Dinner

Arthur, Arthur's Mother, Mia, and Noah sat around the table with plates of food in front of them.

Arthur's mother's name was Amelia. She looked to be in her mid 30's, having long brown hair in a low ponytail. She had ocean-blue eyes that glinted with happiness as she was surrounded by her wonderful family. She was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt that its arm sleeves rolled up. She wore blue jeans with black socks on.

Amelia was a beautiful woman who Arthur cherish very much. She's a kind mother who thinks for the best of her loved ones but has tough circumstances.

Amelia glanced around the table with a smile on her face, watching everyone stuff their faces with the food she made with the love and care she put into it.

They were having meatloaf with macaroni and cheese. It was one of their favorites, especially Arthur's. It reminded him of the happy times with his father, Amelia, and him.

Amelia was satisfied with everyone's expressions and looked at Arthur and asked "Arthur, What happened at work today?"

Arthur was chewing his food and glanced at Amelia. He took a drink of his milk to clear his throat, then he told her about his day.

"Ah, it was really busy today. There were numerous customers, specifically a family who came at the same time. They were really loud, but they seem like good people" Arthur said with an amused tone.

Amelia listened and looked at Mia as she was also very interested in his day. She looked back at Arthur and kept listening.

After Arthur was finished explaining his day, he saw Mia's glance. He felt bad about earlier, so he wanted to see if she was upset, so he asked her how her day was.

"Hey, Mia. How was Gymnastics class today?" Arthur said in an interested tone, with a curious expression.

Mia slightly blushed and looked down at her plate. She took a deep breath, then looked back at Arthur but did not look in his eyes. She was really happy that he asked and told him how her day was

"Oh, it was fine. I helped Sophia when Coach Miller was helping the other girls" Mia explained.

Sophia is Mia's best friend when she transferred to his old High School. Mia was very shy when she transferred from the all-girls school because it was a different experience for her to enroll in public school.

Mia entered her freshman year in college this year. She had received help from Arthur and Amelia to enter college this year and was extremely grateful for their help.

She started Gymnastics when she was young and kept at it. She enrolled in college and took a Gymnastics class with Sophia. Mia and Sophia promised each other that they would enroll in the same college and take the class together.

"Oh? I'm really proud and glad that you lent a hand when someone needed it. It's one of the things I love about you" Arthur said with a wide smile as he nodded his head.

Mia's face turned red as a tomato, averted her gaze while shaking her hand's side to side.

"I-It's really n-nothing. Sophia is my best friend so it's only natural to help her" Mia said as she thought that's what friends do and normal.

Amelia looked at Mia and chuckled and sighed.

Amelia knew Mia's feelings about Arthur, but instead of being against it, she was rather happy she felt that way about Arthur. She knew that Mia was a good, pure girl so she wasn't worried. They were also not related by blood so she really didn't have a problem with it.

What made Amelia sigh was that Arthur was a natural smooth talker. He learned from his father when he was still alive. That's how Arthur's father was able to date Amelia because he was a natural playboy that made her heart flutter every time he spoke with her. He knew how to treat women and taught that to Arthur, and Arthur naturally does it without realizing it.

Although Amelia was a little glad that Arthur was taught, Arthur didn't know about his own feelings for Mia and thought that their relationship would take a while. Amelia was worried that Mia would miss her chance if she waited, but didn't take the initiative to push Mia.

Mia was a smart and strong girl, if she wanted to progress in their relationship then she must have a plan and Amelia had a feeling she did.

So, Amelia shook her head and pushed these thoughts to the back of her mind, and looked back at Arthur.

"So I heard from Derek's mom that Derek was going to buy the new VR game...What was it called?" Amelia asked as she tilted her head, caressing her chin

Derek was Arthur's best friend that he used to talk to when he was still in High School. They used to hang out all the time until Arthur dropped out of High School and took on a job.

Arthur thought that he didn't have enough time to hang out anymore so they haven't talked in a while.

Arthur's body stiffened from Amelia's words because he wanted to talk with her about it but didn't get the chance.

Arthur knew that Amelia would support him with anything he wanted but he didn't want to be selfish. Arthur wanted to light the burden that Amelia was carrying and buying Raven Online would set them back a little.

Arthur gathered the courage and said "Yes, it's called "Raven Online or RO for short. It's a new game that I was...I was going to buy it and wanted to hear your thoughts about it"

Amelia's expression brightened and amusingly said "Am I hearing things? Did my pumpkin say he was going to buy something, especially a game? Is the sky falling?"

Arthur's face twitched and said sarcastically "Ha...Ha..." Arthur paused and continued "I was thinking about getting it because I heard you can earn money in the game and transfer it to your real-life bank account"

Amelia frowned and bit her lip because once again, Arthur was putting everyone else before himself.

"Arthur...Joseph...Clarke" Amelia said in a serious tone. Arthur's body shivered because he rarely saw Amelia get mad about something.

"Why can't you play the game for fun? If you really want to help me, just play the game and have fun. Stop worrying about money and just play it" Amelia seriously said with a straight face.

Arthur looked down for a moment and started thinking about what to say next.

'I should just tell her that I will and I could also earn money while doing it, but she wouldn't believe me. Sigh...Maybe I should just agree because I don't want her to worry' Arthur thought as he was piecing what to say.

Arthur looked back at Amelia and reached for her hand to cuff it with his own. He started rubbing the front of her hand with his thumb and reassured Amelia

"Okay, Mom...I will play the game to have fun, alright?"

Amelia looked at Arthur and sighed inwardly. She knew that he wasn't but she didn't want to push it any further. All she could do is hope that he'll have fun. She looked at him and smiled

"That's my pumpkin. Go brush your teeth and play the game"

As she said that she stood up and grabbed everyone's finished plates. No one wanted seconds so she took them and went towards the kitchen to wash the now dirty dishes.

Arthur leaned back into his chair and thought for a moment.

'I got an hour or so before Raven Online fully releases. Maybe I should preorder it and then watch some videos about RO before I play the game'

With a plan in mind, Arthur walked towards the hall bathroom, took out his toothbrush, put toothpaste on the bristles, and ran the tap water from the sink to wet the toothpaste.

He started brushing his teeth in a circular motion left to right, front to back.

After 2 minutes of brushing, Arthur spits the toothpaste out and rinsed his mouth. He took his personal hand towel to dry his mouth and threw it in the hamper.

Arthur walked to his bedroom and closed the door until it was slightly cracked. Arthur slept in the same room as Noah, so he didn't want to close the door.

Arthur walked to his closet and opened it to grab his Golden VR headset. After grabbing it, he walked over to his bed, lay down, and put it on.

Arthur pushed the start button on the side of the VR Headset and closed his eyes. Arthur saw the usual start-up message

[Welcome, ArthurClarke17]

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Thank you for reading!

I'm a little tired so there's only 1 chapter for now. I'll go to sleep and wake up and start writing chapters and they'll be out later. I want to quickly look back at this chapter and fix up any poor grammar before that.

Anyways, If you have any questions about the novel, ask in the comments and I'll answer them as best to not spoil the story!

If you liked this novel so far, check out my other one-

"Broken Vampire with a [System]" - Ongoing

Chapter 3: Dinner