Vampire the Masquerade: Genesis

3. Pizza, Video Games & High School Soccer

Twenty-three minutes and two wrong turns later- after stopping at 7-Eleven for gas and large slurpees- the two Texans eventually made it to a local pizza joint by the name of Serendipity Pizza & Pasta.

"Haven, can we get breadsticks too, please?" Jason begged in an intentionally whiny manner, to which the older girl simply nodded and sighed.

"Sure, if you'll actually shut up..." She muttered under her breath.

The little, hole-in-the-wall establishment was located on the corner of a strip mall and conveniently located next to a GameStop, which immediately grabbed Jason's rather limited attention.

"Haven, please! You have to let me go! I just wanna look! Pretty, pretty please!" He moaned as if it would just absolutely kill him not to browse the wares.

Devious as it was, Haven realized it was an opportunity to get rid of the boy for a few precious moments, and allowed him to go over to the electronic retail store, on the conditions he stayed there until she came to get him and didn't break anything.

With more energy than she was sure was healthy for a child his age, the nine-year-old sprinted into the GameStop, nearly tripping over his own shoelaces in his hurry. Haven chuckled, shaking her head as she placed her order and sat down in one of the booths to wait.

Idly, the girl checked her phone. Aside from the '2 New Messages' notification on her lock screen, nothing was really unusual. With nothing more to do, she checked the messages- both from her best friend Claire.

'Hey, miss you already, nevaH- I know it's only been a few days since I last saw you, but it's already boring here without you!' and 'I'm bored! Send me pictures of your new place!' Haven chuckled; of course she would say that.

'I'm out of the house right now- besides, you're only saying that because Vanessa is Macau till next week.' Haven replied with a sad smile and a shake of her head.

'Yeah, but you're still my #1 best friend!' Claire texted back in record time. The conversation continued, ranging from things like back-to-school plans to boys and clothes, and before she knew it, her order was ready for pickup.

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Pizza and breadsticks in arm, she dropped them off in the truck and proceeded towards the GameStop to collect her younger brother, who would without a doubt have found at least five games he would outright demand to own if he didn't already.

For a moment, Haven was nervous to go in- people usually judged her for preferring video games and computer programs over shoes and clothing- Miranda and McKenna certainly did.

Then she remembered her sisters' opinions didn't matter and that she needed to get her brother or else he'd never leave.

Confidence back in place, she pushed the door aside, slipping inside before she could change her mind.

The store was virtually devoid of life save for a few younger kids, who looked no more than twelve, browsing the M rated section for a source of entertainment that either involved zombies, guns, explosions, killing zombies with guns, killing zombies with explosions, or killing zombies with guns and explosions. She had an idea where to find Jason, but was startled back to reality by an unfamiliar male voice.

"Hey, I haven't seen you around. Are you new around here?" The guy standing behind the counter asked with a curious smile; he couldn't have been much older than she was- give or take a year.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Haven shrugged uncomfortably, certainly not expecting the admittedly attractive teenager to continue talking to her, but that didn't mean she couldn't steal a glimpse at him. On closer inspection, he had relatively even tanned skin and curly brown hair that fell into his eyes, which she noted were an impressive mocha color.