Have they spoken without me knowing? Curses...

Speaking of Lena, she's standing right behind Spencer, and she looks like she wants to join in.

"There's no way you will ever beat me."

"Are you asking for a challenge?!"

"I'm telling you, this one isn't like the other shooter games. The controls are completely different."

"Don't talk like you know fucking everything! You only worked here for one god damn day!" OOH! NERD FIGHT!

...It's too adorable... Nerd's are too cute...!

"...Are we going to play or not?"

"Fuck yeah, let's do this."

Lena finally managed to use her voice (SO PROUD!), "...Um... Can I play too?"

The two of them looked confused, and they were startled when they saw us. Did they really not notice the four of us follow them? I guess they were too busy trash talking, nerd-style.

"...Well... sure..." Spencer looked unsure of what he should say, but he made the wise decision.

"Of course you can, Lena. C'mon, let's play."

"Yay~ Good luck everyone!" Arlo cheered.

The three of them lined up at three of the same shooter game, and a serious gamer aura came over the three of them. Spencer started smashing the buttons, Thane was being very calculating... and Lena was just calmly playing the game like a normal person.

Us remaining three stood by the prize exchange counter, and I was sitting on it to make me feel taller.

"So... who do you think will win?" Bryce smiled at the two of us.

"Mmm... I'm not sure. It looks pretty fierce."

Arlo's innocent nature kills us all, "I hope all of them win."

(-_-;) I sigh, "Arlo...If they all win, there won't be any losers... so, nobody would really be a 'winner' then."

"...Oh yeah..."

Bryce laughs, "But they look like they're having fun, right? Maybe we should have a bit of our own fun..."

"Like what?" I arch an eyebrow. This sounds suspicious...

"Anybody in the mood to make a little wager?"

"Ooh! I am!" Arlo cheers, "...Oh, wait. I don't have any money at the moment..."

"That's okay, we can just wager something else!" Bryce grins, "Liiike... how about the winner gets to kiss Alexis?"

"Eh?"

"...All right!" Arlo cheers, louder this time. Spencer yells at him to shut up.

"W-wait, what?!"

"Oh, don't worry Alexis. If you win, you can pick which one of us you want to kiss."

...Is Bryce seriously asking if we want to gamble my first kiss on video games?

...Sure, why not? "Okay."

"So, who are you going to bet on?" Arlo looked super hyped... I'm kind of scared.

"..Uh, I'll go with Lena." I have almost nothing to lose! I'll depend on the power of friendship to save my ass!

"Okay! I pick Spencer!" Arlo grins.

"Then I'll bet on Thane." Bryce looked unnaturally calm. Is that confidence?

"C'mon, Spencer! I believe in you!" Arlo shouted for no real reason, except to irritate his betting object.

"SHUT UP! I'M TRYING TO CONCENTRATE!"

. . .

The power of friendship prevailed! Lena won!

"...Oh! Lena won!" Arlo sounded disappointed.

Spencer and Thane stared at their maker, until Thane cleared his throat.

"...Uh, wow, Lena. You're... pretty good."

Lena stared at the ground, her face pink.

Bryce nudged me in the side, "Looks like you won the bet, Alexis."

That sure got the attention of the three gamers.

"What bet?" Spencer was bewildered.

Arlo put his hands on my shoulders, shaking me a little (in a friendly way), "Alexis, pick me~! You want to kiss me, right~?"

"W-what?" Thane: confused.

"WHAT KIND OF BET DID YOU GUYS MAKE?!" Spencer: angry/confused.

"...A weird one." Bryce laughed.

"C'mon, Alexis~ Who do you want to kiss?"

"...I-I... um..." Oh my god... this is so embarrassing! I have to say it in front of everyone?! "...Uhm... u-uh... uhhhhhhhhhh..." I finally managed to say it, but in a small, tiny whisper. "...B-Bryce..."

Bryce grinned, almost like he EXPECTED that answer, and grabbed my face, planting a kiss right on my forehead. I almost fell off of the counter, I was so embarrassed... Oh geez...!

No doubt I'm like a tomato right now, but it wasn't helped by Lena's soft giggling!

"Congrats, Alexis." I wasn't really able to say anything, I was too busy blubbering over nothing.

"Awww..." Arlo whined, disappointed, "...Oh well, next time, I'll win the bet."

"No! No more weird bets!" Spencer screeched, clearly ashamed that he had to watch what just happened. Thane and Lena were just straight up amused.

I am never going to live this down, am I...

I got to the meeting place (the roller coaster) early today, too. Not just to sort out my jumbled up thoughts (although that's part of it too), but because I was sort of maybe hoping that Bryce was going to get here before the others again.

I was not disappointed, because Bryce came walking up to me not ten minutes later. I guess I wasn't the only one who likes to rise early.

"Hi, Alexis. It's nice weather today too, huh?" Oh my god... is he seriously acting like nothing happened?

...I guess I'll play along.

"Yeah, it is. Great." I kick a rock onto the tracks behind the ride, not wanting to look at Bryce in the eyes. Oh my gosh... I would remember everything all over again!

He stopped right in front of me, and stood there, staring at me.

"...Hey. Alexis?"

"Hmm?" He grabbed my head, and forced me to look him in the eyes.

"Why won't you look me in the eyes? I like your eyes... but you don't seem to make as much eye contact with me as you do with the others. Though, I guess it's because I'm too tall, and you're on the short side, right?" I was unable to respond properly, my face starting to flame up.

"U-uh..." Luckily, I was saved at Cashy(!), who... ran over Bryce's foot again...

"O-ow!" He let go of my head to rub his foot, his eyes watering.

"A-are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm just fine. It's no big deal. It's just that every once in a while, Cashy will run over my feet. I'm sure he doesn't mean it, but boy... it's not very pleasant..."

"Oh my... I can imagine. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Y-yeah, don't worry!"

The others slowly make their way towards the two of us... but- is Thane laughing?

DID THEY SEE THAT?!

JESUS CHRIST...

All of Thane's smugness disappeared in a flash when he stared at the ride. "...A-are you guys sure you want us to ride this thing? What if it's not running properly?"

"What? You were seriously scared by the heights?"

"No. O-of course not."

"Then you won't mind riding it! There's just enough seats for the six of us! How lucky is that!" Am I imagining the satan horns on Bryce's head? Is that just me?

Arlo squealed like a little girl, "Eee! This is going to be so much fun!"

Seating arrangement:

Back: Arlo and Thane (Oh my god... I feel sorry for Thane.)

Middle: Bryce and I

Front: Lena and Spencer

Anyway, back to Bryce and I.

"Are you nervous, Alexis?" Bryce was giddy. Pure giddy.

"Uh... a little bit."

"Me too!"

"...R-really?" You don't exactly radiate nervousness...

"Well, that's the point of this, right? Even though thrills are nerve-racking and uncomfortable, we still go through it all over again to experience the feeling over and over again. Pounding heartbeaks, trembling hands, the feeling of not knowing what's going to happen next... we just can't get enough of it. I guess that's why people fall in love."

I was unable to respond, that was just... kind of deep? Rather beautiful...

"Are you ready, Alexis?"

"...H-huh? For what?" FOR LOVE?

It was then that the ride came to a halt, and I realized what he actually meant.

"Hold on...!"

Thane's screaming was incredibly loud... I nearly died.

"Oh no! Thane's not waking up!" Arlo looked regretful. Do I even want to know what happened?

"Did he seriously faint? Lame." Spencer, folks! Always the most supportive guy you can ever have for a friend!

Bryce patted Arlo's shoulder, "It's okay, he should be just fine. Let's find a place for him to rest."

Arlo nodded, and the three of them wandered away (why were Spencer and Lena leaving?) to find a bench... somewhere.

He turned back to me, "...Are you okay, Alexis?"

"Me? Oh, I'm fine."

"My heart's still beating really fast."

"Really? You didn't look scared at all."

"Heh. I don't know why, but I just feel so happy right now. Ah~... That sure was fun, wasn't it?"

"Yeah... but, I was thinking. You know how you said that the roller coaster was like falling in love?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. What about it?"

"It's like when you first fall in love, which is symbolized by how you go up slowly... but then, when something terrible happens, which is when the ride crashes down at a great speed. Heartbreak fucking sucks ass."

Bryce blinked a few times, "...Uh, y-yeah. Heartbreak is pretty tragic... It's terrible that people have to go through such pain."

I laughed, and decided to take a page from Kat's book. "No pain, no gain, right?"

Bryce sighs, "...I'd never forgive myself if I caused the person I love such pain."

"...Nice to know." I skipped away before he was able to say anything.

"Yay~ Movie time!" Arlo skipped around the room.

"Sheesh... Are you going to get excited over every single thing?" Spencer grumbled.

I had placed myself next to Spencer this time. Bryce was on the other side of the room.

Arlo ignored Spencer's remark, "I want to sit in the front!"

"Anywhere's fine with me." Bryce grinned.

"Ah... well, I'll sit in the front too, if nobody minds."

Final seating arrangement:

Back row- Lena, Thane, Spencer

Front row- Arlo, Bryce, Me

Of course, Thane had to start complaining only when the movie started.

"Why am I the one who has to sit behind Bryce?"

"Oh... should we switch seats?"

"No, the movie's already started! You'll just have to fucking deal with it, Thane." Spencer grumped.

"I don't like this seaaaat!" Arlo complained in a whiny tone.

"What? Why? It's in the front, isn't it?" Bryce turned to look at Arlo, who was just whimpering all over the place.

"Holy shit! Shut up! I'm trying to watch the movie!"

"But this seat's too far from Alexis...!"

Thane continued his complaining, "You're too tall, Bryce. I can't see anything."

Bryce sighed, dejected. "Nobody's happy with me sitting here..."

I manage to work up the nerve to reach over and squeeze his arm, and whisper, "...Uhm... I don't mind..."

Bryce looked down at me, smiled, and grabbed my hand, making me squeak.

We managed to watch the rest of the movie without further interference, although I swear I could hear snickering coming from the back row.

Jerks!

When the movie was over, Bryce made me stay behind as the others exited the cinema.

"Wh-what's up, Bryce?"

"Oh, nothing. I just thought that maybe just the two of us could hang out... You don't mind, right?" As soon as the hidden (I hope) meaning behind those words, I grinned nice and big.

"Not at all! Sounds fun."

. . . .

Bryce sighs contentedly, "I just love the orange glow of a sunset."

Indeed, the sun had set while we were watching that movie. "Yeah... it's really pretty."

"The sun sure does know how to put on a show... He always makes a grand entrance and exit as vivid colors surround him in the sky at the beginning and end of each day..."

"That's an interesting thought, Bryce."

Bryce turned around to face me, a face of wonder, "...It's nice, isn't it?... Just the two of us spending time together..."

That whole atmosphere was ruined by Cashy, who came in and ran over his foot, and escaped like a boss. I then understood the urge to kill others.

"Oww!" Bryce whimpered.

"O-oh my god! Are you okay?!"

"Y-yeah... haha..." He let out a weak, pathetic laugh... it was slightly adorable, even if it's not in the nicest of situations.

"Man... Cashy really doesn't like you, does he?"

"I'm sure he didn't mean it. I was kind of standing in his way..."

I turn around to face the direction Cashy went, "...You think so? I was standing right next to you... I think he really does hate you..." I sigh, "But then again, he's... odd. He's always saying weird things, too."

Bryce was silent (is he staring at the back of my head? Is there something there?).

"...Look at me, Alexis." I turn back to him, question marks in my eyes.

"...What is it?" I was surprised when he suddenly bent forward, placing his hand on the side of my face as he leaned closely, but he just stopped moving when he was just a few inches away...!

"...Your face looks pretty in this light." I could feel my face blushing, so I tried to look away.

"O-oh..."

"Aw... Why are you looking away?" Is he teasing me?

"Um... I'm embarrassed..."

"Why?" OH MY GOD, IS HE ARLO NOW?

"...I-I... I'm just.. not used to the kind of things you say, I guess..." I force my eyes to look back at Bryce's eyes, which light up beautifully in this light as well...

"Sorry, I just can't help myself. You always speak so honestly to me in that voice... and the way you look at me with these eyes... It's like I can tell you everything. I'm not afraid of showing my entire being to you, Alexis." He grinned, "I hope that one day... you'll be able to trust me enough to show me your whole self too."

I tried looking at the ground, but he wouldn't let me turn my head down, so I settled for looking at the gate off to my left.

"...B-but... I'm really not that great..."

"Huh?" Bryce was caught off guard.

"I mean... Unlike you, I'm not that caring and kind... Isn't it just natural for me to be afraid to show my whole self to you?" I build up the courage to look back at Bryce. "... B-because... what if... what if you don't like... everything about me?"

"...But... I do like everything about you."

"Don't say that. You can't say that. You don't know everything about me..."

Bryce frowned, but then did a complete 180, and gave me a nice little smile. "I like you, Alexis. I'm every bit as flawed as you are, but I still believe that you'll accept me for who I really am... I just want you to trust me too. I like you because you're Alexis, and that's all there is to it, really. Don't ever feel like you should change for me, or anyone else. You're fine just the way you are... but to me, you're perfect."

By now, I'm sure my entire body was the shade of rusty red, and I wasn't really able to say anything.

Bryce must have noticed, because he actually smirked, and crashed our lips together.

I guess there goes my actual first kiss...

A week went by, and Bryce and I spent a lot of time together (though sometimes Lena would hang with us too), but then Spencer suddenly called for a meeting underneath the roller coaster. Oddly enough, he neglected to inform Arlo. Somehow, he had managed to solve the puzzle that we had received before we met Arlo.

When falling damp tree unveils ghost turned into giving up all self worth means the end.

"...Wow. It was something as simple as this." Spencer huffed. I hate to admit this, but that is rather big talk, coming from somebody that took nine whole days to figure this 'simple thing' out. Then again, I didn't help at all. Nobody did. He did it by himself... so, I guess congratz.

Thane sighed, "So it was an anagram... but what does it mean?"

Spencer turned around to face the dome, looking over his writings. "...If I'm right, the numbers all represent our values and dignity. The more selfless we become, the lower our number gets, and vice versa."

Bryce (the not-so-little cutie) still managed to get confused... somehow. "...What?"

Spencer turned around just to glower at him, "Don't 'What?' me! You're into psychology! You should know exactly what I'm talking about!"

"O-oh! You're talking about giving value vs. taking value, right? Giving value makes other people feel better about themselves; giving compliments, gifts, and being friends are an example of such." Suddenly, Bryce took on a more serious tone, "On the other hand, a person with low self-esteem may try to take value from others to make themselves feel better instead. In short: bullying... but in this situation, we don't have much of a choice but to take value sometimes. As you are surely implying, I think that when we take value, we drain it directly from the one who gives it to us?"

Spencer is stunned into silence by Bryce's brilliance. "...Y-yeah."

Bryce frowned, and patted my head. "That explains why Alexis's number got so low that one time: she bought everyone lunch, and even tried to convince us that she was fine."

"Are you absolutely sure about this? What if everything's just a coincidence?" Seriously? Give it up, Thane! He's right!

"...All this time, I've been trying to figure out the basic concept of our numbers. I was certain that it was interactions that affected them, I just didn't know how. It might have taken me a while to clear everything up, but it was because I wanted to make sure I had everything straightened out. I'm positive now though, I tested it out on you guys. Whenever I did something for the sake of somebody else, my number lowered... and it would increase when somebody made me feel better about myself."

"He's right, y'know. I've noticed the pattern too." I stare at my feet, rather uncomfortable with this topic.

"Okay... so, how do we raise out numbers without taking value from others?" Bryce fidgeted. I guess he picked up on my increasing anxiety.

"I don't think that's possible. I think that the values are like energy and matter; they can't be destroyed, nor created. They just keep being exchanged amongst us. I've done the math multiple times, and our numbers always add up to 100 exactly. If I'm correct... one of us could be stuck in this place forever."

Everyone grew silent... but it was I who broke it with my knife this time. "I think I know what you mean, Spencer. If all but one of us has our values drop down to 0 and leave, there will still be one person let with the 100... and nobody for them to exchange values with. I wonder what would happen after that..."

"...Well... we either get to 'leave' and go back home... or..." I trail off as Bryce covers my mouth with his hand.

"Y-you don't need to say it. We... we know what you mean."

"...Yeah. It's similar to death in the normal world, nobody knows what happens to a person that dies, but nobody wants to test it themselves..." Thane sighs.

It was then that I remembered the one person who wasn't with us, since he hadn't interrupted anybody with an innocent question.

Apparently, Bryce had the same realization I did, "...What about Arlo? If our five numbers always add up to 100... then does he just not give or take value?"

Spencer narrowed his eyes, "...You know, my number has never changed after I've interacted with him."

"Mine either... Not to mention the fact that Arlo hasn't charged his phone in 10 days! There is no way his phone could still be alive, and he hasn't tried looking for it all!" I pause, "...Should I... just say it...?"

Everyone got silent.. but then, suddenly, something bizarre went down! The entire park turned opposite darks, and objects became see-through!

"Eep!" I squeak, and Bryce brings me closer to him.

"What's going on!?"

Thane grunts, "This just has to be Arlo's doing...! I don't know how he can possibly be doing this, but this has to stop!"

Spencer nods, "There are five of us. If we all spread out and search different areas of the park, we should be able to pin him down easily!"

Everyone nods in agreement, and I part ways with Bryce to go search for Arlo.

I have searched EVERYWHERE! Where has Arlo possibly gone!? Does he have the ability to teleport, or something?

...Wait. The numbers that are falling all over... none of them are coming from the entrance anymore? But... they were just a second ago when I was over there...

I ran over to the front entrance, having a good hunch as to why that is... and of course, I find...

"Arlo!" Arlo whirled around to see me, and I could tell he was shaken. I jogged up to him, almost out of breath from how much running I've done. "...I-It's... really you, right?"

He just stood there for a bit, not moving or talking (and I think he wasn't breathing either? Oh my god! Is he dead on his feet?!).

"U-uh... Arlo?" I wave my hand in front of his face, snapping him out of whatever kind of daze can make you stop breathing.

"...O-oh, I'm sorry Alexis... I'm... really sorry about all this."

"What's wrong? What's going on?"

"Well... my heart is just a tad unstable at the moment. B-but don't worry! I just have to give it some time to heal. You're safe here, Alexis. I won't let anything happen to you, you're my first, and my best, friend..." He paused, "...I.. was kind of hoping that you guys would never have to find out... but... I don't know. I don't know what I should do, Alexis. You tell me, what should I do?"

"You should tell us the truth. That would be a good start."

"...You're right. That's... the right thing to do, right?"

"Yep."

Having to tell the others about where we were was not even a needed action, since everyone just eventually wandered over to where we are. Getting things started was another thing, though. Nobody was able to say anything for the longest time ever!

Finally, I decide to be the one to solve everything, "So, Arlo. What exactly do these numbers mean?"

He gave us a sad smile, "...They're happy points. You give them to someone when you make them happy, and you get points when you are made happy by someone else. Some people give more than they take..." He gestures towards me, "...others take more than they give..." He looked in Thane's direction. Ouch, burn. "However, I think that the best relationships are when people both give and take. I wanted to be sure that you guys would all get along... so that's why I assigned you guys those numbers."

Thane took a step forward, "...What are you?"

"I'm a hamadryad." A what? I'm not into mythology... I better just be quiet.

Lena was amazed (Gasp?!), "A real one?"

Bryce was kind of psyched too, "So you're really aren't like us after all..."

"S-sorry guys... it's all my fault..." Arlo sniffed, "...that you guys are all stuck here... This is my 'home'. I based it off the real amusement park... but I was lonely. I wanted to have a real friend..." He sniffed again, "Th-thank you guys... this has been the most fun I've ever had. I-I...I..." Arlo burst into tears, "I-I love you guys! B-but now, you all h-hate me, because I lied. I'm a liar! All the f-fun we had together made me really happy... but it was all built on th-the lies I told. I-I'm terrible! Horrible, even!" By now, he was just blubbering all over the place.

I know this is probably the worst timing I could ever have... but seriously!

THIS IS JUST TOO ADORABLE!

LOOK AT HIM!

LOOK AT THAT LITTLE BABBY FACE!

EPITOME OF CUTENESS!

(Cough)... You didn't see anything.

"I-Its okay, Arlo... We-I don't hate you... and I'm sure the others don't either... Right?" I turn back to the others, hoping for support. There is none.

No support! Not even from my darling not-so-little Bryce!

SHAME!

"...Guys..." I whimpered, hoping that would get me results.

Spencer speaks up first, "I am pissed."

"S-Spencer!"

"No, let me finish! I'm pissed! We're been trapped here for, what? Two weeks?" He grumbles, getting even more heated up, but then he just kind of collapsed (verbally), "...But...Arlo, if you had just explained to us that you wanted to be friends with us, I would have stayed. This whole ordeal is pretty shitty... but I would have willingly stayed. You didn't really need to resort to a giant glass dome and crazy numbers. Real friends can trust each other."

"I-I'm sorry... you're right, Spencer."

Thane gave a deeper sigh than usual, "But... real friends also forgive each other."

Bryce grinned, "Yep~ Be more honest with us, and we should have no problems in the future."

"Well, now everything has all been dealt with."

Arlo grinned, and tears streaming down his face. "Th-Thank you..."

There was a flash of bright white light, and then everything returned to normal (or, at least, the park turned back to it's correct colors).

"It's alright now. When your happy points drop to 0, all of you will go home... So... you can leave if you want."

"W-wait. Won't somebody be left behind with all 100?" That IS a good worry to have, Spencer...

"Oh, don't worry. I'll send the person left behind back home, safe and sound!"

"Heh... all 100 happy points, huh? That person sure would feel special!" Bryce grinned at Arlo, who managed to give him a weak copy.

"You're right, but there's an even better side to the happy point system! Even when you give away your happy points, you'll still feel happy!" Arlo sighed, "Again, sorry. If you guy will ever come visit me ever again, I promise I won't use the happy points system anymore. It's just that I was afraid that nobody would try and get along if I didn't use it, but I realize that's wrong now. Incentives weren't needed after all."

He looks towards me, and practically jumps me, planting a rather big kiss right on my cheek. Bryce grabbed my arm, and pulled me into his arms.

"A-Arlo! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Thane smacked Arlo upside the head. Yay! +5 friendship points for Thane!

Arlo stuck his tongue out at Thane (and Bryce, I guess), "Alexis gets a special thank you kiss! She's the one who found me, in the midst of all my chaos, and even helped me choose my next course of action! (Pause)...But then again, you guys cheered me up too, so maybe I should give all of you a thank you kiss!" Arlo only made one step towards the group, but Spencer sped away like Arlo was a cop, and Spencer was number 1 on the FBI's most wanted list.

"DON'T YOU EVEN COME NEAR ME!"

Next was Thane, who took off half as fast. "You don't understand our culture at all...!"

After that was Bryce, who managed to sneak away by himself. "U-um, I'll, uh, pass..."

WHAT? DID HE JUST- HE TOTALLY JUST LEFT ME HERE.

I WILL EXACT MY REVENGE!

I made sure to pinpoint the location where he ran off to, and took off after him.

I found Bryce in front of the cinema, just... staring at the cinema. The hell? Maybe he's just reflecting on his actions...

I tried to sneak up on him, but then I stepped on this random branch that somehow appeared in the middle of this PARALLEL UNIVERSE OF A MAN MADE AMUSEMENT PARK.

Bryce stared at me, eyes wide, before he managed to finally squeak out a few words. "H-hi..."

Putting aside the fact that he basically left me in the dust, I was rather curious... "What'cha doing here?"

He pulls out his cell phone (OH MY GOD IT HAS A SAKI BACKGROUND... C-CUTE...), "Well, I was about to leave, but..."

My eyes widened, his number had dwindled down to 1 without me noticing? "Y-your number..." Then I really realized what he meant, "...You were going to leave without even saying goodbye?!"

"W-well... I usually get upset whenever I say goodbye to others... especially when it's likely I'll never see them ever again..."

"...What the hell are you talking about?"

Bryce frowned, looking dejected, "Once people return to their everyday lives after something happens, time and distance just separate them from those who were involved, doesn't it? I mean, people can always exchange phone numbers and e-mails... but it's really hard to maintain relationships with those you never see." He took in a deep breath, and let out an equally big sigh, "...This was bound to happen though, and I knew it. After all... we can't all stay here forever... we all have a life to return to."

I wasn't able to say anything; I was just standing there, on the verge of tears-oh, they're already falling. Fucking shit.

Bryce didn't seem to notice, though. "I'm going to miss you, Alexis."

"...M-me too."

"Mind if I stay with you?"

"...Huh?" I sniffed, and that's when it seemed to dawn on him that, yes, I am indeed bawling my eyes out right here, right now.

"I'm okay with... not going back to my everyday life I had before. I'll transfer to a new school, move to Central Cigam even... I'll do literally anything to be with you. I just... want my new everyday to have you in it." He paused, staring at me, "...Am I... not good enough...?"

I wiped my eyes off, "Fucking hell! Why in the god damn world would you think, after ALL THIS TIME, that I don't want to be with you too?! Seriously! You have no idea what you do to me sometimes, I SWEAR...!"

I trail off, settling for grumbling about life instead. Bryce starts to chuckle, regaining my attention (and potential anger).

"...You know, I've always been skeptical about what people call 'true love'... but I think I've found it with you..." JESUS CHRIST, THAT IS SO SWEET...! (;n;) I AM DYING FROM ALL THIS SUGAR THAT'S JUST LYING AROUND.

"...I have to give something to lose my last happy point, don't I?" Bryce leans over, and whispers into my hair (what? Why my hair?), "Alexis, you're the most amazing, wonderful, and beautiful person in the world. Don't ever forget that, okay? I'll be waiting for you... in reality."

In a flash of white light, Bryce was gone.

Nobody would come near me for the rest of the day, but then the next morning... everyone left me, giving me their last happy points.

Soon, it was just me and Arlo.

I didn't even need to wander around to find him in this almost empty park, there was only one part of the park that was lit up; the carousel. It still wasn't running, but it was still beautiful.

I approached Arlo, who swung around to face me with his arms wide open.

"Congratulations, Alexis!"

"...What?"

"You have all 100 happy points! You deserve them, too. You deserve every happy point in existence! For once in your life, you let others make you happy, instead of fussing over them... but now, it's finally time for you to go home." He paused, looking at the ground with a look of bitterness. "...Parting doesn't feel so good, does it? I don't want to part with all of you... but I know that we'll be able to meet again... so I guess I'll just say 'see you later', Alexis. You can always come back here anytime you want, okay?"

"I'll make sure to visit you, Arlo. I'll even bring the others, how 'bout that? We'll all have loads of fun..."

"...Hehe! I look forward to that... Well, it's time for you to go. Goodbye, Alexis."

Goodbye, Arlo.

When I came to, it was already morning, even though it was clearly evening back in the other world. I guess time moves differently? Anyway, there was nobody in sight... I guess they've closed for the day.

I know who's definitely going to be here, though.

I ran at full speed, going as fast as my legs could take me that short distance to the cinema. Just like I expected, Bryce was standing right there. I managed to stop myself just in time (with a little help from Bryce, though). We stood there, just staring at each other.

I finally manage to grin, "...Bryce."

"...I missed you, Alexis." He pulls me in for an awesome reunion hug.

I curl my fist into his sweater vest, trying to make sure this is not a dream. "...This is... all real now, right?"

"Well, the time we spent together in the other world was real too... but this is just the beginning to the rest of my new everyday life... with you." Bryce stops, and ends up laughing, "...Now that I really think about it... being trapped in a glass dome, and those numbers dictating our life... it was really bizarre, wasn't it? But, I'm sure I could tell a great 'how I met your mother' story from this."

My face turned a nice pinkish hue, "H-huh?!"

Bryce looked at me, and then seemed to realize what he just said, because now his face was pink too! He let go of me, and took a step back, "D-did I really just say that? I-I'm sorry! I...! Aaahh!...Excuse me, I need to go find a hole to crawl into..." He turned around, and crouched into a ball, gripping his hair like he was going to tear it out.

I took several long, deep breaths before I spoke. "I-I'm... sure it'll make a great story too."

He stopped all movement, but slowly turned around, his eyes glittering like a little puppy (;n; STOP BEING SO ADORABLE!), "...Alexis... Come closer."

He wrapped one arm around my waist, and used the other to hold one of my hands, making it look like we're going to do the waltz or something.

"From now on, let's stay together... just like this."

I laugh, "Of course, you big idiot!"

All of a sudden, I could hear the oh so wonderful custom made ringtone Kat made for when she's calling me.

answer Answer ANSWER ME GOD DAMNIT I'M GOING TO BREAK INTO YOUR HOUSE AND KILL EVERYONE-

Shit.

Three days later (after I finally got off Kat-grounding), the two of us were back at Pactheland. Actually, Kat's here too... somewhere. She insisted on coming with, but I haven't seen her anywhere since we got here. Oh well, not my problem. She can just deal.

Anyway, Bryce and I were standing by the arcade, basking in the sunlight.

Bryce lets out a nice big sigh, "Ahh... I love days like this." He turns to me, "Are you hungry? Should we go get something to eat?"

"Sure, it's almost lunchtime."

Who do I see coming from behind the back alley of the arcade...?!

CASHY.

"B-Bryce, look out!"

Bryce flinches, "C-Cashy...!"

Surprisingly, Cashy just stands there motionless. Maybe it's a different model, and they just all happen to look the same with that creepy smile?

"...Y-you... you're not going to run over my foot?" Bryce sounds extremely glad and hopeful... I hope Cashy doesn't dash those adorable dreams.

"What?... Ohhh, you're Sweater Vest! So, you finally got rid of that lame piece of shit, huh?"

"L-lame...?" Aww.. you hurt his feelings, Cashy! I thought his sweater vest was cute. Anyway, I'm going to ask a more important question.

"How are you even here? Weren't you trapped in the other world like the rest of us?"

Cashy lets out an electrical laugh, "Baby, nothing can ever contain something as hot as me."

"So many unexplained mysteries..." I think Bryce and I let our guard down a little too much...

"Well, since Sweater Vest actually looks like a normal guy now, I won't cock block him anymore."

"W-WHAT?" Bryce was obviously mortified beyond belief.

"...Wait, wait. You two mofos are on a date, right? Here, let me help a brother out." Cashy made some weird noise, and then money just came pouring out of his mouth. "Here, use this moolah to have a fun time, if you know what I mean! Good luck! Tally ho!"

"H-HUH?!" With that, Cashy made his exit back into the alley... but it was short lived, since I definitely heard Kat's voice screaming at it, and a bunch of metallic thunks.

"...I have never been so embarrassed in my entire life..." Bryce groaned, putting his face in his hands. "...Uh, this date isn't completely ruined yet, is it?"

"...Well, we could use this money to buy lunch. I think Kat just used up all her energy 'fixing' Cashy."

"...I was hoping you'd say that. Let's go grab her and get out of here before somebody finds out."