Five Weeks to Forever [BxB]

Chapter 9.

"Why is the screen so dark?"

"You're in an alleyway. Move forward out into the light."

"I can't get it to move!"

"Because you're pressing the E key, not W."

"Oh." I tried not to blush at the amused look Matthew threw my way, shifting my finger so that I was pressing the correct button to move the cat character I was playing as forward.

"See?" Matthew teased, leaning back on his bed, his arms splayed out behind him, his legs dangling off the edge. "It's a pretty cool game once you get used to the mechanics. That's the trickiest part."

I made a noise of agreement, my mind mainly focused on the screen in front of me. True to his word, Matthew had let me play on his gaming computer once we met up on Wednesday for our bi-weekly project planning. Of course, today there wasn't much work being done, considering it was already five in the evening and we hadn't started at all.

We'd started off on the right track, when I'd gotten here. I had pulled out my notes, markers, and even brought over the cardboard display board we were supposed to paste pictures and words on to use as our visual aid during the presentation. Matthew had printed out a couple of photos off of the internet that we were going to use, and the plan was to put the board together today so we could spend the rest of the week and a half we have left finishing on our paper.

And it desperately needed the attention, because the state it was currently in was.. Rough, to say the least. Even with me doing the work, Matthew tried to be 'helpful' every once in a while and jotted down some sentences during his free time.

Which would be fine and dandy, if the man didn't have the writing skills of a toddler armed with a crayon and a participation award.

"Uhm.. Matthew?" I had asked last week when I was scrolling through the google document that we shared access to. "What does 'Edmund committed the murders because he was angry and wanted to' supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it says," He had chirped, his head buried into his phone, probably texting Veronica if I had to guess. "What? Is it not true?"

"It is.. But.." I had drawn on, trying to explain to him that you couldn't just be direct in your words when writing a paper, that you had to use examples and articulate to get the point across.

"That's bullshit," He had said. "Who wants to read a bunch of over dramatic, drawn out crap when they can read something that's just straight to the point?"

"English teachers, apparently." I had sighed.

So today, I had wanted to get the physical part of the project out of the way so I could practically perform CPR on the essay. Of course, Matthew just so happened to be playing some weird, first person shooter video game when I had gotten to his house, and still had it left up on the screen when we had walked into his room.

"What's that?" I had said, setting my stuff down onto the floor.

"Apex Legends. Why? Want to try?"

"Uhm.. we should really work on the project.." I trailed off, trying not to show that I was really tempted to take him up on the offer. Video games were expensive and a rare commodity in my house, I myself only owned Stardew Valley and Animal Jam, of all things. Matthew's elaborate gaming setup was drawing me in like a poor, starving kid in a candy store.

Hell, he even had one of those boxes with the swirly, glowy bits in it!

Matthew had explained to me once that the box itself was the actual PC, and that the screen was just the monitor, but frankly I didn't care and didn't pay much attention to what he was saying.

Mainly because I was too infatuated with the spinning colors inside the magical computer box, but I digress.

"Oh come onnnn." Matthew spun his fancy chair around, motioning me to sit in it. "Just one round. Please?"

"You just want to see how badly I'll fail at it." I scoffed, but obliged anyway.

"Maybe." He'd grinned.

And that's pretty much what he did for the next hour. Turns out, I'm pretty shitty at any sort of fighting or shooting games and ended up dying so many times that my teammates were calling me crude names in the chat box repeatedly.

"Why're they being so mean?" I pouted as someone with the username 'agroupofamishgoatfarmers' shot me in the head while I was trying to run across the map. Matthew only shook his head, laughing at me like my absolute failure at the game was incredibly amusing.

I quickly threw in the towel after a couple of games and Matthew convinced me to switch over to a game called Rocket League, which I quickly learned was just soccer with tiny race cars.

Not that I was any better at it.

That game only lasted thirty minutes before Matthew finally let me boot up Stray, which was the only game I was actually looking forward to.

Because of the cats.

It was much easier than the others since most of the controls were automatic, so I only had to press one or two buttons to jump, run or attack, which was the main problem I had with the previous two video games. Seriously, how was I meant to remember all the buttons I was supposed to mash at any given moment? Way too confusing for my pea brain, if you ask me.

"This is much more my speed." I hummed, gently pushing my little cat along as it walked along the city sidewalk. "Everything looks so pretty. And- and, I can make the cat meow when I press M!"

Matthew's head was pressed against his shoulder, the last of the dying light coming in through his shutters and dancing patterns across his face. He had a light smile pulling at the corners of his lips, his eyes flickering with amusement.

"It is a pretty cute name." He said. "But I personally prefer the more action-packed ones. Stray is.. Very tame by comparison."

"What games do you usually play?" I asked, sparing a glance back from the screen at him.

"Oh, a lot. I think Resident Evil Village would probably give you the biggest heart attack out of all of them, though."

"Wait, is that the one with Lady Dimitrescu in it?"

"I think so, yea."

"Awww, hell naw." I snort. "I might be terrified the entire time, but it would be worth it to see that bitch in all her seven foot glory. I'd happily let her terrify the shit out of me if it means I get to be all up close and personal with her." I say, wiggling my eyebrows at Matthew suggestively.

He burst out laughing, shaking his head at me incredulously.

"Man, you are something else." He said after he managed to sober up, wiping his eyes.

I smirk at him, shrugging my shoulders and turning back to the computer.

"I'm not wrong though, am I?"

"Well.. no," He hummed, pausing briefly. I look back at him, noticing him frowning slightly.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing- I just-" He bit off, looking almost.. Embarrassed, funnily enough.

"Just what?"