NaNoWriMo Project as of 11/4/2016 (The Rhythm of Life)

Chapter One: When The Ball Drops


December 2, 2016 11:24 am
Academy of the Interspectaculars and the Darks––Cafeteria


Ping… Pong… Ping… Pong…


A Paddler and her Stepswitcher friend stood at a ping pong setup in the cafeteria, hitting the ball at each other at a breakneck pace with a satisfying plink each time it bounced upon the deep green table, its surface outlined to match that of a real tennis court. The glass walls of the Academy caused light to shimmer brightly in the building, bringing a bright white shine onto everything inside (although it was shining directly in the players’ eyes, which wasn’t the best), and while it was still twenty minutes until lunch, there was still a decent flow of students passing by to pick up a snack early or just skip class. The Paddler had long, blonde hair that stuck out of the light blue box on her head and extended to twin braids in the back, and a tank top the same colour as her hat, with a yellow skirt that had an orange stripe on the top and bottom. Her darker blue tights were shaded from the light, although her short white boots weren’t, and her golden gloves tightly grasped a ping pong paddle with a brown handle and a red plastic exterior, hitting the hollow ball back towards her friend.


The Stepswitcher had bushy, golden-brown hair with electric blue dyed in a strip of a giant section of bangs that could easily cover his left eye (from the perspective of a person looking at him), but was held back by the pair of pink headphones he wore. His skin was split across the middle, half-dark grey and half-white, and he wore a thin green dress shirt with a cuff that wrapped around his neck like that of a suit, with sweatpants that were a mix between grey and a pale purple. He had a taller, thin structure to him, whereas the girl was only a little shorter and had slightly more bulk to her, although the extra weight was because of the meticulous training she did at least twice a week, causing her to have more muscle than the boy did. As the ball bounced its way across the table, the two decided to break concentration and talk to each other.


“Rina, when’s the finals?” asked the boy, talking in between when he had to swing, like switching to an offbeat. Rina brushed her hair out of her face and hit the ball back at the boy, her bright white skin glowing in the sunlight. “I saw you were playing a game earlier today. How’d that go?”


“Oh, it went awesome! The guy completely bombed in the second half. You should’ve seen his face when he hit the ball into the ref! It was priceless!” Rina laughed, forgetting to hit the ball back and leaning on the table giggling until she realized she’d missed and picked up the ball. “But, umm, yeah, that’s what happened. Finals are after lunch. It’s gonna be so tough beating the guy who won the other semifinal match! I’ve never played against him or even met him, but it’s gonna be a challenge!”


“You still get a stipend and trophy though, don’t you?” The boy leaned against the table tiredly, trying to smile at Rina but almost falling asleep, dropping his paddle.


“I told you what when I got back from the semifinal match, Connor! You must really be tired if you can’t remember that!” Both Rina and Connor laughed a little bit, Connor in embarrassment and Rina in response to Connor's embarrassment. “They're giving me the stipend in a few minutes or something, so just stick around here until I get back.”


“A-Alright then,” he replied while putting the ping pong paddle in his backpack, starting to think about lunch as Rina headed off towards the gymnasium. She walked into the nearby gymnasium, a giant room with polished hardwood floors, white brick walls, and a podium set up for when the tournament was finished and the trophies were handed out. A long table was positioned in the corner with three seats in the corner, covered in a tablecloth and topped with name tags for the three sitting at the table. Space Gramps was fairly short and stocky, with a long black mustache and a yellow full-body jumpsuit covering everything except his face, and while he looked threatening and harsh, he was quite encouraging at heart and even tender at times. The other two judges seemed to be away from their seats at the moment, meaning Rina could talk to her grandfather in peace.


“Hey, Gramps!” she exclaimed happily, hugging Space Gramps tightly. He returned the hug just as much, happy to see his granddaughter. “How have things been with the reffing and organization?”


“Oh, it’s been great, sweetie,” he replied with a warm smile. He always loved seeing his dear Rina, because she was so important to him. She was like his heartbeat; without her, he didn't live. “There hasn't been too much to do today, but we did catch a competitor grab the ball and serve it mid-rally. He thought he was going to get away with it, but Space Sister had him disqualified in no time. Space Brother is just working on organizing the stream now, so he probably won't be back for a while. You might even be able to see him outside.”


“A stream? Haha, he’s always been so good with that stuff!” Rina giggled and grinned widely, pulling away from her grandfather and pulling out her ping pong racket.


“Indeed he has, sweetheart. Look, I've got to get the stipends ready, so when you're done your next match, come back and see me, okay?” Space Gramps pulled out a cheque book and pulled off the top page, starting to fill in the blanks.


“Oh, speaking of stipends, is there any way I could get mine now?” asked Rina.


“Sure thing. Make you put it somewhere safe, alright?” replied Space Gramps, finishing the cheque and placing it in an envelope for his granddaughter.


“Will do! Thanks, Gramps!” exclaimed Rina in gratitude, heading back to the cafeteria and noticing Connor spacing out towards the serving area, where food was being placed out for the students to buy. “Hey, I'm baaaaaack! I got the stipend!” she called, putting her hands on his shoulders and making him blush brightly. Connor was never sure how to react when a female, let alone Rina, made physical contact with him, as he wasn't the best with romantic interactions and love.


“U-Umm, hi!” he squeaked out in a nervous stutter. He kept quiet until Rina removed her hands from him, which allowed him to stop internally panicking and resume his thoughts about what to buy for lunch.


“You’re hungry, aren’t you? You're staring at the food like you do every day after training.”


“Well, yeah, who wouldn't be at this time?” replied Connor, looking at the time and suddenly getting ready to run, as the bell rang and he dashed off. Rina watched and giggled, instead reserving a table for the two and organizing her things. She was never too worried about having to get in line for the cafeteria, as most Paddlers got a better source of nutrients from paddleball than food. It wasn't as effective on the energy side of things, but energy was never an issue for Rina, as the mere thought of table tennis got her raring to go in an instant. Connor soon returned to Rina and took a seat at the table she was at, spreading out his meal and starting to devour the poutine he’d bought.


“Back,” he stated as if it hadn't been obvious. “You're not having anything, Rina?”


“I've got my paddleball racket. That should be enough,” she replied, reclining back and starting to mindlessly bounce the ball off the paddle as she watched Connor nearly pass out trying to eat as quickly as possible.


“Whew, I should stop here…” he gasped, pushing away the empty plates and wiping his mouth with a napkin. He then set aside a cookie he’d bought and handed it to Rina, who was confused about what he was doing. “Here, it’s for you. All they had was gingerbread, but I knew you’d still want one anyways.” Connor smiled, hoping Rina would be just as happy as he was.


“Aww, you didn’t have to do that!” she cried in gratitude, hugging Connor before eating the cookie slowly. She felt at home with the taste, almost as if her mother was tending to her with dessert in bed… Rina dearly wished she could go back to those days, before everything changed. She repeated a ping pong rally to herself in her head and finished eating, getting her mind off the troubling past.


“I-I’m glad you liked it. There’s nothing I wouldn’t go out of my way to help you do,” Connor stated whilst blushing.


“Even murder or robbery?” joked Rina.


“Umm…” Both Connor and Rina burst into laughter, each knowing they would only take a shot like that to them. It was one of the many privileges of having a best friend, amongst trust stronger than concrete and the increased amount of time communicating with said friend. “I’m n-not going to help you do that!”


“Of course not! I just wanted to see how you reacted. You always react so passively and it’s so cute!” she squealed, pulling out her ping pong paddle as the bell rang. “Well, I’ve got to get ready for the finals now. Thanks for the cookie!”


“No problem, Rina. Good luck!” replied Connor, brushing his hair out of his face and flipping his headphones as the bell rang and the room started to go steadily quiet. It wasn’t long until Rina found herself back where she’d been with Connor an hour before, standing at one end of a ping pong table while facing her opponent, someone much more intimidating than Connor. He was much taller than Rina and wore a purple full-body jumpsuit that covered everything but his face, with a fancy black vest and red bowtie on, topped off with black dress pants and white dress shoes.


A Cosmic Paddler, Rina thought to herself, cursing. They’re always so rude and full of themselves. Why am I considered the same species as them?!  The boy’s short, black hair seemed to sparkle with hair gel, and he lowered his eyes in an arrogant manner, passing off the girl as weak and feeble. His spherical head seemed to be coated by his headgear like chocolate, the deep violet latex stretching without a single wrinkle.


“It’s a fluke you made it this far, Butterfingers,” he remarked without hesitation. “Your skill is non-existent, and it’ll only be a matter of… hmm, let’s say fifteen minutes. It’ll only be that long––maybe even less––before you go down.”


“Excuse me! I’m much better than you think and I’ll be the one on top, thank you very much!” Rina snapped back, slamming her fists against the table. The crowd of students watching gasped in surprise, some pulling out their PokéGears and starting to film the two. However, the noise halted when Space Sister blew her whistle in an attempt to start the match, handing the ball to Rina with a sneer that made her feel lowly. As kind as she seemed, Space Sister was awfully discriminatory towards the Starlet Paddlers, and she didn't hide it as well as she probably should have. However, she treated her own people with utmost respect, and mustered up the tolerability to treat the Starlets the same every now and then. Her outfit was virtually identical to that of Rina’s opponent’s, except she didn't wear a full-body jumpsuit or dress pants in favour of a lilac skirt, and she had medium-length orange hair tied into double pigtails. Her head was topped with a deep purple commander’s hat with a white star in the middle, and her hair was segmented into sorts of balls using hair ties. Why she hates me, I'll never know… Rina pondered before the PA system came on to announce the match’s start, much to Space Sister's dismay.


“Good afternoon, Academy!” rang the voice of Mr. Watch, the school’s principal and home economics teacher. Rina didn't bother to remember if he was teaching the Interspectaculars or the Darks. “It is with pleasure that I announce the finals of the Eagleland Table Tennis Regionals! On the left side of the court, please welcome Samuel Enkison, from Leekin, Tenfever!” The crowd roared as Rina huffed in an irritated way that could just have easily been jealousy, although she didn't want to admit it. Samuel, as the principal had called him, was using his time in the spotlight to throw a spare paddle into the crowd, of which many of the females in that group made a mad dash to grab. Rina figured Samuel was some sort of popular figure back in Tenfever—if not, he was just living up his fame.


“And on the right side of the court, give a round of applause to the Academy's very own Rina Ping!!” shouted Mr. Watch enthusiastically into the PA system from the office. This time, the crowd started cheering Rina's name loudly amidst the whoops and hollers, heaving support in heavy lumps towards their star ping pong player. Rina couldn't help but let it get to her head, bowing and yelling her thanks before jumping and pumping her paddle into the air, which got on the nerves of both Samuel and Space Sister. She felt like there was no stopping her from winning; that the Cosmics would bow down to the Starlets after her devastating effect on their table tennis pride.


“Watch out, little girl,” snorted Samuel in a demeaning manner. “Your cockiness is going to be the end of you.”


“Says the Cosmic Paddler!” Rina blurted out, covering her mouth with her hands and instantly refocussing on the match at hand. Another whistle sounded to quiet down the crowd.


“To win, your opponent must hit the ball out of the field three times. Finals, commence!” she commanded, glaring at Rina to serve the ball. Intimidated, she tossed the ball upwards and hit it harder than she would have normally, hitting the ball just barely out of bounds, causing Samuel’s smirk to reappear stronger than it had been before. A whistle blew, and Space Sister added a taller to Rina's side to mark that she had hit the ball out already. Connor, who was standing in the very front as to keep a close eye on her best friend's playing, saw the ball go out and muttered nervously to himself.


Samuel picked up the ball and served this time around, the ball bouncing nice and high. Slow patterns. Just what I needed, thought Rina as she hit the ball back with a fast pattern, throwing off Samuel and causing him to miss. Space Sister sighed and added a tally to his side, very obviously disappointed. The ball bounced under the table and over to Rina's foot, and as she picked it up and served it again, she saw Samuel was plotting something that gave her a chill. The ball bounced back and forth in varying patterns, both competitors focussing strongly on its hollow sounds and continuing a short rally that lasted about two minutes before Rina hit the ball oddly and hit it out of bounds, sending it into Connor. He instantly realized what had happened and made an indescribable noise of worry, taking off his headphones (which was normally unheard of for him) and looking at the ball intently.


Rina can't lose now!  he insisted to himself, his faith wobbling. There must be something wrong with what’s going on!  Samuel picked a spare ball from Space Sister and served it, Rina finally refocussing and hitting it back. Like the last point that had been played out, a short rally ensued between the two teenagers, an intense rivalry tensing between them. As Rina started to rage, she started hitting the ball faster and faster, before Samuel eventually couldn't keep up… but he didn't stop. As the ball bounced past him, he instinctively grabbed it with his free hand, twirled three hundred and sixty degrees, and hit it back much slower, throwing Rina off and causing her to miss, hence costing her the match. Space Sister immediately glared at Samuel as if she were to shush him, adding a tally to Rina's side and announcing Samuel's win.


“Congratulations to Samuel Enkison for coming in first place!!” she exclaimed hastily and excitedly as the crowd roared and girls in the stands rushed over to hug him. Connor's eyes widened in shock of what he had just witnessed. Did Space Sister really let that cheat slide by undetected? The stream was going to have at her throat, and Samuel was going to get caught, no doubt about it. Was she allowing that just to prove that Cosmic Paddlers were better? Either way, it was despicable. Rina stood completely still, surprised. Samuel seemed to figure out what was going on in her head, walking over and staring her down as he put a finger on the tip of her nose.


“Honey, I'm not even the worst of them,” he stated kindly, although the intent of the message was malicious. The girls got even more ecstatic and bombarded him again, and Rina felt anger boiling up. Too much for her to handle in a crowd. She stomped off outside, followed by Connor, who was extremely concerned for her.


“A-Are you okay?” he asked nervously, feeling terrible for her.


“No I'm not!” Rina threw her paddle on the verdant green grass field and fell to her knees crying, the blue sky seeming to dim to reflect the defeatist vibe amongst the two. Connor knew Rina felt horrible about losing so badly—and to cheating, nonetheless. “He cheated, and he’s a freaking show-off, and Space Sister saw him cheat and she did nothing! Tell me what in your right mind makes you think I'm okay!”


“Rina, c-calm down… Please… Things like this are inevitable. He’s going to be punished somehow, whether it be now or later. B-But think of it this way… you have your stipend to the Worlds in Tehniss! You can easily redeem yourself there!” Connor persisted through to Rina the best he could with a comforting tone, who continued sobbing. Losing wasn't something she could handle well to begin with. She was lucky she could get out of the Academy before breaking down.


“L-Look, Connor, I really wanted to win this time…” she bawled, refusing to look up. “You know how much I've been working towards this. To lose like that…” Rina had to pause to finish in between loud crying. “...it's crushing. Not to mention it finished after not even fifteen minutes. You're right, though. I do have Worlds… I'm sorry for exploding on you like that.”


“P-Please, don't worry about it. You might not be the best at keeping a handle on your emotions like this sometimes, but I've never had a problem with it. I'll always be here for you,” smiled Connor, extending a hand to Rina to help her up, who accepted with a tear-stained but wide grin and proceeded to hug him. Connor felt himself going light-headed from having been hugged yet again, the uncertainty of how to handle the situation overwhelming him, but he nonetheless played along to avoid making an awkward fool of himself to his best friend.


“Thanks, Connor! You're the best,” exclaimed Rina while still crying as the bell rang to signal the early dismissal, which was being used to pack up the tournament. She figured it was best to go in and at least talk to her grandpa before she headed with him and Space Brother. As she stepped in, she saw that not only was the cafeteria lobby completely cleared of students, but that the three judges were huddled together, discussing something while Space Gramps held the giant silver trophy that was meant for her. He noticed his granddaughter in the corner of his eye and turned to face her.


“Hey there, sweetheart. How are—” Space Gramps noticed Rina's face had looked like she'd just been crying and felt sorry for her as she tried to hold back more tears. “Aww, it’s okay, honey… We all have bad days like this. Come give me a hug.”


“I can't believe I…” Rina trailed off into tears, silently crying and hugging Space Gramps. One moment ago, she had felt fine, but when she saw her grandfather, she couldn't help but cry again. Connor thought that was because she was afraid she had let down Space Gramps, which he knew wasn’t true. Connor decided to comfort Rina as well, uncomfortably putting his right hand on Rina's left shoulder while kneeling.


“Don't worry about it, sweetheart. You tried your best.” Space Gramps reached into his pocket and pulled out two plane tickets, placing them inside his granddaughter's hand and closing it for her. “One’s for you and one’s for Connor. I've a ticket of my own, so don't worry about how I'll get to Tehniss, alright? Flight is tomorrow at 6:45. Space Brother can get you there; he’ll be coming with you two as your guardian.”


“Gerald, don't be silly! You can't give away a ticket like that!” shouted Space Sister angrily.


“Lorraine, have a heart! The man’s just trying to be nice to his granddaughter! My Arceus!” scolded Space Brother. His thin, short, and messy black hair stuck out in random directions from his dark grey box that looked very similar to the one Rina wore, and his full-body dark grey jumpsuit and sleek red bowtie made him look like a professional tap dancer, although he was anything but. His blue overalls and white striped shirt were worn out and started to come apart, showing he either wasn't well-off or just happened to dress rather dishevelled that day. Pale white skin that looked as if he’d been suffering from a long-term illness, rosy cheeks, and his absurd 7’2” height were telltale signs of his racial status—a Tapper.


“Hmph. It's his choice what to do,” the sister sergeant spat out in response. “He can go waste his money trying to bring everyone and their grandmother along, and I won't care because it's not coming from my pocket.”


“Be rational, Lorraine. We're getting to Tehniss and that's all that matters.” Upon hearing Space Gramps end the conversation, Connor decided to step in, concerned about how to get to the airport with Rina.


“U-Umm, my parents won't exactly allow this…” he stuttered, met with ostracizing stares. They didn't last long, however.


“I believe you three will find a way,” Space Gramps assured him with a wink that Rina instantly knew meant he was expecting them to pull off shenanigans to bring along Connor.


This was going to be one wild ride, however this ended.


Chapter Two: PrimaConnor or whatever c: (Follows Connor)


Connor observed his surroundings as he slipped on his pink studio headphones, noticing every little sound in the distance as they went over his ears. He’d always been musically inclined, as since birth, finding a rhythm and sticking to it near perfectly was natural for him, but as he got older, he started depending more and more on music, to the point where he would have a nervous breakdown if there was silence for more than thirty seconds or so. He sometimes tried to explain to others that there was a reason to this he didn't want to talk about, but they normally never wanted to hear it. Only Rina knew why this was, and was the only one who cared. Even his family couldn’t quite get their heads around Connor’s struggle with having to have sounds on constantly. As he started to walk out, Rina and Space Gramps stopped him, looking to give him some final details about getting ready for the flight––one he wasn’t sure how he would make it to.


“Connor, make sure you pack everything you need tonight,” Space Gramps told him. “A few changes of clothes and basic toiletries should be good for the weekend. After all, you’ll only be there for three days.”


“I’ll come kidnap you with Space Brother at about 4:00 am or something tomorrow morning, so get some sleep!” interrupted Rina. Connor couldn’t help but giggle at her sense of humour. She seemed to like joking about criminal offenses every now and then with him, which didn’t exactly make her family too happy, but he laughed every single time because of how she wasn’t afraid to joke about those things.


“Haha, I-I’m sure you w-will,” Connor laughed with an unexplained stutter, wondering why he kept jittering with his speech before remembering that his parents were waiting for him. “Anyways, I should be heading home, because I'm pretty sure Mom’s waiting out front for me. Talk to you later!” As the bass line of the hardcore dubstep Connor was listening to pounded loudly like a heartbeat, he started striding out towards the parking lot by the front office. Outside the Academy was a grass field, separated by a large area of pavement with yellow lines painted to indicate parking spots and signs planted in the ground near the spots closest to the entrance for handicap parking, which only painfully reminded Connor further that he had the shortest walk to his family's vehicle every day after school. Frost crystallized along the edges of the dried, straw-like grass, melting into dew and soaking into Connor's fancy yet worn sneakers, which annoyed him as his feet would be wet when he got home. In the distance of the empty lot sat a shiny, black Mercedes-Benz GLA, its paint slightly scratched and its windshield clear as day. Inside sat a woman of about forty with medium-length hair the same colour as Connor’s natural hair colour and an average build, wearing a silk blouse and yoga pants that looked to be from a fairly prolific company. Behind her in a wheelchair was Connor’s sister, Becky, who had short hair barely reaching to her shoulders, with a long sweater and sweatpants similar to those of Connor’s, but more purple, and cleaner. As the cold December wind chilled Connor and made him wish he’d worn more than the thin dress shirt he had on, he opened the passenger door and threw both himself and his heavy backpack inside.


“Hey, Connie,” greeted his mom, ruffling Connor’s hair a bit as he blushed from having been called by a nickname. “How was your day?”


“It was okay, Mom,” Connor replied, hoping he didn’t have to mention the ping-pong tournament and how he planned to run off with Rina all the way to Tehniss. He was usually quiet about what happened at school, anyways, because he believed that grades were the only important things his parents needed to know, although he usually ended up cracking to his sister anyways.


“Hi, Connie!” called out Becky rather awkwardly, as if she didn’t know how she’d sound when she said anything or what she was even saying. Connor turned around, noticing her cheerful smile and smiling back at her.


“Hey, Becky,” said Connor, making strange motions with his hands that could’ve only been sign language. Mrs. Stepp turned on the vehicle and cautiously backed out of the parking spot, starting to drive the ten minute path towards her family’s home. It wasn’t very hard to spot, because of its size and wealthy appearance. “How did things go at school today?”


“Not bad,” Becky signed back. “Our teacher told us a story about when he and his son were watching a movie, and he gave us an assignment on where we wanted to explore as a kid, but that’s really all that happened! The rest of it was all boring, and I was alone at lunch again.”


“Aww man, I wish I could’ve had an assignment like that! Sorry to hear about lunch.” Connor hadn’t realized how time had passed as he heard the familiar sound of the garage door opening. Had he really arrived home already? Mrs. Locke-Stepp parked and turned off the car, locking the Wii Wheel with a club and opening the door to get out, wheeling Becky out before Connor got out himself. He took off his shoes lazily and dragged his backpack up the stairs to the living room, dropping it by the coffee table and crashing on the couch, lying down lazily and wrapping a nearby blanket around him. Falling asleep not two minutes later, he found himself being prodded awake by Becky, who signalled to him that dinner was ready. Still groggy from his nap, Connor slowly got up and walked to the table, taking his seat and seeing the chicken and rice upon his plate. The Locke-Stepps had quite an impressive dining room, well reflecting their monetary status. A sleek, black dining table sat close to the left wall with four placemats marking where the family members each sat, decorated with fake flowers in a tall, violet vase. The walls were painted a lush gold, lined with fancy drywall borders, and the small chandelier nearby made everything in the general vicinity sparkle (including Mrs. Locke-Stepp’s caked-on eyeshadow), although the kitchen a mere ten steps away was a mess from having prepared such a large chicken. After watching his father take his seat and his sister wheel into her spot, Connor started to slowly pick at the food in front of him, slowly taking a bite every now and then. Being tired didn’t exactly raise his appetite, nor did the sight of his father sulking. He had come to get used to it, but he still hoped that one day he would come home happy for once.


“Hey, Dad,” muttered Connor between bites. Mr. Locke-Stepp huffed as if he were stressed.


“What do you want?” he snapped. “The factory was a mess today! Damned workers couldn’t make a proper widget in three hours!”


“Calm down,” scolded Mrs. Locke-Stepp, in a tone that implied she had to scold him like she had almost every day. “Connie just wanted to say hello; is that the same as your co-worker asking how to make a proper widget?”


“Yes it is, because it’s people trying to talk to me!” As Mr. Locke-Stepp yelled, Becky turned to Connor and starting signing a message to him with sign language, of which both parents started at in confusion. Neither of them had bothered to even attempt learning the language that allowed them to communicate with their daughter, although it’d been the very first thing Connor set to achieve after that horrible, heart-breaking day… “What’s she even trying to say?!”


“I’m not sure myself, Kevin. Connie, would you be so kind as to translate that for your parents?” asked Mrs. Locke-Stepp with a smile, although neither Connor nor Becky read it as a sincere, caring one. Immediately, Connor took to work on translating, motioning for Becky to repeat what she had tried to say and examining every signal. Thumbs pointing to self, a heart shape, and pointing to Mr. Locke-Stepp––the self-made way to say I love you so that everyone could understand, since it was unlikely others would know sign language. A few more signals were made, Connor identified them, and he repeated it back while making the hand signals Becky had made.


“I love you, Dad,” he started, “but please relax.” Mr. Locke-Stepp gritted his teeth, glaring at Connor and making him feel unwelcome in his own home.


“Shut your mouth, punk,” he grumbled as he stomped away from the table and down to the entrance, putting on his shoes and leaving the house.


“B-But he asked me to,” mumbled a disheartened Connor. “Mom, why’d he leave again? I’m sick of him leaving like this every night.”


“He’s just stressed out, Connie,” replied Mrs. Locke-Stepp. She noticed Becky frowning and starting to silently cry, so she came over next to her and wrapped her arm around her like a hug. “You should go to your room and talk to Rina. She’s probably interested in hearing about how you’ve been today.”


“I-If she’s interested to hear about how Dad left the house again, then sure, she’ll be all for it!” Feeling disheartened and insecure, Connor dashed up the stairs and into his room, closing the door and locking it so that if his parents decided to try talking to him, they couldn’t get in. He wasn’t in the mood to talk to either of them at the moment. Pulling out his tablet from his dresser, he opened his favourite messenger app and found his private messages with Rina under his Favourites bar, clicking the video call button and giving one last check on his hair, making sure it wasn’t looking messy at all. He felt a strange compellence to look decent during this call, even though they’d had video calls after having just gotten out of bed before. It’s got to be because Dad’s got me in a bad mood again, he convinced himself, knowing it was likely the truth. Rina picked up the call, and her smiling face appeared in the window covering most of her screen, representing what her PokéGear’s camera could capture.


“Heya, Connor!” she exclaimed, seeming to clear her desk with a wide grin on her face. “How’ve you been?”


“I-I don’t know. Dad walked out again, like he does every night…” Connor sighed in response. Rina noticed he looked a bit down and felt bad for him. She wasn’t sure what went on inside his home too well, but she knew his dad left often and that he wondered sometimes if there would be a day he left for good.


“Sorry to hear that… but hey, you’ve got to pack! Get all your things together!” Rina lifted up a small backpack by her seat, unzipping it and revealing multiple changes of clothes inside, along with multiple ping pong paddles, a paddleball racket, and a bundle of cash amounting to about $2,000 in Tenfever dollars. “This is all we’ll need. I’ve got money sorted out already, so you just need to worry about getting your clothes and toiletries and all that.” Space Brother walked by in the background––a messy bedroom with walls painted with a deep space pattern, the dresser by the door open and spilling; the bed scattered with messy blankets and flat pillows; a ping pong table in the corner set up with paddles organized strangely tidy compared to the rest of the room––and came up to the screen, annoying Rina a little bit, but in a playful way.


“Hey there, Steppy!” he called out. Connor blushed at the name. Space Brother had always called him Steppy in reference to his last name, Locke-Stepp. In a similar fashion, he gave Becky the nickname Goldilocks, because of her golden-blonde hair and last name, which made her giggle every time. “Gettin’ ready for tomorrow morning, are you now?”


“That’s coming soon, Darrell. I just needed to vent to Rina for a bit,” replied Connor. His mood seemed to be lifting as he discussed more things with his best friend.


“Aww, what happened? Don’t tell me your––” Rina nodded at Space Brother, silently confirming his suspicions of what had happened. He looked back at her and nodded. “That sucks, Steppy. Hopefully he comes back this time.”


“If he comes back within the week I’ll be astounded. He doesn’t even care about us to call. I wonder if he even loves me or the rest of us sometimes.” Connor had snapped, albeit passively, and he shut off his tablet to end the call. Dumping the contents of his school bag out onto the floor––an unusually messy mannerism he had when he was angry at something––and shoving a little of his more casual wardrobe inside, he packed his backpack with the things he would’ve needed for the duration of his stay in Tehniss and zipped it up, noticing the time was 6:32 pm. The sun had long been set, the stars sparkling and shimmering in the pitch-black sky. The moon glowed beautifully over the row of houses along both sides of the roads, making the various colours of each roof show somewhat at that time of night. Snowflakes fell from the sky every now and then, lightly frosting the roads but yet making them very slippery for any drivers on the road. The grass turned white to reflect the season, which was still fall, but felt like winter, and Connor felt a chill brush him lightly. Feeling tired and realizing he needed to get a lot of sleep if he wanted to properly thrive through tomorrow’s extensive travelling, Connor went to brush his teeth and prepare himself for bed, dressing into a tank top and long pajama pants and falling dead asleep in his bed as soon as he fell asleep with soothing music playing through his earbuds. A song for every mood, he liked to think. Except the ones I’ve never felt… like love. What is it like to be in love?


Maybe I’ve already struck gold and I just don’t know it yet.


December 3, 2016 3:51 am
Locke-Stepp Residence


Leaving the window open so that Rina could easily get in, Connor was suddenly awoken by his best friend pounding on the window while balancing on Space Brother’s shoulders. Surprisingly not so tired but hungry after having barely eaten his dinner, he jumped out and saw Rina standing atop her guardian’s shoulders.


“Rina, are you not scared of falling?!” he exclaimed, covering his hands to his mouth soon after realizing he’d shouted a bit loudly for 4:00 am.