Dog Days

Riley covered his mouth as he yawned.

'Damn the guy who decided to conduct exams this early in the morning.'

"Sup!"

Riley smiled as he felt a thump on his back.

"You know, you wouldn't be so tired in the morning if you spent less time playing games at night. Just a thought."

"Actually, I was studying. I have my last exam today."

"Oh yeah! Mine's tomorrow. I bet you can't wait to spend your entire summer break gaming."

"I dunno. I might get a part time job or something."

Kyle's jaw dropped.

"You? Working? What???"

Riley shrugged.

"I need some extra cash. Lots of cool new games coming out later this year. Crusader Monarchs 3, AC Ragnarok, Cyberp-"

"Okay okay, I get it. I have no idea what any of those are, I just want the new FIFA."

Riley rolled his eyes at the mention of the eponymous football game.

"Dude. It's the same game every year. Why not just stick with one for a few years, instead of buying a new one every year?"

It was Kyle's turn to shrug.

"They update the players."

"Bruh. You really gonna pay full retail price for a console game just because they switch the players around? You have to admit that's just a huge scam."

"I guess? I don't really care that much though because it's the only game I play anyway?"

"Man, just give me your console and get FIFA on your laptop. I got so many exclusives that I want to play."

Kyle laughed.

"I think I'll pass on that offer. Besides, didn't your TV break? How are you gonna use the console without a TV?"

"I'll just hook it up to my desktop monitor."

"Oh. Well, you're better at tech stuff than I am so I'll take your word for it. Still ain't gonna give you my console though."

*Riiiing*

"Oh shit, that's the bell! Race you to math!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Riley stepped into his house, having walked home after finishing his exams. Kyle had had one more exam, plus training after, so Riley had decided that it wasn't worth sticking around.

"Welcome home! How were your exams?"

"I think I did pretty well."

"That's good! We should go out tonight to celebrate. Where do you want to go?"

"Hmm… I'm not sure. I'll let you know later? I wanna take a nap."

"Sure! You must be so tired after all that studying last night."

Riley beamed at his mom and walked up the stairs and into his room. Tossing his bag to one side, he stripped naked. After a nice, refreshing shower, he put on a pair of clean boxers and hopped onto his bed to nap.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Riley awoke feeling refreshed. Glancing at his clock, he saw that it was 3:12 p.m.

'Kyle must be home by now. I wonder if he wants to hang out tomorrow?'

He dug around his room looking for his phone. Finding it in the pocket of the pants that he had strewn haphazardly on the floor, he proceeded to dial Kyle's number.

*Beeeeep*

After a short period of ringing, a feminine voice answered.

"Hello Riley."

Riley was rather taken aback; the voice sounded vaguely familiar, but it wasn't his mom's voice, and Kyle didn't have any sisters.

"Um… who're you?"

"It's Jane from social studies. Kyle's in the bathroom right now."

"Oh uh. Can you ask him to call me ba-"

"Never mind he's back. Here you go babe, it's your best friend."

Riley heard the sound of the phone being passed around, and Kyle's friendly voice coming through the speaker.

"Oh, thanks! Hey Riley, what's up?"

"Uhhh. You guys dating?"

"Who, Jane and I? Yeah man. We got together just now during lunch break. I haven't seen you since morning, otherwise I would've told you."

"Oh… that's cool I guess. Anyway, I wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out tomorrow after your exams? It's been awhile."

"Nah I can't. Sorry man. I promised Jane that we'd go to the zoo tomorrow, and I doubt that you wanna third wheel. Some other time?"

"Oh. Yeah, sure. We have the entire summer ahead of us, anyway."

"Haha, yeah! Alright, I'll talk to you some other time?"

"Sounds good Kyle. Have fun on your date."

"Thanks! See ya."

Riley hung up and set his phone down on his table, a small twinge of pain in his chest.

'Come on, Riley. This is nothing to get jealous about. Your best friend is dating someone who's nice and kind! You should be happy for him, even if it means that you spend less time together.'

Angry at himself for holding such bitter feelings in his heart, he booted up his PC.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Knock knock*

"Riley? Listen, I'm so sorry but my manager just called last minute and he needs me to come in to work tonight. I'll leave some money on the counter for you, and I'll make it up to you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, sure. Don't worry about it mom, work's more important. Good luck at work."

"Thanks sweetie. Love you."

Riley glanced at the time. He had spent the last hour mindlessly grinding, but it hadn't worked. The pain in his chest was still there, and he was getting increasingly frustrated with himself.

'It's not like I have a crush on Jane or anything. She's just one of those people who's nice to everyone, including someone like me.'

Riley's feelings right now were a mixture of jealousy and envy: he was jealous that his closest friend would have much less time to spend with him, and he was envious that relationships, romantic or not, just came so naturally to Kyle.

Riley had always felt a small degree of envy towards Kyle; how could he not? Kyle had looks, charm, personality, and was far more athletic than Riley could ever be. This was not to say that Riley was ugly, or a loner. But he had spent years as Kyle's best friend and seen the numerous girls that had fawned over him, while never receiving even a modicum of such affection.

'But that's also not very surprising. It's not like I put extra effort into making myself look appealing, or go out of my way to talk to people I don't know.'

Riley acknowledged that he was owed nothing; neither a relationship nor his best friend's time of day. Not doing so would be unfair to Kyle, who had done nothing wrong. Regardless of the fact, Riley could feel the two ugly emotions swirling around inside him, and he hated himself for it.

Riley's brooding was interrupted by a notification: Mr. X calling him on the burner phone. Staring at the window for a few seconds, Riley hesitated, before reluctantly clicking "accept". The phone materialized in his hand, and Mr. X's voice came through loud and clear.

"What's up Mr. R! Sorry for not contacting you sooner — it's been a busy week. How ya doing?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you free tonight?"

"As it just so happens, I am. Why, what's up?"

"I thought we could meet up for dinner to celebrate and I could catch you up with what's going to happen."

"I dunno…"

Riley hesitated.

'Should I tell him? Would he even care? We barely know each other; we just decided to partner up because our goals aligned…'

"Is something wrong? You're usually pretty confident when we talk on the phone. Did you mess up on your exams?"

"Nah, it's no big deal… I just have a lot to think about, that's all. Wait, how did you know that I had exams today?"

"Hahaha, I've done my research. I had to know whether or not I could trust you, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. That's true."

"Yeap."

"..."

"So! I'll pick you up in an hour, and you can tell me all about your worries, yeah?"

"I really don't know…"

"Nope, we're getting dinner tonight. No ifs or buts. You better be ready in an hour or I'm dragging your ass out of the house."

"Urgh, fine."

"That's the spirit! No need to wear anything fancy, we aren't going anywhere expensive."

"Alright, alright. See you soon."

"See ya!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mr. X put his phone down.

'Why did I insist on getting dinner with the kid? I'm not his therapist. It's not my problem if he's all caught up in his teenage hormones.'

He looked at his phone's screen, and his reflection stared back.

"I'm getting soft in my old age."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Patch 33.0

- Regular biweekly update

Name: Riley Petesgeralt

Age: 16

Job: The Roleplayer

Class: Vigilante

Level: 19

HP: 250

MP: 220

EXP: 535/538

Strength: 43

Dexterity: 46

Vitality: 25

Intelligence: 32

Wisdom: 22

Charisma: 26

Luck: 31

Skills:

Roleplayer's Mind

Virtual Body

Analyze (Level 5)

Blunt Weapon Proficiency (Level 4)

Physical Endurance (Level 3)

The Cinderella Effect (Level 1)

Dodge Step (Level 2)

Counter Flip (Level 1)

Leg Sweep (Level 2)

Power Punch (Level 2)

Extreme Agility (Level 2)

Sense Danger (Level 2)

Trash Talk (Level 1)

Power Swing (Level 4)

Quick Draw (Level 1)

Minimap (Level 2)

Incognito (Level 4)

Bullet Party (Level 1)

Bullet Time (Level 1)

Bind (Level 1)

Virtuoso (Level 1)

Equipment:

Vigilante's Mask (Level 3/5)

Vigilante's Cloak (Level 1/5)

Vigilante's Pants (Level 2/5)

Vigilante's Gloves (Level 1/5)

Vigilante's Shoes (Level 1/5)

Vigilante's Gun (Level 3/5)

Full set bonus unlocked: Shadow World