Elizabeth had been bored to death for the past four hours.

The air crackled with nervous energy as the students tapped on their tablets, taking their exams. The brunette had actually been finished for two hours. Her tablet was shut off and her eyes were scanning the room. She bounced her stylist in between two of her fingers with a dull expression on her face as she waited for class to end.

All the teenager could daydream about was Frozen Hearts and what her guildmates must be doing. Earlier that meant she had received an email that told her Yuki had registered her as promised along with a friend request.

She felt really happy seeing the notification and went to school with a big grin. But now all she wanted was to go home, log on, and spend the rest of the day with her beloved Pudding.

Elizabeth had talked to her real-life friends about the game and was frankly disappointed. They all had gotten bored of playing without even bothering to send her a friend request, group chat link, or anything.

It honestly left the brunette feeling left out and before they could explain she walked off. It was only when she sat in her seat did she realized she had been crying.

Embarrassment colored her plump cheeks as she reminisced and tried to banish the memories to the back of her mind. There's no reason for her to sit here crying over people who didn't respect her interests like she did.

“Alright. Times up, log out of your tablets if you haven't already.”

The sixty-one other students let out a mixture of groans and relieved sighs. They had all been stuck in the room for a while which sadly wasn't out of the ordinary. A new law had just passed which made their teachers much stricter and their grades even more important.

Elizabeth had always been a good student. Her perfect report card is what got her Frozen Hearts after begging for it so long. But even she had been feeling the pressure from the new assignments and constant exams given to them.

She had been sweating as she clicked on the answers and scribbled down her responses. The way everyone else looked told her that they'd been feeling the same.

Once all of them had finished, their teacher got up from her desk. She was a middle-aged woman with brown skin and a top bun. All the female teachers wore the same hairstyle while all the male teachers had buzzcuts. This was because Elizabeth was attending a privately funded academy.

These types of schools had much more rigid rules and hired only the best of the best. Teachers who had been at the top of their class had years of experience and had a clean slate that made them perfect for the parents. Her teacher was a confident woman who was stern when it came to lessons but gentle in every other way. She walked to the electric chalkboard and began to write fast.

“As you all know, college applications will be due in two months. We've assigned each of you ten applications to fill out besides any your parents have chosen for you. That will be your homework along with completing your five-page analysis on the history of World War II film depictions.” Her teacher instructed them as the board became filled with due dates and notes.

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Thinking about college made her stomach sour. It wasn't like she was afraid she wouldn't get into a good one. Elizabeth knew she was going to as she'd already been offered a handful of scholarships.

It's just the idea of growing older made her feel anxious and out of place. She was still struggling to adjust to being a teenager and now so much was being thrown onto her plate. Phone bill, insurance, driver's license, college.

It was all so much and she felt like her mind was spinning in all sorts of directions. Her grip on the stylist tightened as she looked around the room. It was a pretty full class but due to the design of their desks and the size of the room, it looked spacious.

Everyone else had such blank looks on their faces. The lack of emotion in their eyes sent a chill down her spine and she shuddered. It was strange that she could read the emotions of the players in Frozen Hearts better than the real world.

She was full of embarrassment as she realized once again she was comparing the two. The teenager knew deep down that they could never comprehend but she'd been making the mistake numerous times.

Frozen Hearts is a virtual reality that's crafted to make its players feel the happiest they've ever felt in their entire lives. Even if it had parts of reality infused into its design she needed to keep the blurred line between them in her consciousness. There was no need for her to get parasocial about it.

“Hmm. Your results are in.” Their teacher sounded unamused as she checked the AI-graded exam results on her tablet. She looked at them with dissatisfaction, holding her head in her hand. “Alright. Elizabeth Sanchez.”

The brunette blushed and raised her hand. “Yes?” She didn't like getting called out in front of everyone. All the extra attention added to her nerves.

The older woman smiled faintly at her. “You got five points more than your last exam. Congratulations.” The class began to clap for her as the teenager took in what that meant. The teacher then turned cold as she continued.

But Elizabeth didn't pay much attention to her as it had nothing to do with her grades. She had gotten a ninety out of one hundred and ten which was the best out of her class. The teenager was left feeling proud of herself and amazed that she had done so well in such little time.

The last exam they had taken before winter break had been a real struggle for her. Staring at a bright blue screen for hours hurt her eyes, especially during her very first exam when they wore a headset for a third of it.

The teenager had flunked that one, getting a sixty. She could only assume playing in VR for twelve hours straight had made her body get used to the exposure. It felt nice to have another reason to play most of the day.

Class ended soon after this revelation and she arrived home to her mother cooking dinner. The woman had dark brown hair like her but hazel eyes and olive skin. Elizabeth's mother was a sweetheart who worked the graveyard shift at her warehouse job.

This meant they didn't have much time to spend together. But this week, her boss gave her paid time off due to it being student exam month. Elizabeth found the man to still be greedy as a week was nothing but her mother was overjoyed when she told her.

So, the teenager kept her mouth shut and decided to just be happy with their time together as a family. Her mother saw her come in and smiled with all of her teeth. The teen hurried to run over to hug her, smiling at her mother's love.

“Muñequita, how was school? Did you eat lunch today? You look pale.” Her mother pinched her cheeks and asked her a million questions frowning.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes playfully and laughed. “I'm alright Mom. I just need to sit down and eat the food you made. My stomach is growling.”

On cue, her stomach growled and Elizabeth's mother giggled. She patted her daughter's head and gestured for her to sit. “Come on so I can serve you.”

“Of course,” The teenager sat down at the kitchen table and tapped her fake nails against the table. “I need to eat a full meal before I play for the night.”

This made her mother raise her eyebrows to which Elizabeth frowned. The brunette cocked her head to the side as she asked. “What did I say wrong?”

Her mother sucked her teeth. “You've been playing that a lot. I've heard that those types of headset games can be bad for your health.” Her poor mother's voice was full of worry and she looked anxious the more she spoke.

The teenager had heard this song and dance before. But she didn't want to be rude to her mother, especially when she was just looking out for her. The girl grabbed her mother's hand and patted it. “I promise to take a break after tonight, Mom. I'll spend this week with you just like I said I would.”

It broke the teenager's heart to see her mother start to tear up at her words. She quickly hugged the woman again. A pit was sitting in her stomach at the thought of letting her guild members down. But her mother's feelings mattered more. She'd just have to manage her two lives better in the future.