Jemma
Day fell to night, and I went to sleep in my new bedroom. I woke up right away, but in real life. I take the headset off, I sit there for a minute processing things. It was early morning, so I must have played through the evening and past night. The clock read eight a.m.
I brush my teeth and through my hair, and then sat down at the tv with a bowl of cereal.
I hear a door open from down the hall. Noah walks down the hall and into the kitchen.
"Why the hell aren't you at school?" He asks.
"I could ask you the same question." I say, flipping through the news channels.
"Skipping. How would your parents feel if they were here, to find out their little girl is skipping out on an education?" He asks, smirking.
"My parents are dead." I say, spooning cereal into my mouth, not giving him the attention that he was begging for.
"No duh. That's what you say every time." He says, drinking milk out of the carton.
"Well, if they were here, I wouldn't have to be sharing this crappy apartment with you." I say, pointing at him for emphasis. "So, think of skipping class as my revenge for them leaving me."
"You're so depressing." He says, running his hand through his hair. "So how's that new video game you tried out?" He asks.
"It's really cool. It's like a whole different reality. Like someone took your mortal body and took it to some inter dimensional world." I say.
"Wow, sounds boring. What's the deal with wanting to play with sketchy people in a virtual world for a few hours? Sounds pointless." He says.
"You wouldn't understand. God, it's like somebody locked up the sentimental section of your brain and replaced it with stupidity and hopelessness." I say, finishing up and putting the bowl in the sink.
"Shut up, you wouldn't even have a place to live without me paying half of your rent." He says, voice raising.
"You wouldn't have that money without your parents giving it to you out of pity. Or did you finally start inevitably selling drugs? Because I bet some of the fake, preppy friends you hang out with would love to buy some!" I yell.
"Well at least I have parents!" He yells back, and I fall silent. "Um, sorry Jem-"
"No. Shut up." I say, barging into my room. I turn on the Jaylemm system and slip the headset on, laying on my bed.
The smell of pancakes fills my nose, and I smile, opening my eyes. I walk into the kitchen. Laye stands in front of the oven.
"What's going on?" I ask.
Laye screams. "Oh, it's just you, Jemma. Don't scare me like that." She says, catching her breath.
"I thought you were going to be offline, sorry." I ask.
"It's fine," She says, stuffing her face with pancake. "So, why aren't you at school?" She asks.
"I'm guessing it's the same reason you aren't in school." I say.
"Skipping?" She asks.
"Yup." I say, pushing my hair out of my face. She turns the stove off, and ties the top half of her hair up. After a silent minute, she speaks up.
"Let's clean up the apartment." She says, reaching for a broom.