Travis left the kitchen and stepped into the dining room. Jenny was seated casually on a chair, her phone in hand, idly scrolling as she ate from a bowl of cereal. Her legs were spread just enough to reveal the smooth line of her thighs and the faint, tempting outline of her pussy beneath the thin fabric of her shorts.
'She will be a very tough cookie to crack. No pun intended. By the way, do I have stats?' he thought.
[ 📊 STATS:
■ Strength: 3/10
■ Intelligence: 2/10
■ Charisma: 1/10
■ Endurance: 4/10
■ Libido: 5/10
■ Luck: 1/10 ]
'Damn. Starting from the bottom. Well, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way, honestly,' Travis thought.
He sat across from her, leaning back in his chair as his gaze drifted past her to the pool outside. The sunlight shimmered across the water, each ripple catching the light in a calm, almost hypnotic rhythm. For a moment, it was easy to forget the game-like system, the missions, or even Jenny's constant attitude.
Jenny finally raised her head from her phone, her eyes landing on Travis's uncharacteristically peaceful expression. She caught herself smiling a little before she quickly masked it.
'What's up with this dork? He's been quiet ever since this morning. He'd normally greet me, then I'd ignore him, of course,' she thought with a smirk tugging at her lips.
Travis, feeling her eyes on him, glanced in her direction without turning his head. The smirk on her face evaporated instantly, replaced with a suspicious frown.
"What is up with you today? Did you goon this morning or something? I heard about post-nut clarity the other day," she said, her voice laced with amusement, a small chuckle escaping at her own jab.
Travis shook his head slowly, his tone calm but pointed. "No. I'm just thinking. By the way, when will you get a job?"
The smirk on Jenny's face snapped into a glare. Her voice rose sharply, hot with offense. "That's none of your business!"
'Doing everything but a job? She'll even open an OnlyFans in the near future,' Travis thought, his expression betraying none of the cynicism in his mind.
Just then, Debbie walked in, the shift in air between the two teens hitting her immediately. Her eyes flicked to Travis, who met her gaze with a small, knowing smirk. Debbie shook her head with a faint sigh, walking over to place a plate of breakfast in front of him.
"Thanks," Travis said, his voice softening as he dug into the perfectly cooked meal. Jenny, still prickly from his earlier comment, calmed enough to resume eating her cereal. Debbie, watching them for a moment longer, decided not to intervene and instead left for the bathroom to take her shower.
'Okay… what's my plan since I now know the future? I'll be going to school in a day. Which sucks balls. But at least I'll meet Eve,' he thought, his eyes narrowing slightly in anticipation.
Jenny was lazily scrolling through her phone, thumbs tapping away as she texted her best friend, Jane, who worked at the local library. Jane was a lot like her in some ways—sharp-tongued, sarcastic, and with a habit of overanalyzing everything—but she had this unspoken side to her.
Jenny knew Jane was sort of bisexual, even though Jane would never outright admit it. Their friendship went way back, to the kind of childhood memories where faces blur but feelings remain. To Jenny, Jane wasn't just her best friend—she was her anchor, her partner-in-crime… her home girl. And Jenny knew, deep down, she was Jane's too.
After a few minutes of back-and-forth teasing and inside jokes, Jenny put her phone down and went back to eating, sneaking small, almost subconscious glances at Travis. She wasn't about to say it out loud, but she kinda liked this version of him—quieter, less sarcastic, and surprisingly tolerable.
' He's right though… I really should look for ways to get money. But what though? Something quick… easy… and doesn't require too much effort, ' she thought, her fork idly scraping at her plate as her mind began to wander.
Travis finished the last bite of Debbie's perfectly cooked breakfast, savoring the buttery aftertaste before standing up from his seat. The movement caught Jenny off guard—she had been sitting there, lost in thought, idly running her spoon through what was left of her cereal. Her eyes followed him as he left the dining room without a word.
'I'll ask Jane if she knows something that could get me money,' she decided, pushing back her chair with a faint scrape against the floor before getting up to follow him.
In the kitchen, Jenny stood beside him at the sink, sleeves pushed slightly up as they washed their dishes together. The running water and clinking of ceramic filled the quiet air. When they were done, she casually took Travis's plate without being asked and began wiping it dry. He watched her for a moment, the uncharacteristic kindness catching him off guard.
'Whatever happened for her to be this nice?' he wondered, brows narrowing ever so slightly.
Jenny stacked the clean plates neatly in the cabinet and left the kitchen without another glance. Travis followed, his eyes instinctively trailing downward as she made her way up the stairs. Her long, toned legs seemed to go on forever, ending in the perfect curve of her ass. The thin fabric of her shorts shifted with each step, and despite himself, he felt his cock twitch against the inside of his pants.
By the time they reached the top of the stairs, nothing had been said. Jenny went straight into her room, and Travis did the same—locking the door behind him.
He dropped onto the couch and reached for his school bag, pulling out a slightly worn notebook. Flipping it open, he began to jot down a list of tasks, the scratch of the pen oddly satisfying. His handwriting was quick but deliberate—plans to set himself up before Monday, priorities for building his stats, and, of course, a few names of girls he knew he'd be encountering soon.
Halfway through his writing, the familiar electronic tone of the System rang in his head.
[ Mission #1: See everyone's affection bar – Complete ]
Rewards:
1. $200
2. Random Stat Increase
3. Smooth Talk Skill
[ Keep up the good work! ]
'Alright, I guess I can scratch the first part off the list. With 200 I can definitely fix my computer. I also got a stat increase… What should I raise?' he thought, the translucent stat menu appearing before his eyes.
He stared at the options for a moment before making his choice.
'I guess intelligence. It'll help me analyze things better.'
■ Intelligence: 3/10
A sudden, brief sting pulsed behind his eyes—like a pinprick deep in his skull—before vanishing just as quickly.
'Then there's the new skill. How do I even use that… Smooth Talk.'
[ Skills ]
■ Smooth Talk: A passive and active verbal manipulation technique. Increases charm during conversations, reduces hostility in tense situations, and subtly boosts affection gain when talking to someone attracted to you.
' Okay, sounds good. So it's always on, which helps a lot. Well, I think I'm ready. From tomorrow, I'll begin with helping Debbie around the house. I just need her to see me as dependable. ' he thought.
He leaned back in his couch.
His mind was already racing ahead, mapping out the little things he could do without drawing too much attention. Take out the trash before she asks. Offer to carry groceries in. Maybe even fix that loose cabinet door she keeps complaining about.
It wasn't about the chores—it was about planting a seed, letting her see a version of him that was useful, steady. Someone she could rely on.
His fingers drummed against his thigh unconsciously as he pictured Debbie's reaction. Would she be surprised? Amused? Maybe even a little impressed?
' Yeah… if she starts to depend on me, then I can start moving things in the direction I want. One step at a time. '
He gave a small, satisfied smirk, his plan already starting to feel solid in his mind.
TO BE CONTINUED