That’s my little dove, and she belongs to me.
Chapter Three
Sailor
I don’t realize the entire day has passed until Sam comes through the front door. I look away from the screen, my fingers still hovering over the keys, and watch as Sam moves into the dark room. He flicks the light on, causing me to see nothing but bright white light for a moment.
“Hey,” he says carefully, pulling his key from the lock and closing the door. His eyes narrow on me… as mine water.
“Hi.” I wipe my eyes and blink a few times.
I go back to the game to finish the task I’m working on with LMCYTTWACYAGG. We’ve been gaming together all day, and he’s helped me level up my character enough that we’ve gone into battle a few times and upgraded our equipment. He’s not half bad at the game.
“Sailor?” Sam’s voice has a hint of harshness to it, so I turn to face him. “Did you not hear me?”
“No, what’s up?” I turn back to the screen just as we come upon an ogre. I quickly type a message to LMC to let him know we should fight him, even though he’s a level ten mob and bothour avatars are level sixes. The fight could get us a lot of EXP and loot if we beat him. He agrees, and so we start.
“I asked you if you did anything today.” There’s an edge to his voice, but I can’t pay attention to that, not when this mob strikes me and knocks twenty points from my HP.
“Uh, no. Not really. Just been playing Solar Surge.”
“I thought you were going to look for a job?”
Narrowing my eyes, I glance at him over my shoulder but hear a grunt that makes me go back to the computer. I attack a few times, getting back at the ugly green ogre with my sword. LMC aims low as I pull back, and we work together flawlessly, but I still get hurt and have to back out of the fight or I’ll get crushed completely. I right-click, hit therunbutton, and flee. LMC does the same thing a moment later and we meet up at a large rock across the field. The ogre takes off in the opposite direction.
LMCYTTWACYAGG: That was a close one!
Golden_Phoenix: You’re telling me!
“Sailor?” Sam says my name firmly, the way a parent would when their child isn’t listening.
“What?” I bark, spinning in my chair.
He stares at me, mouth agape, like he’s mad about something and I’m an idiot for not being apologetic. What in the world could he be mad about?
“You said you were going to look for a job today, and you spent the day playing video games?” His brows are raised, expression firm.
I try to focus on his mouth for a few seconds, on the words coming out, but they’re not registering. What is he even saying right now?
“You literally told me not to do that.”
“I didn’t mean sit around all day and play games.”
“So what am I supposed to do then?” I snap back.
He opens his mouth like he’s going to argue, but then he snaps it shut, closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.
“I’m sorry. I had a long day.” He comes to stand in front of me, holding his arms out. “Can I have a hug, please?”
Do I want to hug him? No, not really.
Sam has been clingy ever since I got here, but he’s never been mean to me. Not like he was just now. I get that I didn’t do anything today, but he told me not to get a job. And I actually did take a small break to work on a paper, and I studied for finals that are coming up, so I wasn’t completely useless. It’s not like I need to work, I have plenty of money, and I’ve offered it to him plenty of times. I really don’t know what he’s upset about right now, but he’s letting me stay here. He’s doing me a huge favor, and though I’m not his biggest fan, he gives me a sense of comfort I wouldn’t have on my own. That has to count for something, right? And part of me is still holding onto hope that we can find our friendship again, even though part of me knows he thinks I’ll go back to him if he tries hard enough.
Despite that, I get to my feet and give him a hug.
He holds on to me for too long, and when we finally break apart, he gestures to the computer.
“Who’s LMCY—uh, whatever the rest is?” he asks. “That’s not someone we know.”
