FELL IN LOVE WITH MY END

CHAPTER 5: ALMOST ADDICTED

ALMOST ADDICTED.

How long had Darla been playing this game?

Was the thought that had been dancing around in my head. Level 400 is crazy, compared to my level 6, I mean… what do I have to do to get that far?

I was a bit satisfied it was just Darla and Mason in level 400, I feel less oppressed seeing that Mia was not in 400 too but in level 256. It was levels higher than mine but… it lessened the feeling I guess.

“So I have to go and play on my own and get to level 400 before I can play with you guys?” I am sure Darla must have sensed the disappointment, behind my words. I didn’t download the game to play alone.

“No… no, it’s your rank, once you get your rank to be as high as ours, then your level doesn’t actually matter.” Darla explained.

“And will that take time?” I asked.

“No, not really.” Mia answered this time. I still couldn’t get over how tiny and sweet her voice was. She sounded so innocent and childish.

But then there was that pang of jealousy, Darla had been so distant with me and had been here in this game playing with her.

Maybe it was good I downloaded this game after all, that way I’d be with my best friend and take her away from this sweet little angel she has been hanging with.

I sighed.

“Bella, the earlier the better, you have to go and start playing so you can play with us.” Darla cut me out of my thoughts.

Player ~ Bread left the room.

A notification popped up when Mason’s character disappeared. Turns out he left the room immediately after Darla had spoken.

“Bella byeee, it was nice meeting you.” Mia said and left too.

Then it was just Darla and I.

“I still have other friends I’d introduce to you later, these ones are just the ones online now.” I heard her say, still bummed by the fact that I’d have to play on my own for a while.

“Okay.” I said.

“You met Mia in the game?” I asked her.

“Yeah and turns out we attend the same school too.” She replied.

“Hmm” was my response, taking in the fact that they attended the same school, so they must see each other often. I don’t even get to see her often.

I sighed. Again.

“I’ve got to go now, leave you to grind, on your own.” She reminded.

“Okay.” And she left, leaving only my character in the room…

TWO WEEKS LATER…

The game was still in my phone. I hadn’t given up, and I hadn’t abandoned it either. Instead, I had been playing.

I surprised myself.

I had been waking up every day, opening that app and I had been playing the game every time I got the chance to.

I had been feeling deceived too, they had told me it wouldn’t take long to rank up, but it did, it had been two weeks and I was still at it. I was almost there.

I should have given up, cause Darla got me to download the game, and yet I couldn’t play the game with her.

And what was worse?

Darla had been ghosting me…

Again.

But this time it was longer and much more evident. She was doing it so boldly.

All of the sudden Darla was always too busy to respond to my calls or texts. I was bummed, cause at that moment, the only real relationship I had was with her.

She left me. In this game all by myself.

I had even learnt how to send invites, and I had sent a ton of them to Darla, but she didn’t respond to any.

Typical of Darla…

A natural at ghosting.

I had made a couple of friends in the game though, and they kept me company. They had actually been motivating me to keep playing. And you could say I was almost addicted.

I had met various kinds of people.

The hungry and thirsty boys for instance, these niggas would literally hear a girls voice and go absolutely crazy.

It’s seemed like it was rare to have girls playing the game, so it baffled them.

But the cringe thing about it was, when they hear a girl’s voice, it was either they tried as much as possible to play better to impress the girl, or talk down on their teammates to make themselves seem like top dogs or something, or immediately start asking for socials.

Weird.

There were also the guys that were practically searching so badly for a relationship. Like… this is a game for goodness sake. If you want a relationship so bad, go download a dating app.

Not me hearing; “are you single?” “Where are you from?” Immediately they figure out I am a girl.

Asides that… it’s been fun. I’m not even gonna lie, it’s been pleasing getting that much attention just by opening my mouth. It wasn’t that bad.

I looked around the empty sad house, it’s been a little bit easier living here. One thing Darla was right about. The game would actually help take your mind off things.

But the question is…

Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?

And that question would only linger in my mind cause I had no answer.

I stared at my screen, it displayed my character standing in the lobby with two others, they were some of the friends I had made in the game. We had been preparing to enter another match, since I had just two games to win to get to the top most rank. Legendary.

Then I could finally play with Darla.

Well… that’s if she finally decides to stop ghosting me. Which she will, eventually. I just didn’t know when.

I clicked on my friend list, the name Milk, pinned at the top, she was online, and she was playing. Definitely with her friends. Who weren’t getting ghosted…

All of the sudden my screen changed. “MATCHED” displayed on my screen, which meant the game was about to start…

A FEW DAYS LATER…

I woke up, happy and refreshed. All I had in mind was do chores and go play game, all day long as usual.

I had gotten to the highest rank for a while now, I had even leveled up. I was in level 104, and turns out it was still a very low level in the game. I didn’t mind though. I had just started, I had an excuse.

I did my usual chores, cooked, cleaned, my mom went out and then I happily logged in my game.

I played for a few hours with my friends then they had to go off, leaving me alone in the lobby. I clicked on my friend list, and there she was, Darla, and she was alone too. I knew cause the game allows us to know if a friend is online, alone or with other people and the amount of people they are with.

I had given up on texting already few days back, I had even stopped sending invites. But at the moment, I just wanted to… give it a try. So I did.

I clicked on invite.

A second passed.

3 seconds passed.

6 seconds passed.

Then a sound. The sound you hear when a person joins you in the virtual room. Darla had joined. She had really accepted my invite. I was happy at first, then mad.

The room was silent, nobody spoke. Which meant..? I had to break the silence.

“To what or whom do I owe the honor of having you here?” I asked dramatically.