Chapter 12 - First encounter

Getting to know someone who has experienced the same life changing event that I have should make me feel happy, or some kind of relief at the very least. But no, I just feel cautious of this new guy.

Obviously it wasn't a coincidence that this Miguel guy appeared from nowhere looking for me. He knew my name, which school I was attending, and even the school grade I was in. I could only hope that his encounter with Mike at the first day of school wasn't crafted by him, otherwise I wouldn't know how to feel.

Still, what does he want? If he knows of my work I would imagine that he would want work with me in some project. Or maybe he's just interested in how I was able to accomplish so much in such a short amount of time...

"Sam, what are you going to do now?" Mike suddenly asked me. Interrupting my thought process.

The both of us just finished our meal and now we had some free time. Claire and the twins had their clubs stuff to worry about, unlike us who still didn't decided what club to join.

"I was thinking on going to the library, I'm working on a project that needs a lot of my attention" I replied.

I knew that he wanted me to join him to play 'pokemon' with the all the other boys that were addicts to the game. Which to my bliss were a lot.

All week long I've been accompanied him to play at the yard, it was a good opportunity to socialize for me in a natural way. And I have to admit that destroying other kids in the game was actually pretty fun.

Besides I could talk a bit with Miguel, who until now hasn't say much about him or what does he want. I stopped giving him so much attention though, I wanted to talk with him but I'll let him make the first move.

"Right! You have to work on your script for tomorrow... And work side by side with your new conquest" He grinned.

"Stop it. I already told you that Elizabeth is too old for me, besides she has a boyfriend"

Normally I wouldn't care about it, but with how jealous the girls got when someone brought that topic, I got used to deny it immediately.

"Hahaha. Just be grateful that Ellie isn't here, to make a fuss once again"

"I know" I sighed, "you really are enjoying this new weakness you have discovered"

"Of course, it's too much fun to mess with you" He smiled... "Wait! If you don't go to battle, I'll certainly become the new 'pokemon' master" His smile broadened at that 'realization', and after patting my shoulder in a friendly manner, he hurried toward the exit.

I just shook my head in resignation at how simple Mike was. With that out of the way my mind automatically went to think about Miguel once again. Thankfully the projects I had in mind ended up being the whole focus of my thoughts after a short while.

The script of 'Home Alone' was practically ready, but I wanted to start working in another one before Erin forces me to work in the animated movie I promised her to work on.

For the next movie I wanted to have Ellie and Emma play a role. I didn't have a movie in mind, but I wasn't sure if they were ready to do it, nor if they even wanted to... Maybe I should bring that topic to them sometime.

While I was occupied with my thoughts, I was walking straight towards the library. The hall was particularly empty so I didn't take long to arrive. I wasn't surprised by the lack of students though, most of the students were either outside, eating, or in their club activities.

"Samuel. I was waiting for you outside with the other kids" I was about to enter the library, but I heard Miguel's voice, which made me stop.

I turned around, and indeed there he was. The same guy I have been interacting all week, finally approached me with intentions of talking. Or that was what I hoped.

"Miguel. Are you ready to talk now?" I asked calmly.

"Yep, so follow me shorty. We'll talk for real" He said mockingly before he started to walk away.

I kept quiet and followed him. I was already used to him trying to get a reaction from me with his 'friendly' comments, and honestly I didn't care. I was dating four girls who were a lot taller than me, so mocking me for my height wasn't exactly the best strategy.

I noticed that we were going to the court, specifically were Claire had her basketball training. I had come before to see her so I was sure of that. It was a weird place to talk, but I knew that the benches at the side were completely empty, so I didn't complain about it.

When we entered, my eyes immediately locked on Claire who also looked at me, along with all of her teammates. Miguel wasn't a fan of the art of subtlety, so I expected that we were going to be noticed by all the girls once we crossed the door. And that was exactly what happened.

It was definitely an awkward situation, but nothing I couldn't manage. I smiled in their direction and blew a kiss to Claire before following Miguel who didn't mind the girls at all.

I could hear a variety of reactions to my actions. Fortunately most were positive, with some girls giggling or teasing Claire playfully. I was happy that I my previous visit here achieved my objective of making a good impression on them. Otherwise even with my mental age as advantage, I wouldn't have be able to pull that off.

"You're really popular, huh?" Miguel asked me once we were on the bench. He still maintained a mocking expression on his face.

"Nah, I don't think so. But you have been asking around about me, so you should know better"

"Ha! That's right. You have changed a lot lately if the things I heard about you were any true"

"Yeah. I had to admit that I used to work too much... Let's say that socialize wasn't one of my priorities.

Now is different though. I got used to work on many projects at the same time, so I'm able to enjoy my school life like a regular kid with no problems" I boasted with confidence, it was a total lie but I really wanted to mess with him a little. Which worked! If the twitch of his lip was any indication.

I wasn't sure if he was one of the four 'creative' people I was aware of, but I made my comment assuming he was. Unless any of those guys have been working theirs ass off since a young age as I did, I was confident that they wouldn't be able to match the kind of pace I accomplished.

"Well, not everyone can be as talented as you Samuel... Six animated series. Five books. Four ongoing comic book series. And even a video game...

The fact that you even find time to play couples with four girls is... irritating"

I was aware of all of my work, but when it's being listed like Miguel just did, I can't help myself of marvel about it. And he didn't even mentioned the movies I'm planning to make.

About his comment about me playing couples, I just didn't care. It wasn't something I wanted to discuss with him. Still my sight found Claire when he said that, and I couldn't help myself but smile when I saw her looking at me from time to time.

"Damn, you really have it hard for that girl... Well I can't blame you, she's really cute" Miguel commented after a while.

"Okay... We already stablished how awesome I am. What's left is for you to tell me what do you want from me" I say with clear intentions of getting our talk back in track.

"Don't worry, I like them mature" He smirked. To which I only shrugged with disinterest.

"You're no fun" He continued, "Well, the truth is that I have already met with the others"

"You mean the ones with their work published, right?" I interrupted him.

"That's them... I'm one of them by the way" He said, with no intention of telling me who he was. "I proposed to all of them an alliance...

You see, I want to create the 'Netflix' of this world, but I'm aware that even with all of my efforts, fighting against established companies that produce lots of content every year, would be a pointless endeavor.

So after some digging I found you, and instead of simply meet you casually any day, I decided that it was better to come here... Well that's the short story, what do you think? are you interested in joining us? The company will be a public one, so we can talk about how many shares every one of us will be getting when the time comes"

It was the first time I heard him with such serious tone of voice. That alone made me contemplate his words in detail. And what he said shocked me.

His plan was the same as mine, to form the 'Netflix' of this world. But unlike me, he decided to work with others to accomplish it. It wasn't a bad idea, strength in numbers and all that stuff. While I did consider that possibility in the past, I abandoned it when I realized a simple fact. I wanted it to do it all by myself. Me as the owner of a private company where I had the full authority to do whatever I wanted to do.

My goal wasn't to be part of the wave that will dominate the entertainment industry. My goal was to ride that wave with the people I chose to work for me.

"What a coincidence, I planned to do the same, but by myself... I think that means we'll be rivals now" I smiled widely at him.

I could have accepted his proposal to deceive him. But the thought of having such competent people as rivals, made my heart beat faster in excitement. I couldn't wait to get back to work in my next movie and to finish my next book. This life is extremely fun!