🎮𝕁𝕒𝕪🎮

"Same place, same time?" I hear a muffled voice call out to me.

I take off my earbuds and close my phone, turning to face my best friend.

"What did you say?" I tell him, and he immediately wraps his arm around my shoulder.

He pulls up my sunglasses with his other, putting them on himself. "Are we streaming again tonight?" he says.

As tired as I am from today's interview (my mum's agent really needs to stop sending me to modeling gigs), I can't help but want to relax a bit. And I guess that playing Prime Empire with your best friend can be considered relaxing, even if it's in front of thousands of people.

But then again, sometimes it's good to just play on your own.

"Nah," I say, waving my hand dismissively, "it's only Wednesday, we can postpone it to tomorrow."

He pulls out his phone, already typing the announcement on Chirp. "I'll let them know."

Yeah, them; the thousands of people that probably only watch us because of our dads. Although, to be fair, Cole is a musician like his dad, just not really the... musical type. I don't think he has the heart to tell him that, though.

As for me... yeah, me and dad are like opposites. I'm not exactly allowed to do anything I like unless it's...

"Central Ninjago Uni," my friend says, which makes my head turn towards the university of my dreams.

Engineering, programming, computer science... All in one place.

But, of course, it's not fancy enough to catch my dad's interest. Plus, the fact that he hates any one of my choices that isn't acting.

My gaze lingers on it just a bit longer as we pass, and I can already see some people taking photos of us from inside the campus.

"Great..." I grumble, taking back my sunglasses and pulling up my hood as I put them on.

"So, did you manage to get by that boss fight?" Cole asks. "I've been stuck on it for days now. That giant rat just won't die and it's driven me insane! Not even Zane can get through it!"

I smile, knowing I've already beaten said boss three times. Of course, no one can know about it.

"No, not yet. But we can finish it up on stream if you want to. I looked up a strategy to save stamina," I say.

Suddenly, he snorts. "You, a strategy? Who are you, Zane?"

Our friend can be a bit... odd, sometimes, but that doesn't mean we don't love him. To be fair, though, Zane's strategies always help us, even if we don't get to see him as often.

I guess working for your future, ultra rich father-in-law doesn't leave much time for video games.

"Do you want to get through the stage or not?"

He lifts his hands in the air and smiles. "Your call, chief."

But, suddenly, his face drops. "Speaking of chief..." he mutters.

I follow his gaze and groan internally as the black limo pulls up on the pavement in front of us, the driver looking just as tired as us.

Before I can even get the chance to feel sorry for him, the backseat window rolls down, revealing none other than my... agent.

"Weren't you supposed to be modeling with hot chicks right now?" my agent... Dareth, says, his elbow leaning on the open window.

I sigh. "I didn't get the gig."

"Get in," he tells me.

"But—"

"Now."

Frustrated, I give Cole a wave and scoot inside, knowing what awaits me when that window rolls up.

The limo starts and I don't get to say a proper goodbye, instead being met with the loud sound of munching near my ear.

Dareth offers me a chip but I decline, yet he continues eating.

He finally gulps and puts them away. "Why are you failing them intentionally?"

I refuse to speak, crossing my arms and looking out the window.

"It's about the college thing, isn't it?"

"University."

"If your dad says no, then it's a no," he says. "You know you can't do anything about it."

"I'm twenty, Dareth! I'm an adult, I can make my own decisions!"

We stop at a red light, making me glad our driver can't hear us.

Dareth just shrugs nonchalantly, buttoning up his jacket. "Well, you know he won't fund it if you do so."

In a way, he's right. Dad is... well, dad, and mum rarely ever talks about finances. My best guess is that dad's the only one involved with those things. I have no idea, honestly.

But nevertheless, I sure as heck know that mum supports my decision. But dad never budges.

Sometimes, I like to compare him to Fritz Donnegan. How the very character he plays is just like him. Kind, heroic, a good husband and father...

Their only difference (minus the superpowers) is that my dad is really, really stubborn.

But hey, every hero has flaws, even if that flaw is not letting me achieve my dreams.

"Stay pouting all you want, I'd pay to take photos with models in your place," he says, opening his can of beer and taking a huge sip.

"If you say so," I say, grabbing my backpack as the vehicle comes to a stop.

I thank the driver and quickly say goodbye to Dareth, hoping that he'll just drop it.

"Jason," he says. "Talk to him. We both know what you want."

I slowly nod.

"Oh, and be at the studio at 3PM sharp. You can't avoid a charity event."

Yeah, because me being half-naked in front of a camera for two hours will totally help all the sick kids in Ninjago.

Usually, my dad is the one to dress up as Fritz and go visit sick kids in hospitals, but, in me and my mum's case, we do modeling events for them. I'll never understand why we can't just donate the money ourselves. I don't see my dad donating any money, but his fans sure do.

Whatever, I'm too tired to think of it right now.

I put in the password to unlock the front gate, feeling refreshed when I finally breathe some fresh air. Sure, a mansion may not seem that... environmental, but the garden around it sure is. Mum and that new gardener (Bolobo, I think?) have planted some really nice lilies by the front door.

Of course, every flower is blue; our favourite colour.

I grab my keys and walk inside, the smell of fresh bread immediately flooding my senses.

I remind myself that it's Wednesday and I immediately feel excited again.

I drop my bag and run to the kitchen, wrapping my arms around the two people inside.

"Oh, you're home quite early," Edna tells me, holding a sack of flour in her hand. As she puts it down, she smiles. "Did ya do well in the interview?"

I looked at her and Ed, feeling a pit on my stomach. They took care of me all the time when I was younger, I'm lucky they even stuck around to help my parents (well, mainly my mum). Because of that... I know I can't lie to them. But letting them down is the last thing I need have on my mind right now.

"Perfect," I give them a fake smile, quickly changing the topic. "Is mum home yet?" I say, going to grab a loaf of bread, but she slaps my hand away.

"She's sleeping," Ed tells me, lowering his voice. "You can go to your room while we clean up. We've made your favourite."

I grin excitedly as I leave, knowing I have all the time in the world to myself.

I rush to my bedroom and into its bathroom to wash my hands, changing into my pyjamas in the matter of a few seconds.

I don't care that I'm hungry, thirsty, or tired anymore. My mind's focused on only one thing.

I plop down on my office chair and spin around, gently kicking underneath my desk to turn on the PC. I look at the monitor with impatience, but as I watch the light turn green, my gaze finally darts to the three screens in front of me.

In this case, though, I only turn one one on, the central one.

I smile to myself, seeing that the game is already open.

Would you like to join the Empire?

My user information is filled in automatically, but I delete it. It's not fun playing when everyone can recognise you.

I mean, what kind of username is Jason_Gordon, anyway? Not a fun one, I'll tell you that much. Just a marketing decision by your agent so that everyone will be able to recognise you while you play.

I pull a sticky note from inside my drawer, filling in a different set of information.

User ID:

SuperstarRockinJay

Username:

Rockin'Jay

I chuckle at myself every time I see the name, but I couldn't think of anything else. Besides, no one can recognise me like this.

I log in, admiring my avatar while the game updates itself. I'm not usually one for flashy outfits myself, so I know that Cole would never let me live this down if he ever saw my character.

A blue, shiny, Elvis-like outfit, blue skin, white hair... The only thing missing is the electric guitar (which I did make my weapon in the game, to be fair).

The game finally loads, but I'm only met with a ton of announcements once I reach the high-level lobby.

Hydra has been slain by BetaJ_137

Hydra has been slain by RatKing007

Hydra has been slain by Scottyboi23

I know I shouldn't laugh (really, it makes me feel like a jerk), but I really can't help myself.

Looking at the person's profile, they have obviously just joined the game. I remember when I accidentally joined in with high-level players on my first week, they just kept killing me over and over (I was easy bait, to be fair).

I'm not exactly obligated, but I send them an invite anyway.

Quickly, I clumsily make a private room for the two of us (if you can even count a digital space arena as a 'room') and wait for them to respond.

At last, they did.

I could tell they were a bit confused, so I just walked up for them and gave them a sword.

You know, for a game that originated on arcades, the animations on these modern versions are surprisingly good. Crazy how realistic the graphics are at times.

"Thanks."

Upon seeing the text bubble appear above their avatar's head, I smile.

"Maybe go into the lower areas next time," I type back, adding a smiley face at the end.

I walk up next to them and compare our avatars. I mean, they've obviously gone with the female body type, so that's one major difference, but if I'm being honest, we look like total opposites.

She (their character) has red skin, yellow eyes, black hair tied in a bun... Her ears and tail almost remind me of an axolotl, and her clothes are colourful, albeit not as flashy as mine.

Still, it's... odd.

I wait for them (her?) to say something, but they don't.

I open my phone and look at the time, setting it back down on the desk. I've got some time.

"Want me to teach you the basics?" I type.

"Sure," is the word they reply with, which starts an hour-long session on our part.

I have to admit, it's a bit more frustrating than it should be... But not as frustrating as teaching Edna how to use a phone, so there's that.

I help equip them with some spare weapons (not to brag about me being at max level or anything), I try to teach them some cool combos to pull off in the arena battles... I don't expect them to defeat Unagami, the final boss, on their first day, but hey, it's still progress.

Through all of that, we take our time to chat. We don't talk about much, but they're still nice to talk to.

"I joined because of a club requirement," they type. At least one of us has good grammar. "That's what I get for not reading the manual first."

They actually type, well, competently, so I have this instinct in me to copy it. I try to dust off my dictionary and type something in properly for once.

"Now I'm intrigued," I say. "Is it a long story?"

"Not exactly."

I hear my name being called from downstairs.

Despite only an hour having passed, I'm still sad to say goodbye to my friend.

"Gotta go, but I still want an answer," I say. Almost immediately, I send them a friend request on their actual PC account.

When I look at the User ID, my curiosity skyrockets.

"User0108? How come you don't have an original one?"

"Couldn't think of one," they say, clicking on the shrugging emote in the game, which makes me chuckle slightly.

"I'm sure you'll find something. Gotta go!"

I don't even wait to hear their response before I log off, grabbing my phone and rushing downstairs.

But when I arrive at the kitchen, Ed and Edna are nowhere to be found.

Only my parents.

"We sent them home," my mum said, and my stomach grumbles as I realise that the food isn't even ready yet. "We needed to talk to you."

I look at them both, but my father is the quiet one.

I slowly nod, following them to the couch as we all sit down, her and dad keeping a distance from one another.

"What is it?" I frown. Last time we were like this was when Cole's mum... well, yeah. I didn't understand death as a kid, and neither did he. That talk will be forever engraved in my memory.

For that reason, my mind races through every single person I know, guessing which one could've died.

"We're getting a divorce."

I physically flinch at that moment.

"This is the worst moment of my life," I think to myself over and over again.

But what I don't realise is that it'll get worse.

Much, much worse.