“All right,” I said, glancing at the first category listed on the review sheet. “Let’s start with the appendicular skeletal bones…”
Half an hour later, we had only covered the first twenty of the seventy-five terms we needed to know. I was trying to keep Alex focused on studying, I really was, but that was easier said than done. Every few minutes his e-mail would beep, causing him to glance at his computer. By the time I focused his attention back on anatomy, another e-mail would ping and the process would start all over again.
Finally I gave up.
“Just check it,” I said with a sigh as another message drew him out of our textbook. Either Alex had a serious problem with junk mail, or someone was really trying to get hold of him—and apparently whoever it was didn’t know how to use a cell phone. This was the tenth e-mail in the past five minutes.
“Check what?” he asked, his eyes darting back to the passage he was supposed to be reading.
“Your e-mail. I know you’re dying to.”
“Sorry,” he said, but he quickly pulled up his inbox. He double-clicked on the first little blue envelope, his eyes scanning the message. “My guild is going on a ZG raid.”
He’d lost me in one sentence. “Guild? Raid?” I asked. “What’s that?”
“It’s gamer talk,” Alex said, as he went through the rest of his e-mails. “You know, for Gathering of Gods.”
“Oh, right. I’ve heard Kim talking about it before,” I said absentmindedly, “but I didn’t really get it.”
That was possibly the worst thing I could have said to Alex. He turned to me as an unsettling smile crept onto his face. “Put your notes away, young padawan. Much to teach you, I have.”
Alex was so enthusiastic about Gathering of Gods that he couldn’t just explain it to me. He had to show me. And by showing, I mean he forced me to play. After explaining that game play consisted primarily of completing dangerous quests, he helped me create a character, which took quite some time.
“Why does it matter what color my hair is?” I asked, as he clicked through all forty different styles.
“Because,” Alex said, as if I were being childish, “you’ll never be able to change it. You have to go with something you really love.”
When it came to choosing what race my character was, he got even more frustrated. The options consisted of humans, dwarves, demons, and fae, but I wouldn’t pick one until I knew which was the most successful.
“It’s a completely legitimate question, Alex,” I told him. “Which one is the best?”
“One isn’t better than another,” he tried to clarify. “I personally like the demons because I think they’re badass, but lots of people like fae too.”
“So I should be a demon?” I asked, moving the curser so it hovered over an ugly-looking creature with horns and scales.
“No, I’m not saying that.” Frustration tinged his voice. “Each race has a different skill set, so it all depends on what you enjoy playing the most.”
“But how can I know which one I like the most if I’ve never played the game before?”
Alex took a deep breath, trying to remain patient. “Just pick one, Jackie.”
“At least tell me which race will help me beat the game in the least time.”
“It doesn’t work like that,” Alex replied and snatched the mouse from my hand. Then, making my decision for me, he clicked on the human race. “The game is ongoing. It never ends.”
“Wait. You can’t win?” I said with a frown. “What’s the point of playing, then?”
“This isn’t like Monopoly or Candy Land—the point of the game is to improve your character.”
“Okay, whatever,” I said, taking the mouse back from him. I clicked on the fae, a willowy creature with pastel-colored wings. “But I don’t want to be human. That’s boring.”
I wasn’t very good at Gathering of Gods. Everything moved so fast, and Alex would shout confusing instructions at me such as, “Employ your fire shield now!” or “Not that fire shield, your other one!” Still, after an hour and a half of struggling, I increased my character’s experience level from one to three. I was quite pleased with myself, but Alex wasn’t very optimistic.
“Definitely not a natural,” he said, as he logged out of the game, “but I’ll make a gamer out of you yet.”
“I doubt it,” I sighed, collecting my anatomy material. I’d wasted a good chunk of my study time trying to learn the game, and as a result, I knew I would be up late reviewing all my notes. “Thanks, though. I had fun.”
The door swung open before he could respond.
“Hey, Alex, I want to talk to you,” Cole said, strolling into the room. When he saw me sitting at the computer desk, he stopped. “Oh, I didn’t know you were here.”
“Um, yeah,” I replied.
“I guess I’ll have to come back later,” he said, turning to leave as if I’d caused some huge inconvenience.
“No, it’s okay,” I said, jumping to my feet. “We were just finishing up anyway.”