The Gods must favor us today because as we reach our first class after lunch, we find out that we have a substitute teacher!
"Thank goodness man, I wasn't really feeling science class today!" JJ says as he surveys the room.
"I know, if I see one more periodic element I think I may lose it!"
JJ points to the back of the room. "Let's grab a seat in the back and go on some forums. I want to see if anyone else found the box."
I nod in agreement. We both settle in and pull out our phones to start searching on the official EDGE forum and other websites where people discuss the game.
"Man, these comments are crazy!" as I point at the screen. Everyone's so upset about the game being shut down."
JJ flicks his finger across his phone as he scrolls through the comments.
"I know man. People are really going in."
"I don't see any mention anywhere of the Savage Box."
"That's because you are ice cold man! Coldddddd Bloooooddddddeeeeed" JJ sings out in his best Dave Chappelle/Rick James voice. "I mean, your skills are that good that you're the only one that's discovered it!"
"Not so loud man, don't want to let the whole world know."
JJ shuts his mouth and fakes zipping up his lips.
For the next 30 minutes, we dive deeper and deeper into the forums. Our search turns up nothing. A side of me is relieved that no one else seems to have cracked the code. The other part of me is nervous that I'm not taking advantage of the tools that I discovered.
As we continue searching out of the corner of my eye, I see something sparkle in the light. My heart skips a beat as I notice Isabel walking towards us. JJ taps me on the leg and whispers to act normal.
"I know dummy. Don't embarrass me!"
All JJ can do is laugh before Isabel reaches us.
"Ummm, hey, Oliver?" Isabel says.
"Uhhh, he...hey Isabel," I answer, trying to act as cool as possible. "Whatsup?"
I wonder how she knows my name.
My heart is pumping wildly now!
Isabel extends her arm.
"You dropped this in the cafe."
In her hand was my EDGE keychain with my name on it.
"Oh...umm thank you."
I reach out to grab my keychain from her as I try to play off my shock and disappointment. I know I look like a loser....AGAIN!
JJ chimes in.
"Isabel, whatup! Question for you, do you play EDGE?"
For real JJ? Really!! Does she look like she plays EDGE? Why don't you just ask her what color panties she's wearing? If I had to guess it would be blue. Light blue, she would look pretty good in that.
She hesitates for a second.
"Ya, actually I do. Me and a few friends play in the arena all the time. You two play?"
For a brief moment, time completely stops, and I hear the angels in heaven singing and wedding bells ringing. Even my heart gets in on the action, thumping all over the place!
Focus O, focus.
JJ breaks the silence. "No way! We were just talking about how crazy it is that they're shutting down EDGE!"
"I know right!" Isabel says as she takes a seat next to me. "Like I really can't believe that they're doing that! All of the grinding I've done to level up my character and for what?"
My mouth is hanging wide open.
"I have no idea what game I'm going to play once the servers are shut down!" Isabel says. "I'm hoping someone is able to make a mirror of the game and host it elsewhere.
JJ looks at me and winks then turns back to Isabel. "I know, me and Oliver were just talking about the same thing....and we kind of stumbled upon something really cool."
Isabel's eyes light up, and a huge grin flashes across her face. "This sounds very interesting, can you share more?" she says as she turns and smiles at me.
My heart does a quick flip, and my eyes glass over.
She wants to know about the secret thing. But should we tell her? Can we trust her? We don't even know her like that. But I want to get to know her...like badly. I want to tell her everything.
"We sure can!!!" I shout as I stand up accidentally knocking over my chair.
All eyes turn to the back of the room as I sheepishly grin and mouth sorry to everyone.
Isabel chuckles lightly as I pick up my chair and sit back down.
"Are you okay Oliver?" she asks.
"Ya, I'm fine," I reply, doing my best not to blush.
"Soooo, Jack, you were saying something about you and Oliver discovered something cool."
"Right right," JJ says as he sneaks a glance over at me with a grin on his face letting me know he's gonna give me shit about my chair outbreak."
JJ clears his throat and leans in close.
"Isabel, before I show you what I'm about to show you. You're going to have to swear to secrecy, okay?"
Isabel pauses for a second, lifting her head to the ceiling and bringing it back down with a blank stare on her face. My heart is pounding, and I can feel my hands getting sweaty as we wait for what seems like an eternity to hear her answer.
"Ya, I'm can do that!" she says with a huge grin.
JJ and I slowly turn our heads toward each other and without saying a word agree that we can trust Isabel.
JJ nods and turns to me. "Okay, let's show her."
I reach into my bookbag and pull out my laptop. Turning the screen to face her I open up the folder with the files from the Savage Box. I quickly explain what I discovered the night before and what I was now in possession of.
"So wait, you're telling me that no one out there has announced they've also found this Savage Box?"
I shake my head. "Nope, we didn't see a word on the forums. To our knowlEDGE, I'm the only one to have even discovered the secret."
Isabel's eyes light up as she stares at the screen. "Wow, Oliver, you're amazing," she remarks as she rests her hand on my arm. I didn't know you were into this kind of stuff.
My body shudders under her touch. I'm going to savor every moment of this time because it may not come again.
"Like I was hinting at earlier, we may have a way to recreate the game, but...with all the tools in the Savage Box, what if we were to create our own?" JJ says as he looks at Isabel and I.
Without the slightest hesitation, Isabel answers. "I'm in."
"Wait, what, you are?" I say as my brain tries to catch up to what's happening. "You don't need time to think about it or anything?"
"Nope, I love EDGE. I think you two are cool," Isabel says, her eyes settling on me. "And I can bring value as well."
JJ sits up in his chair. "Please, do tell more."
"My dad is a graphic designer and illustrator and he's been teaching me everything he knows. He's working on a project with Savage Comics right now!"
Savage Comics! Oh my god, Savage Comics! Like the guys who produced superheroes such as Iron Girl, Spider-Kid, the Revengers, X-Squad, and so many more! That Savage Comics! I wonder if her dad has met Issac Savage yet? I wonder if she'll marry me right here, right now? She's so cool!
JJ places his hands behind his head and his legs on the desk in front of him with a look of satisfaction on his face.
"Well...looks like we're making a game huh?"
And just like that, an idea was born, and a team was formed. We had no clue what was ahead of us, but at that very moment, we didn't care.