Chapter 19
Unveiling Secrets
CHARLOTTE
Tracy woke me up the next morning by bouncing on top of me.
“Spill the beans, Charlotte. I saw you kissing my brother last night when I came back with the champagne,” she said.
“Wait, what? Isn’t it a tradition to kiss at midnight?” I asked, recalling what TJ had told me.
“Yes, but that kiss seemed more than just a tradition. So, what’s the deal?” she probed.
“I’m not sure what you want to hear,” I replied uncertainly.
“Do you have feelings for my brother?” she asked, point-blank.
“Well, I enjoy his company and that kiss was… amazing,” I admitted hesitantly.
“And what about the guy you’re always texting?” she asked.
“He’s just a friend,” I said for the millionth time.
“Are you sure about that? Could it be that you’re confused because you like them both?” she suggested.
“How would I even know that?” I asked, taken aback.
“What do you feel when you think about each of them?” she asked, trying to help me figure it out.
“They both make me happy. I enjoy talking to them and look forward to it,” I confessed.
“I think you like them both, but you’ll have to choose eventually. Wait until you meet your friend in person, then decide. But please, don’t hurt my brother.”
“What should I do until then?” I asked, feeling lost.
“Spend time with TJ, but make sure he knows where you stand. I think he’s willing to fight for you,” she said, winking at me.
“Wait, he likes me?” I asked, surprised.
“Do you think he kisses every girl like he kissed you last night?” she
asked, making me blush.
I hoped he didn’t.
“Um, no?”
“Your innocence is adorable. I hope you choose TJ. I’ve never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you. He really likes you,” she said.
“But what if I don’t like either of them?” I asked, playing devil’s advocate.
“Oh, you do. You like them both,” she said confidently. Her certainty made me wonder if she was right. But I didn’t have time to dwell on it. I needed to start studying game videos of our top competitors at the tournament in March. We were the underdogs, having never been to a tournament before—but also the wildcard.
“Let’s go have breakfast. I’m sure you have things to do today,” she said, leading the way to the kitchen.
We grabbed some cereal and sat at the bar to eat. We were almost done when TJ joined us, sitting next to me.
“Morning, ladies. How did you sleep?” he asked.
“Good,” Tracy replied.
I just blushed and continued eating. He smiled at me, and I smiled back, then remembered the feel of his lips on mine. That made me blush again and look down.
“You’re so cute,” he whispered before going back to eating.
After breakfast, I rushed upstairs to shower and get dressed. I was avoiding TJ a bit, unsure of what to say to him. Every time I looked at him, I remembered our kiss. I was already self-conscious around him, and this
was only making it worse.
He was just so attractive.
Once dressed, I quickly told Tracy I had to go and ran out the door. She must have known why since she laughed at me.
· · ·
Once I got home, I logged on to the game, hoping to relax. Talking to the guys would calm me down. My heart was still racing from last night.
“Hey, guys, did you have a good evening?” I asked.
“Yo, Mars, Happy New Year. The party I went to was awesome. Lots of hot chicks,” Nep replied.
“The party I went to was lame, so I had a private party for two instead —if you get my drift,” Plut added.
“So, Plut got some and Nep didn’t?” I teased.
“Ha, that’s funny. One isn’t enough for me; I had a few to keep me entertained,” Nep retorted.
“Wow, that’s a little gross,” I commented.
“What about you, Jup? Get any last night?” Nep asked.
“I don’t really feel like going into it, but I’ll just say it was an unforgettable evening.”
“Nice! So is poor Mars the only one that didn’t get any last night?” Plut asked.
“Hey, I may not have gotten any, but I had a good night too. It’s not all about that,” I said.
“Said the one who didn’t get any,” Nep teased.
“Lay off, man. Mars is fine the way he is. He doesn’t need to constantly
be active like you,” Jup defended me.
I quickly texted him.
Mars
Thanks man Jupiter Don’t worry about it. It’s not like all of us guys are completely driven by what’s below our pants.
Some of us can have fun without constantly needing to nail a chick. I get it.
Mars Yeah, I definitely don’t need to nail a chick ;)
Jupiter You know what I mean….Let’s just play
“Let’s get going, guys. I have some game films to review later today,” I said.
“Okay, we only have two more ticket pieces to get. Let’s do whatever we need to do to get one today, then practice some PVP with the strategies Mars is putting together. We can get the last piece in a week or so and still have it by the deadline,” Jup said.
I stepped into the city as my standard character and noticed Nep was already standing by a stall that sold bullets. I needed some more bullets, so I
walked over and joined him.
Neptune Someone better call the city police, because it’s got to be illegal to look that good Mars Dude, it’s STILL me. You would think after months you would remember that I’m playing as a female now
“Seriously, man?” said Jup over his mic.
“Why are you always hitting on Mars? That’s just gross.”
“Um, thanks…I guess. There you go, ripping my soul out,” I replied.
“Wait, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m so sorry, Mars. Of course, you are worth hitting on, I mean…” Jup quickly tried to backpedal before I interrupted him by cracking up, making both Nep and Plut laugh also.
“I’m just kidding, man. I agree, it is gross.”
“Hey! You’d be so lucky to be hit on by me,” Nep defended himself.
“Of course I would be, of course,” I replied in a patronizing tone.
With that, I finished buying my bullets, and we all set out.
This piece would have us running all over the place. Apparently, we had to get it from a hermit who lived on the other side of the map. He would only give it to us if we traded him several items he needed in order to make traps around his property since he claimed foxes were killing his pet chickens.
“Okay, what’s the first item we have to gather?” Plut asked.
“The closest to us are the strangle berries. We can either try to pick them ourselves—but they cause a lot of damage if you aren’t careful, hence the name—or we can kill wild foxes around where the berries grow. They love them, so there is a chance we’ll get lucky and get a drop from them,” I replied.
“Well, what’s the plan, Mr. Strategy?” Jup asked.
“We try both methods. Two of us kill foxes while the other two search for the strangle berries.”
“Sounds good, but I don’t get it. How is harvesting berries dangerous?”
Plut asked.
“They grow on a new bush monster. Hard to find and very dangerous,” I replied.
“Ah, the elusive bush. I do enjoy hunting for those,” Plut replied.
“Elusive? I’ve never found them to be elusive,” Nep added.
“I am quite skilled at seeking them out and, when I find them, I dive in headfirst in search of their hidden treasures.”
“What are you guys talking about? This is a new mob. Neither of you has hunted it before,” I asked in confusion.
“Just ignore them,” Jup replied.
“No, don’t ignore us. Tell us more about this bush,” Plut said.
“Yes, is it a small and neatly pruned bush, or is it large and fluffy?” Nep added.
“Huh? You two seem way too excited about this mob. When you first see it, it appears to be the same as any other small bush in the game, with red berries on it,” I explained.
“I see…a single tiny bush in a vast expanse of the naked plains,” Nep commented.
“What? They don’t spawn in the plains biome; they spawn in the forest,” I replied in confusion. We hadn’t fought it before, but they should have known bushes spawn in the forest.
“Really, Mars, ignore them,” Jup said again.
“No, no. Please go on. After we come across the coveted bush, then what?” Plut asked.
“Well, if you get too close to it, the bush comes alive and grows to about ten times its normal size. It has long vines that branch out and attack in all directions—without any pattern. The vines are impossible to avoid, so all who get near it are quickly captured and strangled. Honestly, most people choose to hunt foxes and leave the bush monsters alone,” I admitted.
“Dang, I hate it when a bush makes me choke,” Plut said.
“I prefer a neatly pruned bush, or maybe a bare one. I think I’ll go for the foxes instead.”
“I have to agree with Plut. Besides, I prefer bushes without twigs and berries. I’ll hunt foxes also,” Nep said.
“What kind of bush doesn’t have any twigs? Isn’t that a big part of their structure?” I questioned.
“Maybe in your world,” Nep snickered.
“What?”
“Once again, please ignore them. Let’s just play, guys,” Jup said.
True to their nature, as soon as he said that, Nep and Plut both raced off and started killing foxes. I thought they were in a challenge to see who could kill the most. Luckily, we had already reached level fifty—high enough that a single one of us could easily take down a fox alone.
They tried this method for about twenty minutes, but the drop rate was horrendous, so we still had no berries. Finally, Plut and I came across a bush of the berries.
“Okay, guys. Nep and Plut, you keep killing the foxes. Jup and I will try to get them directly from the bush,” I directed the team.
“Good luck, I hear you have to dig deep into the bush to find the berries,” Nep said.
“What? The berries are on the top,” I said. The guys were being so weird today.
“Keep ignoring them,” Jup said with exasperation.
Jup and I slowly crept up to the bush. Having played together for so long, we were completely in sync.
“I’ll sneak behind and distract it,” I whispered.
“Got it,” he whispered back.
“Yo, why are you two whispering? You know the bush can’t hear you, right?” Plut loudly asked in the chat, making me jump.
“Shhhhh,” I replied, trying to get back into the zone.
“Whatever,” Plut said before going back to killing foxes.
Once I was behind the bush, I backed up and pulled out my sniper. I figured I’d snipe it a bit before running closer to really draw its attention.
“On my mark, I’ll snipe it, then run in and use my pistols. While I have it distracted, come up behind it and grab the berries,” I told Jup over chat. I
lined up my shot through the scope.
“Ready, go.”
I took the shot, then ran in, dual-wielding my pistols. By the time I had fired a full round and was reloading, I could see Jup running in to grab the berries. He was quick, but if the bush was easy to attack, everyone would do it.
Before I could even finish reloading, the bush had spun toward Jup and was quickly wrapping its vines around his neck, lifting him into the air.
Thinking fast, I ran around the bush and started shooting at the vines that were lifting Jup. After another almost full round of shots, the vine finally snapped, dropping Jup.
“Thanks, I thought I was a goner there,” he said gratefully. I stood in between his character and the bush—shooting to give him a minute to recover his health.
As soon as he was up again, he backed away and circled around the bush. Using the same tactic, I started shooting at it—drawing its attention while Jup snuck closer to it. Once again, at the last second, it spun around and captured Jup. I took this opportunity to make my move.
I closed the remaining distance to the bush and jumped up on top of it.
From this angle, I was able to shoot the vines—once again releasing Jup. I then grabbed the berries from its back and started throwing them to Jup,
who had run backward.
“Is that enough?” I asked.
“Yeah, that should be plenty, but, um, Mars, how are you going to get down?” Jup asked.
“Well, I’ll try to just jump off, but I was pretty sure when I took the leap that it was a one-way trip.”
“You can’t sacrifice yourself like that!” Jup yelled.
“You’re too young to die,” Plut dramatically added.
“Can I have your sniper when you’re gone?” Nep asked.
“First off, you stink at sniping. Second off, I’ll just respawn back at the starting city. I can catch up with you guys at the next task. Quit acting all
melodramatic.”
“But we’ll miss you,” Nep whined.
“You’re all being ridiculous. I’ll be back soon.”
I then attempted to jump off the bush. I expected to be grabbed and killed, but surprisingly made it safely away. That was a huge relief. I turned around to tell Jup we were ready to go, but saw him lying motionless under
the bush.
“JUP!” I screamed.
“NO! Why, Jup, why? Why would you sacrifice yourself for me?”
“For real, why? You never sacrifice yourself for Plut or me,” Nep commented.
“Sorry, guys, Mars is special. He’s worth dying for,” Jup replied.
“Yeah, you two really sound more and more like lovers each day,” Plut commented.
“Besides, neither of you would have tried that tactic because you wouldn’t sacrifice yourself like that. It’s not fair that Mars is always the one losing XP to help the team. I figured I’d pay him back,” Jup said.
“Well, you guys are more than teammates; you’re my best friends. Of course I’d sacrifice myself for you. But thanks, Jup. It means a lot that you’d do it for me, also…”
“You’re gonna make me cry,” Nep replied.
“Whatever, head toward the swamp. I’ll meet you there and we can get the next item,” Jup told us.
