FELL IN LOVE WITH MY END

CHAPTER 2: THE GAME

CHAPTER TWO : THE GAME

A month later…

I was alone in the house as usual. My mom had gone to work hours ago, leaving me with nothing but silence. I had moved a couple of times between my room, the living room and the kitchen.

I felt so empty.

I laid down on the cold floor in the living room, placed my phone on the nearest table, tugging on the rug at the center, all of a sudden, I just felt my eyes water, my chest heave, I forgot how to breathe for a moment.

1… 2… 3… 4… 5…

Breathe

Then my tears came rolling down. I felt disgusted, why am I crying? The silence in the house became loud and all I heard were my little sobs, my sniffles.

I wiped my tears slowly.

This isn’t me. It was a new feeling. I never cried. Had I become this bad? Was my mental state this overwhelming?

Ding!

I heard a notification pop on my phone.

I got up and picked it up.

Just a notification that someone had liked my status.

Darla. My best friend. I unlocked my phone and called her immediately…

“Bella, download this game.”

My best friend’s voice came through the phone after listening to me complain for almost an hour. I had just called her to make me feel better.

“Guy, this game every freaking time. How does a game wanna solve my issues??” I asked, my tone sharp and my voice slightly raised.

She said;

“Bro I have been depressed too, it isn’t only you that has a f****d up life. But because I play this game, I’ve not really had time to give a damn about reality.”

“How many times do I have to tell you? I am not a gamer. I’d probably delete the game after trying it out for a while.”

“Not necessarily guy. But you won’t even try it out.”

“I’ve tried it before bruh… it didn’t work well with me so I deleted it.”

She went quiet for a while… obviously giving up. She was quick to do that. She always disappeared when things became too much. Sometimes for days. Sometimes weeks. I know that silence. She was evidently tired of trying to convince me.

“How’s your man?” I deviated on purpose, asking about her boyfriend, something I usually do to find out if she was tired again or felt like she had lost feelings or if she had broken up with him, which I know isn’t possible.

She changed slightly, but I couldn’t pin point how or why. I didn’t even try. I wasn’t fully concentrated on her, I just didn’t want her to give up on me.

“He exists.” Came her short reply and I laughed. That answer meant; oddly we are still together and I don’t know why.

Before I could respond, Darla, very smart girl, knew I had intentionally deviated from myself, but she didn’t allow it. She proceeded to ask me how long I’d be staying at home, which she had asked a million times already since I got back home for the break.

We stayed on the call, watching TikToks on our phones, sending the funny ones to each other before we somehow landed on the topic of my breakdown again.

At first she thought the breakup was why I had been acting this way. Funny enough, it barely made the list of my problems. I couldn’t care much. I had faced my family. The ones that had laughed had laughed but then the advice…one that came from my uncle, had stayed.

My uncle had said relationships weren’t meant to be easy. That there would always be things I hated and things I’d have to endure. He even used his own marriage as an example.

Maybe he was right.

Or maybe my ex and I were simply never supposed to be.

I never expected that the text I had sent would really end the relationship, maybe I was just trying to test him or see if he’d really wanted to end it.

But he did.

I sighed.

I had slipped into my thoughts again. My best friend had just said I should download the game.

Again.

So maybe I should. Or maybe I actually would this time.

“Okay.” I said.

“Sharp.” Came her response. A slang we used when we were impressed by something or an agreement with a decision.

Let’s see if this game would really help me escape reality as she said. While still on the call with her, I swiped through the apps on my phone, closing every useless tab before opening the App Store.

I searched the app, clicked on it. The app icon had been updated. It wasn’t the same as the first time i had downloaded it. It looked impressive.

My hand hovered on the download icon, is it really necessary? I thought.

Then I sighed, maybe I was being over dramatic.

Okay… let’s give this game a try again.

I clicked the download button and left, awaiting what this game would unfold.