That day at school was unexpectedly and painstakingly dull and boring for Kyle.  Getting to the door, him and Sera separated to each go their own ways that morning.  Skipping breakfast, Kyle went to his classroom, sat, and scribbled doodles in his notebook waiting on class to begin.  Not long after the morning bell had rung, one of the girls working in the office knocked on the classroom door and told him he was needed to the office.

Being led to the vice-principal’s office, the next half hour was a long lecture over skipping school, personal responsibility, and impersonating a parent, where all he could do is sit, nod, and apologize at the appropriate times.  How the school knew he had been the one impersonating Franklin the day before, he had no clue, and he wasn’t going to ask.  

Since it was his first real time of getting in any sort of trouble, he was given a week’s in-school-suspension, where basically all he did was go sit in a cubicle in a small room with a few other kids, and twiddle his thumbs in silent boredom.  His books and work were collected for him, and there was always a teacher present to make certain no one got up without permission or spoke to each other.  

Without anything to distract him, Kyle finished his work in just a few hours that morning, and then had to simply sit and do nothing all day long.  For lunch, Kyle, and the other “misfits” as he thought of them, got to go between periods and eat, with one student sitting every four or five tables apart.  Even then, silence was the golden rule!

By the time the final bell had rung ending the day, Kyle felt like he was going stir crazy – and he had four more days to go!  And, most annoying at all to him, Sera wasn’t stuck in there with him!  Kyle couldn’t believe that she’d ratted him out somehow for a lesser punishment, but he couldn’t think of any other reason why she wasn’t in there with him.  

OHHH!  He was going to have to give it to her good!

Fuming, Kyle stormed out of the school and stomped home without even trying to find Sera, or any of his friends.  He simply wasn’t in the mood for talking.

Getting inside his house, he tossed his keys into the ashtray near the door and stomped upstairs.  Without even bothering to take off his shoes, he grabbed up his V-RIG, plopped the helm on his head, and logged into the game.

“Come here all you bastards!”  Kylie yelled as loud as she could into the empty forest around her.  Heather hadn’t logged in yet, and that suited Kylie perfectly this evening.  Staring at her friend list, she glared and yelled “Ignore all!”  Now that she couldn’t be bothered so easily, it was time to unleash her frustration!

“Turn me in!  Hussy!  Asshole!  Snot Face!  DIE! DIE!  DIE!”  Imagining that the nearest vine was Sera, Kylie charged it and attacked relentlessly, not even caring when her own health fell to blinking low levels.    In record time, for her at least, Kylie managed to destroy her first vine of the evening; but it did little to ease her temper.

“Heal!  And now it’s your turn to DIE!!”  Screeching and snarling, Kylie didn’t even bother to pick up the leaf left behind by the first creature, before she healed herself and charged a second.  

It might only be virtual violence, Kyle thought, but it suited his mood perfectly this evening!  Relentlessly, she let out all the frustration he had kept bottled up all day long and charged one vine after another, barely taking time to heal or even catch her breath as she rushed from one target to another for several hours.

Finally, with her stamina bar completely depleted and her feeling faint on her feet from exhaustion in game, Kylie staggered over and plopped down at the bank of the creek.  A slow, mocking laugh began off to her side and slowly approached.  “Good job!  That’s one way to cuss and pummel a vine into submission,” Heather laughed.  “Feel better?”  Slowly she eased up and sat down at the bend of the creek near where Kylie was now laying on her back, simply staring up at the sky.

“Actually, surprisingly, I do.”  Kylie laughed lightly, while trying to get her breathing back under control and her stamina gauge to refill.

“So, do you care to share what that tantrum was all about?”  Slowly Heather leaned back and stretched out beside her, to stare up at the sky as well.  “It sure doesn’t feel like a game in here,” she said quietly, half in awe.  “It’s beautiful and peaceful when you take a moment to just enjoy it like this, isn’t it?”

“You do realize I’m not Sera.  Right?”  Kylie asked, cautiously.

“Not Sera?  Then just who are you?”  Heather sat up all at once and glared daggers down at Kylie.  “Are you someone who’s hacked her account?  I won’t forgive you if you are!  I’ll get an admin in here in a heartbeat and have them arrest you!”

“I’m not a hacker!” Kylie sat up and tried to wave her arms frantically back and forth to emphasis she wasn’t, but in her fatigued state she moved slowly and comically, as if she was trying to make fun of Heather instead.  

Heather’s eyes narrowed down to slits as a ball of fire slowly began to form in her hands.  “Then just who the hell are you?  You better start explaining, before I get serious and do something you’ll never forget!”

“Wait a moment!  Wait a moment!  It’s me, Kyle!  Sera was supposed to talk to you today and explain things!  OH SHIT!!”  Cringing, Kylie wrapped her arms around her torso and half squinted, expecting the worst and to be feeling a repetitive blast of fire over and over as Heather unleashed her magics upon her.  Instead, Heather leaned forward, grabbed Kylie soundly on each side of his face, and then passionately kissed her – and held the kiss for several moments as it felt like Heather was trying to wrap her tongue around her tonsils!  

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Finally letting go, Heather burst out laughing and flopped back down on the ground to stare back up at the sky.  “There’s something you’ll never forget.  Jackass.”

Kylie simply stared into the forest for several long moments, lost in a daze with her jaw half open.  “What…  What the hell was that?!”  She finally exclaimed in a burst.  “Who the hell does something like that to a person!  What’s up with you?  Are you an idiot?”

“Nope, but you are,” Heather teased.  “Sera already told me you were Kylie and she was Seran.  I can’t say it didn’t annoy me, but after we had a while to talk about it, it’s not that big a deal.  It is just a game after all, and she might be right; it might be best that I did think you were her in the beginning.  I probably wouldn’t have given you a fair chance otherwise, and you showed that you can be dependable and not a completely worthless jackass yesterday when you stood in front of me and kept that acid from melting me into a pile of goo.  

“I haven’t forgot that already, you know,” Heather said, seriously.  “I’m not usually a big fan of guys, but I’m trying to work on that.  I’ve been trying to work on that,” she emphasized.  “I just have issues trusting a guy, and I don’t really care to be around them the most.”

“And why’s that?” Kylie asked, all curious.

Heather was silent for several long moments before finally sitting up and staring down into Kylie’s eyes.  “If I tell you, you better not say a word about it to anyone else,” she glared.

“I won’t.  I won’t.”  Kylie held up her arms to show she meant no harm.  “If it’s a big deal, you don’t have to talk about it, if you don’t want.”

Heather glared down for a few moments and then finally took a deep breath and let out a long sigh.  “I was raped,” she said, without much emotion.  “It was summer camp, a couple of years back, and a couple of the older boys brought some bourbon for us to try.  I ended up getting plastered, couldn’t remember much of what happened, and became the slut of the summer after that.  I was so shocked, and so in denial of what happened, that I tried to convince myself that I was dreaming the whole summer episode and would wake up from it later.  

“Since it was a dream, it didn’t matter what anyone did.  Right?” Tears were actually starting to drip down her cheeks in the game, that’s how realistic Winter’s Tale was!  “When I got home, I tried to pretend it all never happened.  At least, that is until I missed several periods.  My youngest sister isn’t my sister like a lot of folks think; she’s my daughter.  Mom and Dad adopted her because I was too young to take care of her and they tell everyone she’s theirs – and she is!  I can’t raise a child; I’m still a child myself!

“And, ever since then, I’ve had problems with men and those dangly parts between their legs.  And you can’t blame me for that!”  Crossing her arms stubbornly, Heather glared as if daring me to try.

“Wow…”  I had no idea what to say, or how to respond.  “Are you OK now?”  What the hell was I supposed to say?  Ask? Do?  That sounded amazingly lame even to me, but I had no idea what a proper response would be!  

“No, I’m NOT OK now.”  Snorting, Heather flopped back down on the ground once more and stared at the sky again.  “I might never be OK, but I’m trying.  I realize not every guy is like those at camp.  I realize that a bunch of those guys at camp probably aren’t even bad guys, since it was me who let them do whatever they wanted.  Some of the blame has to be my own – I know that!

“But, it doesn’t keep me from still cringing up inside anytime I’m around a guy,” Heather admitted with a shiver.

“But you’re OK with me?”

“I dunno.  To be honest, I want to hug you and I want to kill you at the same time.  Sera too, truthfully,” Heather confessed.  “You did go out of your way to stand in front of me and shield me yesterday.  I haven’t forgotten that.  You also lied to me, making me think you were Sera.  I haven’t forgotten that either.  I’ve enjoyed the time we’ve spent in game hunting together, and I was happy we earned a party quest together.  I haven’t forgotten that.  But I haven’t forgotten that summer either…

“Let’s just say it’s complicated and leave it at that for now,” Heather quietly suggested.

“Fine.  How about I try and start over, and be honest with you this time.”  Sitting up, Kylie slowly held her hand down towards Heather.  “Hi, I’m the naked elf maiden Kylie, but sometimes I dream that I’m a handsomely rugged guy whom no girl could ever resist, by the name of Kyle.”

Heather blinked a few times, shook her head as if to clear it, and then leaned up and squeezed one of Kylie's bare breasts with either hand.  “Pleasure to meet you Kylie.  Don’t worry, I’ll be certain to remind you that you’re a woman.  After an evening with me, you’ll never dream of being a smelly old man ever again.”  Gripping Kylie’s breasts firmly, Heather puckered up her lips and tugged Kylie forward with enough strength to be almost painful.

“OH SHIT!  I’m not ready for this!” Panicking, Kyle yelled, “LOG OUT!”, and sought the refuge of his quiet, tranquil blue OS screen surrounded by darkness.  The last thing he heard as his character disappeared from Winter’s Tale was what sounded like the light,  musical laughter of a female elf…