Conflict (Cont 3)
Anthony moved as if to say something, and then thought better of it. This was an old fight and one not likely to end anytime soon. He glanced down and found his page again. He looked up, thumbed his nose almost unconsciously, and then sighed.
“You know where he is”
“Thanks man, I really appreciate it.”
Andrew did know, as a matter of fact. This was not the first time Jason had disappeared on him, nor would it be the last. The Dragon’s Den had originally taken up just one space in the strip complex that it was located into. As business was driven out of the city center and the arcade prospered, it slowly began to take over the neighboring spaces. At this point, business was not great, and large sections of the arcade were sectioned off since the owner couldn’t afford to fill it with games. Some of the sections were being used by a few groups: A dungeons and dragons game was apparently played pretty regularly, and the space had been rented a few times to host local area network (LAN) parties. Andrew had once attended one, but the smell of 20 guys with 20 computers getting agitated while virtually killing one another was something he did not envision wanting to experience again. Other sections had become permanent headquarters for some small organizations: An anime club had a small section where they kept their video library, a few local artists used another section to showcase some of their work. Finally, there was Eliza.
Eliza had gone to school with Andrew, and they had shared the same group of friends, albeit on different sides. She was a quiet girl, and Andrew really didn’t know much about her during that time. When they graduated, Andrew spent a year with his father in Indiana, while she apparently went to tour Europe. When they returned home and went to University they naturally gravitated towards each other in their classes, as most of their friends were now a year ahead or had begun full time jobs. Andrew had once called it the summer of great change: Both of their time away had changed them, him getting the shorter end of the stick.
While Indiana just frustrated Andrew, cemented his dislike for both southern hicks and his father, Eliza had used her time away to remake herself. Her ears now had several piercings, along with one in her nose and navel (one for each country she visited) and her formerly plain, long hair had been chopped down to a short do, which featured regularly changing colored highlights. Whereas Andrew had gained a bit of a paunch from 12 months of fast food and bad cooking, Eliza had become quite fit, now a regular hiker.
Andrew got a bad haircut, which went away, and a long scar, which while luckily hid mostly by his hair, didn’t. Eliza traded in her old glasses for a small trendy pair (from Paris? Italy?) which both showed of her green eyes, and gave an intellectual edge to her style. Andrew was an older, fatter, more pissed off version of himself. Eliza was transformed into... to be blunt, a very hot woman. If you’re into that type.
Andrew wasn’t. Well, not so much. His buddy Jason on the other hand was. If it wasn’t for Jason, Andrew and Eliza probably would have quickly drifted apart after finding their bearings at school. Jason had other plans. Andrew and Jason first talked a few weeks into classes. Andrew was in several classes with Jason, who usually sat with a girl. He quickly made himself known for being very vocal, and while offensive, a pretty funny guy. The girl was usually pretty quiet, usually smiling gently at whatever Jason was spewing out. One day, Andrew walked into class and sat near Jason, who was for the first time alone. While the rest of the class slowly filed in, Andrew found his reading (The Princess Bride, 4th time through) interrupted by a hand on his desk. He looked up to find Jason staring at him.
“You’re going to be my friend.”
Sarah was the girl’s name. She had decided that university wasn’t for her, and dropped out. They didn’t know this at the time, and it’s not important now, but it will be later, so try to remember. Andrew and Jason found that they shared many interests (videogames, books, the fall of western civilization, if there is such a thing, ect.) and made fast friends of each other. When they later met for a coffee and Eliza passed by, greeting Andrew, Jason made Andrew promise that he would introduce them. The story goes on for a while after this, but suffice to say that hilarity ensued.
This all resulted in Jason, Eliza and Andrew spending a fair amount of time with each other, and at one point or another being involved with Blackout, Eliza’s pet project. Her time in Europe had led her to the conclusion that advertising was a bane on human existence and brought about nothing but pain and misery. She enlisted her fellow international development and theatre students (double major, both honors) as well as Andrew and Jason to her various initiatives, movements and protests. This amounted to a lot of black paint, several brushes with the law, minor press coverage and a stern talking to. It turns out that painting over advertisements isn’t legal, and you’re-lucky-that paint-washed-off-or-you’d-be-in-shit-young-lady can be said many times over a small period of time. Eliza did however become a bit of a folk hero, and used her notoriety to host a webpage, blackout.com, which was basically a forum for fellow disenfranchised citizens to discuss plans and discover what exactly is and isn’t legal.
Anthony was apparently very interested in finding out if Eliza had any other intersecting piercings, and so he managed to talk his dad into giving her a cheap place to host her site, which was run off the arcade’s own network. Irony of ironies, while teenagers played LAN games of Counterstrike and Doom 3, along those same network cables, various anarchists and shit stirrers discussed problems in society and why videogames where destroying youth culture. Isn’t the world an awesome place? The far corner of the LAN room was blocked off by a small divider wall, and if it was between 1-3 on a weekday and Anthony’s long frame wasn’t poking out from behind it, then it was a pretty safe bet that Jason would be there, over Eliza’s shoulder as she worked on updating the site, writing her next rant, or surfing for porn.
Or, you know, whatever girls do when they're just wasting time on a computer.
“You know where he is”
“Thanks man, I really appreciate it.”
Andrew did know, as a matter of fact. This was not the first time Jason had disappeared on him, nor would it be the last. The Dragon’s Den had originally taken up just one space in the strip complex that it was located into. As business was driven out of the city center and the arcade prospered, it slowly began to take over the neighboring spaces. At this point, business was not great, and large sections of the arcade were sectioned off since the owner couldn’t afford to fill it with games. Some of the sections were being used by a few groups: A dungeons and dragons game was apparently played pretty regularly, and the space had been rented a few times to host local area network (LAN) parties. Andrew had once attended one, but the smell of 20 guys with 20 computers getting agitated while virtually killing one another was something he did not envision wanting to experience again. Other sections had become permanent headquarters for some small organizations: An anime club had a small section where they kept their video library, a few local artists used another section to showcase some of their work. Finally, there was Eliza.
Eliza had gone to school with Andrew, and they had shared the same group of friends, albeit on different sides. She was a quiet girl, and Andrew really didn’t know much about her during that time. When they graduated, Andrew spent a year with his father in Indiana, while she apparently went to tour Europe. When they returned home and went to University they naturally gravitated towards each other in their classes, as most of their friends were now a year ahead or had begun full time jobs. Andrew had once called it the summer of great change: Both of their time away had changed them, him getting the shorter end of the stick.
While Indiana just frustrated Andrew, cemented his dislike for both southern hicks and his father, Eliza had used her time away to remake herself. Her ears now had several piercings, along with one in her nose and navel (one for each country she visited) and her formerly plain, long hair had been chopped down to a short do, which featured regularly changing colored highlights. Whereas Andrew had gained a bit of a paunch from 12 months of fast food and bad cooking, Eliza had become quite fit, now a regular hiker.
Andrew got a bad haircut, which went away, and a long scar, which while luckily hid mostly by his hair, didn’t. Eliza traded in her old glasses for a small trendy pair (from Paris? Italy?) which both showed of her green eyes, and gave an intellectual edge to her style. Andrew was an older, fatter, more pissed off version of himself. Eliza was transformed into... to be blunt, a very hot woman. If you’re into that type.
Andrew wasn’t. Well, not so much. His buddy Jason on the other hand was. If it wasn’t for Jason, Andrew and Eliza probably would have quickly drifted apart after finding their bearings at school. Jason had other plans. Andrew and Jason first talked a few weeks into classes. Andrew was in several classes with Jason, who usually sat with a girl. He quickly made himself known for being very vocal, and while offensive, a pretty funny guy. The girl was usually pretty quiet, usually smiling gently at whatever Jason was spewing out. One day, Andrew walked into class and sat near Jason, who was for the first time alone. While the rest of the class slowly filed in, Andrew found his reading (The Princess Bride, 4th time through) interrupted by a hand on his desk. He looked up to find Jason staring at him.
“You’re going to be my friend.”
Sarah was the girl’s name. She had decided that university wasn’t for her, and dropped out. They didn’t know this at the time, and it’s not important now, but it will be later, so try to remember. Andrew and Jason found that they shared many interests (videogames, books, the fall of western civilization, if there is such a thing, ect.) and made fast friends of each other. When they later met for a coffee and Eliza passed by, greeting Andrew, Jason made Andrew promise that he would introduce them. The story goes on for a while after this, but suffice to say that hilarity ensued.
This all resulted in Jason, Eliza and Andrew spending a fair amount of time with each other, and at one point or another being involved with Blackout, Eliza’s pet project. Her time in Europe had led her to the conclusion that advertising was a bane on human existence and brought about nothing but pain and misery. She enlisted her fellow international development and theatre students (double major, both honors) as well as Andrew and Jason to her various initiatives, movements and protests. This amounted to a lot of black paint, several brushes with the law, minor press coverage and a stern talking to. It turns out that painting over advertisements isn’t legal, and you’re-lucky-that paint-washed-off-or-you’d-be-in-shit-young-lady can be said many times over a small period of time. Eliza did however become a bit of a folk hero, and used her notoriety to host a webpage, blackout.com, which was basically a forum for fellow disenfranchised citizens to discuss plans and discover what exactly is and isn’t legal.
Anthony was apparently very interested in finding out if Eliza had any other intersecting piercings, and so he managed to talk his dad into giving her a cheap place to host her site, which was run off the arcade’s own network. Irony of ironies, while teenagers played LAN games of Counterstrike and Doom 3, along those same network cables, various anarchists and shit stirrers discussed problems in society and why videogames where destroying youth culture. Isn’t the world an awesome place? The far corner of the LAN room was blocked off by a small divider wall, and if it was between 1-3 on a weekday and Anthony’s long frame wasn’t poking out from behind it, then it was a pretty safe bet that Jason would be there, over Eliza’s shoulder as she worked on updating the site, writing her next rant, or surfing for porn.
Or, you know, whatever girls do when they're just wasting time on a computer.
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