Raava Academy

Pants on Fire

Ah, home sweet home. Or rather, dorm, sweet dorm. Teeny, tiny dorm, barely big enough for my bed, desk, chair and wardrobe. But it's mine, and I'm just grateful it's bigger than my old dorms. We actually have three floors for student accommodation, all situated in the middle of campus. The youngest go on the top floor where they're supposedly safest, then once they turn nineteen they're moved to the middle. Turning twenty-two gets you the coveted gold prize - a spot on the bottom floor. Each floor has a communal kitchen, toilets and a few showers, though the main shower blocks are on the bottom floor, down the east wing, just near the gym.

I set my air-conditioning unit to seventeen degrees, since I'm feeling way too hot. Then I abandon my shorts, putting them to one side to burn later, and sit on my computer chair in just my T-Shirt and underwear.

So, it's finally time for a bit of Battleverse. I switch my desktop PC on - it's a half decent spec, mainly thanks to the cash my Mum and Dad send up from the south from time to time. They're both high-ranking government officials down there, and even though they're largely wealthy, they don't spoil me all that much. To be honest, that suits me just fine - I'd sooner get a new letter from them than money any day of the week, though getting both at once is kind of cool too.

I grab a couple of cans of coke from under my bed, and a jumbo pack of cheesy curls. It's been four days since I last did any serious levels of gaming, and I texted Jinora earlier to see if she felt like some coop. She's even more addicted to this particular game than I am, so she's probably already on the server, waiting for me. I get comfortable, pull my chair under the desk and double click the mean-looking Orc icon on the desktop. Moments later, I'm logging in, and then looking at the character select screen.

Battleverse is a massively multiplayer online role playing game. Or, MMORPG. What a mouthful. Jinny and I started playing it about six months ago, and we've been hooked ever since, though my character is way cooler than hers. He's called Drakk, and he's a yellow-skinned massive orc brute - like a fighter class that specialises in hand to hand combat. He can literally punch bad guys across the screen, which is probably why I love him so much. I log in, and my dude is exactly where I left him, lying next to a sleeping maiden non-player character, or NPC for short. Damn acronyms. I frown, realising quite suddenly that I've always made Drakk hit on female NPC's in the game, and even the occasional player character. Damn, am I really this fucking gay?

A bronze-skinned, blonde haired elf appears on-screen. Also male, though it's hard to tell.

Jaynorra: Hey ugly! What took you so long?

Yeah, Jaynorra. That's her actual character name. It's so original, right? I mock her for it all of the time.

Drakk: I might be ugly but at least I'm not gay

Jaynorra: Oh, that's not what I heard...

I switch the chat to private, in case anyone is stood near our characters. A lot of students play this game, and a lot of them know I do too, so I can't help but feel a little paranoid.

Drakk: What?! What did you hear? Jinny...

Jaynorra: Bolin saw you making the goo-goo eyes at Asami again. It's so cute. You two would be like, the sexiest couple on campus, I swear.

Drakk: ffs Jinora stop... and wait, are you calling me sexy?? :/

Jaynorra: Always. *smirk*

Drakk: Dude. Stop.

Jaynorra: Fiiine. Anyway, I hear she bailed out of class, like she was ill or something. Was Su up to no good again?