Papa's Romanceria

In Which Boomer Finds Out

Rudy's POV

I woke up on Saturday and groaned. I checked my watch. 12:00. I got up and put on my blue shirt and black jacket (they both have spades), and my white jeans and black sneakers. That's the only thing in my closet. It's strange how we don't have malls or shops. Just restaurants. That's how The Programmers made our world. No one has ever seen them though.

I live in Toastwood. One time I went to Starlight City, but my mom found me. My mom always finds me when I run away. It's like she has a chip installed in me or something, Anyway, I headed outside and met my friend Boomer Steel. She lived next door. Boomer was also a daredevil. She had these awesome shows where she would be shot out of a cannon. I almost got shot out a cannon. But guess what? My mom found me.

"What's up, Rudy?" Boomer said, punching my arm. I noticed that her other hand was bruised and asked,"What happened?" She stared at her hand. "Oh, nothing. Just an accident with the cannon. That's all." I rolled my eyes and said,"Boom, maybe you should take a short break." She frowned and kicked my shin. "Boomer doesn't take breaks. Boomer is strong. Boomer is powerful. See?"

She stretched out her sore hand and punched me. "Ow!" Boomer shouted. I gave her an I-told-you-so look. She huffed and said,"Who cares? It'll clear up by the time we get to Papa's Pancakeria. It always does." That was another weird trick made by The Programmers. If we had a sore, broken, or cut part of our body, it would heal by the time we got to a restaurant. One of the perks of being in this video game.

We entered Papa's Pancakeria and got in the short line. It always started short, but got bigger every day. One day short, the other long. Even though the line was short, Boomer still scared off the customers. If today's breakfast wasn't good, she would probably close down this place... Maybe. Boomer might not like a lot of food people cook, but she never closes down restaurants. Maybe another trick by The Programmers.

Then I saw her. Prudence McDonald. I immediately cut in front of Boomer. "Hey! You can't just-" I held my hand on her face and ignored her. Prudence blushed and said her little intro. It wasn't a part of the game, but she did it anyway. "Hi, I-I'm Prudence McDonald. My favorite restaurant is McDonald's, even though we don't have one in Toastwood. I would still like to go to McDonald's one day. In The Real World."

She stopped talking when she noticed me. That's my Prudence. Always changing subjects in conversations. Nobody knows I like her. Not even Boomer. I prefer to keep my secret to myself. "What would you like?" Prudence said, looking down at her notepad. When she took my order, I noticed that she was writing in the exact same spot the whole time. What the heck was that about?

Prudence took Boomer's order and we sat at a brand new table. There was new furniture almost every day. "Can you believe that airhead? She messed up my order!" Boomer said, crossing her arms. She was grabbing her throat as if she were choking in line. I'm guessing she was programmed to not like food. "Everyone "messes up your order", Boomer," I said, frowning through my sunglasses.

I took a bite out of my toast and smiled. Prudence made the best toast. "Well, she always messes up my order," Boomer said," rolling her eyes. I didn't know we could do that. I thought only people from The Real World could. I frowned at Boomer. "Why you gotta be so rude?" I learned that from Magic, one of my favorite Real World bands. I don't see why lots of Humans don't like the song. I think it's pure genius.

"Why are you being so defensive?" Boomer asked, raising an eyebrow, which I didn't even know she had. "Well," I said, "maybe Prudence worked really hard on those pancakes. Maybe she made those with good intentions, but no. Boomer has to always bring the house down. Boomer always has to be the party pooper." Boomer rolled her eyes and said,"Yep. There's something really wrong here. And I'm gonna use my Boomertude to figure out what."

I groaned. When Boomer was a small pixel, she started using her "Boomertude" to figure out things. It actually worked most of the time, but it was still annoying. "Okay," Boomer said. "You always skip me in line. You never get offended when I make fun of other people, but when it comes to Prudence, you get offended. That can only mean one thing." I looked at her. There's no way she can know, right?

"You like Prudence!" My jaw dropped. Stupid Boomertude! "I can't believe it. The Rudy Johnson has fallen in love with-" I covered her mouth and said,"No, no no! Don't say that!" Boomer bit my hand with her vampire-like teeth and I drew my hand back. "I've got to tell someone," Boomer said, getting crazy eyes. I shook my head. "Boomer, you've got to promise you won't tell anyone. Or I'll tell everyone that you have a crush on Alberto."

Boomer gasped. She's had a crush on Alberto Rodriguez ever since he broke up with Penny Dallas. He had lived in Calypso Island, but moved to Toastwood due to a small tsunami. Luckily, Penny didn't survive. "You wouldn't!" Boomer said, punching my arm (third time today). "I would," I replied, nodding my head. Boomer linked my pinkie finger with hers. "I pinkie promise. I won't say a word!"

Even though Boomer was totally worried that someone would find out about her crush on Alberto, I still couldn't help but feel like she was lying.