Read Gamer Girl Online

Authors: Mari Mancusi

Tags: #Divorce, #Science & Technology, #Sports & Recreation, #Cartoons and comics, #Fantasy games, #People & Places, #Comic Books; Strips; Etc, #Massachusetts, #Schools, #Juvenile Fiction, #Social Issues, #Love & Romance, #Comics & Graphic Novels, #United States, #Children of divorced parents, #Games, #Marriage & Divorce, #Fiction, #School & Education, #Role playing, #Family, #General, #New Experience, #High schools, #Moving; Household

Gamer Girl (10 page)

BOOK: Gamer Girl
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I looked at the
clock, surprised to see it was already midnight. We'd been playing
for over eight hours straight! Crazy. Still, I couldn't remember a
day in the last year when I'd had as much fun.

"Okay,
Dad." I smiled at him. "I'll log off in a minute." Dad
got up to go drag Emily to bed and I turned back to the computer.

93

[Allora]
(It's late. Dad says I have to go to bed.)

[SirLeo]
(Yeah. Wow. I didn't even realize it was midnight.)

[Allora]
(I know. Time flies when you're having fun.)

Sir Leo
smiles.

[SirLeo]
(I had a LOT of fun. You're great to play with.)

Allora
blushes.

[Allora]
(Thanks. © You're fun to play with yourself.)

There was a
pause in conversation and at first I thought Sir Leo had left the
computer. Then another instant message dinged.

[SirLeo]
(Uh, sorry. I was just...)

[Allora]
(??)

[SirLeo]
(Well, it's weird to play with you so much and not know anything
about you. I mean, I know you probably live on the East Coast,
because we're in the same time zone. But besides that...)

[Allora]
(Yeah. It is weird. I feel like I know you really, really well, and
yet not at all.)

[SirLeo]
(Yes! It's crazy. At least tell me where you live.)

I swallowed
hard, my hands hovering over the keys, not sure what to do. Dad had
just warned me about this. And I'd laughed him off, saying I'd never
do it. And yet here I was, a few hours later, totally tempted.

[Allora]
(Um, I'm not supposed to say. Dad's rules, remember?)

94

Argh. Even as I
typed it, I realized how stupid I sounded. How babyish. Sir Leo was
going to think I was a total loser. Either that or I was completely
uninterested in him, which was so not the case. Heck, if there was
any way in the known universe to meet him in real life, I would in a
heartbeat.

[SirLeo]
(Oh. Right. Yeah, that makes sense. Your dad's smart. I mean, you
never know. Not that I would do anything, obviously. But how would
you know that?)

[Allora]
(Right. I mean, I don't know you. Well, not the real you, you know?)

Wow, this was
awkward and I wasn't explaining myself very well. The last thing I
wanted was for him to think I didn't trust him.

[SirLeo]
(Sorry, I shouldn't have even asked. My bad.)

[Allora]
(It's okay. Don't worry about it.)

[SirLeo]
(It's just... well, I think you're really cool. And I know you
probably still live a thousand miles away and would never want to
anyway, but I just can't help thinking how awesome it'd be to meet
you in real life.)

I stared at the
computer, too dumbfounded to type a reply. He wanted to meet me? In
real life? I suddenly felt faint and my stomach started flip-flopping
as I imagined the scene playing out. Sir Leo, stepping into the room,
handsome and breathtaking. Breaking into a big smile as his eyes fell
on me.

95

Me, grinning
back at him, my heart beating a mile a minute. Him, sweeping me up
into a tender embrace and kissing me senseless.

I shook my
head.
Fantasize much, Maddy?

Before I could
type a reply, Dad burst back into the room. "Did you say your
good nights?" he asked, walking over to the computer. Quickly, I
minimized the game screen, red-faced, not wanting him to read our
conversation. Seeing a guy online say he wanted to meet me in real
life was so going to set off the parental warning bells.

"Um,
yeah," I stammered. "I'm just going to check my e-mail and
go to bed."

Dad kissed the
top of my forehead. "Okay, sweetie," he said. "I'm
going to brush my teeth and hit the hay. See you in the morning."
He exited the room.

Once alone, I
maximized the game screen again. In my absence, Sir Leo had continued
typing, probably assuming I was too shocked to answer him. I scanned
the chat screen, cringing at what I'd missed.

[SirLeo]
(Um, I can't believe I just typed that. Never mind. Forget I said
anything.)

[SirLeo]
(This is stupid. You're probably not even a real girl or something.)

[SirLeo]
(I mean, not that I don't believe you or anything.

Sorry, that
came out wrong.)

[SirLeo]
(Um, hello? Are you there?)

[SirLeo]
(Great. I probably scared you off. I'm sorry.)

96

Sir Leo
sighs.

[SirLeo]
(Well, good night. It was fun playing with you. Sweet dreams.)

Sir Leo logs
off.

I banged my
head on the desk in frustration. What had I just done? Probably
completely embarrassed him and made him think I wasn't interested.
Which was so not the case. In fact, I had a raging, burning,
out-of-control crush on the guy.

But what choice
did I have? I tried to rationalize. Even forgetting that whole online
safety thing for a moment, did I really want to meet him in real
life? I mean, he thought I was a beautiful, sexy elf chick. If he met
the real Madeline Starr, he'd probably run screaming in the other
direction.

I switched off
the computer and got up from my chair. It was better this way, I told
myself. Be online friends and leave it at that.

So why did that
seem so hard to do?

97

CHAPTER 10

THE REST of the
weekend passed uneventfully. On Sunday, Emily staged an
anti-video-game protest that threatened to turn violent if we dared
log on for even the slightest moment just to check our in-game mail.
So Dad gave in to her demands, packed up some Cokes, and together we
headed downtown to the cinema.

"One for
each of you," he explained, pressing the tickets into our palms.
"Just to get past the ushers. Then we can movie-hop all day
long. Oh, and Maddy," he added, "I got you a child's
ticket. If anyone asks, you need to tell them that you're eleven,
okay?"

"Okay,"
I said reluctantly. "Whatever." Dad was weird like that.
He'd drop a thousand dollars on a souped-up computer without thinking
twice, but totally balk at spending a couple extra dollars on an
adult movie ticket for his teenage daughter. I think he liked the
idea of feeling like he was getting away with something. He winked at
me as we handed over our tickets to a zit-faced, bored usher--who
would have

98

probably let me
in if I'd insisted I was an eighty-three-year-old grandma--and then
high-fived me as I officially entered into the inner sanctum of the
AMC.

"Nice job,
Maddy," he praised. "Way to stick it to the man."

I didn't know
who he considered the "man" in this scenario. (It couldn't
be the usher!) But I did reluctantly admit to myself, not for the
first time, that Mom could be onto something with her whole "your
dad never grew up" theory.

We watched
three movies in a row. I slept through most of the last one, bored
out of my mind. All I wanted to do was to go home and play Fields of
Fantasy with Sir Leo. I wondered if he'd logged on this afternoon. If
he was playing right this very second. If he missed me and wondered
where I was. I hoped he didn't think I was avoiding him after our
convo last night. . . .

I sighed,
shoveling a handful from my third bag of popcorn in my mouth.
"Free
refills!"
Dad had said when he bought the large.
"Fill
up and we won't have to eat dinner!"
I'd just have to log in
the second I got home. Straighten things out between us. After all,
Sir Leo's friendship was about the only good thing happening in my
life right now. The last thing I needed was to screw that up, too.

Dad dropped us
off around six. Mom had cooked a three course meal that both Emily
and I were too full to eat, thanks

99

to about
fifteen buckets of extra-buttered popcorn, three giant bags of M&M's,
and at least a gallon of Coke. When questioned, Dad swore we had hit
the all-you-can-eat salad bar on the way home and Emily and I were
just too stuffed with wholesome lettucey goodness to eat another
bite.

I could tell
Mom didn't believe him for one second, even when Emily and I grunted
confirmations to his outrageous lie, just so they wouldn't start
fighting again. Dad made a quick exit out the door and I headed
upstairs, despite pleas from Mom that I come watch the latest and
greatest episode of some random NBC drama or other that she had
become addicted to. Three movies in a row had already put me over my
limit for passive, mindless media. I needed something interactive to
excite my weary brain.

I needed Fields
of Fantasy.

Or--because who
was I fooling, really?--I needed Sir Leo.

I shut my door,
blocking out the real world, and sat down at my computer, ready to
immerse myself in the life I was already starting to prefer. The one
where parents didn't lie and fight. Where friends didn't let me down.
Where bullies didn't torture me. And where I could hang with the guy
who was fast becoming my best friend.

If he wasn't
mad at me.

Allora smiled
as she appeared on the screen, as if she were happy to be back
online. A blinking message told me I had new mail. I walked her over
to the mailbox outside the inn and took a look.

100

Allora,

Hope you didn't
get annoyed at me asking you all those questions yesterday. I guess
it's just that I think you're really cool and I was curious about the
real-life you. But I totally understand what your dad says about not
giving out personal info on the Web. It's smart really. And there's
no way for me to prove that I really am who I say I am. Anyway, I
hope we can still play and you're not mad at me 'cause I think you
rock.

Also, your
magic comes in wayyy handy with the dragons and stuff, lolz. jk.
(Sorta.) Love,

Sir Leo

I could feel
the smile spreading across my face, the annoyances of the day fading
into oblivion. He was so sweet. So, so sweet. I reread the note,
tingles pricking all the way down to my toes. He liked me. He really,
really liked me. He even signed his note with LOVE!

SQUEE!

I checked to
see if he was online. No luck. Guess I'd have to just write him back.

Dear Sir Leo,

It's all good.
I totally still want to hang out and play. Sorry about last
night....Actually, I only closed the screen because my dad came by
and he'd have gotten really mad if he saw me talking to someone about
real-life stuff

101

after he told
me not to. He's real anal like that. Anyway, I still want to play as
much as possible coz I <3 this game and you're totally fun
to play with. (Not to mention you're a great tank--little cloth-robed
me would totally be smooshed without you!! He-he.)

I paused,
trying to decide how to end the note. Then, deciding to be daring, I
signed "XOXOXO" and then Allora. After all, he signed
"love" first. Then I hit Send before I could chicken out
and delete them again.

Because even
if, for necessary reasons, the guy who played Sir Leo couldn't be my
real-life boyfriend, there was no harm, no foul, for Sir Leo to be
hooking up with Allora online, was there?

102

CHAPTER 11

REPORTED to my
final day of detention only to have Mr. Wilks tell me that he had a
family emergency and couldn't stay to bahysit me, so I was off the
hook. Problem was, by the time he told me, the first bus had already
left, so I was still stuck at school for an extra hour, even if I
didn't have to spend it in his classroom. Mom was at work, so I
couldn't call her for a ride and there was no way I was going to ask
Grandma--I didn't want a repeat of her last visit to Hannah Dustin.

So I wandered
down the halls, wondering how to occupy myself. It was then that I
noticed the doors to the school theater were open. Curious, I peeked
in. The lights onstage were up full and the drama kids were
rehearsing. Suddenly, Chad Murray entered stage left, wearing a
belted tunic and carrying a sword. I grinned involuntarily. Chad in
tights. Delish.

Yes, I still
hadn't been able to shake my crush. Especially after he'd gone out of
his way to return my drawing last week. He really was a nice guy, no
matter who he hung with. And

103

smart, too--I'd
noticed he was always acing tests in class. And though he rarely
raised his hand, when the teacher called on him he always had
something interesting to say. Totally unlike the rest of the Haters,
who were self-absorbed idiots who saw school as a platform to enhance
their small town celebrity status, rather than a house of learning.

I sighed. If
only there was a way to get to know him better. But whenever I saw
him, he was glued to Billy's side. And that made him permanently
off-limits. Not to mention he was way out of my league. I'd seen the
beautiful girls who threw themselves at him on a daily basis. If he
didn't go for them, there was no way he'd ever go for me.

But that didn't
mean I couldn't spy from afar. So I propped my knees against the
chair in front of me and got comfortable, pulling out my sketchbook.
Maybe I could get some inspiration for my manga for the in-game
scenes. After all, they were performing the Arthurian play
Camelot
and so there was a definite medieval theme going on, similar to the
elfin kingdom in my book.

As I turned my
attention to the stage, I saw Chad/ Lancelot falling to his knees in
front of the fair maiden playing Guenevere, (aka Sarah Silver from my
B-period history class), taking her hand in his. He looked up at her,
transforming from high school student to beautiful knight beseeching
his lady queen.

BOOK: Gamer Girl
3.38Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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