Plugged In

Prologue: Just a Game

My breath hitched as I lunged forward, sword gleaming in my right hand. My health was low, to the 20% mark. I grinned, seeing the wizard in front of me shiver with fear. 'You're going down, buddy,' I thought, teeth clenched. My feet kissed the dirt with the soles of my dirty boots. With the team kills I made today, I could get some new equipment. My partner tossed me a health potion, and I guzzled it down like it was water. 50% health. Sweet. Just one more hit and he would be down for the count. I raised my battered sword and - *Beep! * *Beep! * *Beep! *

"Reens! Mija! ¿Dónde estás? ¿Estás jugando a ese juego en línea estúpido otra vez?"

Ah, my mother. She always yells at me for playing this game, but it's so addicting… I can't stop now.

"¡Mamá! Sólo déjame terminar este nivel primero! ¿Bueno?" She always does this to me.

I turn back to the screen and try to press the right button sequence when my mother opens my door and shuts my laptop, placing her hand on top of it. She looks at me with fire in her eyes. Oh brother.

"Cariño, te dije una y otra vez no jugar ese juego cuando llega a casa de la escuela. Usted sabe la tarea siempre es lo primero."

She puts my laptop on the floor and looks me straight in the eyes like she always does when she has sad news. I look down, but she lifts my face gently, forcing me to look.

"Cariño, sabes que estamos en un presupuesto bastante ajustado debido a que su padre fue despedido en su trabajo, por lo que podría por favor trate de no jugar ese juego? Realmente sería bueno si pudiera ayudar en la casa." I sigh, running my hand through my hair. "Sí mamá. Yo entiendo."

You want to know more about me. Well, my real name is Rain Selena Maricina, but everyone calls me Reens. To be honest, I have no idea why they call me that, but I've just stuck with it over the years. I'm a seventeen-year-old Hispanic female hedgehog with light blue fur, blue eyes, lightly tanned skin, and dark blue hair. Right now, I'm looking at myself in the mirror, frowning at my body.

Anyway, both of my parents are Hispanic, just like me. My mom is a coffee-brown hedgehog named Carmen Flor Maricina. She has light brown eyes and fur, curly black hair with brown ends, straight back quills and tanned skin. How I gained my own blue hair I have no idea, but my dad might've had something to do with it. He is a light green hedgehog named Alonso Mateo Maricina. He has chocolate brown eyes, platinum blond hair (he dyed it recently), messy front quills and lightly tanned skin like me. There must be something wrong with me if I'm the only one with blue eyes, right?

"Yo, hermanita! Vamos a llegar tarde a la escuela si no te das prisa para arriba!"

That's my brother, Carlos Maricina. He looks like my mother with her fur and hair, but his eyes are different; one green and one brown. His quills are partly straight in the back and messy in the front. He's twenty and a first year at the community college, but he still rides with me on the city bus every day.

"¡Bien! ¡Estaré ahí!" I grab my laptop and shut it down before heading downstairs in my school outfit for the first day. Mama insisted that I look as nice as possible, so today I'm wearing a little white short-sleeved dress with a jean jacket, pantyhose, and black shoes. My hair is up in a braid like always, but Mama put some fake flowers in in for an accent. Good thing there's extra clothes in my backpack. If I didn't have those, I'd have to wear the dress all day long, and I hate wearing dresses.

"Adiós, niños! Que tengan un buen primer día!"

Mama and Papa stood on the porch to wave us off as we clambered onto the bus. I gave a small wave to them, although Carlos didn't do anything, as they grew smaller and smaller. When they were finally out of sight and earshot, I slid back down in my seat next to Carlos and sighed. "So, will you miss spending every day with your little sister?"

Carlos smirked and ruffled my head quills a bit, chuckling as I tried to smooth them back down. "Nah, you may be my sis, but I won't miss you. Our schools are right across the street, remember? And besides, you're going to make a whole bunch of new amigos."

I tried smiling back, but my chest hurt. I had left behind all my old friends at my old school, and to be completely honest, I didn't think anyone would like me or even care to get to know me. I didn't let Carlos catch on though; I didn't want him to worry.

The bus finally stopped at our street and we both hopped off, paying the bus driver our fares before exiting. Before I turned to enter my new high school, Carlos took me into his arms and gave me a friendly hug.

"Try to have a good day, okay, hermana? If you have any problems, you can always tell me."

"Don't worry, hermano, I will. No matter what may happen. Te amo mucho, Carlos."

That was the last time I ever saw him.