It's already the third week of November, just a little bit more and high school's over for me. I heaved a sigh. Most of my friends are happy and excited on what awaits them after graduation while I'm a bit perplexed about the impending death of my happy-go-lucky life. Here I am, lying on the cold floor of the school's rooftop being a major cliche-thinking about what I want to do. Up until now, I never thought about the future.

I always thought that things will just work out for me. Maybe, I would just do what my parents wanted me to do. But they never told me what they wanted me to become. They said I'm free to do whatever I want. So I thought, since I draw and write stories a lot maybe I could be an Animator. Or maybe some kind of game developer, since I'm into games so much-somewhere along those lines. But when I think about it, am I really sure I wanted to pursue being an animator or a game developer? Will I be happy with that decision?

Dark clouds started to block out the sun, covering the sky and turning it into a sea of gray. Pathetic fallacy seems to befall on me as my clouded mind and heart is being portrayed by the sky.

"Murasaki-senpai! You should go inside, the rains about to pour down," a familiar voice called out my name.

I sat up, looking who called me before standing up. Kirigaya Kazuto, my lowerclassman, stood near the door frame while staring at me with a confused face. My face cannot lie. It expresses the emotions I currently feel, of course he's going to make that face. It's weird after all, seeing a usually bubbly person looking so serious and yet seemed so distant.

"Alright, I'm going."

We went inside the clubroom that I booked. Both of us are the only members of the Video Game Club. It's sad that no one else joined. You'd think a lot of people would join the club, apparently I'm proven wrong. I had high hopes on the nerds of this school. It's sad but theres no use of thinking about it. "Oh well, it's alright. The worst thing that could happen right now is that they would disband the Video Game Club for not having at least five members," I told Kazu while staring at what's beyond the transparent windows.

He bowed his head apologetically. "I'm really sorry, senpai."

"It's alright. Not your fault we suck at recruiting," I laughed. "Look at the bright side, less nooblets to babysit tomorrow," I told him as my lips formed a huge grin.

Tomorrow's the day that Sword Art Online would launch its official release. Every gamer looks forward on playing it, even Kazu. They basically fanboyed about it because of the fact that its on the Nerve Gear and its unique feature, the full-dive system, allows you to actually feel like you're living as your character or avatar while you explore the game's world and interact with the given environment. Funny, those features never really attracted me. All games are the same to me, a means to escape reality. Sword Art Online is no different, although the features does make it better. It would be my new-

"Neverland."

"Huh? Are you listening to me, senpai? I'll repeat again," Kazu said, breaking me out of my trance. He heaved a sigh due to his absent minded upperclassman while he continued to explain his strategy for tomorrow. I honestly don't care about strategies. It's just a game after all.

The day ended with me still empty-handed on to what is my decision and a blank future career answer sheet. The future beyond high school scares me. Adulthood may seem really fun and exciting for others, but not for me. I worry because I don't know what lies beyond the other side of this long road that I'm about to walk on. All I know is that I don't want to move forward yet.

Not yet.