THE HALLWAYS WERE PAINTED ORANGE BY THE SUNSET...
...as I stumbled around after school searching for an after-school club. I don't have a hobby, and because of this, I feel empty. So, joining a club means I'll gain a hobby, right?
Okay, well I'm not that desperate. I'm in search of a club that can satisfy my needs but also being a quiet and small club. I don't want to be involved with a say one-hundred member plus club, that'd get too rowdy.
And, speak of the devil. As I was walking through the hallway, a bulletin board listing all of the open clubs was sitting right in front of me. I inspected the poster with the listings.
1. PC Games, 122 members
2. Anime Club, 89 members
3. Jazz Band, 72 members
4. Anime Club, 67 members
5. Literature Club, 52 members
6. Drama Club, 40 members
7. Coding, 37 members
8. Wood Tech, 34 members
9. Chess Club, 21 members
10. Art Club. 20 members
11. Cупер Cлавянин, 10 members
12. Game Club, 3 members
Yeesh, tough choices. At the very least, I know what to avoid. Normally, clubs on the bottom of the list are low tier and very unappealing. Like, what even is number eleven? Cynep Cnabrhnh? I mean, maybe I could consider Chess. I'm very good at chess so maybe that'd work out.
I look over at the other side of the board where the clubs are advertised. It's mostly very bad Photoshops, but the chess club seemed alright. The Chess Club was advertised as being in room 218, which coincidentally happened to be down the hall.
I started my walk toward the chess club, but as I walked I spotted what looked like long hair disappearing behind a corner. I walked to the corner and checked, there was that short Asian girl from a week prior when I bought that game. I think her name was... Nia? Whatever her name was, she was walking to a very strange and secluded section of the school that nobody goes to. I decided to be nosy and follow her.
The section of the school she was heading was very dark and dirty. In fact, I think the custodian's office was back her; and truth be told, the custodian's office was nasty.
Being a clean freak myself, I absolutely did not like walking through the crypt of the school, but if some shady stuff was happening inside the school, I could be rewarded big time if I report it.
I continued to follow her and she turned another corner. I peeked around the corner and from what I could see, she knocked on the door and stood there. Unfortunately, she turned her head toward me and saw me. She let out a high-pitched shrieked but covered her mouth.
Oh well, she found me. I stepped out from behind the corner and approached her. She seemed to back away with some sort of caution, not that I blame her.
"What're you doing back here?" I asked.
"I should be asking the questions here! Where did you come from and why are you creeping around?" She asked back.
I sighed and put my hand on her shoulder. "Look, I just spotted you going to shady places, so I followed you to see what you were doing."
She pushed my hand away. "What do you think I'm doing? I'm not smoking weed or anything."
"That's something a weed smoker would say," I replied back.
She made a very 'I'm so done' sound and said, "Oh I see, you're one of those creepy people who stalk other students and report them for personal gain."
She saw right through me. "Not exactly, I don't stalk but I do report for personal gain."
"What is wrong with you? Stalker, get away from me." She successfully shunned me and the door to that room opened.
A familiar face greeted both of us. "Oh! Allan I didn't expect to see you here!" It was Bridget, the brunette girl with glasses. "Did you want to join our club?"
"Your club? What club is this?" I asked.
"Oh, the Game Club." She said.
Game Club? Game Club?! The number twelve was ringing in my ears, the lowest tier club to exist in human history, was here in the back of the school.
"Oh no, I was planning on joining the Chess Club." I started to walk away.
Then, glasses tried again. "Um, would you please reconsider? We need at least four members otherwise our club will be disbanded."
I thought about it, the game club, what could that club be? PC Games is out of the question, as that's the most popular club currently. I couldn't think of anything besides board games, which probably explains the low population of the club. However, did I care? No.
"Sorry, I just don't think this club is for me," I said with as much politeness as possible. "But thank you for the offer."
Then, Trevor came out and gave it a shot, "Allan, could you help a guy out? If the club gets disbanded, then I won't have a place to go after school. My parents don't come home from work 'till five."
Again, I considered the possibility of joining. However, the thought of the absent cleanliness is such a turn-off. But, I could be a nice person and helping someone I do know rather than a stranger. Though, I don't know them well enough. My choices were limited to two things: join or leave.
I began to speak, "I'll..."
As soon as I said that, all of their eyes lit up with hope and excitement.
"...consider it, see you later." Thus, I began to walk back to the light and out of the grimy back hallway.
As I reentered the light, I could hear the sound of running footsteps. I checked back behind me and it was Nia, the one who accused me of stalking not even a minute ago.
Out of breath, she said: "Allan, please reconsider! We need you! I'm sorry for calling you a stalker, I was just a little raddled by your sudden appearance." She bowed again, Japanese style. "Please! Join our club!"
Now my mind was really running. I was thinking of all the possible different outcomes. I couldn't think past being a member for a week, which is a major roadblock for my decision-making process. Well, I guess it's time to throw all of that out the window. She did look genuinely sorry, and she was acting desperate, like me.
I took a deep breath and said. "You know what,"
Her eyes perked up and mood rose.
"Just for you, I'll check it out." I finished.
I could tell she silently rejoiced just looking at her eyes. What am I doing? I don't live to make other people happy. I guess that's how that turned out.
"Great! Please allow me to show you around the clubroom!" She grabbed my hand and power-walked back to the clubroom.
She let me inside, and I immediately regretted being the nice guy. The room was filthy, shag carpet from the early 2000s covered the ground. Along with a floral wallpaper that was peeling. On the left side of the room was a lone couch that looked like it had been sitting there for fifty years, and a huge blocky TV with static waves rolling across what looked like a very old video game. On the right side was a wooden round table that also looked like it had been sitting there for just as long as the couch. The room reeked of must and mold, which would be explained by the pipes that are coming out of the walls and going into the floor and ceiling. All of this was dimly lit by not even the standard fluorescent lights, but a circular yellow one that you'd see in someone's house.
All of this was giving me red flags of being completely bad. I felt like the door could close and lock behind me any second and some crazy murderer would pull out his knife and do his business with me. I was about ready to turn around, but those three were blocking the entrance.
"Sorry about the mess, we're such a low tier club we were given the bad end of the stick and ended up with their old guidance counselor's office. We've made it pretty homey in here though." Trevor said.
There were a few personal touches to the room. Like posters and figurines lying on shelves. Which I suppose was a positive, but the negatives far outweighed the positives.
"Yeah, I guess," I say with hesitance. "So, what exactly do you do here?"
"Oh, we play games," Trevor said.
"That's not a full answer," I replied.
"Oh yeah sorry, we play video games," Trevor answered back.
"But, doesn't the PC games club play video games?" I ask in confusion.
Trevor sits down on the couch. "Oh, they play PC games. We play more old school consoles than anything."
"Old school… consoles?" Even more confusion settles in.
"Sigh, you're very difficult to talk to sometimes," Trevor said.
That was a shock; no one's ever said that to me before. As he said that, I felt something. I felt a certain feeling of, sadness? I haven't felt that in years. Why was I feeling that way after her constructive criticism?
"Can you explain that to me? Old school consoles and all that stuff," I asked.
"Eh, we don't have time for that. However, we are going to have a meeting right now, so how about you join us?" Trevor asked.
"Sure, I guess." I walked over to the corner of the room. Trevor got up and grabbed my arm; he forcefully dragged me to the couch. "Uh, what are you doing?"
"Come sit on the couch, no need to stand." I try to resist but his grip was strong. Though I was physically stronger than Trevor, his grip was true. So I gave up and let him pull me.
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