II AFFABLE FREAK II

06 - GAME ON

Coping up with her new college life, Ava was morphing into a new person. And her new personality radiated energetic vibes around her. People automatically adored her for that. She was also gaining popularity for various reasons, thanks to her roommates.

Their trio was indeed very different in their own way. Not many students shared rooms with different batches. So usually they hang around with people of their age. Others found it very convenient to communicate with their own classmates rather than seniors.

While it was just like home for Ava. Although everyone had their own schedule to follow, they managed to look after each other.

One day Ava would put a blanket on a sleeping Scarlett. Some day Eleanor would bring Ava's favorite milkshake when she was having a bad day. And Scarlett always felt the need to protect the younger ones.

Almost the whole campus was aware of them. Each of them had their own charm and the fact that they bonded so well brought more unwanted attention.

It was the weekend, and time for the awaited game night. It was an annual thing, the older students created, to know about the first years. All the new students were bound to participate.

Campus was lit up like some carnival. Everything looked so calm yet awakened under the dark sky. Ava and Asher were taking in the beauty of the night, walking besides each other.

"Finally, the weekend is here. With all the assignments piling up, I might just get buried under it." The girl remarked happily, sighing heavily at the end. "Says the one who gets everything done the day it's assigned." Asher said accusing Ava, squinting at her words.

Ava was about to counter back his comment but got interrupted by some guy. "Hey newbies, come over here! We're gonna start soon." Asher winked at her, because she never got to say anything and started dragging her towards the crowd.

There were lots of games organized by the seniors. It looked just like an arcade but better. Everyone there was excited but for different reasons.

The new students were happy to get a break while the older ones were looking out for their targets.

The game night only had one rule, whoever lost a game will have to have a drink. That was their way of having fun, watching the poor kids making fools of themselves when drunk.

The two started with the simplest one. The dart game. "You know the rules right?" A guy asked with a sly smile, looking at his first candidates. Both of them nodded. "Here you go, you get three chances." The guy handed them three darts each.

"Ladies first." Asher said, bowing a little. "Oh now you act like a gentleman." Ava said, taking her darts and made her aim.

It took exactly three seconds for Ava to hit the bullseye, all the three times.

"Is it broken?" That's the first thing that came out of Asher's jaw dropped mouth. The senior watching them was impressed and asked Asher to continue.

He was bad at aiming would be an understatement. One of the dart hit the older student, for God sake!

They ran towards the other stalls before they were being chased. They kept playing more of such silly games. Not to mention Asher was a bit tipsy now. He was just that bad at games.

Some third years were watching keenly at the pair. "Isn't that the new guy who's the talk of the university." A brown haired guy said to the group.

"Yeah, apparently he's  Mr. Perfect. He's got both the brains and looks. Girls go crazy over him, even some third years." Another blonde answered.

"Let's see who gets crazy over a few more shots." The earlier guy said with a smirk on his face.

"See? That's what I was talking about. Now let's have some real fun, shall we Nathan? " The blonde asked, and started walking towards them.

Asher and Ava were laughing at each other, when the guys stopped before them. They stopped laughing and turned to the new arrival. "So whom do we have here, Isn't it the new Prince?" The blonde guy said with a teasing tone.

The pair was just confused at the remark. "Don't mind my friend Dylan here, he's just a bit drunk. And I'm Nathan. These are my friends. Third years." Nathan said in a deep voice. Asher and Ava nodded reluctantly, introducing themselves.

"These little games must have bored you. Let's play some real games." Nathan said and turned towards the electronic game section.

"Something doesn't feels right." Ava mumbled, following the older students.

"Since this game is bit difficult, stakes should be higher, shouldn't they eh?" Dylan said pointing towards the PS5 set.

"And that would be.." Asher said blinking slowly, not expecting something civil. "The loser jumps into the lake." Dylan answered with a wicked grin.

Asher was more than awake now. He looked like his eyes will pop out of his sockets, any moment. 'It's December for the love of God' the boy yelled mentally. But he had no choice but to accept. The juniors are bound to accept the challenges tonight thrown by their seniors no matter how bizarre they sound.

Before Asher could shake hands, accepting the bet, Ava beat him to it.

"He's not sober enough to play the game. I'll accept it on his behalf." Ava said confidently. Looking to her side, Asher had a constipated expression, as if he was torn between being grateful or worried for the girl.

"Are you crazy!? I'm not letting you die in that stupid cold lake. If anything happens to you I..." Asher stopped, his eyes softening. "Your brothers will burn me alive." He finished. "I know it's hard, but trust me on this one." She smiled.

Nathan's plan of having fun changed a bit, but he liked the fiesty girl. "Let's get this over with then." He said and shook hands with Ava.

Now there was a whole crowd gathered, watching the intense battle. Both the players took their controllers and Nathan was ready to bash the new girl. "I'm gonna destroy you for saving your boyfriend's ass." He whispered into Ava's ears.

"Boy you don't even know who are you playing with." She said calmly, shaking her head slowly.

Asher didn't have any nails to bite on now. He looked at the screen then at Ava and then at the lake. He hid his face in his hands, but looked up when crowd started to cheer.

He slowly lifted his head towards the screen only to see Ava kicking Nathan's ass. Ava had more kills than he could ever imagine from a girl.

"How's that even possible!?" Nathan stood up, throwing the controller on the ground. The crowd went silent, watching the show.

"Looking at the game you picked, it seems you're quite a fanatic. So do you perhaps know Phoenix?" Ava asked passively, not bothered by his sexist judgemental tone.

"Of course, the dude has made like the sickest games of all time. But what about it?" He asked perplexed, not knowing the point of the question.

"Well, I've played almost every video game with that guy ever since I was a kid. I never won but he taught me a lot. I'm sure you know that's not he's real name right? Well I suggest you look it up then." She said with an innocent smile.

Almost everyone took out their phone and started typing in curiosity. And just then someone from the crowd shouted, "Bro you just got served by The Joe Sebastian's little sister."

Nathan was now staring at his phone like he saw some ghost. "Hey I was just kidding. Let's call it a night and head to our dor... " Nathan was saying something to Ava when the crowd started to chant, "JUMP! JUMP! JUMP!" 

With a smirk, Ava left the crowd, grabbing the wrist of her awestruck friend, not interested in the stupid bet.

Don't assume someone to be lesser because of the barriers you thought they could never cross. Genuine people don't go on exhibitng their skills.