We all looked at each other and nodded. Even though I didn't want to recognize Dayzees as a good guy, I understood that he wasn't a one-dimensional antagonist for the first time. In my head, he was always the prime evil. The enemy. The jerk. Whatever. Hearing that story, I couldn't hate him as much, but one thing remained. I didn't care how he talked to me, my friends, or how he talked to Amaya. He could still be the best player in the world and be nice. Be like Tony Hawk or something. There's no excuse for such rudeness.

"There were also a few 'band fights,' if you will," Amaya continued. "It was always me against Dayzees, or Jacob, Benjamin, and I against Dayzees. When I talked about how Dayzees made my anxiety spike, he wanted me to quit school. He wanted the other two guys to not go to college or do anything else with their free time. Dayzees is very controlling. Again though, maybe it sounds like Stockholm syndrome, but I understand that he wants the best and most concentrated team. He was afraid that our studies would get in the way or negatively affect our playing. It was hard to be around. I always thought we could just do whatever we wanted as long as we kept winning. But I really wanted to focus on school, even though I had more money than I could imagine at that age, and I also had a gaming sponsorship. To be honest, I didn't need school at that point, but I made a promise to myself and my parents. Not only that, who's to say that this game will continue to be the same. Maybe another fighting game comes out that takes over the gaming world that I'm not as good at. Maybe a new edition gets released, and that becomes a huge moneymaker. I feel like I'm the only one who realizes this, but I know that this lifestyle is only temporary. This can't be justified as a long-term career."

A heavy silence fell on the table. Everyone looked down except for Amaya. I feel like we all took a long, hard introspective look at ourselves in a matter of seconds.

"That's some real shit," Wyatt uttered.

No kidding.

"But it's still a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I couldn't be more thankful for it. The fact that this game is still relevant and still has the fervor it does is so important. But I haven't gotten lost in it. With all my earnings from sponsorship and tournaments, I haven't bought the most extravagant house. Sure, I own a condo here in Chicago now, but that's as far as it goes."

"Wait, you live here by yourself in Chicago?" I said.

"Yes, I actually live a few blocks from Lincoln Park. I was able to get an excellent deal on a condo, but yeah, I just live in a two-bedroom condo here. My lifestyle is modest, though; I don't go around burning money. I try and save as much as possible. I really just wanted my own place. It's nice to be away from home, but I also have my aunt and uncle here, so I can still see family if I want to. Not a bad setup. My cousin is here too, we hang out, and I've met some friends through her."

I couldn't help but daydream about a similar lifestyle that she had. It sounded terrific, and now I feel like I could see it in sight more than ever.

Michael told me something a while ago that I'll never forget. Something so inspirational it always stuck with me; even though I didn't think about it constantly, it sat in the back of my mind. 'Gordie, there's this thing I wanna tell you about; one of my favorite teachers told me this. 'You can stand on a dock waiting for a boat to take you to someplace you want to go, or you could learn how to swim, jump off the dock, and swim towards it yourself. Perhaps you find a boat along the way, or maybe you find an Island you've always wanted to go to. Yet, it's also possible you never find anything at all, but if you sat on the dock, you would have never known.'

I felt like I was swimming, and something was coming into view in the murky ocean.

"So anyway, back to my schooling, my mom really wanted me to do pre-med, but it seemed like a lot of work, and it didn't capture my attention or love like gaming did. Since my dad worked for the gaming industry, I always had much more interest in that, so I was in U-dub's simulation and gaming program. And much to Dayzees's chagrin, I graduated in the program, but guess what? It never once affected my playing ability. My grades could've been better, I'll admit that, but my parents weren't complaining when I was bringing home pay from the tournaments. Especially after they saw the amount… I'm sorry, guys. I hope I don't come off as being braggadocious or anything."

"Not at all!" I said. "This is fascinating stuff. If anything, we want you to keep talking about it."

Amaya smiled and shrugged. "I don't know, I don't know. I've talked a lot. You've guys heard too much from me."

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

"And we still want to know why no Miami this year?" I interjected, but Darren kicked me from under the table. "Ouch! Quit it, dude, c'mon."

"Guys, it's okay. I'm an open book, I'd be happy to tell you about myself, but I'd like to hear your stories. Tell me more about you. Let's be proper friends here, yeah?"

We talked so much that we didn't realize we still hadn't ordered our food. Realizing this, we flagged down our server and finally placed our order. Wyatt got the hippie hash (which made Amaya laugh), Darren ordered a breakfast burrito, I ordered their special cinnamon chip pancakes, and so did Amaya.

"Twinsies!" she said gleefully.

Darren started talking about his life story first. I had known all of the information, but he did talk about his dad a little bit, which I never really asked him about. The only thing he knew was that he left his mom pretty early in their relationship before he was even born. He still had never met his dad, but it didn't bother him. I was surprised that he revealed his mother was a stripper.

"That's why I shoved Dayzees in the middle of our tournament match, I'm not sure if you were there or if you witnessed it yourself, but yeah, I wanted to hurt him because he made a joke targeting my mom."

"I'm glad you told me, I wanted to ask about it, but I didn't want to seem like I was judging. I had a feeling that there was more to the story there. While I don't condone violence, I understand, but you can't let him or other guys like that get in your head," Amaya said.

Darren solemnly nodded. "I know, I'm aware. It won't happen again, I promise. I've grown."

I thought a moment of silence would hover over the table for a minute or two, but Wyatt was quick to slice through the pause.

"A'ight. Lemme' tell you about me now," and Wyatt proceeded to tell his life story. He was sure to include his affinity for marijuana and alcohol, which I appreciated. "I will tell you, and I know it will sound crazy, but the more I drink, the better I am at Elite Crushers, ask Darren or Gordie. They know."

Amaya cracked up so hard that she lost her breath. "You're so funny." But after she noticed none that we all had serious looks on our faces, the laughter dried up. "So, you're not kidding?"

"Nope, in fact, you know how there is a special hack of the game that's out illegally, and it's super hard to find?" Wyatt asked.

"Are you referring to the one that makes the computers harder to play against? Like, they're almost impossible to beat?"

"Yeah, and I found it. Then one night, when the three of us were all hanging out, I drank six beers, felt pretty drunk, and guess what? I beat one of those computers."

Darren and I nodded.

Amaya's eyes bulged open. "You know, I'm actually the one who made that mod. Please don't tell anyone that, but it was part of the school project I did my senior year at U-dub. It was never supposed to be released, though. Someone else got their hands on it, whether a student or a professor, I have no idea, but it wasn't me who spread it… I will say that I'm impressed you beat the computer. I can usually beat it, but it's 50-50. Much of its ability is actually modeled after my own."

The three of us were bewildered. I certainly couldn't believe the information I was taking in, but it did make some sense.

"Holy shit, does that mean since I beat you once, sober, I'm a better player than a few weeks ago?"

Amaya laughed. "Maybe, maybe I was playing a little off. Either way, I think it's safe to say that you're an adequate player." Amaya winked.

Then our food arrived, and the four of us had a feast, but we didn't have much in the way of conversation. We were too focused on our meal. Egg, vegetable, and cinnamon pancake aromas danced in the air in front of us.

After we all finished our meal, I proceeded to tell my life story (not that there was much to tell, and no, I don't mean that in an 'I feel sorry for myself way,' it was the truth). I talked about Michael the most and how he was my best friend, and to lose him at the age I did I…

"It's all right, Gordeño. You don't need to keep talking about it," Wyatt said, noticing that I was drifting into a headspace that would only bring about confusion, anger, and tears.

"He sounds like he was a really great guy," Amaya said.

"Yeah, he really was. It just means a lot that I have the friends I have now. I've never really hung out with anyone outside of him until..."

Those damn tears came marching forward.

"Here, Gordie, let me get a squeeze," Wyatt extended his hand on the table over to me. I held his hand with mine, and he grasped it gently.

"Lemme get one too," Darren said with a smile and leaned over, reaching out his palm.

I squeezed his hand and tried to somehow send him a telepathic message of how much I appreciated him. Maybe he didn't get it, perhaps he did, but I had a firm grasp on his hand.

"The three of you guys are so adorable. I love it. Can I get a 'squeeze' as well?" Amaya asked.

I laughed dryly, focusing on drying up the tears still pooling in my eyes. "Of course, you can. A round of squeezes for everyone."

She put her hand on the table, and I clutched it for a moment. Amaya let go and beamed at us.

"So, what are you guys up to the rest of the day? Want to go back to my place and check it out? I have a pretty awesome gaming set up."

We inspected each other’s faces silently. I started to nod, but it was slow, so I could gauge the interest of the other two. They began to nod, and then we sped up our movement together like a three-person tandem bicycle. Yes, we were all agreeing.

“I never have anything going on except for hanging around these two bozos, so I’m down,” Wyatt said.

“I’m available for the day,” Darren said.

“Yeah, that sounds good to me,” I said.

“Okay, great, we’ll just hop on the train after we pay.” Amaya smiled.