The Mall

"Sure! Anytime you want.

Better than staying at home doing nothing.

See you tonight.

Thanks again and be careful."

(Uhh...

I know I saw you post it earlier, but now my eyes must be messing with me, because I can't find it.

How do we raise Understanding?"

(Hmm... That's a good idea.)

Julia will buy a female degu...

I should call it Gugu, because that was my degu's name when I had it in 2002, but she'll call her Pwipwi.

Robbie heads off to the mall and meets up with his friends there. They're all sitting at a table in the cafe. Lance waves at Robbie and motions for him to come over. "Hey. So we were just talking about that crazy rumor. Did you hear about it?"

"They say that at midnight a mysterious portal appears in front of the school. It goes to another world and when you walk through, you will see your true love. Hahaha, it's crazy stuff, right?"

"Sounds romantic to me. Not like I'm really into that stuff though. Even though it does sound interesting, doesn't it?"

"I'm pretty sure it's just a crazy rumor. My friend tried it out and he said nothing happened. You know Mark on the soccer team, right? He said the whole thing's just crazy."

"Hmm. Another world, huh...?" Mattea seems lost in thought.

"Anyways, even if there was another world or something, we'd all find out about it by now. No way we wouldn't. I mean, if all you have to do is show up at the school at midnight."

"What do you think, Robie?" Avel asks unexpectedly.

(This is where we get to explain a little bit more of the other world. Robbie will officially go to the other world on Thursday though.)

"Sure, I guess we could take a look. How does tomorrow night sound?"

"Wait, seriously? Okay, I guess so. Seems kind of crazy to me though. Maybe we shouldn't."

"Why not? There's nothing wrong with it."

"I dunno. I just have this feeling about it."

"...Mattea? Are you feeling okay?"

"I-It's nothing. We can go if you want. I'm sure nothing will happen..."

"Alright. I was a little worried for a moment there."

Mattea whispers to herself. "Yeah...nothing will happen because they aren't cursed..."

"Hm...do you guys want to go to the different stores?" Avel seems to change the subject and the thick tension dissolves.

"Oh, yeah, there's a new clothing store open, isn't there? We should go check it out and try on all their stuff." Mattea's mood has changed back to cheery.

"The stuff there is way expensive though! I can't afford that junk!"

"You don't buy it. You try it all on and then sneak out of the store!"

"Hahaha, okay, sure. Let's go I guess."

Robbie heads with his friends over to the nearby clothing store. Lance was right. These are expensive clothes. Mattea seems excited to wear them all though. It's almost like a weird costume party. She tries on one of the dresses she finds and spins around. "So? What do you think?"

"Very nice. But can you beat this?" Lance seems to be wearing a suit that makes him look sort of like one of those spies in the old movies.

"Hahaha, you look dumb."

"What do you think?" Avel seems to be wearing some crazy disco clothes.

"Hahaha! What's that?"

"Haha, you crack me up!"

"Come on, join in, Robbie. Try some stuff on. It's fun. Oh, look, I bet this would fit you well." Mattea pulls out some cowboy-like clothes. "Heheh, perfect." She laughs to herself a little.