Episode 11: A New Game

I took a deep breath before pushing the door bell. As I did, I instinctively fixed my clothes. And there, her father appeared.

"Desmond!"

"Good morning, sir." I flinched a little upon him tapping my back as I entered.

"Dad, call me dad. I told you that last week, right?"

I refuse it. It feels wrong, but still welcoming.

"Anyway, Rita is in her room." We continued to walk in the living room. "You know, the usual weekend. Eat breakfast and stay in her room until lunch. Then the cycle continues."

"Heh, I figured."

"Oh, Desmond!" Rita's mom appeared from the kitchen. "You've been visiting more frequently, young man."

"Thanks for having me, still."

"Be welcomed." She smiled.

I looked at the stairs where Rita's room was. Sir patted me on the back and said, "Good luck taming the beast."

"Heh." I went upstairs and escaped the parent's ground. It was a daunting task, considering I have to put off the two's antics. Well anyway, I managed to move on to the next level, their daughter.

I knocked on the door and called out, "Rita?"

No response. And so out of temper, I opened the door. Slowly, her usual room's sight appeared. But of course, it's not the one I'm looking out for. And yes, it's her.

"Hey."

I was greeted with an apathetic response. A normal day when you visit Rita in her home. But what shocked me isn't that. Well, uh-

"Come, I recently bought a new game." She patted beside her.

-Let me briefly explain it... A white sleeveless top and a black high waisted short. There's cover of course, a blanket. But sharp eyes can't be flawed.

"New game, huh." I sat some distance away from her.

"Yeah, it's different from what we played before." She lazily reached for her cabinet and took out the controller. "Here." I took hold of the device.

And so, the game started. I, who plays outside games, is playing an indoor one with my girlfriend. Obviously, I don't know anything about the game; So I started randomly pressing on the controller. From what I can see, the game layout is like a super mario, but with guns.

"Let's go," she said while her character moved at the end of the right corner screen. I followed by simply pressing the right arrow. Easy enough.

Suddenly, a group of monsters appeared. They look like a soldier, but an alien. Games can be this creative.

I pressed the button for fire, hoping to help Rita who's already clearing them out. At least that was what I hoped I could do.

Boom! Rita died. How, you may ask? I shot at her.

"Oh come on." Rita looked at me. "Finish that level." She squinted her eyes.

As a person who's not an expert to this, I could proudly say I failed. My eyes can't keep up with the movement. Pixels hurt my eyes, or brain?

"There's friendly fire, be careful next time." Rita explained. "Hm, never knew that." She whispered but enough for me to hear.

And so, the hellish gameplay continues. Deaths increased; it was counted at the upper right of the screen. And those deaths are...? Of course, made by me by accidentally killing Rita.

Until finally, Rita snapped. How'd I know? Well currently, I'm lying on her bed with her on top of me, so let's roll it back for a minute.

On the 13th death count, Rita dropped her controller. I am currently looking at her silhouette as her image was foreshadowed by the light in the television screen. Even without a proper vision, you can tell that she's extremely mad at me.

In just a second, the introverted girl hiding in her blanket moved like a monster to corner me. You might be even more shocked as this girl doesn't do any physical exercise.

My wrists were being held by her. She pushed me on her bed using the force on her hands. I am defenseless, strength diminished from the shock. Her heavenly eyes stared at me as if I did something blasphemous. My heart throbbed looking to fickle more.

"Hey, are you doing this on purpose?"

My eyes widened and replied, "N-No. You know I suck on this."

"Man, you're only good at basketball. That really sucks."

"Heh," I said, eyes still wide.

I saw her eyes looked down slightly. If I'd ever guess, it's my nose or lips. My breath is still unstable. And all she keeps on doing does not help in fixing it.

Finally, she loosened the grip on my wrist and lay on my side. We're both looking at the room's ceiling.

"I guess we should play 'that' game then," Rita said.

"Yeah... That's what I could only understand." I sat down and picked up the phone in my pocket.

So we both played a mobile shooting game. Rita even invited a guy that's familiar to me. And who could it be, you may ask? Of course, it's him.

A/N: I remember writing this a few months ago and was like, "Yo, my vocabulary is insane for this chapter!" I even shared it with my friends and was really satisfied with it. And here you go, one of my favorite chapters. Well actually, the main purpose of writing this author note is to let you know that school has dumped activities on me, once again. Luckily, this chapter was already done the last time that all I have to do is to re-read it and fix the grammar. So yeah, I might not update again in a while, but expect me to continue the series!!! (Really loved this story tbh that I have already the ending in my mind already. I'll flourish it into a nice closing!)