Gwendolyn Caspian didn’t know what to think when Maddy came home and told her about the new webcam that she purchased, but she wasn’t too surprised when she found that she had already set it up, on HER computer. Which meant that Maddy would be spending more time in her room, using her computer, and likely butting in on her gaming time (as well as possibly being there when she needed a place to return to from her nightly patrols, but she at least had the tool shed in the back to slip into if she needed to transform. Which was NOT a fun prospect for Gwen to have to deal with in the future.

And her reasoning? To stay in contact with mom… and him.

Gwen made it clear that she didn’t like him. He may have given her the adorable pet rat that had accompanied her to Destiny City and various places, and he may have even been his name sake, but Gwen simply did not like him.
Her stepfather was very clingy to Sarah, and she didn’t like it. At all. He was also a smooth talker, able to convince not only her mom, but Maddy, into seeing things his way, but he couldn’t fool Gwen. Sarah didn’t need him; she was a strong, independent woman, and he was simply using her! For what, Gwen didn’t know what or why, but she was absolutely certain of it. She was a Caspian, not a Lionel, and she let it be known when she pressed ‘Decline’ when the prompt popped up.

“I have a cell phone, and Mom can call me with that!” Gwen said aloud to Micah, the rat that had poked his head out of his igloo at the sound of her voice. The fancy rat wriggled its nose and whiskers but was, per usual, quiet, which was a smart feat considering how Gwen liked to rant. She continued to remove her uniform, bit by bit, speaking to her little furry friend while she slipped into something more comfortable. “Like I want to hit accept and it turns out to be HIM! The only Micahs I want to talk to are the fat little rat in my room, and this friend of Jett, who sounds like she’s as much of a trouble maker as you.”

Again, the rat resorted to a few hiffs before moving out of his igloo and climbing up the bars, waiting eagerly for his owner to allow him out of the cage. He didn’t have to wait long, as no sooner did Gwen throw on a t-shirt, she opened the cage door and allowed the rat to crawl onto her hands. She gave him a pat on the head before setting him down on her bed, and once again her messenger chimed.

“Would you like to accept video chat? NO!” Again, she declined, making sure to hit the button with even more force though she knew it wouldn’t do much of anything. It wasn’t going to make the refusal to chat any clearer to the gentleman on the other side, but it made Gwen feel better. Gwen could have used anything as an excuse to NOT talk to him, but she decided to go with the truth, and the easiest to get into. Video games!

“Alright, Kingdoms of Amular, let us hope you are both loud and completely enthralling!” Gwen said with a devious grin, opening the case and putting it into her PS3, making sure that the volume would be high enough to block out the annoying chime. A girl had to have her alone time, and this was one of the rare days that she wasn’t bogged down with summer reading; like hell did a Caspain allow a good chance to go to waste! ’If Maddy wants to talk to him, then she can move the webcam to –her-computer instead. I have a kingdom to save… or something… what IS the point of this game anyway?’

There was one way to find out…

(word count: 672)