Yup! It's another installment of the Eileen's Spring Ball crisis. XD Not very great, but nonetheless, I aim to entertain.
It would probably mean more to play through the game before reading my little fiction on it :)
I'd also like to mention today how much I appreciated having almost all the dialogue already scripted out by the game. It made the initial writing process a lot faster, and there wasn't a lot of thinking and struggling over what would happen next. I was thinking that it would be a neat idea to write a the dialogue for an original story first and then go in and fill in the narration and story. Maybe I'll try it sometime. ^_^
A quick caveat: When the game and thus the story says "football" it actually refers to soccer.
Enjoy~
. . .
I got to school at nearly 7:30 in the morning the next day, even though I had slept at nearly midnight the night before. During dinner, I read over the football wiki. While Louis went to a late night class at the college, I played an hour and a half on Legacy of Lords with my old account to get back into shape. This was followed by an hour and a half of studying and catching up on homework. Then I got to reading The Tale of the Darkest Star. The whole time I substituted my normal music for soundtracks from the Super Soundwaves.
Since it was still a half hour before class started, I was going to pick a quiet spot in the school corridor to read when I noticed a dark-haired boy with glasses playing on a handheld game station. This must be Norbert, I realized, and squinted a little to see which game he was playing. Abruptly, he looked up at me, a cute confused expression covering his face.
“Huh? Why are you staring at me?”
I gave him an apologetic smile and explained, “I’m just wondering if it’s the Platinum edition you’re playing now.”
He looked impressed immediately. “Wow! It’s the Platinum, yeah.” A pause. “So… you seem to be interested in video games?”
“Sure,” I replied. “I can’t imagine an evening without a game or two.” It wasn’t a complete lie. I did play games whenever I wasn’t working on homework or cosplay costumes.
“Really? That’s rare! What’s your online nick?”
“It’s ‘xXxeileenxXx’.” I reached for a pen. “Want me to write it down for you?”
He thought for a moment, as if remembering and shook his head. “No, it’s ok. I think I’ve remembered it. So I guess you’re xXx? Or maybe Eileen?” His expression was so innocent and adorable, I almost wished I had a camera to capture it.
“Yea. And you’re…?”
“N-bert99. I mean, I’m NOrbert.”
“Pleased to meet you!” We shook hands. As we did, the bell rang for us to go to class. Still clasping my hand, he asked, “Will you be playing online tonight?”
At my nod, a smile bloomed on his face. “Hope to see you there, but I have to go now.” He leaned down to kiss the air over my hand and when he released me he made a little bow mimicking Lord Brennick, one of the NPCs in Legacy of Lords. I laughed amicably. “It was nice talking to you,” he said finally before leaving with a wave. I waved back.
“Bye!” To myself I smiled before realizing what a nice impression I must have made on him. I smiled again as I sat down in my first period, allowing myself a private moment of delight and success.
The first few classes passed in a whirl. My teachers were fairly impressed by how much I was caught up from my old school.
Wendy caught up with me during the lunch break: “I saw you talking to Norbert! Good! The football team’s practice starts in 10 minutes. Let’s go and meet Curtis!”
“Roger! I hope I won’t have to play football,” I laughed as we wandered onto the field.
It was nearly the end of the lunch break, but we sat on the bleachers anyways and started looking for the team captain.
“I’m going to get a drink of water,” Wendy said, standing after a short minute. “Be right back.”
I nodded and turned back to the field to--
“Aiee!!” I yelped as the ball flew next to me, narrowly missing my head.
“Watch out! I nearly hit you with the ball,” A very fit boy with cropped brown hair and gorgeous brown eyes jogged over.
“Sorry!I I just wanted to watch the training,” I said, throwing the ball back to him.
He caught it with a soft smile. “Don’t worry, everything’s fine. I wouldn’t be happy if I killed one of the few spectators.” He winked and gestured to the empty bleachers. I laughed. “Hm.. You’re the new girl, aren’t you?” He stared intently at me, as if trying to place my name.
“My name’s Eileen,” I answered for him. “Pleased to meet you. And you must be Curtis?” I asked, gesturing to the name embroidered on the jacket.
“Yeah. So do you like watching football?”
I decided to lean towards an enthusiastic response: “I totally love it!”
“Are you serious? That’s awesome!”
“Well, I used to watch the World Cup quite a lot since I’m not exactly athletic enough to play,” I explained. I really wasn’t. The most athletic I got was rushing up and down the stairs and halls in school.
He laughed. “Great. A good place to start. I have to practice now, but let’s talk another time, ok?”
I waved bye as he ran back to the team. That was an nice conversation, I supposed. Not perfect, but it couldn’t be helped. I didn’t want to over-exaggerate and lie about who I was.
Wendy joined me after a moment. Her expression was concerned and nervous for a split second, but a more familiar smile bloomed steadily in its place. “Isn’t he awesome? How did the conversation go?”
“Not bad, I suppose,” I shrugged. At that moment the bell rang and Wendy let whatever she was going to say go.
“We should hurry now, Geography starts in like, 2 minutes.” She tried to smile, but I could tell something was wrong. I was about to ask when she instructed, “I have to rush somewhere first, but It’s your chance to catch Kenneth’s attention!” She nudged me and subtly pointed out a blonde-haired boy with a red beanie. “Good luck, kid!”
She left in a hurry, and all I was able to say was “Thank you,” before she was gone. “Err…kid?”
I dislike geography, even if it is a homeroom requirement, but I was lucky today: The teacher was late, and Kenneth was already in the classroom.
“That’s my chance!” I thought to myself. I took my prized microphone-shaped MP3 player out of my bag and feigned interest in the agenda on the board.
I decided I liked Kenneth right away: he had a lovely smile that brightened the dreary homeroom atmosphere. Wait…no Way! He was coming here!
“Hey, new girl! What a cool MP3 player! Whatcha listening to?”
Wow, he was so straightforward! That I could respond to. “Just my fav stuff,” I said with a deceiving shrug. I handed him the MP3 so he could read the song title:
“‘The Blueish Vortex,’ by the Super Soundwaves,” I said with a wink.
“Are ya serious? That’s my band! How did ya get to know it?”
I decided not to mention Wendy. “Somebody sent it to me and I instantly loved it. You’re like, the lead guitarist of the band, right? You must be Kenneth, ‘Kenny the Smasher’ then!”
“Ya make me blush!” he said, and he actually did, which only accented his amazing smile. “Yea, it’s me! And your name…?”
“Eileen ‘Eilee the Breaker’,” I joked, using the stage name my brother and his friends had made up for me when I sang along during their Rock Band session on my first night here. “Just joking. Nice you meet you!”
“That’d be a cool stage name. Ever considered entering a band?”
“I’ve dreamt of it as a child,” I admitted. I had, even though I eventually decided that costume making and drama were my calling. “Actually, I still love singing.”
“Smashing! Wanna come and see the band practice one day?”
“I’d love to!”
“I’ll let ya know then,” he said with a grin that mirrored the excitement I felt. “Nice talking to ya, but the teacher is already here!”
I might have blushed as he returned to his seat, as Wendy flashed me a double-thumbs up as she rushed in behind the teacher.
The lesson was long and tiring. Phew! I was glad it was over and very ready to just crash when I remembered: There was one more guy worth talking to, right?
“See ya, Eilee!” Kenneth called after me as he headed out after the last class of the day. I was humming the chorus to “The Blueish Vortex” when Wendy caught me waiting for her in the hallway.
“Ohh, I can see you enjoyed chatting with the guitarist boy! I know you’re tired today, but we still need to visit the library. The artist boy is there, working.”
I squeezed my eyes shut for a 10-second count and when I opened them I had a smile on my face. “Let’s go!”
I’d always liked the peaceful atmosphere of libraries. At my old school, I had moved my work to a corner of the library when the drama room became too noisy for me to work. Now though, I busied myself with looking for a book for the philosophy paper while Wendy looked for Alan.
Book chosen and checked out, I glanced around the nearly-empty library, wondering what Alan would turn out to be like. Where was he?
“My, my, He must’ve gone home sooner or something. I can’t see him anywhere. Boo…” Wendy told me. I thought a line of worry crossed her face, but it must have been my imagination because she was back to her perky self as soon as we left. “Oh well! We’ll try tomorrow morning. Want to have a vanilla latte before going home?”
“To be honest, I’d kill for pizza,” I replied. I’d spent most of lunch watching the football practice and talking to Curtis and felt hungry now.
“A pizza is fine too! I’ll show you a nice Ristorant nearby. Let’s go…”
“Yum,” I said in anticipation.
Sunny Cafe was a short five minute walk from the school, using the shortcuts that Wendy showed me. We talked about school mostly, and she seemed so light-hearted that I decided I must have just imagined the worry in her expression I’d seen in flashes since lunch. I wouldn’t usually be so uncertain of myself, but I reasoned that I had only known her for a day and a half.
Halfway through our math homework and late lunch my brother and a few of his friends showed up. Louis went immediately to Wendy, like any loving boyfriend would I supposed, and my brother proceeded to ask me about school.
“Tiring,” I replied truthfully. I counted the number of people at our table. “Hey, where’s Jason?”
“Philosophy office hours,” Nick Ames answered, helping himself to a slice of pizza. “At least, that’s what he wants us to think.” He smirked. “Everyone knows it’s just an excuse to hang out with Gwen.”
“Gwen?”
“Wendy’s older sister,” Casayo explained. “Gwen’s in Jason’s philosophy class. He’s majoring in philosophy and she in neuroscience. They have a lot to talk about.”
“Except all they talk about is cognitive science and how consciousness works. He’s too shy,” Nick complained, flagging down the waiter and ordering a coke. “He’s like Nor—“
He cut off and picked up his cell phone. He exchanged a few terse lines with whoever was on the phone before standing worriedly. “I gotta go. Cas, I’m taking the car so you’ll have to walk.”
“What—?” I asked, confused at Nick’s sudden gravity.
The boys exchanged a nod. “Go ahead,” my brother said gravely. “I’ll get a ride from Jason or something tomorrow morning. I wish you my best. Hopefully it’s nothing serious.”
Nick nodded absent-mindedly and left promptly. I turned expectantly at Casayo, but he just shook his head. “Family matters.”
My brother nudged the corner of a flyer sticking out of my binder. “You plan on going?” he asked.
“Huh?” I looked and frowned at the sudden change in subject but didn’t push the matter. They’d tell me when they felt necessary. “Oh, the dance. Erm..I hope to. Wendy’s helping me find a date.”
He gave me an unreadable stare before making a little approving frown. “You’re getting to know people. That’s good. I’m sure you’ll be fine, lil sis.”
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