The Player Next Door.

Chapter 12// Palice, Squeals, And A Park

Chapter 12// Palice, Squeals, And A Park.

Today, thankfully a Saturday, I woke up. On the most unexpected thing.

First off, I woke up with my face being wet. And it was sticky. Where did it come from? I do not know. What is it? I still do not know.

And that is what I'm doing right now. Thinking and trying to guess what that substance was. In my bed. I still haven't moved an inch.

You know what, I don't care. I shrugged off my train of thoughts, and decided to spend the day like a normal person. And a normal person wouldn't wonder what was the sticky, liquid-like substance on his face. If it ever landed on his face.

Just as I swung my legs to the sides of the bed, I had a mini-heart attack on what was beside the bed.

Picture this: You wake up, on a weekend, at 12 o'clock, feeling normal. When your hand goes up to your face to rub your eyes, you feel a sticky substance all over your face. Then, you get out of bed, and have a mini-heart attack, because there was a freaking Golden Retriever, sitting right there. Beside your bed. And you know you have no pets. A dog. Beside your bed. In your room.

And it had a collar. A cyan one with a golden circle dangling from it, while a name was carved on it. I look closer, and I might say that was a weird name. For a dog.

"Palice," I whispered. So the owner couldn't decide whether to name it Palace or Alice?

"Palice!" A voice- whom I recognized as Jake's, ricocheted through the halls of the house.

"Pa- oh there you are! Did you become friends with Riley?" Jake, who suddenly opened the door, exclaimed.

Palice's tongue went back in her mouth, as it was once outside.

"Uhh... Jake? Why is there a dog in my room?" I asked.

"First, her name is Palice. I couldn't decide if I wanted to name her Palace or Alice, so I made up Palice. Second, you should get to know her, it's our dog now."

"Our dog?"

"Mom got Palice because in the summer vacation we won't go anywhere, so she thought we'll be bored. Plus the internet stopped. So no iPads."

I gasp a really loud gasp, and Palice barks.

"The internet stopped?" I echoed, feeling my heart break into tiny, little pieces.

The router.

My eyes widened in realization, and I didn't really care what I looked like. Sprinting as fast as I can, I ran through the house and to the living room. Mom was there, and she looked surprised. She watched me with full curiosity while I ran to the table in the corner of the room.

Where is the plug?

My eyes frantically scanned the wall, and I finally release a sigh of relief when I find it unplugged. I plug it back, standing back up with a wide smile on my face.

Mom was staring at me, still holding her cupcake and gaping at me.

I pointed behind me and started mumbling incoherent words. "The router... unplugged... The serv- you know what, I'll go change."

She nodded, flipping back through her magazine and continuing the cupcake.

I was only halfway across the room, when mom called me. "Yeah?" I turned around on my heels, facing her.

"I have 2 things to say." She patted the spot beside her on the couch.

"You always have 2 things to say." I say as I sit down. She chuckled a bit, which made me remember the last time I heard her laugh. Or see her smile. It was back before the "dad died" moment.