𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐏 || 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟎𝐬 '

𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐈𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐃

ATLANTA, GEORGIA
October 4, 2002

It was Friday night and Rinx was the hottest place to be at. This was one of Atlanta's best hangout spots other than Cascades. See, Cascades was the rollerskating spot where all the teenagers with dope ass skating skills would school one another in competitions and shit. It was also the hangout spot for all of them hormonal high schoolers to search for someone to get their freak on with.

But Rinx was different. The only similarity between the two was that they both provided rollerblading services.

Rinx was all that. You couldn't get in unless you were 21 or over. Why? Well think of it like this - a rollerskating rink and a club combined. It was only open on Fridays and Saturdays after 9pm. The hottest DJs would be spinning all the latest hiphop and rnb hits, there was a concession stand on one side to purchase food and soft drinks, and on the opposite side there was a bar for all of your alcoholic needs - which of course, if you got way too drunk, security would pull you from the rink in a millisecond. They don't play.

Celebrities and local artists would come out and perform from time to time, and tonight, Rinx had ATL's most popular rap duo ready to shut shit down. Christopher Bridges and Rashawnna Guy, better known as Ludacris and Shawnna.

Only a few well known artists outside of Atlanta knew who they were since they were still on the come up. But down here? They were extremely popular and everyone loved them. The rink was a little over capacity, with nearly the whole city coming out to show them support.

There was about 30 minutes left before Shawnna and Chris went on. In the meantime, everyone was vibing out doing their own thing. Folks were pretty much familiar with one another at Rinx, it was usually the same people showing up, with a few new faces every other week.

But there were always those same 8 faces you couldn't miss. The group friends who had become inseparable since the day they all met.

Over at the 'Skates Pick-Up & Drop Off', you had Nicholas, who really only applied for this job at Rinx to meet some women.

"Can I get a size 6, please?"

"Lemme see your ticket." Nicholas smirked at the beautiful female standing in front of him.

She pulled it out of the back pocket of her baby phat jeans and handed it to him. He retrieved the skates for her, placing them down on the counter. "How 'bout you give me your number as well and I can take you out some time?"

The woman mean mugged him before grabbing the skates. "I have a boyfriend. Bye." She rolled her eyes and stormed off.

Nicholas scrunched up face as he watched her walk away. "So what that got to do with me?!"

At the concession stand Nicholas' sister, Natasha, was busy working away. The siblings moved down to Atlanta from New York for college a few years back. Since graduation, they decided to stay here permanently because they loved it that much.

Their jobs at Rinx were just part-time gigs to get a little more cash on the side, and to also be able to still see their friends and have some sort of fun since they were always busy working at their other jobs during the weekdays. Natasha became a full-time Early Childhood Educator after graduating, and Nicholas became a Kinesiologist. One thing about the Hastings siblings was they did not fuck around when it came to their education.