Chapter Fourteen - School

Derek gave a long look at this huge building his parents drove him to. It was going to be his school. From what his parents told him School was somewhere great. It was where he would make friends and learn stuff. Derek didn't need that though, he knew everything. Even how to drive a car. You just turned that wheely thingy the way you wanted it to go and the car went that way.

He knew because he drove a car once, he was on his fathers lap, but it still counts!

He saw other kids rush in to school, big and small. Some were accompanied by their mommies and daddies, but the big kids didn't need their parents. They were big enough to ride a bus with other big kids.

Derek was also a big kid. Maybe not as big as the other kids but one day he would be. He couldn't wait for that day. But his parents told him that he would at least have to wait five years. He hated waiting.

“Here we are.” Derek's mother said she sounded more excited than Derek.

Her name was Natalie, but everyone called her Nat. She had blonde hair like Derek. But she had beautiful green eyes. Her pearl like teeth always showed when she smiled like she was smiling right now.

“Are you excited?” Derek heard his fathers voice come from the drivers seat, and he saw his fathers brown eyes watch him through the mirror. He had brown eyes like Derek.

“No...” Derek avoided his fathers eyes. He wasn't excited, but he was scared. And he was afraid that his father might see that too. He was a big boy now. Big boys are brave!

His father head light brown hair but sometimes it would be darker. Derek always forgot his fathers name as everyone called him something else. Derek would call him, 'Dad' his mom would call him 'your father' or sometimes 'Johnny', his uncle Bruce would call him 'John' and everyone else called him 'Mr. Reynolds.'

He heard his father laugh slightly. “Well, surely your mother is.”

“Of course I am! And I know you are too.” Nat smiled at Derek's father. She opened the cars door and got out, Derek followed her.

“I'll see you two tonight, I guess.” Derek's fathers voice came from the car. He had to go to work, Derek knew.

“Bye.” Derek and his mother waved at his father as he drove off.

“Hi.” a girl voice came from the back seat. Derek ignored it but then he felt a poke. “I'm talking to you.”

Derek turned on his seat to look at the girl. “Hello...” he answered calmly. The girl had dark hair, brown eyes. She was smiling at him.

“I'm Jane. What's your name?” she asked.

Derek was a big boy now, so he remembered what big boys on TV did. He grinned and said “Derek Reynolds...” Then winked.

“It's nice to meet you.” Jane kept smiling.

“Yes, it is...” Derek nodded and turned forward again.

Derek laughed lightly at the memory of his younger self. What an idiot he was. He wondered what Jane was doing. Was she thinking about him?

“Derek... Derek..? Derek?!” Derek heard his boss call his name.

“Oh.. Um... Yes.” Derek answered finally.

“You understand the plan, right?” Nate asked doubtingly. Robert Greeb was behind a computer, typing something.

“Uh... Yes, yes... I got it.” Derek lied.

Nate seemed relieved as he was not going to have to tell it again. “Good... We better start then.”

“Uh-huh.” Derek nodded uncomfortably.

“Your clothes are upstairs. You are going to have to look better where you are going.” Robert told him, not looking away from the screen.

“R.. Right.”

“I wonder what Derek is doing right now.” Jane sighed, deep in thoughts.

“Oh, he is fine.” Mike answered, smiling. Jane liked Derek back. It was obvious after they found out he was stuck in the program. She kept blaming herself. “I hear she got a girlfriend too.”

“She got a gi- How do you know?” Jane asked, doubting.

“Mae told me. Are you jealous?” Mike couldn't help but smile.

Jane avoided the question “So you are friends with Mae too? - Never mind I don't care. I need to get in the program.”

“No, Jane. You know it's dangerous, no employees are allowed to get in.” Mike remembered when Mae made the announcement.

It was three days ago, when Nate Greeb entered 'The Game'.

“Yeah... You are right.” she sighed. “So who is his girlfriend? One of the winners?”

“No, I hear she is an NPC.” Mike answered, he wasn't sure if dating an NPC was a good thing, but he didn't care that much.

In the television though, this has became one of the issues lately. After 'The Game' was released to the sick and their families, all of the channels started to discuss about it. Some said it was good, some said it was bad. Some even said it was the end of the world, when people started to play god.

“An NPC?!” Jane yelled “Is he crazy?!”

“Oi! Don't yell at me!” Mike yelled back jokingly.

He looked around Jane's pink room. It was too pink, specially for a nineteen year old. It looked more like a nine year old's bedroom. With a corner filled with teddies. (Mike counted twelve at first but more started to show up, so he gave up.)

“Right...” Jane seemed more calm now “How do you know all that anyway?”

“Mae told me. She knows that you and him are friends and that I am friends with you, so she wants to keep us updated.” Mike spotted another teddy on top of one of the shelves.

“Aren't you scared of her? I mean, she fired the Colin guy.”

“She fired him because we won.”

“Oh... Right.”

“Aww. Our Rose has a crush...” Nate teased Rose when she came home and told him about the day she had at school.

Rose, blushed to that “No, I don't!”

A clicking sound came from downstairs. “Oh, look it's dad.” Nate's smile grew wider. “Can't wait to tell him.”

Their father was on the phone, they could hear him talking. Well, it seemed more like arguing. “No no no! Bruce, listen to me! - I- I don't care if he did it that way! You idiot!”

“What's going on? Who is Bruce?” Rose whispered her brother, but he was as clueless as she was.

“No fuck YOU! Fine... No I am going through with it. Yes, I have the plans wi- What?!” Robert continued downstairs.

“You should go to your room Rose. I'll go downstairs, see what's the problem...” Nate was serious now.

Rose nodded with her head and did what her brother told her.

Rose looked at the plans of the new headquarters. They were lying on her living room table.

It was taller then the headquarters they had before, actually tallest building yet, that is in the game.

“Knock knock...” a friendly voice came from somewhere in the room.

When Rose looked at the source she noticed it was Claire.

“Hey...” Claire smiled.

“Hi.” Rose greeted her coldly and looked down at the plans again.

“So, I hear you joined to good guys.” Claire walked closer to the table.

“I don't know..” Rose kept looking at the plans. Not really reading them, just trying to avoid Claire.

“What do you mean you don't know?” Claire asked, sounding worried.

Rose shrugged, and decided to avoid the subject by starting a new one. “How do you do it?”

“Do what?”

Rose looked up at Claire's eyes “How do you work with Mae and Jessica? How are you on their side after what they did to your sister?”

Claire sighed “I-” she looked down “I forgave them. It's not like it was their fault, not really. I don't know.”

“Do they know you are Ella's sister? I know you did everything to look different from the old Claire...You dyed your hair, lost the glasses, lost a ton of weight...” Rose paused “Changed your surname. But, have you told them?”

“No...” Claire sighed again.

Rose didn't like the sigh. She looked down. She had to say sorry. Do something, before she hurt Claire more. She looked back up. “Oh... I got a surprise for you.”

Claire looked at Rose, doubting to ask.

“I... A couple of days before we started the game, I found a video of you and your sister.” Rose paused, to look at Claire, if she was okay. “Using the video I created the NPC look-alike of Ella in The Game. But, she just looks like her. I haven't yet filled her personality in it. But you can do that... And then Ella would be back. You just have to f-”

“No.” Claire stopped Rose. She noticed that Claire's eyes began to water “If you can do that... Why haven't you done it with Jake?” She asked, her voice shaking lightly.

“I don't-” Rose never really thought about that. “B- Because, I, because if I fill the information from what I know about him, I will add that he loved me. That will force him to love me. And if I don't add it, then maybe he will never love me.”

“Close, but that's not the answer. And you know it's not.” Claire took a deep shaky breath and let it out “It's because you know it won't be the same person. You know that the real one is dead, and this fake one is not going to even be close to the original. You know that, he would just be a program, and he would be programed to do all that.”

Rose, couldn't talk back again. Not after that, she was afraid that she would hurt her more. She always did that, she always hurt people surrounding her. And now, she hurt the only person that loved and cared about her. And, the only person Rose cared about.

AN:

Okay, I know I know... This chappie is a little down compared to other ones. (Or at least I feel that way.)

I just wanted to get it out while I had the idea.

Yes, I planned the whole Ella thing about the time I introduced Ella. So, now I guess you know why I put that flashback.

Not sure about the title of this chapter but okay.

Not really sure about anything in this chapter. Too many useless details to be honest.. But I wanna know what you thought. Maybe you liked it.

I hope you did or I'll get demotivated. o_o And you don't want that.

No, sir you don't. o_o

lol, if you didn't it's fine. I'll make the next one better.

Coming up next: RED SPACE! (I think, not sure... Maybe the Orphanage. Or just The Game. WHO KNOWS?)

Anyway, like always.

I LOVE YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH

Iamfronwinterfell, OUT!