Julien Gregg's Saguaro University Arizona Chronicles - The Story of Jake Miller Chapter 9

 Copyright © 2025 by Julien Gregg 
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The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.

Nine

My first day back in the office at Microsoft Games was fun. I gave the team the sheets. I heard a lot of “I’ve got this” and “I’ve got that”. The graphics department of which Neal was now the head took off with all of the characters to make them for the game. Coders took this part and that part and left me with the core coding. I liked that.

I spent the day in my office coding and eating snacks and drinking soda. I took a call from Stan who told me that they had released the expansion pack for “Nightmare”. He said he hoped that we would work on another game soon because “Nightmare” gave him the creeps. I told him we were working on something and got off the phone.

For lunch that day I bought the team gyros and potato chips. I even got them each a smoothie. They were very thankful for all of it and we sat in the break room to eat. I talked with each of them about their lives and what was going on in them. Evan was smiling from ear to ear as I did this.

Back in the office I coded until it was time to go. I gave Neal a ride to the car lot where he bought a black Jeep Grand Cherokee with fog lights, roll bar, and harness type seat belts. I followed him to the insurance company to get insurance and then I went home.

“Did he get a car?” Evan asked as soon as I walked through the door.

“Yeah, a Jeep,” I said. “It’s nice. I just hope he doesn’t roll it.”

“Yeah,” he said. “Hungry?”

“Not really yet,” I said. “What have you been up to?”

“Not much, waiting for you,” he said. “We can either eat dinner or sit in front of the television for a while until we’re both hungry enough to eat dinner.”

“I vote for TV for now,” I said with a smile.

“That was a really nice thing you did with the team today,” he said as we sat in front of the television.

“I figured if I want them to come to me with stuff they have to know me,” I said. “So I’ve decided that we’ll have lunch with them every day and I’ll talk to each one about what is going on in their lives, questions they have about the code, and ideas that they’ve had about new games.”

“That’s perfect,” he said.

“It’s part of my be more accessible to the team thing,” I said with a grin.

“Well they had a lot to say about it,” he said. “Positive things.”

“Good,” I said. Then the commercial for “Nightmare: Hell Hounds” came on and we were quiet. It was a good commercial but it looked like a clip from a horror movie.

“That looks great,” he said.

“Yeah it does,” I said with a smile. “Stan asked that I work on something else because ‘Nightmare’ gives him the creeps.”

“Oh wow,” laughed Evan. “He never says things like that. I think he actually likes you.”

“Well I like him too so far,” I said. “You let him yell at me and we’ll have a problem.”

“I don’t think he will yell at you,” he said. “Like I said you’re the golden boy around there.”

“We’ll see,” I said. “Not all of my ideas are going to be gems.”

“Well they are so far,” he said.

“I’m getting hungry,” I said. “Why don’t we just go out and get something instead of cooking and heating up the kitchen?”

“We can,” he said. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well we can order a pizza or go have steak,” I said.

“Steak,” he said.

So we got up and turned off the television. We left the house and went to the steak house for T-bones with baked potatoes and corn with dinner rolls and a nice slice of cheesecake with cherries on it for dessert.

“You know talking to the team isn’t enough,” I said. “I need to invite them to the house. Not all of them at once, but we need to have them over for dinner. This would help us not to be such home bodies with no outside influence.”

“That’s a great idea,” he said. “Really get to know them.”

“Yes,” I said. “For all I know they’re married and have kids.”

“I doubt that any of them are married,” he said.

“Well we’ll start on Friday,” I said. “We’ll invite two of them to dinner on Friday and we’ll do it every Friday until we’ve had them all over. Then we can do it sporadically. We have to have dinner with Neal and Travis, too.”

“Oh yeah,” he said. “I was wondering when you’d get around to those two. We can have dinner with my friends, too.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” I said. “But we work with all of these people. We should get to know them.”

“This is more like it,” he said with a smile. “You were so closed off from the team when you were here at winter break. This time you’ll get them to talk to you instead of about you.”

“That’s the plan,” I said. “Plus we could be friends with some of them.”

“I was thinking that a few of them would make good friends for us,” he said.

“Well you’ll have to tell me who they are,” I said.

“We’ll get there,” he said. “This Friday night I suggest we invite Jock and Rick. They’re pretty friendly, used to be room mates, and hang out quite a lot. Jock recently moved in with his girlfriend. She can come or you could just invite the boys.”

“Right now I’ll invite the boys,” I said. “We can have Jock and his girlfriend over another time.”

“Sounds good,” he said.

“We can have a cook out and invite the whole staff and significant others,” I said. “We can do that next month.”

“Sounds really good,” he said. “Now do you mean the whole team or just coders?”

“The whole team,” I said. “They can bring their significant others, girlfriends, boyfriends, etc.”

“Okay,” he said. “We’ll have to have a lot of food that day.”

“We’ll plan it,” I said.

“Sounds good,” he said. “We’ll know to buy a lot of food for that day.”

“Right,” I said.

We went home and I coded while he coded. So we were coding and sharing jokes back and forth. Then we got ready for bed. It was so good to be in the new house with the bigger rooms and better floor plan. I kissed him when we got into bed and then we were making out. That morphed into showing our love for each other. We fell asleep in each other’s arms.

The next day I invited Jock and Rick to dinner at our house. I told them that this time was just for the boys. They were happy to accept and I told them dinner was at seven. They said they’d be there.

At the status meeting we talked about what everyone was coding, and I asked if anyone had anything they needed to talk to me about. None of them did so I went to my office and coded. I coded until lunch. Then I sat in the break room and had burgers and fries with the team. We talked back and forth and I promised that all of them would be invited to dinner at my house one week or another. That seemed to please them.

Back in the office I coded the core files. I really enjoyed coding this game there were many things that had to be perfect but a lot of it was just like any other game. I just coded away and before I knew it I was out of time. Evan was standing in the doorway. Then I saved my work, uploaded my work to the portal, and turned everything off. We headed out.

“How was your coding?” I asked him as he drove us home.

“It was fine,” he said. “We told jokes and stuff. Pretty much like what we do at home.”

“Well that sounds nice,” I said. “I’m really looking forward to Friday.”

“I am too,” he said. “Jock and Rick are looking forward to it, too.”

“We’ll have to have Julia and Ted over again soon,” I said. “And then Dave and Terry.”

“Yeah,” he said. “They’d like to see you.”

“Well we’ll have them over soon,” I said.

“Sounds good,” he said. “Let’s get something to eat.”

He made a tater tot casserole. It was raw hamburger on the bottom, cream of mushroom soup over that mixed with corn, tater tots on top and you bake it at three fifty until it’s done. Right before it was done he took it out and covered it in shredded cheddar cheese. He put it back in the oven to let the cheese melt over the top of the tater tots. When it was done it was heaven on a plate. We ate two helpings apiece and then it was gone. We cleaned that up and then went to code. I grabbed an iced tea along the way.

We coded the game and he finished what he was coding. Then he was taking things out of his portal to code. He sent me the code that he was finished with and I coded it into what I was coding. Then he was coding a different section of the game. We joked back and forth and had a good time of it. Then we saved our work to the portal and shut everything down and went to bed.

The next day at work they had the pirate ships done so I coded them in. Graphics even had the rendering of the pirate ships and the water. I coded all of that in. Then graphics was working on pirates and armada soldiers. Neal was working on treasure and gems. I just kept coding until lunch.

Today we had Chinese delivered and we ate in the break room. Everyone was talking and joking and having a good time. Then Stan was in the room asking if we were doing all right on our game. I said we were and that was all I would say about it. He left after a few minutes and then it was just us again.

We went back to coding and I got a lot done that day. Neal gave me the treasure and gems I set those aside for when they coded them. I decided to code them myself and started working on those. When I had them coded in I added the graphics and got done with that. Then I went back to core files and waited for pirates and armada soldiers. I already had the weapons from cannons to pistols and they were coded in.

We left for the day and I was still waiting on the pirates and soldiers. We’d be in the studio to record fight scenes into the computer and then I’d code them in. We just needed the code and the rendering.

That night we had dinner with Neal and Travis who talked non stop about going to Universal Studios over the coming weekend. I was of a mind to go with them so we decided we’d have dinner with Jock and Rick on Friday and go to Universal Studios on Saturday.

It was nice to have Neal and Travis over. I was used to seeing both of them every day so I kinda missed having them around all of the time. I still saw Neal at work but I hadn’t seen Travis until that night. They were happy together so I was happy for them.

“What are you guys going to do for the fourth?” Neal asked.

“That’s more than a month away,” I said. “We don’t know.”

“Well Evan told me that you can see the fireworks from the backyard of my house,” Neal said. “So why don’t I hold a cookout and we can invite the team and their significant others to the house for a cookout and fireworks?”

“Sounds good,” I said. “So you’re doing the forth.”

“Yes,” he said. “I think it’ll be fun.”

“I’m sure it will be,” I said.

“We’re holding a cookout some time next month for the team and significant others,” said Evan. “You and Travis are invited to that one too.”

“Thanks Evan,” Travis said with a smile.

They got ready to go and we got ready to code. When we were in the office I was coding core files and he was coding the pirates and soldiers. It was a good thing because Neal would have them rendered before too long.

“Are you ready for the pirates and soldiers?” Evan asked me.

“I can code them in,” I said. “Neal’s working on the graphics for those at work. I don’t know if he takes anything home to work or not.”

“Well I’m sending you this code,” he said.

I got the code and coded them in. Then I went back to coding core files. He was working on something else but I didn’t know what it was. I just kept coding. He swore and then he was backtracking a bit.

“I messed up the code there for a moment,” he said. “I was thinking about Neal putting graphics files in the portal to take home and went berserk.”

“Well it happens,” I said. “I can’t tell you how many times I have to go back and redo some of the code for pretty much the same reason. I’ll start thinking about something and strange strings will show up in the code. Then I have to take them out and start over.”

“Yeah,” he said. “That’s exactly what happened to me.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “You’ll fix it or I will in the run through.”

“Yeah,” he said.

Then we were quiet as he fixed what he’d done wrong and I continued to work on core files. I had most of them coded but I still had a bunch to do. I kept stopping to code in this or that as they finished it. I got a message that an email had come through and when I checked it I found the graphics for the soldiers and pirates. I coded those in and went back to coding core files.

“Neal just sent me the rendering of the pirates and soldiers,” I said. “So I guess he does take things home to work on.”

“Ha!” he said. “I fixed what I did wrong.”

“Good on you,” I said.

We were quiet again as we coded. I thought about all that I had coded and was blown away. I’d made two whole games and two expansion packs. The expansion packs were two whole new games for the Xbox. I’d coded four games when you thought about it. That was a lot in the short time I’d worked for Microsoft. I didn’t know if I could keep this up.

We saved our work and shut everything down. Then we did our bathroom rituals and went to bed. We talked as we lay there. We were too tired for love making so we just went to sleep.

The next morning we had bagels with cream cheese and headed into the office. I held a status meeting and told them all that I had coded in and what I was waiting for. Neal told me he was working on more treasure and I nodded at that. Jock told me he was working on cannon balls. Rick told me he was still working on the water. Brent told me he was working on cheat codes which I wasn’t sure about but let him continue. I went back to my office and got down to coding again. I coded straight to lunch.

Today we had sandwiches from the sandwich lady that walked around with a cart full of them. We had chips and sodas. We chatted about this person’s dog and that person’s cat. Then we talked about the graphics and how cool they looked for the game. I told them that we were about to go into the studio for sword fights and gun battles. They were excited about that.

After lunch that’s just want we did. We had two actors sword fighting and two more having a gun fight. We had a bunch pretending to be blown up by cannons and all of it was being filmed with the proper camera and sensors. We got what we needed and I coded it all in. I ran it and it looked great. Then I saved my work and shut everything down.

It was Friday so we were having Jock and Rick over for dinner. Jock had dark blonde hair that he kept in pig tails behind his head. His eyes were dark blue with dark rings around them. Rick was a curly haired guy with dark blonde curls. His eyes were brown. That was as much as I knew about them so far.

We got home and showered and dressed. Then we fired up the grill outside and started the vegetables. Jock and Rick arrived at about six thirty. We put the steaks on and popped a bottle of wine. We ate on the deck.

“Thank you for having us over,” Jake. “Do you and Evan live here together?”

“We do,” I said. “I understand that you and Rick used to be room mates.”

“In college and then when we graduated we got an apartment together in the city,” Jock said. “Then I met April and I moved in with her. Rick has a new room mate now.”

“Rick, tell me a bit about you,” I said.

“Well I’m twenty-four, I like games and music, hanging with friends, and I’m a coder for Microsoft Games. I’m currently working on your team,” he said. “My idea of fun is playing a good game. I’m quite fond of playing ‘Nightmare’.”

“Thank you,” I said. “That game is special to me for some reason. I haven’t figured that out yet. As you know I’m a college student. I have one more year at Saguaro University in Arizona where I’m studying Computer Programming. I live here with my lover, Evan, and we wanted to get to know the team a little better. We work together. We might as well be friendly.”

“You’re a designer,” Rick said. “No designer ever invited us to his or her house.”

“Well I’m not like the other designers,” I said. “I want us to be a real team, a family of sorts. That won’t happen if I don’t get to know you.”

“Well I’m a normal guy I guess,” Jock said. “I like skateboarding and coding. I’m fond of movies and music. I live in an apartment with my girlfriend, April. We’re talking about getting married.”

“That’s wonderful,” I said. “Congratulations, Jock.”

“Thanks,” he said. “I haven’t bought a ring yet.”

“Well you should,” I said. “If you want her to marry you, you gotta have a ring.”

“That’s what I keep telling him,” Rick said.

“Well we’ll work on him together,” I said. “The steaks are done is everyone ready to eat?”

“I am,” said Jock. Rick nodded.

We were quiet as we ate our food. The vegetables were the right temperature and the steak was awesome. Jock and Rick looked like they were in heaven. I had no idea what a coder made at Microsoft Games but Evan had said that I made three times what he made. That made me think. I knew what I made and then thought about what it would be three times of. Then I had an inkling what these guys made and I thought the steak might be a nice treat for them.

“So how did you come up with ‘Pirate Seas’?” asked Jock.

“I don’t know really,” I said. “It just came to me. Pretty much the same way that ‘Nightmare’ came to me. I just sat and thought about what would make a cool game. Then I started to write it out on the sheets and saw that I had something and handed them to you guys to get started. We’re way ahead of schedule by the way.”

“We know,” said Rick with a smile. “We’re on our game so to speak this time. Graphics is rocking and all of it is coming together. I’ve already finished the water and have been working on odds and ends for the game since. No one has given me any more pieces to code.”

“There aren’t many pieces left,” I said.

“That’s awesome,” Jock said. “You’ll be done with the game soon.”

“Yes,” I said. “Then we’ll work on projects from the others if I can’t figure out a new game or expansion.”

“You’ll think of something,” he said.

“I usually do,” I agreed.

We cleaned up the plates and silver and banked the coals in the grill. Then Jock and Rick were leaving and I shook their hands and told them I’d invite them again soon. They liked that and left.

“Well that went well,” Evan said. “They were impressed that we had steaks.”

“I noticed that,” I said.

We didn’t code that night. Instead we washed up and watched television. Then we went to bed. The Universal visit the next day was a lot of fun but most of the place seemed to be geared toward kids. We rode rides and saw shows but by the time we left I was ready to go.

Coding continued both at work and at home. We finished “Pirate Seas” just before the fourth of July. Stan was thrilled that it wasn’t another “Nightmare”. They shot the first commercial for it and surprised me by releasing it on August first. Before that we had the cookout and fireworks at Neal and Travis’s house.

Everyone had a great time. Some of the coders had kids and they had a good time. Neal was a great host and kept everyone well entertained. He had toys for the kids and things for the adults to do and then there were the fireworks.

I came up with another game. This one was more like “Forest Folly”. It was that game but built up with more levels and more obstacles. It didn’t take long to code and it was released in August. I didn’t have another big game idea for a while. But that was fine we were going back to school soon anyway. Classes started Monday, August sixth. We were packing and getting ready for school for a while before we even had to go. Evan didn’t like it but he understood it.

Neal would be driving Travis to school and I would be driving myself. Evan was a little worried about that until I told him that I drove to and from school when I lived in Quincy and before Travis transferred to Saguaro.

I drove the five hours to Osage, Arizona on the fifth. I got there at around two in the afternoon and moved into my room. Brady was there and he was happy to see me. He said he had the “Pirate Seas” game. I smiled at this and said that was cool. He’d also bought “Forest Folly” and played it as well. He told me it was fun but not as fun as “Pirate Seas”.

I started working on an expansion for “Pirate Seas”. I got Neal on board by telling him this was about Blackbeard’s Treasure. It would have ten new ships for pirates and flagships for the armada. Now the pirates would have the ability to take over the armada ships and retrofit them like a pirate ship. In Graphics we needed Blackbeard, the ten ships and flagships for the armada, more treasure, and some sea monsters to avoid or fight. I fleshed it all out on the sheets and sent them to the team. “Pirate Seas: Blackbeard’s Treasure” was in coding.

Neal was having fun and so was I. At least I could make this expansion pack for “Pirate Seas” and keep the team working on my games. I wasn’t sure that I’d write anymore expansions for “Legends Rise” or “Nightmare”. Those were finished as far as I was concerned. “Pirate Seas” might not get more than this one either.

Brady wanted to know what I was working on and though I was supposed to keep it a secret I told him. He was over the moon about an expansion pack for “Pirate Seas”. He said it was his favorite game ever. I liked hearing that.

I stopped coding and told him I was hungry. I asked if he wanted to go out for steak my treat. He was all for it so we grabbed our wallets and I grabbed my keys and we headed to my truck. We drove to the steak house and got a table.

“You’ve never taken me to a place like this before,” he said. I had taken him to the Taco Shack and other fast food restaurants as his big but never to the steak house.

“I’m in the mood for steak,” I said. “You were with me so I thought I’d bring you along and treat you.”

“Thanks,” he said, smiling. “I couldn’t wait to come back to school so I could see what you were working on now.”

“Well now you know,” I said.

“I really love ‘Pirate Seas’,” he said. “My only complaint is that as a pirate I can’t take over a ship from the armada.”

“You can in the expansion pack,” I told him. “It’s called ‘Pirate Seas: Blackbeard’s Treasure’ and it’s got new ships for both sides and more treasure. It’ll be possible for the pirates to take over the armada ships now and there will be sea monsters to fight or avoid.”

“Cool!” he enthused. “I can’t wait to play that one.”

“Well I’m coding it,” I said. “My team is coding it too. Neal’s got his team on the graphics for the game. We’ll have it ready sooner or later.”

“Oh I know,” he said. “I’m just glad that you told me what was in the expansion. Those are almost as expensive as the game and they aren’t always a good buy.”

“You bought ‘Pirate Seas’?” I asked.

“Of course I did,” he said.

“You should have said something to me I got a box of them to give out,” I said. “You didn’t say anything so I assumed you didn’t want one.”

“I didn’t know that you’d have given me one,” he said.

“Brady, I gave them to my friends,” I said. “I thought you and I were friends.”

“We are,” he assured.

“Then why would I not give you a copy of the game when I was handing them out?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he said.

“You don’t have the highest esteem do you?” I asked.

“If you mean I expect the worst then you’re right,” he said. “It comes from living with my parents. I wanted things and asked for them and never got them. So I stopped asking.”

“Well I’m going to have to adopt you as a younger brother,” I said. “You need a whole new outlook on life.”

“You are already my big,” he said.

“Yeah but that’s a fraternity thing,” I said. “I’m talking like an actual brother.”

“You’d have me for a brother?” he asked.

“Of course I would,” I said. “I’m going to take you under my wing this year.”

“Yeah you only have one more year,” he said.

“Yes this is my last year at school,” I said. “At least until I go for my Master’s degree.”

“Are you going to do that here?” he asked.

“No,” I said. “I’m going to UCLA for that. I live in Los Angeles.”

“I thought you lived in Quincy, Illinois,” he said.

“Well I did but I moved in with my lover in Los Angeles,” I said. “I work in Los Angeles.”

“Okay,” he said.

“When you go home for Christmas what happens?” I asked, having a bad feeling.

“Nothing,” he said. “They don’t really want me there. They pay for my schooling but they don’t really want anything to do with me.”

“Well then from now on you go home with me for Christmas and all of Winter Break,” I said. “We’ll accept you and want you around.”

“Really?” he asked, looking dubious.

“Brady, trust me okay?” I said. “We’ll start with you getting a free copy of the expansion pack. Where did you get your computer?”

“I bought it,” he said. “That was the only way I was ever going to get one. I got a job when I turned sixteen and bought a computer.”

“Well do you have ‘Legends Rise’ or ‘Nightmare’?” I asked.

“No,” he said.

“Well when we leave here I’ll buy you a copy of both with the expansion packs,” I said.

“Why?” he asked.

“Because you’re my little brother,” I said. “You’re going to come home to me for the holidays and summer. If your parents don’t want you around then don’t be around. Just come to me and Evan.”

“All right,” he said. “If you’re sure you want me there.”

“Of course we want you there,” I said. I’d have to call Evan and tell him what I was doing.

“Then I’m all yours,” he said. “I’ve never had anyone worry about me before.”

“Well you’ve got two now,” I said.

We ate our meals and then we got out of there. I took him to Target and got him both games and the expansion packs for both. We went back to the frat house and he installed them on his computer. He started to play “Legends Rise” so I went back to coding.

I called Even before I went to bed that night and told him I’d adopted Brady. He knew that I was his big but I told him that it was much more significant than a fraternity brother. I had taken him on as my adopted little brother. I told him that Brady was a throw away kid who’s parents wanted nothing to do with him now that he was in college. He went home for breaks and they were put out by him being there with them. So from now on he would come to us for breaks and holidays and summer. Evan agreed and I was happy.

The next day I took Brady along with me, Neal, and Travis. We went to the Taco Shack and I told them that Brady was my new little brother. He said we’d have to stop treating him and he’d stop coming because he had very little money. I told him to sit there and eat because I had plenty of money.

Neal asked what was going on so I told him exactly what was going on. Travis looked at Brady like a lost dog or something but when I told them that I had adopted him as my little brother they both got the gist of what I was saying.

It was like that every time we went somewhere. Brady was dragged along. It happened so often that he just stopped questioning it. If I went somewhere Brady went too. That’s all there was to it. I even called Jacks and told him all about Brady and that I had adopted him as my little brother. He just said another damaged kid was joining the family. I was satisfied that he understood.

We went to college parties and fraternity parties together. He was with me for baseball practice and several of my team mates asked me if I’d broken up with Evan for Brady. I told them there was nothing dirty going on. I had adopted him as my little brother and that seemed to shut them up.

“I can’t come with you tomorrow because I have practice,” he said to me when we left the baseball field.

“I know that,” I said. “I’m going to your practice.”

“Oh,” he said. “Okay.”

In the end it was me, Neal, and Travis at his track practice. We sat in the stands and watched everything that went on and then we waited outside the locker room for him to join us. Then we went to the Taco Shack.

We helped him study for tests and hung out with him after track meets and he came to baseball practice and we hung out at the Taco Shack. I let him see what the graphics were like when Neal or one of the graphics team members uploaded them to the portal. He watched me code and I watched him play my games.

He caught on that I wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. That was to the good because I bought him some fraternity swag and he tried to tell me no but I just left it on his bed and told him it was his.

I also went to my own classes and had my own tests and the like to study for. We were moving through the semester and my work got harder and harder. That I was a senior was not lost on me.

I finished coding “Blackbeard’s Treasure” just before mid term. Then I started thinking about a bigger game to create. This one was so unlike the others that I hoped the team didn’t balk when I gave them the sheets. It was a war like game where you and your team had to clear the desert around you to get to the hostages that were being held by the other side. The object of the game was to rescue the hostages and get them back to base camp successfully. I was calling it “Project Rescue”. And I put it on the sheets and sent them to the team. Then I had a long talk with Neal about what I wanted and he ran with it.

This time I wanted a desert with soldiers and civilians. The civilians were the hostages. I needed bad guys and kidnappers and bombs and smoke bombs and guns and knives. I let him go and let the graphics team go and create what they thought should be in the game. I’d code it in. This way it was sort of a collaboration between Me, Neal, and the team.

Brady liked the idea of the game and I had him with me while we coded it. It came together really quickly. This was one of the easier games to code because I didn’t have to worry about dragons or creatures. I just had the desert, the good guys and the bad guys. I got graphics back really fast, and I coded it all in. They had radios, and backpack bombs, car bombs, and dried food for the soldiers to eat. I coded everything in and we were finished just before Halloween. I presented it via video call to Stan and he loved it. They asked for testers and I had Brady sing up to test the game.

They got the data from the testers who found no glitches which I thought was amazing. The game was set to be released in November. I would have to be at the release party with Neal. So that meant Brady, Neal, Travis, and I were driving to Los Angeles to be a release party for a game that went together so quickly that I was amazed that we’d done it.

He went with us to the release party. Travis had never been to one of these either. They both had a grand time of it. I paid for drinks for the whole table now that I was twenty-one. Of course Brady had to drink soda but he had the time of his life.

Neal and I were interviewed by MTV about the game and where it had come from. We told them that it had come from the news mostly. They were satisfied with our answers and let us go. We went back to our table and hung out with Brady and Travis.

They were playing the game on the screens throughout the club. Evan was thrilled. He shook Brady’s hand and welcomed him to the family. Brady was just beside himself with praise for the game. Evan ate that up. He hadn’t been a creator on the game but he loved to hear that what he worked on was well received. Brady loved the game.

We spent the night in our houses that night. Evan and I had Brady with us. He loved the house and told me that he couldn’t believe that we wanted him there. I looked at Evan. He told him he was welcome in our home any time.

We drove back to Osage he next day and back to the frat. Everyone was talking about seeing us on MTV and loved the game as I handed out copies of it for both PC and Xbox. I made sure that Brady got one for his PC. Neal made sure that Travis had one for his PC.

We were gearing up for final exams and we studied together as a group like last time. We studied at The Taco Shack, the library, the common room of the fraternity and the dining room of the fraternity. We studied hard.

I took my first two finals and knew I’d done good on them. I sat with Brady when he was done with his first two. We waited for the whole group. Then we studied some more. I got through my second two and Brady got through his. His major was Computer Science so I’d had a lot of his classes. The last two finals were a bit harder for me but I got through them. Then we were done and could leave for Winter Break.

We drove to Los Angeles and then got on a plane and flew to St. Louis. Jacks was there to pick us up and he took us to the Holiday Inn over by Walmart. We checked in and put our bags in our rooms and then we were driven to the house. I had presents for everyone and Evan had presents for everyone. Brady even had presents for everyone even though he hadn’t bought them.

Jacks told me I looked older to him. I told him he did too. We laughed about that. He hugged me and then he hugged Evan. He even hugged Brady who was a bit skittish because he didn’t know anyone here. We hung out with them until we couldn’t stand it anymore. Then he drove us to the hotel. I told him to take us to a car rental agency the next day.

That night we slept the sleep of the dead. I was happy that Brady was in the next room and wasn’t arguing with me about paying for him anymore. He had a big brother now he just had to accept it.

The next day Jacks took us to a car lot. We rented an SUV. Then we drove to Jacks’s house and had breakfast with Lisa and Jacks. Rod had grown a bit since I’d seen him last. He told me that his friends all loved my games and that his friend Lance had “Nightmare” and the expansion. He said his mom wouldn’t let him have the game. I said that was the breaks. He said he wanted “Project Rescue”. I just smiled at him. He said he hoped he got it for Christmas.

When he went off to be with his friends, Lisa told me that she still wasn’t letting him play “Nightmare”. He could play it at Lance’s house but not in this house. I laughed. I couldn’t say much about it because I designed the game.

“Now this new one you have made,” she said, looking at me. “Is it bloody?”

“It can be,” I said. “But not like ‘Nightmare’.”

“Well he can have ‘Project Rescue’,” she said. “Do you happen to have it for him?”

“I do but I was going to talk to you before I let him unwrap that particular gift,” I said. “I also brought him ‘Forest Folly’.”

“The other new one?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I said, smiling.

“Well that’s okay,” she said. “He wants an Xbox of his own to have in his room but I just can’t afford one.”

“Um,” I said and her eyes went wide.

“You have one for him?” she asked.

“I do,” I said, giving her the don’t shoot me look.

“Oh, Jake!” she said. She got tears in her eyes. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” I said. “He’s like my cousin now. I’ll take care of him.”

“That means a lot to me,” she said.

“It’s much the same way that I’m taking care of Brady,” I said.

“I’ve heard his story,” she said, looking at him. “Brady you’re welcome here any time, Honey.”

“Thank you, Lisa,” he said. “I’m just getting used to Jake doing all of this for me. I never had anyone do anything for me in my life. I mean when I was little they spoiled me but once I started school it was necessities and nothing more.”

“That’s so sad,” she said. “It sounds like they wanted a little boy forever. You couldn’t be that so they rejected you.”

“It’s okay,” he said. “I got over it a long time ago.”

“You shouldn’t have had to get over something like that,” said Jacks. “You’re family now young man. Get used to us because you’ll either be here or we’ll be in LA but you’re one of us.”

“Thank you,” he said, smiling.

“Speaking of Christmas,” Evan said. “I didn’t buy video games or machines to play them on. I got him a handheld game and a ball glove.”

“That’s good,” she said. “He loves baseball. And all of the kids have those handheld games.”

“Well he will have one now,” Evan said.

“You guys are spoiling my son,” she said with a smile. “Continue.”

“We will,” I said and then we were all laughing.

We had lunch then and Rod came home. We sat around the table talking and laughing. This is what I’d been missing. My family. We had a good meal and then Rod went off to play his video game. Lisa told me she’d bought him the expansion to “Legends Rise” and he’d been playing it non stop.

“There won’t be any more expansions at this time,” I said. “I haven’t thought of anything to add to it.”

“I understand,” she said. “I’ve played the game and it has everything.”

“It does,” I said. “We just released ‘Project Rescue’ and I’ve thought of an expansion for it already. Those games are easy to make expansions though.”

“Yeah,” she said. “Unfortunately there’s a lot of that in the world right now to choose from.”

“Exactly,” I said. “I’d always said I wouldn’t do a war game but then I thought if I don’t what am I going to do?”

“Well I don’t really condone those games either but if I told him no about ‘Nightmare’ I couldn’t tell him no about ‘Project Rescue’,” she said. “You need to make some kid friendly games.”

“I’ll work on that,” I said, and everyone laughed.

“It’s good to see you, kid,” Jacks said. “I missed you over the summer.”

“I missed you, too,” I said. “But I live in Los Angeles now.”

“I know,” he said. “That’s why I miss you.”

“I know,” I said. “We’ll get together again next year one way or another.”

“Yeah we will,” he said. “Lisa and I are saving to come to Los Angeles to see you.”

“Well you know I can help with that,” I said.

“No you won’t,” he said. “We’ll do this ourselves.”

“All right,” I said beaten.

We hung out with Jacks and Lisa during the day but we were at the hotel at night. We’d get up around nine or ten and then head over there. That was until Christmas morning. We got up at five and headed over there. Rod was safely asleep so we sneaked our presents into the house and put them under the Christmas tree. Then we had cocoa and bacon, egg, and cheese bagels in the kitchen.

Rod got up around nine and went straight to the living room. We all went in there, too. We let him open his presents first. He was overjoyed to get “Project Rescue”. He was happy with “Forest Folly”, but he was ecstatic about the Xbox of his very own. He hugged me and thanked me. Then he hugged Evan and thanked him. He got the handheld game he’d wanted and a new ball glove from Evan. Brady had gotten him a batting glove and new cleats. He was happy.

We opened our presents after he was done. I got a new laptop case that was much like the one I had already bought, a Quincy Gems t-shirt, and a bunch of chocolate from Jacks. Then I got a Quincy Blue Devil sweatshirt from Lisa. Rod got me a cell phone case. Evan got me a storage box in the shape of the action figure for Pegasus and another necklace. I got him a necklace and a gift certificate to the steak house in Los Angeles.

Brady got the same laptop case that I got and a Quincy Gems t-shirt from Jacks. From Lisa he got a pair of track shoes in his size and a Quincy Blue Devils sweatshirt. From me he got an Xbox and a laptop. From Evan he got chocolate and a package of t-shirts.

I got Jacks a cookbook like the ones he collected. I got Lisa a necklace, bracelet, and earrings. She loved them. We helped pick up all of the paper and put it in a black trash bag. Then Rod had breakfast while Brady tried to tell me that what I’d bought him was too much. I just told him to suck it up because they were his. He thanked me but he wasn’t happy. I knew that the computer he had was a second hand machine and the laptop was a gaming laptop. He could play all of my games on it. Plus I got him the Xbox because he didn’t have one.

It was a good Christmas. We stayed in town until we had to head back to school. So Jacks had me around for the day after Christmas dinner that was just as elaborate as the Christmas dinner because it was leftovers. We enjoyed it as much the second time as we had the first time.

When we were ready to fly back to Los Angeles we got all packed up. Jacks took me to take the car back. Then he drove us to St. Louis and sat with us while we waited on our flight. He told me that it was so odd for him to wait with me in an airport to send me off again. I told him that it was still odd for me to be sitting in an airport after the crash. He looked at me for a long moment before he said anything.

“Does that still bother you?” he asked.

“Not really,” I said. “Just when I fly. I’ll be all right. I wasn’t driving to Los Angeles from Quincy. We’d have to be in school before I got there.”

“Well if it’s too much why don’t you take a sedative?” he asked.

“I do,” I said with a smile. “Trust me I know what I’m doing.”

“The turbulence bother you?” he asked.

“Sometimes,” I said. “It’s all relative. Don’t worry about me so much.”

“Kid, I’ll always worry about you,” he said, and I felt a lump grow in my throat.