Orc Wars 2 : Lazarus

Chapter 27 - Misunderstanding

Jace and Ash were chatting at a sidewalk café. They were waiting for Rose. She promised to join them after running some errands. Jace was excited. He wanted to tell her about the familiars and that he had managed to get another Orb. Now he had three.

They had finished gaming pretty late last night so he had not bothered to call her. He had texted her to meet today. She was acting a bit weird. She had not replied him as usual. Instead she had texted Ash. He couldn't wait to see her.

When she finally arrived, Jace stood up smiling to pull out a chair for her. She glared at him, sat down and turned to Ash, blatantly ignoring him.

"Are you okay Ash?" she asked in a concerned voice.

Jace stood dumb founded for a moment, staring at her. Rose continued to ignore him. He looked at Ash for clues. What did he do? Ash looked back guiltily; his expression said he could not do anything. Jace frowned and sat back down. Okay, he would let her explain her odd behaviour then. Something must be up.

"Umm, yeah I'm okay. What's this about?"

"Weren't you brutally murdered in the game last night? I believe you were virtual at that time. It must have hurt a lot."

Oh. So that's what it was about. Realisation dawned on Ash. She was pissed at getting killed by poor clueless Jace. Meanwhile, Jace's eyebrows had shot up, his eyes widening as he listened to their exchange.

"I did die at Kwan's but ..."

"And while you were trying to rescue someone too. Such a shame to be shot down like that, don't you think?" She turned on Jace then. "Why did you kill them?" she hissed at him, tears welling up in her eyes.

He barely opened his mouth to reply when she cut in. "You, a much higher level player could have helped Valentine with the rescue, instead you killed them both!" She was working herself up. "I can't believe you did that. How could you kill your best friend like that? How could you?"

"It's not what it looked like Rose," Ash tried to explain. "He was just ..."

"DON'T!! Don't Ash! Don't make excuses for him!"

Jace was stunned. "How did you know?" he asked quietly. "Are you playing? Why didn't you tell me?"

"So! You don't deny it!?! You admit that you killed them both in cold blood?"

"I did kill them, but ..."

"Don't you dare say another word Jace! Now I know you for who you truly are! A bully! Is that how you get your thrills? Is that how you are playing now? Taking advantage of new players! I would never have thought you would change so much. All that fame has really gotten to your head!!"

Rose had worked herself up. She got up, pushing her chair back noisily and faced Ash. "I suggest you be careful of him. He can back stab you at any time. If he could do that to you in there when you needed him, imagine what he could do to you in real life."

Turning back to the astounded Jace, she lashed out at him. "I'm so very disappointed in you Jonathan Carter. You dare call yourself his best friend? Why, you are not even qualified to be called an ordinary friend! It was a mistake getting to know you. Don't ever call or text me again!" With that she stalked off, leaving the two boys gaping.

Jace flinched when she called out his full name. She had made sure to hurt him where it counted to drive home her point. Don't call her? Don't text her? How could he not?

After a long awkward moment, Ash asked, "You okay?"

"What happened?" Jace whispered, almost talking to himself. "She shouldn't have said that ..."