One Up

Chapter 9

I take off my VR headset and set it down in annoyance. There was never anything predetermined; he just wanted to win against me. Shaking my head, I hit the red button and exit my cube.

Despite being in twentieth place, I still was awarded with a round of applause. Many people came up to congratulate me, while most others glared at my win. I ignore those people.

I continue to watch the gamers in action. A few more players exit their cubes, proclaiming their small victories.

I'm mad at Sage for what he did to me, but yet I watch him play. He shoots four people within a minute. A few people cuss silently but their mood brightens when they realize they are still winners. The number of players dwindle quickly as more are eliminated from the game.

Finally, Sage kills the last person, making him the winner of the International League of Gamers Tournament. He walks out of his cube and people immediately swarm him. News reporters rush up to speak with him. He looks uncomfortable but I don't care. I roll my eyes and turn away.

Looking up at the balcony, I don't see my mother or Rachael. Glancing at the crowd before me, it's hard to see where they could even be. Then I hear someone shout "Sam!"

I turn toward the voice and find both Rachael and my mom pushing in through the crowd. They finally reach me, engulfing me in the biggest hug. "We are so proud of you!" my mother says cheerfully. Tears start forming in my eyes. My two biggest supporters are here to celebrate with me.

"Eh," I say. "It's just a video game." Rachael rolls her eyes. "Sam, it's not just a video game, it's a world-wide tornament and you finished in twentieth place against two hundred people! You cannot tell me that it was just a game," she says, disbelief forming in her eyes. I quickly give her a hug, a smile forming on my face. "Thank you for being here," I say. She stiffens at my sudden words, before relaxing and hugging me back. "Always."

"Ladies and Gents, I would like our twenty winners to follow me to the suite they will be staying in for the next evening to play our upcoming game, One Up!" Mark Love announces, sending a small cheer through the crowd. I watch as the winners separate from their families and make their way toward Mark.

Rachael bounces up and down excitedly. "This is it!" she exclaims in delight. I smile, but then stop when I realize she can't come with me. "What are you guys going to do while I'm gone?" I ask them.

"Well..." my mom starts before Rachael interupts her. "O-m-g. Because you won the tournament, both me and your mom were awarded shopping sprees and a five hour long session at the beauty spa here in Seattle. Isn't it amazing!" she says happily. I smile at her enthusiasm. "Of course. I hope you both enjoy yourselves!"

I give them both a quick hug and good-bye before making my way over to where Mark Love is rounding up the winners. He leads us out of the large gathering room to the elevator. Clicking the botton for the top floor, all twenty-one of us -including Mark- ride the elevator to the suite.

When the elevator doors open again, I am once more in awe of the beauty of the suite.

It is not just a suite though, but a two story penthouse. Two stairways on opposite ends of the entryway lead up to a balcony on the second floor that overlooks the TV room, the dining room, and the kitchen. Mark leads us up the steps, where a total of ten guest bedrooms are waiting for us.

"Now, we require that we separate you all by gender. Since there are only four ladies, you will be paired up and will share rooms together in the east wing," Mark says, pointing to our right atop the stairs. "The gents will sleep in the west wing and will be sleeping in threes," he says, gesturing toward the left. "Be ready in twenty minutes. The ladies will be going on a shopping spree and get special treatment at a five-star spa here in Seattle, as well as five thousand dollars for winning. The gents? You will be given a bachelor party here in the penthouse to celebrate your win following a shopping spree as well. You all will be receiving five thousand as well. Now, go get ready!" Mark exclaims. We take that mark to hurriedly get ready. Luckily the penthouse has three bathrooms, so the guys share two of them while us ladies share the one on our wing.

I didn't bring much with me, so I clamber down the steps by the elevator ten minutes later. After a moment, one of the female winners joins me. Her hair is dark brown and her eyes are a beautiful hazel-blue. Her dark purple t-shirt and dark blue jeans accentuate her pale-olive skin. When she notices me, she gives me a warm smile.

"Hello, I'm Margo Valencia," she says in a British accent, extending her hand. I smile back, extending mine and give her hand a shake. "I'm Samara, but most people call me Sam." I say. She nods. "Well, it is nice to meet you." she says warmly. "You as well," I retort.

Soon, our group of winners grow, and we are ready to hit the town. The girls are separated from the guys before we embark down the elevator and down to the limousine that waits for us.

We clamber in quickly where sparkling grape juice is served to us. We all talk, and I learn that Margo is eighteen, and hails from Britain. The other two girls are Malorie Wenrich and Lina Lou. Malorie is from the states like me, and Lina is from Japan.

Soon we make our way to the local mall, where we are all given a thousand dollar gift card to spend as we please.

When it's all said and done, we take our bags and pile into the limo, where it takes us to the five-star spa. I've never been to one, so when my masseuse starts hitting spots I never knew were knotted in my back, I couldn't help but feel like this is the best day ever.

I can say, after we all walked out of that spa, we felt like new women, and I felt happy. Happier than I've felt in a long time.

The last place we stopped was a five star restaurant, where we were treated to a five course meal. I could barely finish all of that food but I was able to make room for dessert...somehow.

After all the events of the day, we returned with our new belongings and retired for the night, where tomorrow we would be able to play One Up for the very first time.

Thinking of the events of today, I allow my mind to replay each blissful moment. I am here, and I even have five thousand dollars to my name. I never expected what joys could come out of today, and it gently lulled me to sleep.

There was a lot that I didn't expect from this trip.

I especially didn't expect to be woken up with a black bag wrapped around my head.