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Laying down on his bed, laptop sitting on his knees, a packet of crisps next to his body, Josh was having the perfect day off as he'd been searching all day for new matchbox cars to add to his collection.
Because I freaking loves them, he smiled to himself as he continued looking down his eBay search results. He already owned majority of the ones on sale on the online store, he had a huge collection that he was quite proud of, and the ones he didn't own, well they just weren't what Josh was looking to add to his collection.
Josh was about to give up his search on expanding his present collection as he scrolled past the common blue matchbox car that he swore he had seen at least 8 of in the past hour, when his eyes stumbled upon a new car he had never seen before. It was a prime, mint-condition NASCAR matchbox car that Josh fell in love with instantly. This is perfect, he thought as he clicked on the link. He went through his usual routine, clicking the pictures, looking at reviews of the store, seeing the other merchandise available, before he decided that this was a legitimate sale. He smiled, already imagining how this new car would look with his current collection but when he began looking at the start bidding price, Josh's face fell.
$210 for a matchbox car? He sighed angrily. Josh understood that this car was special, it was one Josh had never seen before, and it was still in relatively new condition, but Josh just didn't have that kind of money to spend on a matchbox car. His job at the music store didn't pay him generously and he was already saving up for a new drum kit. But I really want this NASCAR matchbox car, Josh argued with himself, I just can't fork over that much money. He continued debating in his head whether or not he should start the bid, when he noticed that the bid was going to end in less than 4 minutes. No one else had bid on the matchbox car, and it seemed that Josh was the only person on the internet who was interested.
Feeling slightly guilty on what he was about to do, Josh clicked the start bid button and typed his number in the box allocated. Maybe I could actually win this, he thought, trying to rid himself of that guilty feeling that was starting to bubble in the pit of his stomach, I mean I didn't offer a number to low? Did I?
Josh waited patiently as he watched the timer count down to zero with no other bids on the matchbox car.
"Yes! All mine!" He exclaimed aloud to no one as he waited for the email conformation on his new NASCAR. But when he checked his email, there was no conformation about his newly prized possession, instead just a short email from the seller.
Hey, look I'm really sorry but you didn't even come close to what I was looking for in price, but if we meet up at a Dairy Queen, I can give it to you if you buy me lunch.
Shrugging his shoulders, he replied. Sure that seems fair enough. Which Dairy Queen?
A couple hours later Josh was waiting on one of the tables for the seller to meet him. Lucky we're in the same city, Josh had thought when the seller had suggested the Dairy Queen in Columbus, where both of the matchbox enthusiasts lived. He had no idea what this guy looked like, or sounded like, Josh only had a user name to go by, tylerrjoseph. Looking around the fairly deserted Dairy Queen, he tried looking to see if there were any other lone customers who may or may not look like they were into collecting novelty toy cars. It wasn't really a meal time so Josh's search was quick, but he saw no one that jumped out at him as a matchbox car seller. A few minutes past while Josh checked his Facebook when a slight tap on his shoulder bought him back to his surrounding.
"Spooky Jim?" The tall, nervous man whispered, looking extremely embarrassed. Josh automatically felt guilty for making this poor guy have to ask strangers if their name was spooky_jim. Josh decided he would change it when he got back home.
"Yeah thats me, Tyler Joseph?" Josh asked in reply.
"Yep, that's me," the brunette smiled, looking much more relaxed as he sat in the opposite chair, "and that's my real name. I'm going to assume that Spooky isn't your first name?"
Josh laughed quietly, "No, unfortunately," He presented his hand to Tyler as he spoke, "I'm Josh." Tyler took it and shook Josh's hand quickly.
A few moments of silence fell on the pair before Tyler asked, "So, the deal?"
"Oh right!" Josh exclaimed, "Sorry, what did you want to eat? Is it still good?"
Tyler sighed, running a hand through his short hair, "Look, here's the matchbox car," He bent down to collect the matchbox car Josh had been dreaming of for the past few hours, "but let's start a band instead?" Tyler looked back up at Josh as he placed the car in the middle of the table.
"Uhhhh," Josh was caught off guard, he assumed this would have just been lunch and nothing more, but now this guy wanted to start a band with someone he had just met? "Sure?" He replied sounding less than confident.
Tyler smiled wide as he threw the matchbox car away from their table and out through an open window near the pair, "Sweet! I already have some song ideas for our band about this exact moment."
Josh returned the smile, not quite understanding what had happened in the past few minutes, but understanding the good gut feeling he had about this new direction.