The Tale of Tommy

Part 5 - 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕄𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕣 𝕊𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕖𝕣

It's been just over a week since Lucas left. Both my parents are still getting used to their son being on the other side of the country, so they've be out of my hair. They feel kind of distant, but the independence is nice, I guess. I stretch, letting my limbs fall off the side of my bed. Golden sunlight filters through my thin curtains. My first instinct is to get up and get ready for the beach, but Bailey and I already planned to take a few days after Lucas left. It's been longer than a week, but I have so little motivation to do things. Her cousins are visiting from out of town, though, so we both agreed to take another week off.

I have a few moments of bliss before something pops into my mind. Two things, actually. Streaming and Lucas. The latter is something I can't deal with at the moment, so I push the thought back knowing if I dwell on it I'll break down.

I need a distraction.

Anytime something bothers me, I distract myself. Too much homework? Binge Netflix for an hour to release stress. Drama at school? Take weekend to unwind. And now, Lucas is off to college? Focus on something else.

I scan my room for something I could do, anything to distract myself. My eyes jump from object to object. Do I have any LEGO sets? I could organize my bookshelf. Does my laundry need to be done? Should I read? Nothing seems to interest me. I haven't played with LEGOS in years. My bookshelf is fairly clean. My laundry hamper isn't very full. I've read just about everything in my bookshelf.

But there is one thing that my eyes land on. My PC, sitting on my desk under my window. It presents to me imaginary worlds, fictional characters, unlimited creativity, and best of all, a distraction.

I get ready before I hop on. I've fallen into a sad state before where I didn't take care of myself, and ever since then I can't stand not getting ready for the day despite my plans. I throw on a clean hoodie and sweatpants, run a brush through my hair and brush my teeth before settling into my chair. I run my hands over my keyboard, the RGB lights changing colors as I press random keys. I turn on my mic and headset. My monitor blinks on and the faint hum of fans can be heard as my PC wakes up. Before I finally settle in, I turn off my bedroom lights and open my window. I still don't like the dark, even if I have my LED lights on. It's too depressing. Natural light is more my style. I'd rather sit on my computer for hours under UV rays than in a dark room basked in vibrant LED light. 

I launch Minecraft when I'm ready. It's always been my comfort game. I've played it for years, although I haven't always played it on my PC. I started off making box-shaped houses on a little iPhone when I was a kid. But after a few years, I started to get better. I played on PC with Lucas and my experience grew. It's the game of my childhood.

I only have a few worlds on my computer. There are your typical Minecraft servers like Hypixel, which I don't play on much. I have a world full of random things I've built, it's in creative mode of course. There's my little survival world that I don't play on much because mobs terrify me. And then there's the one server that I can't bear to click on anymore. 

The Miller Server. 

It was the first server Lucas and I created when I first got Minecraft on my PC. Since we had both been too excited to think of a creative name, we simply called it our last name. The name stuck, so anytime we would play Minecraft together, we'd play on the Miller Server. It has years and years of memories made by Lucas and me in it.

I still can't bear to click on it.

I let my mouse select my creative world full of structures. From simple cottages to a giant statue Ferris wheel that took weeks to complete, it has it all. A village of minimalist houses, a giant dog house for my army of dogs, a spherical aquarium filled with axolotls, a tower that reaches sky limit, a mansion with a room for all my friends and family. I'm not an amazing builder, but you can definitely see my skills progress the further you venture into my world. 

I start building houses in an undeveloped corner of my world. I practice larger three-story homes with a theme since those aren't something that's prevalent.

Hours pass as I build. It's therapeutic. I only stopped once or twice to eat something during the hours I played. By the time I feel my fingers cramping, moonlight illuminates my dark room. I stretch. This is a new record for how many consecutive hours I've spent on Minecraft. I know I should get off, but I don't want to leave my chair. Gaming reminds me of the time I would spend with Lucas, it fills me with warmth. I don't want to let that warmth go just yet.

But the pent-up energy I have from sitting in a chair until 10 PM makes me stand.

"Alright, alright," I say to myself. "I'll go downstairs, get a snack, and then I'll figure out what to do."

I tend to talk to myself when I'm bored. I don't even have to be bored, actually. I do it to help myself decide things or think through situations, or sometimes just for entertainment. And after spending at least ten sedentary hours, my mind is extremely bored and it starts to narrate everything I do. 

"There she goes, sneaking past her parents' room. They're already asleep? Huh. Well, that just means more freedom, although I do have to be more quiet."

I start down the stairs.

"Good thing none of our steps are creaky. I'd always forget which one."

I'm in the kitchen, opening the fridge.

"Jeez, why are these lights so bright? I should make a fridge with a dimmer switch, or a fridge that knows when it's night so it can dim the lights."

I decide to eat a lunchable.

"Now this, my friend, is fine dining," I say, plopping myself down on the couch and sliding a circle of processed ham and a rectangular slice of American cheese into my mouth. I find it very humorous that "American cheese" is a thing. "It's also about as American as it gets."

I giggle. Does anyone else get a little loopy around night? Your senses are just heightened and anything can make you laugh.

After dining on the most delicious lunchable I've ever had, I wander up to my room again. 

"Like I'm gonna go to bed now, it's not even eleven." This is summer, the time to always go to sleep past midnight.

And that's what I do. I find myself back at my computer not knowing what else to do. At that point, I accept my fate that I'm not going to be doing anything productive for the remainder of my evening. 

I crack my knucles. "Alright, what're we gonna be doing now? Shall we play more Minecraft, or kick off the night with some Roblox? Or, if we really want to anger children, Fortnite."

Ah yes, the Three Musketeers. Minecraft, Roblox and Fortnite.

But it's none of those games I end up playing. Twitch pops into my head. I don't know where it came from. The idea to stream stayed with me for a few days after Bailey mentioned it, but I lost motivation to follow through. However, curiosity for the platform has come back to me again.

I spend the rest of the night fooling around in Streamlabs and researching anything and everything related to Twitch. I go down a rabbit hole. By the time I feel sleep pull at my eyelids, it's two in the morning and I've been listening to Loverboy by A-Wall on repeat for four hours after having one of the lyrics pop into my head.

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I had very little motivation write this chapter, so I'm sorry if it sucked. But now I can finally make the story go somewhere! Little hint: Tommyinnit will finally be mentioned next chapter. Make sure to vote!