Before (Part 1)

Chapter Ten

Once they had gotten downstairs and into the lobby of the apartment building, the two girls saw Danny and Jake standing and talking, smiles on their faces as one would nod every once in a while, the other would use hand gestures, and they'd laugh. It was nice to see that they were getting along so well. April and Madi approached them silently, small smiles on their lips. From the corner of his eye, Daniel could see the two and turned around to face them, a huge grin on his face.

"Gosh, you girls take forever. It's nice to know that things didn't change." Jake remarked. April scoffed and smacked his arm lightly, causing him to rub his arm in a mock-hurt expression. They all laughed as Daniel took Madi's hand and they began to walk out of the lobby and out into the nightly New York air. Madi looked up at the night sky. The stars shined brightly through the smog and exhaust in the air, and Madi got a strange feeling that maybe they were glimmering just for her.

"So, where are we going?" April asked the guys as they walked down the sidewalk. Jacob and Daniel exchanged similar mischievious glances with each other, knowing something that the girls didn't. Daniel put his arm around Madi's shoulder as they walked, April on the farthest right end, then Madi, Daniel, and lastly Jake.

"Actually, Jake and I were thinking that maybe we'd hit Jeff's. Sound good?" Daniel asked. Of course, the teenager was talking about 'Jeff's Bowling Alley and Karaoke'. They used to all love going there when the gang had been together two years earlier. Daniel would always school them whenever they bowled, but Jake would win every once in a while. Madi and April loved to bowl as well, but they were more fans of the karaoke. So was Jake.

Jacob loved singing and music. After all, the whole reason he left New York was so that he could attend a fancy new music school he had auditioned for that was over two-and-a-half thousand miles away.

April's and Madi's eyes lit up with excitement as they started jumping up and down, squealing like little girls. They hadn't been to Jeff's since Jake had left; the place had been a hot-spot for them everyday after school and on the weekends. And when he had ditched them to go to a different school, they just never went back because it wouldn't have been the same.

Jake covered his ears, a smirk on his face, while Daniel let out a short chuckle.

"We'll take that as a 'yes'." Jacob stated as he pulled his hands down from his ears.

"Of course it's a 'yes'! We haven't been to Jeff's in ages!" April exclaimed with joy. The four continued to talk as they strolled down the street, their happy laughter and shouts echoing throughout the city. By the time they reached 'Jeff's Bowling Alley and Karaoke', they were already having the time of their lives, talking about old times and new memories and what had happened while Jacob was out messing around across the country.

But as they approached their old hang-out, what they saw made their jaws drop.

The building looked like it had aged a decade. Dust and cobwebs filled the windows as a faint glow came from inside. The brick walls were covered in graffiti, different colors of spray-paint layering every single inch of the hard rocks. A neon sign that would've been dangling from the over-hanging piece of wood that rested above the nearest window was no-where to be seen, most likely stolen or broken. The wooden door was barely hanging on by its hinges, deep grooves carved in the wood where a knife must've been stabbed into it multiple times. The four knew that this place was near the darkest, most dangerous place of New York, but it was always such a peaceful place when it came to the locals. Even the most deadly gangs in NYC would put down their guns and knives whenever they showed up.

"Oh no." Daniel said in shock as Madi put her hand over her mouth in pure dismay. April and Jake just stood there with their eyes wide open as they all took in the new scene. What on earth had happened? Madi was the first to move as she shrugged Daniel's arm off of her shoulders, then made a run for the tattered door that lead into their old favorite place to be. The other three followed as she yanked the door open, sprinting inside.

"Jeff! Jeff, you in here?" Madi shouted as she entered. The inside looked even worse than the outside. All the tables and chairs that would've seated guests were gone, except for one in the farthest corner of the room collecting dust. The lanes where people would've bowled all had 'out-of-order' signs taped on them, the screens above them that would've shown the scores of the players were all shattered and no-longer working, too. The stage next to the doors of the kitchen was still up, but was covered in folded blankets. One single lightbulb hung from the ceiling, which obviously had been the source of the glowing they had seen outside. The place looked abandoned.

But it wasn't.

"Madi?" she heard her name from the old table in the corner. All four of them turned around to face the source of the voice and saw a man wearing old dirty clothes. His face had splotches of dirt and grease scattered all over his skin, but the group could never forget the man's bright green eyes and stubble on his chin.

"Jeff." April, Daniel, Jake, and Madi all said at the same time.The four ran to him, April and Madi giving him a hug, while Daniel and Jake stayed a step away, too cool for hugs ("Guys don't hug, unless they're 'bro hugs'." Jacob had said one time.).  The middle-aged man hugged the girls back. Jeff had been like a father to all of them when it counted, and they were like his own children to him. He cared about them with all of his heart, considering the fact that he had never had a wife and children of his own.

"Dan, Jake, Madi, April," the dark-haired man said with a sigh of sweet, pure, relief. He hugged them for a long time, holding them close. "What happened to you guys? I know that Jake left, but you three just didn't come back."

"We couldn't come because it was too sad to be here without Jacob. It just wasn't the same without the entire gang. But what happened here? It's like the place just shut down." April asked as the three let go of each other. Jeff sighed as he sat back down in his old and dusty chair.

"I wish I could explain, it's just that....I can't." he sighed. "When you guys left, I guess the local gangs just decided to stop getting along. Without the entertaining competitions between Daniel and Jacob for the guys and the beautiful singing from April and Madi for the girls, I kind of just ran out of buisness and had to shut down. Now 'Jeff's Bowling Alley and Karaoke' has turned into 'Jeff's Slum for Homeless People'."

"This is so sad." April said as they all looked around the place. All the memories they had shared together, all the great times they had spent. As Daniel looked around, he saw one of the photos on the walls, covered in dust. Using his sleeve, he wiped away the grossness and looked at the picture clearly. In the picture was Madi and April sitting on the stage while Daniel and Jacob were standing on either sides of them when they were younger, probably twelve or thirteen years old. Huge grins were on their faces.

"I remember that." Madi said as she stood beside him. He nodded, letting her know that he could recall as well. Just looking at the picture made their hearts heavy.

"We can't let this continue." Jake stated as he looked at the dark and despairing bowling alley. There was an angry look plastered on his lips. "We have to do something about this." At that very moment, all four of them agreed. They refused to let their favorite place to be be thrown to the dogs.

They were going to fix 'Jeff's Bowling Alley and Karaoke' up.