They all huddled at their table, their large orders of french fries, burgers, and coke have occupied the surface. All of them were teenage boys with most fidgeting on their phones, nervously glancing at John with bitten lips and nudges on the other’s sides.

Only Luis was nonchalant and continued to eat John’s fries despite buying his own. 

His addition into the group chat shocked him, more so to the greeting his nephew pushed his friends to perform. John, in return, formally introduced himself and before any lackluster conversation could occur, managed to set up a meeting on the weekend to discuss an issue the boys had yet to address with him. 

Although, John did put any topics concerning the tournament on hold.  

Nevertheless, he felt a headache begin to throb as the boys were clueless with where they’ll be staying for the duration of the tournament. 

“As you have already known, I’m John and I’m Luis’s uncle,” John starts before waiting for either of the boys to follow suit. 

Unfortunately, he couldn’t tell who was who, not with their profile pictures of fictional characters and a lack of uploaded photos in their Facebook account. Aside from tagged pictures, even then, the feature was mishandled by their friends. 

“I’m Anthony,” a boy with thick-rimmed glasses and curly hair continues. 

Without much of a confusion, John concludes that the tallest out of the group with a side-bang that’s covering one eye was Paul Joseph; a boy that had insisted on being called Jo as a nickname. 

“Jo,” Jo ends the roll-call with a munch of his burger but such distraction couldn’t persuade both him and Anthony to look away from John. 

“So, about living arrangements. I already assumed that it’s already been booked or you guys have planned to stay at a relative’s place for the duration of the tournament,” John questions and watches as anxiety weighs in everyone’s expression. Luis, too, has stopped eating and the three begin to glance at each other for answers. 

Nudges didn’t work and so were the harsh whispers and subtle glares Luis and his friends were exchanging with each other. 

“Well?” John looks at his nephew for an answer and Luis sighs, defeated. The others could share a smile from victory but John didn’t let the two get away from any sort of responsibility. 

They planned this outing together and they will all be held accountable.

“James, the one who backed out because of family issues, was supposed to look for cheap places for us to stay but it seems he didn’t… even before he decided to focus on his family,” Luis reasons. 

Anthony interjects, “he also volunteered too and told us not to worry and so we didn’t worry until now when he left and admitted that he didn’t try in looking for a place that’s going to accommodate us.” 

Jo rolls his eyes and sighs. “I doubt the family thing. If there’s something going on, his mom’s not the type to keep it in the family. I checked her Facebook and there’s no post hinting of drama recently. He probably didn’t tell his family and chickened out when the tournament date was getting nearer - typical.” 

Nobody denied Jo’s words nor argued about it either. Luis and Anthony just look defeated while Jo seems to simmer with annoyance to deal with the predicament. 

“I understand how angry you all are but how come none of you weren’t asking for updates, beyonds James’s words I mean,” John points out and nobody takes the blame. He can’t entirely get angry at them, teenagers they may be but it’s expected of their parents to shoulder the burden and stress in planning holidays and events. 

It’s a miracle their parents agreed to all of this. 

“Sorry, uncle,” Luis apologizes and tugs John’s sleeve with the tips of his fingers. Anthony parrots Luis’s words and Jo had a hard time muttering it but the tallest of the boys still expresses his sincerity. 

John sighs and slouches, the weight on his shoulders feels a lot heavier than before and his headache intensified. He blames his sleepless nights combined with the increased amount of screentime with Colorful Island these days - also in researching more of Fighting Chicken and its members. 

Unfortunately, crowdstalker was the only name that John can only remember..  

“Okay, so the tournament is a two-day duration. We still have a few weeks left but that alone shouldn’t assure us that there’s going to be a hotel of any kind that’s not fully booked for the event,” John states the possibilities and watches as Luis and his friend wilted by the bad news. 

“Try to find hotels and hostels that are a little farther from the tournament, especially those within your budgets. I’m sure your parents had already given you an allowance for the event, right?” He looks around and prods Anthony first for an answer. 

“Uh, ma will only give it to me the day before we leave,” the teen provided immediately. 

“I have a debit card,” Jo adds in confidence and shows off his wallet with the debit card inside. 

So, it only leaves his nephew - the not-so little boy whose pouty mouth and sad eyes were similar to his own. 

“Ma made me do chores to earn the money but I was kinda hoping you could pitch, like, in for other things.” Luis truly forces his bottom lip out to exaggerate his pout which didn’t go unnoticed by his peers that snorted and laughed at his expression. 

John just stared at the attempt and wondered if there was even a struggle to agree. There wasn’t and nor was there even the feeling of financial burden for not only supporting his nephew but also to his friends throughout their time. 

It’s expected, John thought, accepting his role in all of this. 

The pressure digs deeper from the copied stares of Anthony and Jo.

“Okay,” John agrees.