"Wait here, I'll be back," he said. He walked into the office and knocked on Mrs. Tan's door. 

  "Come in," she said.

  "Evening Mrs. Tan, I'd like to ask if you could reconsider the club thing," he said. 

  "Adrian! Hi, nice to see you!" She exclaimed. “Certainly has been awhile, but sorry sweetheart, there's not much I can do."

  "With all due respect ma'am, why not? Is there no way to squeeze us in?" He rebutted.

  "You see, we have limited space and tarps for the students. We set it up in advance to give everyone a slot and it's all filled up." 

  "What if we don't take up too much space?"

  "Adrian-"

  "Please Mrs. Tan, I promise we won't take up much space."

  "Sorry, it's too late to turn in any applications." 

  Adrian sighed in frustration.

  "But…" she continued, "I suppose I can look the other way and let you guys set up anyway." 

  "Really!? Mrs. Tan you're the best!"

  "Just remember you can't take up too much space, you'll have to find a spot that's not taken or that won't disrupt other students' stands," She replied.

  "Will do ma'am!"

  Adrian walked out of the office. Audrey was still sitting with Looz and Sam, her head down. Jacob stood nearby. They were waiting for him to come back out. 

  "Well, what did she say?" Jacob asked. 

  "Yeah, can we join Club Rush?" Sam asked.

  "Yes, we can! Unofficially, but we can,” Adrian said. "She said we just need to find a spot where we can squeeze in. It might be hard cuz she said most of the spaces are filled."

  Audrey lifted her head and her face lit up. 

  “Really?” She exclaimed. 

  “Really!” 

  “How did you do it?” Looz asked.

  “Well I used to be her T.A, maybe that helped win her over,” He mentioned. 

  “Thank you, thank you Adrian! Thank you so much!” Audrey said, getting up and giving him a hug. Looz got up as well and dusted off her pants from sitting on the floor. 

  “Alright then,” Looz said, “What next? We gotta make a banner and stuff right? We need supplies and Club Rush is tomorrow.” 

  “LET'S GO SHOPPING!” Sam said happily. 

  "Let me ask my mom if she can take us," Audrey said.

  "No need, my car is fixed now so I can drive us," Looz said.

  "Oh yeah, that’s right!” 

  They headed to the school parking garage and got to Looz’ car. The girls got in but Adrian stopped in his tracks.

  “What’s wrong Adrian?” Looz asked. “Worried bout my driving skills? I assure you, any accidents I was in were not my fault,” She joked.

  “It’s just, I ride my bike to school, I don’t want to leave it behind.” 

  “Sweet! I’ll ride with Adrian!” Jacob exclaimed. 

  “But-but we were going to go shopping?” Sam gloomily said.

  “Guess we'll just have to go to the dollar store by the market, and look through the arts and crafts section.” Looz said. It was only a block away from the school. Jacob got out of the car, leaving his backpack inside. 

Looz looked out of her car. 

  “See you at the dollar store,” She said.

  Audrey lowered her window. 

  “Be safe you two! Look both ways before crossing the street,” she said. Sam looked over to try and see them.

  “Bye bye, be safe!” 

They drove off. Jacob and Adrian walked over to his bike inside the school. 

  “You play any sports dude?” Jacob asked. 

  “No not really, I’ve never been good at any, I do like to ride my bike though.” 

  “Oh that’s cool.” 

  “I like football, I can’t wait to sign up,” Jacob continued.

  “Oh this school-” Adrian was cut off by Jacob telling him a story.

  “Sorry I didn’t mean to cut you off, but there was this one time, I swear you wouldn’t believe it, I did a whole backflip over this one guy and got a touch down, my team went fuckin nuts dude.” He laughed.

  “No way guy! Can you do a flip now?”

  “It was more of an adrenaline thing, I’ve never tried doing a flip after that.”

  “How convenient ey?” Adrian said, chuckling in amusement.

  They continued to talk about each other until they arrived at the bike racks. Adrian grabbed his bike from the lot. It was a blue bike, pretty old. It had a back seat with no cushion. Adrian mounted the bike.

  “Well, it’s not ideal, but wanna hop on?” He said, extending his helmet to Jacob. “I don’t know if it’ll fit but safety first.” 

  “Okay bud,” he said, containing his laughter. He sat on the back. 

  “Alright Adrian! Let’s beat them there! LETS GOO!!!” Jacob said, trying to hype Adrian. He struggled trying to move the pedal forward. His lips pressed together, red faced because he had forgotten to breathe. He stopped and gasped for air.

  “Perhaps I’m not as strong as you might have thought,” He said, avoiding the fact that Jacob was just too heavy. 

  “Don’t worry bud, it's probably my lean muscle,” Jacob said, casually. “Why don’t we switch?” He got off the back seat, took off the helmet and handed it to Adrian. He fastened it.

  “You ready?” Jacob looked back over his shoulder. 

  “All settled in!”

  “LETS ROCK!!” Jacob said, bursting into great speed from the school. This surprised Adrian, who at this point was holding on for dear life. Jacob was speeding so fast. The bike was going at speeds he didn’t even know it could reach. They sped out of the school and headed towards the dollar store. 

  At the dollar store, the girls were already in line getting the supplies. They picked out a pack of colorful permanent markers, two poster boards, a clipboard and some loose leaf paper. 

  “They really are taking their time aren’t they?” Looz asked.

  “I’m sure they’re almost here,” Sam said. She was dancing to herself in line while she waited. 

  “Audrey, hold these, I’m going to get some snacks,” Looz said. She handed her the materials.

  “Can you get me some M&M’s please!” Audrey asked. 

  “Anything for you baby girl,” Looz said pointing to her. 

  “I want something too! Chips or iced tea!” Sam cried out.

  “So needy! But alas, Anything for my girls.”

  Jacob came sprinting inside, head drenched in sweat, gasping for air.

  “Oh you guys got the stuff! Good work team! I’ll wait outside with Adrian.” He said, catching his breath. Adrian was outside, watching his bike, shaking from the adrenaline. 

  After they bought the items, they decided on who’s house to go to. 

  “Well I live close by, and since I’m riding my bike I feel it would make sense to head to my place,” Adrian said.

  “Sounds good to me,” Looz said.

He gives Looz the directions to his house and he and Jacob head off on the bike again.

They arrive at his house. 

  “Welcome to my humble abode,” he said. 

  “Ooooooh~,” Sam and Audrey said in unison.

  Adrian pulled out his house keys and opened the door. 

  “I’m home mom, I brought some friends over!” Adrain called out. 

  “Oh hello!” Adrian’s mother said. She was a short woman with curly dark hair, she was wearing cozy clothes.   

  “What’s this about honey? Is it a birthday gathering?”

  “Woah woah woah, it’s your birthday today bro?” Jacob exclaimed in surprise. 

  “No no, it’s tomorrow,” he said shyly. 

  “Why didn’t you say anything?” Audrey asked.

  “I didn’t think it was that important, nor if you guys would have cared much.” 

  “Nonsense!! We are friends! Here, have my M&M’s!” Audrey said.

  “I’d like to point out that I bought those,” Looz said.

  “This calls for a celebration!” Sam said.

  “Ooh yes, he rarely has any friends over! I can make a cake!” His mom said. 

  “Yeah that sounds fun!” Audrey said. 

  “Mom! My friends and I have to make a banner for our club.” Adrian said, getting all flustered. 

  “Right, right! C'mon guys let’s focus!” Audrey said. 

  “Alright dear, we can always do something later.” His mom said. 

  They began work on the banner. Half way through Jacob and Looz got distracted and started playing Adrian’s gaming console and Sam started helping Adrian’s mom bake a cake, Audrey and Adrian sat in the living room behind Jacob and Looz. They were just coloring the banner, making it look nice. 

  “So how old are you going to be?” She asked him.

  “I’m turning 17.” 

  “Oh hey I’m older than you!” 

  “Really? how old are you?” 

  “I’m 17, my birthday is in July.” 

  “Okay cool, I’ll mark it on my calendar.” 

  “Cake is ready!” Adrian’s mom called from the kitchen. 

  “Thank you Samantha for helping with the cake dear,” she said to her.

  “No problem, I love to bake!” 

  They all gathered around. Mrs. Parker had gotten candles and placed them on the cake, she lit them up and they all sang happy birthday. They ate cake and played music. Adrian and Audrey had finished the poster and they all played games together. Adrian’s mom looked at him happily. She went ahead and left for her room. 

  “I’ll go watch some TV in my room, you kids have fun!” 

  “Thank you Mrs. Parker” 

  “Thank you!”

  “Thank you for the cake mom, I love you,” Adrian had said. 

  It got late and everybody was ready to go home. They said their goodbyes and Looz had dropped everybody off.