“What is your company’s name?” I asked. I would have to look it up. Maybe they were hiring. “Are you still running it now that you’re living here?”Before he could answer my question, our phones vibrated. We both glanced down at the same time to see the Monster GO app flashing on the screen.“There’s a Buugybuug nearby,” he said. He put his hand on the small of my back to turn me in the right direction. “It’s not a rare monster, but you should catch it anyway. Anything you can do to get experience points will help get you leveled up.”Talking with Jacob, I had forgotten we were playing a game. I lifted my phone, and so did at least five other strangers around us. With a swipe, I caught the little cartoon creature. The catch gave me a grand total of five monsters in my inventory.“See, it’s easy,” Jacob said, holding up his phone. His inventory screen looked way fuller than mine did.“I’m still shocked at how much of a worldwide craze it’s started. It’s insane.” As much as I fought it
“Are you guys going to kiss or something?” Tommy asked, stepping around to the front of the bench.Jacob pulled away and cleared his throat. He shifted in his seat, trying to play it cool. It was the first time I'd seen him even a little bit flustered, but he shrugged and was suddenly totally collected yet again.“No, we were just hanging out, playing some Monster GO,” Jacob explained.“Tommy, what in the hell are you doing here?” I asked, doing my best to stay calm.“Last I checked, we live in a free country,” he said, as he crossed his arms to stand his ground in front of me. “I finished cleaning my room and Mom said I should come find you. It was just lucky I looked here first.”“Tommy, I’m going to give you three seconds to turn around and go home.” I stated, my words slow and measured. Inside, I was ready to pummel the kid for interrupting what would have been an amazing first kiss.“Or what?” he snapped back. “What, Alicia? What are you going to do?”“Three.” I narrowed my eyes.
“Now you’re doing it, too, Alicia?”My mom’s voice caused me to look up from my phone. She set a plate in front of me. We were having T-bone steak, with corn and mashed potatoes for dinner.“What did you say, Mom?” I asked, setting my phone to the side. “Sorry, I was distracted.”“You’ve been staring at your phone for the past ten minutes.” Mom frowned at me “Are you playing that same thing that Tommy has been playing for the past couple of weeks?”I looked to my right, where Tommy was seated, busily playing Monster GO. When I glanced back toward my mom, I nodded. “I am. And I have to admit, it’s more fun than I thought it would be.”“See, sis. You should listen to me next time I tell you about a game. I know you think I’m just your stupid little brother, but I can teach you a thing or two about life.” He smiled smugly as he continued playing the game.“I’m glad you and Tommy have been able to find something that you’re both interested in.” Mom paused and then crossed her arms. “But s
When I woke up the next morning, the first thing that I did was snatch my phone off of the nightstand. Normally, I’d have checked my email or looked to see if I'd gotten any hits on my job search, but instead, I opened up the Monster GO app. I wondered if maybe I was becoming slightly addicted to it, but I still wasn’t to the point where I was going to admit it, even to myself.An update was available on the game and I downloaded it. While it loaded, I realized that for the first time since graduation, I hadn't awoken to my first thought being about finding a job. It was far better to wake up excited to play a game rather than disappointed to not have a job. If nothing else, the game was making my world a little bit brighter and I was glad for it.When the game restarted, I was surprised to find that the appearance of the game looked a bit different than before. Now, instead of being able to see monsters that were within a one or two block radius, I could zoom out on the map and see m
Jacob was poised to ring the doorbell as I opened the door. He jumped slightly, but smiled widely as I stepped out. He had on his glasses today, which I found out helped him with computer work.“You forgot to take off your glasses,” I reminded him as I closed the door behind me.“Thank you,” he replied, taking them off and putting them in his pocket. “I was working before I came. It was a busy work day today. You look great, by the way.”I loved the way his eyes twinkled when he looked at me. I felt like I was the center of the universe when he looked at me like that, and it made my stomach do happy somersaults.“Which direction should we go?” he asked, taking my hand in his and leading me down the driveway. I liked the way his hand felt wrapped around mine.I looked to my left, where the park with the fountain was located, then I turned to my right. A couple of miles down the road in that direction was William’s Park. I hadn’t been there in a long time and I kind of wanted to see wha
“It’s weird,” I whispered. “I feel like I know you, even though we've only known each other for a little while.”“I’ve been thinking that same thing,” he said. He made small circles on my back with his fingers. “I believe that’s what made me want to talk to you when I first saw you a few days ago. You felt familiar to me. It sounds crazy, but…”“It doesn’t sound crazy at all,” I said, cutting his words short. “It’s how I feel, too.”I looked up at him and our eyes locked. The blues of his eyes deepened and pulled me into him. There was such kindness and warmth to their depths. He smiled and it caused me to melt.“You’re so beautiful,” he said, shaking his head in slow disbelief. “Where did you come from? A fairyland?”I chuckled. “I’ve wondered the same thing about you.”He leaned in and kissed me. His soft lips pressed against mine, momentarily taking my breath away. I loved the way he tasted. He used just enough pressure as he leaned in. Then he pulled away, gently. He teased me lik
I’d taken a shower and begun getting ready at four o’clock, a full two hours before Jacob was set to pick me up. I straightened my hair, painted my fingers and toes and even applied a thin layer of nude lipstick.Wear something really nice, he’d said, the words playing over in my head in the exact tone that he’d spoken them. I bit my lip as I stared in the mirror. It wasn’t a concern over my dress that was making me anxious, it was the entire statement as a whole. The fact that he’d prefaced our date with an expectation of, ‘really nice.’I certainly didn’t mind ‘really nice,’ in fact it was exciting, but that same excitement had been twirling in my stomach since breakfast and had now grown into a flurry of anxious anticipation. I had no idea where or what we were doing. The nicest restaurant in town didn't really qualify as a “dressing up” kind of place, so that meant we had to be going to at least the next town over.My belly felt empty yet somehow full, with weightless pulses of en
We were engaged in a serious debate about the merits of different computer programming codes when we pulled onto flat cobblestone that circled around a fountain and small garden. We rounded the circle halfway, stopping at the door of the restaurant.“We’ve gotta get out here,” he said as I gave him a confused look. “They valet at this place.”“Oh, wow,” I whispered to myself before stepping out the door. This was fancy.The restaurant’s entrance was grand in every aspect of the word. Designed to imitate a sort of Victorian-era mansion, the place was long and wide and looked to be three stories tall with triangular contours that jutted out peaking and blending into the shingled roof. The outer walls were a natural looking gray, but had vines and various flowers growing up their sides. Windows and balconies lined the building, and I could easily imagine Romeo climbing up to one to meet his Juliet.A thin stone path lead from the cobblestone driveway up to a beautiful deck. The deck was