Chapter 15

After PE, we had a small break and returned to classes. My body was sore due to having played so hard right after the gym. I probably wouldn't have been able to move in the morning were it not for the Great Body perk.

I send my gratitude to the Achievement System.

The guys did not forget to ask me where I learned to throw the ball so hard and Reed despaired for not being in our same activities class. He too wanted to fool around while playing Dodgeball.

As the girls come back from the locker room and their other classes, I do not forget to fulfill my vengeance.

"Hey, I saw you lose, what? 4 games in a row?"

Elle slapped my arm,

"Shut up. Your own teammates tried getting out of the game."

"How does it feel to lose 4 games?"

"Yeah, don't you think it was funny how you got knocked out?" Catherine bites back.

"Notice how I laughed when you tripped trying to get to the ball?"

Recollecting the memory, all of us that were in PE begin laughing.

Alex started laughing, "You can't say anything Charlie, you also tripped and got knocked out because you were laughing for a minute straight."

We begin laughing again, "Alright alright, we still won all of our games, didn't we? I was totally the MVP today."

Arlo smiled at me, "Alright alright quiet down now."

Reed comes up from behind and puts me in a headlock, "Oh so when we were teammates in Dodgeball last semester you were absolute trash, and now that my semester class changed you're suddenly good now huh? Where were you when I was getting smashed by two balls every single time? Huh, you want to explain yourself?" The headlock isn't hurting me and was just soft and playful.

I get out of it and begin laughing,

"Maybe you were just too bad."

"Argh, you idiot get over here."

I hide behind Natsumi,

"Help me, gym buddy!"

She laughs and playfully shields me from Reed.

----------------

Classes pass by quickly and we're now exiting class towards a coffee shop that's nearby.

Many leave quickly to their own homes and now we're just 12 people hanging out.

I too was going to head home but my sister said she was doing a project with her friends and needed to stay. I can't walk back home without her. The streets may not be dangerous but anything could always happen.

Reed wasn't going to be streaming until later so he too decided to come with us.

That reminds me, I probably should buy the streaming equipment soon. I'll also have to plan my weekend to be able to fit right with the big-name streamers and not get subbed out by someone else.

Walking in the front, I set aside the door first and let all eleven of them come in before coming in myself.

Entering, I feel the atmosphere change to a hearty and coffee ingrained environment.

There's boba tea too. I wasn't that big of a fan of boba but I like my cookies and cream shake.

Behind the counter are sandwiches, croissants, coffee beans, machines, and the usual gadgets you'd see in a Starbucks.

It's a coffee shop with quite some time in the university that's been remodeled several times to keep up with the changing modern aesthetic. It's designed simply and there are big tables and small tables for couples.

We queue up as a group and decide on what we're going to get.

I look around and notice an upright piano in one of the corners.

That's some free achievement points right there. There are many people here too.

Below the prices, there's a small chalkboard with 25% off discounts for couples.

I huddle them up together and whisper,

"Guys, it's a Tuesday with a 25% off discount. We're half and half. Waddya guys say we have a sextuple friend date?"

The less I spend, the less time I am going to work getting the money for the streaming equipment.

They start slapping my back, and Reed just whispers "My man!"

Natsumi and I turn around to each other at the same time and our intents are transmitted to each other directly without having to say anything.

"You!" We point at each other.

"What are you getting?"

"I dunno, probably a fruit milkshake. You?"

"Probably a matcha green tea. You like milkshakes, huh?" I say, thinking back yesterday in the gym when she ordered a strawberry milkshake.

She shows a wide smile that closes her eyes and poses with a V sign.

I take a mental picture of that and smile at her.

Her cute smile slightly resembles Charlotte's smile, I notice.

I'm pretty lucky we played the card games yesterday night and finally removed the awkwardness in our family. I was dragging down my family and probably didn't even realize it.

Getting out of my thoughts, we tell the barista our orders.

"We're also all dating," Reed says and begins laughing mid-sentence.

He tries to regain his composure and looks at the barista to seem more serious but a split second after completely fails and we too start laughing with him.

After ordering our drinks, a free attendant guides us to a big table and hands us our order alarmer.

Sitting down with the 25% off on our receipts, we begin laughing again.

"Reed, oh my god stop laughing so much," Lizbeth says after breaking into complete laughter.

"Hey hey, we're supposed to be dating right now. You have to be happy that I'm laughing."

"Shhh." Catherine shushes him. "They can't know we're pretending."

We glance over at the baristas and they show us a smile.

"Yeah, I think they know already guys."

"God damnit Reed you screwed up."

"Yeah, unbelievable Reed."

"Wait, what'd I do?!"

"Damn it, Reed,"

"Sheesh Reed."

Reed pretended to cry into Lizbeth's shoulder.

"Okay, okay you big baby."

He stared at us triumphantly, "At least my partner and I can act, not like you losers."

Catherine scoffed and competitively put her arm over Arlo's shoulder and hugged him with the same arm.

"Pfft, Catherine you're just hugging him like a friend."

She took her other hand and started ruffling his golden hair as a mother would to her child.

"What are you? His owner now?"

Several of us almost spit our drinks.

"God damn Macy."

We all nodded,

"Damn, Macy."

"Hey, how come the biggest playboy here isn't doing anything?"

It's become an inside joke that I'm a horrible guy aiming to pop every single guy's and girl's cherries. Though I did literally nothing to warrant that, they all disagreed.

Okay, maybe I did a little. I probably came off a little bad when I immediately asked for Natsumi's number back when we first met, even if it was a joke.

"Yeah, poor Natsumi. Charlie already got bored of her."

"Unbelievable Charlie."

Lizbeth suggests, "How about I break up with Reed and you break up with Charlie and we get married?"

I reach my arm over her shoulder and pull her a little closer.

"You're not taking my partner away from me," I scoff with playfulness.

Natsumi stares up at my face with amusement, "I don't know, I'm considering Lizbeth's offer."

"No way! I'm completely better than Lizbeth."

"I dunno, I think she hugs and comforts better…"

Is she purposefully provoking me?

I'll play along with her.

"No, I'll show my sincerity!" and earn some achievement points while doing so

"Ohohoh, playboy Charlie in action."

"He's not holding back anymore."

Reed notices the gleam in my eyes.

"Oh, he's definitely going to show off now. Someone stop him."

"Natsumi stop him."

She giggled, "I kinda want to see what he's going to do."

"Ladies, we've lost her."

"Totally a dead cause now."

Ignoring them, I walk over to the piano and ask a nearby barista,

"Hey, can I play the piano a little bit please?"

They smile and give me the OK.

My fingers have gained a little bit more strength from the Great Body perk and from playing yesterday.

What should I choose?

I quickly go through my options.

Canon in D probably would fit the environment of the room.

It's really beautiful to listen to even if it has been overplayed thousands of times.

I pull out and sit on the piano stool and lightly tap a key.

This piano is pretty used and so the keys aren't as tough to press, unlike the grand piano I played on yesterday.

The grand piano was a damn whole work out for my fingers. This instead, just lightly tapping the keys would produce the sound.

If I mess up it would be pretty loud since the sound comes easily, but since the piano isn't as weighted as the other one my fingers won't be tired as easily.

I'll need to be mindful of my hand movement and the dynamics (loud and quiet parts) of the song.

Imagining myself playing Canon in D, my fingers lightly tap my leg while the past muscle memory transfers over to my current muscles.

Last time, what I did wrong was not mentally play the song which caused me to forget a few parts. Fortunately, the errors I made were easy coverups with keys that fit the song.

Speedily going over the song in my mind, I begin warming up my hands with the tune in mind.

Feeling blood circulating in my hands and my fingers itching, I play a loud flashy warm up.

This arrangement of Canon in D is a little more jovial due to the more active left hand and amount of trills in the middle section. There are a few jumps in the right hand which make the song sound a little more youthful and rejuvenating.

I muster strength in my fingers and start the piece with a flowing arpeggio which gives even me goosebumps.

[Author Note: I honestly don't know how to explain an arpeggio without using musical terms. If you're really curious search up Animenz - Cruel Angel's Thesis. The opening part is the flowing arpeggios.]

People's heads are visibly perked up from the beautiful orchestral noise.

Moving from the dazzling opening, my fingers slow down in movement and play the serene beginning section.

…

[Ding!]

[The Achievement System has noticed the Hosts efforts fulfilling the goal of the Achievement System and awards the Host with the following:

+5 Achievement points for the grade of difficulty!

+30 achievement points for the impression on the Audience! (30 people deeply resonating with the song.)

+5 Achievement points for the Host's own efforts.

Total: +40 achievement points!

Host now has 120 achievement points.]

Hell yeah! The reward was pretty great for the number of people in the cafe.

This time, since I prepared myself a little bit before playing the song, it sounded way better.

Not only that, there's a reason why this song's trademark use is in marriages. A typical marriage would probably have this song in it, and that's because it's just so beautiful.

After the song ended, people began applauding and cheering me for an encore.

Ah, I don't know.

I like the serene and peaceful feeling the song leaves in my heart.

[Ding!]

[Quest has been issued to the host!

Continue your performance for the awed audience!

Rewards:

60 achievement points!]

I immediately plop myself back down on the stool.

Okay, what song is next?

----------------

Feeling good with my 180 achievement points, I thank the audience once again who demand another song but I smile and thank them.

I look back to see Reed and the guys with their hands raised. Okay, I'm not so sure I want to sit there anymore.

"Wooo, Charlie! Great job!" Reed attempts to convince me into going back but I can see through his deceit.

After a little banter, I sit back down on the table while they look at me like a specimen.

"What song is that?"

"It's called Canon in D." They don't know it?

Well, Apple is now Mango, and even the other movers did not recognize the famous piece back at the cafeteria.

How come there's still discord, youtube, and google though?

What's changed and what hasn't?

I must research this tonight when I get back home.

[Author Note: Thank you all very much once again for reading! I don't know what it is but my writing has become kind of slow. I took around 3 hours to write these 2k words when I was taking only an hour before. If the quality is trash, please forgive me.

Did you guys like the chapter? Do you like the interaction, or should it be lessened? How's the pace right now?

What are your guy's favorite beverages?

Please answer in the comments. Thank you all very much.]