Page 38 of With a Little Luck

“What?” I say, holding up my own heart-less poster. “Why didn’t I get a heart?”

She hums teasingly. “This Charm spell really does work.”

Another man with a clipboard gives us a couple of rubber bands to wrap around the posters, then leads us to the concert hall. The seats are filling up fast, the crowd a jostle of excited noise. We’re shown to our seats in the second row, so close to the stage I can see the silver knobs on the amplifiers. There’s a whole band’s worth of instruments, ready to accompany Sadashiv onstage. Drums and a piano, guitars and trumpets, even a saxophone.

“This is incredible,” says Maya, shaking her head in wonder. “These seats must cost a fortune!”

“I sold one of my kidneys to pay for them. Not a big deal.”

She slides her gaze toward me and studies me for a second, her expression thoughtful. “Thank you, Jude. Really. I can’t even … I’m just so happy to be here tonight. Withyou.”

The way she emphasizes that makes my heart jump into my throat. For a second, I am awestruck at how beautiful she is. How the stage lights catch on the sparkles dusted across her eyelids. How her lips curve in a way that’s just a tiny bit teasing, a tiny bit flirtatious.

Then Maya peels her gaze away and spends a moment rolling up her poster and securing it with the rubber band. “So … this might be weird,” she says, and my brain hurries to finish her thought.

This might be weird, but I sort of have a thing for scrawny, pale guys, and I think you’re even more attractive than Sadashiv!

This might be weird, but I’ve actually been in love with you since that field trip in fifth grade!

This might be weird, but I just realized you’re my soul mate!

“And you can totally say no,” she goes on, “but do you think maybe I could play Dungeons and Dragons with you sometime?”

My world stutters to a stop. “What?”

“It’s sounds really cool, the way you describe it. Like, that could be really fun.”100

I spend an inordinate amount of time waiting for the punch line. Thegot you good! Should have seen the look on your face!

But it doesn’t come.

“What?” I say again.

“If there’s room for one more person?”

“Oh. Uh. Sure. Yeah, if you want to. Actually, we kind of need a new player for this campaign. Matt had to drop out, so … But we’re supposed to start this weekend. We play on Saturdays. And I’m sure you’re busy—”

“I’m not busy.” She settles back into her seat. “I’d like to come.”

I wait, giving her one more chance to drop thatjust kiddingon me.

She doesn’t.

“Okay. Yeah. Of course you can join us.”

Her smile is pure brilliance.

We’re silent after that, Maya taking in every detail. The lighting, the instruments, the stagehands who make occasional appearances, tending to last-minute adjustments. Meanwhile, my thoughts are reeling, trying to picture what it will be like to play D&D … withMaya. For Maya, to be in the campaign, a campaignIcreated. She’ll see my drawings. Experience the world I designed myself. Get to know some of my closest friends.

And I can’t decide if this has the potential to be the best thing that’s ever happened to me … or a complete disaster.

I’m still waffling between these two very distinct possibilities when the lights dim. The crowd cheers. The band comes out first, picking up their instruments. Then Sadashiv struts onto the stage, looking perfectly at home in front of five thousand screaming fans, his own face projected to the size of a house on the screen behind him.

The music starts—an intro of blaring, upbeat horns, as Sadashiv takes the microphone.

He opens with a Frank Sinatra tune that Dad sometimes plays at the store.

“Luck be a lady tonight …”

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