Kanashii barged against the back end of a car, rocking the whole vehicle as he grunted and writhed. In the parking lot, Connor stood nearby, holding out his fists in an attack position. All along the concrete, red and orange leaves fluttered about from the decaying tree branches.
"Damn, bro, that looked rough. I didn't mean to send you into a car."
"That's okay," Kanashii replied, obviously quite strained, holding one hand to his stomach. "I'm all right."
Connor approached and held a hand out, helping him up by his forearm.
"You know, you've never told me just how you got so good," Kanashii grunted.
"What do you mean?"
He took a breath, then cracked his neck. "Ow. You know. At the fighting. I didn't want to say this, but I'm actually giving it my all and you just tossed me into a car like I was nothing. You're a really talented assailant."
"Yeah? Thanks."
"What's your secret?"
Connor paused. "I've told you my secret. Practice."
Kanashii shook his fluffy head of hair. "Nah, nah, nah. Actors practice and end up as an extra after ten years. Not everyone who practices becomes Bryan Cranston."
He scoffed, pacing aside. "No, bro, I'm really not that good. I'm sorry, but I don't have some kind of end-all secret to give you. It's like I've said, I grew up fighting. That's just what I did. It didn't help that my mom needed..."
With Connor's abrupt pause, Kanashii eyed him with a little more curiosity. "What about your mom?"
"Nothing," he rasped. "Ahem. Nothing. Nothing. You're making strides though, Kanashii. You're starting to get better, but we've only been practicing for, what, a few weeks? A month? These things take time."
Kanashii sighed. "Man, I wish that wasn't the case. After what you said about Bryce, it sounds to me like being in tip-top fighting ability is gonna be a necessity."
Connor shrugged. "Whatever. I bet those preppies aren't that tough."
"Maybe not, but they're better fighters than the bullies..."
"Come on, that isn't saying much. The only bully that could almost fight was Evan and I kicked his ass. I'm not scared of some trust fund babies. Besides, if the preps wanna fuck with me, that isn't your fight."
"Well, maybe it wasn't when you first got to this school, but you, me, Shay, Pete, and Winston, we're a team now. We gotta look out for each other."
Connor nodded, then held out a fist to bump with his friend. "That we do, bro. Hey, isn't today the day we're supposed to head into Bullworth town with the others?"
"Oh, yeah, it is. Another chem class missed," he mentioned with a grin. "I'll go grab Winston and meet you by the front gates!" The offbeat turned to take off and run, then spasmed and groaned, shifting into a limp while clutching his stomach. "Ah, fuck, my ribs..."
"I should probably take it easier on him," Connor murmured.
Once Kanashii picked up Winston from his room in the boys' dorm, the two strolled down campus to meet up with the others gathered by the gates: Connor, Shay, and Pete, the latter of which fighting with the urge to stare at Shay while they waited.
"There he is," Shay mentioned.
"Hey!" Kanashii waved to them. "All right, shall we be going?"
The group agreed and set off, and with Pete at the rear of the group, he shook his head and flicked himself against the jaw, hoping no one would notice him.
Snap out of it, Pete! Why are you so obsessed all of the sudden? Just be cool.
Stepping foot outside the gates for the first time was a surreal experience for the group, especially for Connor, who hadn't traveled off campus since he was dropped off back when he defended Mike from the bullies, unknowingly being stalked by Pete and Benji during.
Pete welcomed the distraction from the pastel goth among them. He stared up at treetops across the street where cars drove east and west of them. Far to the right, a large bridge across a stretch of lake. The bridge reminded him of the Golden Gate Bridge. To the left, another bridge, less impressive than the other that led into another circuit of Bullworth town.
"Which way should we go?" he wondered.
"I've heard Bullworth has part of its town closed off on the east, so there probably won't be much for us to explore that way," Shay replied. "Let's go left!"
The group headed down the sidewalk leading to the less impressive bridge, then Winston abruptly caught wind of a squirrel.
"Uh oh," Kanashi uttered.
Within moments, Winston started barking, chasing all over creation for the squirrel, skirting around in the grass and narrowly avoiding cars in the road.
"No! Winston! Winston, come here, you fat walrus monster!"
Later, the group appeared across the bridge leading into the western region of Bullworth town. This time, Kanashii had Winston on a leash and collar. Unfortunately, the lab wasn't too pleased, yet distracted himself by sniffing around the sidewalk as they went.
"Winston may not like it on a lead, but he is eating these new scents the fuck up," Kanashii proclaimed.
"Where do we wanna go?" Connor suggested.
Ahead of them on the left side of the road they walked, there was a dock in the distance with a stairway leading down from the sidewalk onto a beach, with a beach house next to a lighthouse past that. On the right, there was a gazebo across the street from them, with several small buildings lining the town.
"This freedom is exhilarating!" Shay gushed. "Why did the academy have to coop us up for all that time?" The pastel goth turned to see Pete staring at her. "You know what I mean, Pete?"
"Absolutely," he rasped.
"Let's split up," Connor suggested. "We can meet back up by the gates where we started."
"I'm down," Kanashii replied.
"Okay!" Shay squeaked.
Once again, the squad departed and said their goodbyes, with Pete remaining in the same position.
He cleared his throat, then hoarsely said, "Hey, ahem, Shay? Can I go... with... you?"
His voice trailed off as she was already running down the sidewalk. Connor rushed across the street, pissing off a driver that beeped their horn at him, while Kanashii fought not to be taken off his feet as Winston excitedly tugged along and pursued Shay, believing her pace to be some sort of form of entertainment or active participation in a game with him.
"Jeez, Pete," he scolded himself. "You've gotta get your head in the game, man. Benji's gone, and you finally realize you're not garbage, and now you're getting all dicked around again. She's just a girl. I've gotta snap out of this..."
Connor wandered down a stretch of town that had a wide stone expanse heading between several of the small buildings. Cars flowed down the road behind him while he saw pedestrians walking around at all sides of him. Connor's eyes flitted from one thing to the next, seeing a staircase leading up to shops further ahead of him, and more interestingly, a movie theater up ahead on his right.
"Hmm..."
Instead of random pedestrians, the people out in front of the theater were people his age, students from Bullworth Academy, but he didn't recognize all of them. He looked up and saw "THE CREEPY WATCHER" in all caps as one of the several movies playing. Facing away from the people, Connor noticed several movie posters, with "THE CREEPY WATCHER" being the, you guessed it, creepiest. The poster was a disturbing close up on the top half of a man's head with a thinning haircut and devious eyes, with blood pouring down the edges of the poster.
"Ugh..." Connor muttered. He turned around, bumping into a girl standing right near him at the end of the line. "Whoa, sorry."
"Watch it, would you?" she complained.
The curvaceous girl, slightly taller than below-average height Connor, was wearing a blue checkered vest over a short-sleeved, cream-colored shirt, as well as a skirt. She had wavy, perfectly-styled, light brunette hair, with highlights of strawberry blonde. Her face was round, slightly pudgy in an appealing sense. This was the same girl that Benji had harassed back before Connor had even arrived at the academy.
"Hey, isn't that the brand of clothes those rich snobs are always wearing?" Connor assumed. "What's it called, 'Nicaragua-belly' or something like that?"
She scoffed. "Uh, aquaberry, and I'd be careful bad-mouthing the drip so close to the source!" She pointed out one of the shops up the staircase that Connor had been eyeballing from before. "You'll get your ass kicked."
"You'd be surprised, miss."
"'Miss'?"
"Are you one of the preps?"
She sighed. "Yeah, I am."
"You don't sound too happy about it," Connor pointed out.
"Oh, I'm perfectly happy about it. Believe it or not, I enjoy having money."
Nodding, Connor muttered, "Uh huh."
As he turned to leave, the girl asked, "What's your name?"
He turned back around. "You first."
"Fine. Harper Harrington. I don't know how you haven't heard of me."
"Wait, yeah. You're the one that 'lifts Benji up when skies are gray' or some shit like that."
Grimacing, she replied, "I'm gonna pretend I didn't just hear that. Hey, you're not friends with that reject, are you?" The girl spoke with a prim and proper, almost condescending tone of voice that Connor didn't appreciate, yet he could at least agree with her on Benji.
"No. Not even fucking close."
Beat.
"Well, what's a weird-looking guy like you doing at the movie theater? You know, all alone?"
"Uh, seems you haven't been using your eyes much lately, 'cause you're all alone, too, miss."
"Would you stop calling me that?" she urged. "And, yeah, whatever. I wanted to come alone," she mumbled.
"Did you now?"
She groaned, nearly having herself a fit. "No! No, I didn't! I don't believe it, I mean, who stands me up? Me? I'm a princess for goodness' sake! Ugh!"
"Yep, pure royalty over here."
"I came here before all the rest of these sleazeballs, by the way. I've been here for ages waiting for my boyfriend to show up. Then Scott and Dan got here, and then slowly everyone else showed up, and then the theater staff told me this is a couples-only theater! What kind of stupid bull is that?" she burst. "So I have to be all the way at the back of the line, waiting for my boyfriend like a... like a... like a..."
"Poor person?" Connor suggested half-heartedly.
"Yes! Exactly!"
"Of course," he sighed.
"Wait a minute." Intrigue danced around in Harper's eyes. "You're that new kid, aren't you?"
"Maybe." When she didn't speak, he introduced himself. "Connor Henson. Don't ask me how I'm doing."
Harper gasped. "Oh, my god, you're the one who beat up Evan! Wild. Did your mom not love you enough or something? I don't know why else anyone would want to fight outside of boxing."
Let's see if we can't change conversational tracks here... Connor thought. "Who's your outstanding boyfriend?"
Harper's curiosity dampened, then she crossed her arms, full on pouting as she responded. "Oliver Harrington."
"The leader of the preps? The guy with the same last name as you?"
"We're not related! Not by much anyway! Cousins don't count! Shouldn't you know that? I mean, you sort of look..."
Connor stared at her with confusion.
"Ugh! I always have to run everyone through this. See, if we were siblings- nevermind all of that! I need your help, Connor!"
"To what do I owe the pleasure?" he replied sarcastically.
"Seriously, I do! Oliver will be here any minute, but we could miss the movie if we're not first in line. I need you to get rid of everyone that got here before me."
"'Get rid of'? What do I look like, an exterminator?"
"W-well, s-some people have to pick up those lower paying, servant-like jobs. There's nothing wrong with that, I-I guess..."
"Oh, my god."
"Please, Connor, please. I heard about how you helped that weird girl, Avery. You got her notes back from Alexstrasza. I promise you this will be nowhere near as difficult and reputation-threatening as that was! Please? Need I remind you I'm a princess?" she peeped, setting her hands behind her back and briefly lifting off by her toes. "I don't do so well with not getting what I want."
He sighed. "Fine. Fine. Whatever. I'll find some way to get rid of these people. Got nothing better going on I guess..."
"Yay! Thank you! Okay," Harper maneuvered her way to stand behind Connor and point out the members of the line, "see that couple closest to us?"
Closest to the entrance stood Scott, one of the bullies, and Dan, one of the jocks. Behind them a few feet were Sam and a nerd girl that Connor didn't recognize, and then closest to them were Emma, the greaser girl Benji warned him about a while ago, and a prep. The prep stood somewhere between Connor and Pete in height.
"Who are they?"
"Emma Sanner and Dave Debree. That Emma is a slut. A tramp. A no good harlot."
"Take it easy there, Harper."
"She is nothing. Just look at her skimpy little outfit! You should go up and punch her."
"Not gonna happen."
"Fine, but please, ruin her day at least? That guy Dave is a huge germaphobe-I know 'cause I see him all the time in Harrington House. He flips out over nothing, it's so funny. I can barely believe he'd even agree to go on a date with someone as dirty and repugnant as Emma. Stupid bitch. Useless, two-faced, brain-between-her-legs little-"
"All right, already, cool it, princess."
Harper instantly stared deep into Connor's eyes. "Call me that again?"
He paused. "No. What- no, I was just being- forget it."
Connor walked away from Harper, heading closer towards Emma and Dave. As he walked, he realized he hadn't formulated a plan, but also figured he'd hatch one in time.
"Hey, guys," he greeted them.
Emma and Dave faced him in sync. Emma's eyes, long-lashed and caked in eyeshadow, fluttered while Dave tensed, taking a pace back.
"Hi," Emma purred.
"What are you doing?" Dave demanded.
"Just hanging out, same as you guys."
"Oh, don't get jealous, Davie," Emma murmured, running a finger down his aquaberry sweater. "Our new friend isn't doing anything wrong."
"But where did he come from? You told me everyone around us would be sanitary, we didn't account for this guy!"
"Sorry, Emma," Connor started, then Dave cut him off.
"Wait a minute! This is the asshole that got Bryce's hand all cut up!"
"But I'm about to do something Dave here will find not just wrong, but twisted," Connor finished.
The notion seemed to interest Emma, while Dave was instead horrified, especially to see Connor start snarfling as hard as he could, conjuring up as much phlegm as possible.
"No! God, no! Don't do this! I'm begging!" Dave pleaded.
Connor hacked, then reared back. Eyes wide as moons, Dave turned tail and cried out, running past pedestrians as he sprinted and wailed, "Don't spit on me!"
Connor spat against the ground where he'd been standing. He looked up to see Emma eyeing him with disappointment.
"That was just gross."
Emma strutted off, and Connor swiveled around to see Harper having a laughing fit some ten feet away. Connor couldn't help but crack the beginnings of a grin.
"That was pretty funny..." he mentioned.
"What a waste of time," Emma complained, her back to the theater-goers. "Next time I cheat on Xander, it had better be worth my while..."
Calming down, Harper met eyes with Connor. With Dave and Emma gone, he flashed her a thumbs up.
Pete headed down a sidewalk and watched some greasers take their skateboards to ramps set up off the sidewalk out in front of several of the shops that lined the road leading back to the academy. Up ahead, there was a tunnel, to the left, a beach, and to the right, lots and lots of town for Pete to explore. After awkwardly nodding to a greaser, causing said greaser to think he wanted a conversation, and then turning away from the guy to tell him the contrary, Pete found himself waltzing towards one of the shops.
"This is pretty cool," he murmured, entering a Spencers.
Inside, he saw the blend of black and brighter colors you'd find in most Spencers', as well as JJ standing at the register with a large pair of fake breasts, jiggling as he held them and moved them around.
"You got these in a larger size, perhaps?"
"Nevermind," Pete said to himself.
The next shop he entered was an ordinary market, and the first thing he saw inside was Lindsay, a blonde, ditzy cheerleader from the academy seated at a table, biting into an apple. Her bite was dainty, and after she gulped her miniscule serving down, she tossed the apple into a garbage can not far from her.
"Mmm, yummy. That was filling. All right, another 24 hours without food starting... now."
"Sheesh," Pete whispered, heading towards a third shop down the sidewalk, this one for bicycles. He nearly bumped into a prep exiting. The guy shook his fist around in the air, yelling to someone inside, "Go back to the school garage and leave this place to those with worth, greasebag!"
With the prep stomping off, Pete entered the shop at the same time that a greaser seated inside shouted, "Hey, fuck you, incest-boy!"
Pete's eyes went wide, then the greaser stood.
"Yo, man, I didn't mean to say that to you. My name's Orion, it's a pleasure."
The greaser, Orion held a hand out for Pete, a hand that was startlingly larger than Pete's own. This guy towered over him, even more so than Evan, leading Pete to wonder if he'd even seen anybody at Bullworth taller than this fellow. The guy had dark brunette hair, long only in the front and the sides with the back short. The ends of his floofy hair was dyed green, and he wore a leather jacket with a vest underneath, jeans, and boots.
"Hey, Orion, I'm Pete. Pete Kowalski."
Orion nodded. "Hell yeah. That's a hell of a last name, man. You here for a bike?"
"Nah, nah, I'm just exploring. Uh, what was that that I just walked in on?"
"Oh, pfft, just another one of those incestous, preppy dickbags trying to give me shit. You aware of where the preps and greasers stand with each other here at Bullworth?"
"Yeah, you guys go together like cereal and orange juice, yeah?"
"I love cereal with orange juice," Orion replied.
This stunned Pete. "You- there's no way."
"There is, and it happens to be the only way."
"Who's this?"
Behind the counter and where Orion sat on a stool, a man with a big gut and a gray beard stood holding a hand out at Pete.
"Hey, Baron. This here's Pete Kowalski."
"You want a bike, kid?"
"No, I'm good on that."
"What do you kids think this place is? A bar?" the man questioned. "Who hangs out at a bike shop?"
"The kind of guy that loves the smell of rubber, and the feeling of being surrounded by transportation," Orion replied.
Baron put his hands on his hips. "You sure about that?"
"Yeah. Or the kind of guy that's trying to let the heat die down in his clique and needs somewhere to hide out in the meantime."
"That sounds more like it," the man grumbled as he stepped away, heading into the back of the shop while maneuvering hung and propped up bikes all around him.
"What sort of heat are you talking about?" Pete wondered. "You know, I'm really curious about what it's like to be a greaser. I haven't spent much time with you guys this year."
"Oh, it can suck," Orion replied, laughing mid-sentence. Pete politely laughed back. "Eh, it's not all bad. I've gotta say, people think Xander Kapijimpanga's fucked in the head, right? And, like..." Orion stared up at the ceiling, in a trance of his own thoughts. "He certainly has facets of his mind that are... well, fucked, but he's also just such a character that I almost feel compelled to hang around his clique, feel me?"
"Not really."
Orion leaned against a bike, knocking it over and causing a domino effect with other bikes in the process. He grinned and winked at Pete. "Meant to do that." Then he puckered his lips and gave Pete a kissy noise.
"Hey! Prick-ass kids, leave my bikes be!" Baron shouted from another room.
"I've been trying to learn about Xander. What makes him tick? What life did he come from? Why is he the way he is?"
"What's Xander like? I've never met him."
Orion chuckled. "Oh, man, Pete. Everyone figures out what he's like eventually. Anyway, in the midst of trying to find out what makes him tick, the thing that makes his dick twitch, i.e. Emma Sanner, ended up making mine do a little twist, if you know what I mean. So, now I've gotta hang out here for now."
"You... you mean to tell me you had sex with Xander's girl? That's cold, man."
"No, no, no, nothing like that. She's just a flirty thing, you know? I didn't do anything, but she had her hands on me, backed me up against one of the auto zone brick walls, and Xander happened to creep up at that moment. He nearly sic'd Norton on me, but I was out of there just as quick as I'd have been were I actually fucking the chick."
Pete was silent for a moment. "Wow, that's... we've all been there, right?"
Orion laughed, then responded, "No. I know Norton's never "been there", that big virgin."
Pete let out a fake laugh, fighting the redness coming to his face by looking away from Orion, peeping, "Yeah, big virgin..."
"What's wrong? Oh, shit, wait- no, dude, there's nothing wrong with being a virgin, man. Cool it, bro, I didn't mean anything by-"
At that moment, the prep Chandler from Connor's English class stepped into the bike shop, spurring Orion to stand and face him.
"Greetings, pauper!" the prep sneered.
"Would you fuck off already with your pip-pip-cheerio bullshit? I'm trying to have a conversation with my virgin friend here about how virginity is a wonderful thing that we should allowto blossom. We shouldn't shun and make fun of it!"
"This is terrible," Pete faltered, his face reddening.
"I-I don't care about that," Chandler replied.
"Just get out of here, you inconsiderate shit!" Orion yelled. "We all had to start somewhere, all right? Not everyone's a straight up thug with the ladies from day one, okay? Mr. Macho Big Dick fuck, get out of here."
"This is the worst," Pete peeped, his voice muffled as he buried his face in his arms. "It doesn't get worse than this."
Orion yelled more threats at the prep, causing the guy to give up and leave. The greaser sat back down. "Sorry about that guy. Jesus Christ. Some people, huh?"
Unburying his face, Pete said, "Tell me, Orion, you seem pretty cool."
Orion shot him a finger gun. "I appreciate that."
"You mind if I ask you something?"
"It's pretty unlikely that I'm gonna say no to that."
"On the topic of girls, do you, uh... you ever find yourself in a position where you like a girl, a lot, but you don't really know what to say to her?"
Orion said, "Ah," and started nodding. "Yep, I know what this is."
"Do you?"
"Mmhmm. Pete, in all my time with women, I've made sure that they never had to wonder who exactly they're speaking to. Does that make sense?"
Pete stared at him in wonder.
"Let's unpack that," Orion decided. "So, sometimes guys that don't know what they're doing with a girl will act timid, right? They'll be all up in their heads, second guessing themselves, questioning everything, acting like a mannequin, man. You don't want that. You don't wanna talk to this girl like you're not sure of yourself. Who are you, Pete? You're the guy that gets this girl. See, think of your brain and the girl's brain as two sides of one present. Like, a Christmas present, all right? Just visualize that. Now, think of your ability to perceive as a pair of scissors."
As the peculiar greaser spoke, he mimed the motions of the analogy he described.
"Take these scissors and cut through the ribbons of this present, unraveling it, allowing each side of the box to open up once the 'wrapping', otherwise thought of as your inhibitions, come down."
"Okay, all right, just- just slow down a sec-"
"Now, as each side of the box opens up, you wanna take out the present inside, so to speak, using your ability to mentally meld both psyches of each side of the box. You are one half, the girl is the other. Now, if you've properly melded minds with this girl and yourself, found who you are and interspersed it with who she is, you can then present your 'gift' to her, which begins as an attractive conversation. Then you go from there. Now, does all that make sense to you, Pete?"
A beat later, Pete emerged from the entrance to the bike shop, heading off onto the sidewalk once more. After he left, Orion stuck his head out, offering a friendly smile and a wave as he shouted, "Happy to help!"
"S-so... so, meld my scissors with her ribbons? Right? Man, I need to lay down..."
Connor's next escapade in continuing clearing the movie theater line for Harper involved dealing with a nerd couple just ahead of where Dave and Emma had been standing. He recognized Sam, the beefy, Seth Rogen look-alike nerd that acted condescending to him for not playing Dungeons and Dragons when they first met. Connor wouldn't have been able to believe the guy had a date for a movie had he not been seeing it with his own eyes. The girl, nearly the same size as Sam, was dressed like the rest of the nerd clique, wearing a green vest over a dress shirt, yet her clothes were stained and dirty, and over her unkempt, oily hair sat a Pikachu hat. Connor approached the two, tapping their shoulders. Each nerd turned to face him at once. The nerd girl's face was similar to Kanashii's in the pimple department.
"Connor," Sam grumbled.
"Why, hello!" the girl shouted, failing to mind social vocal constraints. "It's incredibly incredible to meet you!" She stretched out and elongated the last vowels to her sentences. "My name is Jada and one of my middle names is Pearl! It's not because I'm a pearl though, so don't make that joke! Or do it if you want!"
"Jeez, Sam, your girl here looks so innocent," Connor remarked. "How could you even begin to consider bringing her to a movie like 'The Creepy Watcher'?"
"Nah, Jada's more mature than you'd suspect," Sam protested. "One time we were playing Elden Ring together, and she maxed out every stat I couldn't and killed Mohg, Lord of Blood the first day she started playing! I mean, how do you even do that? She hadn't even started with a Dark Souls game either! Incredible."
"It's because I'm a god among mortals!"
"Fantastic," Connor replied. "Unfortunately, guys, I need you two to leave the theater. Sorry."
Sam scoffed, then wiped his sleeve against his nose. "What? Why? You don't have the right."
"It's just as well, I'm not supposed to be out past 4pm anyway!" Jada yelled.
"No, Jada, he can't make us leave. We're not missing this movie."
Connor turned from the nerds to see Harper watching him expectantly, her hands on her hips. Oliver was still nowhere in sight. He faced the pair again. "Well, I could. I could kick your asses, but I'm not gonna do that."
"Why not?" Jada wondered. "Maybe it'd be a barrel of monkeys fun! I always loved getting hit with the belt by my dad!"
"Ah, Stockholm syndrome," Connor nodded, "I too look for that in a woman, Sam."
"I knew you weren't gonna hurt us. He's got a code, Jada. I remember when Cameron sought you out to save Harold from Scott and the bullies."
"What about me?" the ginger-haired bully prompted, standing ahead in line, but Connor, Sam, and Jada ignored him.
"You don't beat up weaklings like us," Sam continued, "it's not in your probable nature. You're like the opposite of LeafyIsHere; you punch up, not down."
"Huh. You're actually right about that. Nicely done, buddy."
Sam sniffled. "Yeah, I'm smart like that, what of it?"
"Sam is Alfred Einstein smart!" Jada cheered. "Er, is it Alan? I can never remember."
"So, since I'm not gonna fight you people, how can I get you to leave?"
Sam pondered it, while Jada instead started chewing on her forearm. With nobody speaking, the gnawing noises were audible, and Connor felt himself cringing as he saw her saliva dripping down her forearm hairs.
"Are you just- are you just gonna let her do that?" Connor asked.
"How about this?" Sam posed. "We'll leave if you can beat Jada in a game of the Clone Wars."
"A game of what?"
"Great idea!" Jada burst, leaping into the air.
"What the fuck?"
"We're gonna RP!" Jada cheered. "RP! RP! Yes! I'll be Master Yoda and you be a clone trooper! That way, in order to beat me, you're gonna have to be really clever!"
Connor threw up his arms, only to let them flap down to his sides. "Sam, what the fuck is this?"
"RP. You know. Role-playing. Pretend to be a clone trooper and take Jedi Master Jada-Yoda down and then and only then we'll leave. Your challenge awaits, young squire."
As Sam let out a Seth Rogen-like chuckle, Connor felt annoyance brewing in his chest.
"Young squire." Shut the fuck up. Who knows what kind of actually interesting shit Pete, Kanashii, and Shay are doing right now. I'm over here "RPing" with a bunch of dweebs for the sake of some spoiled, daddy's money girl. Fuck, man, I gotta learn how to say no...