NPC

chapter 1.

Sometimes I often feel like an NPC.

A non-playable-character. Only now, walking alone around this gymnasium, had I realized how much like one I am. I had friends, yes. They weren't particularly the best bunch, but they were friends nonetheless. However, for some odd reason, I had decided to walk ahead and away from them as they approached me. Just to see what they would've done.

They did nothing. Made no effort to try and talk to me or even convince me to reclaim my spot next to them. They let me go. And perhaps they did so in wishing me the best. "She wants to be alone? Okay, that's fine. She can do by her." they might've thought. Or maybe they wouldn't have even noticed me had I said anything at all.

I rummaged my fingers between themselves in the conjoined pocket of my hoodie. The absence of someone can really lead the mind to think. To think about what, I'm not sure. But it's as if every other sound silences at once, and the only voice you can hear in your head your own. The very lack of noise is what's helped my consider myself as an NPC. If someone were to walk up to me this very second, I would respond. I would engage in conversation. "Hello. How are you?" they might ask. "I'm good. How about you?" I'd reply. Everything seems so rehearsed, like it's the only set of dialogue I was given.

Most people walk away after I deliver my given reply. Thinking there's no more, they go off to find someone else with a more in-depth answer. That's the thing with people, they're always looking for more. Minimalistic values are never enough to satisfy the human need for more. It's common knowledge.

I've never been a conversational person, I'll admit. Especially if it's someone I'm nervous around or someone I'm not familiarized with. My sentences are cut off. My thoughts that desperately want to escape are muffled and shoved down in the farthest corner of my mind.

Except for the people that stay.

Every once in a while, there'll be a person that chooses to see more. That presses on, believing that there's more than just the cover I have displayed in front of everything. They'd stay, and ask me more questions beyond on how my day is doing. Those are the people I admire. They choose to see the good in everyone. It's rare you come across a person like that. And maybe, just maybe, I'll unwind enough to let them in. To let them see more than just another person roaming this Earth.

Looking around, I barely knew anyone. a person there, another here. A million faces, blurred in a crowd of thousands. I knew nothing of their pasts. Of their presents. Of their futures. Of their hopes, their goals, their traits and flaws—I knew nothing.

Yet I could still relate to them. Because like them, they often feel like a NPC, too.

I began to walk slower. For whatever reason, my feet didn't feel like pushing in more effort, anyways. People began to pass me with ease. Some I knew, those who were lucky enough to find someone they're truly comfortable with. They didn't care to pay me any notice as they passed by me. I'm truly just a face in a crowd of thousands.

Until he came by.

I don't know why he did—possibly because his own friend was absent. Usually they strike on a conversation that doesn't end for a long while. He's apart of the same crowd of millions.

Yet he's here. Next to me. He however didn't care to greet me.

"God, I don't want to play whatever game we're doing." he said with annoyance. He looked to me for a response.

"Yeah, me neither." I reply dryly. Like I said, forming conversation isn't my forte. I fully expected him to sigh, and walk away, leaving me to my thoughts again. Which wouldn't mind me, since I often hear its voice more than the voice of others.

But he pressed on.

"It might be fun, right?" he questions. I truthfully thought so. Many didn't like this period, especially since it was early in the morning. But I genuinely did enjoy this class. The games we played, though somewhat childish, we're fun and exhilarating. They might've not been my favorite. Football, particularly. I haven't a clue about playing it seriously. I often found myself asking about the rules one too many times in confusion. But in the end, I'd always be sweating but grinning. I found fun in everything even though I was mostly alone. Besides having my thoughts to comfort me.

So I decided to answer truthfully. I owed it to not only him, but myself. "Yeah, I think it will be. The rules don't seem to complex, and I could improve my aim." He smiles in my direction. The stupid grin he gives me makes my heart dance out of my chest for whatever reason. We continued on, talking about something. I can't quite remember. It was a topic though, and we were immersed in it. Walking side by side.

I was still a face in a crowd of millions, yes.

But it was nice to hear another voice once in a while.