GGWP

Chapter 2

Stellan

    The smoke rose and danced slowly through the air as Stellan watched thoughtfully. She was incessantly thinking of ways to get better at the game, to do better, to be better. Her mind always ran a thousand miles an hour, but the pot helped her immensely. She took another drag as she scrolled through her phone reading through League statistics, checking numbers and reading articles about the weekend’s match. ForsakenGG and Forcespeed Gaming were doing better this week than they had been, Gravity Gaming was still struggling, SurgeGG had signed a new player from The Games (the amateur league below that the main league often pulled players up from); the usual news slid by Stellan’s eyes as she scanned the feed. 

  With nothing left to read or analyze she tossed her phone on the bed, causing her gray toy Schnauzer, Genn, to lift his head and stare at her. “Sorry sweet boy,” Stellan scratched his little head, “Mama didn’t mean to scare hims! I’m sorry.” Seemingly satisfied with her fingernails and their scratches, he laid his head back down in his blanket and closed his eyes. Stellan smiled at him and stood up to get ready for the day. It was 3:45 am, but Stellan kept odd hours. She liked to maintain some semblance of an active lifestyle and tried to use strange hours for excercising since she didn’t care to be out in public when doing it. So, she laced up her Adidas and slung a Cloud9 fanny pack around her hips. In it, she placed her phone, some dog bags, and her vape in case she found a cool nature trail to explore. Once she zipped the pack, she looked down at her feet. Genn hadn’t skipped a beat. He was sitting by the door like a statue, eyes never leaving her. He was ready for an adventure and he was not going to be left behind.

    During her walk with Genn, Stellan received a text from her friend Jade. Stellan met Jade during a tour of the Blizzard Campus-the headquarters of the creators of the game she loved with all her heart. Jade was a community manager at the time and happened to be standing at the statue of Jaina Proudmoore when Stellan came over to look at the magnificent creation. She smiled at the memory.

    She had stood before the statue of the most powerful mage in Azeroth in awe of her striking beauty and realistic features. She hadn’t even noticed the slight, beautiful Asian girl next to her until she spoke, “Who do you think would win in a fight between Jaina and Mei?” She asked, looking at Stellan inquiringly. Stellan turned to her and thought a second. “Are we talking lore, WoW, or HotS Jaina?” She replied. Jade had smiled and raised her eyebrows, impressed. “Well! No need to recruit you into the community, you definitely know your way around these parts...Let’s say HotS Jaina, since that keeps her and Mei’s skill number availability close to the same, around the same health pool, etc.” Stellan smiled back at the girl, “I would definitely say Mei would win. Jaina’s HotS cooldowns are stupid high. Twelve seconds for her Blizzard skill? Please. f**k me harder during a trade.” As soon as it left her mouth, Stellan ducked, embarrassed. She didn’t want to offend this girl. “Sorry..I-“

    “Girl. Don’t apologize. A- you’re probably right about the 1v1. B- I love your thoroughness in the subject, and C- I love a gal that can cuss like a sailor. The only thing cooler is doing it straight out of the gate to someone you don’t even f*****g know. Ya know?” She grinned mischievously back at Stellan and extended a hand, “Jade. I’m a community manager for both HotS and Overwatch. Always looking for a new gal pal that knows her shit.”

    They’d been friends ever since.