Chapter 21 - Out & About (Epilogue)
SUN SHORT #1 - Dropouts
"Ha! Looks like I won this time!" Tim The First Thug says as he manages to collect a dessert from the cakewalk game.
He and the rest of The Three Ts are enjoying their time at the Starlight High carnival, much to the confusion of Zesti Champion. Miss Champion walks over to Mister Amnestor, who's talking with Ivan Turnip.
"Excuse me Mister Amnestor, but is it really okay for us to allow some thugs to be a part of the carnival?" Miss Champion asks.
"Don't worry Miss Champion, they aren't just any thugs," Mr. Amnestor says, "those three kids are all former students here."
"Wait really? What happened to them?"
"Well, they dropped out together a few years back," Amnestor says.
“How come?” Zesti Champion asks.
“Well you see,” Amnestor starts to explain.
“YOU LITTLE BRAT! YOU NEED TO PAY FOR THE DAMAGES!”
Amnestor looks to see Ray stomping after X Locke still. X, spotting Amnestor hides behind him.
“Ray don’t hurt me, I'm just a lil ol’ fly!” X pleads mockingly.
“I JUST PAID IT OFF TOO!” Ray groans.
As Amnestor turns his attention to de-escalating the situation, Zesti still can’t help but ponder why those three thugs all dropped out.
SUN SHORT #2 - A Small Confrontation
"I'll be right back, just grabbing some supplies!" Ronnie yells as he exits the gym.
After closing the door behind him, Ronnie then turns to walk down the hallway. As he reaches the supply closet, the door to the bathroom swings open.
“Ugh I knew I shouldn’t have had that cake,” a person remarks as he exits out of the bathroom.
The person stops as he makes eye contact with Ronnie.
“What the hell are you doing here, Hunter?” Ronnie demands as his fist tightens.
The rebellious teen, Hunter Huntingson, looks at Ronnie before responding, “What, is it illegal for me to attend a school event? Besides, I didn't expect to see you here.”
Hunter begins to walk past Ronnie, though he stops and adds, “Saw Marcus hanging out with you earlier, he seemed happy.”
Infuriated, Ronnie turns around to face Hunter and shouts, "If you even think of coming towards Marcus ever again I swear-"
However, Hunter cuts him off by saying, "Yeah you won't need to worry about that. I wouldn’t want to waste my time dealing with someone so pathetic."
Hunter continues to walk away while Ronnie walks towards the supply closet, as he does so he wonders how true those words were of Hunter. He grabs the mop and other cleaning supplies as he heads back to the gym. Once he enters he runs into Marcus.
“Oh hey, you were out for a while,” Marcus says, “Did you meet anyone or something?”
“It was nobody worth remembering,” Ronnie affirms.
SUN SHORT #3 - They Didn't Save Me A Slice
"I didn't even get a slice of cake!" Selina Gulvonac says defeatedly as she bags a bunch of books.
She is standing behind the counter at the Starlight City Bookstore and cashing out Sally Everst who's buying a few books.
"Is that so," Sally says as she hands Selina some money. Selina goes to give Sally Everst the change back but Sally stops her by adding, "The change should be enough to get you a piece of that cake."
Selina checks the money again and smiles, "Thank you so much Mrs. Everst! You're a lifesaver!"
“Don’t mention it,” Sally remarks, “Although despite looking nice, it does have a unique taste just to warn you.”
“Yeah yeah don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll like it!” Selina says.
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After her shift, Selina is at home with a newly bought starfruit upside-down cake. She cuts a slice for herself, grabs a fork, and takes a bite out of the cake. However, she quickly spits out the food.
"Why is it so awful?!" Selina asks.
SUN SHORT #4 - Rolling Up Your Sleeves
On a bright and sunny day, Alex, Marcus, Elizabeth, & Ronnie are hanging out at the Starlight City Park. All of them are sitting at a table and are about to eat some food they got from a street vendor.
"Man, I can't remember the last time I've been here," Ronnie says.
"I can," Alex shared, "it was when we fought."
"Oh yeah, that did happen."
As the four are about to eat, they suddenly hear someone start to cry. They look to the source of the sound to see a little kid who managed to get a kite stuck in a tree.
"Don't worry, I'll go help him," Ronnie says as he walks away from the group and towards the kid. He begins to try and struggle to get the kite out of the tree.
"Kids still use those?" Elizabeth asks.
"I guess," Alex says.
The three decide to start eating, however, Marcus notices that the food he is eating might make a mess on his white long-sleeved t-shirt so he rolls back his sleeves before eating. As Alex & Elizabeth sit at the other side of the table they stop eating and stare at Marcus in shock.
Marcus, noticing them staring, stops eating and asks, "You guys good?"
Alex immediately answers, “Yeah but the hell is up with your arms?!"
Marcus quickly pulls his sleeves back down before frantically saying, "I'm sorry! I didn't realize what I was doing! Don't tell anyone please!"
"Relax, we aren't going to tell anyone," Elizabeth says, "well besides Ronnie."
"Oh- uh- he already knows," Marcus awkwardly admits.
"Wait what? Since when? And why?" Alex asks.
"It's uh, it's a pretty long story, and it's not that interesting, are you sure you want to hear it?" Marcus admits.
Elizabeth & Alex nod.
"Alright, I'll tell you, but don't get too upset at me since I did warn you that it’s long!" Marcus says.
Elizabeth & Alex nod again. Marcus sighs before he begins to explain to them a tale. A tale that occurred back in middle school. A tale where Marcus would end up at his lowest possible point only for him to experience a miracle. A tale of two best friends.
See You Next Chapter!~