Virtual Paradise

Chapter Three

   I shivered and let out a small sneeze. One and I left the apartments and made our way to the nearest store. Once we arrived there, I told One to pick up two copies of Virtual Paradise while I waited at the cash-register. As I waited, I saw the two familiar faces of Rin and Len approach the cash-register.

   "Hi Lia!" Rin chirped. "Hey, Rin, Len," I greeted back. "Why are you two out this late?"

   "We're just here to wait for our mom. She's just getting groceries so she won't take too long," Len explained. I nodded, then Rin asked, "So why are you here?"

   "Virtual Paradise comes out today so my sister and I are getting two copies so we can play together," I said.

   Just then, One approached us and said, "Here, I have them," as she handed the two game cases so I could pay for them. She then turned to the twins and said with a smile "Hi Rin and Len! I didn't know you two knew my sister."

   "We only just met yesterday," Len said. "She walked us home from school."

   "How do you three know each other?" I asked. "Lia, they go to my school!" One said.

   "It's a small world," I remarked with a sigh, followed by a playful smile. My sister then struck up conversation with the twins as I paid for our game copies. The man at the register was tall with electric blue hair. "Good evening miss Lia," he greeted kindly. "Hey Kaito," I answered. He then glanced at the games and remarked, "I'm hoping that some copies will be left over before we close. I was hoping to buy some for my wife and I."

   "You and Meiko are into video games?" I questioned, remembering Meiko's uninterested comment earlier that day. Kaito then laughed and explained, "Meiko, not so much. But I was hoping I could convince her to play more video games with me through Virtual Paradise." I nodded with a quiet "makes sense" and added, "I hope so too. It'll be cool to play with people I know in reality so that I'm not totally lost. Maybe One and I can meet up with you two in the game."

   Kaito handed the two game copies back to me as I finished paying for them. Smiling, he answered, "That'd be cool." Grabbing One's hand, I waved to Kaito and One gave her goodbyes to the twins. Once I gave her one of the game copies, I let go of her hand and she skipped ahead on the sidewalk. The girl didn't smile but it was obvious she was in a good mood.

   "Don't leave my sight," I called out as usual. "I know!" she replied over her shoulder. One stopped at a stop sign, accompanied by a street light, and waited for me to catch up so we can cross the street. The street light flickered slightly, giving an eerie feeling to the quiet roads.

   Taking this into account, I called, "You can cross." One then waited on the opposite side of the road under a broken street light that no longer shone.

   Not too long after, I arrived at the flickering light and stepped onto the road.

***

   "I met a boy today," I confessed as One plopped down onto the couch. She immediately picked her head up and screeched, "No way!" I sighed and locked the front door as One started, "Was he cute? Did he ask for your number? Have you seen him before? What's his name?"

   "That's the weird part," I replied. "I don't think I've seen him before, but he somehow knows where I usually sit at the library. Then again, I met another student from my school at the shop this morning and didn't know her either, so I obviously don't pay much attention to the students at school."

   One sighed and muttered, "What a cliche." I hit her playfully as I walked past the couch and went to my room to retrieve my Optispace; a helmet like device that immerses it's user into a virtual reality.

   Returning to the livingroom, One was obviously excited as she clutched the device in her hands. I glanced at her with a confident smile and she did the same. We then opened our game copies and inserted the chips into the consoles.

   After slipping the helmets onto our heads, I closed my eyes and dove into the digital world.

A/N
Sorry for not updating this Sunday, I didn't have access to wifi lol also please excuse the name "Optispace" I know it's not the best name ever. It makes a bit of an appearance in the next chapter but hopefully not much after that.
Thanks for reading!