My name is Henry Morris, and my life sucks.
Okay, it's not all bad. Not with video games, at least.
To tell you the truth, video games probably saved my life. But let's not discuss that for now.
———
I'm attending a coding class, and in my class, there's this guy named Austin.
We hardly know each other, but we're rivals.
Why? Well, the answer is a bit stupid.
You see, I take my studies quite seriously, however, so does Austin (Or so it appears, but I'm not accusing him of anything without proof).
Because of this, we're the top students of the class. Not that it's a bad thing, but it makes a very common topic of debate for our classmates. They're always wondering who will do better on the test, or whatever we're working on.
At first, this didn't bother me. But as time passed, I started to feel a bit...competitive. Just a bit.
...okay, maybe a little more than a bit, but that's not the point.
Sometimes I snuck glances in his direction, and sometimes he caught me, giving me a confused look.
I don't remember when I officially decided to call Austin my rival, but I wasn't pleased when I was paired up with the guy I thought of as my rival for a collaborative project.
Whispers passed through the class about "the two smart guys working together" and how we'd totally do the best out of everyone, as expected.
I, on the other hand, was not thrilled to do this at all. I silently scowled, but didn't bother to try and ask the professor for a different partner. Just because I was one of the top students of the class, didn't mean that I was particularly liked nor was used to communicating with people.
When we were dismissed, I silently walked home, mentally preparing myself. My Father wasn't the best, and I didn't want to go to Austin's so soon.
I opened the door to my house, being greeted with silence.
Father's not home today, thank God... I let out a small sigh of relief. Mom's probably away though.
I walked to my room, letting my backpack slip off my shoulders.
I kneeled down, taking my laptop and a textbook out. I'd contact Austin later, for now, I just wanted to study a little ahead.
———
I stood outside, on the doorstep.
I gave my backpack a slight tug with my left hand as I sighed, then knocked on the door.
1..2..3...4-
The door swung open, Austin looking at me with indifference.
"Hey.", he bluntly greeted.
I waved with my free hand as I stepped inside.
I briefly looked around as Austin led me to his room. The walls were plain, the air smelled of books, new and old.
But there was one thing that caught my eye. The Wii Console under the television.
I'd much rather be playing that than doing this...I never got to try it...
Suddenly, I was dragged by my sleeve. I quickly looked away from the Wii and at Austin.
"C'mon, we need to start on the project. You know how strict our professor is, right?", Austin said without looking at me.
