A Friend's Rare

"Are you okay, Olivia?"

Olivia snapped back to attention, turning to Mia. "Oh, uh, yeah," She said.

"Well, then go!"

Olivia looked ahead of her and realized they were still in line at school to go home. The teacher was tapping her foot impatiently as the line moved forward, almost out of sight. Olivia shook her head and hurried, fast-walking to catch up.

"Animal Jam!" Mia called to her friend as Olivia left the bus. She muttered under her breath, turned her corner, and ran home. When she got there, her mom was upstairs and her dad was on the couch. She took a deep breath, rolled her eyes at her homework, and went onto Animal Jam.

About half an hour later, Mia logged on. "Doing homework", she replied when Olivia questioned where she was.

"Didn't you have to do it, too?" Mia asked, and Olivia's animal sat down.

Finally, Mia joined her on the floor. "What you wanna do?" She asked, and Olivia pretended to get an idea. She had watched a Youtube video on Troll or Treat trading, and it was the perfect time, since it was almost Halloween. The two stood in the middle, but Olivia got most of the trades. Mia got one rare and RIMs, but Olivia got much more than her.

Olivia checked her inventory, calling her haul a victory. Mia was only partially excited. Why? Because she loved her friend and was happy for her, otherwise not exactly.

The next morning, Olivia logged onto Animal Jam again. Mia and her never played on Saturdays, but it couldn't hurt to have a bit of fun. She remembered the troll or treat game and immediately started playing it. It was fun. After that, she earned gems and bought plushies. With these she got great things.

By lunchtime, she was decked out. She'd thought it impossible before, but she knew she'd never give away or share the items she'd worked so hard to get. The day after that, and the day after, and the day after, all the girls did was trading. Aldan and other servers were all they did. Finally, Mia asked if they could roleplay.

"We are," Olivia insisted through her screen. They were on a Skype call on their other computers, since they could do both with two electronics. "Just in a different way."

A few weeks later, on Monday, Mia was sick. Olivia's routine didn't change. When she finally got back, Mia roleplayed instead of hanging out with Olivia. She asked her one weekend if they could, and she agreed. But when Mia got there, she noticed her friend was extremely rare, as was her other friend.

"You're being too greedy," Mia insisted, matching her thoughts together like pieces of a puzzle. "Seriously. It'll overcome you, I promise."

Her friend told Olivia to lock her out, and she did so without hesitation. After that, she didn't answer Mia's calls or texts. She was heartbroken, but she believed what she said was true.

And it was.

Because Olivia wasn't at school the next day.

Or the next.