Ogden High School (June 11, 2066-September 6, 2066)

[Hollywood Heidi]

Ogden High School

Large high school, named in honor of Ogden Morrow, with hundreds of students ranging from grades nine through twelve, located in Columbus, Ohio.

[Hollywood Heidi]

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Friday, June 11th, 2066


Last day of Emmett, Journey, and Ray's Sophomore year

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[Hollywood Heidi]

Journey arrived at school 20 minutes early to mingle with friends before classes, as had become a custom long ago. Mostly it was her bestie, Emmett, that she waited for and who garnered most of her attention, but she happily chattered away with anyone and everyone within her vicinity. Her naturally warm and open nature did tend to make people migrate toward her, so she was never wanting for company.

Part of her warm and open nature was that she was a physical being, always giving hugs, casually wrapping an arm around someone by her, or looping her arm through the arm of whoever she happened to be walking with. In return, many of her friends and acquaintances felt comfortable doing the same toward her. It was purely platonic but still, she avoided doing such things with boys who happened to currently be dating a girl simply out of respect for that girl. There was also the rare occasion of a person who wasn't comfortable with physical contact and Journey was pretty good at reading that off a person and knowing when to keep a respectful distance.

She chatted away with a small group of people, holding onto a card she'd gotten for Emmett and itching for the chance to give it to him, anticipating the joy she'd see on his face when he found the surprise gift inside. It made her extra energetic in her usual giddy manner.

Journey was going on and on about one of her favorite shows, another as-per-usual for her, when she found a strong arm around her shoulder reeling her into a side hug.

"Ladies," the Junior boy greeted with his flirty smile before glancing down at Journey. "What's Journey talking your ear about this time? Music? A movie? Some show?" The giggling girls nodded at the last one.

"Hey Collin," Journey greeted confidently unlike the giggling girls who shyly smiled at the rising star on the football team. Even with his arm still casually draped around her shoulders, she wasn't reduced to blushes or having any difficulty finding speech. She casually wrapped her arm around his waist as she answered his question. "I was telling them about Firefly. Have you watched that show?"

"Ah yes, I've seen it. You know, I've been told I look like the Captain on that show," he said, feigning overexaggerated pride by sticking his chin in the air.

Journey looked up at his handsome face, eyes slightly narrowed in scrutiny. She could see it a little, but she'd tease him anyway. "Because you wear tight pants?" she asked, a reference to a popular line in the show. He quickly looked down at her, eyes narrowed in mock offense. Journey laughed and reached up her free hand to gently squeeze his chin. "Or because you're both ruggedly handsome?"

This brought a smile out of him. "Technically, you're right on both counts, but only when I'm out on the field," he joked, referencing the tight pants of the football uniforms. "Well, I'll give Journey back to ya ladies, but seriously, good show, you should check it out."

He waved his goodbye and Journey waved back. She looked back to the girls, eye her in awe. "What?"

"How do you do that?" one of them asked. With Journey's questioning look, she elaborated. "I mean, he's, like, a star football player, he's sooo cute, and practically all the girls swoon over him and go out of their way trying to get his attention... But he just," she gestured in a flabbergasted way, "goes right up to you and flirts and stuff..."

Journey shrugged and grinned. "Under all that muscle and those handsome features, he's just a person, just like all of us. Most people just wanna be treated like a normal person. So, that's what I do." She mulled it over and tried to offer more advice on something that just came naturally to her. "It seems like most people try to gain other people's attention and work on finding ways to get other people to go to them. But if you wanna talk to someone, why not be the one to just... go over and talk to them?"

Easy peasy in her mind, but Journey wasn't like most people who had insecurities and fears of rejection. If someone didn't want to talk to her, then she just shrugged it off and moved on. At the very least, people would chat back with you for a bit. Journey did another glance around for Emmett, her eyes spotting Ray and she was reminded that there was one person who hadn't much chatted back with her and seemed to altogether prefer to not be around her. It was a little tricky sometimes, seeing as he was good friends with her bestie.

Journey finally spotted Emmett entering the campus and quickly turned back to the people she'd been chatting with that seemed to be mulling over her advice. "Ah! There's my bestie. See you guys later!"


Sprinting toward him with a grin, Journey called out his name and almost tackled him with an enthusiastic hug. She quickly released him and handed over the card. "Open it! Open it! Open it!" she said, hopping excitedly from one foot to the other.

They'd so badly wanted to go to tomorrow's special screening of Raider's of the Lost Ark's 85th Anniversary at the Spielberg Theatre, but tickets had been sold out. Her parents had surprised her with an end-of-year present of three VIP tickets to the event, which Journey had kept one of and had packaged the other two right up in a graduation card to her bestie.

[Ariel]

The morning sun beat down wildly on the paved path that Emmett walked along, leading him up to the entrance of the campus. Emmett wasn't sure what it was exactly, whether it was the air that was extra fresh and dewy that put an extra spring into his step or if it was excitement over the last day of school before the summer break. Either way, he was stoked to be there as he held both straps of his backpack close to his shoulders, bobbing his way through the entrance. Emmett's grin grew wide at the sight of Journey running excitedly up to him, and as per their morning ritual he happily took off his backpack and threw it down on the ground beside him, enveloping her in a friendly hug.

"Open it! Open it! Open it!"

Emmett had felt Journey pull away and presented him with a card. Sharing in her gleeful state, Emmett received the card and opened it to reveal a graduation card, "Aw this is sweet!" Emmett was about to give her premature gratitude, as the card and their friendship was always enough for him. He opened the card and caught two tickets in his hands before they could reach the ground.

"No way!! Is this-but how?! They were sold out!" Emmett's eyes grew wide as he read the tickets were for the Raider's of the Lost Ark's 85th Anniversary show that they had avidly tried to acquire tickets to, "This is the best! You're the best, bestie!" Emmett was shaking with excitement as he wrapped his arms around Journey for another hug," Oh right! I got you something too. I know we'll still be seeing each other but what's grad without a little gift exchange?" Emmett reached for his backpack and rummaged around until he found a card marked 'To: Bestie' on it and a medium sized wrapped square box. Once Journey would open the card, she would find herself staring at the most retro pop culture-eque card she might have ever laid eyes on, "Made it myself! Wanted to make sure I got all of your faves on there. Oh and here you go. I felt bad that we couldn't get tickets to the show so I thought this gift would cheer you up. And now that we're going, well, you might get good use out of it!" Emmett chuckled as he watched Journey unwrap the box that contained a replica of Indiana Jones's hat. 

[Anduin]

Ray was one of these students who often were late for class.
But sometimes there were days when he arrived at school early.
Today was one of these few and far between days.

He didn't slept well last night. He felt like he had been awake the whole night and hadn't get a wink of sleep.
Yesterday he finally managed to get enough money for a very special ticket - Raider's of the Lost Ark's 85th Anniversary - but when he went out to buy it he had to realize that the tickets were already sold out. Crap!
Maybe he should have guess that but hope is the last thing to die.
Well, finally it died yesterday.

And as if this wasn't enough his girlfriend - Sorry, EX-girlfriend! - didn't understand his disappointment.
She also blamed him for always thinking of another girl instead of her.
(Okay, to be fair: In that case she was right. Ray really often thought about another girl.)
It had been already midnight when Susan broke up with him and left him alone.
His Dad still had been at work. At the moment he often had to do night shifts.

Ray hadn't been eager for meeting his Dad coming home when he himself had to get ready for school.
Usually they used to have a small chit-chat then. (One of the reasons why Ray sometimes was late for school.)
But this morning he didn't want to talk with his father.

Actually he didn't want to talk to anybody.
So he sat down on a bench, put his ear-phones on and listened to some music.
Loud and aggressive music, of course, to fit his inner annoyed mood.

Suddenly he felt like someone was looking at him. Not obstrusive or flouting. It was just a feel.
When he looked up he spotted Journey.
Journey! The girl he could never reach out for in his mind.
His eyes followed her with great interest but he didn't want her or somebody else to notice that he was watching her. So he grabbed into his bag and picked a comic book out to pretend that he was reading while he still tried to observe Journey.
(It was one of his old Spiderman-comic books. He always took some of them with him because sometimes he really admired to read a good old comic on paper. Certainly he kept this old pieces safety in wrappers so that time or anything else couldn't harm them that much.)

Now Journey left her friends and sprinted towards someone else: Emmett.
Ray knew that she and his buddy are best friends. This fact sometimes made it a bit difficult to avoid her.
But he thought it would be better not to get to know her too well. He was sure his crush on her would become bigger and bigger if they would also spent time with each other.
Sometimes he caught himself thinking that Emmett might have a crush on her, too.
But then he reminded himself to keep cool and hoped that he was wrong.
At least Emmett and Journey seemed to swap gifts. Sadly he couldn't see what it was. But Journey acted very excited, as well as Emmett.

[Hollywood Heidi]

"Aw this is sweet!"

Journey giddily held back giggling that would reveal that there was more and waited not so patiently.  Thankfully, it didn't take him long to open the card and barely catch the tickets that started to fall like two big pieces of unexpected confetti.


"No way!! Is this-but how?! They were sold out!"  "This is the best! You're the best, bestie!"

The giddy giggling finally breaking free at Emmett's happy, enthusiastic thank-you hug, Journey hopped in place excitedly after he released her.  She finally calmed enough to answer.  "A magician never reveals her secrets," she said mischievously.  Before she could explain further, Emmett surprised her with a gift of his own.


"Oh right! I got you something too. I know we'll still be seeing each other but what's grad without a little gift exchange?"

"You got me something, too?" she said excitedly.  It wasn't usual that they exchanged gifts outside of holidays and birthdays, not unless it was the random occasion one saw something they knew the other would love, so it was a happy surprised that they both happened upon that situation at the same time and could call it an impromptu graduation present.

Beaming a smile as Emmett reached into his backpack, Journey clapped her hands a couple times before making an exaggerated 'gimme' motion with her hands.


"Made it myself! Wanted to make sure I got all of your faves on there.

He handed her a card that said 'To: Bestie' and Journey excitedly opened it.  She gasped in awe over the awesomeness of it, a little follow-up gasp for each of the things she loved portrayed on the card catching her eye, giggle at a couple of the funny ones.  "This is the best card I've ever seen," she said in a reverent whisper as she held the card to her heart, pulling it away again to stare down at with a renewed smile.  "Seriously, it's a work of art.  I'm framing this thing and keeping it for forever," she said in complete seriousness.


Oh and here you go. I felt bad that we couldn't get tickets to the show so I thought this gift would cheer you up. And now that we're going, well, you might get good use out of it!"

"There's more?" she said with wide-eyed excitement as she took the box from him, intrigued by his claim that it would be of good use for the event, she dropped the paper into the trash can beside them as she tore it from the box, then with one last glance at Emmett's beaming face, she looked down and lifted the lid, blinking with surprise.  It took her a moment to process and finally gasp in excitement.  Besties who spent tons of time together tended to sound and act similar, so it was not a surprise that her response was similar to the one he's had.  "No!  Way!  How did you find this?!  Oh my gosh, you're the bestest bestie that ever bested!  I've been looking for forever!  It's the last and only thing I needed for my Indy cosplay and I couldn't find it anywhere!  I mean, you can't even call it an Indy cosplay without the hat!  Oh my gosh, I could seriously kiss you right now!"  And she couldn't stop herself from doing just that, placing a noise 'muah!' kiss on his cheek before excitedly hugging him with her free arm just as he'd done after receiving her present.

Journey pulled back and grabbed the hat out of the box, letting the box rest on the top of the trash can as she placed the hat on her head, taking on a serious look as she posed with fists resting on her hips.  "How's it set?  Pretty cunning, ain't it?" she asked, quoting Firefly, which seemed to have become the show reference of the day.

[Ariel]

"No! Way! How did you find this?! Oh my gosh, you're the bestest bestie that ever bested! I've been looking for forever! It's the last and only thing I needed for my Indy cosplay and I couldn't find it anywhere! I mean, you can't even call it an Indy cosplay without the hat! Oh my gosh, I could seriously kiss you right now!"

Emmett beamed with joy over her expression of excitement over the gift he had gotten her, gladly receiving the audible peck on the cheek. They knew each other so well, that it was an easy game for both of them to know the ways to each other's hearts. And Emmett thought that the gift of giving was seriously one of the best love languages of all, especially amongst friends you appreciate all year round. He watched in glee as Journey began to unbox her new favourite hat to give it a whirl. just as Emmett suspected, it was a perfect fit, and totally Journey's colour too!


"How's it set? Pretty cunning, ain't it?"

Emmett chuckled, digging her reference, "Shiny!" He replied back with a Firefly reference of his own, inwardly reminiscing over the countless of hours they spent watching and rewatching that show. It was times like those he was going to miss when they went off to college. But he was excited for all of the new adventures and memories that they were about to embark on, "Journey's aimin' to misbehave!" Emmett joked as he dragged out the fun reference battle for a moment more, "Glad you like it! Looks fantastic on you, I seriously can't wait to see the entire ensemble on together! I gotta figure out what I'm going to wear now!" Emmett exclaimed in his newfound conundrum, but did not seem overly stressed about it.

[Hollywood Heidi]

"Shiny!" "Journey's aimin' to misbehave!"

Journey happily giggled, giddy that her bestie was always able to easily build on all her geek references. "You bet your gorram ass, I am," she said in mock seriousness with a tip of the brim of her awesome new hat.


"Glad you like it! Looks fantastic on you, I seriously can't wait to see the entire ensemble on together!

"And I can't wait to!" she said.


I gotta figure out what I'm going to wear now!"

"Definitely don't go as the boulder. It'll be impossible getting you in and out of the theatre chair," she joked unhelpfully. "You can go as Indy also, if you want. There'll be a massive amount of Indys. I mean, he's, by far, the best character in the movie."

Journey heard a whistle and turned to see one of her many guy friends grinning over from his group chat, having observed her modeling the hat. "Lookin' good, Journey! You got a whip to go with that?" he called out with a flirty wink, she, along with his group, set to giggling with sing-song "ooooo" sounds thrown in.

"You know I do!" she called back with a flirty wink of her own. He dramatically put a hand over his heart as he dreamily looked heavenward. The giggling turned to laughing and the sing-song "ooooo's" got louder. Just another day in the life of hormonal teenagers.


Journey turned back to Emmett with a glowing grin. Flirting was such fun, even if there wasn't real intent behind it. "Boys..." she said, rolling her eyes with the glowing grin still in place. Delicately taking the hat off and starting to put it back away as if it were a priceless treasure, which, to her, it was, she recalled something she forgot to tell him about the tickets. "Oh! I held on to my ticket. Those two are yours. Your choice who goes with us. Anybody you want!"

[Ariel]

"Definitely don't go as the boulder. It'll be impossible getting you in and out of the theatre chair,"  "You can go as Indy also, if you want. There'll be a massive amount of Indys. I mean, he's, by far, the best character in the movie."


Emmett smiled, "You can have the floor as Indy! I'm sure I'll come up with something. I'm good at cosplays on a whim!" He exclaimed quite proudly. He had expertise in putting costumes together through his many trips to conventions. So he was confident in the fact that he could whip up something super special for their fun night out.

"Lookin' good, Journey! You got a whip to go with that?" 


Emmett turned his head at the boys nearby conversing with Journey in a flirtatious way. She responded back to them in lighthearted fun, so if the attention didn't bother her then he was happy to see his friend her usual outgoing and bubbly self having some fun. He stood there, smiling and chuckling along as the conversions commenced.


"Oh! I held on to my ticket. Those two are yours. Your choice who goes with us. Anybody you want!"

"Oh neato!!" Emmett stared down at his tickets again excitedly. The more the merrier in his books! "What about Ray? I'm sure he'd love to join us!" Emmett asked Journey, although she already said that he could bring anyone he wanted, he still felt it was polite to receive his bestie's approval.

[Anduin]

It was obvious that both, Journey and Emmett, were very excited about their friend's gift. Ray felt a bit jealous when he watched these two being that close and familiar. He and Emmett were very good friends, too. But somewhere in his mind he wishes to be also that close to Journey. He'd give his right arm to see her acting like that in front of him when he would offer her a present or something like that.

Journey's enthusiasm suddenly increased to an even higher level when she got another present from Emmett. This time Ray could take a look on it. It was an Indie Jones hat!
Journey put in on and started with her natural outgoing acting. It was fun to watch her playing around with that gift. But it also remembered him that he had failed to go to the great event tomorrow. His own Indie hat was forced to get covered in dust at home...

Suddenly someone else seemed to get Journeys attention because she now was talking and acting in another one's direction. Ray still got his earphones on and couldn't hear what they were saying. But meanwhile he had put his comic book aside and watched the scenery intensely.

"Hah, looks like you're not the only one who is planning to go out tomorrow", one of his classmates yelled into his ear while he grabbed one of the phones out of it.
Ray hadn't noticed someone coming close to him. He inwardly hoped that his classmate didn't realize that he was watching Journey in quite a spell.
"Shut up, Cole!", he gave back a bit angrily.
"Whoa, cool down, man. Wanna talk about, well, whatever?"
It was obvious that Ray's mood waasn't good today.
"Nope!"
"If you think... See you in class - just in case that you'll notice the school bell while listening to that noise", Cole answered with a grin before he went on and left Ray alone again.

His buddy's words had made Ray thoughtful. Were Emmet and Journey really planning to got out to the event? Ray couldn't imagine that this was their plan. He was sure Emmett would have told him.

[Hollywood Heidi]

"What about Ray? I'm sure he'd love to join us!"

"Oh," she said, momentarily taken by surprise. She'd managed to hold on to her smile despite the mention of the one person at school who didn't seem to like her. Journey didn't care much what people thought of her, always being outgoing and enthusiastic, always playing around and trying to make people laugh tended to make her voice and actions stand out. But not caring what people thought and straight up not being liked to the point that a person made an effort to avoid her were kind of different. Even though she didn't care what people thought about her, she still worried about what she might have done to offend the person. Journey liked being liked. She liked being a friend to all she encountered. Had she ever done something to upset Ray? Or did he just find her annoying? It was his problem if it was the latter, but she did worry if it was the former.

Normally, she tried not to think on it. It was only times when Emmett mentioned Ray or she saw Emmett chatting with Ray when she'd tried to seek him out that brought it to her mind. Those were the only moments Journey didn't go running up to Emmett to join him. Ray didn't like her and though she was curious to know why, she kept her distance out of respect for his feelings toward her. Hopefully she hadn't done anything to offend him, but also, bubbly and chatty was not everyone's cup of tea. Journey would just kept herself busy talking to anyone and everyone else around until Emmett eventually found his way back to his bestie's side.


"Um, sure, that's fine with me," she said honestly with an air of an obvious 'but' to it. Journey fidgeted in a rare moment of discomfort, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I'm not sure he'll want to go once you mention to him that I'll also be there. But it's totally okay," she reassured, momentarily resting a hand on his arm. "I can hang with other people once he gets there. I'm sure there'll be at least one other person there I already know."

Journey put her beaming smile back on, hoping to reassure Emmett and not dissuade him from inviting who he wanted to invite or dampen his enthusiasm over going to the Indy anniversary. She should have known he'd want to invite Ray. He was the person Emmett hung out with the most, next to her. Surely Emmett had noticed over all this time that his friend didn't care for her. Maybe he'd temporarily forgotten in his enthusiasm as she'd temporarily not considered who, besides herself, Emmett would most want to be there with him.

[Ariel]

"Um, sure, that's fine with me," "I'm not sure he'll want to go once you mention to him that I'll also be there. But it's totally okay," "I can hang with other people once he gets there. I'm sure there'll be at least one other person there I already know."

Emmett was confused by her cause of hesitation, or why she would think that Ray wouldn't like that Journey would be there. He couldn't think of any scenarios or reasons why, other than Ray being a standoffish kind of guy. He wasn't sure why Ray could be like that at times. One thing was for certain, both of his friends were good people. He was sure that if they were in the same room together and got to know one another that they'd be hitting it off in no time, "Ray can be an acquired taste, but I promise once he gets to know you, you'll both be hitting it off like long lost besties!" Emmett declared, unsure if it made Journey feel anymore comfortable. Though he felt as if he had a good sense of character and if Ray was ever a certain way with Journey it couldn't have been malicious, "Besides, you're the coolest cat I know. He'd be a dummy to not like you." Emmett poked Journey playfully in the ribcage. If his two besties could be besties with each other, it would be the happiest day in Emmett's books.

[Anduin]

Sometimes Ray wished things wouldn't be that comlicated.
Well, sometimes he wasn't sure if he was the one who really make it that complicated...
He sighed while the Death-Metal-singer in his headphones sreamed his lungs out.

Suddenly he got an odd feeling and something like a shivering. It was that kind of feeling when you sensed other people talking about you.
He looked at Emmett and Journey again, wittingly or unwittingly.
Were they talking about him? But why should they?
Ray wagged his head to clear his thoughts.
Maybe no one was talking about him.
And if it did, why should he care?!

The music stopped abrupt.
Terrific! He had forget to recharge the battery during the night because of all the f@cking shit yesterday!

Again his look turned to the others. There were still some minutes left until they had to go to classes. He could now went over to Emmett - and Journey - or continue to be the strange outsider who didn't want to talk to anyone this morning...
At last he decided to stand up and head over to his buddy and the girl of his dreams.

"Hey," he said and tried to be as cool as possible. Then he directly focused Journey: "Suits you very well!"

[Hollywood Heidi]

"Ray can be an acquired taste, but I promise once he gets to know you, you'll both be hitting it off like long lost besties!"

"Oh, I have no problem with him at all," she quickly interjected, wide-eyed so that Emmett wouldn't get that impression or worse, that any notion of that kind would get to Ray to give him even more of a problem with her.


"Besides, you're the coolest cat I know. He'd be a dummy to not like you."

"Aww, thanks!" she said before starting to giggle in slight discomfort. Journey shook her head and wondered how Emmett had never picked up on the fact that Ray had always found an excuse to take off whenever she approached to the point where she'd learned to keep her distance when he was hanging out with Emmett so that she didn't monopolize his time and make him have even a bigger problem with her. "Well, then I guess he's a dum--"


"Hey," "Suits you very well!"

Ray's voice suddenly and very unexpectantly behind her startled the voice right out of her and thankfully cut her short. Horrified, her eyes widened as she felt the color drain from her face. She thanked the heavens that he hadn't overheard the last part of their conversation. Her expression went from startled to flabbergasted at his compliment, the color coming back into her cheeks in the form of a blush with those intense brown eyes focused on her so intently. "Oh, um, thanks," she said with a wobbly smile, nervously fidgeting with the hat in her hands as she babbled at a fast pace, completely thrown and suddenly having no idea what to make of him. "Emmett just gave it to me. End-of-school-year present sorta kinda thing. I've been looking for one for forever but just couldn't find it anywhere and thought I'd never find one then boom, I suddenly have one. Emmett was the one who finally found it. Well, duh," she playfully smacked her forehead and rolled her eyes, "of course Emmett was the one who found it, I mean, how could he have given it to me if he hadn't been the one to find it?"

Journey's watch went off with the five-minutes-til-class reminder, effectively shutting her up. She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of it, losing her grip on the hat, but Ray caught it before it could be dirtied or have the chance to have its perfect shape marred by an impact with the ground. She smacked the top of her watch, turning off the alarm before taking the hat Ray held out to her with a "Thanks," on a nervous laugh.

"Well, I should go put this safely in my locker before class," she said, starting to back away to escape the horrific scene she was making. "See you guys later. Oh, Emmett wanted to ask you something," she added so that Emmett wouldn't feel any qualms about inviting Ray on her behalf.

Just as she thought she might be making an escape looking semi-normal, she quickly turned and walked right smack into another student.


"Whoa, slow down, tiger," came an amused voice.

"Sorry, Frank," Journey quickly apologized.


"Hey, walk into me any time you'd like, Journey," came his flirtatious reply with a wink, but Journey was too horrified to respond in kind as she usually did, laughing it off nervously instead as she continued making her escape.


Heading quickly to the lockers, her eyes were still wide with horror as the whole thing kept replaying in her mind. "Good lord, what the hell is wrong with me?" she said aloud to herself, checking to make sure her hat wasn't damaged in the collision. Thankfully, she'd been holding it beside her instead of in front of her.



***Journey exits***

[Ariel]

"Well, I should go put this safely in my locker before class,"  "See you guys later. Oh, Emmett wanted to ask you something," 

Ray had suddenly come from nowhere, but it was a happenstance that made Emmett's life easier as now he didn't have to go out and find Ray to invite him to the movie. Journey had left swiftly, seeming uncomfortable with Ray's sudden appearance into the conversation. He was so oblivious and wondered what had ever even happened between these two. Though, Journey said she clearly had no problem with Ray, so extending the invitation wouldn't be a problem. 

"Later, tater! Ah yes! Ray," Emmett started as Journey had taken off, now fully facing Ray, "Raider's of the Lost Ark's 85th Anniversary at the Spielberg Theatre! You, me and Journey! Tomorrow night, you down? Journey scored some tickets and gave me an extra one to invite anyone I wanted! What do you say, bud?" Emmett exclaimed excitedly, just hoping Ray would say yes. I mean, why wouldn't he?

[Anduin]

"Oh, um, thanks,"
Wow, that sweet face!
All of a sudden Susan and their breakup last night were forgotten.
THIS girl was the one he was really longing for.
But there were some complex reason why he had never tried to tell her his feelings. He usually used to keep the distance between them - what in fact sometimes could be very tricky because of Journeys bestie Emmett who also was one of Rays best buddies.
Damn, why did it have to be so complicated?!

"Emmett just gave it to me. End-of-school-year present sorta kinda thing. I've been looking for one for forever but just couldn't find it anywhere and thought I'd never find one then boom,...", Journey startet to bubble a volley of words. "...given it to me if he hadn't been the one to find it?"
To be honest ray didn't listen to every word she had said. But he liked the way she kept on talking and talking and beeing that cute by doing so.
Suddenly her watch gave an alert. She seemed to be so startled that she lost the grip of her hat. But Rays reflexes were as good as most of the times and he managed to keep it save from falling into the dust.
"Thanks,"
Again he was confronted with her cuteness.
Maybe walking over to her and Emmett wasn't a good idea at all.
"See you guys later. Oh, Emmett wanted to ask you something,"
And off she went.
"Um, bye", Ray answered although she might not hear it anymore.

"Later, tater! Ah yes! Ray," Emmett raised his voice and prevented Ray from gaze after Journey.
"Raider's of the Lost Ark's 85th Anniversary at the Spielberg Theatre! You, me and Journey! Tomorrow night, you down? Journey scored some tickets and gave me an extra one to invite anyone I wanted! What do you say, bud?"
It took him some seconds to really recognize what his friend had told him. But suddenly his eyes grew wide.
"No kiddin'? I mean..." He wasn't able to speak in complete sentences for a moment. That was a big surprise.
In the end hope dies at last.
"Yes, of course am I in, pal!"
Again he made a pause to recompose himself.
"You know what? I bust my chops trying to get tickets to surprise you - but yesterday when I finally got the chance to buy some I was told that they were sold out. And last but not least Susan broke up with me. So I had a real bad day and night - but you, my friend, are saving my day!"
He gave Emmett a friendly poke into his side.
"Doc, you're my hero - seriously!"

[Ariel]

"Yes, of course am I in, pal!" "You know what? I bust my chops trying to get tickets to surprise you - but yesterday when I finally got the chance to buy some I was told that they were sold out. So I had a real bad day and night - but you, my friend, are saving my day!" "Doc, you're my hero - seriously!"

"Aw shucks," Emmett blushed as he returned the playful poke by giving Ray's shoulder a little light punch, "All thanks to Journey! I'm glad to have such thoughtful friends," Emmett shared his overflowing wealth of appreciation with Ray as he lead Ray in a silent que of walking down the path towards the school entrance, "Speaking of thoughtfulness, I gotta check in with you Ray," Emmett didn't mean to become a downer in their upbeat moment, but he was aware that his friend wasn't going through the greatest of times, "Are you doing okay? Like, really okay? I know you really liked Susan, I'm sorry things didn't work out bud." Emmett tried to offer his friend some consolidation even if he didn't ask for it. Emmett felt that as a friend, it was his duty to check in with his friends and offer any support where necessary.

[Anduin]

"All thanks to Journey! I'm glad to have such thoughtful friends,"
"Okay, thanks to her", Ray replied by repeating Emmetts words.
He was sure that tomorrow would become a blast. But he wasn't sure if it will be just because of the event itself or because he will be able to watch Journey being thrilled to bits all the time. He liked her naturally way of behavior. It was a lot different from many other girls.
And it would fit so much better to his own interests than, for example, Susan's behavior...

"Speaking of thoughtfulness, I gotta check in with you Ray,"
Suddenly his friend jolted him out of his daydreams.
But Emmett was right. It was time to check in.
And he always had been a bit emphatic. "Are you doing okay? Like, really okay? I know you really liked Susan, I'm sorry things didn't work out bud."
Ray sighed shortly but then he made a dapper wave of the hand like he wanted to throw away that thoughts.
"You know what? I'll get over her. Like I got over my last girlfriends."
They stopped because they had arrived the doors. Ray opened it by leaning against it with his shoulder while he still focused his eyes on his friend.
"Maybe somewhere in the galaxy there is Mrs. Right... but until that day will come I've to get along with all the pretty others!"
And there were in fact some others who often made sheep's eyes at him. At the very same moment when he and Emmett entered the building a group of three girls at their age looked at them, giggled and one of them went beet-red. Ray looked back at them and gave them a smirk.
"Well, to be fair," he turned back to Emmett, "I'm not that easy. Call me a geek or a nerd. Not every girl can handle with guys like us, pal."

[Ariel]

"Maybe somewhere in the galaxy there is Mrs. Right... but until that day will come I've to get along with all the pretty others!"


Emmett nodded in agreement, patting Ray on the back, "That's a great attitude, my guy! You're so right, lots of damsels out their waiting for their knight in shining armor, you'll find your princess someday," Emmett assured his friend, even though his outlook on the situation already seemed fairly positive. Emmett himself hadn't really thought much about dating between school, his hobbies and helping his dad around at the business. But he figured when the time was right and when the right person came along, he would know.

"Well, to be fair," "I'm not that easy. Call me a geek or a nerd. Not every girl can handle with guys like us, pal."

Emmett shrugged off the self criticism Ray was giving himself, waving it off, "Naw, don't be so hard on yourself man. Keep living your truth and the right girl will come along. Just you wait and see," Emmett confirmed, confident that Ray would someday find the girl of his dreams. How could he not? Ray was a stud with all the bells and whistles, in both looks and personality. Emmett, although wasn't particularly too focused on dating, sometimes wished what it would be like for all the ladies to fancy you like they did with Ray.

[Anduin]

"That's a great attitude, my guy! You're so right, lots of damsels out their waiting for their knight in shining armor, you'll find your princess someday,"
It always was edifying to talk with Emmett. His positive attitude often rubbed off on others.
"Naw, don't be so hard on yourself man. Keep living your truth and the right girl will come along. Just you wait and see,"
Now Ray actually had to smile.
"Doc, you're great! As longs as I'm surrounded by friends like you I'm a lucky man - with or without a girl at my side", he said and comradely put his hand on Emmett's shoulder.
"But don't be too hard to yourself, pal. Your words applies to you, too."
Suddenly he had a big grin on his face and a waggish glint in the eyes. "You know what?! If I'd go for men I'd claim you to be mine all at once."
Now he had to laugh. Some other students watched over to them but Ray didn't care. Finally this day gotten better.

[Ariel]

"You know what?! If I'd go for men I'd claim you to be mine all at once."

"Oh Ray, you're such a jokester!" Emmett threw his head back into a hearty chuckle as the two boys walked closer and closer to the school doors. He took what Ray said to heart and knew that the same advice he had given his friend applied to him as well. Well, a new day at school was about to begin and Emmett couldn't stop thinking about the outing to the cinema. It truly gave him something bright and wonderful to look forward to through all the tests and school work, after all.

****

[Hollywood Heidi]

---

---

Monday, September 6th, 2066


First day of Emmett, Journey, and Ray's Junior year

---

---

[Anduin]

Vacation was over, another school year began. The first day of their Junior year. As usual vacation flew by.

Ray often had tought about Journey and their day with Emmett at the Spielberg Theatre. What a great day! They've had a lot of fun.
After that day he had thought about talking to Journey in private time and time again.
Resisting her charme had been even harder when directly confronted with it. She was such a lovely and kind person!
But Ray was afraid that his father wouldn't see that as soon as he realizes who she was.
He still remembered his angry reaction when he had red an article about Wade Watts and his great doings.
Or when he had found out that Ray had created an OASIS account.
So it was better not to get too close to Journey.
No matter how hard he wished to do so.


Finally Ray arrived the schoolyard.
He was a bit early especially by his standards.
So he decided to wait for Emmett. He needed his friends sunny disposition because his day didn't start that well.

[Hollywood Heidi]

Journey loved the first day of a new school year. It was a chance to meet so many new people, and helping ease that deer-in-headlights look from them was not only a great ice breaker, but also a rewarding feeling. She was like a kid in a candy store.

A few were transfers, but most of them were just starting their first year. Starting high school was nerve wracking in and of itself. This campus, so huge and so populated, was daunting. Kids from lots of smaller junior high schools all migrated into this large high school. Newbies were easy to spot, with their phones held up in front of their faces, eyes going from studying the campus map on it to trying to match what was around them. People were more accustomed to finding their way around a virtual world these days.

"Thank you, so much!" a sweet, shy new ninth grader said to Journey as she pointed out the building where her schedule said her first class would be.

"Sure, any time! You ever see me around, feel free to ask me anything you'd like, or just come on over and say 'hi'!"

"Okay, I'll do that," the girl said, grinning happily now. "Bye, Journey!"

"See ya later, Beth!" Journey waved after her as the girl went to check out her first classroom, no doubt hoping to find some familiar faces from her junior high school in a class others her age would be in.

Watching the wide-eyed stiffness relax from the Freshman girl had Journey still grinning big from the warm and fuzzy feeling of being the one to have done that for her. She looked around her now, excited for the next new person to get to know and put at ease.


Spotting a guy holding his phone up, slowly angling with it from left to right, Journey made her way over, a happy skip to her step.

"Hi there! Need some help finding your way?" Only seeing the back of him, she was judging he was a transfer rather than a Freshman based off his height and fuller build.

Still studying the map on his phone, Joe spoke distractedly as he started to turn. "Yah, I was looking for--" he broke off when pulled his eyes from his phone to see the very familiar face that had been in his thoughts and daydreams ever since they'd met. "Indy?" he called her readily, the name being what he'd had to put to the face since he hadn't gotten her name.

Journey looked just as surprised. She beamed a smile at the nickname. "Well, you found her!" she said on a giddy laugh. "Oh my gosh, hi, Damsel!" she said, unable to stop herself from enveloping him in a hug.

Joe laughed, that happy, giddy feeling he'd had in her company when they'd met right back as if it had never left. The warmth of her presence was suddenly wrapped around him in a physical sense, and Joe quickly melted into the hug, wrapping his arms around her and reveling in the feeling of holding her. "Let's not make that nickname stick," he said on a chuckle.

Joe grudgingly released her from the hug. "We never formally met. I'm Joe," she said, holding out a hand whilst feigning being overly formal.

Journey grinned, finding amusement in the backstep from hug to handshaking. "Well, I'm pleased to officially meet you, Joe. I'm Journey," she said, shaking the offered hand.

"Journey?" he repeated, making a show of assessing the name. "I like it." Having replayed their first meeting over and over again, he easily recalled something she'd said to him and the twinkle in her eye as she'd said now had so much more meaning. "'Don't stop believing'," he said, with a snap then point. "All this time, I had an obvious hint to your name!"

"We got so caught up in geeking out that we totally spaced on exchanging names before we went our..." she paused for dramatic, comedic effect, "Separate Ways," she said, leaning toward him to nudge him with her elbow.

Joe laughed at her exaggeration. "I see what you did there."

"Oh!" she said suddenly turning serious. "I want you to meet someone." She grabbed his hand and started to excitedly pull him along to the spot she and Emmett had planned to meet before classes. "I never saw you again that night, so he probably thinks I made you up," she joked with a quick look back before focusing ahead to avoid crashing into any of the hundreds of students.

Joe wrapped his fingers around hers, enjoying the feel of her hand in his. That was, until she mentioned a 'he'. Somewhere down the line, he'd started to push aside the fact she had a boyfriend, only thinking about the time when it was just the two of them, before the crowds had arrived. Perhaps even hoping, very selfishly, that during the summer, she and the guy had broken up. And now he felt guilty again for how he'd looked at her once again, how he'd enjoyed holding her in that embrace and the feel of her hand in his...

"Oh... alright." He tried to sound excited but wanted to disappear again, avoid looking into the eyes of her boyfriend, worried that the guilt and the obvious feelings he had for Journey might show in his eyes and on his face.


Not seeing Emmett at their spot yet and way too excited to patiently stand still and wait, Journey excitedly continued toward the entrance, thinking to catch him on his way in. And she was right. "Emmett!" she called as soon as she spotted him. "That's him," Journey said over her shoulder to Joe.

As soon as they reached each other, Journey released Joe's hand to pull Emmett into a big hug. "I missed you! It's been soooo long," she exaggerated as they'd hung out practically every single day in person or in the OASIS for years. "This is Damsel! I mean, Joe!" she said on a laugh. "Joe, this is Emmett."

Journey was so excited for her best friend to finally be meeting the guy who'd occupied so much of her thoughts the entire summer. She beamed back and forth between the two.

Wanting to avoid Emmett seeing the feelings he had for his girlfriend, Joe concentrated on not letting his eyes go to Journey. "Uh, hey, nice to meet you," Joe said with a friendly smile, holding out a fist for a fist bump.

Another wandering, overwhelmed soul caught the corner of Journey's eye and she couldn't help herself. "You two get to know each other. I'll be right back."

Joe watched her happily skip toward what looked like a Freshman, ready to help another damsel in need. A grin started to touch his lips before he could catch himself, and he suddenly realized he'd let his eyes linger on her for too long. He cleared his throat uncomfortably, putting on an apologetic expression. "She's amazing. You're a lucky guy." He spoke honestly, addressing what Emmett might have caught in Joe's lingering look, yet with a serious expression that said he respected their relationship and would never step out of line.

[Ariel]

"Yeah, thanks mom!" Emmett exclaimed as he as trying to jump out of the family SUV. Anxious to get back to his friends, and into the new classes of the year. The first day back to school was always so nerve wracking, and yet he knew that he would find some sort of solace once he touched base with his friends. But that was not without an involuntary hug and kiss goodbye from his mother.

"You didn't think you'd escape without a hug goodbye, did you son? This is your last year in high school! We have to make everything count!"

"Yeah, you're right as always mom," Emmett surrendered himself as he made his way down the SUV towards the drivers side where his mother swung the door wide open and greeted him with a hug and a kiss on the head.

"Make this year your best."

"Yes mom," Emmett gave her a wide smile before the door to the car shut once more, and his mother drove off amongst the school drop off mass.

He laundered down the sidewalk of the school, weaving through kids he knew and kids that were obviously new to the school this semester. Being a senior, it felt like a regular day back at the whole school thing. Until he heard his name echoing in the nearby distance.

"Emmett!" "That's him,"

It was his best friend Journey, and some guy? He nodded with a wave of hello as he approached them, immediately enveloped into a bestie hug that he was well familiar with.

"I missed you! It's been soooo long," "This is Damsel! I mean, Joe!" "Joe, this is Emmett."



"Uh, hey, nice to meet you,"

"Yeah, how do you do, sir damsel-I mean Joe," Emmett spitted out, caught off guard by the encounter.


"You two get to know each other. I'll be right back."


Emmett looked in Journey's direction with pleading eyes of 'don't go and leave me with this dude!' but low and behold, she already had disappeared. He looked from Journey to Joe with wavering confidence and a nervous chuckle that could be sensed from miles away. Emmett loved people, but he felt entirely introverted in this circumstance.


"She's amazing. You're a lucky guy."

"She's a keeper, that's for sure," Emmett said, before beating himself up inwardly. How stupid - was that the right thing to say? Who even is this guy? And how long have him and Journey have been hanging out together? Where's Ray?

[Hollywood Heidi]

Pointing out directions to a Freshman, Journey glanced over to catch Emmett's look of deer in headlights sent her way. She mouthed a 'sorry' with a cringe, then mouthed excitedly, 'That's him!' as she pointed to Joe. Her meeting of Damsel had kept her aflutter the entire summer. It had taken all her willpower to not talk incessantly about him. Dudes generally weren't into the kind of girl talk that revolved around mooning and sighing over a guy, so she let most of that out with female friends. Still, as her bestie, Journey did bring him up to Emmett several times during the summer.

The Freshman started to ask her another question. Journey held up a finger, promising to be back to Emmett in a sec, then set her attention back to putting this Freshman at ease.


"She's a keeper, that's for sure,"

Joe's heart sank at what sounded like a confirmation that Emmett and Journey were an item. Even still, just like Journey, Joe was outgoing and liked to put people at ease, despite the fact he now felt a bit bummed out himself. Emmett appeared to be an introvert. In this digital age, introverts were quite common. Shared interests and bringing up things someone was passionate about were usually a good icebreaker.

Joe put on a friendly grin, hiding any evidence of an aching heart, and tried to put Emmett more at ease. "Journey totally lit up when she talked about you, so I was sorry I didn't get a chance to meet you at the Indy event. My timer to drop-rope went off and I had to get to work," he explained. It was one of the reasons so it was easily told without giving away that there was a secondary reason. "But I did catch a glimpse of you and her other friend. Your costume was awesome! OC, right?" His compliment sounded genuine because it absolutely was.

[Ariel]

"Journey totally lit up when she talked about you, so I was sorry I didn't get a chance to meet you at the Indy event. My timer to drop-rope went off and I had to get to work," "But I did catch a glimpse of you and her other friend. Your costume was awesome! OC, right?"

Emmett stared blankly at Joe before making the sudden connection. The dude had peaked his interest, seeming to enjoy the cosplay arts like a true nerd would. Obviously Emmett never put it passed Journey to pick the right kind of guys, and Joe seemed like he was truly trying his best, "Yeah!," Emmett exclaimed, extending an exposed fist in Joe's direction for a bump of appreciation, "It's just the fun in all of it, ya know? Dressing up, meeting others who are fans and getting to experience the moment together. You're an Indie fan yourself?" Emmett prodded, not knowing much about the guy but willing to learn a thing or two for Journey.

[Hollywood Heidi]

Joe met the fist bump, grinning happily now at seeing Emmett more at ease. "Heck ya!" he said enthusiastically to all of the above. "It was such a hit in its day that it's always so surprising to me that there's such a lack of adventure movies. I feel like I've never been able to fully quench my thirst for the genre because of it. Your OC cosplay was so put together, which means there's gotta be a whole background story there."

Journey had rejoined, grinning at overhearing the last part of Joe's comment. "There is! He was telling me snippets of Dr. Abbott Jr.'s history--that's his OC character's name--and you know that feeling when they release trailers for a movie, then clips, and you just get more and more hyped until you're getting totally antsy pants to see it?" At Joe's chuckled understanding, she continued. "Well, I told Emmett that he just had to put me out of my misery and write some Dr. Abbott Jr. fanfic."

Joe looked in wide eyed anticipation from Journey to Emmett, then back to Journey. "And did he? Did you?" he asked, looking back to Emmett again, showing that hunger for good adventure stories in his enthusiasm.

Journey's enthusiasm had her piping up excitedly to answer. "He did!" she said proudly, throwing an arm around Emmett in a quick side hug in show of her appreciation that he'd taken the time to write them. "And they're really good."

Journey's joy and enthusiasm were just so infectious. Not that Joe needed any help finding enthusiasm. Joe's personality was almost identical to Journey's. Emmett was obviously comfortable around Journey's outgoing personality because he knew her, but Joe was still relatively a stranger. He did his best to reign it in a bit, speaking with calm, genuine interest rather than the lively enthusiasm bubbling inside at the thought of some good adventure fanfic. "Dude, I'd love to read them. Are they up on the OASIS somewhere?"

[Anduin]

While Ray was sitting down at a bench his eyes spotted Journey.
He watched her for a while. As always she tried her best to help others or lighten their day up by giving them a friendly smile.
But then there was a boy who made no move to leave her side. Ray didn't know who he was. He also was sure that he hadn't seen that guy in Journey's company before.
'Not your matter!', he reminded himself inwardly.
He had made his decision to avoid her for his father's sake - but that didn't mean he could stop his feelings for her or becoming jealous in situations like now.

He forced his eyes to look away.
Luckily he caught sight of a familiar car. So he watched Emmett being chauffeured to school by his mom. He had to grin when he saw that his friend's mum claimed her goodbye-hug.
"Oh, Emmet, you lucky one", he mumbled. It always felt like a pleasure to see how much Emmett's mother cared about her son.
Ray tried to imagine how he would have react to an act lice that if his mother would still be alive...
But, to be honest, the answer was that he couldn't imagine.
He also was raised with love until the day his mother died. But since then he tried to be strong and independant. There were just a few people who also knew his softer side.
Emmett was one of them.
Well, Journey not. He never told her about his mothers dead.

Ray shook his head. It wasn't the time for thoughts like that.
Just when he wanted to stay up and walk over to his friend he noticed that someone else seemed to have exactly the same idea. Journey approached Emmett - and she was still acompanied by this stranger. Suddenly Ray felt a bit uncomfortable.
Maybe it was better to just wait a bit. Perhaps that guy will went away in a few minutes... or not...