I try to envision a large troll hiding in a bakery and roll my eyes. Then I feel like maybe my Tabaxi rogue may be a little hungry. “Can I steal some pastries while I’m here?”
Everyone in the chat groans.
“Why would you want to steal some pastries?” someone asks. He sounds a lot more exasperated than my brother. Which is saying a lot.
“Because I’m a thief,” I remind them all.
“Fight or flee?” Mason asks.
“Pastry.”
More groans. I hold back a chuckle and a quip about how this is what he gets for inviting his sister to play his stupid game just as my phone vibrates on my desk. A quick glance tells me it’s Jules.
Jules:Are you home?
Me:Yeah, just playing a little D&D with the nerds.
Jules:Can I come over?
Me:Always. Door’s unlocked.
“Oh my God, just roll the dice,” Mason begs.
Thinking Jules was going to be with Tyler for a while before coming over, I pull one of my headphones away from my ear so I can hear when she gets here, excited to spend Thanksgiving break at home together. I roll the virtual dice, hoping more than anything that I’ll be able to steal some Danish in this otherwise fairly serious game.
When I hit the parameters to swipe a pastry or two, I spin in my chair and pump my fist. “Yes! I’m going to steal as much as my catlike hands can carry.”
“You’ve successfully stolen the bread,” Mason continues, cutting through my diabolical laughter, “but in doing so, the troll lunges, slashing at you with its twisted, gnarly claws with deadly precision.”
And if that doesn’t just shut me the hell up. “Wait, what? Am I dead?”
I can practically hear his shrug through my headset. “Maybe. Forty-four points of damage. What do you do?”
No one says anything while I consider my options. I’m still learning, and as much as the group likes to give me crap, they’re patient when it comes to my learning curve.
That is admittedly kinda cool. Once I have it figured out, I pump my fist again because holy hell, what a great skill. “Aha! Uncanny dodge! Still alive and kicking!”
“Of course you are,” Mason mumbles. He probably had my outcome calculated way before me, being my teacher and DM and all, and even though it’s said with an annoyed tone, I know he’s happy my little detour didn’t cost the crew their rogue. “You manage to evade the troll and disengage, so you narrowly escape another, surely fatal, blow.”
Okay, so,maybeI’m starting to see the appeal of this game.
“Hey.”
The soft greeting has me spinning in my chair and fully pulling my headphones down around my neck. I mute my mic. “Hey. You got here fast. How was Ty—” My smile vanishes when I see her standing in my doorway. She won’t look at me, but that doesn’t hide the fact that she’s clearly been crying.
I toss off my headset and cross the room. “What happened? Are you okay?”
Her gaze lifts to mine, and I know exactly what happened before she says it. “We broke up,” she says, confirming my suspicions.
Her eyes are red and brimming with tears and she has such a sad, pained expression that it makes my stomach bottom out. “Oh, Jules.”
We meet halfway, and I pull her against me just as she falls forward. She presses her face into my shoulder and starts to cry. I rub her back in slow circular motions until she loosens her hold on the back of my shirt.
“Dude, where’d you…” I look over my shoulder, and my eyes meet Mason’s. He stands frozen in the doorway of our joint bathroom and glances between me and Jules, his expression full of concern. I shake my head. Thankfully, he seems to understand and quietly retreats back to his room.
“We met at the park. I should’ve known when he didn’t invite me to his house. We started to talk, and next thing I know, we just…ended it.” She pulls back and wipes her nose with the back of her hand. She looks so small and withdrawn that I want to pull her back to me. “It’s not his fault,” she’s quick to say. It makes my chest tighten.
“It’s not yours, either.”
