Gāme Ovēr: Azalea Isłand

Chapter 2: Surronded by Idiots

I dribbled the ball over before shooting it into the net. I think I was one of the only ones participating in basketball. The teacher had left for whatever his recent accuse was. The girls were sitting on the bleachers, giggling about some new Instagram trend they tried out. Most of the guys were watching the girls from higher up on the steps, maybe a little too creepily. I simply rolled my eyes. Being athletic wasn't exactly my favorite thing to do, neither was it a choice, but it was a skill I needed when gaming warfare. How else would I take down- You know what? I don't think I even need to mention his name anymore. You get the idea. Maybe I had a bit of an obsession. All I could think about was his mockery. I cringed.

"Oh shi-!" I heard someone yell. I fell backwards. I had been cooped up in my own thoughts. One of my teammates had thrown the ball to me, and of course me, paying attention, had managed to catch it with my nose. Nice going Alice. Stupid Howles. I clasped a hand to my nose, catching the blood that dripped. Luckily, I hadn't broken it. Teammates and opponents immediately swarmed around me. I could hear the girls cackling in the corner. And I doubted it was about Instagram this time. The ones around me all started talking at once.

"I'm fine." I barked, pushing myself up to stand, leaving a bloody handprint on the gym floor. Then I left. I left class and went to the office for paper towel and ice.

At lunch, in the cafeteria, I sat at one of the rectangular tables, waiting for my associates. The first one to join me was Leah. A brunette, green eyes, fair skin. She was pretty attractive. Unlike the stereotypical 'unattractive' gamers, the new technology in this generation provided that only physically and intellectually advanced individuals would benefit. So there was large vary of people. I began drinking from the water bottle my mother packed, pressing the rim softly to my lips. Soon I was joined by Cody, Misaki and Brian. They sat down all at once beside Leah. I sat alone on the other side. This was my team, and I was their leader.

"We lost again." Misaki scoffed with her Japanese accent, forking her salad in a way that looked a lot like stabbing.

Before I could reply, Cody spoke up.

"I don't understand why we keep playing Oliver. We win against everyone else. Beating Howles is a lost cause." He shook his head. I'm surronded by idiots. Its the feeling of accomplishment, pride and challenging yourself. Brian and Leah were silent and Misaki grumbled something in a foreign language. I was about to scream at them before Leah changed the subject.

"How's your nose?" You could detect the worry in her voice. I told her it was fine, and canceling all arguments, I discussed plan of how we were to beat Oliver this time. No matter what the arena, I was confident it would work.

After the rest of my classes, the end of the day came. I managed to prevent my arch rival filling my thoughts. I rushed home by foot. Once I was there I bolted through the door, slamming it behind me. My Mother greeted me, but I simply shouted "Okay." Back absent-minded-ly. I hoped everyone would already be online. My team lived far closer to the school than I did.

"Open Program." I shouted, swinging into my room. A large virtual screen opened on my wall. Sitting down in my seat, I began connecting the wires to my forehead and chest quickly. It was simple to put them on, but it was horrible taking them off. I raised my hand in a motion to start the game. It came up on the screen. Only I could see it, while connected. A large 'Play' Button emerged and I selected it. And that's when I lost consciousness, being uploaded to the mainframe.

--

"Loaded?" I panted, out of breath. Brian gave a small nod, his vision glancing to the side. We hid behind a pile of wooden cargo. Out of everyone, he certainly had he most stamina and endurance. We'd run and dodged a mile of flying bullets and grenades. He was more of a stereotypical Jock. Given that, he wasn't exactly the brightest of the group.