Learning Three
Chris answered the door. He was surprised by what he saw. A redhead with curly hair, slightly more freckled than his sister, a softer face and nicely shaped (to Chris), with a very nervous smile stood there staring at him.
"Um, hi. Is Brian here?" she asked, clearly nervous.
"Y-yeah, he and Amanda are here. I'm Chris," he replied, staring back at her.
"I'm Brianna. Our parents hated us." She smiled.
"Hey Bri! We're in here!" Brian called from the living room.
"Um, may I come in?" Bri asked in a small voice.
"S-sure, excuse me, please come in." Chris suddenly felt like a child. He thought she was very pretty.
Brian hugged his sister and they all sat down Amanda sitting next to Brian, leaving Chris and Bri to sit next to each other. Brian made official introductions, then started talking to his sister.
"So, Bri, you find a guy yet?"
"N-no! Why do you always ask?" she responded nervously.
"Hey, I'm supposed to care for my sister. Chris cares about Amanda, y'know. Don't you, Chris?"
"Of course, I do." Chris answered firmly, trying to show confidence as Terri had taught him.
"Well, guys, I have to go get the pizza. Brian, do you want to come with me?" Amanda asked, smiling.
"Sure!" he answered. "I'm sure you two will be fine while we're gone. Beer's in the fridge, just don't drink it all before we get back!" he laughed at the comical expression on his sister's face.
Once Amanda and Brian were gone, Chris decided to try to talk to her. Worst case, it was good practice. "So, Bri, what's your major here?"
"Undecided."
"Would you like me to get you a beer?" He asked trying to pull her out of her shell.
"Not really." was her noncommittal reply.
As he looked at her, she was looking away. He thought she was gorgeous, but she appeared uninterested.
"Well, if you don't want anything, I'm going to play a game until they get back." She gave only a slight nod in return.
He fired up his computer and used the TV as a monitor. He noticed she was watching when the game title came up, and then she began to pay a little closer attention.
"I've been playing this for four years now. I'm pretty good at it now." Chris tried to get her to talk again.
"I've been playing for about a year." She replied.
He typed in his username and password. He heard her gasp. "YOU'RE Christobal the Protector?"
"Yeah, why?" he asked, trying to keep her talking.
"You're like the most powerful guy in the game that I've dealt with, I think. A few weeks ago, you saved some girl on the road from being eaten by ogres. Remember?"
"Let me try... Sylvia, no, that's not it, but close... Cylena the Mistress of Magick?"
"That would be her... also, me." She blushed.
"I tried to find you in the next town, but you'd vanished. I had something to give you that I can't use. A Staff of Casting, it would give you more spells memorized."
"My god I need one of those! Can you split screen this so I can log in?"
They began to talk freely, as the game broke the ice. He found himself occasionally focusing on her lips instead of what she was saying. She had moved close to him so they could share the laptop as they played.
They found each other in the game and managed to go kill the rest of the ogres in the area. When the last one fell, she threw her arms around him. "Those things have been trying to kill me forever! I'm so glad they're gone!"
He looked down at her face and made a quick decision, bending close and lightly kissing her. She was startled but didn't pull away. They kissed lightly for a while, then she let her arms drop and pulled away, blushing.
"I'm sorry, Chris, I don't know what came over me."
"What are you sorry about? I liked it, y'know."
"But we don't really know each other. I'm not easy. We would have to go on actual dates and stuff."
"All right, Bri, what are you doing tomorrow night? I can afford a movie and some food, or if you'd rather we can come back here and play. Your choice." He said putting as much confidence as possible into his voice.
"All right, let's go see a movie. We need to get to know each other as opposed to our on-line personas. I'm warning you, I like chick flicks!" she grinned at him, blushing as well.
"If you're there, I'll enjoy it!" Chris was feeling pretty good about himself and her at the moment.
The door opened and Amanda and Brian came in, holding two pizza boxes and a sack of sides. They spread it out on the table as Brian began to talk to his sister.
"So, Bri, at least I didn't have to pry you two apart when we came back. You weren't trying to kill him or kiss him, so how did it go?" he asked with a laugh.
She blushed hard, and everyone in the room saw it. Chris came to her rescue. "She and I are going out tomorrow. Just a casual date, we aren't getting married or anything. So, nobody got killed while you were out, no."
"Chris, you dog!" Amanda said with a laugh. "She wasn't here for an hour and you have a date! Toldja, Brian!"
"Yes, you did. And you were right, too. I give up. You won this round!" Brian laughed too.