The clouds outside stitched themselves together like an ugly
gray sweater. As always, people scattered back home, eager to avoid whatever
calamity the gods brought to their fair city this time. The sky roared, the
winter lion cursing all with a harsh and chilling wind.
As the first icy raindrops began to pour down and tap
against the windows of his apartment, Brandon sighed and took a sip of hot
chocolate from a cat mug. He soon turned his attention to the whirlwind of
papers on his desk and the budget program he booted up on his laptop. With the
end of the month upon him, it was about time he got his finances straightened
up. He hummed a catchy tune as he totaled up his spending, then took a quick
look at how well he met his budget for the month.
The color quickly drained from his face as he stared at the
screen, then glanced back at his spending.
“Oh, god no,” he said as he broke into a sweat, looking back
and forth between computer and papers in disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding
me!”
The harsh reality was there, though: he spent too much over
budget. Not on bills, not on food, and definitely not on any fun activities.
But of course he spent way too much paying off Justin’s and Josh’s acts of
stupidity! Of course it was them! Even after breaking off those friendships,
the painful scar on his wallet remained.
“You idiot!” he
thought to himself, laying his head down on his desk and staring outside the
window. “If you weren’t such a bleeding
heart, you wouldn’t have gotten yourself in this pinch! What did Josh or Justin
ever do to even deserve you fixing their problems, anyway?!”
It was a struggle to dredge up memories of Justin hosting a
big party for Brandon’s birthday and playing games of pool with him on days he
was feeling down amongst the arguments they had and the constant begging for
cash. It was even harder to find anything good Josh ever did. Okay, maaaaybe
the time he took him to a comedy club? It wasn’t that great of an experience,
though, and he passed the buck over to him. What about the trip to DC? If ‘ditching
him in the spy museum in favor of a bar crawl and passing out in a dumpster’
counts, sure. And what about that birthday cake he made?
On second thought, Brandon decided against thinking about
the cake as nausea overtook him for just a second. Just how drunk was he to
even think Josh was a good friend? How desperate was he to think either of them
were anything more than dumbasses? Why?
Brandon wished there was enough in the budget to eat a 20 lb
burger and die of a heart attack. It would have been a better fate than dealing
with all the guilt and shame eating him up inside.
He watched the rain fall for a few more minutes, then let
out a small sigh. His breath was visible for just a moment, vanishing as quickly
as steam from a coffee pot. As he took another sip from his trusty cat mug, he
frowned for a second when he discovered the hard way that the hot chocolate was
cold chocolate now.
Well… maybe he couldn’t fix the whole bad friend problem any
more than he already has. It’ll take time to un-fuck his budget and get back to
spending like a normal person. But what could he do right now to make himself
feel like it was going to be okay?
Reheating a mug of hot chocolate was a good first step, in
his opinion. Sure, it tasted a little watery now, but damn it, he liked it! And
that was enough.
But he couldn’t help but think… “What can I do to get out more and actually meet people worth my time?”
The answer came to him in a flash. It was perfect! It was
fantastic! It was… probably going to murder his budget if he didn’t get any
really, really good deals!
Even so… It was the chance of a lifetime, and Brandon was
going to seize it while he-
Rrrriiing, rrriing!
Brandon nearly jumped out of his seat when his cell phone went
off. The name “Emily” came up on the Caller ID. Without a shred of hesitation,
he answered… after taking another sip of that heavenly hot chocolate.
“Yooo, B.C.!” said Emily. Brandon could already picture her
grinning on the other side of the phone. “Whassup? Got any plans today?”
“Aside from having a funeral for my wallet, nope,” Brandon
replied. “Freezing rain isn’t exactly the best weather to do anything in.”
“So you’re gonna be home today, right?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Okay, cool! See you in five minutes, broski!”
Click.
Brandon wasn’t sure whether to be excited or terrified. Was
it okay to feel both things at the same time? Just what is Emily planning?
Only one way to find out.
Brandon hoped Emily took her sweet time walking here as he
raided his drawers and closet for something more presentable than a pair of
sweatpants and a crop top. A cute pink sweater with cats on it is a great
start! And of course, nobody can complain about jeans. He was halfway through
putting them on when the doorbell rang not once, not twice, but five times!
“C-coming!” Brandon shouted as he finished getting dressed,
hurrying to answer the door before someone rang the doorbell enough times to
haunt his dreams later tonight. “Hi there, Em!” he said with a smile. “Come on-“
The words died in his throat when he actually looked at her:
blood dribbled down her nose and lip, dripping down onto her black shirt. Her
right eye was swollen and black, barely able to close. There were several
bruises on her arms, too, one of her hands trembling as she clutched onto a
plain black umbrella
She brushed back her long, pink hair and adjusted her black
and white beanie before she said, “Yo, B.C.!” as cheerfully as a warm, sunny
day.
Brandon let Emily settle down on the couch and set her
umbrella aside as he rushed to get an ice pack and a first aid kit. When he
came over to treat her, Emily gladly took the ice pack and applied it to her
eye.
“Thanks, bro,” she said, giving him a thumbs up with her
free hand. “Needed that more than anything! It was a wild day, trust me.”
“Oh, I bet,” Brandon said with a sigh, handing her a tissue
to wipe away some of the blood. “What in the world did you get yourself into
this time?! You didn’t fight an entire biker gang, did you?!?” The grin she was
giving him was not inspiring confidence. “Oh, no you didn’t.”
“Fuck yeah I did!”
Brandon could have sworn his heart stopped for a second.
“Um… is it okay if I ask why?”
Emily leaned back in the couch and looked right into Brandon’s
eyes as she said, “Man, listen, they were busy catcalling these girls and they
wouldn’t stop fucking bugging ‘em. Jacob was with me, he saw the whole thing!
We both saw ‘em get real close and the girls were getting uncomfortable, so I
went like, ‘BRO, FUCK OFF WITH YOUR NASTY ASS SHIT’ and he was like, ‘You just
mad cuz you an ugly ass bitch’ and I was like ‘COME SAY IT TO MY FACE BITCH I
DARE YOU’. Then they were getting way too close and grabbin at the girls so I
just went in and fuckin’ decked him in the jaw.
So long story short? Yeah, I fuckin’ kicked all of their asses! And I don’t regret it!”
Brandon stared at his friend as she grinned at him, her
bruises more badges of pride to her than anything else. Worry and fear swirled
in his heart, thoughts of how badly it could have turned filling his mind.
Still…
“I think you could have handled that a lot better than
straight up fighting them all at once,” he said as he bandaged up Emily’s arms.
“But you did do a good deed! Maybe not in the right way, but a good deed is a
good deed!”
Emily huffed and put her legs up on the couch as she
replied, “I just did things the Kobber way, that’s all!”
“Kobbers are biiiiit more than just outright fighting biker
gangs-“
“Woah, hold up! Then what happened in 2012, huh? Did the
Kobbers suddenly ignore that biker gang or what?”
Brandon opened his mouth to reply, then closed it the moment
he realized she had a point. He finished bandaging her up, making sure they
weren’t too tight or too loose, before sighing and taking a seat next to her.
She glanced over at him and smiled. “Thanks, bro. I needed
that. And…” Emily looked down at her hands for a moment, then looked back
towards him. “Sorry for causin’ you a bit of trouble. Couldn’t just walk to my
house with this sorta thing, ya know?”
“I understand,” Brandon said quietly. “Just… try to be more
careful next time, alright? I don’t want you getting arrested for vigilante
stuff… or worse.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. But enough about me!” Emily wrapped her
arm around Brandon’s shoulder and leaned in as she asked with a grin, “What’s
up with you, bro?”
An awkward laugh escaped his lips as Brandon admitted, “I
went over budget for people who didn’t give a shit about me. Soooo I’m
rethinking life. Again.”
A shiver went down his spine as he heard the unmistakable
sound of knuckles cracking.
“Who the fuck were they?” he heard Emily hiss in his ear. “And
where do they live?”
“Emily, please!”
“I’m serious! I’ll kick their ass if you won’t do it!”
“I already blocked them and don’t see them anymore, Em.
Besides, one fight is enough for one day.”
Emily glared at him with the intensity of a thousand suns, enough to
make him break into a sweat. “B-but um, on a different note, I have a
completely better idea on how to handle things right now!” he said hastily,
trying to change the topic before Emily got any terrible ideas. “Like, um, a
complete change of scenery!”
That caught Emily’s attention. “Dude, you’re gonna go on
vacation?” she asked. “Like, a Bahamas vacation?!?”
“Mmmm… something better than that.”
Emily leaned in a
little as she looked Brandon in the eyes, excited as a puppy. “A trip to Italy?”
“Mmm… More to the east, Em.”
“China?”
“Cloooser…”
Emily was bursting at the seams with excitement, in spite of
all the pain she was in. “It’s fucking Japan, isn’t it?!? Bro, you’re going to
Japan?!?”
Brandon could hardly suppress a smile. “Different set of
islands, Em! Do you need a hint?”
“Man, now you’re just being a tease!” Emily said, slapping
Brandon’s shoulder playfully. “Give it to me, bro!”
“Kobbers.”
The satisfaction of seeing his friend’s jaw drop in shock
was almost unbearable. So was Emily grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking
him from sheer excitement.
“HOLY FUCKIN’ SHIT YOU’RE GOING TO KUWAHAWI THAT IS THE
DOPEST SHIT” she said, forgetting to even take a breath in the middle of
talking. “Now THAT’S a good idea!”
“Isn’t it?” Brandon said, beaming with pride. “It wouldn’t
be the first time a psychic joins them, and, well I’ll be able to make some
better friends than I can here. I can bring my work along, there’s going to be
great food, and there’s going to be so many cool adventures, and, well… never a
dull moment, right?”
“Damn straight! Wish I could go, but how the hell am I gonna
pay for that?” Emily smiled for a moment, then turned to Brandon with a look of
shock. “Wait, bro, didn’t you just say you were over budget? How are you gonna
budget for something like a trip to Kuwahawi?!?”
“Discounts, actual good budgeting, and maybe winning the
lottery,” Brandon replied bluntly, slumping in his couch and letting out a long
sigh. “It’s a long shot, but I have to take it, right? I might even have to get
a part time job there on top of doing commissions and my editing job… Anything
to make up for how pricy it’s going to be.”
“Well, you do what you need to do, broski,” Emily said with
a shrug before she stood up to stretch. “I’ll do what I can to help you out.
Who knows? Maybe some Kobber’ll give us a hand!”
“Haa, well, we can dream, I guess!”
He couldn’t deny it: it was a nice dream. It dwelled in his
thoughts long after Emily left to hang out with another friend. He kept telling
himself it was just a dream, that it was hardly likely that a Kobber would even
take notice. But deep in his heart, there was a feeling of hope. How
would he know that if he hasn’t tried?
That night, he took a chance and sent a message to one of the more prominent Kobbers.
And now, to wait.
