I mean she does need the money

Emma woke up the next morning groggy. “That was like, a totally weird dream,” she muttered as she slid out of bed before gasping and clapping her hand over her mouth.

“OMG was it not a dream?” she whispered before clamping her mouth shut. This was so freaky. This meant magic was real, and she now was speaking like some stereotypical valley girl. She then checked her phone. The $100 from last night was still there. Maybe this wasn’t so bad, she thought.

Not that she was anywhere near making rent but if this game was real then maybe she could manage it. Still that seemed like a real last resort option. Shrugging she got her clothes on and headed to her car.

The drive was uneventful but that was probably a good thing. She didn’t need more excitement in her life. What she could use less of though was reminders of how alone she was. She angrily honked at a couple who took forever to get over a crosswalk because of their constant hugging and kissing.

There were few things that annoyed Emma more than PDA. She didn’t necessarily disapprove but she couldn’t help feeling jealous. She arrived at the campus in short order and ran to her seminar. Once inside she looked around, most of the people here were ones she knew, it wasn’t like there were a million doctoral candidates at the university but still she chose a seat high and away from the small clusters of other students.

The seminar was honestly a waste of time, just some review of research techniques and grant proposal methods. She sighed watching the grant slides before begrudgingly writing the information down, she still needed at least $7,000 to fund her research. Finally the lecture ended and she spent a few moments packing her things, letting the room clear before she made her way out.

Not that it mattered because she was practically ambushed the second she left the room.

It was one of the other doctoral candidates Hector Rodriguez. He was the most stereotypical gay man Emma had ever met and one of the few other students who she even partially considered a friend.

“Emma, you look so troubled. Tell Hector everything, darling!” He said in his over the top gay accent.

“Hey Hector I um, I had something happen last night that was just like, totally freaky and it’s messing with my head.” she explained and then regretted it.

“OH EM GEE did the even perfect Emma just use like in a like, totally valley girl way. That was literally the cutest thing I have ever seen and I own three kittens. Come here Em, we need to take a selfie together.” He then wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in for the selfie.

She wanted to push away from him but couldn’t, it had been so long since she actually felt the touch of another human being that she just whimpered and let it happen. He snapped the selfie quickly and let her go. She didn’t want to admit that she honestly would have liked for the side hug to have lasted a little longer.

“So Em I wanted to catch you because a bunch of us are going to the bar next Thursday and I intend for you to join us.” explained Hector.

“I um, I have a lot of studying to do…” Emma tried to say but Hector placed a finger over her lips.

“Emma, if you don’t learn how to have fun, sometimes you’re going to crash and burn before you ever present your thesis. At least consider it okay?” he said before waving and jogging towards his next class.

Emma watched him go and felt odd maybe Melarra’s game was doing something to her, affecting her thought but she kind of doubted it. None of the other stories of people who played the game had mentioned anything happening that wasn’t directly related to a card they had drawn. Maybe Melarra was right and she really did want this.

As if on cue her phone chimed. She pulled it out and looked at the text “Amazing deal opportunity: Draw a new card and get $150 right now.”

Emma hesitated, she hadn’t wanted to indulge in the game, not until it was urgent but she had heard about these deals, they only lasted about 5 minutes and $150 was a good chunk of change.

She texted back “Still nothing that will make me stupider right?”

The witches reply came instantly “Don’t worry dear I know it can take time to let go of things like intelligence when you thought they were the most important thing about you. You still have four cards before anything affecting your intelligence will even be a possibility.”

She gulped and then replied “Okay new card for $150.” The deck appeared in front of her again and she grabbed a card:

TOUCHY-FEELY: Emma craves physical contact.

She looked at the card and felt odd. Based on her reaction to Hector’s side hug maybe this wasn’t so much of a change. Her phone then pinged again. Another $150 in her account. That brought a smile to her face, she was now almost halfway to having her rent covered.

She got through the rest of the day on a slight buzz of happiness. Her skin tingled at every brush of contact—elbows in crowded seats, hands passing papers. Each one lit her up like a soft little firework. She even found herself intentionally sitting close to others in her two remaining seminars. When her arm bumped against the person sitting right beside her she actually almost giggled with how nice it felt.

When she returned home that night her mood was higher than it had been in at least a month, she fell into bed and hugged her pillow tight to her chest. Even that felt nicer than normal.

Smiling she wrapped a blanket around herself imagining it was the arms of a friend, or maybe even a lover. She thought back to the couple she honked at this morning. If only she had someone to give her hugs and kisses on the way to her days. Sighing at the dream she found herself drifting off to sleep once again this time with a smile plastered on her face.

Current Money: $393

Current Cards:

LIKE, TOTALLY: Emma’s speech will begin to include regular “likes” and “OMGs”.

TOUCHY-FEELY: Emma craves physical contact.