As I eventually got to her house, I laid her down and did an old strategy called 'Ding, Dong, Ditch.' As a result, I fled Emily's oversized house faster than any criminal ever could, and I also didn't want to hear Emily's mom or dad scream at me since their daughter was unconscious. I drove the hoverboard to my bike where I changed rides since I felt more comfortable in a bike I owned rather than a board I stole.

Now, I know that leaving her on her doorstep isn't exactly what a friend should do. But I genuinely couldn't do much more than I already had for her. I hoped that her parents knew how to take care of her.

In the meantime, I rode my bike as fast as I could through the road to the Waterway Café. Since it was noon time that meant traffic was starting to build up and cars began getting stuck on the road. You would think by this point any type of governing body would fix the traffic situations over decades and centuries but oh well.

I pedaled my bike harder as the wind blew on my face while I was heading down a hill. It felt incredible! I had just done, well no, Emily and I had just possibly accomplished the greatest basement break for creatures in history! And we outsmarted the Redwoods! I couldn't wait to tell my friends about this once I got to the Waterway!

As I drove through the street, I crossed it onto the right side since the café was on the right side of the road. Once I got closer I swore I could smell the freshly brewed coffee, the warm bread they had, and best of all, the waterfa—

"HEY!" A woman screamed at me from a minivan that seemed all too familiar. It knocked me from mg concentration on the road I put the brakes on my bike. As it slowed down, so did the woman too. I saw in the backseat that there was someone there, but the windows were tinted.

"Lemme guess. Your Angel's mom?" I asked her. It was a reasonable inference since this same van always dropped Angel off from school. Yet never picked her up after school.

"Ah, you guessed correctly ahahahha!"

"Haha." I really wanted to go to the café by this point. I was getting impatient as hell itself.

"Who's that?" I heard a female voice say at the back of the minivan. I couldn't tell who it was since my ears had just been completely slaughtered back in the basement.

"It's your friend, Angel." She said in a flat tone. Angel peeked over the passenger seat in front of her and I swore I heard her yelp and saw her cover her face.

"Hello, Mrs.. uhm."

"Mrs. Bloom."

"Oh, but I thought your name would be Mrs. Porridge. Pfft, my bad!" I exclaimed, staring at her while gritting my teeth.

"Hmph. What a ridiculous name." She stated.

"Says you Mrs. Bloom. You're driving with a ridiculously named girl." I stated.

As her mom and I stopped at the side of the road, tensions were unnecessarily high between me and her, and this tension was dismissed in the freshwater-scented air. I knew her mom as the scum that didn't want her daughter. So I faked a smile and asked,

"Mrs. Bloom. I don't suppose you would happen to be busy with your daughter right now?"

"Why yes I am. I'm driving her to a particular event that only takes place annually. She's coming with me." So now she cared for her daughter? I could only wonder what opportunities this 'special event' could open for her if she brought her daughter along.

"Just a question. Does this event require their guests to send their children along with them?"

"Well, no but—"

"Great then I can ask her this. Angel!" I exclaimed. She peeked her head from the back of the minivan. She smirked at me while her mom didn't seem too pleased that her daughter was interacting with me.

"Would you like to go to that café we were talking about yesterday? I know it's probably not as cool as a one-time-per-year event so you can say no—"

"Of course! I would love to go with you!" She exclaimed, getting out of the minivan and sitting on the back of my bike so quickly that I frankly couldn't believe how fast she was.

"W-Wait but what about—"

"What? You can't use your daughter to gain points with politicians and other influential people anymore? Whine about it, I dare you. Meanwhile, I'm going to show your daughter what a fun time is actually like." I stated. Using my feet and with the help of the mechanical engine installed by my father, we sailed past the minivan and headed to the café. Angel hugged me tight around my back and said,

"Thank you. I owe you one."

"No problem at all." Angel looked up at me and asked,

"George, why are you biking your way to the café? Can't your mother drive you?"

"No, she can't sadly. Out car is in the repair shop due to a malfunction," I responded. That malfunction was probably the most unlucky one anyone could ever experience. That stupid broken bottle...

"Oh, sorry to hear that. I'll make sure your day is going to be great! In honor of your sick car." She stated while giggling. I chuckled too and as I thought how cute that sentence was, we arrived at the café.

Once we arrived at the Waterway, I realized that Angel had come along with us even though she didn't have to, so I asked her,

"Hey Angel, you said you couldn't make it because of that event, why did you come with me to the café then?"

"Hm? Oh well, I decided that my own life was more important than the fake one that my parents were trying to implement on me. I'd much rather be myself with my stupid name than with my mom at that crappier event." Angel said.

"I don't think your name is that stupid Anthony," I stated. She laughed again and patted my shoulder.

"Don't call me by my middle name now! Ahahahaha!" I laughed too and as we got to the Waterway Café, I noticed something. Well, something apart from the gorgeous scenery from the trees to the waterfall.

"Hm. Interesting." I said.

"What is it George?" Angel replied hazily. She was enamored and amazed by the beauty of the nature surrounding us. I would've been as well but I was too curious about something else to notice.

"No one is here," I said with, again, a piqued interest.

I hadn't realized before, but now talking about it, only the server and manager were here. I guess we were lucky after all! It meant maybe we made it in...

Time. . .

Oh no.

Everyone else was already at the front counter as Fron was talking to the server. Maybe she was his mom's friend?

"Hey guys!" I exclaimed to them. Everyone else turned to me in perplexity. With one person in particular in irritation.

"Hey, George! How have you been?!" Fron asked in a joyful mood. It was pretty nice to see a friendly face after going through whatever the hell happened in that basement.

"Pretty good today. It's been a little rough when I rode my bike here and look, I got Angel!" I stated. Maurice's mouth opened wide in a smile as Angel ran over to Maurice and hugged her.

"I'm so happy to see you! I thought you wouldn't make it!" Maurice exclaimed.

"I honestly wouldn't have. If it wasn't for me bumping into George and I chose to go with him rather than whatever my mom wanted." She gritted her teeth. Maurice looked at Angel then at me.

"Hey, George." She said angrily.

"WHY IS EVERYBODY ANGRY WITH ME!? I'm not even that late!" I shouted.

"I'm not angry with you," Fron stated.

"Yeah, but that's just because you... I don't know. You don't get angry as easily as these bozos."

"We're not angry because you're late. Since you only got here five minutes late, we don't mind that. No, it's because of something else." Steve said. I was confused as well as Angel from her facial expression.

"Oh, alright then," Angel said with a shrug. I looked at Maurice and Steve who were now standing side by side. I said,

"You know. Steve and Maurice, from what I've heard, were starting to form a special kind of bond since they have a relationship with each—"

"NO, WE DON'T!" Maurice and Steve yelled in unison. They looked at each other and then looked at the ground in embarrassment. Jack laughed a heavy-hearted laugh,

"Ahahahhahhahahaha! Alrighty then, we should probably head to our table now." Jack said.

We proceeded to our table of six. Angel and I sat next to each other while across from us Maurice and Steve were sitting next to each other. Jack sat at one head of the table while Fron sat at the other end. We looked at our menu and took our orders:

Jack ordered a steak, while me and Angel both ordered nachos. Maurice ordered a salad (typical of her since every day at lunchtime she ate a salad), Steve ordered a fruit bowl, and Fron ordered a burger with fries. Since there were barely any customers excluding us, we got our food fast.

As we got our food and started to eat, we stared at the waterfall and it was at a perfect distance from here. I mean it, you could see it clearly through the rays of sunshine flowing through the waterfall as seamlessly as a sewing machine. As well as the forest which was as clear as daylight and looked stunning with the cascades of water including vines surrounding the precipice and strawberry plants growing at the very top of the ridge.

Angel took a chip and dipped it in the sticky cheese that went along with the nachos. She ate the chip and her eyes lit up in astonishment and wonderment.

"These nachos are so good!" She exclaimed.

"I'm glad you like it," I said, eating a chip with the cheese myself. I felt the gooeyness slide down my throat and into my stomach. She was right, these were really good nachos. Maybe even the best I've ever had!

While me and Angel were stuffing our mouths with nachos. Steve and Jack were in a debate about whether or not an RPG game was better than an open-world game. I have to admit, both sides had exceptionally reasonable arguments and even though it got a bit loud sometimes from them, it was still pretty peaceful!

That was until Fron, from across the entire table, eventually joined the debate with the argument of racing games being better than those two. This caused a massive disruption to the peaceful environment. I'm genuinely not joking when I say this,

I wanted to strangle each of these guys.

But you know what the funniest thing about this whole argument was? Maurice was just relaxing and smiling in the sunlight! She smiled! I couldn't even fathom how she could have this much patience over these three guys.

Me and Angel were sitting side by side, looking at the waterfall. Trying to be mesmerized by its perfect blue waves reflecting from the light of the sun to our eyes, I caught myself out of the illusion of the waterfall and looked at Angel. She had on a full-on red dress because her parents were planning on taking her to that 'one-of-a-kind' event. I decided to say something cocky, but nothing about her dress.

"So Angel, what did you say would make me feel soooo much better about my broken car?"

"Hm?! Oh yeah! Give me a second!" Angel responded as she went away to the bar. I was surprised she even got up in the first place, I didn't expect her to plan anything at all.

As I was wondering what she was getting, Maurice leaned over to me across the table and said,

"Hey, do you maybe want to stop those idiots from talking about games the whole day?"

I realized they were getting heated with each other and I had completely ignored them since I was focused on the waterfall. I eventually replied,

"Sure, why not? But how do we even tell them to snap out of it?" She whispered into my ear,

"You can slap Fron and Steve's head while I'll slap Jack's head at the same time." I nodded and went up to them.

I stood up and rubbed my hands while Maurice stood at the opposite end of the table. I swiftly slapped both Fron and Steve on the back of their heads and Maurice simultaneously slapped Jack's head. They immediately stopped speaking and all of them yelled,

"OW!"

"Hey, what was that for Maurice?" Jack said.

"Yeah, guys! We were just talking." Fron added.

"Bro, you dumbasses were causing an earthquake with the number of times you slapped the table and banged the floor with your constant yelling and screaming at each other over some games. Me and Maurice thought it was best to stop this before it got too out of hand." I stated.

"Aw come on George, we weren't making too much noise! We were just having a bit of fun." Steve replied.

"You were LITERALLY creating a rumble in the café! I swear I almost fell out of my chair when you specifically, Steve, tried to imitate what it was like to drive a car." I exclaimed. Steve recalled that moment of pure geniusness when he almost broke the floor below him and stayed silent.

"Yeah, fair enough guys. Knowing ourselves we were creating an alarming amount of noise for everyone around us. Sorry you two." Fron replied.

After that, Fron, Steve, and Jack stopped talking and ate instead. We could finally hear the peaceful noises of the distant waterfall.

"How's the fruit bowl?" I asked Steve.

"Pretty good. Though I think if the mango was a little more ripe it would've been better. Other than that though it's honestly good." He said, eating the mango in one bite. That made me question whether or not he thought the mango would be better if it was more ripe since he ate it in exactly one bite.

Angel came back with six root beers in hand and I was stunned.

"Angel, how the hell did you get these drinks?" I asked her.

"Ah, my sister used to work here a long time ago and since they don't mind helping a former employee's family member, they just gave me the drinks for free."

"Whoa, that's sick! What type of root beer is it?" Fron asked.

"Who's gonna tell him?" Jack muttered. We all laughed at his joke while Fron sat unimpressed.

"There's only one type of root beer Fron. It's called root beer." Angel said (though, that was false). Setting down the drinks on the table. We each took one and opened the caps.

I have to confess, I was extremely grateful for the drinks since I was getting rather thirsty from the bike ride, eating, and barely surviving animals escaping from a basement. We drank our root beers as we saw the birds fly around in the trees in the forest in the distance. Spotting the birds reminded me of the rumors of them being spies. They really couldn't be!

Right?

I suddenly had a realization. Not about the birds, no this realization was about something way more important than possible drone birds which sounds tinfoilish.

Maurice had acted a pinch weird ever since we got here with her usually adding to a conversation rather than ending it like Steve's debate with Fron and Jack. Instead of her usually telling jokes about Steve back in middle school, she was just staring into the waterfall. Sure it could've been because she was tired of conversations for the week and she just wanted to relax, like what she wanted in the first place for Sunday. But I felt like it might be about something else.

I asked Maurice, "Hey, why did you want those three to stop talking?"

"Mmm..." She took a swig from her root beer and gulped down the remains of her salad.

"Maybe because they were annoying?" She responded.

"Sure Maurice, like that's the only reason. C'mon, what's the real one?" I asked her.

"There's no real reason I swear. I just thought they were annoying and I wanted to relax. You know, it's been a really rough week for work at school! I want to look at the waterfall and just drown in comfort. No pun intended." She responded. I smirked playfully, just like Obsidia, and said,

"Mhm Maurice. I totally believe that! You're absolutely lying." I accused.

"Seriously George why would I lie on something as stupid as that? I would rather lie about something as stupid as l-love than stop an argument." She stated, hesitating on her words. I knew she slipped up right there.

"Because you like hanging out with someone specific in that group," I responded, continuing to press her about it.

Maurice started to blush a tad bit but she kept her tranquility, shaking her head,

"You got it all wrong George. I just wanted them to stop talking because I wanted to hear nature, now leave it before I slap you in the back of the head!"

"Hmm... nah I won't," I said.

"Oh come on George why not!?" She asked. She was starting to lose it because I kept pestering her. A part of me wanted to stop but being Steve's natural wingman. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to keep asking her questions about him. To see if she'll get a reaction out of it.

"Because believe it or not you like hanging out with someone within that group!" I replied once again. I know I already said that but sometimes getting a point across twice decreases a person's patience on the matter and causes them to answer questions faster and more honestly. Or so my mom says.

"Oh, would you just spill it out already! Who am I supposedly hanging out with all the time George?!" She asked quickly.

"Steve," I replied calmly.

Maurice stayed silent and hid her face by looking at the waterfall. But I already had all of the answers I needed.

Angel asked me right after I continuously berated Maurice with questions,

"Hey, have you ever had a type of girl you liked in the past?"

"Weird question Angel since we're only, like, thirteen. But since you fetched us free drinks, I feel like I have to answer this. Hm.." I said while I thought about this for a couple of seconds. Then I said,

"I guess no one. If I did have a crush though it would be someone you can count on. Someone who will always be by your side no matter what. Someone who loves you as much as you love them. As simple as I could ever want."

"Huh, alright," Angel responded, drinking her last drops of her root beer. I still wondered why she even asked that question and while I didn't have an answer for myself. I saw Maurice look at me with an expression that just screamed 'payback'.

After all of us finished our root beer, we ordered some bagels as dessert. I know that sounded like a weird dessert choice but that was the only dessert available on their menu since it was the end of the week.

As we finished eating them and enjoyed the scenery, it was now about high time to go as it was getting later in the afternoon and the sun was setting soon. We headed our separate ways after Fron and Jack fought over whoever would pay for the meal.

"Hey. If you don't mind can I get a ride with you? Steve is going with Maurice as usual and I don't think Steve's aunt has any room left in her buggy. Jack is already leaving and Fron's ride is a stolen hoverboard that barely can function with two people on it." Angel asked.

"Of course, I don't mind. Just make sure your dress doesn't get dirty and hop on the back of my bike."

"George, your bike is already dirty. Even the seat is dirty!" She exclaimed. I looked at my bike and saw that it was.. actually abnormally dirty. I saw a post-it note on my front tire and as soon as I took the note off, my front tire automatically flattened.

"What the hell?!" I shouted.

"What is it?" Angel asked quietly from the back. I turned to her and smiled,

"Ah, nothing. Just uh.." I looked at the post-it note which was written in gold instead of legitimately any other ink. Like a pen perhaps?

"Get near my daughter again and you'll understand the consequences."

"Sweet," I said. Crumpling the post-it note into a ball and tossing it into a trash bin.

"Where she belongs," I stated.

I looked at the flattened tire and sighed. I went to the side of the bike and pulled out a sticky cube, detaching the front tire by repeatedly smacking the attachment hook as it flattened into a pancake right in front of me. I grabbed the sticky cube and placed it onto the attachment hook tight. I waited for a couple of seconds and let go, creating a new front tire for the bike. I leaned over and picked up the front tire and showed it to Angel.

"What's that?" She asked me.

"It's the result of me being near you. Don't worry though, I'll go through way more than this to be with you." I slammed the tire into the trash can and started to peddle down the street. I looked behind me and saw that Angel was fixated on me.

We were heading back into the main portion of Altandor as I was crossing onto the street where I lived. The sun started to set more and more profusely into a pink flame.

That was the exact moment when I saw two girls who were walking together, who looked oddly familiar to my friends Fron and Steve. So, just as I was about to introduce myself over this sudden familiarity, Angel suddenly stopped me.

"Who are those two?" She asked me.

"I don't know. I was about to find out but you stopped me you dingus." I flicked her head and she rubbed her head in pain.

"Ow.. you're mean!" She stated. I smiled and looked directly at her eyes. I smirked and bobbed my head at her in agreement. I was mean as hell, though, I still made sure she was safely seated before putting the pedal to the medal as I rode my bike towards the two girls who were talking with each other.