Chapter Twenty-Seven
Raven
Today is the epic showdown. Kylen and Raven versus Richie and his partner.
I don’t know who the dude is choosing as his teammate, but that doesn’t matter. Because the two of them are going down!
Kylen chuckles as he and I make our way to the rec room after school on Thursday. “I haven’t seen you this excited for something since I got here.”
“Oh, my fingers are ready to pound on that controller and not only dominate, but to destroy. Eradicate. To cause devastation and chaos.”
Kylen pauses as he holds up his hands. “Remind me to never get on your bad side,” he jokes.
I’m feeling good vibes, especially because Kylen is my teammate. We haven’t played much with each other since our camp days, and I know I can rely on him to help me prove to that chauvinistic piece of work that girls are just as good as boys at video games.
Light flurries are dancing all around us outside.
It just started snowing about half an hour ago, but it’s said to be minor.
One thing about attending a boarding school is that there are no snow days.
Unless there’s such a huge snowstorm that we can’t get the door to the dorm buildings open. But that has yet to happen.
We enter the rec room and hang our coats on the rack near the door. My hair must be so messed up from my hat, and I try my best to pat it down in place. I know it’s useless, though.
It doesn’t look like Richie and his partner have arrived yet.
Kylen and I bounce onto the sofa with our controllers and load another game in the meantime.
It would feel like cheating if we were to squeeze in a game before the competition.
Richie might be totally okay with cheating, but we are definitely not.
“Oh by the way!” he says, looking giddy. “We finished editing the song last night and uploaded it.”
“Really? How is it doing?”
“Last I checked, we’re at two thousand views and only a handful of comments. But let’s see how it’s doing now.”
He reaches into his pocket and produces his phone. We both bend our heads together to peer at the screen. I get a whiff of his awesome smell, and I once again feel the heat radiating off his body. If he and I were to turn our heads toward each other, our lips would be really close to one another…
“Not many more views,” he says, disappointment etched into every part of his face. “But the comments are really positive so far! They really love the song and the music. Are you sure you don’t want your name listed in the description? Maybe you changed your mind.”
I twist my nose. “Thanks, but no.”
He nods in understanding as we scan the comments. He’s right—they’re saying wonderful things so far. Some comments just call the boys hot, but most of them focus on the music.
Once we’re done reading over the comments, we watch the video.
I didn’t have a chance to watch the edited version yet.
Kylen looks so cool and charismatic as he strums the guitar and sings.
And his vocals are out of this world. Of course the rest of the guys sound really great, too, but there’s just something about him…
“Well, here’s hoping we can make it to five thousand,” Kylen says with a chuckle as he tucks his phone back into his black pants. “And then ten thousand, and then fifty, and then a hundred, and then boom. Viral.”
I laugh. “Why not? Anything is possible.”
He smiles as he shakes his head. “It’s okay if we don’t. All that matters is that there are people out there who like us, and we’re happy to bring them joy.”
I return the smile as I lean back on the couch and focus on the game. That was really sweet.
Since Richie and his partner are taking their jolly good time getting their butts here, Kylen and I spend the time in a co-op game.
It’s the kind of game where you’re thrown into a new world and have to build a house and a farm, and there is a whole island to explore.
I can’t describe how much fun it is to work together to build amazing things.
“Oh my gosh,” I gasp as I quickly press a button. “Did you leave the pen unlocked? The cow just ran out!”
“Shoot,” he mutters as he presses down on his bottom lip and directs his character to chase after the crow while I shut the gate so the rest of the animals won’t run out. “Oh no. She’s headed to the pond. You think she’ll fall in?”
“Considering the game is for all ages, I highly doubt they’ll let the cow drown.”
His guy catches up to the cow and snatches her into his arms. It’s kind of funny to see the little dude carry the huge cow in the air as he makes his way back to the farm. In real life, he would be a pancake. I find myself giggling at that.
“What?” he asks as he continues pressing the buttons. “What’s so funny?”
“I’m picturing you carrying a cow in real life. Imagine you holding an animal that weighs hundreds of pounds! You’d be flattened like a pancake.”
He chuckles, too. “I guess my farming skills are just as bad as my British accent.”
“Seriously, dude. You should win an award.”
The door flings open and Richie marches in, followed by a group of students. Are they here to watch the match?
“We have a challenger!” he announces with his chest puffed out.
Kylen and I roll our eyes at one another.
Richie’s eyes settle on the TV screen and this loud chortle escapes his lips. “Wait a second. You guys are our competition? The people playing a farm sim?” He slaps the guy next to him, Derek, in the chest. “Oh, we’ve got this in the bag.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Don’t you know not to belittle someone else’s interest or hobby? There’s nothing wrong with a farming simulation game.”
“Might teach you some humility if you actually had the responsibility of taking care of farm animals,” Kylen adds.
He and his friend chortle again. “Do you hear these guys? What a bunch of nerds. How about we play a real game?” He storms over to an extra controller and exits the game before we have a chance to save our progress.
“Hey!” both Kylen and I shout.
Kylen shrugs at me. “At least we can go back in time and undo the poor cow’s trauma.”
“Kylen, I harvested all the crops and gave them in to the quest giver,” I whine.
Kylen scowls at Richie. “The monster.”
Richie hands another controller to Derek and loads the monkey game. “Get ready to get owned, losers.”
Before we get to the character selection, Kylen goes into the settings. “This time, we’re turning off the boosts,” he says in a cool manner.
I can see Richie mentally kicking himself in an “Ah, darn, they know the trick” kind of way.
He and Derek have squeezed themselves on the sofa, since that provides the best view of the game. It really wouldn’t be fair to sit on the nearby chairs. The result is my body being pressed super close to Kylen’s. Everywhere he touches me burns and sends chills down my spine at the same time.
“Sorry,” he whispers, his breath warm on my cheek.
“It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”
“Ready to show these fools who’s boss?” he asks.
“I was born ready.”
I once again choose the adorable female monkey with the pink bow while Richie and Derek run to grab the most burly-looking monkeys.
How their characters look has nothing to do with the players’ actual skill, so this is obvious to show dominance.
But Kylen is very happy with his scrawny-looking monkey. I think it suits my monkey very well.
“Two out of three?” Derek asks.
“Fine with me,” Kylen says, and I nod.
And so begins Game 1. Kylen and I start off ahead for the first few minutes, but then Richie and Derek’s monkeys zoom ahead because they haven’t stumbled once. Derek is a really good player, and Richie is pretty good, too. But Kylen and I are just as good as well.
Then I miss a moving platform and plummet to the ground. All of the other three monkeys continue racing ahead while my monkey gets resurrected, floating over my partner’s head in a bubble.
“It’s okay,” Kylen says in a reassuring tone as he leaps into the air to pop my bubble. “Minor mishap. You’ve got this.”
I push the stumble out of my head and focus on the game because there’s no point lingering on the past. Richie and Derek are way ahead of us because of my mistake, but I can’t focus on that. I can’t give up, and there’s always a chance one of them will fall, too.
But unfortunately, they play a clean game, and they reach the end of the level so quickly that they beat the current record.
“Yeah!” Both Derek and Richie leap off the chairs and smack their chests into each other. “That’s how it’s done!” Richie cheers. “That’s how you own!” The rest of the kids holler and cheer.
I can’t help but berate myself. It’s my fault we lost so royally.
A warm hand slips into mine. I glance down at them before raising my eyes to Kylen.
“Don’t listen to them,” he says softly. “I don’t know what they’re trying to prove here, but all that matters to me is that we’re having fun.
So forget about them, and forget about having to prove anything to them.
The only people in the room are you and me, okay?
Little Miss Monkey with Scrawny Monkey. We’ve got this.
” He squeezes my hand with a sweet smile.
I return the smile and the squeeze. “Only you and me.”
When all the cheering and the hollering finally die down, and Richie and Derek are back on the sofa, we start Game 2.
If they win, it’s over. If we win, there’s still a chance.
But as Little Miss Monkey leaps after Scrawny Monkey, I realize that Kylen is right.
He and I wanted to prove to them that girls are just as good at video games as guys, but does that really matter?
The guy is a jerk and he will always be a jerk, unless he gets a personality transplant.
Why should Kylen and I have a miserable time not enjoying the game just to prove a point?
The only thing that should matter is that we have fun together.
So I let go of everything and just enjoy the game. Our monkeys are in perfect sync as we work together to get to the finish line. Now that the pressure is off, I don’t feel so nervous. I really have fun.
My jaw hangs open when my monkey is the first to reach the end of the level, followed very closely by Kylen’s. And a few seconds later, the burly monkeys reach the end.
Richie stares at the screen like his entire world just vanished before his eyes. “What the…?”
We could be jerks like them and cheer and smack our chests into each other, but Kylen and I high-five each other and compliment each other on a good game.
“Now for the tie breaker,” Kylen says.
Richie narrows his eyes at us. “Oh, it’s on.”
Okay, Kylen and I just stated five minutes ago that we shouldn’t care about beating the jerks because it should be about having fun. But it seems our competitive sides are fighting to break through.
With a determined nod to one another, we whip our heads to the screen as the race begins.
Of course I want to have fun, but my competitive side really wants to win.
As does Kylen’s. We pound hard on the controller buttons as we do whatever we can to reach the finish line first, ignoring the cheers from the kids, and the smack talking from our opponents.
“No!” Kylen cries as he jumps onto a disappearing platform. His monkey is about to plunge to the ground, but my monkey, who is on a platform behind him, leaps into the air just in time to bump her head into Scrawny Monkey’s butt. Scrawny gets such a boost that he lands on the next platform.
“Nice one, Raven!” Kylen says. “You totally saved me.”
“I saved us,” I correct as the two of us pass the finish line literally two seconds before Richie and Derek.
“Oh my gosh!” I throw my arms around him, burying my face into his chest and inhaling his scent. “We did it.”
He pumps his fist into the air as his free hand wraps around me, pulling me closer to his chest. “You were awesome. We won because of you!”
“You were awesome, too!” I lift my head and beam at him. “We made the perfect team.”
“I agree.”
When we look at Richie, we find him scowling like someone murdered his pet.
“It’s just a game, man.” Kylen holds out his hand. “How about we shake on it?”
It looks like Richie is about to storm out of the room, but he shakes his hand and says, “We didn’t make it easy for you.”
“No, you didn’t. And I think you owe Raven an apology.”
His brows shoot up as he glances at me. “I do?”
“Stop belittling girls,” I say. “They are just as good as boys at video games, and they have every right to play just as you do. A lesson in humility might do you loads of good.”
He stares between Kylen and me before rolling his eyes at Derek. “Do they think they’re my parents or something? Let’s get out of here.”
He and Derek leave the room, taking their crew with them.
Kylen lifts his shoulders. “Well, we tried.”
“I don’t think a guy like him will ever change.”
“Maybe, but there’s always a possibility he will. Maybe if he met a girl and wanted to change for her.”
“That doesn’t happen in real life, though,” I point out. “Just in books and movies.”
He’s thoughtful. “Maybe. But I believe the people around you can definitely make you change. Hopefully for the good.”
Now that we once again have the rec room to ourselves, we load the farming game so we can redo what we lost before the game with Richie and Derek. Thankfully, Kylen doesn’t forget to close the pen this time and there are no runaway cows.
As I’m tilling a new plot of land to plant rare seeds I found in a cave, I say, “Fiona’s throwing a party tomorrow night. Are you going?”
“Fiona…is she one of the rich kids?”
“Yeah. Her family owns like three mansions. One is located about half an hour away from school. She’s known to throw some good parties.”
“Hmm, are you going?”
“My friends want to dance with their boyfriends, so they want to go. And I guess I’m going, too. I like dancing, and we always have fun together.”
Kylen is quiet for a beat as his character gets down on his knees to pet some of the chickens. “Yeah. Maybe I’ll check it out.”
We play for a little bit longer before I say, “Actually, your farming skills are far better than your British accent. You know, as long as you remember to keep the freakin’ pen shut.”
He laughs softly as he knocks his shoulder into mine.