In the real world, Y/n gave a sigh of relief. Although with the practice that she had, it was still stressful with speed running. You never knew what could happen and had to be prepared for pretty much anything. Y/n looked at her time. 30 minutes and 48 seconds. She gave a soft smile. She had shaved off 18 seconds from her previous time.

Her mom called her down to go help unpack. Y/n ran downstairs to their new front yard and saw the twins helping their dad bring in heaviest boxes. Lori and Leo were in the front playing with the excess boxes that had already been emptied. Charlie was inside with their mom, helping her get everything out and putting them where they belonged.

Y/n followed her younger brothers and helped them carry the heavy boxes inside.the air inside the house felt cool against her skin, even though she had only been outside for less than a few minutes. She wasn't used to this new weather and humidity and would take a while to get comfortable in the new setting.

Although the heat was near impossible to bear, she preferred to wear hoodies. Y/n claimed that they were comfy, but one of the real reasons was because she didn't want to be a show off. Same with her other attire. She would either wear sweatpants or basketball shorts, but those were mostly for comfort. Her shirts were usually baggy and hidden by the hoodies she wore on top.

She stumbled inside the house, carrying boxes that covered her view making it hard to see what was in front of her. Slowly but surely she made her way through the house to the room where the boxes needed to be placed. The room she stopped at was the highest room in the house. It's size was around the average of the rest of the rooms, leaning more towards the bigger ones. Before they had arrived, the twins and Y/n had been given the chance to choose their rooms. Y/n being the oldest got the first pick.

She had chosen a room that was big enough for her to have a bed, a stash of random stuff, and her gaming equipment. She knelt down on the cold, hardwood floor and opened the first box. Inside was a carefully stashed monitor, a keyboard and mouse, and under it all was the PC.

Her fingers itched to set it up and start playing. A laptop just wasn't enough. She sighed, knowing that if her parents walked in while she was playing she would get scolded and most likely grounded from playing for a month or until all the boxes were unpacked.

She couldn't stand doing that again. Pushing the box into a corner out of her sight and reach, she walked away to get the furniture for her room.

At the bottom of the stairs, the twins were bringing up Y/n's queen sized bed. She had once shared a room with Lori, but had convinced her parents to let her have her own. She hadn't had her own room since the twins were born.

She ducked under the massive headboard and waltzed into the living room where her mom and Charlie were setting things up. Most of the furniture was clustered right next to the front door.

Y/n grabbed a fold up desk and carried it up the stairs. The twins were coming down to get more furniture for other rooms. Mainly the beds. Sleeping on the ground wasn't as comfortable as a bed. They wouldn't say it out loud, but internally they were complaining about having to sleep on the floor of their room.

Y/n just liked to think of it as a camping trip, although it was much softer and beat sleeping on the hard earth by a landslide. Pun intended. The next half hour was filled with trying to set up her bed. Y/n kept telling herself that once she set up most of her furniture she could get her PC up and running.

It took longer than she expected, mainly because once she got the bed done she just sat there reading some of the books that she found in one of the boxes. A few hours later, with about two more hours left of sunlight, her parents asked her what she wanted for dinner.

Y/n looked around the room and gave a small chuckle. She had only done the bed and the foldup table. She still had her clothes that needed to be put away and the PC to set up. She threw the book on the bed and sped her way downstairs. "Where are you going?"

"Whatever's nearby. Probably a Mcdonalds or something. Do you want anything specific?"

"Um...make it a surprise? I don't know what I feel like eating right now." Y/n stated. Her mom nodded her head and walked out the door, her dad following behind. Before the door could close, her mom turned back and said "You guys can watch TV or something. Just no video games. You've been on them for the past two days." Y/n nodded her head grudgingly. She was looking forward to gaming. They just got the wifi set up too, so she could've played online.

She stared out the window watching their red van pull out of the driveway on a mission to get the small army food. Lori and Leo came up to her and asked her a question. She didn't register it, mainly because she was thinking of getting on Minecraft. It wasn't until after a few minutes of being pestered about watching TV that she finally understood what they were asking.

Soon enough the TV was on and they were searching through Disney movies galore, trying to find the perfect one to watch. They all settled on watching Tangled. It had a thief, romance, magic, and an amazing soundtrack that most of the siblings knew all the words to. Well, the two girls did. The only one out of the boys that knew most of the words was Leo, but that's because he was exposed to Disney songs almost everyday from hanging out with the girls.

The disc was slid in and the lights had been turned off. Blankets had been pulled out and the single couch that was set up was filled and kids had to lay down on the floor. If only there was popcorn. The next few minutes were filled with watching the classic Disney opening and hearing Eugene start off with saying that he died.

Their movie was interrupted by a knock at the door. Y/n got up, letting the others watch the TV show in peace. She could just watch the movie later. She looked outside of the window and there was a boy about her age. He had dirty blonde hair and green eyes. In his hand he held an envelope. Y/n stood there watching him, wondering what he was going to do next.

Usually if there was a person at the door when their parents were gone she would just stare at the person for a few seconds to see who it was and leave the door unanswered. They would go away eventually. But this kid seemed to be different from the rest. What I mean by different was that he was wearing a hoodie with a certain icon from a video game. A creeper.

So far Y/n had never seen anyone that had any Minecraft merchandise or who was as into Minecraft as her. Maybe this boy had the same interests as her. Or not. Of course, Minecraft was popular but it was slowly losing its popularity.

The boy looked down at the ground and then turned his head to look at the window. The same window that Y/n was staring through. Their eyes made contact with each other. From inside Y/n's cheeks grew hot and she quickly turned her head away and ran back to the living room.

Staring at strangers had that effect. Especially if they looked straight at you. The boy watched as she disappeared from his view. He shrugged, left the envelope at the door and walked away. He suspected that her parents were either gone and she wasn't allowed to open the door or she was just shy.

He had heard that her and her family had just moved into town from Ohio. His mom had gotten information that their oldest daughter was a gamer. She had recommended inviting her to his birthday party because it was hard to make friends when you were the new kid and didn't know anyone here.

So, he agreed with his mom and made an invitation for her. He made it different from all the others, stating how he knew that she was new in the town and how he would like her to come over. He also made it different because he had given the other invitations around a week before she had arrived. He had walked up to their house, which was only around the corner.

Their house was quiet compared to the smaller family that had occupied the building before them. Sure, the night before it had been very rowdy. The lights had been on and you could hear a few screams and a lot of yelling. Something about pineapples and being on someone's side.

When the 15-year-old boy had heard this argument the first thought was, What the heck is going on in there? He had shook the thought away and came to the conclusion that all families are different, it's just that this one seemed to argue about pineapples.

He made his way to his house thinking about Y/n and her family. He would like to get to know her better. Maybe then he could become friends with her and understand her and her family better. You can never have too many friends.

___

Y/n was trying to get back in the mood to watch a movie. It was near impossible, due to the fact that she had just embarrassed herself in front of someone who was most likely going to be in her school. What a great first impression. Staring through the window.

At least he was only one of many. Then again, he might be one of the popular people and already spread the word around to everyone. Y/n shook her head and walked back to the door. She opened it and picked up the envelope that he had dropped.

It was a plain white envelope with her first name in print on the front. She walked back inside and locked the door behind her. The letter sat in her hands as she inspected it. Once she had came to the conclusion that it was just a regular letter and not some type of bomb to kill her and her siblings, she opened it.

There was a card. It wasn't that complex. The words were in an 8-bit format. There were a few characters and objects from old video games along with a few new ones. Pac-Man was right next to Mario and a Galaga ship. The famous Minecraft creeper was in the corner along with a terraria tree.

It was an invitation. The first words read: 'You are invited to the birthday party of Clay! There will be games, food, and fun!' So the name of the boy was Clay. The party was from three to six in the afternoon and it was at a house pretty close to Y/n's.

She would have to ask her parents, but she expected them to say yes. They would probably say it would be the best way to get to know others and make friends before school started. Just as she was about to put the letter back in the envelope, she noticed a note on the back.

'I hope you come to my party, or are at least considering coming. I think it would be pretty awesome to get to know you! If you would like, I could introduce you to some of my friends so that you know some of us who are going to school with you. Can't wait to see you there! - Clay'

Well now she had to come. He was expecting her to be there. He also made a special note on the back just for her. One way or another, she would have to convince her parents to let her go. Not like it would be hard to do that, but yeah.

___

It took a few hours, but their parents finally came back. Their dinner consisted of an American favorite: fast food. Being starved for the last few hours, the kids ravenously ate the food that lay in front of them. The dinner table was silent compared to every other single time they ate at dinner.

Once they were done with their food, the younger ones were sent to get ready for their bedtime. The twins, not wanting to do chores, decided to follow and got away with cleaning the kitchen and dining room. Y/n got up and ended up having to do most of them, with help from their parents.

She looked up at her parents. "Mom? Dad?"

"Yeah, Y/n?" Her dad asked.

"I got this letter today, and it's from a kid that lives a few houses away. Anyway, he invited me to come to his birthday party. I was wondering if I could go?" Awkward silence filled the room. The two parents looked at each other. Their daughter rarely asked to go anywhere, unless it was with her two best friends, who were all the way back in Ohio.

Y/n's next few words came quickly. "If you guys don't want me to go I can stay home. But I would still like to go. You know, to get to know the other kids at school."

"Well, it depends. How long is the party?"

"Three to six." She had rehearsed their conversation in her head many times. She knew every single answer that she was going to be asked and had an answer for all of them. She had to thank Sarah the next time she saw her. That girl knew every question that people were going to ask thanks to the books that she read.

"And why do you want to go?"

"Because I can meet with other kids at school. And try and make friends with them." There was an awkward silence. It only lasted a few minutes. What broke it were the two twins running. Kringle stood closer to the three in the kitchen and shouted "AWKWARD SILeNCe". His voice cracked near the end of his sentence and he covered his mouth, both to keep from laughing and out of embarrassment from his body growing.

Cap clapped as if the strange pitch from his twin never happened. Y/n thanked the twins for coming in. Her muscles relaxed to laugh. The two gave the biggest idiotic smiles, happy that they were able to get their older sister to laugh. Their parents' laughs followed afterwards.

Their mom was the first one to almost completely stop her laughing. "Yes, Y/n. You can go over to the party. Just make sure you're not the last one there and don't stay too late." While laughing, the h/c haired girl did a mental fist bump and silently shouted yes. Now the next part that she would have to ace: not being embarrassed in front of everyone there.

Published May 12, 2022