‘Could use more salt...’

Sitting at the dining table, I stuffed my mouth with a plate full of bacon and scrambled eggs.

Naturally, this was a breakfast I made myself since my uncle worked on the weekends as well. 

And since I was the one who cooked, the breakfast couldn't have been better than mediocre.

Once I finished my breakfast, I went back to my room, sat at the desk near my bed, and began to study.

After all, I wanted to get my grades and studying was the best way to do that.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get much studying in before being interrupted.

Buzz!

My phone, which was lying on my bed at the time, buzzed after receiving a message.

‘Did mom text me? Or maybe Nishimoya?’

Unable to hold back my curiosity,I lazily got up from my chair and picked up my phone from the bed.

‘Tristan?’

The message went as followed:

Basement Dweller: — Yo, my parents want me to be friends with a family friend’s daughter. We’re going to the amusement park and I don’t have to talk as much if you come. So let’s meet at ***** at 2:30pm.

I instinctively raised my eyebrow.

‘Really? He couldn’t have made a friend on his own? Ah whatever, it’s not like I had much planned anyway.’

Me: — Kk. You should invite Nishimoya and Aurora too. Nishimoya probably won’t be able to come though cuz of her parents and stuff.

Once Tristan read my message, he replied with a thumbs up emoji.

After seeing he got my message, I checked the time.

10:30 am.

At that moment, I decided I’d get an hour of studying in before getting ready to go out. 

‘Welp, let’s get to work.’

3 hours and 30 minutes later, I found myself walking down the streets of New York.

In the message, Tristan told me the address of an amusement park near the school so it wasn’t that much of a hassle to get there.

I wasn’t wearing anything extraordinary, just a white shirt, an open blue jacket, and tan pants.

I thought I looked decent, but I had no way of knowing other’s opinions.

In hindsight, I probably should’ve worn something more stylish since I’m meeting a new person for the first time.

But I’m an idiot so I didn’t think about that.

Then, I began to hear distant screams and carnival game music.

‘Seems like I’m pretty close.’

As I was nearing the front of the park’s gates when I noticed a figure near it.

‘Oh, she did come after all.’

The person waved to me and I waved back.

Then, when I finally got near enough for a conversation, I greeted her.

“Hey Nishimoya!” I said.

“Hey Elliot!” She replied.

Nishimoya’s expression was filled with excitement. 

She wore a modest blue dress with sunflowers spread over it.

It fit her personality quite well.

“How’d you even get your parents to let you come? You’re usually almost never allowed to meet up with us.” 

When I asked that question, Nishimoya puffed out her chest proudly.

“I told them we’re going to study at the library!” She exclaimed.

“Why are you saying that like it’s a good thing?!” I replied with a frown.

I groaned and covered my face with my hand.

“You really shouldn’t lie to your parents like that…” I lectured.

Nishimoya stopped puffing her chest and leaned her back on the wall the gate was on.

“Yeah, I know.” 

I followed her and leaned next to her.

“What time did you get here?” I asked, looking out at the street in front of us.

Cars sped past, full of people with lives I would never know about.

Struggles that would forever be left unseen.

“1:30. Why?” Nishimoya responded.

“Just curious.”

Then, Nishimoya, who was looking at the cars in the street as well, turned to look at me.

“Now that I think about it, you came early today. Why?” She questioned.

“I always come early,” I replied casually.

“Yeah but on the days I’m able to go out, it’s only been by like 10 minutes or so, not by a whole half an hour.”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“I came early just in case you came. I didn’t want you to be waiting for so long alone.”

“Oh. You didn’t need to do that. I’m fine being on my own,” Nishimoya said before looking back onto the street.

‘Ah, I guess I did something unnecessary again. Damn it…’

For the next half an hour, Nishimoya and I kept talking together. 

I don’t know about how Nishimoya felt, but it was a pleasant time for me.

But eventually, the clock hit 2:30.

“Oh look! I see them coming,” Nishimoya exclaimed, causing me to turn my head.

I saw Tristan, who was in a white shirt and jeans, walking with a person I didn’t expect.

‘Huh? She’s the person he was talking about?!’

The person happened to be someone I met earlier.

The girl in the music room who was named Soriel.

She was wearing a yellow sweater with blue jeans and had a bright smile on her face. The yellow complimented her eyes and hair, which made her pleasing to look at.

‘She’s…pretty.”

“Yo, you guys, this is Soriel. She’s the girl I told you two about.”

Soriel nodded and smiled wider.

“Nice to meet you. I hope we’ll get along wel…oh wow! I didn’t expect to see you Elliot,” Soriel said with a startled expression.

I couldn’t blame her, it didn’t really occur to me that she could've been the person Tristan meant.

“Yeah, me neither. It’s nice to see you again, Soriel.”

Tristan raised his eyebrow and Nishimoya looked shocked.

“You two know each other?” Nishimoya asked curiously.

“Yes, we just met each other yesterday,” Soriel replied.

While Soriel spoke, I noticed someone else approaching from across the street.

‘Oh, she’s finally here. She looks really good…’

Walking up to us a smile, Aurora wore a black crop top and sweatpants which she pulled off really well.

“Hey guys,” she greeted confidently.

“Yo,” I greeted back, the others following soon after.

Then, Soriel introduced herself.

Throughout the introduction, Aurora seemed a bit more respectful than usual.

“Alright, since we’re finished with introductions let’s go already,” Tristan said before moving to the gate where we were supposed to buy the tickets.

We all followed him and tried taking out our money but Tristan stopped us.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Taking out our money? How do you expect us to pay for the park without it?” Aurora retorted.

“But I’m paying for all of you guys,” Tristan replied with a deadpan expression.

At that moment, the faces of Soriel, Nishimoya, and I, turned into ones of pure joy.

But of course, Aurora didn’t really care.

After all, her family was richer than all of ours combined.