Boy Meets Ai

Chapter 34

Chapter 34

That Morning...

Hendricks was tired but that was nothing new. He often only got around three or four hours of sleep a night. His already small home was crowded with his four other siblings, his mom, dad, and his abuela. There was a little space beneath the stairs reserved for storage where he had formed a sort of hideout with the boxes. There he could play in peace without worrying about his younger sister trying to give him a makeover. It had happened before.

He slept there often too. It was warm, and the light and sound from outside were mercifully blocked out by the cardboard surrounding him. The morning of the tournament, he had woken up in his hideout after spending a few more hours in the Ether than he probably should have. Marquis and he had gone to the auction house looking for a special item. It hadn't been easy to find at all. The item they were looking for were the celebration gloves. They were a specialty item that you got from completing a holiday quest a few years back. The gloves weren't particularly useful in terms of damage or defense. It was more of an aesthetic thing. However, Hendricks had a hunch based on what he learned in the fighting pits that they would be integral to increasing his chances at victory. A few thousand gold later he had gained himself a pair. Hopefully it would be worth it. Hendricks pulled out his phone. Marquis waited on the home screen as per usual. Hendricks pulled up the H-BEAT dating app to check his matches. The boy was entirely sick of being single. He and his ex had been together since freshman year and when he found out she had been cheating on him, well, it had been rough to say the least. Spending most of his adolescence in a relationship, he was still unsure of how to function as a single person. No matches on H-BEAT yet. Hendricks idly swiped through the girls' pictures, trying to tell from the way they did their hair or what their favorite music was if they were the type of person to break his heart.

The smell of spiced meat and fried corn tortilla wafted into the crawl space. His stomach growled. His mother was preparing breakfast. He battled with himself for a moment, trying to decide between more sleep and first dibs on the food. His stomach gurgled unpleasantly, making the choice for him. He slid out of hiding, replacing the boxes and folding up the blanket he kept there. His back cracked loudly as he stretched his spine back to its correct position. As he entered the kitchen, he saw his Abuela was sitting there at their kitchen table sipping her coffee like she did every morning. Her small gnarled hands clasped her favorite mug as she stared out the window. His mother worked over the stove, one hand stirring the pan, the other rested on her hip. Her messy hair was tied back by a scarf. Hendricks sat at the table as his brothers George and Marcus dragged their sleepy bodies into the room as well. The little boys had also been beckoned by the delicious aroma. It looked like his dad had already left for work as his coat wasn't on the hook. Hendricks' mom handed him his plate first, looking slightly concerned.

"You shouldn't be up all night Mijo. Its bad for your skin."

Hendricks just nodded as he shoveled the food into his mouth.

His Abuela turned toward her eldest grandson. She always had a thoughtful look in her eye, as if she only spoke an ounce of what she knew, and the rest was saved up inside her.

"Have you heard back?" She asked.

"I only applied a few days ago Yaya. They get thousands of applicants. It's gonna take a while."

Hendricks was referring to Shoryea Institute for the Arts. The prestigious school housed and fostered some of the biggest names in music over the past 50 years and it was the only place he saw himself going to college. That is of course if he could manage to secure the tuition. The tournament was a hail Mary but what other options did he have?

"I remember you used to play your little guitar for us when you were this big." She put her hand to her hip as she spoke. His abuela scooted closer to him. Her gaze was intense. "To be great, are you willing to work for it?"

He held her stare, nodding earnestly. He was deadly serious.

"Suffer for it? To be broken to pieces?" She asked.

Hendricks nodded again.

"Good. I'm glad to see your answer hasn't changed Cariño."

He smiled as she patted his cheek lovingly. She had always supported his dream.

"Why does he get to play video games mama? We wanna play too." George said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Its not as fun as you think." Hendricks tussled his brother's wild curly brown hair that mirrored his own.

He and his mother exchanged a look. In their house, you either went to school or if you were old enough, you worked. It had taken some convincing, but Hendricks won over his parents with his idea to make money virtually, years ago. He even made a little presentation to demonstrate how much he could earn monthly with the Ether. Once he started bringing them cash, they accepted the idea. Still, they were wary of their son's career choice.

He polished the chilaquiles off just as his phone buzzed on the table. Hendricks scrambled to check it frantically. A match on H-BEAT?! Had someone finally swiped on him?

No.

It was a message from his ex.

"Great."