Since Vega had little else to do until her next birthday, she and Wei found another common hobby. His ex-roommates were fellow gamers, and it was a little part of his past that he missed. Vega didn’t even mind being the town nerd because of her new pastime.
Screwtape preferred bowling. He failed to mention that he dragged along the older Angelique Jones-Brown to make it a not-date.
“Now Angelique, the velocity of this bowling ball is dependent on the force of my throw and the forces of gravity. At this angle, I’m guaranteed to knock down at least half of the pins.”
“So that’s what causes your bowling face, huh?” she asked.
“Affirmative.” Screwtape instead crashed down on his knees.
“Nine in one shot, which is well within my calculations,” he whispered. He hoped that Angelique was impressed; something about her and her sisters seemed so different yet wonderful now that he was a little older.
When no one was watching, he made the walls a little more beautiful.
Meanwhile, Eva tried to stay calm, and diverted a conversation towards books. “I think that Anna-Liza Riddle’s earlier books are her more honest works,” she said.
“Don’t even try that on me. What happened today?”
Eva had to sit down and cry about it instead.
“Sheila and I went over to the old house for an afternoon…”
“…And he died in my arms.”
Later that night, Vega wanted an hour alone with Wei. Perhaps he knew that time was running out, considering that the young woman he met so long ago was going to have her elder birthday in the next few days. Where did all that time go, anyways?