They made a pass through one of the watering holes. Then killed off a few of the whiptail lizards. Working together, it was easier but took a lot of effort. Plus they were rather scattered over a large area so wasn't that productive. Then it was getting late.
"What do you have so far?" Ella asked.
Jake ticked off, on one hand, currently covered in just the fingerless glove. "Forty One cores. Thirty Four Strength mutagen. Three Speed and four Intelligence ones." He said the last grumpily despite the fact he had gotten the four intelligence ones while she only got two dexterity from the six spitters they killed.
"Is that enough for you to finally buy the item for the enhanced HUD?" She had her hands on her hips as she looked at him.
"No. I'm going to be forty credits short." Jake answered then looked around as if hoping four more monsters would wander by.
"Gah. Here." She dug four more cores out of her pouch. "Get the silly thing so we can finally group up properly." She paused. "And add each other as friends." Jake looked up from putting the four cores in his container. The normally wild, loud, and crazy Ella had sounded so… insecure when she said it. It was so different from her normal it startled him.
"Yeah. I'll definitely get it. You will be the first one on my friend's list." Ella grinned then lunged at him. He had finally let his guard down.
"Noooo! Ewww. How do you get this filthy! I'm the melee one and I barely get anything on me." Jake squirmed and wiggled trying to get away. But he was very careful where his hands went and his face stayed bright red as he was forced to think about it.
"HA! That is what you get for making the girl do all the butchering of monsters." She wiped her 'mostly' clean hand down his cheek as she let him go. His furious scrubbing of his cheek made her giggle. "See you about lunchtime tomorrow?"
Jake was still grumbling about how dirty he was now. "Yeah fine."
**********
Homework first then gaming was the plan for that Sunday. So far he hadn't studied at all that weekend. His plan to show up Cassandra was mostly ruined. Still, he planned to study before logging in at lunchtime.
He rolled out of bed at eleven thirty. Leaving him just enough time to check and see his dad sleeping in his room. It looked like he had come in late since he wasn't there when Jake went to bed. Then wolf down several sandwiches before logging in. Showing up his classmate seemed far less important than hunting monsters with his new friend.
**********
Jake checked the fantasy faction starting hut. The watering holes. The baboon fields. The area where the whiptails scoured the land for the rocks they ate. Ella was nowhere to be found. He killed a few monsters here and there while constantly checking back at the fantasy guild.
By dinner time he was starving but didn't want to log out. Again he wondered if he had done something to offend her. Maybe she hadn't been as unbothered by his accidental groping as she acted. One of the things that annoyed Jake the most was that he cared at all. Sure he had friends at school but he rarely went out of his way to hang out with them. Yet in the span of two days, he had found himself really enjoying his time with Ella. No matter how much she annoyed him at times.
Returning to his own factions guild he bought rations from them. A dispenser that would attach to his belt looked a lot like the coin dispenser overly dressed women from old movies working in casinos used. It dispensed small poker chip sized objects that when he popped into his mouth turned from hard to tacky. Like taffy, he would chew on them as they dissolved and found his hunger went away. Unlike the sweet bread, Ella had his tasted bitter. More like a vitamin pill than food.
The tech faction's water dispenser was a round ball with a spigot like a sports drink. Once placed in the mouth you bit down on it and cold sweet water flooded your mouth. Just like Ella's waterskin, it held a lot more water than it looked like it should. Apparently five gallons per ball.
Before logging out last night he had absorbed all the mutagen and bought the helm leaving him no credits. He had to cash in the cores from his farming just to buy the rations.
It was past when he wanted to log out when he finally did. Once back in his own bed he blew out a long deep breath feeling sadder than he expected. "Stupid Girl." He rolled out of bed to go shower.
**********
Jake actually slept better than he expected. Somehow he always felt exhausted after playing the game despite just laying in bed. His father was sipping coffee in the kitchen when he emerged to grab something to eat before heading to school. Their small town had less than three thousand people. There was just the one high school where he went. His house was close enough he didn't even need to ride the bus but instead walked.
"Morning son." His dad looked better now that he had slept some.
"Morning dad. Did you get the power stuff fixed?" Jake had almost forgotten about the blackouts. Luckily they hadn't had any in his part of town but he knew they had been an issue for weeks.
"They seemed to have fixed it on their end but we went ahead with the upgrade anyway. Your old man actually managed to raise the entire town's power grid efficiency by almost one percent." His dad chuckled. Jake liked seeing his dad in a better mood.
"Cool." Jake started devouring a poppy seed muffin like he was starving.
"You didn't play so much you forgot to eat, did you? Your mother used to do that." His dad was watching him eat.
"No dad. I actually spent most of the time studying." Jake lied and his dad eyed him like he didn't believe him. Then smiled one of his sad smiles that meant he was thinking about his now deceased wife.
"Then I expect a perfect score on your test today." His dad chuckled. "The McCillen girl better not out score you again."
Jake was a bit shocked. He didn't know his father knew anything about the semi rivalry he had with Cassandra.
"Uh, I'll try my best." He started to leave the kitchen. "I have to go, dad." His father wished him a good day. Then held his coffee between both hands and stared off into space. Jake could tell who he was thinking about by the expression on his face.
**********
Cassandra was back. Jake spotted her when she entered the classroom. Just like most of the guys. She was taller than him by an inch or so, he was just starting a growth spurt and hoped to pass her up. Her dark hair was curly and fell in almost ebony waves down her back. Olive skin with smokey dark eyes that didn't need the extra make up to make them stand out. Cassandra though wore the make up. Always dressed somehow conservatively and yet in a way that made everyone notice her. This on top of the fact she had "blossomed" already meant all the boys noticed her.
If it wasn't for that horrible snobby attitude she would have been really popular. Even with that attitude many of the boys had tried to ask her out. Jake was not one of them though. He appreciated her looks just as much as the others. Just a mix of intorvertness and an extreme dislike for her personality kept him from even wanting to. The fact she seemed to always go out of her way to pick fights with him didn't help either.
Cassandra swept her gaze over the classroom like she owned the place and to Jake's great displeasure marched right up to him. "Gerri says you've been making a big deal about how you plan to do better on the test today. Since I've been sick that is. Did you really spend all weekend studying just to try and do better than me?" Her tone was that obnoxious overly self confident and superior tone she always used when talking to him.
"No. That was these idiots. I spent the entire weekend…" He started to say playing a game but could just imagine how she would act. Already he could see her dark eyes glaring at him with a challenge. "Hanging out with a girl."
The two boys sitting next to him both snapped their eyes from staring at Cassandra inappropriately to their friend. "You did?" Tom asked.
"What kind of hanging out?" Micky had a grin on his face that could only be called perverted. "Did you get to second base?"
"Yeah Right. Like any girl would do that with a nerd like him." The girl Gerri snapped.
Jake felt his face flush slightly and snapped back. "Well, actually I did! She kept hugging me and well, one thing lead to another!" Jake felt his face flush at remembering.
The two boys practically tackled him where he sat. "Dude! You have to tell us what it was like?" Micky shook him.
"How big were they?" Tom was practically drooling.
Cassandra and Gerri just glared at him. "Boys are so disgusting." Gerri pulled Cassandra away who gave the trio one last look. One that Jake couldn't read.
**********
Jake was actually a bit nervous when the test was passed out. He hadn't studied at all. Now he felt a sudden pressure to do well. Even after class had started he could swear he felt Cassandra's glare on him constantly.
To his surprise. The test was really easy. All the answers seemed to come straight to mind when he read the questions. As if he had spent the entire time studying. Tests had always been something of a strong suit for him but this time it was a cakewalk. Or at least it felt that way while taking the test. He was the first one to turn in his test and got an angry look from Cassandra.
Turns out it was as easy as he thought. When they got the scores back at the end of the class he had a perfect score. Tom and Micky seemed even more excited than he did about the score. When Cassandra grumpily admitted she only scored a ninety eight they instantly went into victory mode.
"Enough. I'm the one that got a good score. You two barely passed." Jake had to pull his test out of their hands. Cassandra refused to look at him seeming more upset about the test score than he expected. It actually made him feel slightly guilty. She had just gotten out of the hospital. He knew what that was like.
"It's just a stupid test score." Jake said as his way of smoothing things over.
"Whatever. Go celebrate with your gir… with your stupid friends." She swung her backpack over her shoulder almost smacking Tom who cried out.
Jake shook his head while his "friends" seemed to think her being upset was the best thing ever.
Jake followed the throng of students out of the building. Now that school was out his mind instantly went back to the game. Not really paying attention he barely heard the high pitched metal ping. A blur in the corner of his eye made him react out of habit. Just as he had been doing all weekend his hand shot out and caught the projectile. Despite the speed at which the ball was flying it came to a dead stop when his arm shot out to catch it.
Jake turned to see one of the baseball players of the school jogging toward him. "Dude nice catch. That would have clobbered them right in the head." Jake tossed him the ball. "Hey man. You should join the team! That is some crazy good reflexes. I'm surprised you managed to stop it. That thing was sailing!"
Jake shuffled his backpack some uncomfortably. "Sorry. I don't have time for after school clubs." He turned away from the boy intent on getting away only to find Cassandra of all people staring right at him. Only then did he realize she was the one in front of him. The one he had just saved was her.
"Thanks." She snapped out harshly still sounding angry. For a moment she stared at him as if she was going to say something else then turned around without another word.
**********
Jake ate dinner quickly and then logged in. Once online he headed straight to the fantasy guild only to find it empty. He again searched everywhere before heading back to his own factions guild thinking maybe Ella would be there. Opening up his guild he froze. There she was.
"Um, hello." Cassandra said, looking up from the holographic display hovering over the counter.