She glances over my shoulder—where I’m sure Max is glowering at me—and slowly nods. “Okay. I can’t imagine it going well, but I don’t want to be left out either. Unless he starts being a jerk to me, and then I’m out.”
“If he says anything to you—toanyof us—I’m kicking him out. It’s my campaign and my house, so he has to do what I say.”
She giggles. “I like the sound of that. Now I kind of hope he does say something just so I can watch that.”
“Let’s not hopetoomuch for that. But you’re in?”
“Totally.” She pulls me into a quick hug. “I’m going to grab a slice of pizza, do you want to come?”
“You go ahead, I need to find Nova first.”
She practically skips away and my heart wobbles. She’s so sweet. I hope I haven’t just signed her up for a nightmare D&D experience.
I glance around for Nova, eager to tell her the news, but instead Max stalks up to me.
“Were you two just excitedly planning my murder?”
The question is so unexpected that I laugh before I can think better of it. “Yep. I needed an accomplice and Li isveryexcited to lend a hand. You should expect us in three to four business days.”
His mouth quirks up into the tiniest of smiles and I feel weirdly triumphant that I can still get that reaction out ofhim.
“Seriously,” he continues, “why was one of your color guard members screaming my name like that? It was disturbing.”
I hesitate. I’m still not sure, but I guess I’m going to have to talk to him about it at some point.
“Do you know if your mom is planning to have you come to my house every Sunday from now on?”
Any hint of laughter drops from his expression, and his mouth presses into a straight line. “We’re still discussing it.”
“So, that’s a yes. My mom already said as much.”
“I’m sure she did.”
I shake my head in annoyance. “What’s with you and your vendetta against me and my mom?”
“What’s with you and your mom talking about me all the time?”
We both glare at each other for a moment and then I sigh. “You know what, never mind. This was never going to work.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I’d been debating starting a D&D game on Sunday nights. Nova’s been asking me to do it, and I thought it might be something you could do with us on Sundays if your mom is forcing you to come. Li was freaking out because I’d justasked her to join as well.” I put my hands on my hips. “But it’s obviously a horrible idea. I don’t want to run a game where one of my players is going to question everything I say, or have constant snide comments, or just be insulting. It’s not worth it. You can watch TV downstairs, I’ll stay in my room, and our parents will have to deal.”
I walk away, shocked by the disappointment welling up inside me. Not because of Max, but because I won’t be able to spend this time with Nova and Li. Maybe I can still hold the game some other time when Max isn’t around. Fridays and Saturdays are hard right now because of football games and competitions, but once marching band season is over it’ll be different. Nova and Li will be sad, but they’ll understand that we need to wait.
Max jogs up so that he’s standing in front of me, and I’m forced to stop.
“You wanted me to join your D&D game?”
“Wantedis the wrong way to phrase that.”
“Okay, but you were willing?”
“I was.”
His jaw works back and forth, and his eyes study my face. “We always talked about starting a game together.”
His words fill me with unexpected emotion. Wehadalways talked about it. We spent hours and hours reading the D&D manuals and brainstorming stupid characters and thinking about campaign ideas. I had loved that time together—honestly, I’d loved all our evenings—but the way Max acts now makes it seem like none of that ever happened. It’s as if he doesn’t even remember it. To hear him acknowledge it now is a gut punch.
