Page 9 of Playing for Keeps in Starr's Fall
Zach had been telling himself that ever since he’d come back to Starr’s Fall in February of his freshman year. He was still hoping.
Three doors down from Max’s Place, he skidded to a halt. A glittery banner had been put up in the window of a formerly empty storefront:
Grand Opening Coming Soon! Your Turn Next Boardgame Café!
Underneath was a little logo—a die, a pawn, and what definitely looked like Sylvana from RainQuest. Without even thinking about what he was doing, Zach went to the door, threw it open, and strode inside.
A woman was at the back of the empty store, unpacking boxes, her head bent, but she jerked up when the door crashed closed behind him.
“May I help…” Her voice trailed away as they stared at each other. It was Black-Olive-and-Pineapple-Pizza Woman, who had gotten so embarrassed by their funny little conversation. Zach found himself unabashedly grinning at the sight of her.
“You certainly can,” he said.
4
What on earth was Mr. Extra Spicy doing in her café, especially when it wasn’t even open yet, and Maggie was pretty positive he could not possibly be the gaming type? She stared at him gormlessly while he—Zach, because she hadn’t forgotten his name—grinned. Once again, he’d sounded flirtatious when he’d spoken. Maybe it was a default setting, like when Buzz Lightyear switched to Spanish inToy Story 3. Zach just couldn’t help himself… But then again, maybe it was that way with all ridiculously good-looking guys. They flirted as naturally as they breathed. They probably didn’t even realize they were doing it… or the effect they had on their all-too-willing victims.
“I can?” she answered, sounding dubious, when she’d remembered how to form words. “Help you, that is?”
“You’re opening a boardgame café?” he demanded, and she nodded dumbly. “And that logo out there on the banner—is that Sylvana?”
Syl-what? “Umm…” Maggie stared at him blankly. “I…”
“Yes, it is.” Ben’s voice, coming from behind her, had her spinning around. Her son was standing in the doorway of the kitchen and stockroom, looking uncertain but also hopeful and even a little defiant. There was clearly a lot going on here, and she had no idea what any of it was. She turned back to Zach, who was giving a slow, approving kind of nod.
“You play RainQuest?” he asked Ben, and Ben nodded back. “What are your stats?”
Her son then reeled off what sounded to Maggie like a whole lot of gibberish—something about strength, endurance, shapeshifting, combat skills, potion making and a few others, followed by a bunch of numbers and a couple of caveats—“I bought an extra skill point from the guild” and “I chose healing over strength, I think it’s a strat,” none of which Maggie really understood.
“What are yours?” Ben asked Zach, and he reeled off a similar list of gibberish. They stared at each other for a moment in what looked like approving assessment, and then Ben asked, “What do you play as?”
“Halfling, usually, but sometimes an orc.”
Her son snorted. “No way.”
Zach rolled his eyes. “Tell me you are not an elf, or like, I don’t know, aselkie.”
“Djinn, usually,” Ben replied with dignity.
Zach gave a slow, considering nod of acceptance. “Decent,” he proclaimed, and Ben grinned.
To Maggie, they might as well have been speaking in a foreign language; theywere, and yet it was one Ben was fluent in, and Zach apparently was, too. She simply could not get her head around that… but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen her son so animated.
“What’s your username?” Zach asked, and Ben wrinkled his nose, looking uncertain again.
“Alacenima.”
Zach nodded, instantly understanding. “Elvish. Cool.”
Ben’s eyes widened with surprise. “Most people don’t know that.”
Zach’s mouth quirked in a wry smile. “Then clearly they’re not serious about gaming. Or Tolkien, I guess.”
Her son laughed then, a sound that filled Maggie with joy, because she heard it so rarely. She still wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, though. Was Mr. Extra Spicy actually agamer? A serious one? That was her mind officially blown.
“Have you played the latest update?” Ben asked, and Zach frowned.
“You mean the Almedian waterfall extension? Yeah, I’ll be honest with you, I was a little disappointed with the interactive map.”
