Chapter 6

Time together

No longer did a simple screen keep us apart.

Now we could become real friends.

Now we could spend our time together.

Denny knocked on Mari's bedroom door. It was now Sunday morning, and he wanted to spend his first day in this realm completely with Mari.

There was no reply, so Denny slowly opened the door. Mari was sitting on the floor with her 3DS. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Good morning. I was just chatting with Jersh."
Denny felt a pang of jealously in his side. Mari had seemed more interested in Jersh than Denny's becoming real.

"'Morning. Hey, it's Sunday so...do you want to hang out somewhere?" Denny looked down. The moment seemed so awkward, and he didn't want Mari to get any wrong ideas.

"Sure!" Mari turned off the game and walked over. "We should go swimming in the river down at the park. It's supposed to get in the 90s today."

Denny smiled, his cheeks turning a rosy shade of pink. "Alright. Lets go."

As they walked down the neighborhood to the park, Mari stayed very quiet.

"Is something wrong?" Denny asked, turning his head to look at her.

"Oh no," Mari responded quickly. "I'm just thinking. If it was possible for you to come out of your game, would it be possible for other characters to come out of their games?"
Denny stopped walking and stared at her. His face flushed red and he started to become angry.

But Denny hid those feelings as he replied, "I'd think so. Why? Do you want Jersh to become real? Sorry, but he told me he's afraid to." Denny's voice became sharp with that last sentence, but Mari didn't notice.

"Actually, I was thinking of an older game. One on the Gameboy Color."
Denny looked questioningly at Mari. He had very little idea what a Gameboy Color was, and much less if a character could come from a system that old.
"I don't know." He finally replied with a shrug. The two continued walking until they reached the river.

Mari laughed and splashed Denny.

"Stop! You're going to scare all the fish away!" He complained, teasingly.

"Whatever. You don't have a net, and I highly doubt you could catch one with your bare hands." The twinkle in Mari's eye made it seem like a dare.
"Oh yeah?" Denny put his hands on his hips. "Watch me!"

He knelt down and became very still, waiting for a fish to swim by. His eyes followed a trout that was floating down stream. Cautiously and very slowly, Denny shifted positions, ready to grab the fish. Just as it came into range, he shot his arms forward to grab it.

Everything flashed white, and then black, and then pixelated for a moment. Denny fell onto his rear in the stream, holding his head.

Mari quickly hurried over to him. Her face was white. The whole bet about the fish had been forgotten.

"What...what happened?" Denny groaned, looking up at her.
"I don't know," Mari's voice trembled. "For half a second, you just disappeared."
Denny felt the blood drain from his face and he started to feel sick.

"Disappeared?! What do you mean disappeared?" He croaked.
"I don't know! That's what it looked like," Mari covered her face.

Denny stood and put his arms around her.
"I'm fine..." He said with a reassuring tone.

Something's wrong. He thought, heart filled with fear.