I was dead, and because of that, everyone else was probably going to die too. I’d been around the block enough times to know that this was nearly inevitable.

“Come on!” I exclaimed, jumping to my feet and yelling at my computer screen. “Where was the damn healer?”

“A goblin got him,” a voice answered from my headset.

My friend Matt was playing the same online RPG that I was, and I could see his character on my monitor. He was playing a rogue, a class that specialized in sneaking around, stealing things, and stabbing enemies in the back. As I watched, his character went invisible and escaped while a massive horde of goblins rushed through the room and killed off the rest of our group.

“Apparently, the tank missed one,” Matt teased me.

Of course, I was the tank in question, so I scowled at the suggestion that this team wipe was my fault. I was an experienced tank. In fact, that was my preferred role, and the one I usually played in these games. But that being said, even an awesome tank like myself, can’t always contain all the agro.

I grimaced and watched the monitor as my entire group was wiped out, except for Matt, who’d run away. I couldn’t blame him for that, because that was the kind of thing that class did. In fact, being able to sneak away from dangerous situations, or avoid them entirely, was the whole point of playing that class.

A minute later, my own character respawned at the save point, halfway through the dungeon. If I hadn’t known better, I never would have been able to tell that Karock the Invincible had been dead just a few seconds before. But that was the advantage of video games to real life. In video games, death was only temporary.

“Okay people,” I said into my microphone, getting into character. “I’ve sharpened my axe and knocked the dents out of my armor. Now it’s time to go kick some goblin ass…”

There were a few brief comments from my headset, mostly from members of the team talking trash, though I didn’t pay much attention. Instead, I lead the group into the next room, which was still clear of monsters from the first time we’d gone through. It didn’t take long to get back to where we died, and to meet up with Matt, who’d been waiting on us. Then, we made another attempt on the boss.

A horde of goblins came pouring out of the side doors, trying to overwhelm us again with sheer numbers. This time, we were ready for them. I charged in with shield raised and axe swinging, keeping their attention while the damage dealers on our team focused destroying them. We’d done this the last time too, however, the main difference was that several people watched the healer’s back, so he didn’t day, and as a result, he was able to keep me from dying. After a ten minute fight, we cleared out the goblins, killed the boss monster, and then looted everything we could find.

“Nice run,” I said once we were done.

I was feeling pretty pleased by a new shield that had dropped. The stats weren’t much of an improvement over my old one, but any improvement was a good thing.

After this, everyone else dropped off the channel, leaving only Matt and I behind. “So,” Matt asked me. “You up for another run, Jerry?”

I hesitated for a moment, tempted to go ahead. “Sorry,” I said with a reluctant sigh. “I can’t. I’ve got to get up early for work.”

Even though I couldn’t see Matt through the headset, I could clearly picture him nodding his head absently. “Well, I guess your tuition isn’t going to pay for itself.”

With a chuckle, I responded, “Not all of us are nerds with scholarships.”

“Yeah,” Matt said with a chuckle. “Man I’m glad I’m not a dumb jock.”

“Bite me,” I told him with a chuckle of my own.

I spent the next minute chatting with Matt before I logged off. Then, with a grunt, I stood up and stretched. Long gaming sessions always left me feeling a little stiff and sore, even if some of that was all in my own mind.

In spite of the fact that I was an avid gamer, I didn’t fit the usual ‘gamer’ stereotype. I wasn’t some pasty fat guy with no social skills, who hid away in his mom’s basement. Like Matt said, I was a jock. I was six foot three, with the kind of solid build that came from years of athletics, and a lot of time in the gym.

Back in high school, I’d been something of a typical jock, competing in almost every sport that the school offered. Football, wrestling, basketball, and I’d even spent one year swimming, though my build was a little too bulky to be very aerodynamic in the water. Unfortunately, in spite of my athletic enthusiasm, and the fact that I had a bunch of trophies with the name Jerry Tanner etched on them, I hadn’t been good enough in any single sport to earn a scholarship.

My lack of a scholarship had been a disappointment, but not a surprise. Fortunately, there were other ways to pay for college, such as student loans, and the fact that I’ve been working like crazy to earn money for my tuition. In fact, now that summer vacation was here, I’d been working a full time job so I could pay for my next semester.

Since I was no longer competing in any actual sports, I’d been making up for that by spending a little more time in the gym, and hitting the weights six days a week. I’ve even been playing around with the idea of trying out for an amateur bodybuilding competition.

Once I’d finished shutting down my computer and had stretched enough to get the gamer kinks out of my back, I began to get ready for bed. Like I’d told Matt, I had to work tomorrow, which meant that I had to get up even earlier, just so I had time to hit the gym first.

--------------------

I was leaning back in my chair while keeping my eyes on the TV. Technically, it was Matt’s chair since he owned it, but this was the one I always sat in whenever I came over to visit, so tended to think of it as ‘mine.’

“Good shot,” I said, nodding in approval.

Matt was playing a console game, a first person shooter called Target of Opportunity, where he was playing a soldier and had to run around shooting people with a variety of different firearms. First person shooters weren’t really my thing, so I just sat back and watched him play.

“Thanks,” Matt responded, not taking his eyes from the TV. “I just need to find my target.” Then his character took a sudden hit to his life points, and he scowled, adding, “And that sniper…”

I continued watching the screen for a couple more minutes before turning my attention to Matt. He was short and wiry, with curly dark hair and a somewhat nerdy look. In fact, he was almost the exact opposite of me. Back in high school, whenever anyone saw us together, they probably assumed that I was taking his lunch money, but the truth was, we’d been best friends since middle-school.

The way I figured it, Matt and I balanced each other out pretty well. I kept him from getting too sedentary and out of shape, while he motivated me to study and get decent grades. I’d introduced him to paintball, and he was the one who got me hooked on gaming. He’d warned me about my psycho ex-girlfriend before it was too late, and I’d hooked him up with a hot cheerleader girlfriend.

“So,” I said, picking up Matt’s paintball gun. The air cartridge wasn’t installed, so there was no chance of an accident. “You still up for Saturday?”

“Of course,” Matt responded with a grin. “You know I’m not gonna miss out on the chance to shoot Cody.”

“Didn’t think you would,” I responded with a grin of my own.

Cody wasn’t a bad guy, but he was cocky and had a tendency to talk a lot of trash, especially to Matt. However, since he was on the paintball team we were going up against on Saturday, Matt would have his chance for revenge.

“Just don’t let your boss call you in for overtime,” Matt told me. “We’ll need your ugly mug to intimidate those guys.”

“Not a problem,” I assured Matt. “If they need someone to drive the forklift, Mike will be there.”

Matt and I began talking strategy for our match, though he continued playing Target of Opportunity as we did so. He wasn’t even distracted enough to mess up his game, at least not enough to really notice.

It was around this time that Teri came into the room, holding a big bowl of popcorn. She took one look at us and asked, “What are you losers up to?”

“Five foot seven,” Matt answered without hesitation.

“Six foot three,” I said almost simultaneously. This was an old joke, that was like my favorite t-shirt. It had seen better days, but was too comfortable to throw out.

Teri was Matt’s kid sister, a fifteen year old with long brown hair, who was just starting to really fill out. In another year or two, she’d probably be pretty hot.

I suspected that Teri might have a crush on me, not that I’d ever do anything about that, even after she filled out the rest of the way. Not only was Teri my best friend’s sister, and jailbait too, but I’d also watched her grow up and tended to think of her as my own annoying little sister.

“Hey, Jerry,” Teri greeted me in a somewhat friendlier tone.

“Hey, Teapot,” I responded with a nod of acknowledgement.

Teri gave me a look of annoyance at the old nickname and even flipped me off, but didn’t say anything. The first time I’d ever met Teri, she’d been practicing her routine for a school play and had been singing, “I’m a little teapot,” over and over, hence my own personal nickname for her. I didn’t use it very often, just enough to provide the occasional annoyance.

“So,” I asked, “What’s up?”

“Not much,” Teri responded with a forced casualness. “I’ve just been practicing for my driver’s test…”

“Cool,” I said, holding back a chuckle.

It was pretty obvious that Teri was excited about getting her license, which would be in another two months, after she actually turned sixteen. She’d been practicing for the last few weeks, and made sure that everyone knew this.

Teri sat down in a chair that was fairly close to my own, and immediately began to play on her cell phone. She didn’t seem to be watching the game, though she occasionally looked up and made the kind of comments that could be expected of a little sister.

“You stink at this,” Teri announced after Matt was caught in an ambush. “Maybe you should do something you’re good at, like… Well, I guess that would be nothing.”

“If you can’t be quiet, you’re welcome to leave,” Matt responded with a snort. “Of course, asking you to be quiet is asking the impossible, so you might as well just leave now…”

“Ah, the pleasant sound of siblings arguing,” I said with a chuckle. “Makes me glad I’m an only child.”

“You’re lucky,” Matt and Teri said at the same time.

Eventually, I noticed the time and apologetically announced, “I’ve got to get going. Work in the morning.”

“No problem,” Matt told me with a nod of acknowledgement. “Just don’t forget Saturday.”

“I won’t,” I promised.

Then, as I left, I absently wondered if I might be able to fit in a little game play before bed. One quick dungeon wouldn’t hurt, and I was close enough to leveling Karock that I could justify cutting into my sleep time to finish it. I was grinning in anticipation as I started the drive home.