Where should I begin with you? Three years ago I was scared of you.  Donât ask to explain why; because in all honesty I wouldnât e able to express my self correctly. But Iâm glad  for the day where you decided to talk to me; despite the fact I was still scared. I know we donât talk as much but that doesnât mean that you donât deserve a present. Any friends of John is a friend of mine. Nevertheless I hope this day turn out to be a wonderful Christmas for you and that the new year brings new and exiting challenges that Iâm sure you will conquer.Â
âI wasnât talking about your dress and make-upâ, John pointed out, clearing his throat. âI know you better than to assume you put all of this on by your free will.â Was Erin trying to avoid the subject of the forum, or did she straight up not care? Though he was already aware it had been nothing but a harmless joke, and that both of them had clearly overreacted, he couldnât avoid glancing over it â at least not with some sort of recognition from Erin, to show that she understood what she had done wrong and that she understood why he had been hurt by it. She was filled with pride, he knew that, but for once he wanted her to actually swallow it and throw him a propper apology. John wasnât the most clean guy around when it came to making mistakes and hurting others, he had done that plenty in the past and he had only apologized a handful of times, if even that. But he hadnât known better back then, it had been a game for him up until Erin had caught him off guard last year â it was too late for him to bring up old feuds and silly fights but that didnât mean he couldnât stand for what he had done and make up for it if he ever got a chance to. Erin had to do the same.
âYeah, because Iâm nothing but harps and birds, arenât I? The most innocent person alive.â John resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his own joke for once, they both knew better but Erinâs parents didnât â they were only stuck on the part of him being a boy and Erin being a girl. Probably mad over their daughter for resisting an actual relationship with another human being, they hadnât exactly caught up on her needs yet. âI have seen enough comedies to know where thatâs going and donât forget your mom â sheâs going to realize youâre missing sooner or later, you should probably text her before she calls the cops. Donât tell her where you are, just tell her you couldnât stay.â Thinking back at his own mom, he was sure Erinâs was bound to worry within an hour or so from her leaving the party; if she had even noticed she was gone, that was.Â
And there it was, the apology. Just watching her loosen up and actually admit she had been at fault was indeed enough for John to relax as well. âIt was silly, more my fault than yours. I just found the forum at a bad time, thatâs allâ, he let out a heavy sigh. âThe show is pretty much on its last season and they have been chatting about my contract for over two months now, Iâm not getting a clear answer out of my boss and itâs getting frustrating. I ended up taking it out on you and it was wrong of me â there, done.â In the end, most of the worry he had expressed during their fight had been true, even if it had sounded more like personal attacks towards Erin. However, to actual be able to explain why filled him with ease. âI didnât mean to bash your education or anything.â That part of their fight had been nothing but envy, a knowledge that he didnât own propper grades to lean on if he ever were to find another job. You needed more than charm and a good joke to move forward in life and the only thing he had was a short attentionspan and his writing. He had been scared, hadnât he?
"Right, of course..." Of course he knew, he was after all her closest friend, but did he also know she stalled with her apology? She figured yes. What did actually start of as a joke, Erin was the one who took it too far by denying the allegations. It was clear that he didn't like the jokes she posted on the forum but she just meat it as a causal, lighthearted joke, she never meant him to get hurt over it or even expected that to escalate so far that they stop talking for two months. Erin knew if she had just shrugged of her ego and apologised ages ago, she wouldn't have been here, outside his door, asking to come in looking like a clown, no, she'd be inside in comfortable clothes trying and failing to not laugh at his dumb jokes. But Erin was a stubborn little thing, swallowing her pride and ego was not a simple nor easy task. However, an apology was out, an apology which took two months in the making. The brunch, was her breaking point.
Erin's lips twitched upwards at his comment. While John was technically the nicer one of them, he did have his moments of being the opposite, a side which Erin only saw the aftermath of. When he switched the topic to her mom, it was her that needed to resist rolling her eyes. No matter how many times she told her that John and her were just friends, she wouldn't let go of the the idea that there was something more going on, and when she said that he had a girlfriend, instead of letting the topic go she began with the 'you missed out', her mother's words infuriated her to no end. "My mother will be fine, she knows it would take a lot to keep me there all day. She should be happy I even showed up." While the latter part of her statement was true, Erin knew her mother will still worry if she found out she was gone, "But yeah I suppose I should. But if she already noticed I was gone, I bet you she'd have already texted me her disappointment."
A quiet 'shit' escaped her lips, when she heard what John had to say. "Parker...I..shit I had no idea, and no it was mostly my fault, I made it way worse that it was by yelling like that, I'm really sorry." Erin felt incredibly guilty for everything she posted on the forum and yelling at him after like she did, if she only knew that his show was ending, she would've apologised straight away for everything she said. Truth was, she wished she was more like him, funny and instantly likable, she only had grades going for her, and that meant nothing. "How's education gonna help when you need a job and can't talk?" she scoffed. There were people with Masters and PhD's flipping burgers to earn a buck, she was afraid that would be her life. Grades mean nothing if you don't have people skills. "Bu anyway, it's very shitty that the show's on the last season? It's really good, I thought it was doing well. And you're doing great as well, they should at least consider you for something else!"
âHonestly, I donât know why itâs so hard to believe Iâm a CEO/photographer, or when they do believe it they request someone else as their boss because itâs too âunbelievable or unrealisticâ for a cute blonde to be a kick ass ceo. It infuriates me, itâs so offensive.â
Itâs not hard to believe, they just choose not to believe that. Adults donât like it when people younger and in your case cuter than them are successful, itâs plain old jealousy if you ask me. You know what you should do? Get a big picture of you with CEO written under it big letters, Â and stick it behind your desk, if anyone asks to see the boss, just point, itâll save your breath.Â
Erinâs reply wasnât anything new to him and for a brief moment it was as if everything had gone back to normal, but the silence that quickly followed change that. She hadnât bothered to contact him either, so this really wasnât something anyone would have expected out of their fight. It didnât make it easier for him, tapping his feet against the floor and wait for Erin to finally explain her apperance and her reason for knocking on his door. He was almost on his way to push her on, when everything came falling out of her mouth at once.Â
The story made him raise his eyebrows in confusion, his head working in full speed trying to picture the girl in front of him surrounded by a bunch of snobby rich people busy cackling about whatever problems rich people faced. The corner of his mouth started to twitch, doing his best to keep a teasing grin away from forming on his lips. âNever said you werenât allowed to speak to me, you know. I just asked you to be honest with me, thatâs all.â His tone was still stiff, not fitting for the emotions that had started to build up inside of his chest. He had missed Erin like crazy; her comments and blunt jokes no one seemed to catch up on; the way she kept him up and running without overdoing it. Not even Kenna was capable of holding him down, to act as a pillar when his energy was too much for him to handle.Â
âSo basically, I leave you alone for two months and you turn into a doll?â John tilted his head and leaned against his door frame. âYou are running away from your mother, who tries to brainwash you or something, and you thought the best place for you to hide was at the one and only person your mother dislikes you being friends with?â He couldnât keep away the grin any longer, nodding his head slowly at her. âWhat do I get for hiding you? I donât want someone to come kicking down my door, takes ages to repare.â
Though Erin backed up, she glanced hesitantly towards the end of the corridor, she didn't really want to leave, but she knew coming here was a bad idea. It had been way too long between them for her to just show up without any warning asking if she could stay, things weren't back to normal yet. She desperately wanted things to be back to as they were two months ago, before that stupid little fight. Being friends with John brought out a childishness in her that really needed to come out, otherwise she would be just boring old Erin, the buzzkill. And it was that side of her that, triggered her mother into arranging that stupid little brunch of hers. She missed John more than anything, his playfulness, his dumb but funny jokes, his ability to bring out the fun side of her, she missed that a lot. She should've apologised a long time ago, but of course, Erin felt strongly that he was wrong about everything, it was just a little joke after, but as days turned into weeks, which slowly crept into months, she knew it was her that should've apologised and she should've done it a long time ago. When she heard the stiffness to his voice, her hope of going back to as they were  dropped a little. "I know you did..." she said nodding slowly. "The whole brunch thing...that was true tho, I wouldn't look like this if my mother wasn't involved..you probably know that, or well I hope you do."
Erin rocked on the balls of her heels wanting for his answer, throwing another very hesitant look down the corridor...she really didn't want to go. When he spoke again, she looked at him expectantly, and immediately sighed away the stress that built up during their interaction. Seeing him smile, she broke out into a toothy grin, and god did it feel good, this was probably her first real smile in a long time. "Yup, pretty much," she said nodding quickly, "Well, she doesn't actually dislike you, just thinks you're a bad influence for me. Can you believe that? You! You're a bad influence in this friendship! Terrible. And don't worry no one will come kicking down your door, the girls down at the club would think itâs too un-ladylike to do such a thing," she said with a roll of her eyes.Â
Taking a step forward to her his apartment, she quickly stopped, "But wait before I come in a take over your couch, are we cool?... I am sorry for acting like a dick, I shouldn't have yelled at you like I did..." she paused, this had been a long time coming, and no matter how much her ego was and how much she hated apologising to people, she had to tell herself that this was John, and if she didn't say this now, things would be awkward. Sighing to herself she carried on, "If we're not...I'd much rather sort it out right here than inside..."
For once John had been completely struck by things to do at the network. The whole of November had been all about wrapping up the last season of Family Fumble, though having plenty of positive reviews it wasnât enough to hold the show all on its own. His old coworkers were all busy collecting their connections, and much like him: holding their thumbs and hoping for the best. This was mainly the one big reason he had ended up snapping at Erin two months ago, and her harmless prank, rather than simply tell her he was anxious about his job and economy. Though John was easy to forgive, time hadnât been enough for him to seek out her contact, and maybe one part of him was a little pissed she hadnât been able to just come clear with him. No matter what he knew it was something he could deal with later; as of now he had a day off and he wasnât going spend that in a bad mood. No his apartment had turned into a small nest of junk food, soda, chips and him moving between texting Kenna and running through a couple of new games he had managed to get his hands on. John was right in the middle of a beautiful one shot of the enemy when someone was suddenly knocking on his door with a brutal force. The sound made him jump and soon a dreadful GAME OVER came flashing on his TV that made him mumble and put the controller away to answer. He unlocked the door while brushing of some chips off his shirt, looking back up at the person standing outside â only to end up jumping backwards instead. âWHAT THE ACTUAL HELL ITâS NOT HALLOWEEN ANY LONGER.â John placed a hand over his heart, eyes staring wide at Erin, her dress, her make-up and⊠well, everything. He exhaled quickly in a way to collect himself before speaking again. âFine, thank you for that. What do you want?â
Erin couldn't remember an instance where she felt more nervous than she did right now, scenes of public speeches, class presentations and TV interviews flew past in her mind but none compared to the feeling of utter dread in the pit of her stomach as she waited for him to open the damn door. It was just Parker, she told herself repeatedly but that only seemed to make it worse. They hadn't spoken for months, he seemed okay from what she saw on his show, and Erin was busy with her things to entertain these feelings but she wondered now if things would be awkward between them, she hoped not, Erin wasn't good with situations like that.
But damn he was taking a long time, Erin knew he was home so why wasn't he opening the door? She scrunched her face and raised her hand to knock on his door again, but dropped it when it opened and he greeted her with a loud yell. A part of her wanted to smile at his reaction, the way she looked now was worth that but the majority of her was unimpressed."Screw you, Parker," she replied in a huff. After that quick little exchange of insults, silence filled the air between them, and she could feel the awkwardness set in when he asked what she wanted. If this had been under any other circumstances, John would've let her right in and laughed his ass off seeing her like this, but this wasn't like any old time, there were seeing each other after months and it worried her.Â
After a couple more minutes of gathering words to explain why she was here, she said screw you to finding the rights and just went with whatever came to her. "I kinda ran away from my mother and her..." she muttered a few curses at the under her breath at the thought of them, "...ahem and her uh friends...kinda need a place to go where she can't find me?" Did that make sense? Probably not, but it was better than nothing. "Look, I know we're not talking anymore and whatever, but if you don't let me in...you'll be responsible for sending me out like this," she said pointing to all of herself, "..like a freaking clown, out there...do you really want that?" Now, she knew that didn't make any sense, but she had to try something, she felt like she was standing outside forever which made her feel extremely stupid for coming here of all place. âActually, sorry...â she said steeping back, âIâm just gonna go hide out in my car...I feel really stupid...â she added with a forced chuckle.
This was all too much for Erin, the unnecessary giggles and empty conversations were all just too much for her to handle in one sitting, especially not with the all the stuff thatâs been running through her mind for the past week. Accepting an invitation to a mother-daughter brunch, sent by her mother of course, was a mistake she never planned on making again. Her motherâs friends were snobs and their daughters were stuck up brats, she had to have know it wouldnât end well. And it didnât. Excusing herself as politely as she could manage at that time, Erin was out the door and into the safety of her car. She needed to go somewhere anywhere that wasnât here, or a place her mother could find her, because her walking out would have consequences, ones she did not want to deal with for a while. The only place she could go, wanted to go was to Johnâs, but their fight had lasted longer than she ever thought, but before she could back out she was already half way to his place. Oh well, it was this or hiding away in her car, both seemed like a bad idea but both were better than dealing with her mother. And her stupid little fight with John needed to end right now, she couldnât take not having anyone to talk to.Â
Reaching his door, she banged on it until he opened.
âListen, I need you to focus on our goal here â you do remember what he said, I hope.â Erinâs voice was stern, eyes focused on a map laid out across the floor beneath hers and Johnâs feet. The map showed the layout of a mansion, three floors, basement excluded, huge back garden, and rooms enough to cover a family of ten. Erinâs fingers traced the map from the entrance and up to the painted staircase right in the middle, tapping it twice.
âI rememberâ, John replied as he did his best to follow along. âIn and out, itâs only a one-time event so donât get cocky.â
âHe didnât say that last partâ, Erin said and moved her eyes away from the map, narrowing her stare.
âHe should have, youâre taking this way too seriously. I was the one suggesting we stay and try it out.â
I wouldnât have had a reason to drag it out in case you had just been able to take responsibility for your own actions. When you see someone bothered by something you did, you donât hide it and hope it goes away â do you? You say sorry and ask what you can do to make it right. Iâm hearing myself pretty fine, but you keep deleting the things I say to be able to back yourself up. This was about me, I tried to tell you why it bothered me so this is what you get. I â just get online more often and youâll come to understand why. Jesus⊠you gave me no other choice but to make it complicated! I tried to talk to you nicely, but you refused, you gave me no options and youâre still attacking me instead of just hearing what I have to say. Itâs shitty and itâs low, Erin. I know I have a bunch of great things, my life is finally in control and itâs great. Why the hell else do you think Iâd worry? Hm⊠so you think everyone has it as easy as to just pick up a book and study until their brains fry? How about you stop assuming everyone has it as easy with school as you do, yeah? People are intelligent in different ways, some just donât click with school and I was one of them. I canât just go back and redo it, itâs not that easy. No, you didnât make yourself time to relax, thatâs what you did. Your life isnât going to slip away just because you decide to take a day off and go to the pool, seriously⊠you have already been working for one paper and by that you can only climb further, you have everything that everyone keeps asking and demanding for around here. Pah, you donât know a single journalistâs name? I could count you at least five, but do you know why they get famous? Because they do a tiny bit more than writing a few lines that gets slapped into the next dayâs paper. Itâs the same with writing a book, authors deserve to be recognized. They spend years developing a story and writing it, another year just editing that story and then they spend their free time promoting that story. They get paid maybe two dollars for each book sold, you can sell 500 copies of that and still now have enough to pay rent and get through the month without a second job to back you up. Itâs hard work between both, but one takes a tiny bit more time and effort.Â
Anyway, it doesnât even matter. Iâm not getting anywhere with you and weâre just going to continue this pointless conversation with no end. You are clearly too stubborn and Iâm clearly to dumb to understand whatâs going on. I just donât care, okay? Iâll leave before it gets worseâŠÂ
I'm not backing up anything, you are so reading too much into things and definitely blowing things out of context, like damn dude, you aren't the only one who's allowed to make jokes around here. I know it was about you, I didn't take that away from you did I? This whole conversation has always been about you, and your feelings and you, you and oh guess what? More you! I gave you plenty of choices you just made it more complicated because you wanted it that way. Good for you, you don't need to worry because of that, some of us who don't are the ones that need to worry. I never said everyone had it easy, I said if you worked hard you could've gotten better grades! Who knows you could have if you just concentrated and not goofed off and ditched classes, you could have been so good. I do relax sometimes, I just don't because it's a waste of time, unlike others I like working it's good for me. Pfft! Asking and demanding? Are you out of your mind? You must be! No one wants to read the paper anymore, John, no one, they much prefer TV and entertainment where the whole family can gather around the and laugh while random dudes on TV crack dumb jokes, that's what people are asking for and demanding. Sure maybe you can, but can random strangers on the street? No, they can't, but they can definitely name more than five authors! Give me a break, I'm still in college, writing a few lines that get slapped in the paper is all I can do at the moment. Â I never said it was easy, all I said was at least you get that recognition at the end of it, my thing doesn't even have that.
Yes I am stubborn, wow like I haven't heard that already, but fine, leave. You already gave me such a headache, it will definitely get worse if you stay,Â
âTo people like me?â he asked, feeling a bit confused. What was that supposed to mean? Had he done something to her or annoyed her in any way? Not what he could remember as he had mostly only greeted her and tried to get to know her a bit, which wasnât uncommon for him to do. He was just open to everyone who wanted him around and Erin just happened to fascinate him in a way he couldnât explain. Maybe it actually was the way she gave him the cold shoulder? It was different from the rest. Everyone was always so eager to let him in, to ask him to tag along, to listen to his stories and laugh at his jokes: but not Erin. He had never seen her even as much as chuckle at his puns or remarks during class and it annoyed him in a way just as much as it made him want to try harder. âYouâd kick me? You look like youâre 5âČmidget compared to me, how do you expect to reach anywhere near me? I could grab that book and you would never even get yours hands on it again.âÂ
John leaned backwards in his chair, feeling a smirk form on his lips after his comeback. So she was the defensive type? Sure, he could roll with that. âIâm sitting here simply because I donât feel like talking to them. I just want to make sure you donât end up alone, this school is big and small at the same time. You can read later, Iâm sure thereâs something inside that head of your that youâd love to discuss with someone as clueless as me.â He started to play around with his food with the fork, it didnât look that tasty to him. When would this place ever start to serve something that both looked and tasted good, while keeping your stomach away from growling half an hour later.Â
âYes, people like you,â she said â...Iâm really not in the mood to explain that to you alright?â she added quickly trying to dodge any further questions he had, she really was not in the mood to answer them. She went back to her lunch and tried her best to ignore the figure sitting in front staring at her. Why couldnât he have been like the rest and ignore her? That wasnât asking for much, was it? Wanting to be left alone. âExcuse me?â she huffed at his statement, closing her book with a thud, she stared at him, a scowl taking over her face. 5âČmidget, how dare he! âThere isnât a height requirement for kicking people, and just you try touching my book, youâll be on the floor in pain before you even lay on finger.â
âI should kick you right now and wipe that smirk of your face,â she said shaking her head at him. âWell I got new for you pal, I want to be left alone! Shocking, I know, all that avoiding Iâve been doing must have gone straight over you huh? And you call me midget, a giant like you, thought you wouldâve caught the obvious, but clearly not.â Her lunch was ruined now, the only time where she had time for herself was taken up by John the giant loud mouth. The corners fell downwards at that thought, oh why did they have to move to this stupid town, and to this stupid school, it just wasnât fair. âI want to read now. But fine since youâre so eager to talk, letâs talk and why not start with the definition of quiet? Do you know the meaning or are you stupid as well as clueless?â
Yeah, weâll see about that. No, you are clearly not listening, because you refuse to understand what Iâm talking about. Iâm not just talking about the stuff in the forum, Iâm talking about what can EXPAND from it. If you spent more time trying to understand people youâd know that everyone isnât made out of sweet honey and nectar. Jokes move quickly, they blow up fast, thereâs a trick to it and it backfire so quickly, Erin. Iâm talking about those people who could end doing something less innocent with what was started, you have no idea of what could happen. Ah okay, so just because I have that Iâm not allowed to have any problems at all. I have nothing to worry about, understood. Do you think I want to end up moving in with Kenna if she is the one who has to pull the money for both of us while I can only offer scraps? How long do you think that contract will last? I donât have Aâs to move around with or brag about, Iâm fucking lucky I even scored a C here and there. You are straight out intelligent, you donât have a boyfriend to worry about and youâll have papers begging to hire you once youâre out of school. The only reason grades are holding you up the way they do is because you donât know how to relax. Yeah, I do? The only reason I decided to apply to Avira was because I had no damn idea of what to do with my life, and writing was the only thing I had to brag with. That skill is one in a million that youâll ever end up having a career with, do you understand that?Â
I am not refusing anything, just because I'm not agreeing to what you're saying that doesn't mean I wasn't listening. I didn't drag it out or take it as far as you have and make up hypothetical situations that possibly will never occur, I didn't agree to your thinking because it's ridiculous and because of that you're telling me I'm refusing to understand? Do you even hear yourself? I know people, believe it or not I am capable of judging character and what people are capable of, I work in a industry that demands it. If people take it too far, how can you be to blame? You need to understand this yourself before you tell others, not everything is as complicated as you're making it out to be! Didn't say that, you could have problems, again youâre take something out of context. I said you have a lot of good in your life right now, your life is great, recognise it. There will be so many more jobs that you can do with your skill set, and you can't complain about low grades, if you tried harder you could have gotten so much more, you're a smart guy you just wasted so much time that could have been so useful. No, my life didn't allow time for relaxation, doing what I do is not easy you don't have time for all these things, if I did I would lose tons of opportunities, do you not get that? I did what I had to do, newspapers won't beg for me, they don't even know who I am, I would have to do the begging, you don't seem to understand how hard journalism is, nothing gets handed to you and to make a name for yourself, one TV appearance isn't enough okay? I am honestly getting a headache at your lack of understand, I just god Parker think for a second! Writing is hard, okay I get that but it's so much better, people will remember you if you write a book, but the same people will skip over the name of the person who wrote the article, do you understand that? I can name about a hundred authors and their works, just from the top of my head, can you name at least ten or five, even one, journalists and their works from the top of your head? Writing might be hard, but at least youâll be remembered by everyone and not just the people in your field.
Newspapers do no matter how much you rather wish to spread the truth. We live in America, if you try to speak up against that youâll end up censored one way or another. I â are you even listening to what Iâm trying to say? I never said scandal, I was discussing the things that stick and will never go away. Are you aware that most straight out search the people they are about to hire to make sure they donât have anything going for them. Iâm not saying it will happen, Iâm saying if it happens. People can get the dumbest of ideas and most of the time it completely falls off track! And I canât just figure my life out, I donât work that, Iâm sorry. Not everyone can keep their lives organized and not everyone has enough skills to scrap together money outside the jobs they can score with their dumb grades. THIS is the only thing I have going for me right now and the fact that you canât even admit that you are the one posting says more than I need to know about you. If itâs so harmless, then why canât you stand behind it?
And what does that have to do with me? I donât purposefully print out false information, or try to censor the truth. I am listening to it, you might not have meant scandal exactly, but it was implied, otherwise what else would make you lose your job? Yes I am aware, and Iâm saying if even it happens, these things online Iâm sure your future employers will see it as a joke, as it was meant to be seen. You are blowing this way out of proportion god, itâs like youâre the only one that canât see those are meant to be funny, and youâre the funny guy! See the joke, Parker, itâs literally holding up a flashing neon sign that says JOKE! Whoâs stopping you from figuring your life out? And what else do you need to figure out? Youâve got friends, heck every person you talk to ends up liking you and wanting to be your friend, youâve got a girlfriend and youâre on TV! Do you how many people would kill to be in your position? Dumb grades? Are you serious? Well excuse me, Mr. Popular, but these dumb grades are all I got going for me! Without them my life would have no structure, and Iâd be just some random girl. You have so many things going for you and you donât even realise it! Why canât you let it go?
Ah, sounds good coming for a journalist major. Everything gets taken out of context these days, you say one thing and yet another ends up on the TV screen with your face attached to it. Who would do something as silly to begin with, is the question, since it isnât you. Ugh, thatâs not the point Iâm trying to make here! Okay, listen: I have a job, that job puts both my face and my name out there for anyone to see. That job wonât last forever, and if something goes wrong or if something ends up following me around that I canât shake off it might get hard for me search for another job later. We live in a digital age and everything you put out, stays. But I guess thatâs really darn funny, donât you think? Yeah even so you at least know what you want to do with your life, I donât. Youâre stuck studying, Iâm working. One wrong click and youâre out.
Hey thatâs not what I do! Other journalists, maybe, but not me. Iâm not one of those gossip writers for magazines, I donât take things out of context and twist it to fit what I want. If itâs just a silly thing why are you so stressed about it, like god, forgot and move on, no harm done. Why the big deal? Oh you canât be serious with that! Itâs a TV gig Parker, what bad thing are you expecting to happen? You wonât be involved in some big scandal kind of thing okay? If some people are gonna you washing your mouth with milk every morning as a legit and serious thing and use it against you, itâs just really sad and they need a life, but yes, that is pretty fun. Well then figure your life out! Itâs a simple thing, you wonât be out forever, you will find more jobs, stop being paranoid.
Hmm⊠you did â oh never mind. So youâre still denying that you did any of the posting? It doesnât matter how obvious something is, someone will end up taking it out of context and then youâre done, Erin! What if someone else starts to pick that habit up? God I â not everyone shares the same humor you know. Just because I have a gig going on for me right now doesnât mean it canât easily fuck up later. But you wouldnât care about that with your straight Aâs and future plans, why would YOU ever worry?Â
Yeah thatâs right never mind. Itâs because I didnât. Well thatâs their fault isnât it? Why take it out of context when itâs not meant to be? Makes no sense. Who else would do that? And you can deny it canât you? Set out the truth and everything, that canât be so hard. I know that, some people donât even have humour, or canât see when something is funny...not my fault is it? Parker then donât fuck it up, simple. Okay...what the hell is that supposed to mean? I worry a lot, future isnât predictable.
One of our characters is responsible for letting a dangerous creature loose so our characters need to bring together a ragtag bunch to fight it.
âYou did what?â Erin roared turning around sharply to face John. The outburst made everyone in the room stop, stare and exchange nervous glances. But the screen still blinked red as another red dot, moved rapidly across the map. âParker,â she said again, slower this time but through gritted teeth, âTell me you werenât responsible for that,â she said with a sharp finger pointing at the screen.
âWell...â John began, avoiding eye contact with Erin. âIt wasnât exactly me? Some others and I were just trying to feed it something other than a goat...â
Erin sunk into a chair nearby groaning and clutching her head. The rapid moving red dot was none other than a T-Rex. But not a regular T-Rex, a hybrid. Fear took over her, this was beyond anything she could do, and that terrified her.
The story was, after the opening and eventual failure of Jurassic Park, dinosaurs werenât popular anymore, not even the rediscovery and breeding of these animals that existed 230 million years ago, were enough to catch the publicâs interest. They were cool, yes, but they were dangerous, deadly and a threat to the safety of the world. People wanted them gone.
Unless they made them interesting again.
Which is exactly what happened. After the failure of Jurassic Park, Hammond paired up with a friend of his, who was equally as rich and equally as mad scientist as he was. Recruiting the best scientists and geneticist from the world they began work on something entertaining as it was deadly.
The new Jurassic Park included dinosaurs that were not even know to be alive during the Triassic period. Hybrids. By combining different traits from dinosaurs scientists were able to create new dinosaurs. This breakthrough in science and technology was seen as a miracle, and soon work began to make these creatures come to life.
The park wasnât open to public yet, they were still building attractions and testing the animals. All seemed well until now. Erin and her team were in charge of the new T-Rex, taller, fearsome and deadlier than her extinct counterpart. They told her she didnât hatch right, that there was something a little problem with her genes, but once in captivity, they told her to ignore all of that as the hybrid seemed to be doing fine. But it was this hybrid that was loose, so really nothing was fine.Â
âThis was a billion dollars on the making,â she said after a long pause. âAnd you decided to try something new without telling scientists, or me?â
âItâs my first day? Look Iâm sorry okay, I just trying to feed her, just not goat.â
Erin meet him with a cold stare and rolled her eyes. âIt,â she corrected, âThat thing is not real.â She didnât really care for these things, sure they were cool, but she was with the bunch that didnât want these creatures roaming the earth, they went extinct for a reason. âAnd you should consider yourself lucky that Iâm not gonna use you as bait!â
âSheâs a living creature, not it. And chill would you? So what if thereâs a T-Rex on the loose, at least the park is empty. I remember from the old park there were people around and everyone was going craz-â
Erin cut him off before he could finish his story, âSo what if thereâs a giant hybrid monster that could kill us all in one blow, right? So what?â she spoke taking a step closer with each word. âI am definitely going to use you as dino bait then Parker, so what right?â
Stepping back, John gulped, âYou know much rather face her than you...Ok look things are bad, but I called mission control and said she escaped, they said they were expecting this kind of thing to happen. Also said theyâre gonna send in a team to take her out.â
âWell at least you did something right, guess we just have to wait now,â she sighed and went back to her seat. âWhatâs the damage and where is it?â she asked people who were monitoring the monster.
As talk carried back and forth between Erin and her team, John fidgeted in his spot. Walking over to her, âThat looks bad,â he said.
âReally? You donât say.â
âAre we really going to just sit here and wait?â
âYou got a better idea?â she said turning around to face him.
âLetâs go find her and take of this ourselves!â
Erin simply laughed and put her headset back on, he was crazy.
But soon enough mission control called her, and explained that it would be a while till a team could come for them, till then they wanted her to see if they could take care of the problem themselves. There was a chip inside her brain that would sent high voltage throughout the creature, but that could only be done within a 5 meter radius. After receiving her instructions, Erin shut off the on screen call and closed her eyes. She didnât have to turn around to see him smile, she could sense that already. âDonât,â she said turning around. âDonât you dare!â
He was beaming, while Erin groaned, she did not want to be a part of this.
âDINO SQUAD ASSEMBLE,â he yelled.
âNo no no. No dino squad, this is a serious thing, be serious please.â Did he not realise that they would be trying to kill off a 40 foot giant carnivorous beast? That was enough to shake Erin to the core, but yet here he was yelling about dino squads.
âNope, what good did being serious do to you? Youâre in the same position as we all are,â John replied with a shake of his head. âThis is exciting, if we pull this off, weâll be heroes and if we die weâll be remembered as heroes!â
She didnât want to be a hero, not at all, she wanted to live. Erin took a backseat as he took her headset and made plans and assigned places for each person, something that was supposed to be her job. With four members monitoring, the rest headed out from the security of the office in the now terrifying open jungle in search of this hybrid. The damage was clear, trees were thrown around everywhere and there was even some blood where the creature attacked ground staff, no bodies were found though. Erin ran her fingers over the claw marks on the wall sending shivers down her spine, this was no ordinary dinosaur. John clapped her on the back and moved her along, his expression serious.
It didnât take long for them to follow the T-Rex, with the giant footprints, it left a significant trail, but now the goal was to locate it in the forest. With tracker and weapons in hand, the team moved slowly and cautiously checking their back, front and all sides for even the slightest movement. As time went on, and the deeper they got into the forest, the quieter it became. No birds, no other dinosaur roars, just nothing but the sound of their boots crunching the leaf litter beneath. They passed many injured dinosaurs, though they were created inside a lab, it made her sad to see them this way, their lifeless and limp bodies were not something she saw every day. And for once she was glad that she wasnât in charge.
And then they heard it, the distinct roar of the Rex, making them all freeze to their spot and huddle closer. Heads flew in all directions, but the echo of the roar sounded in all direction of the forest. It took just one bullet towards the sky to break the echo, and soon enough the T Rex leaped out from between the trees, a human voice screamed run as the ground shook, the chase was on.
Their team scattered, screaming and guns firing, in all directions. The Rex wasnât fazed by the bullets, it charged through them, and flung the shooter into the air with its teeth before moving onto its next target. It was chaos, Erin scrambled to keep up with John and the rest of the team who were smart enough to stick together. Monitoring team alerted them to a cave nearby, and they ran as fast as their legs could carry, plus more because their life literally depended on this. Diving into the cave, they all moved in closer and waited. The low growl as the monster sniffed off their hiding spot made everyone hold their breath, but soon she passed to their sigh of relief.
âOk so maybe dino squad wasnât a great idea,â John said between huffs.
Everyone shot him a cold look, âYou think?â Erin replied, âWeâre going to die and itâs because of you and this stupid goddamn park. Dinosaurs went extinct for a reason, Hammond is an idiot for trying to do this again.â No one disagreed with her on this, they would all be at home, safe and warm if it wasnât for this park.
âWell letâs end this then!â John piped up after a long silence. They just looked at him with puzzled looks, âGuys, come on, I want to take her out, or die trying,â he said. Could he hear heroic music and see a halo behind him or something? Because he sounded crazy.
âYouâre going to die, you idiot. Youâre not in some goddamn movie. Sit down and shut up,â Erin huffed out.
âYOLO Erin,â he shrugged and headed out of the safety of the cave.
âWhat an idiot,â she replied as he left.
They sat in silence for what seemed like forever, there were no growls, just him screaming into the forest hoping to attract the beast. With every scream of him, Erin held her breath in anticipation of the beast, it came to the point where Erin stopped breathing. She could take this anymore.
âIâm an idiot,â she said out loud breaking the silence. The team looked at her, they knew what she was about to do because one of the guys handed her a pistol. She looked at it before, taking it with shaky hands. Telling them to stay inside, she headed out into the bright light.
She stopped him at a distance standing on top of a rock yelling with his back to her, walking over to him she hit him on the head. âYouâre an idiot,â she screamed. And regretted everything immediately as she a low growl in reply. They quickly dived behind the rock, but John went up again after a few seconds. He had the trigger in his hand. Erin peered through the side to see what was happening, sheâd never seen the beast this close, and it was terrifying. There was blood all around her mouth and with each step she took, the ground shook. John must be hiding somewhere because the beast was just standing there, looking around trying to spot him. And then she spotted him, and so the beast, a roar later, he ran with the beast after him. She had to do something, he had the trigger, if he died, all of them would.
Taking multiple deep breaths, she came out from behind the rock, âHey you bigâŠbeast thing,â she screamed. She hoped it would attract the monster to her, but then had a better idea and shot a few bullets into the air, which did the trick. As the T-Rex charged at her, she made a run for it screaming with every step.
She ran and ran, she could feel the pain shooting up her legs and the air getting thinner, if she didnât stop soon, she would surely collapse. But she wasnât the one who collapse, the T-Rex was the one to go down. When she heard the louder than average roar and a giant thud, she paused and looked around. John pressed the button, she could make out his features, but she could sense that grin, and Erin matched it.
Within a few seconds their luck turned from dino food to something great. Helicopters whizzed around the air space above them, landing a distance away, the strike team closed in around the fallen beast.
âSo?â John asked her when he made his way over, grinning like she expected.
âIâm going fucking feed you to the raptors. Yolo that, you idiot.â Laughter from the both of them filled the air, as they made way to the rest of their cheering team.
Ten minutes passed, fifteen⊠John started to feel his legs itch as the teacher in front of them continued to ramble on about todayâs potion. The quill was resting between his fingers, but instead or writing the tip was only moving across the parchment without any trace of ink on it. His eyes glanced over at Erin, whom seemed deep down into her own notes and he knew better than to disturb her while she was focusing. The last thing anyone needed was a pissed off Erin to deal with during class, even he avoided it if possible. Instead he tried to put his focus back at front, but it didnât take long for his eyes to once again wander to a spot beyond the teacherâs face. He just wanted to get to the actual potion making instead, because that compared to this allowed him to use his brain. Nothing had been said that he simply couldnât look up later, why else did they bring books for their classes?Â
Thankfully enough their teacher soon claped their hands together, showing her students that it was indeed time they started brewing before they ran short on time. John quickly sat up and felt how his mouth started to form a big, bright smile at the thought of being able to do something. He turned back at Erin, realising he hadnât even flipped the book open. He tried to get a peek at the page she had open, hoping he was able to find it before she figured he hadnât been listening to their teacher at all. It wasnât uncommon for him to ignore their teachers, but he knew that created more work for Erin and that was something he didnât want to pull on her. âSo uhâŠâ what was the potion they were making even called again? Something in Erinâs book spelled out the word âshrinkâ and he lit up. âWe are doing a shrinking potion, right? Sounds neat.â
Erin began scribbling away as soon as the teacher began speaking, she didn't like missing out on anything and writing it out helped her remember. As a muggle, the non magical folk, she always a studious person, and coming into the magical world, her focus on studies increased threefold, there were so many little details that needed to paid attention, one mistake could result in something completely different and in some cases even dangerous. Out of the corner of eye, she spotted John looking around with hardly any words on his parchment, she shook her silently. That wasn't a uncommon thing, and she kind of envied him for that, if she didn't care or stopped caring so much, she could and probably be a more fun person to be around and maybe even have more friends, but no matter what she did, she couldn't change who she was. Erin like being Erin.
Soon enough, the teacher stopped talking, and they could finally get to making the potion, Erin's favourite part of the class. Setting her notes aside neatly, she opened her book and ran her finger over the ingredient list. She spotted John looking over, but didn't say anything, the sooner they could get on with the potion the better, and if that meant letting him look, what could be the harm. Erin nodded simply, "Yes, it's the shrinking potion," she confirmed, "Looks pretty complicated, you ready?"
