𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 ➪ 𝗠𝖨𝗚𝗨𝗘𝗟 𝗗𝖨𝗔𝗭

𝘅𝘃𝗶𝗶𝗶. 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀

"Me personally," Robby shrugged, "I don't see what the gag is about him." His obvious distaste for Miguel is becoming more and more apparent.

"Of course, you'd think so." Rory chastised, "you have an obvious thing for Sam." She could see the muscles in his neck tick at her words, his lips pinching together in a firm line. "What?" He scoffed, scratching the side of his neck, "no I don't, what are you saying about?"

It was Rory's turn to look at him all knowingly, consuming her milkshake with 'i don't believe you eyes.' Robby groaned, rubbing his face with his hands, "can we just change the subject, please?"

She leaned back into the red booth seat, picking at the skin of her nails, "My guidance counselor emailed me earlier this morning."

"What did she say?"

"Well, I was responding to her email about the deadline and was expressing my own 'concerns' about the trip altogether." Robby raised his dark brows, needing more input before he could answer back appropriately. "I basically told her I couldn't afford all the trip expenses and therefore wouldn't be able to go." Her voice was smooth as ice. "She got back to me within 15 minutes and told me that all expenses were covered with my grant and that she was sorry for not letting me know sooner."

"That's amazing Rory!" Keene's eyes enlarged as his hunched posture went wooden, "You're going right?" His query sounded like more a statement than a question. "Right.."

She averted her eyes, gazing at the tiled floor, "I don't know. I leave in three days," Rory sighed heavily, "and I have too many responsibilities here. The Pros and the Cons are the same weight right now and I can't decide."

"Flip a coin," Keene suggested, pulling a penny from his pocket and sliding it over the wooden table. "A coin, really?" If looks could kill, Robby would surely be dead by now, "What are we? Second graders?"

Robby rolled his eyes, ignoring her sarcasm, "What you want is what you wish for when the coin is at its highest point in the air before landing in your hands." Rory couldn't argue, his logic sounded pretty reasonable and It was better than the alternative, which was absolutely nothing.

She picked up the penny and gave Robby a weary glance before she tossed the tiny piece of copper in the air. When it landed, she held out her arm to give them a fine view, both visibly shocked by the results. He glanced up at the girl in front of him, taking in her conspicuous facial expression at the reading before speaking, "looks like you've got your answer."

She nodded her head and cleared her throat, looking at the time on her phone, "we should probably go." It's almost noon and Robby had to be signed in at the gym before then to compete in the tournament.

-

When Rory got to the arena, she couldn't help but feel uneasy. The whole place was crammed with people, top to bottom, leaving almost no place to sit in the stands and no room to enter either.

Her feet paddled against the recently reinvigorated tiles as she made her way into the hall when she heard a familiar soft voice speak her name. "Rory, is that you?" To her surprise, it was Miguel's Mom and grandma walking over with turned-up lips and somber smiles.

Carmen being the warm physical person she was, immediately engulfed Rory in a hug which she gladly excepted. "Aii," The Diaz woman groaned, reluctantly pulling away from the embrace, "It's been way too long since I've seen you, where have you been?"