As Mr. Huff, disguised as his 12 year-old self, continues to stare at the house, inside the same house, Rob senses that someone is outside his house, so he walks over to the window and looks out, his eyes widen when he spots a 12 year-old boy he never has seen before, standing in front of his house. The boy has a sad expression on his face, ‘I wonder who that is and why he looks so sad,’ Rob thinks to himself, ‘only one way to find out’.
When Mr. Huff notices Rob appearing in the window, he has to fight the urge of smiling, ‘didn’t take long for him to notice me,’ he thinks to himself.
Mr. Huff watches as Rob disappears from the window and soon the door of the house opens and he sees Rob stick his head out, looking straight at him, “who are you,” Rob asks, “and why are you staring at my house?”
Mr. Huff tries to look as nervous and innocent as he can, the former man rubs the back of his head sheepishly, “s-sorry…,” he says, “it… it’s just that… I um… I’m kinda new around here. I… I don’t really have any friends yet. An-and back at my old home… n-no one really wanted to hang out with me… s-so I never have been invited to a b-birthday party… and… and no one came to mine”.
“Oh,” Rob says, “that’s why you look so sad?”
Mr. Huff nods, “y-yeah… when I saw the sign on your door,” he says, “it… it reminded me how lonely I am. I… I just wish I could, at least for one day, experience having fun”.
Rob tilts his head, Mr. Huff knows that the boy is thinking, after a while Rob says, “I normally like to get to know new kids first, before inviting them into my house. But… you look so sad, and I hate seeing other kids sad and miss out on fun”.
Mr. Huff acts surprised, he widens his eyes, “y-you… you don’t mean?”
Rob smiles and nods, “uh-hu,” he says, he then steps aside, “please, come in”.
Mr. Huff almost jumps in celebration and manages to stop from storming towards the house, instead he puts on a unsure expression, “what about your friends?”
“Oh, don’t mind them,” Rob says, waving his hand, “it’s MY birthday, so I can invite ANYONE I like! Now, come on in!”
Mr. Huff mentally grins, ‘that was easier than I thought,’ he thinks to himself as he walks up the path towards the house, ‘hehe… I can’t wait to mess with them and try some sweet options in the App!’
“My name is Rob,” Rob says when Mr. Huff enters the house.
Mr. Huff smiles, “I’m Ryan,” he says.
“Cool name,” Rob says, smiling back as he leads the “boy” into the living room where the others are. “Hey guys,” Rob says as they enter, “I want you to meet Ryan,” he then turns to Ryan and introduces the others, “this is Darren, Eric, Zack and Ben,” pointing to each boy.
Ryan nods, “pl-pleasure to meet all of you,” he says, keeping his act of “nervous new kid on the block” up.
The others tilt their heads, “how come you know Rob,” Darren asks.
“I… we just met,” Ryan says.
The other boys turn to look at Rob, “really, Rob,” Eric says, “you invite a kid you don’t even know into your house?”
“Hey,” Rob says, “stop being such a skeptical “I don’t trust anyone” guy, Eric. It is MY house and MY birthday, and he looked so sad and after explaining his situation to me, I thought why let him in on the fun?”
“Okay, fine,” Eric says, throwing up his hands, “I don’t want to start an argument with you. It’s just that I am getting a weird vibe from him,” he adds, giving Ryan a skeptical and “I don’t trust you” look.
Rob rolls his eyes, “dude, you really need to start to learn to chill,” he says.
“Rob is right,” Zack says, “Ryan doesn’t seem to be a weirdo, he looks really nervous”.
“Yeah,” Ben adds, “I would be nervous myself if I would move to an area where I don’t know anyone”.
“So, why don’t we all try to make this as welcoming for him as possible, and let him have some fun with us,” Darren adds.
Eric looks between his friends and Ryan, who looks at him with his best “please, give me a chance” look. The boy then groans, “okay, okay,” he says in defeat, “I promise to try to not make this uncomfortable for him”.
“Wh-why are you so… um… skeptical of new people,” Ryan asks.
Eric looks at Ryan, “that is none of…,” he then stops when Rob coughs and gives him a warning scowl, Eric then sighs, “I mean… I had some experiences which I don’t want to talk about”.
“I… I understand,” Ryan says.
“Okay, enough of this,” Rob says, “let’s all just calm down and get on with the party”. He turns to Ryan, “are you hungry,” he asks.
Ryan nods, “a little,” he says.
Rob smiles, “why don’t we all go into the dining room and have something to eat,” he suggests, “we can get to know each other better while we eat”.
Ryan smiles, “sure,” he says, he then follows the others into the dining room, grinning inwardly, ‘hehe… this’ll be a fun day… for ME at least!’
As the boys, and former grown up, now disguised as a 12 year-old, sit around the table, Ryan has his phone out, hiding it under the table, and, knowing where the App is located and have memorized where the scan-function is located, he scans all the boys without them noticing. Ryan has set his phone to vibrate, so that it does not make a sound when the scanning is completed, the “boy” grins inwardly when he feels his phone vibrate, ‘now to find a way where I can be by myself and start having some fun with these kids,’ he thinks to himself. After a while he gets an idea, he turns to Rob and says, “Rob, I’d need to use the bathroom”.
“Sure,” Rob says, “it’s located right by the front door”.
Ryan nods, “I’ll be right back,” he says.
“Have fun,” the other boys say.
“Haha… very funny,” Ryan says rolling his eyes and walking out of the dining room.
After Ryan had left, the boys look at each other, “he is actually quiet okay,” Darren says.
Eric sighs, “yeah… I guess he is,” he says, “but I still have a weird feeling about him”.
Rob chuckles, “Eric, aren’t we ALL a little weird?”
Eric shrugs, “I guess,” he simply says.
Ryan meanwhile, has locked himself in the bathroom, he’s sitting on the toilette, staring down at his phone, “okay,” he says quietly to himself, grinning, “with whom should I start?”