Extra Ordinary

18.

"Two days until Georgia's Double Singularity tournament - the first one ever organised for high level players - and gosh. Brad, I'm so excited. How about you?" 

"I know, Jolene. Me too. And, I heard we have an extra reason to be excited." 

"Really? What's the reason?"

"A little bird told me that our big mystery player, extra_ordinary, has entered Georgia's tournament. And he's making a physical appearance there." 

"What?" Jolene gasped. "After all this time, they're stepping out of the shadows? Do we know why they picked this one? Why now?" 

"No, we don't," Brad replied. "All we know is that they put their account on hiatus a few days ago, only to suddenly take it off and enter this contest." 

"So much mystery. I bet that's going to be great for the viewer count on that livestream." 

"I know I'm going to wa-" 

Game commentator Brad's voice suddenly muted as my phone rang.

"Hey, Cindy," I said, picking up. 

"Oh my God!" she yelled in my ear. "Did you just-- did Brad and Jolene-- are you?" 

Cindy couldn't bring out a full sentence and I interrupted her before she'd get stuck forever. 

"Yes," I said. "Yes, that's me. Yes, I'm using my account." 

"But you were so against that!" Cindy called out. "I mean, are you sure? You can use mine, too, if you want. I made it to gold last night."

I smiled through the tightness in my jaw. "That's great, Cindy. Congratulations. But it'd be considered fraud if I used someone else's account. I don't want to get in trouble, nor get you in trouble." 

"Oh... I understand. I don't think Mom would like it either if I gave you my account." Cindy paused. I sensed her hesitating. "I don't think she likes you every much. I heard her tell Asa she doesn't want you coming over anymore. But I don't know why, I think you're nice."

I let my eyes fall closed for a moment, taking a deep breath. It was to be expected, really. I already knew Mrs. Jennings didn't want me around Asa. Her saying that behind my back was no surprise, but it was still like a punch to the gut. 

"It's okay, honestly," I tried to reassure Cindy, kind of cursing her mom for not keeping her out of this. "Thank you, but I'll be fine." 

It wasn't alright, really. The media circus started a few hours later. The organisers from Georgia's tournament first called me. When I didn't pick up, they left a voicemail message, and finally, a few hours later, emailed me. 

They wanted me to do an exclusive interview with them for their stream, and it was pretty see-through what their intentions were. They wanted to be the first to do a sort of face-reveal. 

I doubted that many people would care about my face, but in the gaming world my presence could be good for a couple of thousand views more. 

...It was a good way or rationalising this. There were billions of people in the world, and only the tiniest of tiny fraction of all those billions knew about my stream. Even fewer were actually invested in it. 

Unfortunately, that tiniest of tiny fraction who cared about my stream had infiltrated my school.

"Your competition is fucking extra_ordinary, Rolf!" I heard one of Rolf's friends tell him in the hallway.

I held my breath, meekly walking behind him and his group, hoping they wouldn't notice me and I could slip into the classroom behind them without being tripped.