Chapter 1: Friends Forever?

Eugene Augustus Grendel was your typical 15-year-old geek. Socially awkward, greasy black hair, coke bottle glasses, and acne. He was, of course, a straight A student, those who were in class with him resented his throwing off the curve. He had few (one) real friends, and she (yes, she) was his childhood neighbor. They had been best friends since they were both in diapers. Alyssa was a year younger, at fourteen, but had skipped a grade. Both were getting ready for their sophomore year in High School. School would start in less than two weeks and both were more excited than anything else.

“What are we going to do today, Gene?” asked Alyssa. “Same thing we do everyday Lyssa, try to take over the world!” came Gene’s standard response, and they both sang “One is a genius, the other is insane.” They then started laughing. “I guess we could go explore that new Oddities store that opened on the mall,” Alyssa said, with a hopeful look in her eyes. “The mall? You know how much I hate the mall. All those people staring at me, I just know they are thinking bad things about me. It makes me so anxious.” Gene shuddered at his own thoughts.

“But Gene, I really want to go look. Marcy said they even had a human skull on display. A real one, not some plaster replica. And one of those old sideshow mermaids’ where they took a rhesus monkey and sewed it to some fish or eel tail. I really want to see it. I will make it up to you. We can go and buy you one of the new comics you want, my treat. Please? I really don’t want to go by myself.” Alyssa’s puppy dog eyes sealed Eugene’s fate. “Fine, but I get to choose the comic this time. Last time you bought me the ‘My Little Pony’ that I had already bought online.” “You weren’t with me that time, and told me to surprise you. How was I to know?” Alyssa defended herself? “This time you can pick out any two books you want. You know I can afford it. Dad upped my allowance to $125 a week after his last raise. You can use the new $25. I want some to spend at the Oddities store.” Eugene knew he was beaten, and said: “Fine, $25 on whatever I want and you buy lunch.” He wasn’t thinking of Alyssa as a girl, just as his best friend. Alyssa however, had a glow as she looked at Eugene. She wished he would just see her feelings for him. She wouldn’t push, though, having Eugene as a friend was better than having him reject her as anything more. She would wait and hope things changed.

The trip to the mall was uneventful, though Eugene was sure everyone was staring at him. The same was true of the trip to Salazar’s Oddity Emporium, though some of Eugene’s paranoia was justified. Two boys from their middle school watched them, or more truthfully, Alyssa. They wondered why she hung out with that loser, Eugene. Here seems like a good place to describe Alyssa. She was a petite 5’1” strawberry blonde. She kept her hair in a French braid that hung to just past the top of her round bubble butt. Her breasts were perky little things, about the size of those little oranges that peel so easy. Though you couldn’t see them, her breasts were upturned, with conical puffy nipples that were almost a ¼ the size of the rest breast, it was almost like her breasts had breasts. Her eyes were a bright blue and she had elfin features, upturned button nose, slightly oversized eyes, and pouty lips. Her hair was naturally colored, as evidenced by her sparse pubic hair. She had a light dusting of freckles on her cheeks and upper chest. She wore a pair of checkered Vans, Daisy Duke shorts and a ‘Gamer Girl’ t-shirt in pink.

As they walked into the Emporium, they were struck by how much stuff was just packed everywhere. The place was a fire inspector’s nightmare, a veritable maze of clutter. There wasn’t an empty space or a straight aisle anywhere. It was like a meandering forest path, lined with cool and interesting things instead of trees. “This is SO cool!” Alyssa was the first to speak. “Look at this,” she said, holding up what looked like a monkey’s paw. “Put THAT down!” exclaimed Eugene. “Don’t you remember the story in English class last year? We don’t want anything to do with a Monkey’s Paw.” Alyssa laughed. “Gene, that was just a story. Wishes aren’t real, twisted or not.” Eugene wasn’t to be deterred though, “Alyssa, if you don’t put that down, I am leaving you here. Please.” Alyssa poked the paw at him but relented and put it back where she found it. As they wandered some more, Eugene found something he just knew he had to have. It seemed to call to him. It was an old gaming system, one he had never heard of. The cartridge said the game was Alladin’s PuzzleQuest, and the system was labeled SE__ Djinnesis, the letters were rubbed off, so he wasn’t sure of the manufacturer. He was pretty sure it wasn’t SEGA. The price listed was $23.99 which was within the limit Alyssa set on him. “Alyssa, forget the comic store, I found what I want here.” Alyssa wandered over to see what he had found and giggled at the name. “Some old knockoff of the Genesis? Really? THIS is what you are choosing? Well, whatever. Grab it and let’s go, since you freaked out on what I liked, I am bored with this place. Let’s go eat.”