“You look familiar. Did I teach a brother or sister of yours?” he asked.
I frowned, shaking my head. “My sister didn’t go here.” I was pretty sure he knew me because Devin had him last year, and I’d found Devin in his classroom a few times when he was supposed to meet me after school. But I didn’t want to talk about Devin.
Mr.Persaud’s face brightened. “I remember! You were with Devin Kapadia! My best student! He had the highest grade in my class last year, you know. And he wasn’t even in grade twelve yet!” He smiled warmly. “That boy is going to go places. I’m writing him letters ofrecommendation for university. Be sure to ask him to help you with your coursework if you find it complicated.”
I nodded, then left the room before the man could gush any more about Devin. Even if I had any intention of speaking to my ex again, like I would need his help, anyway. True, Devin was excellent at math. But I was better.
LostAxis and I played that evening, and as usual, we were unstoppable, plundering the hordes while barely breaking a sweat. We were both using our Obsidian Staffs, and the magic they wielded was stronger than anything I’d used before. But when we reached the dragon, the drop we were hoping for—the golden Aegean egg—wasn’t there.
GreenEggsAndSam:Crap. There’s no egg.
I knew this was a thing that could happen with some high-level dragons, but I’d never fought a dragon and not found an egg. What a waste of time.
LostAxis:Figures. With the day I’ve had, I should have known not to test my luck.
GreenEggsAndSam:Right there with you. I hate the first day of school. You wanna talk about anything?
I immediately wondered if I shouldn’t have asked. As I’d told Cass and Aimee earlier, LostAxis and I didn’t go deep. And I didn’t really want to talk about what had happened to me today, either.
LostAxis:Nah. Playing with you now is helping. Did you know some snails can sleep up to three years?
GreenEggsAndSam:Really?
LostAxis:Would you do that if you could? Just sleep for three years and wake up twenty years old?
I thought about it a second before answering.
GreenEggsAndSam:I don’t know. You only have seven years as a teenager—seems silly to sleep through 3 of them.
Then again, skipping high school wouldn’t be a bad thing.
LostAxis:I’d do it. My head will be clearer when I’m 20.
GreenEggsAndSam:It’s not clear now?
LostAxis:I feel like I can’t see past the glasses on my face. I honestly have no idea what is happening around me anymore.
He sounded even more shaken up than me. Maybe he reallydidneed a friend tonight.
GreenEggsAndSam:You sure you don’t want to talk about it?
LostAxis:No. Just keep playing with me. Should we try this dragon again? The odds should be in our favor this time...
GreenEggsAndSam:Clearly you need to take data management. That’s not how probabilities work.
LostAxis:I took data management last semester and got a 97, thank you very much. But practice and theory are noticeably different, don’t you think?
We got the egg the second time around, but it didn’t have the drop we wanted. We couldn’t do a third round because I needed to log off soon for dinner. But Axis seemed to be in a better mood, at least. He seemed less bleak than when he’d mentioned sleeping for three years like a snail.
Before I logged off, he asked if we could play the next night but later, because he had math club after school.
LostAxis had mentioned he was into math several times. He even said he’d done the Math Olympics test last year—a province-wide math test you could take in grade eleven. I’d done it, too, and scored in the top five percentile.
GreenEggsAndSam:I’m not joining math club at my school this year.
LostAxis:Why not?
GreenEggsAndSam:Not feeling it. I need a change. No worries if you’re a bit late tomorrow. Tonight was fun.
