《Reaching For the Stars》Chapter 24
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After getting the cafe contract, I hung around with my friends for some time once again after school.
Arlo began slapping me in the back.
"What's up?"
He pointed to our left and right there, were our sisters.
I raised my eyebrow at him. I think he's a sis-con.
It's cool that they're the same age and in the same friend group though.
I grinned at him and gave him a thumbs up.
They seemed to be talking about something heatedly and then Charlotte gave a smile of confidence. She then glanced at me and smiled even brighter.
She's starting to be weird again.
"By the way, Charlie, why couldn't you go to the gym yesterday?" I turned my face back towards the group conversation.
"Oh, Charlotte was kind of sick yesterday." I half-lied.
[Ding!]
[Lying has gone up by 10 points.]
Yup, give me that.
"Oh is she okay now?" Lizbeth asks.
"Yeah, she's—OMPH." I feel something crashing onto my back and squeezing out the air inside of my lungs. I feel hair tickling me and I look back at the familiar face.
"Ah, what are you doing?"
Charlotte smiles brilliantly, "Winning a bet!"
She walks back to her friends and they each hand her… a dollar?
She's already making more bank than I am?
"Anyway, yeah as you can see she's okay now."
Catherine slaps the top of my head and ruffles my hair.
"What the hell was that for?" I tell her indignantly and ruffle her hair back.
The group begins slapping each other's heads like idiots while laughing.
---
I walked back home with Charlotte.
I asked her about the bet but she only smiled at me and offered to give me a portion of it. Of course, I declined it.
"I'll be in my room."
"Okay.��
I locked the door to my room and plopped down on the bed.
[Author Note: A reader the other day pointed out that a stat point was forgotten. I'll go ahead and place the blame on Charlie. It ain't my fault.]
[Ding!]
[The Achievement System would like to remind the Host that there is still an unused stat point!]
Hoh~
Okay, well it seems I completely forgot to use this stat point the other day when I went to the gym.
I open up my stats.
[Luck: 1
Intelligence: 14
Charm: 10 (9 + 1)]
Okay, saving it up right now for Luck wouldn't seem too useful since by the time I can open the Achievement Egg I'd have enough points for another stat point and then I'd need to get another Achievement Egg.
So Intelligence or Charm are my options.
There's not a bad option. Both of them would benefit me greatly and would serve a purpose.
I could add another point to Intelligence but my current jobs right now are more centered on my image. If I sign under that knife agency, charm would be of utmost value. I'm not really going to develop new technologies right now, nor write a book or film a movie.
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I think we should go to Charm here.
Well, we've seen what a temporary point of charm can do. What would happen if we add a permanent point to an already double-digit charm?
Let's find out.
[Luck: 1
Intelligence: 14
Charm: 11 (10 + 1)]
The same energy the other day that changed my aspects came out from within the depths of my body and once again began its changes.
I felt something slightly scratching my scalp which sent tingles throughout my entire body.
Goosebumps began rising and I felt chills go down throughout my spine.
The energy began massaging my eyebrows, eyelashes, cheekbones, and adjusted a few bones to make them more symmetrical. My slightly dry lips felt a little moister and my originally elegant disposition seemed to slightly improve more.
The chills went up and down throughout my entire body and my skin emitted a healthy feel.
My throat began itching and I felt something scratching down a few… tissues? Maybe old and dead?
I slightly spoke a few words. My voice was the same but it seemed a little… fuller? If that's the word? It sounded and spread better throughout the room. My voice reaches things a little easier. Well, this can both be annoying and useful.
It'll definitely be something good for the streaming, though.
…
Charlotte wanted to play Chess.
Of course, since she was a newbie I gave her white pieces.
She played a few normal moves that she's seen my dad and I do.
Recognizing the pattern of her moves, I move my bishop and queen out.
I checkmated her in 6 moves.
[Author Note: Check out: 'xQc gets Checkmated by MoistCr1tikal.' in Youtube. It's pretty funny. The checkmate is called a Scholars Mate.]
Dad began laughing his ass off and began shedding tears of laughter while Charlotte chased me around the living room. Mom just sat down next to dad on the couch and stared at us amused.
"Pfft, Charlie. That's my son!"
"Daaaad!"
The day passed.
…
Morning.
I flutter my eyes open.
It's Friday today. I'll do my first ever jobs and some piano gigs. Since I'm only going to be working once a week, he told me he'd be giving me the money after my shift. I'll quickly buy and set up the streaming gear and I'll play with the streamers. I'm honestly not so sure if I'm going to be the 10th person but I'll rely on my luck point to let me get the spot.
Overnight I changed my mind on the subject of using face cam. It'll probably help me gain a lot of viewers and increase my value to the modeling agency.
I'll get the face cam, microphone, and probably a recording software? Or are there free ones?
Morning routine done, we eat breakfast and wave goodbye to our parents.
As we exit the apartment lobby, the warm air of spring hits my face and slightly caresses my hair out of my face.
I take a deep whiff of the fresh air and walk with Charlotte towards the metro.
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It's a new life.
We pass through the sleek metro halls and into the main lobby and present our usual cards.
I laugh, remembering the mad chase that was the other day.
We get on our usual metro seats and watch the world pass by. Charlotte's staring at her phone while scrolling and slightly glancing out the windows every so often.
If I get famous, would she be harassed at school? How would it affect her and our parents?
I have the achievement system that basically grants me skills and talents at things. It's more or less guaranteed that I will be successful here. Would she be approached by people with bad intentions?
…
School passed by quickly and right after bell rang I put my things in my locker and walked outside to check out the cafe.
Since classes were ending just now, students were still packing up their things and it would be a few minutes later until they started going out to the cafe.
It's a Friday so there will definitely be a lot of people. Even now, without students there's many people already there having a drink.
I can see the small space becoming hectic in probably an hours time. Especially after the trending piano videos.
After checking it out, I walk towards the 9th grader section where Charlotte currently is. My frame towers over the 14 year old kids and my disposition makes it easy to cruise through the extremely busy hallways.
I noticed some girls staring at me. Are they Charlotte's friends?
I quickly glance around them but no Charlotte to be seen.
A funny thought comes to my mind. Back when I was in 9th grade the girls would have crushes on the seniors and juniors.
Many girls at this age are dreaming of being sweeped off their feet by a charming guy just like in movies.
Am I going to be one of those school crush idols now? My 11 points of charm are more or less doing that even while I'm not purposefully doing anything.
I glance around. Where could Charlotte's locker be?
Well, I'll just meet her at the exit.
I walk back towards the building's entrance and exit and pull out my phone.
Leaning on the wall, I click on one of the few contacts that I have and begin calling Charlotte.
She picks up at the first ring.
"Charlie?" Her voice seemed a little hurried.
"Hey Charlotte, what's happening?"
"Nothing, I'm just barely getting out of class." I hear her slamming a few heavy things on the locker. Damn, what textbooks do they give these 9th graders?
My teachers are a little more flexible and leave the textbooks as PDFs. Hoh, that's something else I can make fun of her for.
"Have you ate yet?"
"Yup, I ate at the cafeteria." Slam, she places another textbook.
I hear her friends talking over with her and asking who she's talking to.
"Ooh~ Charlotte who's the lucky guy?"
With a deadpan voice that made even me proud, she replies monotone, "My brother."
That's right.
She bursts into laughter and the others also start laughing while the one that tried calling her out just stayed quiet.
Inside joke?
"I have a few projects today and I'm going to hang out with my friends. You don't have to walk me back home."
I hear a multitude of, 'Awww's and she barks at them to shut up.
"Okay, I'll tell you when I'm done, then."
Okay, I don't have to use up some time walking her back and can just immediately get there and prepare some things.
I think getting there early before all the hectic things are happening will slightly better prepare me. It's better to start off a little calm and get used to the job and then get on with the overflow of customers.
The 9th grade building was farther away from the cafe shop. I run through the busy path filled with 9th graders and head towards the cafe.
I already see some groups of students going into the cafe. Wew, god damn.
Running with my improved lungs and stamina, I get to the cafe with very little sweat trickling out of my hair.
I walk in and see the manager, Michael, talking to some employees.
Heading towards him, my breathing regulates and my elegant disposition once again returns.
"Good afternoon, Michael."
"Ohh, hey Charlie! Okay you're here earlier than I expected. You can go put on the uniform over there–" he motioned, "and you remember what I told you yesterday, right?"
I nod at him and he pats my back. I know how to brew some coffee and take orders. I've done it before after all.
I head towards the break room which has a bathroom inside. I take off my clothes and put on the light beige button shirt with the cafe icon and black pants. On the break room, I took one of the hanging aprons and put them on.
Since I'm tall and my face is pretty sculpted, I'll look just seem like a really young looking 17 or 18 year old.
I don't think people would be that comfortable taking orders from a 16 year old, after all.
I stare into space.
Today will be one of the major pivotal points in this journey.
Though I do not know what is happening in my old world, I have a new life in here and my family's here with me too.
It felt weird that they were the same people but different. Now though to me, it's the same them that went a different path. That's all I need in comfort. To have my family be here with me.
I slap my cheeks and walk outside.
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