28 Sink or Swim

Emily was surprised to receive a message from RoboCat on the first day of school. He had been avoiding her for months and that had hurt more than she would have thought it could considering they didn't actually know each other. She wasn't about to let him off easy after hurting her like that.

She responded to his sheepish message of 'hey' with a gif of someone awkwardly waving tersely. 'Look who decided to show up'

'Yeah, about that…would you believe I've been so busy I've hardly remembered to sleep?'

'No'

'It does sound like a pretty lame excuse. But I've actually been working on making a game for people's phones all summer. It kind of took over my life'

Emily's anger ebbed away and curiosity took its place. 'A game? What kind of game? You've never mentioned that you make games before'

'This is my first one. An art student approached me with an idea but needed a programmer to make it happen. Do you follow that blog sunshine-daisy-butter-mellow?'

'Who doesn't follow her?!'

'She's the artist'

Emily got excited. 'Shut up! You actually know sunshine-daisy-butter-mellow in real life? Is she as funny?'

'Sorry to disappoint you but our meetings were completely professional. I didn't get to see her funny side. Have you tried the game? I know she posted about it'

'Not yet! I was planning on doing it between classes this week because there's never much homework at first'

'Let me know what you think when you do. It was sunshine-daisy-butter-mellow's brainchild but I was the one who made it happen'

She felt a lot better about not hearing from him after finding out that he actually had a pretty cool reason not to be in touch. 'I will! That's actually really cool, RoboCat. I accept your excuse'

And just like that, they were back to chatting like normal. Emily was relieved. She had missed RoboCat a lot, surprising herself. But in hindsight it made sense—RoboCat had been there consistently since she was in high school. They had never gone so long without talking. His absence was noticeable.

Emily was excited to try the game because it would bring her a little closer to RoboCat. This was something real and tangible about him.

He had spent his entire summer bringing this app into the world. If she played it she was experiencing a small bit of his life.

The next day she downloaded it between classes. Brandon was meeting with a professor and was running late so she had time to knock out a few levels. The game required more critical thinking than she had expected. After knocking out the first four levels easily she had to try the fifth one twice before she lasted long enough to get rescued.

"What are you doing?"

Emily looked up from her phone and smiled. "Hey, Brandon. I was just playing this new game while I waited for you."

"What's it called?"

"Sink or Swim. A friend of mine helped make it so I figured I'd check it out. It's pretty fun!" She held out her phone to show him the home screen of the game.

"The graphics are pretty good," he said. "Which friend is this?"

"They go to a different school," Emily said quickly.

She had no idea how to explain RoboCat's presence in her life. Brandon wasn't into social media. He had a Friendbook but hardly used it. When they officially became a couple she had to coax him into changing his relationship status on there.

"Ah, gotcha," he said dismissively. "I don't really have time to play games. I'm a TA this semester."

Emily pouted. "Is this going to cut into my Brandon Time?"

"Yes…but this is for my future, Emily. I know you understand. You have your own ambitions."

She did understand but that didn't mean she had to like it. She had grown rather used to having her boyfriend around over the summer. Their work schedules were similar so whenever they weren't working, they were together. The thought of being apart rankled.

"Yeah, I know. I was just saying. I'll miss you," she confessed.

Brandon smiled. "I'll miss you too. We got spoiled this summer."

He was thinking the same thing she was for once. She couldn't help but be happy about that. Sometimes she wondered if they had anything in common at all. But Justin and Samantha were night and day and they got along fine so that didn't mean a relationship like that couldn't work.

"We sure did," she said wistfully. "But now we'll both probably be too busy to breathe, let alone date."

"Don't exaggerate," he chuckled. "We'll have time to breathe. It's sleep I'm worried about."

Emily laughed too. Ah, the joys of being a college student. "At least you're almost done! Only two semesters left. I'm going to be here for the rest of my life."

"It'll go by faster than you think." Brandon suddenly frowned. "I wish I'd started thinking about my future sooner. I've done all these internships and it still doesn't seem like enough experience to get a good job straight out of school."

"Hardly anyone gets a good job straight out of—" she tried comforting him but was cut off fiercely.

"I have to! Everyone in my family has always graduated with honors and gone on to do great things right away. If I'm the only one that doesn't…you have no idea what that would be like."

Emily thought of her dad and how he would tear her apart for any tiny thing he deemed to be less than perfect. "Actually I do," she said coolly.

The air between the two of them became awkward. It was quiet for a while before Emily took the initiative, sighing. "Let's go get lunch."