Stepping onto the front porch, Blake's car slowly drove away, and Jackson looked around. The dim sunlight stretched the shadows of people and overlapped each other. In this abandoned funeral home, there was actually a prosperous scene.
"Jackson, have you brought any money?" The girl stood in front of the door and asked with a smile.
Jackson nodded and looked at the boy standing at the door. He vaguely remembered that he was a classmate, probably named Eddie. He seemed to have been a partner in a social practice class, but the two of them got an A without doing anything.
"Then pay the admission fee!" The girl pointed at the boy.
"The entrance fee is more than one hundred dollars!" Eddie looked at Jackson and twitched the corner of his mouth.
"Enter what?" Jackson doesn't even know what this place is for now!
"Just give him ten dollars." The girl rolled her eyes and pushed Eddie.
"Elena! What are you doing!" Eddie didn't seem very happy, "It's not like he has no money!"
Jackson, who was too lazy to bother, was already taking out his wallet. The girl named Elena pursed her lips, took out two coins, and gave them to Eddie, "That's it! It's up to you if you want!" Then she pulled and touched them. Jackson, who was unclear about the situation, entered the main hall.
"Don't worry about him!" Elena pulled Jackson and walked inside, "His brother used to work here. He had the key, so he thought this place belonged to him!"
Jackson didn't care and started looking around the room, "What is this place for?"
Although the building has been abandoned, the basic functions are still there, and the lamps and decorations are still intact. The first room after entering is very spacious, (coffin exhibition hall) wooden brackets are scattered on both sides, and long wooden There are pizzas, drinks and the like on the boxes.
Jackson thought it was strange, because those 'wooden boxes' used as tables looked like coffins in every sense of the word!
Elena smiled, "You guessed it right! It's a coffin!" She walked towards a coffin. He picked up the food and drinks placed on top and handed them to Jackson, "Are you hungry?"
Jackson looked at the food taken off the coffin, shook his head, and watched Elena lift the lid of the coffin and hold a small shovel. I actually shoveled out a few ice cubes!
Elena smiled and threw ice cubes into the two drinks and pulled out two straws, one for herself and one for Jackson. "When the owner here left, these things were not taken away, so they were left here." She said. He tilted his head and said, "How can we not use it~"
Jackson didn't think the proper use of the coffin was to keep the ice warm, but never mind. He smiled, finished the drink, and took a sip. It was weirdly good.
"Come here~" Elena waved her hand, "I'll show you around."
Walking inside, in the second room (reception room), the large circular sofa has been occupied by boys and girls, apparently playing card games and making a lot of noise. Judging by their age, some are younger than Jackson.
"I thought this was our graduation party." Jackson looked at the boys and girls who were obviously not their age group. ask.
Elena shook her head, "This place is about to become an activity center. As long as you pay, you can come in." Elena blinked, "The entrance fee is more than ten yuan, and you can hang out here all day!"
Jackson pursed his lips. Continue to follow Elena, "How long has this place been like this? Isn't the Youth Activity Center in the West District free? Why are you here?"
Elena shrugged, "I don't know, it's been a month or two." Then she winked with a smile and pulled Jackson. Opened the door to the third room (office).
Empty display cabinets, empty desks, and desk clocks that had been left unmaintained. These things that were once part of the room were pushed aside, and the walls were lined with desktop game consoles. Each one was occupied by one or two people, and various electronic sound effects filled the ears.
Jackson also discovered the reason why these people were willing to spend more than ten dollars to come here.
On the side of each game console, round transparent cans are filled with game coins. The game is free!
Elena looked at Jackson's face, "Don't tell me you are also interested in this thing."
Jackson smiled and shook his head, "This is a waste of time."
Elena smiled and said, "Continue."
After leaving the game hall, the two entered the narrow stairwell. Elena pushed open the back room. The room that was not originally intended for anything was also filled with game consoles. Elena raised her eyebrows, "There's no need to look here."
Jackson nodded and looked at the stairs extending up and down and the door leading to the back porch. Under the dim light, Jackson could not see clearly, but there was a group of people doing something together in the backyard. They were vaguely of the same level. of graduates. Further back, there is a white building, I don’t know what it is for.
"What are they doing?"
Elena smiled and opened the back door, "Now you have to actually pay."
As soon as he stepped onto the back porch, a backpack was thrown in front of Jackson, "Elena, this guy is finally here! Otherwise you have to pay!"
Elena shrugged indifferently, opened her backpack, and checked the contents, "Flashlight, cushion, pillow, blanket..."
Jackson looked at the things inside and blinked in confusion, "What is this?"
"Your equipment." Elena glanced at Jackson, smiled, and looked at the boy who threw the backpack, "How much does it cost?"
"Seventy-two point five." The boy twitched his lips and reported an extremely precise number.
Jackson didn't bother to ask what he was doing and handed over a hundred dollars.
"Don't you have any change?!" The boy frowned.
"Okay, Eddie." Elena took the money and put it directly into the boy's hand, no longer caring about him, picked up the backpack and pulled Jackson towards the backyard.
After fully stepping into the back porch, Jackson could see more clearly.
The back corridor was blocked by a curtain hanging from the second floor. Several boys were on the second floor pulling the curtain to fix it. The back corridor was extended into a stage, and some people were arranging various equipment. At the back of the backyard, several people gathered around to arrange lighting equipment. Jackson understood that this was an open-air party.
Elena put Jackson's newly purchased equipment next to a pink backpack and said with a smile, "I've already taken a good spot~"
Jackson looked around and saw a bunch of people holding soft air mattresses lining up to inflate them, "So, this is our graduation party?"
"Yeah." Elena smiled, pulling out the inflatable mattress from her backpack and stuffing it into Jackson's arms, "You wouldn't think that just for the school's 'Jackson Bishop Graduation Speech Show'..." Elena smiled and gestured with quotation marks, "Can it give us a 'graduation' feeling?" Elena pursed her lips and lowered her voice, "Although you are the graduation representative, you won't I thought you could really represent us.”
Elena shrugged and looked around, "So, we made our own celebration."
Jackson was stunned, and looked around again at the classmates who couldn't even name a few names. He had never thought about this problem. For him, speaking at the graduation ceremony was 'job', and even the speech was not his. What he did was just memorize it.
Jackson shook his head, pursed his lips, and looked around. Since no one was taking care of the backyard, many weeds broke out of the hard khaki ground and stood at his feet. "You can just tell me to prepare some things, and I can pack them." Liszt's theatre." Jackson frowned, "We don't need to stay in this open air."
Elena rolled her eyes, "You really can't understand it at all, right!"
Jackson held an inflatable mattress that smelled of plastic and frowned. He really couldn't understand that the school auditorium was better than this.
Elena didn't seem to want to say anything more and pushed Jackson towards the place where the inflatables were lined up.
"Oh." There was no joy at all in the surprised voice, "Look who is here."
"Uh, our valedictorian is here."
"Elena, did you invite him here? Why?"
…
Not in a harsh way, just a helpless question.
Now, Jackson understood, he wasn't exactly welcome. These students just want to find someone who can get rid of the pressure imposed on them by the school and represent them, and enjoy graduation. If the activity is held in school and controlled by the school, it will eventually turn into a special show specially prepared for Bishop parents.
Only when they are not subject to any control can they have something that truly belongs to them.
As a result, Jackson still showed up. The third generation of the Bishop family wanted to leave.
Elena responded to these voices casually, "What does it matter! Without the arrangements of those adults, he is no different from us." Elena said in a joking tone, "He doesn't even have a driver~"
"What a big sacrifice!"
There is no malicious teasing. Now that we are here, there is no need to get entangled in messy things. Everyone seemed to accept Jackson's presence here and quickly returned to normal. Some people began to instruct Jackson to help organize the arrangements.
Elena patted Jackson and handed the things that needed to be inflated to her friend, "Let's go, I'll accompany you."
The two of them walked to what was supposed to be a corner of the stage and started helping with small tasks like moving things.
"Why did you choose this place?" Jackson looked at Elena and asked, "At first you said, I thought it would be some kind of adventure game."
"Haha." Elena smiled, "That's just to motivate you. What we create is comparable to those operas and ballets on Lister Street."
Jackson laughed and shook his head, "I hate that stuff."
Elena tilted her head and smiled, and explained seriously, "Because it's free here." She shrugged, "No one is taking care of this place anyway, and everything is complete. Everyone can use it after tidying up."
Jackson looked at the things around him. There were various musical instruments, projectors, and various stage props. "These things are free? Can you use them as you like?"
Elena nodded, "Yes."
"Isn't this a funeral home? Why are there these things?" Jackson was confused.
Elena smiled and said, "Eddie's brother is in some kind of band and sometimes uses this place to perform."
"band?"
"Yeah." Elena smiled, "Rock band, it seems to be goth. It seems to be very popular recently." (...)