Stargazing ✰

Chapter 1

I'll be there in 5. I texted Nero with my sweaty hands. I had to admit, I was nervous. 

I had been on the plane for two hours and a half, and now I was on the bus. The ride seemed to stretch on, but every mile brought me closer to my destination – the Atlanta Reign esports facility. As the bus pulled up to its destination, the facility came into view – a modern, sleek building, somehow in the middle of nature. Trees surrounded the building, and the mountains stretched out behind it.

Now I understood why my friend, Nero, didn't want me to send any pictures of it. I had to see it myself. But God, it was huge.

I got off the bus with my luggage and thanked the driver. He had dropped me off right in front of the house. My eyes darted around nervously, I didn't know what to do. I was secretly hoping that Nero would be waiting for me outside, but he wasn't. There wasn't anyone outside. "Of course no one is outside, they're all gamers. They are probably training." I thought.

I took a deep breath and stepped to the door. With trembling fingers, I reached out and rang the doorbell. Slowly the door creaked open. A boy with long brown hair up to his neck stood in the doorway. He was wearing black glasses and a big grey sweater with the Atlanta Reign logo on it.

"Hi, I'm the new ICT-er." My voice wavered slightly.

"Oh yes, you're Nero's friend." he turned inside the house, "Nero! Your friend is here!", then he turned back to me, "It's a miracle that he's awake. He'll be here in a second. Come in."

I entered the facility. I let my eyes wander around the hall. It was sure it looked bigger from the inside than from the outside. "It's big isn't it?" the boy asked as if he could hear my thoughts.

"LILY!" Nero raced down the stairs and nearly tripped. It had been a few years since I had last seen him, but he hadn't changed at all. His brown hair was still short and his face had remained the same. He gave me a big embrace and then grabbed my case. "I'll show you your room first, then the whole house. You can meet everyone later." Nero was going so fast that I almost couldn't follow him.

My room was the last one in the house at the end of the corridor, but it was as big as all the others. It had a private bathroom and some furniture to put all my stuff on. On the other side of the wall, there was a desk with a PC on it. 

Nero dropped my case next to my bed and saw me gazing at the PC. "I thought you'd like to have your PC, so I already set it up."

"It has RBG!" I beamed. I had never had a keyboard and mouse that gave lights, but I had always wanted them.

"Of course it has, I know you too well." Nero chuckled, "C'mon, I'll show you around now."

As I had mentioned before, the house was gigantic from the inside. It had a huge living room with multiple seats and sofas. The kitchen was big enough to be in a restaurant and I was sure I was the one who had to cook for the boys. One door in the kitchen led to the dining room, and another led to the terrace. 

Then we went outside, and I found myself on the biggest terrace I had ever seen; there was a dining table and a BBQ. Next to it, you could find a pool. Its clear waters glisten in the sunlight, reflecting the blue sky above. Surprisingly there was also a hot tub and a kiddy pool, "That's for Ultraviolet." Nero joked. 

But even more surprising, they also had a work-out room.  "Will never come in here", I told myself.

"And last but not least: the game room!" Nero did jazz hands, "This is where we train and play our matches. That room over there," he pointed at a door, "is for the staff. Where you will be sitting when we play." In the middle of the room, there lay many bean bags and blankets.
A few boys were playing or streaming, so we decided not to disturb them.

Since it was already late, Nero gave me some time to unpack my stuff, "We'll have dinner soon, so I'll give you some time to get lost in the house." Nero evil laughed. 

"But I'm sure I won't." My memory was one of the best. I remembered every room in the house already.

"Anyways, my room is two doors away, I'll be there, taking a nap. So if you need me." Nero yawned deeply. He left me alone in my room and I began to unpack a few things. I put some clothes in the closet and then lay down on my bed. I was tired.

Lots of thoughts came to my mind. I was going to meet the players and the staff soon. I had decided to not search for them before I arrived here, so I could meet them myself. Thinking about it made me feel a little nervous again. I wasn't good at making friends. My introverted ass was too shy for it. Maybe it was because I was fixated on the world of coding...

My thoughts were disturbed by the knock at the door.

I jumped out of my bed, "Yeah?" I asked.

It was the boy who had let me in the house earlier, "I'm sorry for disturbing you, but we're having dinner in a few, so they asked me to come and get you." he said. He had taken off his glasses and he still wore his hoodie. 

"Okay, give me a second." I took a hoodie from my case and tied it around my waist. It was for later this night. 

"So you're Lily hm?" the boy asked me when we were downstairs. 

"Yeah, that's me." I smiled. "Nice to meet you, Lily. I'm Xander, but everyone just calls me Hawk." he reached his hand out to me.

"Nice to meet you too Hawk." I grabbed his hand - hoping it wasn't still sweaty- and shook it gently. 

"Nero gave you a tour right?" Hawk asked. 

I nodded.

"It's a wonder, I swear. He's not an active person at all. I've never seen him that hyper before." Hawk stated. 

"Neither have I." I covered my mouth with my hand to hide my laugh. I remembered Nero sleeping through most classes in college.

We went to the terrace, and I took a good look at the brunette. He wasn't tall, but he was taller than me. "He's handsome.", I thought, but I shook the thought away. We had arrived. 

Writers note:
Two parts in one day, wow, totally ain't messing my homework up for this.
I hope it wasn't too long or too short.
And again, thank you for reading, I love you all :) <3

Rewritten on 29/8/23!
Please don't forget to vote and comment! It would really help me out! Tell me how you feel about the start of the story, or anything else :) (Really I need some feedback:sob:)
Stay safe!