Disclaimer: League of Legends belongs to Riot
"Man, I can't wait to be done with school," Hurtle muttered as we walked out of our Chemistry class. Classes were finally done for the day and we were both heading for the school's exit.
"Are you staying with Uncle Xpecial this weekend?" I asked him. It was out of habit that I called everyone by their summoner name, even if they didn't play the game anymore. I even call my parents by their old nicknames.
The name Aphrodite was inspired by my dad, Aphromoo. He used to joke about it, claiming that we were the Aphro Clan. Once Doublelift felt left out and suggested a name change, but I told him that Aphrolift sounded stupid. Plus, matching couple names were so cheesy!
Hurtle's name was kind of a mix of his parents'. He had a hard time combining the two and came up with stupid names like Xturtle or WildXpec. I only laughed at him when he suggested them. Then he recalled someone mentioning that Uncle Xpecial used to be referred to as a hamster. Therefore Hurtle was formed... the combination of a hamster and a turtle.
"Yeah, dad is going to take me to watch LCS this weekend. He's appearing as a guest or something," Hurtle shrugged like it was only natural. Which I guess it was since Uncle Xpecial was in the first three World Championships.
"Wait, but isn't EU LCS played during the weekdays?" I asked, confused.
I was pretty sure that NA LCS was played on the weekends because my parents insisted that I watch and support the NA scene. Sometimes it made me wonder why they even bothered to move over to Germany. The explanation went something along the lines of 'it is where all the retired League pros go'. I scoffed at that reason. I'm sure it was just because they wanted to expose me to the pro scene while being able to travel to somewhere that wasn't Los Angeles.
"They're switching it up this weekend," Hurtle responded, "Do you want to go?"
"Nah, I have to catch up on homework." My excuse was lame, but Hurtle didn't press it any further. I wasn't really interested in the professional scene.
I already gave up my resolve to never play the game so I didn't want to further indulge in it. I would never admit that the game was actually kind of fun and addicting.
Speaking of fun and addicting, "Are we still playing games tonight?"
"Yeah, just give me a couple of hours. Got to grab dinner with pops and some of his friends."
I rose an eyebrow at the mention of friends, "Former pros?"
I knew Hurtle was very interested in pursuing the professional scene and his father was probably trying to get him connected. I have to admit, it'd be pretty cool to see my best friend on TV.
Yeah, that's right – on TV. League of Legends was now broadcasted on TV almost everywhere. It's kind of a big deal, but that doesn't mean I want to make a career out of it.
"Yeah, he mentioned something about potential team mates."
"Good luck with that."
"Yeah, because we both know how great I am with people," Hurtle joked. I just smiled in response. He was a bit of a troll at times and a bit blunt to the point where he offended people. But I'm sure that once his teammates got to know him, they would see that he was actually a good guy. After all, it took me a few years before I got along with him and now we're best friends.
"Text me when you're on the way back, I'll probably just play some 3s while I wait."
"Ew. You really need to stop playing that mode."
"What! It's soo much fun," I argued, lightly smacking his arm.
"How are 50 minute games fun? The average game should only be 20 minutes!"
I just sulked at that comment. I couldn't deny it. Sometimes my Twisted Treeline games lasted longer than a Summoner's Rift game.
"Whatever, just text me."
"Yes mother… ow!" I smacked him again before giving him a quick hug.
"See ya!" I yelled as I walked away.
"Crazy woman…" he muttered.
"He won't be on until later… what no… I finished my homework before dinner… going to play some Twisted Treeline… the mode isn't trash, Dad!" I closed my bedroom door, ending the conversation I was having with my parents. They still treated me like I was a child. I'm already seventeen for heaven's sake!
I rolled my eyes when I heard Doublelift ask Aphromoo, "Did she just close her door on me?" to which my other dad responded with, "Don't let it get to you. I'm sure she'll come around. I forgave you babe."
'Ew pet names,' I shuddered when I heard that. I knew I was being unreasonable, but I was having a hard time forgiving and forgetting. There was a time in my life when I loved both of my parents equally, but now it was difficult for me to do so.
"I guess I'll play something," I mumbled, opening up my League client. I could use a slight distraction right about now.
'Alright! Twisted Treeline.' I clicked on the Play button and selected my preferences. But before I could join the queue, I got a notification.
Adept has invited you to play in a game.
'Oh hey, it's the guy who added me a week ago.' I hit Accept. From what I remembered, he was a pretty good AD carry.
I entered the 'Team Select' room and noticed that I was the fourth member. There were two other names that I didn't recognize. Cyan and Hades. 'A color and a Greek God,' I noted.
"Ready?" Adept typed and I immediately replied with "Yes."
I assumed that the three of them were in a call since he started right after I responded.
"Want to join our call?" Adept asked as we waited for our game. I was hesitant on joining since I didn't know any of them. Maybe if Hurtle was here, I'd consider joining. My parents also told me that I shouldn't talk to strangers. They just never said anything about never typing to them.
"Not this time." At least with this answer I wasn't completely rejecting him.
'Why isn't she farming?!'
Lane was really frustrating. I was stuck with the random that joined our team. Cyan refused to give her the jungle position so she was stuck with AD carry. She chose Ashe and would deliberately walk past our minions to poke the enemy's bot lane.
That's fine, she was zoning them out, but she did it when the minions were at our turret so she was also missing farm. I ended up having to be the one farming with the help of my 'Eye of the Storm'. Otherwise last hitting with Janna was quite difficult for me.
The Ashe pinged a few times asking for Cyan to come down and gank, but Cyan stuck to the upper side of the jungle – ganking only for her friends. This led to a fight in chat between the two.
"Noob jungler."
"I have more CS than you do!"
"Bot lane is always pushed, easy gank"
I sighed. I could only imagine Cyan complaining in their call.
"Just ult Caitlyn"
"It's on cooldown"
It kept going on between them and I was starting to get more irritated. The other two were relatively quiet in comparison.
I watched Cyan's Vi roam towards mid and charged up her 'Vault Breaker'. As soon as she hit the enemy Orianna, Adept's Zed moved in and used his ultimate 'Death Mark' along with his other skills. Orianna flashed and Vi used her 'Assault and Battery' immediately – securing the kill for Adept.
"Good job," I typed.
"You just used your ult mid!"
"It just came back up," Cyan defended and I sighed once more.
'This is going to be a long game.'
We eventually won that game. The two solo laners were able to get fed and carry, thanks to all of Cyan's ganks in the top and mid lane.
As I left the end game screen I got a message from Hurtle.
"For someone who threatened me to text them, you sure take a long time to respond."
'Oh shoot.' I had totally forgotten about it. "Sorry, was in game!"
"50 minute Twisted Treeline?"
"Hey stop hating! But no, I played a Summoner's Rift game." Distracted by my conversation with Hurtle, I didn't notice that I received another game invite – this time from Cyan.
"Going to join us? Cyan wants to draft," Adept messaged me.
"Sure, I have another person, can I invite them?" I asked without even bothering to ask Hurtle if he wanted to join. I knew he was going to play with me regardless.
"Yeah sure" and with that I accepted the invite and invited Hurtle.
"HI EVERYONE!" Hurtle immediately typed in chat, "Is there a call?" I guess I could join now that Hurtle was with me.
"Uh yeah sure, information?" Adept responded. He didn't seem too excited to add Hurtle and me to the call.
"Hey guys," Hurtle greeted as soon as we were added, "I'm Hurtle by the way."
"I'm Cyan," a silvery female voice replied.
"Hades," said a deep and soft-spoken voice. I could tell that he was a quiet one.
We got into 'Champion Select' and Cyan immediately banned Katarina as soon as it was her turn. 'I guess she was in that Katarina game.' I had a mental sweat drop.
"Oh sorry, my mic was muted. I'm Adept, nice to meet you guys." His voice wasn't as deep as Hades, but it was filled with confidence. I wish I was more like that.
"H-hi. I'm Aphrodite." I cursed myself for stuttering slightly. I wasn't actually feeling nervous.
"WAIT, YOU'RE A GIRL?" Adept exclaimed. I could hear a face palm coming from the other side.
"Obviously. Aphrodite is the name of a Greek Goddess. Plus she's always playing support. How stereotypical of a girl can she be?" Cyan answered and I felt my cheeks become warm.
'I-it's not like it's the only role I play! I just enjoy it the most!' I mentally defended myself.
"Does that mean you're actually a guy?" Hurtle joked, "Since you're a jungle main?" Typical Hurtle coming to my rescue. I knew he was only joking, but I don't think Cyan saw it the same way.
"What, are you stalking my stats now?" Cyan jabbed back, "And for your information, do I sound like a guy to you?"
I mentally imagined Hurtle shrugging, "How do I know you're not using a voice changer?"
"If you guys have enough time to argue, could you two at least pick your champions before the timer runs out?" Hades said spoke out.
This effectively stopped the two from fighting anymore as they both chose their champions. Cyan locked in Evelynn while Hurtle selected Twitch.
"Sorry about that, Cyan doesn't mean any harm. She's just kind of proud," Adept messaged me with an apology and I smiled weakly.
"No worries, Hurtle is kind of the same. He's a bit of a troll, but he's just joking around," I informed him before selecting my champion.
I hovered over Nami, but decided to lock-in Morgana instead. She was a fairly easy champion to play. Now that Hurtle was my AD carry, I felt more confident about the game. He would definitely perform a lot better than that Ashe. Hopefully this match would show the others that Hurtle actually knew how to play the game well.
Once champion select finished, our team consisted of Shen, Syndra, Evelynn, Twitch, and Morgana. The enemy team had Singed, Lee Sin, Ahri, Vayne, and Alistar.
I leaned back as I waited for our game to load. It felt odd having a full premade since I typically played solo or with Hurtle. This meant that the other team was also a premade too, right? Their team communication was probably a lot better than ours.
Finally we loaded into the game.
"ALRIGHT! LET'S DO THIS BOYS!" Hurtle shouted, eliciting a groan from Cyan.
"Not this again," she murmured.
I giggled. This should be fun.
11/06/14