Page 5 of Dating and Dragons

Andrew is a year younger than me, and it’s taken him exactly five days to completely integrate into our new high school. He’s been a soccer phenom since he was seven, so all he needed to do was join the indoor winter soccer league at the rec center—the only indoor team in the area—and he had an entire built-in friend group within hours. He even had a date with a pretty sophomore last night.

I’m trying to be a good big sister, but it’s hard not to loathe him.

“You’re going out again?” Dad sticks his head out of his office, where he’s organizing his bookshelves. His short hair is disheveled and his glasses are askew, but his blue and white button-up is pressed and tucked in as always. Button-ups are his uniform. “I thought you were going to come with me to Grandma’s house later this afternoon? I want to get her garage cleaned up.”

“Sorry, the guys want to condition. I already told them I would.”

Dad sighs. “All right, fine. But you need to save time nextweek to visit her. We didn’t move to the same town just for you to be too busy to spend time with her.”

I turn back to my unpacking and roll my eyes. Andrew gets away with everything. But since he’s into a more socially accepted hobby, his interests always take priority.

Once Andrew’s gone, I leave my box and walk over to the office. Mom is there, too, wearing yoga pants and an oversized shirt from her college years. She whispers something to Dad and they start giggling. They never finished their honeymoon stage. Everyone else thinks it’s sweet, but as their daughter who has to watch them mooning over each other every day, I’m over it.

“Hey, guys?”

They turn and smile in unison. “Hey, hon. How are the DVDs coming along?”

“Not well. And no one watches DVDs anymore. You should donate them.”

Dad adjusts his glasses, looking appalled. “Over my dead body. I don’t trust these streaming clouds. They say you own things, but what if they decide to stop streaming them? I’d never see my favorite episodes again! No, it’s good to have a physical copy of everything you love.” He points at me like he’s imparting an important life lesson. “Physical copies.”

“Right. Thanks for the advice.” I swipe at my bangs again. “Don’t forget I need to leave soon too.”

Mom gives Dad a confused look. I love them, but they aren’t the most organized people. That’s one of the reasons this move has been and continues to be chaotic.

“Where are you going?” Mom asks, and tucks her short dark hair behind her ears. “You don’t know anyone here yet.”

I put a hand on my hip. “I know people. Kashvi invited me to that D&D game I mentioned.”

Now, granted, I don’t know Kashvi’s last name or any other details about her, but I still technically know her.

“Can you reschedule?” Dad asks. “Grandma’s going to be so disappointed if neither of her grandkids come over today.”

“But you let Andrew go without grief.”

“I know, I know.” Mom takes Dad’s hand. “Don’t tell this to Andrew, but you know how much she loves you. You always make her day so much brighter.”

I hesitate. For all her quirks, I do like spending time with Grandma. It’s never boring with her—she always has a new hobby or a funny story from when she was younger or an idea of something we can do together. But I think even Grandma would agree I need to make new friends here.

“Kashvi was really nice to invite me today, and it would be rude to blow her off. You know how hard it is to meet people. Do you want me to be sad and alone forever?”

Dad blows out a breath and Mom puts up her hands in surrender. “You don’t need to lay it on that thick,” Mom replies. “We’ll tell Grandma you had plans you couldn’t break.”

“Thank you!” I clap my hands. “Can I take the car?”

“Fine, fine,” Dad says, and waves me off.

“Tell her I promise to visit soon,” I call as I run upstairs to get a shower.

“You better, or she’ll insist on driving you to school every morning,” Mom says with a laugh.

I shouldn’t pin all my hopes for future happiness on this afternoon, but you better believe I’m doing it anyway. It takes me an embarrassingly long time to decide what to wear to the game, particularly given the fact that it shouldn’t matter. That’s one of the (many) great things about D&D—no one cares what you look like. You can come in wearing a ball gown, ratty pajamas, or elf ears and it would be cool…assuming you have a group that doesn’t judge. I end up choosing a patterned maroon maxi skirt, cropped blue top, and my olive-green cardigan that’s long enough to hit the backs of my knees. It’s one of my favorite outfits, and also super comfortable. I add hoop earrings and three long necklaces because I don’t feel like myself unless I’m wearing one too many pieces of jewelry. I’ve heard the advice about looking in the mirror and taking off one accessory before leaving the house, but I’m the opposite. I grab two lapis bracelets and head for my car.

Twenty minutes later, I take a deep breath and knock on the door at the address Kashvi gave me. Here goes nothing.

A second later it flies open, but instead of Kashvi it’s the boy she was standing with in the parking lot the first day. Given how similar they look, I assume it must be her twin brother. He has short dark hair and is wearing sweatpants and a Laurelburg High Robotics shirt.

“Whatever you’re selling, we don’t want it.”

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