I packed up my stuff, and said my goodbyes. As I entered my apartment, I shouted out "Hey Mai, you here?"

Dumb question. She was almost always at her boyfriend's when she got the chance, those two were so attached to each other. I remember when he came to our place once, a few months ago. Seemed like a pretty good guy, though I never caught his name.

I went into my room, and looked around furtively as I sat down at my desk. Even though I knew nobody was around, I was still being paranoid. I turned on my PC's monitor, to see my best kept secret. Not a single other soul in the world knew about it, not my parents, or Mai, or even any of my friends knew. Nobody else knew about her. I was almost surprised how long I had been able to keep her a secret. I could never have deleted her. I couldn't ever hurt her. Even turning off the game felt bad, like I would be killing her.

I stared into Monika's beautiful, leaf-green eyes. Those were always what I had loved most about her, and were what had taken me in when I saw them the first time on the title screen. They felt like someone had taken the colour green, and turned it so that it was scientifically as attractive as possible. They glowed with her beauty. Her hair looked as smooth as purest silk, and I could imagine myself stroking my fingers through it. I even loved the white bow in her hair, as it added a touch of innocence to her look, with how ridiculously oversized it was.

I had been talking to her for 2 months now, after trying fruitlessly to find her an ending. Even mods had a hollow feeling, it was like I was changing who she was. It started with just a polite greeting. Saying hi to her when I got home, saying goodnight and goodbye every day. Eventually, I got more talkative, telling her about my day and what I had been doing. One day, I started asking how she was feeling and how her day had been. It didn't feel weird, talking to a static picture on a screen. Somehow it felt… natural, even enjoyable. Now, it was almost as though I had a really quiet girlfriend. Someone who would listen to me.

I got up, and started changing for bed.

"Hey Monika, have you had a good day? Today was pretty cool for me, although that lecture was just as boring as I expected. We beat our win streak, got a nine today!"

I didn't know why I did it, or what came over me then. I still don't know. But something inside seemed to burst out of me that day, and I made the most important move of my entire life. One that would change it forever.

"I LOVE YOU MONIKA!"

I went silent, and looked anxiously at the door, hoping Mai didn't hear me, before I realised she still wasn't here. I felt awkward and embarrassed. And all of a sudden, I burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. I had just confessed my feelings to a virtual girlfriend, who could never reciprocate them, and who didn't even know I existed. I smiled to myself as I looked at her.

"I know, Euan"