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Chapter Three

"She's way too overpowered..."

"She seems pretty innocent to me."

"Don't be fooled. She's a murderer, just like her parents."

My gaze lowered onto the tiled floor of the school hallway, ignoring the intensifying stares of the students around me. They don't stop. The comments.. don't ever stop. Almost feeling exposed, I clutched my arm, holding it tightly in my hand. Ignore them, Meredith. You know better. They don't know what your parents did for our world. My lips thinned as I trudged towards class, my pace slow and my eyes down.

Someone bumped into me harshly, and I stopped walking, stunned by the sudden interaction. Turning to look at the person, they did the same and flipped me off, an angry expression on their face as they shouted, "WATCH IT, LOSER." They spun on their heels and walked off, enraged.

"I'm.. sorry..." I murmured under my breath.

No one heard my pitiful apology.

Turning back around, my jaw clenched and I opened the door of the classroom, shuffling over to my seat. I sat down, laying my head in my arms as I leaned towards the desk. I should sleep to pass time while I wait for the teacher. My eyes kept an open watch for anyone as I drifted soundly, my thoughts ablaze.

Unlike my mother, I wasn't violent or very straightforward with my actions during school hours. I heard stories of my mother acting cruel and cold towards her classmates. She was a ghost of a mystery. My reactions were more based off of my father, calm and calculated. He didn't lash out as easily as my mother did, but that was where the similarities stopped between my parents and me. In rare cases did I ever truly retort back like my mother did. My attitude was from my father, and yet, my words were of my mother.

"G'morning~," a sugarcoated voice drawled.

My eyes almost rolled into the back of my head as a hand slammed on the surface of my desk in front of me. I sat up, not making a move to turn my head up to look at her. My eyes glanced in her directions, and an equally sugarcoated smile graced her lips. Linda Skies. She held my gaze and leaned forward, smiling.

"Well, aren't you just as quiet as always," she chirped. I didn't look up at her, my hair shadowing over my eyes silently. "My, my~. You don't even have the guts to look at me?"

Her voice.. is too nice.

I hate it...

"I already know if I look at you, you'll comment about my eyes," I responded shortly, quick to reply.

Linda leaned back and laughed, a hand to her mouth, as if she found my statement humorous and amusing. I didn't expect anything else from her. She put her hand on her hip and glowered down at me, smiling. Her golden eyes gleamed.

"Oh my~! How did you know?"

I almost had to keep in a snort at her question. "Lucky guess.." I mumbled.

"Ah~, poor Meredith~," she cooed, as if she were talking to a child, "you're such a soul! Of course I would say something about those—" Her gaze locked onto mine, and a hint of disgust was reflected. "—awfully distasteful features of yours."

"If you don't have anything important to tell me," I said, looking up at her. I couldn't help but let a slight threatening look glaze over my eyes for her to see. "You should sit in your seat and wait for the teacher."

Linda laughed once again, charming a few boys around us with her enchanting voice, as she sat at her desk.

~~~

Eh? What's this?

I was at home, the school day being over. I was relieved, and after finishing homework, I was quick to the computer. I landed in the chair, my excitement rising up in hopes of finding something fun to do. Scrolling through my Twitter feed, I found an advertisement of a game. The ad was flashy, so it attracted my attention quite easily. My eyes glazed over the ad as I clicked on it, suddenly intrigued and very interested.

"Parallel.." I whispered under my breath, reading the article. "A new multiplayer game taking the world by storm.."

I couldn't help but feel attracted to the game description, my eyes hungry to read more about it. The gameplay was striking up my lane of interest, and soon, I found myself downloading the game onto my computer. It took a long while, but patience paid off, and I quickly made an account.

Username: Miss_Massacre 

Level: 0

Skill: 0

Main Asset: Undecided

I couldn't help but laugh at my username. I quickly read through the tutorial, getting ready to play the game. Wow! Parallel worlds? This is totally awesome! Too distracted by the game, I didn't notice Papa open the door until he knocked on the wall several times. I turned to look at him, and he smiled.

"Already found a game?" He asked.

I nodded excitedly, my eyes sparkling brightly at him. "It looks so cool!"

He chimed in laughter and said, "Alright. I'll leave you alone. By the way, dinner is going to be ready in about an hour."

"Okay!"

"Hey, you got a mic?"

There was no reply.

Sighing heavily, I felt my adrenaline lowering. Great. My first attempt at this game, and this guy doesn't have a mic. Walking around in the lobby, I sat on the bench, waiting for the round to begin. I noticed the default clothes I had on, and wondered how many wins necessary it was to level up and get better avatar clothes. Players began spawning in one by one, interacting with their partners. I watched as my partner stood still. Was he AFK??

Maybe I should join a different game? This guy doesn't have a mic, so it's probably pointless.

"Sorry," I apologized quietly into my mic, "You don't have a mic, and I kinda need someone who has one. If you can hear me, good luck on this round."

Quickly, I exited the round, leaving the poor avatar to stand by himself.