I was currently sitting on a bus on my way to a small apartment in a different part of the city. I had emailed them at 7 AM and thankfully they responded at 8:30 AM sharp. The property manager agreed to show me the property so I was on my way now.
Along the way I was reading the party group chat we had created to pass time.
Jenna: [Good luck on the apartment hunt, Desmond!]
Tina: [Why are you going apartment viewing at 9 AM?]
Lily: [Why are we all awake at 9 AM.]
Desmond: [Honor Corps knocked on my door at 5 AM. Couldn't sleep after.]
Jenna: [WHAT?!]
Tina: [WHAT?!]
Lily: [WHAT?!]
I was about to explain when I heard the driver announce my stop. Sending a quick message I got off the bus and walked to the apartment building I was looking to rent in.
Desmond: [I'll explain later.]
Lily: [YOU MOTHER-]
Jenna: [Lily!]
****
"As you can see the apartment has everything you would ever need. Take a few moments to look around and let me know if there is any other questions you think of."
I nodded and thanked the property manager. I looked around the apartment one more time.
'It's nice, but is it really necessary? Two bedrooms? What am I going to use that for?'
There were a lot of amenities that the apartment provided, but I couldn't help feel that they were useless.
'What do I need to go to a gym for? I go to dungeons to train or a combat gym... What's the point of all this? It's also pretty expensive.'
I stared out the window where there was an incredible view of the city. I looked out and while the view was amazing I felt disconnected to it. It just didn't feel right that I was now looking down at the Lower City from this apartment.
I didn't have any weird loyalty to the Lower City, but I felt like this apartment embodied hypocrisy.
Going out of my way just to look down on the Lower City, while not really being any better than them and being looked down on by the Upper City.
The more I looked the more I felt gross just standing there.
I turned away quickly. Heading towards the door the property manager looked at me with a smile I now noticed was fake.
There was a smile on her face but her eyes lacked any emotion. Just like this apartment: it was empty.
"So what did you think? Do you want to sign that lease agree-"
"No. Thank you for your time."
I then walked past her and left. I heard her say something under her breath but I just ignored it. I didn't know what I would do for an apartment but I didn't think I could live here.
Leaving the apartment building I stepped back onto the pristine street and looked around at the people walking around.
They all had designer clothes and wore useless accessories. Handbags, belts, and jewelry. It was all pointless. I couldn't imagine using money to buy those useless things when you could instead buy skills to improve yourself.
Feeling uncomfortable I left this part of the city and messaged the party to see if anyone wanted to go to a dungeon today.
Ethan and Tina were having a date night so they weren't going to join us today. Jenna had a family gathering so she also couldn't come.
That's how I was now walking through a Lizardman Swamp dungeon with Lily. It was an E-Ranked dungeon that had lower numbers but tougher enemies.
"Sounds like you're just picky."
I looked at Lily with a bored expression.
"I'm not picky. It just felt... Like it's not where I belonged. I thought you of all people would be able to relate."
"What does that mean?"
I walked past her as she stopped to ask me that question, but I still answered.
"Well I thought gorillas belonged in the zoo."
As I was about to laugh at my own joke I felt a small foot land in the center of my back and send my flying forward.
"URK!"
I raised myself to my knees and elbows while rubbing my back. Lily's small feet strode past me and she looked down at me with a smirk.
'I'll get back at this rabid chihuahua!'
I got up and caught Lily as she was engaging in combat with a Lizardman with a spear. Noticing that she left her side open to a slash, I immediately threw my Dagger of Return and interrupted the Lizardman's attack.
"Return."
The dagger returned to my hand but the Lizardman was now bleeding from it's hand. I watched as the fight continued. The Lizardman went to stab at Lucy again but it lost it's grip because of the blood. Lucy grabbed the creature's wrist and kicked it roughly in the stomach.
I watched with a smidge of admiration as the monster was lifted off the ground by a good three feet.
"Poor Lizardman. That fight must have been depressing to go through... Just when it thought it had an opening I intervened. Then it finds out that the most it can do is leave her with a scratch with its spear."
Lily picked up a small mana crystal and shoved it into her pocket. I walked next to her towards the next enemy.
"You've improved a lot. That fight was really good."
"Oh please, I almost got hit without even seeing the attack, if you weren't there to cover my back against a stronger opponent I would have taken a serious hit... How do you do it?"
"Hm? Do what?"
Scoffing she punched me in the shoulder.
"How are you so good at fighting?"
This was when I started scoffing.
"I'm not as amazing as you think. You're gaining experience, that's all that is important, because making those mistakes now is better than later on."
I threw my dagger at a Lizardman standing ahead of me. It charged at me and I rushed forward while saying to Lily.
"This one's mine."
I had already summoned my dagger back so I threw it again, catching the Lizardman off guard. It now had two dagger wounds in it's chest, and I pulled out my other dagger. It swung its sword at me and I slid under the deadly slash.
I jumped up to my feet and swung my dagger across it's stomach. I followed it up by dashing behind it and digging my dagger deep into it's exposed neck.
It swung it's arm behind it's back. I ducked under the arm, created a spear from the chest of the Lizardman, and stabbed the Lizardman in the throat.
The fight was brought to an end right there. I turned and saw Lily staring at me with an annoyed expression. She walked over to me and pouted slightly.
"Oh sure. Give me some advice about how anyone can do it and then do that like it was nothing."
Laughing I waved off Lily's complaint and pointed out the differences between us. The biggest one being:
"We have different skills and fighting styles. Yours are much more straight forward and you are better off bulldozing through your enemies with brute strength."
She nodded her head and then suddenly punched me in the arm before walking off.
"Thanks.."
Rubbing my arm I smirked and followed behind her. With that we continued through the dungeon together.
****
[Ghostfire Spirit][E-Rank]
[Summon a spirit that shoots small balls of Ghostfire I. Ghostfire I exhausts the enemy's stamina.]
I had managed to get another skill that helped me fill the role of a disruptor in fights. I considered selling it but it wasn't a popular skill so it wasn't worth much. I figured it was better to just keep it for myself. Other than that skill book we didn't find anything else.
However Lily and I got to practice fighting with each other a lot today. We even got a little closer as friends.
"So what, you have the hots for Jenna, are you gonna tell her?"
"Of course not... We're in a party together, and things are going well. I don't want to ruin a good thing by making it awkward between us."
Lily punched me in the shoulder.
"You idiot. You don't even know if it would make things awkward. What if she likes you too?"
I looked at Lily in surprise.
"Does she?"
"How am I supposed to know? She doesn't tell me everything she's thinking."
With a shrug Lily picked up a rib and bit into it. We had went to dinner together at a barbecue place she recommended. She had ordered a huge platter of ribs while I got a serving of pulled pork.
I didn't know how the conversation had become about Jenna but Lily was trying to give me advice about it. I didn't know why but I thought about Amy while I was eating.
'She still hasn't texted or called...'
Amy was my best friend, and it would be a lie if I said I never thought of her romantically. However we were from such different lives that I never thought I had a chance with her.
I was struggling because Jenna didn't deserve to be a substitute...
'Should I even be thinking about dating right now? The exams are in ten days. I should just focus on my graduation exam. I have the rest of my life to date.'
Shaking off the complicated thoughts I focused on enjoying the meal. We continued to talk about random topics before she finally finished her meal.
*burp*
"This... I needed this."
"You eat like a pig."
Lily punched my shoulder roughly before picking at her teeth. Shaking my head I looked at my phone and noticed that it was getting pretty late.
"Should we... I don't know, split up and head home? It's kind of late."
Lily had a weird expression, becoming uncharacteristically quiet, before mumbling.
"I-I mean we could... Or... Do you wanna come over and hang out?"
I raised my eyebrow as I looked at her. She blushed, raising her fist to punch me in the shoulder, but she never did. Instead she slowly lowered her fist while looking at the ground.
"Don't get the wrong idea.. You said you were having trouble sleeping and my parents are gone on business. You can sleep in the guest room and in return you just have to keep me company. Just say no if you don't want to!"
I just laughed instead of answering.
"What's so funny?"
This time she did punch me in the arm.
"Haha, nothing I just thought it was funny that you would ask me to hang out. You just seem so independent that I never thought you would be the first to ask."
I stopped laughing when I saw her show a rare look of vulnerability. In a quiet, and sad, voice she said.
"It gets lonely at my house... Jenna's the only person I really hang out with other than you..."
Realizing I had taken my teasing too far I apologized.
"I'm sorry for laughing. You're completely valid in not wanting to be alone, and I appreciate the offer. Let's head to your place and watch a movie or something together."
After settling our bill we got on a bus heading towards the Upper City, and got out at a nice gated community. I quietly followed behind Lily as she explained that her parents owned a mid sized company and were gone a lot. She was an only child and although her Talent was incredible she didn't have a lot of friends because of her rough personality.
I understood where she was coming from with feeling lonely. When I first lost my parents I was really lonely too, and I even went through a phase where I tried to be a bit of a class clown to get the attention of my peers, eventually learning to live with the loneliness.
We were let past the checkpoint, since the guards knew Lily, and walked through the really nice neighborhood until we finally reached her house.
It was a very large mansion, but it was really modern in it's aesthetics which I wasn't a big fan of personally. I liked the older look of buildings.
However I had to admit though that it must be nice to live in a house this nice. When we walked inside we were met with a lavishly decorated living room where there were a lot of expensive looking paintings. I followed Lily down a spiral staircase and in the basement I saw what I could only describe as:
A man cave.
There were large TVs with different gaming consoles hooked up to each and there was even a large self serve bar.
"Sit on any of the couches, do you want something to drink?"
I shook my head.
"Some water is fine."
She tossed me a bottle of water and took a large remote off of the wall. With the press of a button the large TV in the middle turned on and she fiddled with the remote until a movie started to play.
"What are we watching?"
"Horror movie."
Confused I cocked my head slightly.
"Do you like horror movies? I feel like watching you tear goblins apart is a little more horrifying than anything you could put on."
She kicked me and I promptly fell off the edge of the couch. Managing to catch myself I rolled and landed on my feet. Laughing I tossed myself onto the couch again and grabbed a throw pillow to rest my head on.
She walked around towards the closet and tossed me a blanket.
"The guest room is down the hall over by the stairs. My room is over here, but if I catch you trying to sneak into my room I will literally kill you."
"Yeah yeah, as if I would do that."
I waved off her warning and turned back to watch the TV. She tossed another blanket onto another couch and sat down. She pressed another button on the remote and shockingly the lights turned off.
'Wow rich people really are lazy... I could have just flipped the switch...'
I thought to myself. I kept it to myself though, and we watched the horror movie while making jokes every so often.
I fully expected for Lily and I to find the movie boring, but midway through the movie I heard a shrill yelp next to me. I turned my head and stared at Lily. She was curled up under her blanket, and my head was blank.
"What are you doing?"
She kicked me frantically and huffed in frustration.
"SHUT IT! It's scary, okay?!"
I looked at the TV where the movie we were watching was still playing. It was about a killer clown that was hunting down a group of teens in an abandoned amusement park.
"I guess there are a lot of jump scares but I don't think it's that scar-"
Like a lightbulb was lit in my mind I realized what she was really afraid of.
"Lily... Are-Are you afraid of clowns?"
The color drained from her face and she slowly turned her head in horror towards me.
"I-I... THEY'RE CREEPY! OKAY THE WAY THEIR NOSES HONK AND THEIR SHOES SQUEEK WHEN THEY WALK!"
I began laughing roughly and held my sides while I fell to the floor. Lily threw a pillow at my head but it just hit me powerlessly. I pointed at her and continued laughing while she searched for things to throw at me.
After a while I finally caught my breath before I climbed back onto the couch. Still laughing to myself I quickly sent a message in the group chat about how Lily was afraid of horror movies.
However I quickly realized I had made a bit of a mistake.
Jenna: [You're... Spending the night at Lily's house... Together?]
Lily looked at me and began laughing loudly.
"YOU IDIOT! AHAHAHA!"
Annoyed I kicked her roughly off the couch and now it was my turn to throw stuff at her. Staring at my phone I realized how bad it looked to be at Lily's house together.
After frantically explaining for an hour I finally managed to calm down Jenna. After that I was so exhausted that I fell asleep on the couch without realizing.
Finally getting a good night's sleep at a friend's house.
****
"Jenna?"
An old man sitting at the head of a dinner table called out to Jenna, who quickly hid her phone and looked up with a fright.
"Yeah dad?"
With his eyes he motioned to the man sitting next to Jenna.
"I think its a little rude to be on your phone when you have company? Especially since Justin Luth took the time out of his busy schedule to-"
*SCREECH*
Jenna roughly stood up, pushing her chair back roughly and slamming her hands on the table.
"I didn't ask for that! YOU did. I'm sorry Mr. Luth but I have to excuse myself."
She quickly stormed off while tears began falling. She ran to her room while gripping her phone roughly and looking at the unanswered message she sent Desmond.
Jenna: [Are you awake...?]
Burrowing her face in her pillow she sobbed quietly trying to forget about the pressure her father was putting on her to marry the man he chose.