Lost In The Metaverse

Don't wanna go

                                                                                    Chapter 1

                                                                         WEB3 SUMMER CAMP

BANG BANG BANG! The whole room shakes with each angry knock against the locked door. "Open the door, Tobby!"

"Forget it! I'm not going," he insists.

"You have to!" shouts Lola.

"No, I don't!" Tobby stomps his feet as he jumps on his bed, crossing his arms.

"Come on Tobby, you're going to make us late." Lola whines as she leans against his bedroom door. "I don't want to miss the bus" she says, trying to peek through his keyhole.

Tobby has his back to the door, refusing to budge. "You can just go without me, Lola! Have fun."

Lola lets out a frustrated sigh, turning her attention to her mother.

"Mummy, he's still in his PJs!" Lola shrugs her shoulders and shakes her head. She walks past her mother, who storms toward Tobby's room.

Her fist hammers against the door a few times. "Tobby, we are ready to go, and we're waiting on you. If you don't open this door at once..." She stops herself mid-sentence, but the threat was obvious. With one hand on her hip, she quickly checks her wristwatch and blows her hair away from her brow.

Tobby is still leaning on his door, thankful for the locks put in place. "What are you going to do, break down the door? Well, good luck! It's fireproof, stormproof, and momproof!" Tobby chuckles to himself. He walks back to his bed, throws himself onto it, and begins to bounce his dog-torn tennis ball off the ceiling, leaving additional soggy brown prints. His duvet has spilt onto the floor, covering dirty socks stuck in between the pages of his maths books. A group of flies breakdance on his moldy pizza box, leaning on top of his ripped leather gaming chair.

"No." His mom says calmly - too calmly. "I'm going to cut the power. And you'll be stuck here with no-"

"Wifi?!" Tobby interrupts, panicking as he bounces off his bed and trips over his basketball duffle bag to open the door.

His mother's frowned eyebrows relax, proud of herself. " "Good! That's what I thought. Now, let's go..." She moves to grab his hand, but Tobby wiggles away from her, runs across the corridor, opens another door, and shuts himself in the bathroom. He faces the door, leaning against it and clasping onto the handle for dear life.

Bad move.

"TOBBYYYY!" His mum and sister shout in unison. Shocked with his idiotic persistence. Both were suddenly on the other side, pushing at the door, grasping at and attempting to turn the handle. It felt like zombies were trying to break in, and Tobby was determined not to let them breach. Facing the door and shouting at them to go away while he holds the handle in place with one hand and pushes against the door with the other.

However, as he focuses on keeping them out he is unaware of who else is in the bathroom with him. A large hand suddenly appears from his periphery, covered in foam soap. It grabs and turns the handle. Tobby's dad shoves Tobby out of the bathroom and into the hall. Tobby seems to forget his angry mum and sis, and stares shamefaced up at his father. "S-sorry, Dad. I forgot you were in there."

His dad's face is nearly unreadable as he looks down at his son, but if Tobby looks closely enough, he could see the quiet anger brewing in his eyes, impatient with his son's antics. "Listen to your mom, Tobby, and stop wasting everyone's time. Your mom and I have a plane to catch. If you're not dressed before I finish showering, we will leave you here." He enters the bathroom again, not looking at any of his family members as he closes the door on them.