"I can't believe you bought a lamp."
Dakota had been holding onto this thing like it had been made of solid gold, even as they entered the back alley between two abandoned stores. It may as well have been with the care she took when holding it. She didn't swing it by the handle, nor did she toss it up and down in her hand (like Zack and Piper were both wont to do). In fact, she almost cradeled it. Like she'd bought a cast-iron baby or something.
"Not even a good lamp." Piper pitched in, taking a second to quietly enjoy the fresh air, "There's like, no wires or anything."
"Yeah Dee, where are you gonna get oil to burn it?"
"Can't believe I wasted my family's one whole dollar so you could have a Hipster Lamp." Piper rolled her eyes, "You're totally getting lunch."
Dakota knew, consciously, that maybe buying this lamp was a dumb thing to have done. After all, that five bucks could have gone a long way at D's Donuts. But she liked this thing, and who were they to tell her that she'd made a bad decision? Piper was, like, the queen of bad decisions. Nobody would have dared told her that she'd bought a "hipster lamp".
Even if it did have a spot on it...
"Oh shoot..." Dakota suddenly exclaimed as she bent over, "How's it so dirty already?"
Grabbing the bottom of her tank top, Dakota began to rub on the black surface of her purchase. She'd had this thing for a grand total of, like, five minutes! And it was already so friggin' dirty! It must have been Abida's shop - that place was riddled with dust. No wonder she hadn't noticed this stupid spot...
"Jeezus Dee, what's with you?" Piper slowly turned to face her friend, "It's an old lamp. Old lamps have spots."
"I mean yeah, but... y'know, I paid five bucks for this thing!"
"We paid five bucks for this thing." Zack nodded affirmatively. "I get the lamp on weekends."
"Seriously?"
"Joint... custody or something." Zack trailed off, "I don't know."
Ignoring her friends (as best she could, anyway. These Daven's Port kids were hard to ignore!) Dakota continued to rub, rub, rub against her new lamp. How could she possibly justify spending a whole five dollars on something that got dirty so quickly? So stubbornly dirty. No matter how much she rubbed, that damn spot wasn't coming out any time soon...
"Oh my God, will you quit obsessing over this stupid thing?" Piper rolled her eyes and snatched the lamp out of Dakota's hand, "Here, if it'll shut you up..."
And so Piper tried. She rubbed and rubbed and rubbed. But nothing! It must have been a stain or something, because that spot wasn't coming out any time soon. Getting past Dakota was one thing. But Piper's freakishly strong hands? It may as well have been drawn on in permanent marker.
"Maybe it's like where oil spilled on it or something?" Zack took his turn with their prize, much to Dakota's protest, as he started rubbing. He licked his thumb and started pressing tightly against the dark spot.
"Zack!" Dakota hollered, "Don't get your spit all over my lamp!"
"It's... working... though..." Zack grunted as he pressed harder and harder...
"Zack, stop, you're-" Dakota warned as she tried to take the lamp back for herself, grabbing it by the handle
"Guys, oh my God can we just -" Piper did her best to snatch the lamp from Zack, pulling it by the head.
"I've almost..." Zack grunted
As the three friends bickered over their mutually purchased lamp...