>>5724763“Well <span class="mu-i">yea</span>...” The skater fires back! “Her dad’s probably, like, dealing with demons or something, dude… I think I’d turn out pretty fucked up too if my mom was, like, buying produce from Hell!”
So what, you frown, she just gets a pass?
“Nah, but…” Groans Raj as he massages his temples, “Look, it’s hard when you haven’t known ‘em for long, but Mina? She acts all professional, but she’s hurting, y’know? She just covers it up really good with Student Council and stuff.”
Well, you add, taking care to avoid spilling too many details, what if she uh… what if she’s trying to cover things up here? At… at any cost?
Raj perks up a bit at that.
“... Woah, man…”
Yea, you nod, <span class="mu-i">woah</span>.
“Well…” The skater continues in an uncertain voice, “At the end of the day she’s not her dad, dude… that’s, like, her number one thing right there. And the Mina we know, well… I think she’d do everything she could to avoid being like him, y’know?”
Everything, huh?
“Yea…” Raj repeats, “She knows just what to say and do to give people that push… like one time we had this school carnival, right? But no one was gonna volunteer for it.”
Makes sense, you scoff, you wouldn’t want to do that either!
“So she talked with Bill, right?” The skater continues, “And there was this announcement the next day about how she’d just hire workers for the thing, but there’d be an admission fee… even for students!”
You’re betting that didn’t go over well.
“Not in the least, man!” Laughs your bro! “The assembly musta’ been over for, like, two seconds before people began volunteering to set up and run the thing! So she scrapped the hired help idea and apologized the day after… said that the Student Council changed its mind because people spoke up!”
You find yourself rubbing your chin as you contemplate the story. So that’s how it is, huh?
“She might not be, like, the cuddliest person,” Shrugs Raj, “But she’s always, like, Chessin’ it up in her head, y’know? Finding ways to get people to do stuff without knowing she planted the idea seed…”
A goofy laugh escapes the skater's mouth. “Hell, she probably knew you were gonna ask me about her! Mina, man… she’d be one hell of a store manager, bro…”
That she would, you nod as you mull over Raj’s words, that she would…
Anything else you’d like to ask him?
>DID THE NURSE SAY ANYTHING TO YOU?>I WANNA TALK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED.>YOU AND DARREN GONNA BE OKAY?>ANY THOUGHTS ON (CHARACTER)?>WHAT’S YOUR NEXT STEP, RAJ?>NEVER MIND, I’LL LEAVE YOU TO IT!>WRITE-IN! 