Game Over: Life's Over

Glasshouse

Hey everyone! I made a header for each chapter. What do you think? I've also been working on writing a bit and have some good chapters ahead for you all to read. Stay tuned!

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Carson City was a big city on its own. But there were several towns that made Carson City even bigger: Fairside, Redview, East Tallwich, and Capeford. Theo and Eric technically lived in Redview even though their address really said Carson City. At least, officially it was Carson City. The towns were all on the outside of Carson City, circling it. We didn't go to any of the other towns beyond Carson City and Redview. Theo pointed out which way those towns were geographically but we didn't head in those directions. I figured if my mutation took over the day I turned eighteen, I wouldn't remember any of the information anyway.

Theo and Eric said they enjoyed car rides, even in the city. Eric was good at navigating around the other cars on the road and seemed to know the roads well. Mom and I had to use our GPS to get anywhere in the big city whenever we had to go there. I was just hoping Mom wouldn't get lost trying to come to visit me.

Eric pulled off the expressway and took an exit marked '57'. He followed it up to a light that had several different options and roads to take. Eric got in the right lane and waited until the light turned green before he went. We drove another minute before he pulled into the lot of a restaurant. Glasshouse. I'd never heard of it but Theo seemed excited and said it was one of their favorite places to eat at.

"Do you guys like sushi?"

"Oh, yes." Mom seemed almost as excited as Theo.

Staring out the window, I rolled my eyes. "It's fine."

The men were quiet as they parked the car and got out.

"How long have you two lived here?" Mom asked as she unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door.

"I'm from Carson City originally but I moved to Redview with Theo when we got together," Eric said.

"It seems like a nice place to live. Everyone keeps up their yards and the exterior of their homes." Mom was always so observant. Things that we didn't usually notice, she did. Maybe it was because she was a lawyer.

"We don't have an HOA but we might as well. We have a neighbor down the street who loves telling people when they need to water their grass or cut down a shrub."

Theo nudged Eric. "You're just as bad for that. You're always telling me that we need to add more flowers to the front yard."

"We can never have too many flowers, Theo."

Eric walked inside followed by Mom. Theo held the door for me as we stepped inside. Glasshouse was fancier than I was expecting. There was a pond with a small waterfall in the foyer of the restaurant and there were flowers all over the walls. They looked like ivy rather than typical flowers but I didn't really know.

I glanced at Mom before a hostess started leading us to a table. There were lights with curved lampshades over each table we passed.

The hostess took us to a booth where four menus were already sitting on the table. "Your server will be right with you."

I got into the booth and slid over so Mom could get in beside me.

"What's good here?" Mom asked as she picked up her menu. She flipped open the first page and began to look at all the sushi options.

"I love the shrimp bowl. The sushi is really good, too. They have so many options to choose from." Theo said, pointing across the table to the section with different bowls on Mom's menu.

Mom looked at Theo from across her menu. "I lived on sushi when I was in law school. It was always so cheap at the school's cafeteria. I think I'll try a Dragon roll this time."

Theo turned his attention to me. "Do you like sushi, Jacob?"

I shrugged. I didn't hate sushi but I was okay with not eating it often. Raw fish tended to make my stomach churn at the thought. "It's alright."

"Hi, my name is Cammy. I'll be your server today. Can I get you all something to drink?" A short woman walked over to our table with a pen and notepad in her hands. She had her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. She looked to be about my age.

We all ordered our drinks and then went back to looking at the menus. There were a lot of options and I honestly wasn't sure what to order for myself.

To my left, I could see Mom watching me. I knew she wanted me to be on my best behavior around Theo and Eric. She wanted them to like me so this would go smoothly. But why? Why did it matter when it wouldn't be my decision in the end? I had to get stuck with someone. Even if I didn't like it.

The waitress brought our drinks back to us and began taking our orders. I was the only one who didn't get sushi. I ended up with just a rice bowl with shrimp. I just wanted to go back home and be normal for a little while longer before my life changed.

"Jacob, I read in your file that you like to be active. Did you play any sports in high school?"

"Yeah, I played football."

"Were you any good?"

I shrugged. "Sort of. I wasn't a starter but I played a lot."

"I wish I could say I was into football but I could never follow it," Theo said as he shook his head.

Eric patted his arm. "It's not for everyone."

Theo rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm sorry. Maybe you can watch the games with Jacob instead of forcing me to."

"You like football?" I asked, surprised to hear that even one of them had something in common with me. Maybe they weren't so bad after all.

Eric smiled. "My dad got me into it when I was young and I just stuck with it. I have a huge sports package so you can watch practically any sport you can think of. Even poker is included. So you won't have to worry about being bored."

Mom nudged me and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her.

"Yeah, that sounds cool."

Cammy walked over with a large tray of our food and handed it out. After that, any talking was directed at the food. And I had to admit, it was pretty good.