《Nameless》 Chapter 1 : An Introduction ¡°*#$%#$%#* ¡­ *$#@#$#$#$* wake up¡±. I wake up once again to the familiar voice of my mother , I wonder whether I¡¯m late, ¡®Oh well¡¯. Getting ready for school I notice the familiar sight of green bills on the table, ¡®guess its Canteen food today as well ¡®.¡±Bye Mom¡± I yell without expecting any response , shutting the door behind me as I leave our apartment. Heading to the bus stop I see the familiar sight of the two twins Naki and Numo , they¡¯re laughing among themselves as usual , ¡®I¡¯ve always wondered just what it is these twins joke about with each other¡¯; Their mother stands next to them looking at them in a way which I can only describe with the phrase . On the other end of the line demarcating the bus stop I see Archie and Elfreda , my two seniors . Archie seems to be listening to music as he leans onto the nearby stop sign . He¡¯s the only one I know that brings earphones to school so openly , I bring mine too ¡­ just discretely. Meanwhile Elfreda seems to be reading a new book ¡°The Girl Of The Wandering Troupe¡± ¡®Huh didn¡¯t know she was into medieval fantasy¡¯. I head over to my spot in this seemingly random picture and stand by the light pole in the dead center of the bus stop and gaze at the playground across the street ; Its empty right now since Its like 8:00 AM but I know the little kids who are somehow always on vacation will be running about on it playing tag and the like come noon.Just as a stray thought is about to enter my mind , the seemingly yellow coloured bus pulls up alongside the bus stop and the door which is next to where the seniors are standing folds inward with a ¡°Pshhhhhh¡± noise.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. As if on cue , Archie snaps his fingers in the middle of Elfreda and her book and pockets his earphones as he boards the bus , wishing the teachers sitting in the front row as if he wasn¡¯t just breaking school policy a few seconds ago. Elfreda , with her eyes still glued to the book climbs into the bus right after him somehow maintaining the same pace as Archie and they both move to the back of the bus. I¡¯m next as I wish the teachers as usual and move to my seat <4th from last> and keep my bag next to me and sit next to the window as I see the twins boarding and sitting down right behind the teachers in the front row and continue to giggle among themselves. The bus is your regular old school bus with the air conditioning which is never turned on , around 10 rows split down the middle such that 2 kids can fit on either side of each row and the students all sitting according to their age with the oldest kids sitting at the backseat , which is the only seat which can seat 5 ;Yet throughout the bus ride only the two Final Year students whose name I still do not know get to sit on it..Archie and Elfreda are sitting in the second to last seat together as Archie is head banging along to the music playing in his earphones and Elfreda sitting on the windows side is still engrossed in her novel. There¡¯s three kids of my age which board , they all board after me though and usually sit together discussing their exploits in whatever mmorpg they¡¯re currently playing ; I remember talking to them a lot when I was into RuneScape but after I got stuck in the ¡°Summer¡¯s End¡± quest and died like 8 times in a row , I stopped playing and after a few dry conversations about how they¡¯re doing in the game I went back to my lonesome . I look outside the window as the scenery of Griffinville passes by and think about the schedule for todays¡¯ classes. Chapter 2 : Classroom "*#$%#$%#$* School''s here , wake up" I snap back to reality with Archie shaking my shoulder , seemingly oblivious to the somewhat annoyed looking Elfreda behind him . "Sorry ,I zoned out , thanks" Archie nods as he continues moving to the front of the now almost empty bus , I stand up with my bag in one arm and wait for the seniors to go before I leave the bus and head to class. Walking through the hallway , avoiding the people running about as I make my way to the corner of the second floor of the Senior Block I finally reach my destination , I push one of the two doors of the classroom open as I walk in. The room is lit by the morning sun coming through the windows exactly across the two doors of the classroom , I couldnt see it through the small window in the door I entered but one of my classmates ,Ames , is lying down on the thin ledge under the whiteboard and inside the indent between the two doors; He opens one eye to see who walked in and goes back to sleep non chalantly as soon as he sees it was me.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. I reached early as usual and only a few of my classmates are inside , chattering among themselves . "Hey *@#$@#$#$* did you do the physics assignment?" Tristan , one of the few people I talk to in class , asks me as he''s walking over to Ames Tristan looks like a regular airhead with his glasses that are always dirty and his unkempt brownish - black hair , but he''s one of the smartest people I know .He puts up an act of being dumb for some reason,but he''s the highest scorer in physics and maths in our grade; Meanwhile Ames is the better looking of the duo with his signature blue eyes and jet black hair combo and is the highest scorer in chemistry and brags about it all the time . ''Its contrast like this which you like to see in best friends'' I think to myself. "Nah , but I''ll finish it in recess" I reply without stopping my steps . I head over to my seat in the classroom of 30 , Its the left seat of the 2nd last row of the middle column. I put my bag next to my desk and try to get some shut eye before the first class as I rest my head on my folded arms on the table. Chapter 3 : Joseph and Saki ¡°Hey *@#@#$#!*, wake up , your names about to be called¡± I get shaken awake by my benchmate and best friend Joseph , his deep black eyes look sleepily at me as I thank him for waking me up in time . Joseph always looks sleepy , its because he stays up until dusk almost every night ; I never understood what it is exactly that he does all night ¡­ sometimes it¡¯s gaming , others it¡¯s drawing and he even mentioned trying to play his brothers¡¯ violin one night. The only thing I know is that he won¡¯t ever be studying , Books are like the plague to Joseph and he relies purely on what he hears in class and the one day of cramming before an exam to pass his exams and somehow he manages to always get around the average score of the entire class. The day goes by as per usual with me using my six subject notebook to note down whatever I felt was necessary, finishing up the physics assignment I had almost completed yesterday night and handing it to Tristan so he can both copy it and check it for any mistakes I might have made.I spend the rest of the time in classes sneaking peeks at Saki ; I like to think I¡¯m very discreet whenever I do this but Joseph has this weird smile that he directs at me whenever Saki is called to the board to solve or whenever Saki enters the classroom , as though he knows ¡­ then again Joseph also sprouts the same evil grin , just not at me , whenever we get our results for any form of test or exam , so I don¡¯t really know what to think. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Saki is one of the only girls in the class whose name I know , not because we talk , but because she is the teachers¡¯ assistant and we have to submit all our assignments to her . She has helped me out of a few difficult situations in the past and I probably owe her a lot of favours , but so does the rest of the class. Her hazel eyes and chestnut brown hair make her a sight for sore eyes and she¡¯s the class idol as far as I can tell , but the main reason I have a slight crush on her is because of the one time she messaged me at 2 AM on the night before an exam just to answer a doubt I had mentioned on the class group the day before ; I don¡¯t know why , but as far as I can tell my completely unnecessary emotions originate from that one text message. It¡¯s also this silly crush and the antics of a sleep deprived Joseph which keep me going through the day , there was a time around 6 months ago when I just felt sad for no reason at all and Joseph showed up at my doorstep with his Hand-held and a memory stick containing a few local multiplayer games and we played video games and chatted all night long; I don¡¯t know whether he knew but that one night of video games is probably the reason I didn¡¯t end up completely depressed , although we both did end up sleeping through school the next day and got chewed out by my mom for the same. ¡°TRRIIIIIINGG¡± ¡®Well I guess that was the bell for the last period , the day went by rather fast as usual¡¯ I think to myself as I pack my bag . Joseph already had his bag packed around 5 minutes before the bell rang as usual and I wave to him as he leaves the room and probably heads to the public bus stand outside school; Joseph lives in the same apartment complex as me but he doesn¡¯t use the school transport and leaves before everyone else , yet he somehow always reaches home after its dark out , usually carrying some groceries with him so his mom won¡¯t get mad at him being late , his goofy grin which reminds me of an innocent child always makes me chuckle. I leave the classroom and start heading towards the bus parking within school premises where students are supposed to find their respective buses which for some reason are always parked randomly. Chapter 4 : Media Club ¡°Hey *#$%#$%#$* , wait for me!¡± I stop and turn around to the sound of Saki¡¯s voice followed by hurried footsteps in the near empty hallway outside our class.Since our class is in the corner of the building , there tends to be less traffic outside our class compared to the center of the building where the staircases are located. Saki slows her steps on seeing me stopping and makes her way to me with a blooming smile on her face, ¡®Ah , this is bad¡¯ I think as I remember the multiple awkward conversations I¡¯ve had with her , mainly due to me completely blanking out in her presence. ¡±I need your help with something , can you follow me for a second?¡± Saki says, unaware of the storm going on inside my head. I nod without thinking , completely forgetting the fact that the bus won¡¯t wait for me , and follow the now briskly walking Saki. ¡°You see¡± she says without pausing her steps ¡°A few of the kids in our school are trying to form a media club , but the principal says there must be a use of the club and told us we need to make something worth the schools¡¯ resources before he allocates us a budget and our own club room.¡± I look at Saki questioningly , I thought she was part of the volleyball club and as far as I¡¯m aware you can¡¯t be a permanent member of more than one extracurricular club. As for me , I''m a not so proud member of the going home club , mainly due to me not being particularly good nor particularly interested in anything.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. As if noticing my questioning gaze , she continues ¡°The current volleyball team is made almost completely of final year students , its probably going to be disbanded after this year. Anyway ,..¡± she pauses as we climb up the stairs ¡°We thought we¡¯d make a game since it uses all the skills that will be a part of the media club , and we needed an extra voice actor ; We asked a few of the seniors but they¡¯re all busy studying , even our own members don¡¯t have that much time on their hands as they all got a lot of coaching and tuition classes to go too to prepare for their college entrance exams. But Archie said your name when we were thinking of who to recruit and told me to bring you here.¡± ¡°Wait Archie?No wo..¡± I stop as Saki pushes open the door to the computer science lab. The lab is an air-conditioned room about three times the size of the classroom and has around 60 desktop systems set in 4 rows going along the length of the room such that the two middle rows are joined together with the desktop systems on either side being back to back. There¡¯s a door at the opposite corner of the room from the single entrance and it leads to a small storeroom ¡®It¡¯s noisy¡¯ I think as I can hear the click-clacking of multiple keyboards around the room , There also seems to be some people speaking loud enough for their voices to come out of the store room , then again its not like the store room is noise proofed. I follow Saki without finishing what I was about to say as we head towards the store room , the cooler temperature inside the lab makes my forehead feel cold . Saki pushes open the door of the store room and we walk inside. Chapter 5 : Character ¡°Archie! I brought *$%#%$@* ¡° Shouted Saki as we entered the store room , a small room with cabinets on either side with barely enough space left for two people to stand side by side between them and a table at the opposite side of the door, yet somehow there were 3 people arguing inside with Archie leaning on one of the cabinets and the other two sitting on the table as though it was a chair.Their stops as we walk in as all three of them look at me. ¡®Well , this explains why he never shows up on the bus in the return trip , but what about Elfreda?¡¯ I think to myself as I make a quick check outside but don¡¯t notice her among people using computers. ¡°Where¡¯s Elfreda?¡± I ask Archie , just loud enough that it won¡¯t be drowned out by the creaking door as Saki closes it behind us , ¡®I feel slightly claustrophobic but it can¡¯t be helped I guess¡¯ I think to myself . ¡°She doesn¡¯t like the noise so she sits in our classroom which is just two doors over¡± he replies; It makes sense , the 11th and 12th grade classes and the labs are on the third floor as the seniors are the ones who have the most lab based classes and the school also gives them special permission to use the labs in their free periods . ¡°Anyway¡± he continues ¡°Saki probably told you already but we need you to voice act for one of the characters in the game we¡¯re making , don¡¯t worry about the trip back home , my dad comes to pick me and Elfreda up anyway so we can drop you to wherever you live.¡±You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°Yeah , Saki already told me why you can¡¯t ask the other seniors but what about the 10th graders?¡± I ask , noticing Saki seeming kind , probably because we¡¯re talking about her as she¡¯s standing right next to us. ¡°Ah , I was about to do that but Elfreda said that you act a lot like the character we are missing the voice actor for , so she asked me to ask you to act him out¡± Archie replies as he takes out his phone and starts doing something on it. ¡°Really? What character is it? ¡° I ask without thinking , becoming a video character would give me eternal bragging rights in front of Joseph after all. As if expecting my question , Archie holds up his phone to show me a photo of a drawing in what seems to be our standard issue school notebooks. The character seems to be a male wizard judging by the long wooden staff in his right hand , he has blonde hair and glasses and is wearing the most generic blue wizard robe with weird shapes on it; All of these features are all right , but the one thing that stands out is the smoke drawn to be coming out of the staff , and the seemingly burnt blond hair of the character , as well as covering his cracked glasses . ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say¡± I say , ironically and notice Saki stifling a laugh beside me. Archie laughs and puts his hand on my shoulder , ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it , Elfreda is our writer and this is the sketch our Artist drew after she explained the character to her. You can ask Elfreda why she thought the character resembles you later. ¡° he says , locks eyes with me and continues ¡°Anyway , are you in?¡± I look around the room and notice the two people who were in the room before Saki and I entered looking at me and Saki nodding her head towards me while looking at me as though the decision is obvious. I look back at Archie and see the gleam in his eyes, ¡®Yeah that sounds cool enough¡¯ I think and say ¡°Well the bus has already probably left , so I¡¯ll need to hitch a ride with you anyway so yeah I guess.¡± . Chapter 6 : Faculty Room ¡°Alright , Saki , take *#$#$#$$#* to fill the club membership form.¡± Archie says , and turns around to the other two in the store room to continue the they were having. Saki nods, turns to me and says ¡°Care to go out the door?¡± I stand confused for a second and notice that I¡¯m standing between Saki and the door in such a way that she cannot leave unless I move ; ¡°My bad¡± I say as I pull the door open carefully and walk outside , Its not one of those self closing doors so I don¡¯t need to hold it open for Saki , although I wanted to. I stand to the side and follow Saki after she exits the store room and we both leave the computer science lab. ¡°Where are we going?¡± I ask ¡°Aren¡¯t the club membership forms in the computer science lab?¡± ¡°We aren¡¯t an official club so we don¡¯t have a club room yet , the membership forms are with Mr.Alvis , he agreed to be our supervisor after we get officiated and he¡¯s also the head of the computer science department and that¡¯s why we get to use the computer science lab even though we aren¡¯t a club yet¡± Saki responds while smiling proudly , her smile makes my heart beat faster and I try to calm myself down.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! We go to the faculty room next to the principal office , all located on the third floor at the edge of the building where students usually don¡¯t go. ¡°Wait here¡± Saki says as she pushes the door to the faculty room open and walks inside , the smell of freshly made coffee and really old paper assaults my nostrils as I sneak a peak inside. The faculty room is similar to the computer lab in its table arrangements and store room , the difference being a single visible desktop system as far as I can look in. ¡®Maybe they all use their laptops?¡¯ I think to myself only to shake my head remembering the multiple times I¡¯ve seen teachers int he computer science lab; There¡¯s a coffee machine with a line of four teachers chatting among each other as the one in the front fills his cup , the rest of the room is blocked from my view. I get to see Saki go towards a balding teacher wearing glasses and a checkered shirt sitting with both arms on the table with coffee in one hand and his mobile in the other as I see the dim reflection of his phone screen on his glasses before the door closes on my face. ¡®Ah this is like the classroom and lab door which closes on its own¡¯ I think to myself , remembering that only the store rooms have doors without any weird closing mechanisms. I wait outside awkwardly not knowing what to do with myself as I wait for Saki to come out and observe the near empty hallways in front of me , listening to the faint noise coming out of the faculty room like the sound of what I presume coffee being poured from the coffee machine into a cup and the sound of what sounds like a laser printer doing its job; Eventually my thoughts drift towards what I¡¯ll have for dinner and which game I should play when I go home. Chapter 7 : Mr.Alvis ¡°Hey *#$#$#$*! Mr.Alvis is calling for you¡± Saki says to me as I get startled by the sudden change in my surroundings , ¡®Ah I zoned out again¡¯ I think to myself as I nod to Saki and we both head to where Mr.Alvis is sitting , now with both hands in the , his phone is face down on the table with an empty coffee mug next to it. There are some papers on his desks with a few having circular coffee stains , the type you get when you place your coffee mug onto a piece of paper. Now that I¡¯m inside the faculty room I can see the printer along the same wall as the door in one of the corners of a room , there¡¯s nobody standing next to it but it keeps printing sheets which elegantly flutter in the air and land into a rather full looking meshed waste basket , the crumpled paper at the bottom and the freshly printed sheets at the top make a fine contrast if I do say so myself. Noticing me getting distracted by the printer , Mr.Alvis chuckles and says ¡°Somebody put too many copies of the notice for the fire drill next week and the computer with the printer queue in it crashed , so we can¡¯t stop the printer from printing those useless notices.¡± I nod understandingly and he continues ¡°Anyways..¡± Mr.Alvis grabs one of the papers on his messy desk and hands it to me with a pen from his shirt pocket saying ¡°Fill this out and give it to me , you should know the club isn¡¯t officiated right now so technically you¡¯re still not a member.¡± he then turns to Saki and speaks in a way resembling an old British lady¡°Saki , could you be a dear and get me another cup of coffee please?¡±Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. As I grab the paper with a bewildered expression , Saki stifles a laugh, grabs his cup off of the table and goes towards the now free coffee machine. ¡®Ah this one has a coffee stain on it too¡¯ I think to myself as I start filling in the details on the form : Name , Class , Address and other basic information¡­ I stop at the last detail and look up at the teacher in confusion. ¡°Ah , Role? Well in your case it would be voice actor I presume¡± he says after looking at the form without moving , I¡¯m a little surprised he read it so fast although it would be upside down for him and fill in the detail accordingly. As I hand in the form to Mr.Alvis , Saki comes back with a cup of coffee which Joseph would probably describe as , his black coffee mug creating the illusion that it is empty when the cup is not moving. ¡°Here you go madam¡± Saki says trying to imitate what I presume to be a male British butler as she places the cup of joe on the table in front of Mr.Alvis. ¡°Are you done?¡± She looks at me and asks as Mr.Alvis picks up the scalding hot coffee and takes an uncomfortably long sip . I nod and we both start moving towards the exit , I expected a <¡±One Last Thing before you go¡±> from Mr.Alvis but we leave the Faculty room without any delay. ¡°Well , I guess I should say , Welcome to the Media Club *#$#$#$#$*¡± Saki says while smiling at me ¡°Thanks¡± I reply awkwardly while scratching the side of my head with and we both start walking towards the computer lab. Chapter 8 : The Ride Back ¡°Hey *#$#$$#$@* stop zoning out , let¡¯s go , my dad is here¡± Archie says to me as he picks up his bag . We¡¯re at the bus stop outside our school ; Saki and I got intercepted by Archie and Elfreda in the hallway on our way to the computer lab with Archie saying his dad got off work early today so he¡¯ll be leaving early , and by correlation , I¡¯ll be leaving early. Waving goodbye to Saki we found our way to the bus stop outside school and waited for his dad¡¯s arrival . ¡®I wasn¡¯t even zoning out this time though¡¯ I complain to myself but get up to a white Honda Accord pulling up in front of the bus stand ; I hold the door to the back seat open for Elfreda and get in after her as Archie sits in the shotgun seat next to his dad; Archie¡¯s dad looks like an older version of Archie with messy black here with streaks of white mixed in , a pair of half rimmed rectangle framed spectacles sitting on his slightly crooked nose , and his obsidian black eyes adding a touch of mysteriousness to him. ¡°Hey dad can I drive?¡± Archie asks his father before me or Elfreda even get to greet him .If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°No , the only dent on my beautiful car is from the last time I let you drive , so I¡¯m not letting you drive it ever again!¡± his dad replies sternly , but I sense a slight tone of mockery in his voice. ¡°Aw come on dad , that wasn¡¯t my fault , you saw how that pole was placed badly right after a blind turn.¡± Archie replies, followed by Elfredas¡¯ stifled laughter , I find it amusing too that Archie hit a static object. Archie turns around and narrows his eyes at me and Elfreda and stops speaking . ¡±Anyway , Hello *$%##$%#* I never thought Archie would bring someone except Elfreda along ,so I was surprised when he told me he was bringing a junior along. He made me drop this girl Saki once but that was also a one time thing .¡± his dad speaks while locking eyes with me through the rear view mirror. ¡°Ah thanks uncle , I joined the same club as them and we¡¯re on the same bus stop for the morning bus so I¡¯ll be troubling you¡± I reply awkwardly , Its not surprising I haven¡¯t met Archie¡¯s dad before as we don¡¯t talk that much , the only one in my locality I regularly talk to is Joseph , and he doesnt use the school transport. I notice Elfreda having slight tinge of redness on her face , ¡°Elfreda are you okay? You look kinda red , do you have a fever?¡± I ask concerned ¡°N-No , Its nothing¡± She replies , flustered for some reason; Archie¡¯s dad chuckles a little and we continue our trip , the rest of the journey is silent save for the music from Archie¡¯s earphones and I wonder how loud the music has to be for everyone in the car to be able to hear it. I look out the window and see the sky has turned slightly dark with a tinge of red and yellow in it , ¡®Guess Joseph might beat me home today after all¡¯ I think to myself as I take in the dynamic scenic view of Griffinville. Chapter 9 : Home ¡°Ah *$%$#$^$%* you¡¯re finally home , dinner¡¯s on the table¡± my mother says to me from the living room as I shut the door behind me , she knows it¡¯s me because Dad and I are the only ones with keys and Dad comes back around 11 pm ; I had already messaged her about me being late and hitching a ride with my senior from the same bus stop , Archie. The over dramatized argument of a soap opera and the dull whirring of the washing machine are the only sounds I hear after I shut the door . On looking inside from the door , there is one door for the kitchen on the close right , one door for the living room on the far left and a turn in the hallway to the right after the kitchen door which leads to the bedrooms and bathrooms, the bright glow from the kitchen is more prominent than the dull circular lights built into the ceiling of the hallway. I first keep my bag in my room and wash my hands , then head over to the living room ; Upon entering the living room I see our dining table on the left side of the room and a set of sofas and a glass coffee table on the right side with the flatscreen TV being mounted on the wall opposite of the door, The right wall of the room has large windows which show the city skyline pretty well as we are on the 13th floor. As I sit on the dining table I finally see what my dinner is , It¡¯s a bowl of season boiled vegetables and two vegetable and mayonnaise sandwiches , It is the dinner I asked my mom to make when I messaged her about me being late. ¡°Do you want coffee now or later?¡± My mom asks me as I¡¯m eating , not even considering I wouldn¡¯t want coffee as I have a habit of having coffee in the evening. ¡°Now would be nice¡± I say before I empty my bowl of vegetables. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. My mother gets up and goes to the kitchen and I can hear the sound of water being poured , probably into the kettle . ¡° Milk and Sugar?¡± comes the expected question from the kitchen. ¡°Both¡± I answer after taking another bite of my sandwich , I hear the sound of water being poured , this time presumably from the kettle into the coffee cup as the smell of coffee spreads through the house. By the time my mother brings me the cup of coffee , I¡¯ve finished my second sandwich and am reading messages on the class group chat to check if there is anything due for tomorrow. ¡°By the way ..¡± I say without taking my eyes off my phone ¡°I might be late for the upcoming days as well , I¡¯ve joined a club.¡± I hear the sound of a cup being put down , my mother must have made coffee for herself as well ¡°Really , That¡¯s good , what club is it?¡± she asks. ¡°It¡¯s the media club , I¡¯m a voice actor for a game they¡¯re making , Archie asked me to be a member¡± I reply , now putting down my phone. I then proceeded to tell her about the club and its situation and who all are in it ¡°Oh , so there¡¯s a girl from your class in it is there? Saki was it ?¡± is the question asked to me as the inner gossip queen of my mother comes out. ¡°Yeah , I don¡¯t know what she does , but she was the one who led me around to do everything so I think she¡¯s the club manager. Well she¡¯s in the volleyball club right now , so she will be the club manager¡± I reply trying to act like I don¡¯t care . ¡°I see ¡° My mother says as she turns back to the TV , the devilish smile on her face when she says those words makes me kind of scared but I just thank god that she stopped the questioning there. After my father comes home , I go to my room and watch anime on my laptop for a while ; By the time I¡¯m done binge watching the new releases of my favourite anime , its already 1 am and my parents have already gone to sleep. I grab my earphones off of the desk in my room and turn around the chair so that its facing the windows in the room, the windows are along the same wall as that of the living room . I pack my laptop , turn off the lights and lean back on the chair until its pushed up against the desk with my feet on top of the bed , wear my earphones , connect them to my phone and start my playlist . I usually can¡¯t sleep before 3 am at the minimum , so I just listen to music before I feel drowsy enough to sleep.¡®Ah the day is finally over¡¯ I think to myself as I tap my fingers on my thigh along with the beat of the song currently playing , I look outside the window of my unlit room into the dark sky outside , dimly lit by the lights of the city below it . Chapter 10 : Lost And Found ¡°Why are you still up *$#$$##$@*?¡± I hear my fathers¡¯ slightly concerned voice as he puts on his shirt in front of the mirror in my room . ¡°Couldn¡¯t sleep¡± I reply , feeling slightly heavy at the back of my head and under my eyes as I look out the window once more , the sky is still dark as its only 4:30 AM ¡­ ¡®Dawn should come in 15 minutes¡¯ I think to myself as I get off the chair and stretch a little. ¡°I¡¯m going for a walk¡± I say to my father as I start putting on my shoes . ¡°Okay , just come back and get some sleep¡± he replies as he leaves the room , I get ready, leave the building and follow the route I follow whenever I go for a walk , grabbing a snack from the grocery on my way back. I open the apartment door with the keys I took me and enter a noiseless apartment , ¡®Guess mom went back to sleep¡¯ I think as I remove my shoes and head for the dining table , A pair of sunny side up eggs are waiting on the table for me and I dig in to my pre-sleep breakfast. After sleeping a few hours I follow my daily routine as usual until classes are over and I see Saki waiting for me next to the door of the classroom, Joseph seems to be the only one who notices and eyes me suspiciously before leaving. I finally pack my bag and head over to Saki , we¡¯re the only two people left in class . ¡°Let¡¯s go¡± She says as she grabs her bag and we both head for the computer science lab ; before we reach the stairs I ask ¡°Will I even do anything? Don¡¯t I need to wait till you need the voice acting stuff?¡± to which she replies ¡°You can be like me and do some non technical work¡± , ¡®So she is like a manager¡¯ I confirm in my mind and the rest of the journey goes without any conversation. On entering the computer lab I notice the lack of the click-clack noises of keyboards save for a single computer being used and I turn to Saki with a questioning gaze.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°They were seniors of the computer science stream who were working on an assignment due today¡± she quickly replied upon noticing my gaze and I nod in understanding. ¡°Then who¡¯s the guy still here?¡± I ask in confusion ; If the assignment deadline has already passed , the teachers won¡¯t except any further submissions.. ¡°Oh that¡¯s Leni , he¡¯s the only guy in our club who knows programming so he¡¯s the one who¡¯ll actually be making the game ¡° Saki says in a tone of admiration ; On hearing his name being mentioned , Lenis¡¯ head popped over the backside of the monitor of the computer he was working on as he waves at us with a smile, His bright smile and light blue coloured glasses form a weird contrast with the multiple bags under his eyes and his ruffled looking hair , he also has a slightly patchy beard which makes him look older than how old he actually is. After waving to us , he takes a short sip from a silver can which wasn¡¯t visible from where I was standing and then disappears behind the monitor as the click clacking on his keyboard resumes. By the time I come out of my daze from seeing Leni , Archie has already walked over to us and I see the now open store room door in the background. ¡®I wonder why they can¡¯t talk out here¡¯ I wonder as I turn my attention to what Archie is saying to Saki. ¡°...two can look through them and find it¡± were the words I managed to catch from the conversation as Saki nods and Archie starts walking towards the store room. Saki turns to me and says ¡°So, we have to find a notebook which has the script for the first section of the game written on it , Elfreda left it in the library yesterday and the librarian said it should have been sent to lost and found , lets go¡± ¡®Ah , menial labour sure is fun¡¯ I think to myself as we head to the lost and found room on the first floor , after getting the teacher in charges¡¯ permission we head inside to a room filled with around 30 cardboard boxes , all filled with random items ranging from wallets and handkerchiefs to an asthma inhaler .We divide the boxes into 15 each and start looking through them , after going through about 8 boxes which took about an hour in total , I find Elfredas¡¯ notebook ; It was a generic spiral bound notebook with written on the first page. ¡°I found it¡± I say in a fatigued and relieved voice and turn to see a tired looking Saki stopping her hands and sighing , her now messy hair and relieved smile making me remember that I have a crush on her and the blood rushes to my cheeks as I hand over the notebook to her; ¡®Luckily she¡¯s too busy looking at the notebook to notice¡¯ . We spent another 15 minutes clearing up the mess we made and leave for the computer science lab after thanking the teacher in charge. On entering the lab we find Archie and Elfreda talking inside , since its about time for the last batch of buses to leave , the other kids have already packed up and left. ¡°I should be going to ¡° Saki says as she keeps the door pushed open , she waves goodbye to Archie and Elfreda with her free hand and turns to me and smiles before saying ¡°See you tomorrow *$#$@e$#$*¡± I feel my mind go blank as she leaves , the lab door slowly closing by its own behind her , I stand there motionless staring at the door before a hand latches onto my shoulder from behind. ¡°We should get going to¡± Archie says , and we head towards the bus stop. Chapter 11 : Roles ¡°What¡¯re you planning to do for summer break *#$#$e#$@* ? ¡° Joseph asks me while I¡¯m stuffing a sandwich into my mouth , Tristan and Ames sitting on the desk part of the bench in front of us with their feet on the seat look at me with interest. The classroom is noisy with the different groups talking among themselves. I swallow my sandwich and reply ¡°I don¡¯t know probably some club stuff , what about you?¡± ; It¡¯s been three weeks since I joined the media club and July , corresponding to our summer vacation is just around the corner. I got cornered by these three around one week in when they saw me leave with Saki after class on multiple occasions , so they know about the club. After a series of questions we find out what everyone is doing , Tristan is going to visit his relatives in the country and he¡¯ll be back when half the vacation of two months is over , Ames and his family are going to U.S.A to go on a country wide tour for four weeks and Joseph is going to stay here while his parents go visit their relatives with his younger brother , they said they didn¡¯t want to disturb his studies in case he ever did want to study. In the past three weeks I got assigned to Leni who taught me how to use the basics of a programming language called and Saki was helping the artist , Jinni , because Saki¡¯s had practice with photo editing while making posters for the volleyball club and did some pixel art for the logo design. Three weeks into being in the club ,I¡¯ve basically figured out what we¡¯re doing and what everyone¡¯s role is in the club:Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. We¡¯re making a 2D single player rpg for now without a class system where only the cutscenes will have actual voices for the character. Archie is the audio and video editor and he¡¯s responsible for making the sound track and cut scenes , he¡¯s also the indisputable captain of the club as basically all the members are somehow or the other related to him. Elfreda is the script writer and character designer of the game and she¡¯s the one everyone is scared of. Leni is the programmer and basically the backbone of the game we are working on , he was apparently designing a game engine before he even knew about the club , but the workload is too much for a single person to handle so he immediately came forward when Archie asked if anyone needed me as an assistant ; He¡¯s teaching me how to program so I can change some functions he has already made into similar ones which will be used elsewhere , he doesn¡¯t trust me with making functions of my own. Jinni is the Artist of the team and doesn¡¯t show up unless Elfreda calls her when she¡¯s done with a certain part of the script or a certain character. Ronald and Ethan were the two people in the store room with Archie the day Saki first told me about the club , and they are the two game designers and are responsible for designing the game system conceptually , that is they decide what abilities the characters will have , what happens when the character levels up and so on ; They¡¯re also vice captains in the way that they are the ones who make all the decisions for the club with Archie , and that¡¯s what they have the for. Saki and I are basically assistants rather than managers and do whatever we¡¯re told to do, since Leni is finally done building the main components of the game engine , he needed the sprite sheet for some characters to test out the system and someone to make some supplementary functions while he makes the dialogue system. ¡®It¡¯s been a stressful three weeks¡¯ I think to myself as I think about what I need to do in the summer vacation , My thoughts are interrupted by the bell signifying the end of recess as class continues. Chapter 12 : Summer Vacation ¡°Excuse me ma¡¯am, can I borrow *#$#$e$##* and Saki for some important club work please¡± Archie stood in the left doorway of the classroom with a goofy grin on his face as he politely asked the teacher . ¡°Sure , go ahead Archie , it¡¯s not like I can teach anything on the day before summer vacation anyway¡± Our maths teacher said gesturing towards our half empty classroom apparently knowing Archie by name, I¡¯m surprised even half the kids came since the attendance has been steadily decreasing over the past week with less than 10 people showing up yesterday. Saki and I leave the class room after thanking our teacher as we follow Archie outside. ¡°Club meeting in the computer lab , Saki you go get Jinni , *#$#$e#$#* you get Leni and I¡¯ll go get Ronald and Ethan¡± ¡¯Ah so he got us first to split up the work¡¯ I think to myself as I nod and head for class <11- C> and get Leni the same way Archie got us. Leni and I head for the computer lab and I see Saki and Jinni reach before we even reach the staircase as Jinnis¡¯ class was closer to the lab than Lenis¡¯. After entering the lab we find Elfreda also there for once , reading what seems to be a hard red covered book without a title. Leni sits at his usual desktop and I sit on the one exactly opposite of his desktop , the system I usually work on.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Did you copy your folder into the pendrive I gave you yesterday?¡± Leni asks , looking at me as his desktop boots in the background. ¡°Yeah , here ¡° I reply while handing him the lighter shaped USB ; I¡¯m not turning on my computer because any work I¡¯ll do today will go to waste if I don¡¯t copy it onto the USB , I just sat in my seat out of habit since I¡¯ve been sitting here the past two weeks. I get up and start walking towards Saki and Jinni because I know Leni doesn¡¯t like other people looking at his monitor without his permission and I don¡¯t wanna annoy the guy who basically taught me all that I¡¯m useful for in this club. When I reach close enough to Saki and Jinni to hear them talking about something along the lines of ¡°30 frames of animation should be good enough for now¡± The door of the lab opens and the three remaining members walk in . After walking to the teachers desk near the storage room door, Archie says ¡°Alright everybody listen up¡± in a voice just loud enough to drown out the rest of the noise in the room ; Everyone stops talking and the room is quiet save for the click-clacking of Lenis¡¯ keyboard and the less frequent page turning of Elfredas¡¯ book, Archie continues ¡°Okay so this is in regards to the summer vacation ,we¡¯ll be holding meetings at Elfredas¡¯ house in the afternoon every Wednesday, I¡¯ve already messaged her address to every one on direct messaging and the first meeting day after tomorrow is compulsory , does anyone have any questions?.¡± Archie pauses and waits for someone to ask a question but everyone just looks at him and there¡¯s an awkward silence which fills the room as even Leni has stopped typing , the silence gets broken by another page turn of Elfredas¡¯ book and Archie looks at her before continuing ¡°Alright so that¡¯s why I called you people , you can do whatever you want now since there¡¯s only two classes remaining and Mr.Alvis will come to the lock the lab when the last class ends , I have to talk to a few other people so I¡¯m out see ya¡± and he leaves ¡®Well atleast that gives me something to do in vacation¡¯ I think to myself as I listen to Saki and Jinni talk among themselves about the game while I sit next to them without saying anything. Chapter 13 : Tradition ¡°Pizza delivery for a Mr.*$#$#e$#@* ¡± said the delivery guy as he started opening the box shaped bag slung across his right shoulder ¡°Yeah that¡¯s me ¡° I reply while grabbing the 3 boxes of pizza in a stack ¡°What about the receipt and the seasonings?¡± I say to the delivery guy before he can close his box bag to which he apologizes and puts the receipt and seasonings on top of the stack of pizza boxes with a big written across it. I walk back to the dim living room in Joseph¡¯s apartment , kicking the door behind me since its a self locking one anyway. I keep the pizza on the coffee table between the two black recliners , one of which is fully relaxed as Joseph continues to play without me. ¡°Which one do you wanna open first?¡± I ask , already opening the mozzarella pizza since I already know the response . ¡°Cheese obviously , can you grab the cold drinks from the fridge?¡± Joseph says to me , his eyes still glued to the 60 inch flatscreen currently showing a single first person view of a player holding dual wield pistols and running through a grassy terrain ¡°Sure¡± I say as I walk back towards the door of the living room in the darkness, the only light in the house which is on right now is for the small hallway or walkway which connects all the doors for the different rooms; We always play video games all night on the first day of summer vacation , its been like that since the second grade.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. I walk into the kitchen and open the fridge door ,the yellow tinted light inside the fridge giving a warm ambient glow in the dark tiled room , I grab the two litre bottle of cold drink and place it on the what I think is marble counter top as I open one of the cabinets and take out two steel glasses , using the light from the fridge to make sure I don¡¯t break anything on the countertop. I place one glass inside the other , grab the cola bottle and go to the living room , closing the fridge door with a push from my hand with the cola bottle on the way. I come back to 2 slices of pizza missing from the box and the words written on a black overlay on the screen ; ¡°Here you are your highness¡± I say as I put the bottle and glasses on the glass coffee table right next to the pizza boxes . ¡°By the way , did you ask Saki out yet?¡± Joseph asks me while trying to pull the cheese as far as possible after biting into his third slice of pizza. ¡°Wh-What?¡± I stutter , my mind going completely blank , I almost miss the recliner I was sitting onto as it swivels around due to the odd angle at which I fell onto it. ¡°Nothing , I just thought you liked her , you know.. with all the time you two spend together in that club of yours¡± Joseph says in a nonchalant tone after the string of cheese breaks and he chews to pull it into his mouth. ¡°No¡­ I guess I just didn¡¯t see her that way¡± I lie through my teeth as I¡¯d rather people don¡¯t know about this silly crush of mine ¡°You can tell me you know , I won¡¯t tell anyone else ¡° Joseph says after taking another bite of his pizza as he looks at me in a sort of pitying manner ¡°Nah , If I ever do like a girl , I¡¯ll tell you though ¡° I say feeling slightly guilty about lying to my best friends¡¯ face. ¡°Anyway now that you¡¯re done warming up , lets start playing this so I can beat your ass in free for all¡± I continue while picking up my remote off the coffee table with one hand while taking a slice of pizza in the other. ¡°Okay¡± Joseph says turning to the screen¡­ and for one second , I thought I heard a sigh.