"Let your colors burn and brightly
burst
Into a million sparks that all
disperse
And illuminate the world that'll try to
bring you down
But not this time."
--Shooting Stars by Owl City

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

YOU DIED.

That was the sentence flashing on my computer's screen after my character, a knight, had jumped off a cliff, resulting in it to lose twenty percent of its experience points.

Accidentally, I might add, because of lag.

I immediately called my one and only best friend on my smartphone to prevent myself from banging my hands on the keyboard while shouting profanities. There was a high chance Dad would hear it outside and ground me for eternity, which I didn't want to happen.

And the keyboard might break. I didn't have enough money to buy a new one again.

After the third ring Lawrence finally answered the call, but he said sleepily, "Five more minutes, Mum."

"Lawrence!" I yelled to wake him up. "Get up and go online and revive my character! I'm in the Western Mountains. Make it snappy, 'cause time's running out!"

He yawned.

"Rence, pretty please?" I added sweetly, just to make him do what I'd requested.

"You saying things in a sweet way...just no." I heard some ruffling on the other line, then he chuckled. "Just return to your last save point. I'm guessing it's at Rockwood Town, which is near the Western Mountains."

"Yes. And you're wrong; Rockwood Town is a thousand miles away from the Western Mountains."

"You're exaggerating, Klein."

I huffed indignantly. "No, I'm not! So, you game?"

"Hate to be a killjoy, but school's in thirty minutes. Still have to prepare." He laughed. "You said it yourself--time's running out. See ya later! Oh, and thanks for waking me up."

"But you only live five buildings away from school! You can't give me this kind of torture!" I protested, but Lawrence had already ended the call.

"Traitor," I mumbled, throwing my Sony Xperia onto the bed. I sighed while staring at the computer screen, my character still lying on the ground pitifully.

Sadly, not many players were passing by the area. If there were, then I'd have already requested them to resurrect my character by using a Revival Potion, or, if they were a cleric, to use the skill Resurrection on her. I knew I could ask using the public chat system so that the other players online would know about the predicament I was currently in and come to my rescue (if they loved helping a poor, unfortunate soul, that is), but I was too lazy to do that at the moment.

Sue me.

I clicked the "Return to Save Point" button before logging out.

For three consecutive years, Dragonia Online was the best massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) out there, and its number one player for two consecutive years was GTG_01. Nobody had beaten his record yet. It was every player's dream to beat him, and I wanted to be that very player so that I'd be replacing him.

Many people had interviewed GTG_01, but he only accepted written interviews. He wanted his face, voice and other personal information to remain anonymous. And that had caused a rumor that the player behind GTG_01 was a hundred years old or more. But, seriously, even with my imaginative mind, I found that to be impossible. What was he, a modern-day vampire?

Then there was a knock on the door, interrupting me from my I-shall-defeat-GTG_01 thoughts. I turned around just in time to see Dad opening it, quickly causing me to hide the agitation I was currently feeling.

My dad, Alexander, was a web developer at Google NY. Web developers are the dudes responsible for designing websites with sleek fonts and clean layouts by using HTML and other computer languages. He was wearing his business attire, which meant he was ready to go to work.

He frowned at me. "You were playing early in the morning again?"

"Chillax, Dad," I said, turning off my computer. "It only happens whenever Dragonia Online is having a two-times-experience event. 'Sides, I always prepare myself before playing the game." I gestured to my outfit, ready to go to the most evil place on earth: high school.

Dad scratched his head. "I don't know what that is, but you should stop doing that. Playing so early before you go to school, I mean."

That would be suicide on my part, but I still said, "Don't worry, Dad. The event will end tomorrow, so I won't be playing early in the morning again until another two-times-experience event is up."

Dad sighed, then asked, "How are your grades?" He crossed his arms over his chest, stepping into my room. Posters of some of my favorite animé and video games, and my painting of a unicorn, were pinned on the walls. There were also Gundams, Zoids (I don't really care about Barbies), Pokémon and Digimon stuffed toys beside my bookshelf. Pinkie, my pink unicorn stuffed toy, was on my bed, always smiling.

Yeah. My bedroom was my heaven.

Not bothering to tie my long dark-brown hair, I shouldered my backpack, got my skateboard in a corner and replied, "They're well-maintained...except for freaking geometry." I mumbled that last part so that he wouldn't hear it. I don't have the glorious talent to solve the stupid angles and mathematical problems that always look useless on paper, on the chalkboard, and in my life.

To make things short: I really suck at math.

"Did you do your homework?"

The frustration I was feeling at this point was also having its own two-times-experience event. "Yes, Dad," I gritted. "I did it last night. What else do you wanna ask me? If I have a boyfriend? 'Cause that would be a nonsensical question."

He was silent, avoiding eye contact, and I had an idea what he was about to say next. A moment later he told me, "I invited Patricia to eat dinner with us later."

I froze, forcing myself not to throw my skateboard at him.

"You remember her, right?" Dad asked, taking my silence as his way to continue. "My workmate."

"Yes, Dad," I replied plainly, staring intently at his gray eyes; they were like the sky on a cloudy day. I remembered Grandma used to say to me, You, your dad and I have the same eye color, Klein. We shouldn't let our eyes start a storm. I'm sure you know what I mean.

But I was doing the opposite right now: my eyes were raging with fury as angry as the ocean on a stormy night. I couldn't help it.

I stood straighter and then turned toward the door. "I better go now."

"Klein--"

"Bye, Dad." I passed him swiftly, not bothering to kiss his cheek for this day.

Then I was out of our apartment.

♒ ♒ ♒

I furiously pushed my skateboard into my locker, causing in some of my books inside to fall onto the floor. I cursed as I picked them up and carelessly placed them back inside. Students were now hustling inside Beaconville High School, afraid to be late for their first class.

"Why the sour mood?" a voice with a British accent that I knew too well asked beside me. "Is it because I didn't resurrect your character?"

"Worse than that, actually," I responded, facing Lawrence, who was wearing his usual thick glasses, his brown hair tousled. "I forgot to eat breakfast." Then I slammed my locker shut with a loud bang.

I first met Lawrence when I was fourteen years old in Dragonia Online. Well, technically, it was our characters who had met, but you get the idea. When I'd seen his character, a cleric (or healer), just sitting on a bench beside Moreen Lake, I'd asked him if he liked to party with me to complete some quests, and he'd agreed immediately. Since then, we'd always been a team, and we'd also gotten to know each other very well, even though it'd just been through Facebook and Skype. After a few months he'd asked me if I wanted to meet up with him in person, since he was also a New Yorker, and I'd said yes without second thoughts, because I already trusted him.

Lawrence opened his locker to get some of his books and put them into his bag. The rustling sound made me come back to reality. "I sense there's more to your story."

I heaved a long sigh. "My dad invited Patricia to eat dinner with us later, Rence. I really feel he's hiding something from me 'bout the two of them."

"Oh," Lawrence replied, suddenly looking uncomfortable. I'd told him about Patricia on the phone after she'd helped Dad with work stuff in our apartment four months ago. They'd been laughing to their hearts' content while working--who laughs while they're working?!--and that's when I started to suspect something about them.

"If they're secretly dating...he should know better," I grumbled, scowling.

And to add more bad vibes into my life, a high-pitched and irritating voice said, "Well, well, well. If it isn't the famous tomboy of Beaconville High!"

I swear the vein near my temple was about to burst any second now.

Ignore her, Klein, I thought, clenching my hands into fists. Ignore the witch who wears too much makeup that's like a frosting on a cake.

Even Lawrence put his hand on my shoulder, warning me not to retaliate.

But the stupid and ugly voice persisted. "Gosh, the way you dress really sickens me." Then she laughed loudly, making my ears bleed. "And I hope you won't get to answer another geometry problem correctly later."

That did it.

I turned around sharply. I was about to throw some nasty remarks at the dark-haired witch in front of me that would surely give me a golden ticket to the principal's office when my best friend cried, "Get out of here, Selena! You're not needed."

Selena "the Witch" Walker was the vice president of the Math Scholars of Beaconville. It was bad luck we were classmates in geometry, because she'd mock me whenever I couldn't answer a problem correctly. I didn't know how I'd earned this kind of "special" treatment toward her. The Witch was wearing a red top with lace stripe hem, skinny jeans and combat boots, feeling like she's Elena Gilbert from The Vampire Diaries.

I swear, I've tried to avoid her time and time again, but I guess opposites do attract--me good and she evil. But every time this witch and I saw each other, it seemed like she had the "red tide."

But for a brief moment, I could swear I saw hurt cross her face before saying, "Ha! You know what, Lawrence? If you weren't always with Powers," Walker spat venomously, facing him, "then you'd have more friends in this school."

Where could I buy witch repellent?

Lawrence laughed without humor after shooting me a look--a look that meant I shouldn't interfere. "Selena, I only need a real friend, and that's Klein. 'Sides, when you have less friends, there's less drama in your life," he calmly said.

That couldn't be more true.

"She didn't do anything to you in the first place," my best friend continued, "so back off, will ya?"

I noticed we were attracting attention now.

Walker just glared daggers at us--I mean, at me, and then she was off, the audience also dispersing without a word.

After a moment the traffic in the hallways was back to normal again, and I told Lawrence incredulously, "You didn't let me give my standing-ovation speech about Walker's thick makeup and how a clown would cower in shame if they saw it."

He chuckled while patting my head. "Your sarcasm would surely take charge if I'd let you do that."

"Wow, Rence, you know me so well." Then I told him with a frown, "Seriously, I don't know why Cera--"

"Selena," Lawrence corrected, but I ignored it.

"--Walker hates me so much. I'm sure it's not because of how I dress." I gestured to my cadet cap, blue hoodie, jeans and limited edition Taylor Swift Keds. "I really believe she's a witch in disguise, and her mission in life is to make my life miserable. She must be so bored to death, huh?"

He guffawed. "You and your imaginative side. Well, I think she's just jealous that most of the guys in Beaconville have their eyes on you, even with the way you act and dress."

I snorted. "That's such crap, Rence."

Suddenly, a good-looking guy whose name I didn't know stopped in front of me, then his left eye blinked. "Hi, Klein." And then he rounded a corner before I could say anything back.

Lawrence raised an eyebrow with a smirk. "See what I mean?"

"Dude had something wrong with his left eye," I informed him incredulously. "Must be sore. That dude should go to the clinic, snappy."

He facepalmed. "He gave you a wink, Klein. A flirtatious wink, I might add."

My brain was buffering like the speed of a dial-up Internet connection after he'd said that. "Oh," I realized after a millennia. Then I waved a dismissive hand, adding, "Luuuh. I'm sure he just wanted to say that 'cause...um, 'hi' and 'Klein' rhyme. Er, sort of."

"Nope. What I said was the truth," he said simply, carefully placing his skateboard inside his locker.

Yeah, Lawrence Perdu was the cautious one, while I, Klein Powers, was the clumsy one, even when we were playing video games.

I ignored what he'd said. "I still think there's another reason for her huge hatred toward me."

Lawrence pursed his lips, which was one of the signs that he was thinking so deep that I could see Adele rolling. A minute passed when he stated, "Come to think of it, Selena wasn't acting this way when we were in our freshman and sophomore years."

I raised an eyebrow in disbelief. We were now walking toward our first class, geometry, like we were about to be executed, because the bell had already rung. (Screw Walker and all math subjects!) "Um, you mean to say that she changed from being an angel to a devil when I transferred here five months ago?"

"Kind of."

"Were you two friends before?" I asked, intrigued.

"Nah. We were only acquaintances," Lawrence answered with a shrug. "We just talked 'cause we were seatmates in some classes."

"Hmm. Maybe she likes you and she's jealous that you're hanging out with me rather than her," I guessed. Lawrence was really good boyfriend material, even with his thick glasses. I've seen some girls gazing at him with sparkling eyes. If we hadn't been best buds and I didn't think of him as my older brother, then maybe I'd have had fallen for him, too.

It was his turn to snort. "I'm sure that's not the case." Lawrence paused. "Oh, right. Here." He gave me a pack of M&M's, my most favorite chocolate brand in the world, which I accepted gratefully, my sour mood forgotten. For now.

"You really are a lifesaver!" I exclaimed, tearing it open instantly. "Except for the fact that you didn't revive my character earlier."

"Hey! I didn't have time," he protested, trying hard not to laugh.

I smiled widely at him. "By the way, Rence, thanks for what you did earlier. I really appreciated it."

He smiled back. "No prob, Klein."

"Best friends forever, right?" I told him happily.

His mouth twitched, and I didn't know why. "Y-yeah. Best friends forever..." He coughed all of a sudden. "Say, do you wanna hang out after school? You know, to have fun and kill some time."

I grinned from ear to ear. "Gladly! I don't wanna go home too early today."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And that's the revised first chapter of TWoC. Yeah, it was boring and short, I know. But please bear with me because I'll make things exciting for you guys soon. Just don't expect too much, okay? XD

Andrew Garfield as Lawrence Perdu | Adelaide Kane as Selena Walker

Please do vote/comment. I'd really appreciate it. :))

This story is beta-read by phillyboy10.