New Game

Chapter 1: Press Start to Begin

Rain gently fell from the sky over Hendon Central station, which was quite normal in North London, especially considering the time of year. What wasn't normal was how long the train was taking.

Sebastian threw his hands into the air.

'Why today?! Of all days!'

He pulled a coat out from his bag and threw it over his red blazer, completely covering his school uniform.

'Common, common, common,' he said tapping his foot on the ground.

He was supposed to be meeting up with his two best friends, Sophia and Alister, in Bethnal Green on the other side of London. Sophia had managed to sign the three of them up for some kind of exclusive beta test for a new kind of console.

That had been a week ago.

***

'I think it's something like VR, but it's supposed to be more interactive, and so much better!' Sophia told him.

'That sounds SUPER cool,' Alister said, 'if you can sign us up, I'd be SO into it! You in Seb?'

The three of them walked through the courtyard of their school, weaving around other students as they went.

'How did you even find out about it?' Sebastian asked.

Sebastian was feigning an air of scepticism, you kind of had to if you lived in London, but inwardly he was excited. His family had never been super rich. They'd gotten by, but when it came to gaming consoles, Sebastian had always been a console behind, and everything he owned was almost exclusively second hand. He had never even seen a VR headset in real life – so the opportunity to beta test something that was even further ahead of VR technology was a tempting one.

'Josh Wiley told me about it. Apparently his uncle works for someone who gave him a link to some website. Anyway, I can sign the three of us up. There's no guarantee we'll get in – but Josh thinks our chances are pretty good.'

'You already know I'm in!' Alister said.

Sebastian scratched his chin.

'Mmm, I don't know...'

'Common man! You've got to do it with us! It won't be the same if you don't come.'

Sophia smiled. No matter what mood Sophie was in, her face was always comforting. Even when she was mad. Her dark eyes were like the night sky; and her hair was almost the exact same colour. Sophia's eyes were beautiful to look at. Calming. Relaxing. Not in a romantic sense. More in a everything-is-going-to-be-okay sense. It wasn't as though she wasn't romantically appealing. She'd been asked out by five guys this year, and it was only term one.

Sophia was a little different to Alister. Alister's red hair burnt with the same fire that fuelled his personality. He had a freckly face and usually always wore a cheeky grin, like he was about to pull a funny prank. But Sebastian knew that whenever he hung out with Alister they were going to have fun.

Sebastian was somewhere in between. With dark hair and blue eyes, he had a tranquil personality but was usually always down to muck around. But he could never match Alister's confidence and energy, as hard as he did try.

The three of them had been friends since primary school. Life had been different back then. They used to game more frequently, hang out after school more regularly, and they really just had more time to waste. Now they were in Year eleven, and were supposed to be concentrating on their GCSEs. Their year coordinator organised a meeting almost every second week during form time just to tell them how important it was. Sebastian was sick of hearing about Sixth form, and the targets they were expected to hit, and their predicted grades from their mock exams.