《Mailboxes and Park Benches ~A Ftm story~》Chapter 6
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Luke sat with Ryan at lunch the next day. And after school they met at the mailbox. The same happened on that Friday. They just walked as the sun lowered in the sky, and sat at the same bench. Sometimes they talked. Sometimes they sat, looking at the waves of color in the sky. Now, at 1:00 on Saturday, Luke sat at a booth at some pizza place. The walls were made to look like bricks and an oven spit with fire. It was busy (obviously, it was a Saturday) and workers in red uniforms dashed around. The door jingled as it opened and Luke looked over to see Ryan walk in. She looked around, spotted him, and sat down on the other side of the booth.
"Hi."
"Hi."
"I already ordered the pizzas. They should be ready soon."
"Nice."
Ryan took a sip of water.
"Ok so this is kind of weird, but, you know pizzas?"
"Yea."
"Well I call them pizzaz. Like if you just replace the s with a z they're now pizzaz!" Luke did jazz hands and Ryan laughed.
"Ha! That's so stupid!"
"I know, right?"
"Alright. One large pizza with mushrooms and olives." Their waiter set down a tray with a large pizza on it in front of them.
"Enjoy." He smiled at them and walked away.
"Yum. Pizzaz..." Ryan took three slices.
After they ate, they went to Hot Topic. Ryan mostly looked at hoodies, and Luke at band shirts. Luke walked over to see Ryan was looking at pins, staring at one in her hand.
"Hey." Ryan dropped the pin back in with the others. Luke caught a glimpse of blue, white, and pink.
"There are some really cool Motionless in White shirts."
"Oh yea I saw those. Look I found this really cool hoodie." Ryan eagerly walked toward the hoodies, seeming to want to get away from the pins. Luke glanced at them for a second, and then followed.
Luke and Ryan held bowls of rolled up ice cream.
"This day has been awesome."
"I know right?" Luke smiled at Ryan as she took a bite of some fruity flavored ice cream. He had gotten chocolate, himself.
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"So where do you want to go next?" Luke looked at his watch.
"It's 4:00 now. So we could go to a movie or something."
"Yea that sounds fun. There's a theatre at this mall, right?"
"Yea. Want to go see what's playing?" Luke suggested and Ryan nodded. They walked out of the food court and down to the theatre. They both stared up at the sign displaying all the movies. Luke's eyes caught on "Call me by your name." He thought he saw Ryan looking at the same one but neither of them said anything.
"Do you like horror movies?" Ryan asked.
Luke looked at her.
The whole theatre gasped. Ryan and Luke sat in the dark theatre room, only lit by the glow of the giant tv, displaying "A Quiet Place." People were saying it was the scariest movie yet. Ryan munched on pop corn, gripping a huge bowl of it, her eyes fixed on the screen. Luke tried not to let the bag of MnMs he was gripping crinkle. He was generally unimpressed by most horror movies these days. They weren't very good anymore, or scary at that. This was disappointing, considering how much Luke loved horror movies. As for Ryan, she looked completely content. Not scared at all, but satisfied. She leaned back in her chair, hugging the bowl of pop corn. Neither Luke or Ryan gasped with the rest of the audience.
"That was really good." Luke chirped as they walked out of the theatre, groups of people talking around them. Ryan continued to eat pop corn crumbs and Luke threw the empty bag of MnMs in a nearby trashcan.
"Yea. I was a bit skeptical but it was definitely as good as everyone said it was."
"Totally. We need more movies like THAT these days. Although... it wasn't as..."
"Scary?"
"Yes!"
"Yea everyone was saying this was the scariest movie ever! It was definitely as amazing as everyone said. Some high quality stuff. But not as scary."
"Yea. Good but not very scary. Still scary just not the worst." Luke agreed. They continued to ramble on about the movie, talking about certain scenes, the characters, and any subject that popped up. Luke looked at his watch.
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"Well it's 5:50 now. Is there anywhere else you want to go?" Ryan looked around, thinking.
"Not really. I'm a bit tired. Do you want to just come back to my place?"
"Sure. Would your parents be ok with that?"
"Oh yea I can introduce you."
"Ok. Sure, yea. Let's do it." They didn't rush as they strode back to her house. The mall wasn't to far from her house but it was far enough away to give them plenty of time to take in some fresh air. Soon they got to their neighborhood. Instead of turning right like Luke usually did to get to his house, they turned left. They walked for a bit longer, and soon arrived at a two story house. Ryan walked over to a short tree, reached up to one of the branches, and pulled down a key.
"This is our spare key. Now you know where it is in case you ever want to break in." She smiled and unlocked the door. When you first walked in there was a room to the left with chairs, and small tables, not a living room but a spot to relax. To the right was a set of stairs, leading up into the dark. Deeper into the house Luke could see a huge living room and what looked like a kitchen right next to that.
"Sophia, are you home?" Luke noticed Ryan flinch.
"Mom, dad, I want you to meet someone." She called back, sinking deeper into her hoodie. A lady with long brown hair and green eyes and a man with short blonde hair and brown eyes walked into the room. Her face was stern but kind, wrinkles here and there and his face was simple and kind.
"Mom, Dad, this is my friend, Luke. Luke, this is my mom and dad."
"Nice to meet you, Luke." She shook his hand, looking him up and down.
"Nice to meet you to, Ms.... uh..."
"Just call me Joan." She nodded at Luke.
"Ok."
"Nice to meet you, sir." Her dad shook his hand , looking at him kindly. However he could see a kind of warning in his eyes.
"Ok, bye." Ryan turned her back and quickly ran up the stairs. Luke followed, a bit surprised. At the top she turned a corner to the left and flicked a switch. The darkness turned into a small hallway leading down the left side. They walked to the very end of the hallway where Ryan opened a door to a small room. The walls were just tan, but a plethora of posters made up for it. Luke looked around. There were Mcr posters, Motionless in White posters, a few TØP posters, one Suicide Silence poster, and many more. The walls were also filled with art that Ryan (Luke assumed) drew. There was a bed in the corner; it had black sheets and some purple blankets. A dresser stood on the wall opposite that of which the bed stood against. There was a wooden desk at the foot of the bed stacked with papers, figures, and a bunch of random stuff. The walls were lined with tons of things like books, comics, manga, stuffed animals, etc. A few clothes were sitting lazily on a black carpet.
"Sorry about the mess." Ryan mumbled and kicked a pair of black skinny jeans to one wall.
"It's fine. My room's always a mess. Not as cool as this, though. Nice" he said, pointing to the posters hanging on the walls. Ryan sat on her bed.
"Damn. I'm exhausted."
"Yea. Hey Ryan, why did your mom... why did she call you Sophia?" Ryan seemed to tense, her jaw clenching.
"Oh... um. I know someone named Sophia. She must've thought I was her when I came home. Don't worry about it. Do you like comics?" Ryan answered, picking up an old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic. She was trying to change the subject. Luke was concerned. This whole thing with the bullies, her quietness, and now her mom thinking she was a Sophia? He didn't know what it was all about but whatever this was, Luke was going to know and he was going to make sure Ryan was ok.
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Rise
Su Xue, a woman in her mid 20s, is struggling both in paying rent and finding her path in life. Her latest stint has her trying to become a popular League of Legends streamer, though to poor results. One day, she is interrupted in the middle of a livestream by a surprise visit from her landlady. She is informed that she will be having a new roommate. The landlady’s nephew, Lin Feng, a 18 year old boy who has just transferred over to Shanghai for his last year of high school.Though initially opposed to it, Su Xue reluctantly agrees to the arrangement. She learns that the two share a common interest—League of Legends—and that he’s really amazing at the game. Lin Feng also reveals to her he wishes to become the best professional League of Legends player in the world.The next day. Lin Feng attends his first day of school as a transfer student at High School 13. He meets Ouyang and Yang Fan, and the trio find a common passion in League of Legends. Lin Feng is then introduced to Ren Rou, the president of the esports club with a fiery personality, and Tang Bingyao, a quiet bookworm with a love for money and a surprising talent for the game.A little about Lin Feng’s past is revealed. He was a once pro player, the youngest in history and a contender for the best player in the world. Until the finals of the Season 1 World Championship. There, he lost to his arch-rival, an equally brilliant Korean youth. That was the peak of his career, and also the turning point in his life. He stepped down from his team and disappeared from competitive play altogether. Now, after a four year long hiatus, he aims to make a comebackOver the next couple of weeks, Lin Feng learns about the upcoming Shanghai 16 School Tournament, and that his school’s esports club had performed especially poorly the previous year. He agrees to coach the club’s team and help them win the first place trophy this year. And so, he starts the members of the club out on an intense training bootcamp.Meanwhile, the Season 5 League of Legends World Championship is taking place at around the same time. Tian Tian, one of Lin Feng’s former teammates and best friend, is on one of the Chinese teams playing at Worlds. After a poor showing, he is on the verge of a mental breakdown. Lin Feng witnesses everything in a viewing party with the esports club members and becomes worried.On the day of the Shanghai 16 School tournament, Lin Feng reunites with Tian Tian on the phone. He tells Tian Tian he’s going to return to the professional scene, that he’s making a new team and plans to invite him. But Tian Tian has to vow not to give up at Worlds and keep winning. Tian Tian agrees, and Lin Feng promises he’ll fight alongside him. Lin Feng then heads into his match with renewed resolve, to climb from the bottom all the way back to the top, and overcome the rival that defeated him so many years ago.
8 1136Phoenix's Requiem
Painfully shy and conflict-averse, Yun Ruoyan is a scion to a noble house only in name, a puppet embroiled in political machinations beyond her ken. At the tender age of eighteen, poisoned and at death’s door, she finds herself thrown out into the streets. Her relatives have all been executed, betrayed by her dear husband and her cousin. With her dying breath, she curses her own weakness and swears revenge.When Yun Ruoyan awakens once more, she is thirteen, transported five years into the past by the will of the heavens. Her death-defying experience has changed her: no longer is she the malleable creature she once was. But more questions await at every corner—what is the truth behind the birthmark that disfigures her appearance? What are the circumstances surrounding her mother’s mysterious death?Will the phoenix rise from the ashes, or will she fall once more in thrall to fate?
8 646Poison Physician Consort
Follow Bai Luochu on a journey back to the peak as she reincarnates into the body of an orphaned daughter of the former great general of the Cloud Water Nation.With the Three Great Immortal Sects in front of her, her mortal enemies who caused her death, how would she rise to the top again?With her astounding medical skills and ability to create heaven defying poison, Bai Luochu heals the crippled meridians of her new body and attracts the attention of all three princes of the Cloud Water Nation!
8 1749Rebirth of a Fashionista: This Life Is Soo Last Season
Cinderella went from rags to riches, but when you are already at the top, fate is more than happy to kick you down. A car accident kicks off Sheng Jiaoyang's reverse Cinderella story by trapping her soul in the body of a poor girl, leaving her to succumb to fate and wait for her Prince Charming to come to her rescue -- obviously not!Like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, Sheng Jiaoyang forges her own way back up to the upper echelons of society, clearing obstacles, taking revenges, and bagging her handsome and rich childhood friend on the way.If you are tired of reading about poor damsel in distress waiting for a man to rescue her, and wants a female lead that can carry herself to the top, Rebirth of A Fashionista is the novel for you!
8 274The Attack of the Wastrel
Her rebirth gave her a second chance at life. She was back with a vengeance and wanted to make those that had harmed her pay. But to those that helped her, she wanted to repay them. Her evil stepmother? She would slowly pull out her claws, one by one. Her evil stepsister? She would crush her pride. She thought that by getting her revenge for her past life, she would be happy in this life. However, she never would have thought that danger would chance upon her time and time again. The hatred from her clan and whether their bloodline would continue to exist, lay solely on her shoulders. Luckily, on this thorny path, someone had always been protecting her. "Third Prince, have you ever regretted being with me?" That person laughed lightly and peered at her with a loving yet weary look, "As long as I am together with you, I have no regrets."
8 1461Demoness's Art of Vengeance
Jun Xiaomo, notoriously known as “Lady Demoness”, finds herself chained and bound in a dungeon. Her hard-earned cultivation has been completely crippled, and she has no means of escape. Qin Shanshan, a lady she used to called her “close friend”, mocks Jun Xiaomo, revealing that Jun Xiaomo had been used by the people around her. Even her lover, Qin Lingyu was one of the masterminds scheming against her. Jun Xiaomo watches her life flash before her eyes and realizes that she had indeed blindly placed her trust in people. Her naivety had led to her current predicament. Jun Xiaomo wanted to end it all. However, she is determined to deliver a swan song. Over the hundreds of days tormented in that very dungeon, Jun Xiaomo had painstakingly painted a complicated formation array with her own blood. With a determined look, Jun Xiaomo burns her life force to activate the array. Her sole intent? To bring with her as many schemers to the gates of hell as she could. The bright red light from thearray intensified, and the end was nigh.…or was it? Jun Xiaomo opens her eyes and finds herself alive again; time had rewound right back to when she was sixteen years of age, albeit only at the eighth level of Qi Cultivation. Armed with the knowledge and memories of her previous lifetime, Jun Xiaomo is determined to learn from her mistakes and bring retribution to those who so deserve…
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