Page 3 of Dungeons and Drama

The man with Dad gestures for the woman to follow him to the register, and Dad waves me toward a door at the back of the store. I frown and follow him.

“This is the game room, where we hold events during evenings and weekends and where people can come to play with the products,” Dad explains as soon as I’m close enough to hear him. We walk into an open room filled with large tables and chairs. A gigantic dragon head is mounted to the wall. “We have a lot of regulars who use the space.” He gestures to two men standing by a table in the back corner.

“You finally got a new girlfriend?” one of them calls, and waves at me. He’s got thinning gray hair and an Ohio State sweatshirt on. My eyes fly open in horror at his words.

“Behave yourself, Fred. This is my daughter.”

“Nice to see a new face here. I’m used to staring at this oldfart all the time,” the other man says, and points to histable mate. He’s shorter and round with an old Batman shirt on.

Dad chuckles and lowers his voice. “That’s Fred and Arthur. They’re both retired, so they’re here almost every day playing Flames of War.”

I shake my head in confusion. I can’t keep up with thenames for all the games, particularly when I’m distracted by what happened with Nathan. Should I interrupt Dad now to tell him or wait to find someplace away from customers?

“That’s a tabletop game where they reenact war battles,” Dad explains, completely oblivious to my uncertainty. He’s clearly excited to show off his store after I’ve avoided it for so long. “Personally, it’s not my favorite. I’ve always liked a little fantasy element in there myself. Anyway, terrain for the tabletop games is in the back, and we have a little vending situation. It’s on the honor system.” He points to open boxes of chips and candy and a cooler of sodas along the back wall before turning his attention to a group of boys huddled around a table. “Look who’s here. Nathan, come over a second.”

My eyes widen—I’ve been too caught up in my thoughts to notice him.

He trots over. “Is everything okay?”

“Better than okay!” Dad exclaims, and claps him on the back like they’re old friends. “Riley is joining us at the store.” He turns to me. “And I’m sure you already know Nathan from school?”

My mouth opens a bit and I look from Dad to Nathan. Oh no, this just got so much worse. Dad’s friendly with this jerky kid who steals from him, and nowIhave to be the one to break the news?

I narrow my eyes at Nathan, who’s standing serenely next to Dad like he doesn’t have a care in the world. I might not be on the best of terms with Dad, but that doesn’t mean I think it’s cool to watch other people blatantly take his products and hurt his business.

“Hey, actually, I need to go talk to Curtis about the latest Warhammer shipment,” Dad tells us. “Nathan, maybe you can help Riley get settled?”

Dad heads for the front before either of us can respond, looking weirdly pleased with himself, and I put a hand on my hip. “Look,” I whisper. “I don’t know what’s going on with you and my dad, but just give me what you took and maybe I won’t tell him what happened.”

Nathan blinks slowly behind his glasses, looks back at the table where his friends are ignoring us, and then pats the front pocket of his jeans. “Hmm, I still have this. Will that do?” He holds out his lollipop wrapper to me.

“Very funny. You know I’m talking about those cards from behind the counter.”

Now he laughs, and I might have been charmed by the way he throws his head back if it weren’t for the fact that the action makes me feel as small as one of the miniature models Fred and Arthur are playing with on the other side of the room.

“Wow,” he continues. “Way to jump to absolutely bizarre conclusions without asking a single question. You do realize I work here, right? And that I bought those cards with my own money? Or did you seriously think I stole them in front of you and thenstayed in the store? What kind of petty thief do you take me for?”

“I…well…” He’s anemployee? I glance around frantically, desperate for anything to save me from this exchange. “A pretty bad thief, I guess?”

“The worst thief to ever walk this earth.”

I gather the fraying threads of my dignity and point athim. “Now, wait a second, don’t turn this around on me. How was I supposed to know what was going on? I didn’t see you pulling out any money. I come in and two minutes later you’re walking behind the counter and taking something without a word!”

He waves away my argument like there’s nothing to be explained. “Joel said you’re joining us at the store—please tell me he meant you’re visiting for the next five minutes before leaving forever and not, you know,workinghere.”

“Say hello to your newest colleague.” I grin spitefully and put my hands out to my sides.

“Seriously? But you play, at least, right? Board games, tabletop, cards, something?”

“Nada.”

He groans. “Ugh, not one of those. Of course you don’t play.”

“Excuse me?”

“You can’t work at a game store and not play. Or worse, bedisdainfulof games,” he replies.

“I’m not disdainful.”

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