Video Games • Mike Teavee

4- Video Games

When, school ended, I had to quickly make my way to the bus, in case Mike had lied.

He didn't though. I spotted him, sitting two rows in front of the back, his bag sitting beside him. He waved me over, and I came over. He took his bag off the seat, and I sat down.

'H-hey.' I smiled, shyly.

'Hey.' He said, returning my smile. He seemed to have completely changed. Normally, he just sat there, quietly and hated on everything. He didn't like anyone. He hardly talked. Why had he all of a sudden started being friendly with me? What had happened? To be honest, it was probably just because he had forgotten his phone.

'How are you?' I asked, looking at my feet.

'Decent.' He shrugged

'How are you dealing with the loss of your phone?' The words just popped out of my mouth.

'The loss of my phone?' He grinned 'What are you on about?'

'Sorry, I thought that you must have left your phone at home or something. Because you seem... I don't know.'

'Different?'

'Mm.' I nodded, biting my lip. He said nothing, and we didn't talk for the whole bus ride, until he was about to get off.

'Wanna come play video games?' He asked, casually, stretching his arms out.

'Video games? I don't know how-'

'I can teach you.' He said, a hint of a smile on his face.

'Well, okay.' I nodded. I could escape from Miss Prince and the girls for the afternoon.

'Come on then.' He said, and we got off the bus, stopping in front of a large house.

'Here we are.' He sighed, as he opened the door. I walked in, looking around. It was a neat house.

'Television's here.' He motioned for me to follow him, into a lounge room.

'Mike? Are you home?' A female voice called.

'Yes, Mum! And lay off, I have someone over!' Mike rolled his eyes, obviously annoyed, and then said to me, back to his rude self 'Ignore her. She's the most annoying mother ever.'

'You're lucky to have one.' I said, quietly.

He furrowed his eyebrows, looking slightly ashamed 'Oh.'

'Yeah.' I said, looking at my feet, as he switched on the television, turning on some video game called 'Call of Duty' or something like that.

'Here.' He passed me a controller, holding his own.

'Ready?' He asked.

'Wait, what do I do?' It was too late. He had already turned on the game.

'You'll get the hang of it.' He started pressing buttons, and gun noises sounded. I could see some zombie things on the screen, and they didn't look too friendly, so I tried to copy Mike.

I died several times.

'You retard.' He shook his head, laughing. I winced. I didn't like that word, though he was joking.

So, for most of my time there, I just say there, watching him play. It was quite awkward, because I didn't want to look straight at him, so I pretended to be focused on the screen. Every now, and then, I would catch a glimpse of him. I also watched a clock on the wall. Two hours passed. It was five. Three hours. Six. Four hours. Seven. Still, Mike didn't say anything.

'M-Mike?' I asked.

'Yeah?' He said, still playing the game.

'I have to go... It's seven.' I said.

'Seven? It's only been a few...' He looked at the clock 'Min- hours...'

'Yeah.' I got up.

'Okay, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye!' He looked back at his game. Well, that was a nice goodbye. I slowly walked out of the house. What had just happened? That was awkward. Very awkward.

When, I got back to the orphanage, it was dark. Miss Prince was angry. She yelled at me for being late, and hit me, sending me up to my room, without any dinner. Most of it was a blur. All I could think about was Mike Teavee, and why he had been acting so strange lately.

I cried myself to sleep that night.