The silence between Jack and Sarah lasted only a second before they looked at each other before bursting into laughter.
"Hey, they wouldn't want us to feel down. Let's cherish the memories." Jack said as he lifted his glass of water high.
Sarah smiled as she tried to cling her glass of water to Jack's cup but failed to reach it while sitting down.
"Lower, please." Sarah coughed with her cheeks flush from embarrassment.
Jack lowered his glass of water, clinging it to Sarah's before laughing.
Being taller truly was better.
Sarah pouted before kicking Jack's shin under the table, which caused him to groan.
"Being short has its advantages," Sarah said as she already knew what he was thinking.
"Yeah, yeah. You're a short queen." Jack said with a heavy voice as he rubbed his pained shins.
"Thank you for acknowledging it. Speaking of which, how have you been working out? Like, what's your training routine?"
"You have gotten so big these two years. Like, I swear you weren't this tall before. Did you get that height extension surgery where they break your legs?" Sarah asked as she narrowed her eyes.
"Hell nah, you know I hate pain. I could never do that sort of torture to myself. Plus, my proportions would be all wacky. I'm normal and just always been this good-looking. You are just now recognizing it." Jack said with a smug smile.
Sarah rolled her eyes.
"Maybe, but explain yourself."
"Well, I had a second growth spurt, which is basically it. And a few workouts from time to time." Jack said clearly.
"A second growth spurt, how lucky," Sarah sighed.
She grabbed her burger and took a bite before continuing to talk with Jack before the conversation led to somewhere Jack could ask for her friend's investment.
"Sarah, do you know anyone willing to invest in a poor, handsome, kind, smart, professional game developer like me," Jack said while hiding his nervousness.
Sarah blinked with shock before saying, "Why are you trying to scam my friends?"
"Of course not. You know me when I have ever scammed."
"What about our DND sessions where you-"
"Hey, you know that I can't be held liable for anything my characters in the game do. Frederick Sticky Hands is a completely different person than me." Jack said quickly.
"Well, what about when you scammed me out of a rare Magic the Gathering card by telling me you would sleeve it for me?" Sarah accused.
"Did I do that? I can't seem to recall." Jack said with a confused look.
"Don't try to play innocent; it was when you helped me create my first deck. It was the first pack I opened. That's ruthless." Sarah said as she crossed her arms.
"Beginners' luck is real. I have been trying to get that card for years." Jack muttered under his breath.
"What was that?"
"I said, I think I remember something like that. But you accusing me is false, madam. I did sleeve it. I just forgot to return it to you. I'm pretty sure I still have it, too." Jack said as he searched his memories to figure out where he put his Magic the Gathering collection.
It should be in a box inside his closet.
"Really? You still have it. I thought you would have…" Sarah said with surprise.
She paused before saying, "I can be your investor."
"Are you sure? Do you have the cash to lend me a thousand or two?" Jack asked as he felt a bit embarrassed.
"Yeah, I can. Although I'm in college, my internship pays me above the average rate. Though I work less than twenty hours a week, it isn't that much."
"And honestly, I miss working on games with you. College hasn't been as fun as those times. If you're successful, that's a free job right out of college too." Sarah warmly smiled as she grabbed her purse to take out what she had.
Jack stopped her before she could and said.
"Wait, don't give me the money now. I'll send you a game prototype in…let's say, two days. If you like it, you can give me the money then."
Sarah blinked before nodding.
"Okay, but as a fellow game developer, I know that making a game prototype in only two days is really hard. Are you sure?"
"Positive. I couldn't put out three good games in only two years for nothing. I'm very good with my fingers now." Jack said as he wiggled his fingers.
"Gross," Sarah said with disgust on her face.
"You know what I meant," Jack rolled his eyes.
Sarah calmed down and nodded her head.
"Okay, do you need my email? I think you and I only exchanged our school email addresses back then."
"Sure, here, just put it on my phone," Jack said as he handed Sarah his phone.
Sarah entered her email into Jack's phone and sent herself a message.
"So, do you have any ideas for your new game?" Sarah asked as she took another bit of her burger.
"Nope. Since you will be my sugar mama, I'll customize it for you. Any preferences?"
"As long as it's not an FPS or a platform game, I'm fine with anything," Sarah said after she slurped up her water.
"Alright, that crosses out a bunch of my ideas. Alright, I have an idea. I'll send you the game file soon." Jack said as his mind whirled with ideas of what Sarah liked.
Sarah nodded her head as she continued to eat her burger.
Seeing her eat, Jack got hungry himself and began eating.
After half an hour of eating and talking, they left Chili's and were about to go their separate ways when Sarah said.
"Wait, Hester, about that rare card. Can I come to your place this weekend to pick it up?" Sarah said with sparkling eyes.
"Uh, my place is kind of a mess right now. What if I just gave it to you?" Jack said with his lips twitching.
"And have you 'forget' again? No way I'm coming over. " Sarah said with determination.
Her lips pouted while her red eyes sparkled.
"Okay, here is my address." Jack softly rushed. He relented and sent her his address in a text message.
Getting Jack's address, Sarah smiled and said, "See you in a few days!"
She then walked off into the distance.
Jack briefly breathed out a heavy sigh of relief as he smiled. He got his first investor. Which meant he could at least pay rent this month.
"Twenty-four days. I need to somehow get 60,000 dollars in less than a month. It's going to be difficult, but I believe in myself." Jack thought to himself.
Talking to a close friend did help him organize his thoughts.
When Jack got home, he felt inspired and immediately went to his computer to write.
"Since Sarah is planning on becoming a plant specialist then she should have an interest in that. And she loves card and tower defense games."
"What if I create a game where the main goal is to protect a base camp from hordes of monsters."
"And to protect the base, you will get cards with unique plants that can kill the monsters."
"Basically, plants vs zombies. Actually, wasn't it Sarah's favorite game? So that should be pretty good, but it's too similar. I should add unique elements to it."
"What if I expand the base camp? It won't just be a line but a whole base you must protect from every direction. You know what, I'll give the player freedom to place the plants anywhere."
"And I can add survival elements. Where not only does the player have to have combat plants but plants that provide food, water, and electricity for their base."
"That might be too complicated for new players right at the start. I'll add a major city behind the player's base camp. It will provide them with food, electricity, and water as long as they pay for it by selling their plant products for money.
"And as the game progresses, the player can buy generators, water collectors, and have plants that create food until they can be completely self-sufficient if they choose to."
Jack tapped his finger on his table as a million ideas flooded his head. Rapidly turning into a beautiful, detailed image of an apocalyptic hellscape.
He saw it clearly: scorched earth, broken roads, a small ramshackle house surrounded by giant sentient plants—and just beyond it, the glowing skyline of a city.
What was needed? The limitations. Everything was exactly what was capable of being performed with his skill level.
"All that is left is to actually design the game and to decide the character designs. Would Sarah like it cutesy like Plants vs Zombies, or is she a girl who would appreciate a little gore?" Jack muttered and pulled up Digital Factory.
He selected the character tab before narrowing his selection to zombies. There were hundreds if not thousands of zombies of different types recorded in Digital Factory, all available for game developers to use for free.
However, as Jack scrolled down, looking at the various types of zombies and designs, he knew his decision was made for him.
"I guess until I get enough money to buy monster designs, I'm forced to use these gory and realistic monsters," Jack muttered.