For Your Information: This chapter is sort of long, due to a lot of character descriptions. Don't skip it though, because the plot starts to develop as well.
After letting my mom know I'm leaving, I grab my smartphone, my wallet and my bike lock and step into garage to get my bike ready. And by that, I pretty much just mean pumping the tires; it's been a while since I've ridden my bike, so the tires need some more air. My brother's all set to close the garage door behind me, so with that, I get on and start racing off to Zeze's. With it being late February, it's pretty much already dark.
The restaurant/buffet is only about a mile from my house, so I should be able to make it in less than ten minutes, especially if I take a shortcut...through the church parking lot. I only have to cross one road, which is taking a minute, but not too long. Now I'm there, and...it's only 7:12? Dang, I'm fast. It was only 7:05 when I left. Well, guess I'll lock up my bike and hope that I'm not the only one who decided to get here early.
I go and stand a little closer to the sidewalk. Currently I'm wearing my favorite outfit: my white epicface shirt, my black and red drum line jacket, and jeans. I always wear my epicface shirt on Fridays, because that's one of the best days of the week. I'd wear it on Saturdays, but then I wouldn't get to show it off to people at school. My drum line jacket I wear every day of the week. Except on weekends, that's when it gets washed. Same with jeans (I usually wear sweatpants and my gray hoodie on weekends). My hair, as usual, looks boring as always.
After just a few minutes of waiting, I can already see Azalea riding down here at a leisurely pace. Azalea is pretty much my girlfriend, though we've never kissed...yet. Her skin is almost what I would call pale, she's about as skinny as I am, her face is beautiful, her voice is beautiful, her red hair is beautiful, her...crud I got off track right there.
Anyways, about Azalea's actual personality. She's really nice, though kind of shy sometimes. When she's not worrying about what others think of her (which she usually never does around me and the rest of the gang), though, she can get pretty energetic. She's probably the most positive in general of all of us.
"Hey Azalea!" I call out as she rides over to the streetlight to which my bike is locked.
"Hey X!" she responds, locking her pink bike next to my silver one. Today she also happens to be wearing her favorite outfit: a white shirt, her purple jacket, and a purple skirt. Okay, yes, she did that on purpose.
She runs straight to me and gives me a quick hug. "I knew you'd be here early. Can't wait to eat, can you?"
"Nope, I'm freaking starving right now. I didn't have a big lunch or any snacks this afternoon." I say as we break our hug. "Gotta eat as much as possible here, right?"
"Yep, just don't get fat or anything!"
"I'm not gonna get fat. We'll burn off these calories during our dark run, right?"
"I hope; you wouldn't want me to get fat, would you?"
We both laugh at that for a second, and then hug each other again. From there, we stand around and talk about music and Undertale for a few minutes, before Minerva almost crashes into us at what looks like 20 miles per hour.
"YES! That's two in a row!" shouts Minerva as she steers into the parking lot. Minerva is is probably the most competitive person in the gang. It's not easy to hang out with her without her trying to make something a competition at least once. Thankfully, though, she's very fair and polite about it. She's also rather encouraging towards us whenever things are getting hard for us.
Apparently, she was racing Darius to the restaurant.
"Dang, girl, how much do you work out?" Darius calls out as he zooms past us about as fast as Minerva did. Darius has got to be the coolest of us all. When he tries, it's not hard for him to win people over to any cause he may have, though he's not always the smartest guy around. He would never cheat on Minerva or anything, though, even though they haven't been dating quite as long as Azalea and I have (which is about three months).
"Thirty minutes a day!" Minerva calls out, locking up her green bike. Looks like she changed into a green crop top since we got home from school today, but she's still wearing track pants. She shakes her long, black hair out of her face and walks over to where Azalea and I are standing.
Darius then locks his blue bike next to Minerva's and runs over here to catch up with her. He's wearing his epic black leather jacket, black shades, a black shirt that says "Like a boss" and dark jeans. "What's up, X, Azalea?" he asks. "We would have given you more alone time, but then Minerva wanted to race, so..."
"Oh, it's fine!" assures Azalea. "We were just talking about stuff."
"Like what?" Minerva asks.
"Undertale," I say.
"Well, can't say I blame you guys, that game is priceless," Darius says. "Like you, babe," he says to Minerva right before their lips meet for a kiss.
"Uh, buddy, we're sixteen and we're a out by a sidewalk," I remind him.
"Oh, yeah, sorry about that," Darius apologizes. "Anyways, we passed Erika on the way here. She was going kinda slowly but she should be here soon."
I look down the street, and sure enough, Erika's almost here on her red bike. I tend to see Erika as smartest person in the gang. She always uses her time and money wisely and thinks carefully before making a decision. She also has sort of a habit of answering questions completely honestly, no matter the circumstance. Though she's not the most social, and hardly ever talks to anyone outside of the gang. Today she has on a blue hooded coat, white gloves, and jeans.
"Hi Erika!" Azalea says as we all follow her over to the streetlight where she's locking her bike.
"Hi guys," Erika says. "Wait a minute; you guys don't look very warm. Aren't you guys afraid you're going to get cold tonight?"
"Oh... I guess I assumed that all the exercise we'd be getting tonight would warm up or something, and I don't want to get sweaty," I tell her.
"Your hands will get numb, but don't worry; I brought extra gloves." Erika says holding up a bunch of gloves she took from her coat pocket.
"Wow, thanks Erika," I say. "But we don't need those yet; it's time to eat now, right?" At that point, we're all walking towards the entrance to Zeze's Pasta and Pizza.
I call us "the gang," but technically we're more of a clique, I guess. We all started hanging out with each other in our neighborhood this last summer, and it turned out we were interested in similar video games and pastimes, though some of our values are slightly different. That's probably a good thing though; Erika helps us all do the responsible thing, Minerva keeps us going when things get difficult, Azalea cheers us up when we're losing morale (especially me), Darius makes any situation a little more interesting, and I, uh...I haven't quite figured out exactly why they like to keep me around. I have been called funny before, but that's only because I'm occasionally able to make a really good reference to a Vine, meme, or YouTube video.
That Undertale tho, you may or may not have noticed that I cannot shut up about it for long. As soon as school started back up after Christmas break, I'll admit that I practically forced my friends to play it. Undertale is made to be experienced, so you do not talk about it to anyone who hasn't played it yet. Except Undertale was all I wanted to talk about, so that meant they all had to play it first. It turns out, as I expected, they all loved it. Azalea beat it first, Minerva was the first to finish a genocide (besides me), Erika was shocked by its lack of archetypes, and Darius spent a while messing with the characters. They probably don't believe it actually happened like I do, yet somehow, Erika has never told me that yet. I find that amazingly kind of her.
So...Zeze's Pasta and Pizza. It's one of the best places in town to go out to eat in my opinion. You pay to get in, and from there you can fill up your plates with as much salad, pasta, and pizza as you could possibly eat. Which is exactly what we're going to do tonight.
"Okay, any ideas for deciding who goes in first?" I say as we wait in line to get in. "As much as I want to get us all in quickly, we're paying individually, so we need to figure out who goes first."
"Tag!" shouts Minerva suddenly. "We'll pay in order of placing at the end of the game."
"That's a good idea, but only four can play," says Erika. "But I'll volunteer to go third. You guys compete for first, second, fourth and last."
"Sounds fair," says Azalea, and we set ourselves up for a one-minute round of Tag on Minerva's phone while Erika holds it in place. Turns out Darius gets first, I'm second, Azalea comes in third, and Minerva ends up last.
"Well, looks like I at least win at something today," teases Darius.
"Shut up. It was only because you kept hiding under that stupid tree," Minerva retorts playfully.
"Guys, I think we're up," I say, pointing at the counter. Darius goes up to pay for his food and drink, and as soon as he's done I do the same (stupid inflation making this place cost forty cents more than it did last time).
From there, I proceed to the buffet to grab myself a big plate of salad with a little too much ranch dressing (that stuff is especially tasty here), a bowl of pasta with a little too much tomato sauce (that stuff is also really delicious), and two slices of pizza (which is delicious, but not as good as that of some places). Then I set my tray down at the booth where Darius set his and head over to the soda fountain to fill up my drink.
I am no longer able to refrain from digging straight into my salad, making sure ever bite is soaked in ranch dressing. By the time the rest of the gang is here with their food, I'm already done with my salad and my first piece of pizza.
"So, like I was about say to Azalea earlier," I start, "have you ever noticed that there might be something up with Undyne?"
"What makes you say that?" Darius asks.
"Well first of all, humans are supposed to be physically stronger than monsters, but Undyne's probably stronger than any human. Also, have you noticed that during a genocide, you take down Undyne in one hit, but she doesn't die, and instead transforms into a stronger form? And then she starts melting right before she actually dies?"
"I never played genocide," says Azalea.
"Huh. Never thought of that," says Erika. "Maybe she uses magic to give herself a strength boost or something?"
"Maybe, but that doesn't explain her refusal to die." I say. "It can't be Determination, because that would make her soul survive death, probably."
"Maybe one of those fanfictions will cover that eventually, X," Darius says, stuffing pizza in his mouth.
"Yeah, I guess, but they don't-" I suddenly stop taking as I notice someone sitting alone at a different table. Someone big, wearing some sort of black cloak that reminds me of the river person. I've seen this person before.
"Is something wrong, X?" Azalea says.
"Huh? No, it's just...have you ever noticed that guy right there?" I ask quietly.
"Not really, why? He looks like he's just here eating, like us,"
"Well, yeah, but...I think I've seen him before recently. This might be stupid, but I feel like he may be stalking me."
"That's not stupid, X. Don't worry, though, I don't think there's any reason for anyone to stalk you. You don't have a credit card, you never hurt anyone, you're fine."
"Yeah, I guess you're right, Azalea. But keep an eye out, alright? Even if he's not stalking us, nobody dresses like that. He may still be up to something."
"If it makes you feel better, I will," Azalea says right before going back to eating salad. Now I'm also getting back to eating all this deliciousness that we scored for ourselves.
Once I've finished everything, I go back to the buffet counter to make another bowl of pasta and another plate of salad. I go back and stuff all that down my gut, at which point I'm finishing just my first cup of soda. Now I go and get a refill and...crap, I was so hungry I forgot to pace myself! Instead of more pizza, I take a couple of brownies and a cinnamon roll for dessert, 'cause that's about all I can eat at this point.
We all start talking about Super Smash Bros stages for a minute until I finish eating.
"Well, I'm headed off to the game room, anybody wanna come?" I announce.
Darius and Azalea both choose to come with me, while Minerva and Erika, decide to stay back at the table. We run straight to our favorite thing in the game room: the coin pushing machine.
Last time I came here, I figured out how the machine makes money: any quarter that falls down one of two little slots on either side is gone forever. This time, I resolve to stop playing if I ever end up with any profits.
We each put in a quarter while Darius holds the button to stop the machine. After he lets go, two quarters come out.
"Okay, Darius, how're we deciding who gets these this time?" I ask, taking the quarters and putting them in a pocket separate from the rest of my money.
"Once we're done playing together, we'll see who can collect the most coins in a round of Subway Surfers," he suggests.
"Sounds fun!" Azalea says. I'd noticed before that if one person gets everything that doesn't divide evenly for a session, at least one person has a pretty good chance of profiting, even if the others lose money.
"Wait, a minute, I gotta go to the bathroom," says Darius. "You two have fun together for a minute."
Darius runs straight off to the bathroom. Wait a minute, is he trying to get me and Azalea to further our relationship or something? I mean, yeah, it's been three months and we still haven't kissed yet, but that's not because we don't love each other or anything, we're just...not up for that sort of thing. Especially not here.
"Uh, I actually need to use the bathroom too," Azalea says slowly. "Sorry."
"That's fine, I can hold our spot," I assure her. She walks off smiling at me.
Well, Darius's plan failed miserably. Assuming he had one.
Now I really want to try the machine myself, 'cause those quarters look really close to coming out, but I've only got five quarters left.
"Good night, sir," a quiet voice says.
I look to the left, and then I almost fall down backwards. That guy in black is standing right next to me.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," they say as I start reaching for my phone.
"That's...fine," I barely manage to say. "You can...do the machine now if...you want..."
"I heard you and your friends talking about Undyne earlier," the mysterious person says.
"Oh...you like Undertale too?" I ask nervously, but slightly less nervously than I was a second ago.
"I also heard what you said about me," they say. "I'm a she, actually."
Okay, this...woman has definitely been stalking me.
"Sorry," I say quickly, freaking out again. "You have great hearing...ma'am..."
"Thank you," she says, her calm, quiet tone of voice not changing. "But listen, all I have to say is this: if you want your life to get a lot more interesting, meet me in Town Park at midnight. I promise you, you would regret not coming."
"Uh, okay...can I bring a friend?" I ask, thinking of Azalea.
"That would be a good idea. Farewell, friend," she says, leaving towards the exit.
Friend?! We are not friends, I don't even know who the heck she is! Also, what does Undyne have to do with anything? Is this lady going to show me Undyne's secret or something?
Well, Azalea is back, so I guess I can forget about what just happened for now.
"X? Is that person bothering you again?" Azalea asks worriedly.
"Actually...yeah, but she's gone now," I tell her.
"She? How do you know she's a girl?"
"I'll tell you later. We gotta finish with this machine if we wanna have time for the dark run." I say just as Darius gets back.
We didn't have that much luck, but Azalea ended up winning at Subway Surfers (which we played from my phone), so she's in the green at least.
From there, we go back to meet up with Minerva and Erika, who've been chatting with each other and drinking soda.
"You ladies ready for that dark run tonight?" Darius asks enthusiastically.
"Heck yeah," says Minerva, jumping up from her chair and grabbing Darius's hand.
"Actually," Erika says, "I just remembered a few minutes ago, I can't come with you guys on that tonight. I've got...something more important to attend to tonight."
"What?! Erika, we've been planning this for a month!" I almost yell. "I thought we all agreed that we were all free tonight!"
"Look, I'm really sorry, but I've just been informed that I need to be somewhere very important tomorrow morning, and I really need to make sure I get enough sleep tonight to be ready for it."
"...Alright, I'm sorry I overreacted. We'll be fine without you, you can go and get some sleep."
"It's fine, thanks. Here are your gloves," she says, handing us each a pair of gloves. "Just make sure to bring these back Monday morning alright?"
"Again, thanks for these. We darn well will bring them back. Good night!"
"Good night, guys!" With that, Erika puts on her coat and leaves.
I then look at the rest of us and smile. We may be one short, but we're still going to have a heck of a good time tonight.
Any guesses as to who this mysterious person might be? I know it's probably obvious what she is, but who, exactly?
Next chapter, that dark run. In the woods. At night.