Miss Otaku

He's the One!

Clark Truman, he's the most wanted guy from our school - most wanted by all girls my age. He is an icon at our school. He even has his pictures on the billboards there.

I have seen him once at school when he won the international swimming championship. Before graduating, he represented our school in an international swimming competition, and won first place. As a result, he was awarded in front of all the students and was made an example to follow before everyone. What a waste that I just entered in as a freshman at that time.

But why is he here? Don't tell me that my mom's new employer are the Trumans, the richest family in this place?

Afraid that I would be caught watching him, I immediately hid myself and pulled the curtain. Mt heartbeat was racing as I felt scared of getting caught. 

“Lily! Lily!”

I can hear my mom shouting at the door of my room. Hurriedly, I went to the door and opened it.

“Are you okay?” mom asked and started looking around the room. “Wow, this room is spacious. Finally, you have a big room for yourself as you always dreamed of.”

I nodded. Needless to say, this is the first time that my wish of having a wide room to fill with my things was fulfilled.

“You even have a computer!” mom exclaimed.

Surprised, I followed her gaze. It’s true, I have one at the corner of the room. I haven't noticed it when I entered a while back. Perhaps I was too focused on the window when I entered in.

My mom’s smile reached her ears, obviously happy for me.

“Mr. Truman indeed fulfilled his promise,” she said. “He promised me that he will support your studies when I mentioned that I had a daughter who is studying in high school.”

I tried to smile as a way of thanking my mom. Obviously, she did her best to get a good job in order to support my studies.

“Mom, thank you,” I uttered softly and hugged her tightly. She’s the only precious person I have on earth, my only reason to keep putting up with this terrible life and keep surviving. I would have wished to have disappeared from this world if she's not by my side.

Mom didn’t answer but I can feel that she kissed my head as she ran her fingers through my hair.

“Fix your things and try to adopt as fast as you can. We will stay here for a long time. I signed a contract for five whole years and I cannot leave without any valid reason. Mr. Truman agreed to help you in your studies so we should not have any problem from now on.”

I nodded although I did not totally understand what she just said. Who cares? She's with me anyway. I can face everything with mom around.

“Okay, I’ll leave you first,” mom said and turned her back from me. She proceeded to the door and went out.

Going to the closet, I opened it. Its width surprised me. Fixing my clothes there, they only occupied one fourth of its entire size. Since I have a few changes of clothes, it didn’t take me a long time to fix them.

After that, I slowly approached the computer on one corner of my room and stared at it. Wow, this is my first time to have my own computer. In the past, this was just a dream. Whenever I used one at school, I always wished in my heart to have one as my own.

However, I never dared to say it to my mom because we don’t have extra money for it. With my mom's job, I know that she can’t afford to buy me one. Now, that dream came to pass. Although mom is not the one who bought it, at least her new job brought it to her. For that, I'm more than grateful.

Examining the computer, I can see that it is connected to the internet. Wow, my mom’s new boss is kind and gallant, providing everything that I need as a student. I turned the computer on and soon downloaded the game that I dreamed most of all.

Before, I used my cellphone as my weapon to start building my online game character but now, I can use my personal computer to do that. Who knows what I could do with it?

My heart is beating so fast as I opened the game that I just installed. Logging in, I was so surprised to find out that the features in the computer are so different from my cellphone. No wonder I was always beaten by my opponents in the past.

Curious, I explored my world - the virtual world with my newfound tool, my computer. It was wonderful. My character in the game seems to be more powerful as I equipped her with more tools.

In a short span of time, I was able to level up. Amazing! In the past, I was able to do this after how many days of fighting my virtual enemies.

I shook my head. I have missed a lot. In the past, I have been tirelessly doing my best with my only gadget to win the virtual war but somebody always went ahead and won instead of me. At that time, I didn’t know the reason why. I thought it was my lack of ability. However, having this experience now made me realize that the kind of gadget used can also affect my performance.

Smiling satisfactorily, I played more.

“You are now on the next level!”

The more I hear the computer speaker announce my level, my heart beats faster. Ah, this is simply amazing. I have gone three levels higher after an hour of playing.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

“Lily! Lily!”

My mom is shouting again after knocking on my door. I immediately minimized the game and rushed to the door.

“Mom?” I said as she opened the door.

“Hurry and go to the sala with me. My new employer and his son are here. I will introduce you to them.”

At this, she held my wrist and pulled me without any warning. I was not able to do anything but to follow her obediently. We walked fast until we reached the sala where a man in his fifties is sitting down with an iPad on his hand. On another sofa is the swimmer whom I have spotted a few hours ago.

I straightened my back and bowed my head as I was taught. I can see the swimmer staring at me. If I could only hide right now, I would have done it.