kicks ✓ || namgi || k.th

023: sticks and stones

chapter 23: sticks and stones
location: pittsburgh, pennsylvania, day 2

Yoongi was the last to recover from his hangover.

He stayed in bed all day, only limping out of bed to use the restroom. When Namjoon ordered takeout for everybody else, he ordered the traditional American chicken noodle soup for Yoongi instead. Then, the others gathered next door and watched a rented Blockbuster movie while Yoongi continued his recovery.

Thank God by the next day he was finally all right again.

"So now that we are all operating normally again," Seokjin said, "I think it's important that we take care of business. I did some research downstairs and I found out there's a huge university nearby called Calneggie Melon...I think."

"Carnegie Mellon," Namjoon corrected. "I've heard of it, actually. It's a huge research school. We should go there first. Taehyung needs to email this Sara girl and find out what happened."

"Um. Yeah. About that." Seokjin gave Namjoon the saddest puppy dog eyes he could muster. "I kind of promised them we'd do something else first."

Namjoon sighed. "Can we do it in the morning?"

"Of course, if we leave now."

"Then we're all going to Carnegie Mellon after lunch. Deal?"

"Deal."

Jungkook drove, this time, after promising he would not push the supercharged button. They drove through downtown, which was winding and seemed like it would never end. It felt like they were crossing a river every thirty seconds, combined with going up and down hills. They crossed one final bridge, and Jungkook followed Hoseok's instructions to a parking lot.

Pittsburgh sat level with them now, but it all sat in a valley, like something out of a German folktale. Seokjin stood in front of his picked activity, grinning like an idiot. "So when we're in New York City, we get around a bunch of different ways, right? We take the subway, we ride the tram, we sometimes take a taxi. Well, here, you ride this!" He pointed to the huge tram that looked like it was going to go up the side of the mountain.

"How does it work?" Hoseok asked, in shock.

Namjoon looked at it from the side. "It looks like a train," he said, "but we'll just have to see."

The group went together to the ticket stand, and Namjoon paid for the tickets. They went inside the brick building and boarded one of the vehicles, sitting down. The ride started up, and slowly but surely, the tram went up the tracks. "Looks like there's some sort of rope pulley system that's being used," Namjoon said. "I'll have to read up on it when I get to Carnegie Mellon."

They climbed higher and higher. Jungkook and Hoseok sat right in the front, and as the car rose up, they got the best view of the city below. It was a different feeling than being in the Arch in St. Louis, but it felt more like a panorama, spreading out below them. Taehyung moved and sat by them, smiling widely as he looked out over the valley. Jungkook even pulled out his Duke Blue notebook and wrote about it, so he wouldn't forget.

It carried them all the way up the mountain, to another station. There was a shopping center there, and the boys ducked into a few shops before heading back down. They stopped for Chinese food, then went to a small store and got ice cream. Taehyung bought a disposable camera at the grocery store, and after they ate, they found a scenic lookout and took as many pictures as they could.

"We'll have to get those developed when we find a more sturdy place to live," Seokjin told Taehyung as they rode back down.

They all got in the van and drove back across Pittsburgh, Namjoon leading the way this time. Because of the hills and rivers, Carnegie Mellon felt even more widespread than Duke had. It took them an extra half hour and a bunch of wrong turns to find the library. They parked the van and all went inside, Namjoon and Taehyung going over to the computers. They had to purchase Internet time, but thankfully it was unlimited as long as they bought it in hour increments.

Namjoon went to work looking up information on the Monongahela Incline they had just been on. Taehyung, meanwhile, pulled up a website called Yahoo! and created a new email. He then went through the tutorial before putting Sara's email address in.

Hello Sara,

This is Taehyung. You called me V, remember? I wanted to finally email you and tell you that it's been fun talking with you. My friends and I are still traveling across America on our summer vacation. We had a question. We all got too drunk at the bar in Rochester, and none of us remember what happened. We think that you got us back in the van. Is that what happened? Even so, I want to see you again. Please email back.

"Take out the part where you say you want to see her again," Namjoon said, proofreading over Taehyung's shoulder.

"Stop looking over my screen, hyung," Taehyung glared, sending the email as is to Sara. He looked at the news happening in New York City. Then, just for fun, he put Sara's name in the Metacrawler search engine. Maybe he could find a phone number for her online!

Sara Dinah only pulled up one search result, from Encarta. An online encyclopedia? Since he was on the Carnegie Mellon computer, he could access it. It was something about a technology company out of New York City.

The current CEO of LaPostale Tech Industries is Roger Ernesto, married to Deborah LaPostale Ernesto. Roger took over from previous CEO Hubert LaPostale in 1965. Hubert is most known for his son, famous actor and singer "David James" LaPostale, who notably denied Hubert's offer to own the company in 1986. Hubert's daughter, Sara Dinah, passed away in 1958.