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[b][color=#9dd7d1]|[/color][/b] [color=#dc143c][b]𝖫𝖮𝖢𝖠𝖳𝖨𝖮𝖭[/b][/color] [b][color=black]:[/color][/b] ANGEL GROVE COMMUNITY CENTER [b][color=#9dd7d1]|[/color][/b] [b][color=#dc143c]𝖨𝖭𝖳𝖤𝖱𝖠𝖢𝖳𝖨𝖮𝖭𝖲[/color][/b] [b][color=black]:[/color][/b] VALLORY & ROSS [b][color=#9dd7d1]|[/color][/b] [color=#dc143c][b]𝖬𝖴𝖲𝖨𝖢[/b][/color] [b][color=black]:[/color][/b] [url=https://youtu.be/ETVtZlX2kLQ]"Imma smile right through it..."[/url] [b][color=#9dd7d1]|[/color][/b][/center]

[indent][indent][indent][b]“You’re too rich for our blood, Sly,”[/b] David said, leaning against the ΩΑΞ's (Omega Alpha Xi) booth. It had the honor of securing a corner spot and the extra space that went with it. Along with the red, blue, and gold decorated booth, there was a dunk tank. Currently, they were both empty as people were slowly trickling by, but eyes hadn’t quite peered into that lofty setup. So, the three members of the booth weren’t really paying attention. The flyers promoting a brotherhood centered around the accomplishments both scholastic and athletic were still tied up, and cardboard signs that insured an enriching experience laid on the ground.

[b][color=#dc143c]“Oh, come on, David,”[/color][/b] Sloane said, resting a baseball bat on his shoulder. He glanced at Travis, who was pretending to look at his shoes. [b][color=#dc143c]“Alright. Alright. I bet you twenty bucks that I can do it.”[/color][/b]

Travis and David perked up about that time. [b]“Fine fine,”[/b] the latter said. [b]“I want to see this.”[/b] He reached for his wallet. [b]“And I want my money back with interest when you fail.”[/b]

[b][color=#dc143c]“Yes!”[/color][/b] Sloane grabbed the bills out of their hands and stuffed them into his pockets. Oh, they weren’t getting them back. A few passers-by eyed the three young men, trying to figure out if they were affiliated with the booth they were in front of. Sloane caught their gaze and flashed a bright smile. [b][color=#dc143c]“Come one and all!”[/color][/b] he announced, engaging his diagram. [b][color=#dc143c]“Watch what sort of excellence that the Oh-Au-Xi welcome into their numbers!”[/color][/b]

David snickered and moved towards the dunk tank—removing his bright red ΩΑΞ jacket. He climbed in. They’d rigged the thing to not fall unless [i]a lot[/i] of pressure was applied to the target. It would be far more than a kid with a baseball could achieve. It wasn’t because they wanted to disappoint anyone, but there were certain safety certificates that none of the frat brothers had remembered to get.

[b][color=#dc143c]“Lo and behold!”[/color][/b] Sloane leaned back, placing the knob of the baseball bat on his forehead, balancing it. Sure enough, it stood completely erect as he centered himself. [b][color=#dc143c]“Feel free to take pictures. Just remember to tag me.”[/color][/b]

David cupped his mouth. [b]“Boo! You’ll have to do more than that.”[/b]

Sloane couldn’t see the people in front of him, but he heard some light cheering and claps. Fine. If they wanted a performance—he’d give them one.  He leaned back, slowly lifting his leg and standing on his tip-toe. The bat wobbled but nothing happened. [b][color=#dc143c]“Huh?”[/color][/b]

There was a little more cheering. It was then that he hopped, changing legs, and kept the bat precariously in place. A few more leg switches, a twirl, and a stilted dance move or two, and he kept the bat nearly unmoving and completely unfallen. People were calling out now. [b][color=#dc143c]“One more,”[/color][/b] he said. [b][color=#dc143c]“And this one is for the ladies.”[/color][/b] There was a light bit of chuckling. Sloane’s knee was hurting by now, but he had promised.

It was then that a small crowd watched a twenty-something man in expensive, but apparently forgiving, khakis slide into the splits. Well, he was a half-a-foot from the ground, but there was only so much he could do in dress clothes. The bat wobbled. Sloane extended his arms. It stayed. The applause then came in earnest. He tilted his head forward, letting the bat fall into his hand.

Travis got behind the booth as a few interested parties moved towards it. David scoffed behind Sloane, only a foot back but a few feet upwards suspended over water. [b]“Whatever, I guess you earned it. Good to know that daddy McCabe paid all that money for you to be a circus clown.”[/b]

Sloane started to pull himself up, purposefully leaning into the target for support. It gave way, and the seat went out from underneath David—water splashing.

[b][color=#dc143c]“What was that?”[/color][/b]Sloane pressed his hand against his ear. [b][color=#dc143c]“Just as I thought, nothing.”[/color][/b]

David sputtered. [b]“When I get out of here, Sly, I’m going to kick your ass.”[/b]

Sloane glanced down at his wrist, pushing up the sleeve of the red ΩΑΞ coat. [b][color=#dc143c]“Oh look at that. It’s lunchtime.”[/color][/b] He took the bat in one hand, and shot David the finger with free one—hiding it away from the crowd. [b][color=#dc143c]“And I have forty bucks to get whatever I want in the shitty food court.”[/color][/b]

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Sloane winced as pain lanced through his knee and up his leg. He’d definitely overdone it. But he knew that if he didn’t fully commit he wouldn’t hear the end of it from David—the sentient pebble. And, hey, he’d made some money. His phone pinged a few times as people had started tagging him in photos and videos of that stunt. There were a few showing him purposely dunking David. He needed to rebound from that shit move pretty fast. Sloane glanced around at the decent but not sizeable crowd. No one would think negatively of promoting the event he’d already “volunteered” at. [i]Roped into, was more like it.[/i]

He hopped on a vacant table, grabbing his phone and panning it around as he recorded. A few people waved, a few people ducked into their clothing, and a few people gawked at the guy on the table in a bright red blazer, slacks, blue button-up shirt with roses on it, and boat shoes. Sloane pushed his blond hair from his face and turned the camera towards him. [b][color=#dc143c]“At the Angel Grove Youth Center with my boys, [i]Oh-Au-Xi[/i]s. Come join us. And if you come after lunch, you’ll have a chance to dunk this handsome face in the water.”[/color][/b] He leaned in, whispering. [b][color=#dc143c]“I know you want to.”[/color][/b] He then turned off the camera. Before he could hop off the table, he caught two figures at a table apart from everyone else’s. It only took a moment to recognize Vallory Vance from the wrestling league, and the guy that arranged the entire thing—Ryan or something.

Instead of getting off of the tables, he hopped to one that wasn’t too far away and was mostly vacant. There were a few gasps as he avoided everyone’s lunches with studied precision. A couple more table leaps later, and he’d fully pissed off most of the food court. That was fine, it just meant that they’d visit the booth later to dunk him. PR was PR. It didn’t have to be good.

[b][color=#dc143c]“Vallory Vance!”[/color][/b] Sloane said, loudly. He lifted his arms as if he was greeting an old friend. [b][color=#dc143c]“Can I get a picture with you for my gram? I assure you, it’ll get some more eyes on Starshine and the [i]Waffle[/i].”[/color][/b] It was then he glanced at the other person. [b][color=#dc143c]“And you too, the guy who organized the thing—Randy or whatever.”[/color][/b][/indent][/indent][/indent]

[b][color=#9dd7d1]|[/color][/b] [b][color=#dc143c]𝖳𝖠𝖦(𝖲)[/color][/b] [b][color=black]:[/color][/b] [@metanoia] [@Zoey Boey] [b][color=#9dd7d1]|[/color][/b]