Lovers: Boarding School

_dogs

I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. 

WARNING: H O L Y S H I T W H A T T H E F U C K J A C K O H M Y G O D

Violet could literally count all the game scenes involving her virtual dorm with one hand. The first time was during the game's introductory course, the fifth time was when she was digging for a costume for that ill-fated Halloween party, and the other times in between had revolved around Jack and their morning marathons inside the forest behind the school. 

She was grateful that her interactions with her vexing cliche of a room mate Lena had been profoundly minimized since Violet started playing the game, but Violet couldn't help but desire her presence when she found herself alone in their dorm, at night.

This is the first time this has happened, Violet thought nervously as she gnawed on her thumb. What does this mean?

A rumbling in her pocket brought Violet back from her troubling cloud of thoughts and she dug out her phone to check the text that popped up on its screen. 

Lena:

"sorry i'm with Danny ;P"

Violet rolled her eyes and dropped her phone onto her bed. Lena worshiped boys like a nun--she could even be considered a member of the unofficial Cardinal Point Cult--but that didn't stop the blonde from continuously going through a catalog of faceless male NPCs with the ravenous hunger of a bear that had awoken from a deep hibernation. 

Due to the recent developments in the game, Violet thought that Lena would shed her shell of orthodoxy and reveal herself to be more complex  than Violet had initially presumed. Pitifully, that wasn't the case. 

It's sad that character development is only limited to playable characters. 

Violet nearly jumped from her skin when she heard knuckles softly rapping at the dorm's door. 

"Violet?" said a voice behind the door's mahogany. 

Jack?  She froze where she stood, her lips glued together while her eyes were glued to the door. 

"Violet. It's...It's me. Can we talk?" The voice behind the door sounded faint, hollow even. It was the kind of voice that belonged to a man peering over the edge of a bridge when everything but the bridge has collapsed all around him. Jack's voice did more than muddle a few of Violet's hardened heartstrings, but her feet refused to move where they were cemented. 

She had witnessed just how deceitful he was when he "adored" her all those times together while carrying the most vile collection of gaming trophies in the back pocket of his trousers. Violet wouldn't dare to bring shame to herself by falling for his farce a second time. 

She also wasn't susceptible to the other traps that had been laid out for her either. Gin's recent showering of attention and "snitching" could've easily been a ploy to isolate her from the other CPs; this would've ensured his position as the primary candidate for Violet's affection, and therefore, trust. If there was a commodity that was just as valuable and as breakable as a secret it was someone's indomitable trust. 

In the end, it was all just smokes and mirrors and in a virtual world like this, having a firm grip on reality was key to winning this game. 

Clenching her fists, Violet edged slowly towards her dorm's door and turned over its lock. However, once she saw what lurked behind the door, Violet wanted to travel back in time to slap herself silly for thinking she was ever clever. 

With a bruised hand clamped on the door frame, Jack stood before her with bronze hair in total disarray, pupils so dilated they nearly swallowed the rich brandy of his eyes, and smears of lipstick and alcohol splattered all over his grinning face and ruined shirt. If Violet was able to smell things in the game at that moment, she would've guessed that he smelt like late Friday nights baked in a dumpster--for a month.