It had been a normal morning. I had woke up to do my daily events on Celestias fall (my favorite rpg) and didn't think much in my sleepy fog until I saw there was a message in my inbox.
I frowned a little, people rarely interacted with each other on the game unless it was some random weirdo or....a guild wanting me to join. I decided to check it anyway.
New Message from: Requiem
[Msg]
Hello there, GlitchyLullaby.
I hope this message finds you well.
I'm the leader of The Celestial Vanguard guild. We've been sourcing new talent lately.
Number eight's a stepping stone. We're almost where we belong.
All we need is the right players, and I think you'd be a good fit to help us get there.
If you're interested, please note:
– Daily login/activity is expected
– Weekly guild meetings (Friday nights @ 7PM EST)
– Dungeon raids scheduled Sat/Sun evenings (subject to change)
– Participation in group chat is encouraged, but not mandatory
– Loyalty is valued
Let me know if you'd like to join us.
—Requiem
The celestial vanguard was ranked the 8th guild in the entire game. I wanted to scream, cry, jump around and punch a wall. Instead, I wore a smile so big it started to hurt the sides of my mouth. And all of this happened....before I had to go to school in the morning.
One thing was worrying me: the Friday weekly guild meetings. Sure we wouldn't have football games right away since school was just starting. Maybe after a couple weeks of proving my usefulness to Requiem I could talk to them about it.
I quickly typed a message back.
[Msg]
Hello back, Requiem! I would be very excited to join the Celestial Vanguard. I hope that I can truly prove to be of a big help to everybody in the guild. This all sounds fine and easy to do- I play daily already. I have school today, I'm usually out by 4pm though. With some exceptions throughout the week, sometimes band will keep us a bit after school for practice. I usually get home by 6pm on those days though. But I'm a no lifer- sometimes up till 2-3am on the game. If you want to still send the invite, I'll gladly accept! c:
I noticed after I messaged back there was another notification- I must not have seen it. A friend request from Requiem sent five hours ago. Maybe he was in a different time zone?
I accepted the request, adding him to the (very) small list I had. 6 people.
And right now, he was the only one of them online.
My heart fluttered nervously in my chest. He was still online? I waited for probably another 20 minutes for either a reply to my message or an invitation to the guild. Neither came. Maybe he was afk?
I tried to compose myself. Get my head in the game. No wait. Get my head ready for school. I didn't want to. But I had to.
First days back always sucked. What sucked harder however was knowing that i was waiting for Requiem's invitation still. I saw his message over and over in my mind, the thought teasing me mercilessly.
Gloomily, I looked out the window of the bus. The other students were loud, disturbing my own inner chatter inside my head. I could hear others in the back talking about the game I loved to play too- my heart mourned yet again at the thought of having my fingers on my keyboard.
I didn't have many friends. Didn't really think I craved them. But hearing the others talking at the back of the bus about the game made me swallow a little. So there were people who liked what I liked.
I turned my head around just briefly to glance at them. An older boy, probably older than me. He looked immaculate. He had dark chestnut brown hair, pale blue eyes and was pale. There was a younger boy next to him, probably at least a year or two younger than me. He had lighter brown hair, dark green eyes and was also pale. The younger one seemed pissed at the elder one for some reason.
The older one caught me looking and smiled, slow and unnerving. I felt my skin crawl and turned back around.
Okay....again....maybe I didn't need friends.
I felt the older boy behind me when I got up to get off the bus. Right behind me. It made me aware that he was a whole head taller than me.
"Caught you staring back. You play Celestia's Fall too?" He murmured, his low baritone making goosebumps raise on my arm. Why would he assume that I played too?
"Yes." My response was short and clipped as we moved off the bus. I didn't give him a chance to say anything back. Instead, I bolted for the cafeteria like my life depended on it.
Breakfast was decent by the school's standards. Buttered cinnamon bagels and scrambled eggs. Pairing the two with an orange juice, I almost felt ready to face the day. Even though it had begun with unease, the flavors of breakfast had soothed me.
The first two classes were normal. English and history, just general first day back getting to know you crap. My mind raced through both. Thinking of Celestias fall, thinking of the strange tall boy on the bus who had tried to talk to me. Ping ponging between both like it was a sport.
Chemistry class however (my third period for the day) was different.
When I walked in, I stepped into the lab and scanned the seats for a moment. I froze when I saw him. In the back row, slouched with theatrical boredom, was the younger boy from the bus. He looked like he wanted to spite the world. Like a punk daydream, dressed in a band tee and ripped skinny jeans that clung to him as if armor. His dark green eyes caught me looking and a scowl cut across that beautiful face.
I felt both ashamed and nervous to have even been looking. I took a seat closer to the front, as far as I could get from him. I didn't normally like to sit in the front, being the anti-social person I was. But I also didn't want anything to do with the boy who looked at me like I had killed something of his.
The rest of the class, I felt his eyes on me. Still locked in that same glare. Every time I glanced back to casually survey the room, he was already watching. My skin prickled with unease.
What did I do to him? Why was he staring at me like that?
When the bell rang, I hesitated to get out of my seat. I looked back and he was heading...right towards me. My heart sped up in fear. I scrambled to get my books in my bag, fingers fumbling as I couldn't help my shaking.
"Hey." His tone was clipped and tense, almost aggressive. "Don't trust Elias. No matter what he tells you. You'll just get hurt."
My stomach did flips. Who in the fuck was Elias?
"Who's that?" I asked, zipping the bag shut with a shaky hand. I straightened, forcing myself to meet his eyes.
A sigh escaped him, long and frayed. "He's my brother. The one who talked to you on the bus. Just… stay away from him. I don't know what he's planning, but it's not good." His mouth played with his lip ring after speaking, like this conversation was putting him on edge as much as it was me.
"Okay... who are you anyway? No offense but I thought juniors only were in this class.. you look kind of young." I felt my face flame at even admitting it. But it didn't compare to the angry flush that hit his cheeks.
"I'm Lazarus. Yes, im a sophomore. I got in this class because I'm in advanced placement." His tone turned grumbly, like the words had been sour in his mouth. "Just try to avoid him. And don't join the guild." He walked off before i could say anything else. Leaving me reeling.