The Summer I Became a Nerd

#27

Just like last time, there’s a long line to talk to either Sorenson or Torrak, the red-bearded dwarf. As I wait, I start to

realize there are so many different layers to this game. First, there’s the main storyline developed by the game masters, but

beneath that, there seem to be all these little stories going on at the same time that are created by the players themselves.

Like, there’s a vampire under the disco ball who must have taken offense to some dwarf’s dirty joke because he’s now using an

emotional control power to make the dwarf fall in love with the cute elf standing by the snack table.

This makes me think of my own little player-created story. I check over my shoulder to see if Logan is still in the lawn chair. He

’s not. I really hope he didn’t decide to leave. My immediate reaction is to find Kelsey and make sure she hasn’t kidnapped him

and stuck him in a tall tower somewhere. When I can’t find her in the crowd either, my heart really starts to pound.

By the time I get in front of Sorenson, I’m sure I’ve worn blisters on both my pinky toes because I’ve been bouncing on the

balls of my feet.

“Yes, Laowyn, how may I help you?” he asks in his fake British accent.

“I need to speak with you and another, but I do not want to do it inside Sanctuary. I fear it may get heated.”

Sorenson crosses his fingers and holds them up for me to see, the sign he’s about to speak out of character. “Are you sure about

this, Maddie? Kelsey’s been doing this a lot longer than you and—”

I hold up a hand. “I’m sure.”

He nods and uncrosses his fingers. “So be it. Lead me to the one you wish to speak with.”

I don’t tell Sorenson I don’t really know where she is. He follows me inside, and, thankfully, she’s right there in the

kitchen. With Logan. He looks even more tired than he did earlier. Her right hand lays flat against his chest, right over his

heart, and she’s looking up at him, saying something. As he shakes his head no, his gaze lands on me across the room. At first,

he looks relieved, even happy, but his brows quickly knit together, his mouth turning into that thin line of pissed-offness.

“Her,” I point at Kelsey, “The fairy with my friend.”

“You go ahead out front. I’ll bring her out.”

The few people inside must have noticed the exchange between Sorenson and me because they part, giving me a clear path to the

front door. My feet are really hurting me now so I sit on the porch steps and slip off my killer heels. The only lights out here

are the streetlamps and the occasional headlights from a passing vehicle. I walk out onto the lawn, wiggling my toes in the still

-warm grass.

I try to tell myself even if this doesn’t work and I don’t win, Kelsey will still be outed as the bad guy. Everyone will still

respect me for figuring everything out, but that’s not the goal here. I don’t care what everyone else thinks. I want to prove to

myself I’m not a coward. That the part of me that was obsessed with hiding who I am is dead. And there’s Logan, of course. I

really only care what he thinks. I want him to know I’d do anything for him, even battle his ex-girlfriend to the death—or to

the final hit point, as the case is.

The door opens, and out steps Kelsey, that same smug look on her face, followed by Sorenson. They’re not alone, though. The word

has spread that something is going down. Everyone that was inside is behind them. A commotion moves around the side of the house.

I know for sure everyone expects something interesting is about to happen when Dan’s voice floats to my ears.

“Aw, yeah! It’s on, y’all!” I can see the silhouette of a gigantor sword raised in the air at the back of the crowd encircling

me.

Kelsey stops a few feet from me and crosses her arms. “What’s this about?”

“Laowyn wishes to have a word with you, Kelsey.” How lame is it she used her own name for her character?

She looks at me, an eyebrow raised.

“I, Laowyn, daughter of the Trulu,” I begin with a shaky voice, “accuse you of misuse of powers. In addition to this misuse,

you’ve also tormented the people of this fine city, thereby endangering our way of life. This is a disgrace. I leave it to The

Overseer to determine your fate.” I turn to Sorenson. Behind him, everyone is whispering to each other.

“Is this true, Kelsey?” he asks her.

She flips her hair, which immediately settles back into a perfect, shiny, onyx frame around her face I could never pull off. “You

have got to be kidding me. You’re not actually believing this child, are you, Sorenson?” Then crosses her fingers and leans in

to me. “Give it up, Barbie. I’ll be nice and give you a heads up: there is no way your crappy little princess character can take

me on. And no one here will back you up. You should walk away. Now.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Logan push his way to the front of the crowd. His eye is pretty much healed now. There’s only

a little yellow tint on his cheek. He looks from me to Kelsey to Sorenson. Fingers crossed, he says, “This is crazy. You can’t

let this happen, it’d ruin your storyline, right? We still have the rest of summer to play. You’d have to come up with a whole

new story.”

Sorenson shrugs. “Nothing I can do. Maddie’s played out all the proper scenarios. It was all legit. And she got the experience

points for it.” He looks at Kelsey when he says that last bit.

I raise my voice so all the players can hear. “I went to the scenes of the crimes, to the people’s homes who were so unjustly

treated, and through a special technique, I was able to identify a unique aura signature.” Announcing this to a crowd full of

vamps and centaurs, especially in this very proper way of speaking, sounds crazy. It makes me feel like I’m in a period film. But

it all needs to be said so no one thinks I’m lying.

I used experience points from the first game to get a special Aura Detection ability, and then Martha and I gave Tommy a call. I

told him I wanted to search the peoples’ homes for a consistent aura. He told me I would find one. When I asked him which person

this aura would match up with at the game tonight, he named Kelsey. It was that easy. Plus, I got a ton more experience points for

doing all that.

Kelsey blinks slowly at me a few times, and then her head snaps to Sorenson. “She’s obviously lying!”

“I shall determine who is lying and who is telling the truth. Laowyn, would you give me your hand so I might search your

thoughts?” He holds out his hand to me. Normally, my character wouldn’t want anyone picking around in her brain, but since this

is the only way to prove I’m right, I don’t challenge him.

He holds my hand for a long, tension-building moment, even though he already knows what his character will see.

“Laowyn speaks the truth!” He flings his arms up for maximum effect and turns to the crowd. It works. There’s a collective gasp

from the other players. Then the illusion is ruined when his fake beard gets caught in his watch as he lowers his arms.

Kelsey’s eyes cast about as she looks from me to Sorenson, then to her murder of dark fairies. They seem to be sinking back into

the crowd, unwilling to risk their necks for a law-breaker.

She and I lock eyes as Sorenson speaks. “Kelsey, if you surrender yourself to the Counsel’s judgment, we might show mercy if you

are repentant. If you do not comply… I don’t think you will get too far. I recommend you come with me. Now.”

Dead silence settles. The only noise is a truck rumbling by.

Kelsey tenses. In the next second, she draws her sword from her back where it was hanging between her wings. It has the look of a

scimitar, but is obviously made of foam then spray-painted, you guessed it, black.

“Never!” she yells, and everyone takes a few steps back.

I hear a clomp of boots behind me. “Have at thee!” Dan screams, his sword almost whacking me in the ear. Sorenson steps between

Kelsey and me.

“No.” I hold up a hand to Dan. I lightly touch Sorenson’s shoulder. “Let me prove I belong here with you. Allow me to complete

my quest.”

Sorenson nods. “Your character sheet, please?” I give him my sheet from my bag. He goes over to Kelsey and asks for the same

thing. She reaches into her bra and pulls out her sheet, hands it to him, then returns to her ready stance.

Sorenson goes back to the sidelines and whispers into Torrak’s ear. Then he hands him something from the depths of his cloak.

Torrak dashes to the sidewalk. He hops into a car parked directly in front of us, rolls down the windows, and turns on the stereo.

A heavy, thumping, techno beat starts. Is that the Matrix soundtrack?

I’m unprepared, distracted by Torrak as he shuffles back to the circle, when Kelsey rushes me, sword high in the air. She tags me

on the shoulder. Of course, it doesn’t physically hurt, but when Sorenson yells, “Negative twenty health points from Laowyn,”

my jaw clenches in anguish.

With my focus fully on her, Kelsey and I begin to circle each other. Thank goodness I took off those heels.

“I know why you’re really doing this,” she says. “He’s over you. He wouldn’t touch your skanky ass if you were the last

cheerleader on Earth.”

Her words sting, but I didn’t do all this to give up now. My hand tightens around a ping-pong ball, a.k.a. an energy bolt, in my

bag. I juke to the left, and she swings, but I’ve already doubled back to my right. My bolt flies straight and true, bouncing off

her left temple.

“Negative twenty from Kelsey,” Sorenson says.

I continue around her and hit her in the back with another ball while she’s still looking around for what hit her the first time.

“Another twenty from Kelsey.”

“How are her hits as powerful as mine? There’s no way—”

I tag her again on the arm.

“I was talking out of character! That means pause the fight, bitch.” She whacks her sword on the ground.

I cross my fingers, then look at Sorenson. “But her fingers weren’t crossed, right?”

Dan pipes up from behind me, “I didn’t see her fingers crossed.”

“Neither did I,” Sorenson says. “The hit counts.”

Kelsey’s head whips from face to face, looking for someone to lie for her. Her gaze lands on me, that snarl of hers in rare form.

I wink and uncross my fingers to arm myself with another ball.

She lunges at me, swinging at my knees, but I’m faster. I jump and manage to do a textbook toe-touch. Thank you, cheerleading.

The crowd lets out a collective, “Whoa!”

Her momentum puts her off balance, and she almost falls. She catches herself with one hand. I take the chance to throw another

ball, but amazingly, she deflects it with her sword and regains her footing.

We begin circling each other again, both of us too stubborn to be the first to look away. She charges me, randomly slashing the

air. I just keep backing up, slinging ball after ball at her chest.

“That’s another twenty, forty, sixty! Kelsey, stop charging!” Sorenson tries to run over to us, but trips on his ill-fitting

robe.

“Pause, Kelsey, pause!” Logan’s voice comes from somewhere behind me.

She doesn’t stop. She keeps swinging at me. I’ve run out of ammo, and there’s nowhere to run considering we’re surrounded by

people. The rules in the handbook state if a character runs out of magical ammo, the game master should pause the fight so said

character can restock. That’s apparently what Sorenson and Logan are trying to do, but Kelsey isn’t listening.

I duck under her sword and try to sidestep around her. Maybe there are some balls on the ground nearby? She misses me as I duck

but swings again and catches me in my back. Not only does she hit me with her sword, but her other forearm follows. It slams into

me, knocking me to the ground.