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“I will soon.”

He smiles, that dangerous dimple popping back out, and I can tell he’s genuinely excited to play against me. Suddenly, I feel a lot less nervous.

Michael and Hannah play first. Hannah must be on a sports team, because she slams against the puck with the force of a professional batter. Jase confirms that she is, in fact, on the varsity softball team. The puck glides across the rink in a blur of red. Michael slides his striker forward but misses. Throughout their round, they playfully tease each other. Every now and then they say, “Nice shot, babe!”

I take advantage of the wait time by showing Andy and Karthik my Instagram photos, and, to my surprise, they point out the parts they like. To honor our deal, Jase shows me his extension of “i miss dad,” which is only five seconds longer.

“Isn’t coming prepared a good idea?” I tease.

“Kind of hard to do that since I didn’t know you’d be here,” Jase teases back. “I’m working on it, okay?”

“Working on it? Or giving up halfway?”

Jase scratches the back of his head and laughs. “Damn, you got me. It was sounding crappy, so I gave up.”

Admittedly, the five seconds he added are pretty rough, the strings sounding more mangled than smooth. But I mean it when I say, “It’s off to a good start. You still have the tone. Just keep working on it.”

He looks at me for a long moment, clearly not expecting me to say that, and a smile spreads across his face. “Thanks.”

Hannah wins the game, and Michael congratulates her with a kiss.

Nora’s up against Andy. Of course, I root for her, cheering in an indoors voice, “Yes, Queen Nora, let’s go!”

“He’s going to get his ass kicked,” Jase says to me.

“I can hear you,” Andy says.

“That was on purpose.”

Andy ignores this and serves the puck. Again, I take advantage of the wait time, quickly because I want to cheer on Nora, and show my Instagram photos to Hannah and Michael. They, too, also tell me what they like. Jase’s friends seem nice and chill. With any luck, they stay that way when they witness my horrible air hockey skills.

Jase lets me listen to an extension of “jordan,” a song about his brother. It’s now three seconds longer. I could have sworn we only agreed on one song, but since I like listening to his music, I don’t say anything. The strings jumble together. The strumming fluctuates between fast and slow, slow and fast, like Jase is figuring out which strings to play and the tempo he wants to play them. Though the song needs some cleaning, my knees bounce and my head bops along to the chaos of strings, the corners of my mouth lifting on their own until a smile fully blooms. A blast of excitement buzzes through my body. I have an urge to run outside and holler as the sun bathes me in heat and light. I love this song, love the energy it makes me feel, and if Jase can continue shaping and crafting the thirty seconds that exists into something more, it’ll be perfect for a kick of summer joy.

Throughout their match, Nora and Andy slam each other’s favorite characters in an attempt to distract and score. Because of that, the game is close, but Nora, by two points, wins.

“Yes, queen!” I say, high fiving her with both hands.

Now it’s Jase against Karthik. Jase wasn’t pitying me when he said he sucks. In fact, he may be worse than me, though I might be speaking too soon. He almost always misses the second Karthik hits the puck his way. In the end, Karthik wins by a landslide. Jase only scores a total of three points.

It’s finally my turn. Though I expect everyone to laugh at me, Nora being the exception, I tell myself to do my best.

Turns out I was worrying about nothing. Maybe that motivation to break my losing streak has returned, because my arm slices across the rink and slams against the puck with strength I never knew I possessed. I even strike the puck faster than I ever have. Either Nora is too good, or Jase is that bad, because in the end I’m the victor, the scores 5-2 in every round.

I look at the scoreboard displayed on two screens above the table, the numbers glowing in red digits, and say, “Now that’s a pleasant surprise.”

Jase shoots me a leer, coupled with a lopsided grin, while everyone else laughs and shouts, “Ooh!”

“Savage!” Andy shouts.

We play a few more matches, changing up who goes against who. Even though my match with Jase is my only victory, I have a great time, laughing and cheering throughout each game. Nobody makes fun of me. When they do talk to me, it’s to say that one of my strikes is great, or that I hit the puck impressively fast. Well, I’m relieved to know that Jase’s friends are as nice and chill as he is.

Once we’re done, we head over to an arcade game, where two players duel against each other, the characters of choice being warriors with various weapons. I lose every match, but that doesn’t stop me from laughing and playing as hard as I can. When we try out a dance game, all of us play horribly, either stomping on the steps too slowly or too quickly. Jase even says, “How do you play this thing?” before giving up and dancing the Running Man. We explode into laughter, and several people turn our way. To my surprise, I don’t care that they pay us any attention.

We play a few more arcade games, then try our luck at a crane machine. I’m starting to feel hungry, so I tell everyone that I’m going to the snack bar.

“I’ll come with you,” Jase offers.

“Oh!” Andy hoots. Michael snorts, Hannah grins, and Karthik maintains his stoic face.