Chapter 46: ④⓪

Pay and Play and Lay and Lies.____________________

Pay and Play is the kind of place that feels like it belongs in a dystopian world where the sun's gone, and electricity is our only source of warmth. It's silent, dim, and has that eerie, underground gambling den vibe—but with flashy PCs and… Christmas lights? No, wait. It's worse. These lights are red, green, and blue, changing every ten seconds like some tacky party decoration.

"This place sucks," I mutter, rubbing my nose as the dust in the air tickles it. I point up at the lights. "What's with the Christmas lights?"

Carrie, walking a few steps ahead, twitches at my comment. She spins around, her face scrunched up in disbelief. "Christmas lights? Dude, that's the most boomer thing you could say."

Her neck bends forward, scrutinizing me as if I'd just aged twenty years in front of her eyes.

Boomer?

"What the hell is a boomer?" I ask, genuinely confused.