"O-Oh my god, oh god-the flavor is just... out of this world, absolute masterpiece of food right here, you guys."
Sam tried to say as he scarfed his slice of pizza. His mouth was inviting everyone to see the broken-down chunks of pizza bouncing around his tongue. All the remaining cheese bits, meat varieties, and pepperonis that resided on top of the slice had tumbled over onto the table, with some of them landing on the floor. The sauce also splashed onto the table, giving off a vibe like a murder scene had just occurred. He also almost spilled the food over Manson's newly purchased video game, called Hypercosmic Battleground, which was swiped off the table in an instant before any stain could land on its pristine plastic cover.
"Hey! Watch where you're eating, Sam!" Manson shrieked, sounding terrified as he hugged his new purchase like it was his own newborn baby. "Use some napkins at least if you're gonna eat!"
"Sorry, man. I just got too into the pizza flow, if you catch what I mean?"
Sam dabbed the corners of his mouth with the available tissue paper handed to him by Cloey. Any traces of pizza sauce that were left on his face were immediately transferred without issue.
"Oh, Sam," Cloey said, "it's not gonna go anywhere. The food is going to stay here. And I just gotta ask, why is that game so shiny, like it was dipped in glitter?"
"Is it really that valuable, Manson?" Nate asked him.
Manson nodded, with immense pride taking over his posture. His arms were holding each other in particular. "This specific copy is the premium edition, with at least thirty cosmetics added to each playable character. Especially my favorite character, Starnis Wrath, is getting one of the best costumes. And you gotta know about the bonus art of these hot ladies-"
"Ahh! Too much info-too much!" Cloey suddenly yelped as she held out her hands defensively.
Sam looked like he didn't really follow what he was saying about the "premium" part of the game at all. Nate could only express his congratulations silently in his mind to his friend as he explained his video game. Besides the traditional art stuff that he usually does, Manson also seemed to be more into gaming culture. Nate had played some games in the past, but it was usually low-effort mobile games that everyone seemed to play to pass the time.
"Oh..."
A softened voice made its way to Nate's ears. The sound was so quiet, he wasn't quite sure where it came from, and it seemed he was the only one in Quad Four who noticed it. He turned towards Sheila, who was picking at her mustard in a plastic cup. She was a bit quiet when all the others were talking with their food to appease them.
"Uh, Sheila? Anything bothering you?"
"It's just... It's nothing really. Don't mind me, I'm just doing some random things."
"What? Don't you like the food? Did we get the wrong order?"
"..."
She didn't say anything for a moment, but Sheila looked like she had come to her senses and prepared to say something to Nate. "I thought the waiter heard me say 'ketchup' and that it would be with the rest of the order, but instead I got mustard. I don't really like mustard that much."
"Oh... You want me to get to the counter and get you some ketchup? You don't have to go yourself, you know."
"I..." Sheila grabbed her arm, not looking at him or making any movement, with a shudder escaping her body. "... Nate, don't you feel someth-"
"Look, you guys, I knew we should've gone here earlier. The best seats are already taken. If you haven't been slowpokes while going to Honoway Mall, then there would be some left, eh?"
"Quit your whinin'. When did we say that we had to go here? I wanted to go to Buncha Burger?" said another person.
"Whoa, you two! Try to keep it down... since we're in the middle of public," came a mediating voice.
A light but finicky voice was heard in front of Tasty Pasty. Followed by someone with a sharp tongue, enough for their snark to be venomous. It was enough to turn Nate's attention away to see what the fuss was all about. Even the rest of Quad Four diminished their conversation to see what Nate was trying to observe.
Huh? That's weird. I feel like I heard that kind of voice... in my school! Wait, those three guys at the front are-!
"Huh? Oh, hey, it's you guys!" said one of the three individuals, who Nate can now verify as Tyraun. Now looking at them more clearly, they were Tyraun, Marlo, and Jed. It was funny seeing them, as Quad Four had just seen them last time at the front of the school gates. They must have the same idea as their group, since they were more prone to arguing right now.
"Jed! I'm telling you-the pizza here does not hit at all, like it's so rancid to eat with its low-quality ingredients."
"Marlo! Let's be for real-the only day we go to Buncha Burgers is Friday, where tons of people go here to Tasty Pasty. I'm just saying that Monday is the day we go here almost every time."
"Alright, you guys-back off, back off before something serious happens."
Tyraun, with each of his bulky hands, held on to both of his friends' shoulders, determined not to let things heat up. After Jed and Marlo struggled to free themselves from his firm grasp to get at each other, they left each other alone. They both sat in the waiting area chairs, as far away from each other as possible.
"Loser..." they both muttered under their breath.
Seeing as the situation remained calm with tensions never escalating under his watchful eye, Tyraun let out a breath of relief while he went to Quad Four's table.
"What's with those two?" Manson asked, still grasping his videogame tightly from anything that might ruin its cover.
"Man, I'm so sorry about them. They get so excited from being away from school, and both of them tend to get into each other's throats more often," Tyraun explained. "And now one of them wants to go to Tasty Pasty Pizza, and the other really wants to go to Buncha Burgers."
"Jeez, man. It must be so hard to be with people like that, especially if they are really dumb," Sam said.
Manson stared at Sam with exasperation, his free hand up to his forehead with disbelief.
"But it's kinda adorable with the two of them. They are like two angry puppies barking at each other-it's so cute!" Cloey gushed.
Nate raised his eyebrow in confusion. "Puppies?"
I'm not sure comparing puppies and two human teenagers is accurate at all.
He looked all over the place, scanning the area inside the restaurant if it was full of occupied tables. Unsurprisingly, there wasn't anything free for a party of three. Compared to thirty minutes before, what was only a couple of people turned into a room filled to the brim with tired abled bodies. Nate turned towards the king of exercise:
"Tyraun, I don't think there are any seats left, and by the looks of it, it will be a while before a free one opens up."
"Yeah, I was pretty much sure that was the case on the way here. Looks like I gotta ask the dudes back there if they want to wait or not."
"We don't mind if you want to take our seats," Cloey said, her hand offering him access to Quad Four's table. "We can take our stuff out and then you-"
"Actually, Cloey," Manson placed his hands on both of her shoulders as he made her sit down slowly back on her chair.
"Huh?"
"We just started eating, so this isn't free for the taking yet, but good luck on finding something else if you're not gonna wait here in the restaurant's waiting area."
"Well... if you say so..." Tyraun trailed off. "See you guys later, I'm just gonna go to my buddies real quick.
He went away to Jed and Marlo, where Quad Four saw clearly that neither of them was talking to each other. Their very bodies and minds were opposing each other like the same magnet charges.
Nate and the others stared at Manson because of the way he dismissed Tyraun without a thought.
"What?" he asked.
* * *
Not surprising to see, yet again, Tyraun saw his two best friends still in the same posture; not even a centimeter was attempted. Jed Sampson and Marlo Chen looked like they were not going to talk to each other for a while.
Then it was up to the chill mediator of the three to step in.
"Whoa, still giving each other the silent treatment? Jed? Marlo?"
Still no answer. They seemed to be so focused on ignoring each other that they didn't notice other people existing right next to them.
Marlo put his finger on his chin, wanting an idea to abruptly appear in his head, like a shining light bulb.
"You know... What we need right now is a snack to cool us off. The stress and anger are definitely not good for you, handsome hunks such as you."
A hint of interest was shown to Tyraun. The two of them turned their heads with slight curiosity.
"Guys, you know what I mean. I'm talking about the smoothie stand that we always get when y'all are having a bad day," Tyraun said. He sat in the middle between the two, hoping it would convince them to hang out. "Don't forget, Yeller is there too. I just saw him working there."
"Yelnats, he's here in Honoway?" Jed asked with his interest fully piqued.
"Ready to give you the jumbo-sized drink cups," Tyraun stated.
"Hell yes, bro. Smoothies over pizza any day... er-well... only today."
Although it looked like Marlo was on his thoughts for a while, he too agreed to some smoothies. "Dang, I guess I really want something to drink to get rid of my Buncha Burger cravings. Yelnats is gonna have to make my smoothie the best there is."
Tyraun clapped his hands in approval and pulled the two of them in a single hug, but not too much of a hug that it might be overstepping their comfort levels. "That's the spirit, my dudes. C'mon, let's go before a long line forms like in Tasty Pasty, cuz that will be a total bummer."
The three of them, somehow in unison, went out of the door in style. The doors were pushed at the right moment when the light from the ceiling windows hit the reflecting metal surface of Tasty Pasty's door, causing a shining glare that illuminated their notable features.
Their newfound confidence and glee all started with Jed's strawberry blond hair on his tall head, which was lifted by the air from the broken-looking vent near the top of the walls. Marlo's black hair was filled with white illuminations. And Tyraun's smoothed-out cut, his dark skin radiated with a certain charm, but it was a charm that was also gentle.
While in the process of making their own grand entrance, Tyraun saw that they accidentally hit a girl on the way. He glanced at her with worry. She had black-ish blue hair, with certain inward curls, making it unusual to him, but that was really all Jed could describe. She looked super young, like a high school student. Maybe that girl went to Tyraun's same school.
His attempt to help her up was interrupted by a hum. It was nothing like any other ordinary hum, but something rabid.
He looked around to see where the sound was coming from, but it was too late, as if the noise only came to Tyraun's hearing. It was a sound that was high up that he could locate.
"That's strange. I coulda sworn there was something here. That noise was like from an animal," he said as he looked up near the ceiling window. "Was there a bird up there or something, or maybe it was my imagin-"
"Tyraun, you good? What's the holdup? I'm seriously gonna go insane if I don't get those delicious drinks. Oh, the drinks-it must be savored, sptah phath," said Jed as he licked his lips, but did it so noisily that some people walking by steered away in disgust.
"Uh... yeah, you did say there will be a line if we don't hurry up," Marlo said with worry.
"Um, I know, guys, I'll be there." Tyraun looked around to see if the noise would be able to be heard again, but to no avail. He quickly went over to Marlo and Jed before they get crank and started not talking to each other like they did in the entrance of Tasty Pasty Pizza.
* * *
The smoothie stand can be seen beside the main escalators. By what Tyraun could see, the line itself for the stand wasn't too bad, and only a moderate number of chairs were taken. He could even see that a good spot by the register was left unclaimed by anyone at all.
When the three of them finally went to the front of the line after a couple of minutes of waiting.
Jed was the first one to talk to the person in front.
"Yelnats, my guy, what's up?"
Yeller... or rather, as some people would blindly call him, Yelnats Storn. Whenever Jed and Marlo would be in an arguing mood, they would cool down by bothering a random employee of the smoothie stand. And the one they picked was Yelnats Storn, a guy with red hair in a tacky-looking uniform that screams "Old but gold? More like old needs to be fold".
"Not you guys again..." he bitterly said. "What do you want from me?!"
"What, you don't like our company? You always looked like the guy who doesn't have a lot of friends," Jed mocked.
"That is none of your business!"
"Hey, Yelnats! I need some peanut butter-flavored smoothies. I know you're just one guy working here, but hurrying up would be way more better if you ask me," Marlo said, not really helping with Yelnat's mood.
"God, first the broken ventilation systems in this mall, now I have to deal with you, knuckleheads-"
"Hold on a sec, the vents here are broken?" Tyraun asked.
Yelnats nodded. "Yeah, apparently, something or someone messed with the fans near the ceiling vents." He pointed his finger towards the upper wall, and a vent looked like it was scratched to death. "So now sometimes it gets stuffy here, and it makes it feel like it's still summer, when it is just fall."
"Yeah, I feel you; I did feel a little warm when I stepped inside," Tyraun admitted.
"Yeah, yeah, who cares about that stuff? I want a smoothie ready for me, please," Jed interrupted, his hands trying to calm his unruly stomach's growls.
Tyraun gently placed his hands on Jed's shoulders. "I apologize in advance for my friends' manners, but at least this guy said 'please', you heard?"
Rubbing his eyes with intense emotion, Yelnats frustratingly sighed. "This is what I get for getting this job in this stupid mall. At least it's better than living with my parents..."