What We've Become

Time

After a restless, dreamless sleep, Kasey's eyes shot open. He was worried sick about his brother, fearful that he would so something dumb and hurt himself, or his mom would bring a guy home who was drunk and he'd pull a gun on him, or...

The possibilities in his anxious mind were endless, and there was no way he could sleep any longer. He forced his exhausted body out of bed by 6:30 and meandered his way out of his enormous bedroom and down the stairs of the home his family lived in. His dad was a very successful businessman, and they owned the largest house in their town. To many, the house was a mansion, as their town of 60,000 people was fairly poor.

He made his way for the kitchen, where he poured himself a decent amount of cereal into a bowl and settled down to eat it. As he chowed on his breakfast, he scrolled through his phone. When he was full, he washed his bowl and went to the bathroom to get ready for the day. He showered and dressed in a designer pair of jeans with a t-shirt: his favorite t-shirt. Arrow had given it to him for his birthday a year before, and even though his mom thought that it was too trashy, he adored it. The shirt was printed with a couple of wolves on a rock, howling at a full moon on a gorgeous, winter night.

By the time he had brushed his hair, it was around 7:45. Now, all he had to do was wait for his brother to come and pick him up. To cure his boredom, he went downstairs to his game room. His parents had dedicated an extra bedroom to him, as they were plentiful in his house, for his flatscreen TV and his video games. The room was finished with a fancy carpet, complete with the beanbags and other comfortable chairs set in front of the oversized screen.

He set up a random war game and settled himself in to play, zoning in on the aspects of everything. The world around him seemed to blur, and time seemed to sprint by. He was shot away from his trance when the sound of his father's voice shouted from the top of the stairs.

"Yeah dad?" He called up the stairs as he paused his game and set down his controller.

He heard quick steps hurtling down the stairs. He was expecting it to be his father, though, instead, a much younger face appeared. The boy who appeared was around Kasey's age, with a dark tan complexion and nearly black hair. His brown-ish gold eyes had an ornery gleam in them, and his face was plastered with a small smirk.

"Oh... Hey Danny," Kasey said, looking the boy up and down. He wore nice jeans and a nice shirt, and his hair was neatly spiked in the front. He was sly looking, but he was rich too.

"Sup, Big K," Danny said with a grin. "Long time, no see!"

"Dan, it's only been a week," Kasey mumbled as he ejected the game he'd been playing, knowing that Danny would change it anyways.

"I know," Danny said simply. "We should play our game." He walked over to the abundant selection of Kasey's games and began to look them over before choosing a zombie game and setting it up.

"Well... I was in the middle of playing Total War Three..." Kasey sighed, shaking his head.

"I don't care! Bro! This was WAY more fun!" Danny pressed as he grabbed a second controller. "I'm player one. I don't wanna be the girl."

Kasey grabbed one of the remotes and sat down on one of the beanbags. Danny started the game, and the first wave of the undead monsters charged for them. The two boys opened fire on them, tearing through the fake creatures. It wasn't long before the two of them were laughing and shouting with excitement, having the times of their lives, like they usually did when they played video games.

Time was meaningless when they were playing together. Nothing in the moment mattered, and Kasey had forgotten about meeting up with Arrow. Time blurred away.