Rudy and Alice had reached school on time, but they still came after the first bell. They were talking about something while sitting at their desk, and Eric suddenly walked in.
"Yo, what's up?" Rudy greeted him.
"Nothing. As usual."
"It's rare to see you come late. Were you working late?" Rudy asked curiously.
"Nah, just trying to start my own little business." Eric pulled his chair and sat by Rudy's desk so they could talk more freely and privately.
"Huh? You already work with your mom, right? Don't tell me you both had some fight or—"
"No, nothing like that. I just thought it would be a good time to start thinking about my future. You know, like…" Eric chuckled wryly and muttered, "I can't always be dependent on her."
"You are not, though. If you don't do your job, someone else will. Don't treat it like a family business; just treat it like a regular job, and you will be fine," Rudy retorted.
"Oh, Nah. I don't plan to stop helping mom. Not right now. But I don't plan to take over her business. I want to do my own thing. But for now, I will just invest the money I have earned into stocks so, after five years, I can have enough funds with me to start my business," Eric explained.
"Is Erika back yet? You mentioned that your mom went to solve some issue there."
"No, she is not back yet. Mom returned the next day, but Erika plans to stay there for one more month and get her degrees."
"Wow. Here we are still in high school, and she is getting degrees even though we all are the same ages," Rudy chuckled.
"She might take over mom's business in the future."
"Oh? I mean, it's still too early for your mom to retire, right?"
"Definitely."
"Our second year is about to end in three months. Then, we would be in our final year," Rudy muttered.
"Yeah. Any plans for the future yet?" Eric asked Rudy and Alice. "Are you two planning to go to the same university?"
"Yes," Alice replied with a nod.
Rudy raised his brow in surprise and glanced at Alice.
'Even I don't know which university I am going to. I should probably go to the same one I did in my past life. Honestly, though… that place will give me chills when I visit for the first time. That is the place where my life was destroyed,' Rudy uttered inwardly.
"Oh yeah, Rudy. Do you have some money on you?" Eric asked curiously.
"Yeah. If you want, you can ask me at any time," he responded jokingly with a soft scoff.
"Sure. You better not go back on your word."
"Why did you ask, though?"
"I will give you some of the stock names. Just invest in them a little, and you will thank me in a few years." Eric took out a book from his bag and wrote 10 stocks names. Then, he ripped the page from the book and handed it to Rudy.
"Can I ask on what basis you selected these stock names?"
"Well, these are the only ones who managed to survive in the last two decades, even in the apocalypse and the pandemic. And they will surely go up even more in the next few years," Eric answered calmly. "But hey, man. I don't know the future. Anything can happen, and a few of them might collapse, so only invest the amount you are ready to lose."
"Yeah…" Rudy read the names and muttered, "Thanks for this."
"No worries, man."
Rudy took out his wallet and placed the folded paper in it.
"The wallet is ripped, dude. Why don't you get a new one?"
"I actually want to, but… no time," he sighed.
"Oh! Wait…" Eric took out a square box from his bag and placed it on Rudy's desk. "Take this."
"What's this?"
"Open it."
Rudy opened the box and saw a beautiful leather wallet in brand new condition.
"..." Rudy raised his brow at Eric and asked, "Do you have some kind of 4th-dimensional pocket in your back or something?"
"Of course not. Mom brought this from overseas."
"Is it okay to give this to me?"
"Yeah, she asked me to give this to you. Apparently, it was on a 'buy one get one free' deal."
"But this wallet looks expensive. And why did you suddenly remember to give this to me only after seeing my ripped wallet?" Rudy squinted his eyes and asked, "You better not be lying to give me this."
"Nah, man. This wallet is mine. And the one I was supposed to give you is at home. I thought you would drop by on weekends like before, and I will give you there. But you can have this one, and I will take that one."
Rudy put everything from his old wallet into the new wallet and said, "Say thanks to your mother for me, please."
"You will have to do that for yourself. She has been asking for you. Why don't you drop by later?"
"Uhh…" Rudy gulped down anxiously and nodded awkwardly, "Sure… when I get time."
Rudy looked at the brand symbol on the wallet and raised his brow with a curious look on his face.
'This symbol looks familiar. Where have I seen it before? In an ad or something?'
As Rudy was pondering, a girl approached Rudy and glared at him with a furious look on her face. Of course, the girl was none other than Janet.
Janet had been waiting for Rudy and Alice at the promised time and location, but they never walked by the street junction as they had teleported directly to the vampire gang. And later to school.
At first, she thought perhaps they were a little late, so she waited and waited, but they never came. She could have called either of them, but she didn't have their contact information.
So she decided to go to school as she was getting late, only to find Rudy and Alice happily chatting with Eric.
After seeing a murderous glare in Janet's eyes, Eric quietly moved his chair and returned to his desk.
"Any last words?"
