"So, I don't have any friends eh?" I asked the nerdy beanpole in front of me, Andrew, as he sat himself down on the table opposite me.
He almost jumped as I asked, it was almost comical seeing him flex his spine.
A little hesitation appeared on the brown-haired boy's face before he shook his friends, "No…You do. They are just not here."
"I can see that." I knew that, not hard to go through the phone logs you know. None of the fifteen girls Mira was friends with—sweet lord, that's a lot—had so much as bothered to send a message, heck, the only message the old Mira ever received was from guys and her teachers.
Guys, would of course message her, ugh, me. After all, even my reflection on the glass of the table looked pretty, the black hair, the red eyes and the pretty white skin…I was good-looking. I mean, in my previous life if a girl with these looks was alone and scared, my 'concerned' message was gonna be there too.
After all, I was such a nice guy.
Still, it was not like I cared about them, "So, they decided to push it on you?" I asked him.
Another reluctant breath later he nodded, "Yes. They didn't want to come. Said you didn't remember them so, what was the point."
"Well," I nodded, "They were right. Still, not excuse enough," I told him as he set the stuff on him at the table. However, I had one question, "How did you guys even find out?"
"I called your teacher!" Mother's voice came from the kitchen.
"Your group…" He started but didn't continue. Not enough confidence.
"Finish the sentence," My tone was commanding—he stuttered again but didn't answer so I settled in, my eyes firmly locked onto the mop of hair that hid his eyes.
He never made eye contact.
His head leaned to the side trying to avoid me. I curved my lips down. He licked his lips.
But my gaze never left him.
It was a game of patience, waiting for his shell to crack, not that the wait lasted, "They bailed! They all bailed!"
"I see," Oh, well.
Still, who does that, at least pretend to care, that's what I would do, I mean this girl has rich parents you know.
Not that it mattered to the guy in front of me, "Right, can I go? Look…" He rambled on, I didn't want to hear it, so I cut him off, "Sure."
It was like I had given a race car the green light, he was out of his chair in a flash, and running even faster.
"Look at him go," Mother stepped out of the kitchen she had holed herself in, a kitchen with thin wooden walls separating it from the hall.
Waiting for the door to finally slam shut behind his fleeing figure I answered, "He certainly is going,"
"You scared the poor boy," She leaned against the kitchen door as she said it, and she was all smiles about it, so, I asked, "And why do you look so proud about that?"
Her lips clamped into a beautiful smile at my words, "You were way too much like your father before. Too much group politics. Always looking to be the group leader."
My brows raised at her words, "And wanting to be a leader is bad?"
"Pros and cons Mira. Pros and cons. And more than anything, what is the point of being the leader of a group that will break up after middle school?" Fair enough.
"Right, I suppose I resemble you now?"
She smiled, "A lot more than you used to. My daughter."
If only she knew.
Still, "You act very differently around father," A lot more emotional, a lot more valuable, a lot more…passionate?
Her smile only deepened at my words as she stepped over to my side, and slid her hand across my hair, "Mira, your father is my world. You too. Of course, when it's not with you two—" She petted my head, "—I am a very different person."
———
——
—
While peeking through the windows at the dying sun giving way to the blistering moon I was finally left alone in my room.
So, as I lay on my bed there was only one thing I could think to do, "Status."
[Name-Mira Smith]
(Age-14) (Titiles-Nil)
(Status-Weakness)
[Stats]
(Constitution-1)
(Intelligence-10)
(Magic-0)
(Learning-5)
[Traits]
(Cold Blooded)
(Self-disciplined)
So, "Quests?" The moment I said those words…
[Quest: Gain control of your body.]
(Reward: A trait of your choosing.)
There was nothing here, nothing I would think of.
But maybe it was like [Quests] all hidden. And I would have to find them, so I began.
"Skills?"
Nothing.
"Abilities?"
"Boons?"
"Curses?"
"Weapons?"
"Spells?"
"Inventory?"
Not even that?
I stopped myself there. Nothing was coming out of it. A waste of time.
So I sat up, letting the cotton grey walls shade my vision, the ability I had, what did it do? I mean if it didn't do anything maybe…Was dreaming it up? Maybe I was insane?
Was I seeing things not there?
No, STOP.
That train of thought only leads to madness.
Still, what did I have in front of me? Stats right? Constitution, intelligence, magic and learning. Only four.
Then let's go down the list, shall we?
Intelligence and learning—Right, as if you could boil down my brain into stats. Meaningless shit.
Magic? I didn't have any to even think about.
Now, (Constitution)? Unless it was talking about the set of documents that defines and outlines the powers of the government—and the other insignificant details—I was pretty sure it meant my physical state.
And my physical state was…not good. Another sigh leaked through my lips as I closed my eyes, letting the darkness wash over me.
I needed something to work on. Anything. But what?
Really, how do the games even do it…levels right? Levels? How do you get levels?
"Murder right?"
But what do I murder?
Can't murder the kid's parents, it would fuck up a lot of things. Not to mention the police and the superheroes.
A very very risky endeavour for an experiment.
Then what?
—My eyes snapped open. My head jerked as I looked to the side. A white collar-less cat was scratching the window into my room.
Almost as if looking to get in.
"Well, no one would miss you right?"
Let's experiment.