Page 117 of Unrecognizable Player

“I’m not… getting married. Not for a long time anyway.”

“But you and him are… you know, together?”

I look at Baba, he’s waiting just as anxiously as Mama for an answer.

“Yeah,” I say, unable to hide my smile. “I think so.”

“You think so?”

“I don’t know if I messed it up a bit.”

Mama sighs and tucks my hair behind my ear. “He’s crazy about you, I saw it when you brought him here. I’m sure whatever you did, it can be fixed.”

Ari’son his bed when I go back upstairs. His headphones on, playing on a Nintendo Switch. He nods to me and carries on playing his game, so I decide to scroll through my phone until I’m tired enough to sleep. Alice sends me another message, checking I’m okay and letting me know that Professor Lisette ishaving the crack in my violin fixed. I ask her to thank Professor Lisette and reassure heragainthat I’m fine.

A message pops up from Alexei.

Check Bookgeeks.

Huh. Why?

I login to the app on my phone, my heart pounding, and see a new message notification waiting for me.What the…

New message from Kelsier38 waiting…

Kelsier38: Hey horror boy,

So let’s do it right this time. Meet me at Katz’s on the Lower East Side, tomorrow at 2pm? I’ll be there, waiting as long as it takes. Reading The Shining and catching dirty looks from all the book snobs.

There’sno line outside the diner, so I take a deep breath and cross the street to go inside.

I know it’s stupid to be nervous. I know Alexei isn’t gonna stand me up, but I can’t help it. It’s like muscle memory – expecting the worst.

But when I open the door and step inside, I see him right away.

He’s sitting at a table near the window, holding a book in one hand.

The Shiningby Stephen King.

His other arm is in a sling. Seeing him hurt makes my heart ache, but I take solace in the fact he won’t be playing hockey anymore. I know he’s hurting over that too, but I also know he’llbe okay. I’ve seen him grow so much. Stand up to his dad. Go after what he wants. And now he’s here. Somewhere he couldn’t even get close to a year ago.

The waitress comes over and asks me if I want a table.

“I’m meeting that guy over there.” I point to Alexei.

“Good for you hon.” She grins.

The smile on my face is starting to make my cheeks ache as I walk over.

Alexei looks up from his book and his face lights up the second he sees me.

“Excuse me.” I say when I reach his table. “Are you Kelsier38?”

He presses his lips to stop from laughing. Putting his book down, he says. “Yeah, that’s me. You must be horror boy… sorry, I mean RedRum237.”

“Yep,” I pull the chair out facing his. “That’s me.”

Alexei puts his hand around his coffee cup, but doesn’t pick it up. “I’m glad you could make it,” he says, his eyes trained on the tabletop before he lifts them to meet mine. “I’ve been waiting a year for this.”

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