Chapter 32 - Cracking Down On The Pencil Black Market (Epilogue)
SUN SHORT #1 - Just Like You
In the cafeteria, Elizabeth is looking for a spot to sit, she goes over to sit next to Alex & Ronnie but they're too focused on a game of arm wrestling, she goes over to X Locke but he's too busy sleeping, & she goes over to Hamster but he's too busy selling his muffins to several people.
As Elizabeth almost gives up on trying to find a place to eat, she looks and notices Cameron Dots sitting all alone at a lunch table. She decides to sit next to him.
"Oh hey, I didn't know we were in the same lunch period," Cameron says.
"Yeah I didn't either," Elizabeth says.
An awkward silence falls between the two as they continue to eat. Eventually, Elizabeth breaks the silence by asking, "So why did you want to join the club to begin with?"
"Oh well, it's a bit embarrassing," Cameron states.
"It can't be as embarrassing as how I joined," Elizabeth retorts.
"Okay fine, I joined because....because I figured it would help me get a backbone."
"Oh...."
"I just sit around doing nothing when anything happens and I can never say no to people, I just want to be able to do something I want to do. You get me?"
"....Yeah, I get what that's like."
Cameron looks over at Elizabeth and smiles. As the two continued to chat away, they became something more than just classmates. They became friends.
SUN SHORT #2 - Reasons Unknown
Tim, Tom, & Tim-Tom are walking out of Starlight High after finishing their time as janitors. Aken Amnestor & Zesti Champion are watching them leave.
"Hey, thanks for the dough, Amnestor, you're the best!" Tim-Tom says as he has the three paychecks for their short time, "If you ever need any odd job done then give us a call."
"Yeah, what he said!" Tim yells.
"Tim, what did we talk about?" Tom asks.
Tim sighs, "Inside voices only, I know..."
Amnestor chuckles before saying, "You boys stay safe out there!"
The Three Ts make their exit and as they do so, Aken Amnestor notices Zesti Champion is a bit concerned.
"Everything alright?" Amnestor asks.
"Those kids are dropouts, right? Aren't they going to just cause trouble?" Zesti asks.
"They might not be the best of kids but they still are good at heart, you know one of them came up to me the other day and you want to know what they asked me?"
"What?"
"If I had any extra homework assignments. Those kids still want to learn."
"Then, why did they even drop out to begin with?" Zesti asks.
Amnestor sighs as he begins to explain, "You and your two friends only became a teacher this school year so it’s fair that you haven’t been told much. To be honest, they were all good kids and they loved to learn, however, they all dropped out on the same day. I was on my honeymoon during that time and I can't get a straight answer out of any of the faculty that were there that day."
"Huh, that's odd." Zesti thinks out loud.
"Yeah," Mr. Amnestor agrees as he glances over to the main office, "Odd indeed."
SUN SHORT #3 - Food > Fights
At the playground located in the city's park, Crunch is swinging on a swing upside down as he does some crunches. As he does them, he looks to see a person in a hood start to approach him.
"Huh? Who the fuck are you?" Crunch asks as he still does some crunches.
The man in the hood has a backpack on him, and sticking out of the backpack is a metal bat.
"Oh I've heard of you, you're that dude who goes around beating up thugs! That's some wicked shit man," Crunch admits as he hops off the swing and stands up.
"You were extorting money out of your fellow classmates," The man began to say as he pulls his hood down revealing himself to be Hunter Huntingson, "consider this payback."
"Oh, you wanna fight me!" Crunch says as a genuine smile grows on his face. "I've been dying to stomp someone to the curb recently, so let's have some fun yeah?"
As the two glare each other down, the two begin to attack when both of their stomachs begin to grumble loudly.
Hunter looks embarrassed.
Crunch looks bewildered.
The two have lost the will to fight as a new desire rages inside their hearts.
That desire being... TO EAT.
_______________
DING!
The door to Burrito Bistro swings open as Mesto greets the guests, “Hi welcome to Burrito Bistr-”
However once he sees Hunter & Crunch standing there, Mesto just asks, “Again?”
“Again,” Hunter admits.
It only takes a few minutes but both Hunter & Crunch are chowing down on a large plate of all-you-can-eat nachos with everything on it. All the while Mesto sighs as he cleans up the crumbs that fall to the floor.
“You need to stop coming in right before we close,” Mesto suggests.
However the two teens pay Mesto no mind as they continue to scarf down the food. Eventually Mesto wakes his way to his amused boss, Cedro Garcia.
“Since when did we sell all-you-can-eat-nachos?” Mesto asks.
“We don’t,” Garcia admits, “But it looks like they needed the food.”
Crunch & Hunter both continue to ravenously devour the nachos.
"Just so you know, I'm kicking your ass when this is over!" Hunter yells.
"Not in the restaurant!" Cedro Garcia yells.
"S-sorry," Hunter replies sheepishly.
"Dude I'm going to go into a food coma after finishing this, so do whatever you want," Crunch admits.
Hunter looks confused but just decides to drop the whole conversation as he continues to eat.
SUN SHORT #4 - Heading Home
With another day at Starlight High coming to an end, Alex is making his way home on his pink tricycle that's meant for little kids. As he tries to enjoy the peaceful ride he gets annoyed by the snickering next to him.
"Can you stop that?" Alex groans, "I'm trying to work out."
Next to him are Ronnie, Marcus, Elizabeth, & Cameron who are all following him. Ronnie & Elizabeth are both laughing while Cameron & Marcus try not to laugh.
"What are you trying to work out for? Little league?" Ronnie jokes.
"I feel like you should be able to ride a bike without training wheels," Elizabeth giggles.
"Shut up! This is the only bike I've gotten!" Alex defensively yells.
"Yeah yeah, just remember that you're gonna be stuck with us for a while though. And there's nothing you can do about it," Elizabeth teases.
Alex sighs as he says under his breath, "I should have never joined this club,"
The place that the group was all walking – or in Alex's case, biking – to was none other than Alex's home. And what awaited the group there would be an experience they'd remember for a long long time.
See You Next Chapter!~