Evening Game
Chapter 2

Morning came. It will always come.

Ethan stretched his limbs and got off his bed. He headed for the window and pushed his curtains open, letting sunshine enter his room. He then opened the windows, a morning breeze blowing straight into his face.

He turned around and headed for the light switch near his bedroom door. He turned the lights off and prepared for yet another day in front of him. He took a shower and got changed into his high school uniform which consisted of a white shirt with gray trousers and a tie. He tidied himself in front of the mirror, combing through his hair that had gotten longer in the last two months. He wished to keep them that long, let it cover his face if possible.

If only his teachers would let him do that much.

But unfortunately for him, that was against the rules, thus he would eventually need to replace some time to cut them off. He then took his bag and made his way toward the first floor. The living room was still empty, but the kitchen light was on, some sound coming from inside. Curious, he strolled toward the kitchen and peeked through its opening.

“You’re early today, Fiona.”

His younger sister, Fiona, stepped briskly around the kitchen, preparing two cheese sandwiches. She was three years below him and had just entered middle school, evident by the blue colored skirt that she wore.

“Yer the one who told me to prepare breakfast, dumbass.”

She replied without turning her head. She put a sandwich into a container and stored it in her backpack.

“But I don’t expect you to actually do it.”

“Shut up.”

She slung the back on her back and flounced out of the kitchen.

“I’m leaving.”

“That’s really early.”

“Got some damn homework to do.”

Ethan followed her as she headed for the porch. She took her shoes from the shoe rack and started wearing them.

“Aren’t homework supposed to be done in, you know, home?”

“I told you to shut up, didn’t I?”

She stood up and grabbed the motorcycle keys Ethan left hidden under the shoe rack.

“Hey-”

“Just walk there.”

Ethan was about to give chase when she stomped out and closed the doors. Ethan rushed toward it and opened the door, but once he got out, she was already on their family’s motorcycle.

“Fiona!”

She turned it on and slid off their garage. She turned and went away, not bothering to close the fence. Ethan, despite not yet having his license, was supposed to be the one taking her to school. He let out a tired sigh and went back to the kitchen. He sat alone at the dining table and ate the sandwich her sister made for him. It was very barebone, two pieces of bread with a slice of cheese in it.

Even then, he felt grateful that she did make him something. Upon finishing, he washed his hands and went out to school. Upon leaving his house, he looked back at the blue-colored building, its exterior paint starting to fade with some cracks here and there. Nothing major, but not unnoticeable either. He pulled the charcoal-colored fence shut and locked it before continuing his steps. The roads had only started to get crowdier, cars and motorbikes occupying them, filling the air with the sound of their engines and horns.

It took him only about ten minutes to reach his school. He stood before the three-story building, painted in bright cream paint with red roof platings. The school’s name colored in gold, Tangreng High, stood proudly above the entrance, its crest right above it. The crest had the shape of a flower with a river behind it, colored in black and gold outline.

He went inside, the long, thin hallways still devoid of activity, with the exception of a cleaning staff sweeping the leaves.

“Good morning.”

“Morning.”

Ethan stopped to greet the cleaning staff before going on his way. Morning shine spilled onto the outdoor sports field in the center of the complex, surrounded by the school building on all sides. He went through the hallways on the left of the entrance, heading for the area directly behind the field. He climbed up to the third floor, where his classroom was located. Class 1A sat on the end of the floor, the farthest away from the single staircase heading up there which was located on the left side of the field.

He reached out his hand and pushed down the handle, opening the door that separated this class and its hallway. A single girl occupied the room ahead of him, sitting on the other end of the class, on the second row right next to the window. She was reading a book, her eyes moved to Ethan as he entered the empty room.

“Good morning, Ethan.”

She said with a smile.

“Morning.”

He looked at the girl. Ethan’s sudden stare probably made her a bit uncomfortable.

“Is something wrong?”

She asked, her smile unwavering. Coincidentally, she was also the same girl he saw the night before. Chione Ayadi. For a moment, he wondered if he should ask her about last night, about what she was doing inside that game. Not to say that girl gamers were uncommon, but she didn’t change her avatar, using her exact real-life body in the game.

That was practically unheard of.

Everyone he knew had different looks from their real-world counterparts, some going as far as changing their gender. But her avatar yesterday looked exactly the same, however. Her short, curly dark brown hair, sharp nose, petite stature, and clear red eyes, all looked exactly the same as the girl in the game, the only difference being that she wore completely different clothes. Instead of the red shirt with walnut brown skirts in the game, she now wore the same white and gray uniform he wore with the exception of long skirts instead of trousers.

He sat down left of her, not saying a single word.

“Hmm?”

He was still looking at her. Eventually, he shook his head.

“Sorry. I saw someone similar to you, and was wondering if you two were the same person.”

“Where?”

“Aldhia Star.”

Her posture straightened up the second she heard that title, her face tense. Aldhia Star originally started as a sightseeing simulator, to test the new technology that allowed immersive virtual reality to be widely used. The technology was named dual reality as if hammering in the idea that it was capable of creating other worlds, second realities, in a way.

“Ah, I… never heard of that.”

“Wrong person, then. Sorry.”

He immediately pulled out his phone and pretended to be fiddling with it.

It’s really her.

Her face told him all he needed to know. She let out a smile, albeit not as clear as before, and returned her attention to the book. For some reason, she didn’t want to tell him about it, going as far as lying and hiding it.

This made him curious, but he knew better than to ask. He wasn’t bold enough to stalk her, even if she didn’t know his identity, nor did he want to mess with her.

It was simply not worth the risk.

“Ah, look. Pinky’s here.”

He ignored the words of Mason. This had been going on for a while now, ever since the class knew that he liked the color pink. Some didn’t care, but some mocked and called him names for it. For Mason, it was the latter. He always, always ignored those who called him that, so the others eventually dropped it.

Mason didn’t say anything else and went to his own seat. The class quickly got crowdier as more students poured in, sitting in their respective seats. The seats were assigned to them by their homeroom teacher, but some had already swapped seats. Ethan himself had fallen victim to this seat swap, as another student asked him to trade so that she could sit near her friends.

Ethan couldn’t be bothered getting into a fight over something so simple, so he reluctantly agreed. As Ethan read through some new update notices for Aldhia, Mason randomly approached him, a hat in his hand. He threw it onto Ethan’s table. Ethan looked up at him, noticing the short beard on his chin.

“What is it? You left ya hat the other day.”

Ethan put his phone on the table and looked through his bag, finally noticing that his hat was indeed gone.

“You’re not thinking I stole your hat, did ya? I’m not that pathetic.”

Mason turned around and headed back to his seat.

“Thanks.”

“Ya welcome.”

Mason sat down and started continuing his conversation with his friends, while Ethan brought his attention back to his phone. The bell soon rang, and this being a Monday morning, all the students prepared for the weekly assembly.