Aayan Khan

As I fly down the beaten-down roads on my century-old moped, I realize I need money fast. I am famished, and I need some way to buy some food. I am so intently focused on my hunger that I don’t even notice the boy in front of my bike.

“Aah!” he screams.

“Sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

“How could you not?! I was wearing bright red...oh,” he says, realizing his mistake.

“Yeah, this entire city is red,” I note. “I’m sorry for hitting you with my bike. How about I take you to dinner to make up for it?”

“That would be pretty nice. Where should I meet you?”

“Meet me at Fire Palace at 7 P.M..”

“Ok. See you there.”

As I take my savings out of my motorcycle, I wonder how I’m going to earn enough money even to buy bread tomorrow. Things have been hard since my family died. I probably blew all my cash by promising him dinner, but it’s already done. I changed into the only dress I could get my hands on –– my mother’s. I’m tall for my age, so it fits. I enter the restaurant, excited, and start to reserve a table for two when I notice he’s already there, sitting down. I walk over and pull out the other chair. I feel my heart beat faster as I notice his sharp suit, fiery eyes, perfect face, and immensely cheerful grin.

“Hey there. How’s it going?”

“Good. Sorry, I hit you with that motorcycle in the morning.”

“It’s fine. I just wasn’t being careful.”

“What were you doing, anyway?”

“I was jogging to the boat station. To meet with my team.”

“Team? For what?”

“You haven’t heard of the EFA? The Element Fighting Arena?”

“No.”

“Well, it’s an arena where people ages 16 to 25 can compete in fighting matches for the grand pot of five hundred thousand wei.”

“That’s a lot of money. Can you tell me how to sign up?”

“Umm, you’d need a team of four people from each of the element groups and five hundred wei as an entrance fee. You probably couldn’t make a team because there are only two days left before the tournament, but you could come and watch us.”

“I’ll pass. Any chance I could join your team?”

“Sorry, that couldn’t happen unless one of our team members left, and I highly doubt they will.” He pauses. “I never did catch your name; what is it?”

“Sylvie. Sylvie Resete.”

“My name is Joshua,” he says with a smile.

“Let’s order some of those spicy noodles that this place is famous for.”

“I second that,” I say with a wide smile. As we devour our scrumptious noodles, we talk more about the EFA and have a great time.

“That was great. Waiter! The bill!”

“Oh no, you don’t have to pay for me. I’ll pay.”

“No, I insist.”

“I will pay for the bill.”

“At least let me pay for half.”

“Okay. Fine.” I say, fakely grudgingly, while grinning. After we pay the waiter, he says he has to go.

“I would stay longer, but my teammate Emily wanted to talk to me about something. Maybe I’ll catch you sometime later?”

“Maybe,” I say with a smirk.

As he walks away, I stow my moped in a nearby alleyway and change. I notice it’s nighttime and sigh quietly, knowing it’s going to be another rough night, stuck in my faded clothes.