Chapter 51
Lara
Experiment with different book presentations in your store to increase sales.
Everything is going to be all right.
These are the words Sophia and I whispered to each other after our meeting with Hank was over. The words we passed on to Nat, Aria, and the others, and the words I can now read in Luca’s eyes.
Everything is going to be all right.
Luca is shaking his head, grinning so broadly that it feels like my heart is about to burst out of my chest. I wish I could jump up and run over to him right now.
And then I’d kiss him. And I’d disappear to my room with him, leaving all the other people here behind.
But that’s going to have to wait. Which doesn’t mean it’s not hard—Luca’s beaming face is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
“Thank you,” I say, catching sight of Sophia’s smile out of the corner of my eye.
“Of course. That was the least I could do, after what he’s done for us.”
We’re going to keep our game. And Luca can keep his.
Sophia didn’t just force Hank to withdraw from the competition.
She also made sure that Novel Haven now officially belongs to us.
But as if that wasn’t enough, she also made Hank draft an addendum, a supplementary agreement to Luca’s contract, which transfers the sole rights of Desolate Dread to him.
Hank has promised not to sack him, and he’s transferred the game to him.
“You could’ve gone public with this, you know,” I say, and now Sophia is looking straight at me. There’s a smile on her face, and she shakes her head gently.
“This way is better. This way, Hank holds no more power over me. And I’d rather focus on Novel Haven and what’s coming instead of fighting a PR and legal battle against him.
” She sighs, a liberated sound. “Time to look forward. Literally! The award ceremony’s starting.
” Sophia turns back around to the stage while I go over her last few words in my mind.
Time to look forward.
Maybe it really is time. I thought Novel Haven would help me process my past. And it certainly has, in a way.
But in all that time, I’ve never experienced as much growth as I have these past few weeks.
I soldiered through the failure and the shame and stood my ground, stood up to Shane, handled the trade fair, and opened up to someone.
And for the first time, I feel like everything is going to be all right—no matter tonight’s outcome.
I used to treat what happened to me like a lifetime sentence in prison.
I built iron bars out of my own thoughts, locking up my heart and myself behind them. But enough of that.
I finally turn my attention to Elsa, who has already greeted the audience and taken up position in front of a long table lined with several flower bouquets and the coveted, futuristic-looking trophy.
“As some of you may have heard already,” she continues, “Bytes we’ve made it to the top two.
“Oh my giddy God,” Sophia mutters next to me.
She glances to the left where Maeve is sitting, and Maeve smiles at Sophia.
Maeve’s colleague’s leg bounces up and down restlessly, while Maeve looks a lot more peaceful.
I can barely sit still. My throat is dry, but my hands are clammy—it’s hard to tell whether that’s from my cold sweat or Nat’s.
“Two more teams left,” Rodrick Crow says in his deep voice, letting his gaze wander across the stands. “Two teams get the chance to win this year’s GameChanger award and the funding that goes along with it. Lunar Dream and PixelPulse. The visual novel and the bookshop simulator.”
Maeve smiles over at us again, and I return it mechanically.
I hope Shane’s currently blowing a fuse over the fact that the only two teams in the competition headed by women have made it to the finals.
I hope this will encourage more girls and women to get into gaming, and I hope even more that they’ll eventually crowd out the Shanes and Hanks of this world.
Mr. Crow adds a few words about both of our games, and I wish I had a remote to skip ahead. My body feels like an overextended rubber band. Like it’s about to shoot across the room and bounce off the walls if Mr. Crow and Elsa don’t announce the winner soon.
“In second place . . .” Mr. Crow says finally, and of course he has to pause again.
Now Sophia’s squashing my hand too, but I’m so excited that I don’t feel any pain.
From the corner of my eye, I can see my own face, wide-eyed, on the screen.
I hardly dare to breathe. “. . . we have Lunar Dream with their visual novel Matter of Time.”
I can’t hear the rest, because I’m screaming.
Or Nat is. Or Sophia. Or maybe all of us are.
I scream until my throat feels raw. I scream the way I’m really not supposed to after yesterday’s fire, but I don’t care.
The three of us jump up and down, hugging each other tightly, and it would probably have been polite to clap and wait to be announced as the official winners.
But I don’t care about that right now either.
We did it.
We did it, I did it, Novel Haven did it.
There are tears welling up in my eyes, and Sophia wipes away the first one that slides down my cheek with a raucous laugh.
“I think first place has just made itself known quite clearly, but for the sake of formality: In first place, we have the winners of this year’s GameChanger award: PixelPulse with Novel Haven!”
“Go, go, go!” Nat yells at us, shoving us forward. “We’ll just get weird questions if the three of us go up there. I’ll take pictures!”
We give Nat one last squeeze, and then Sophia grabs my hand, dragging me up to the stage along with her.
I’m blinded by the spotlights, and I can hardly see the audience, but all I want right now is to see Luca.
My heart thunders in my chest, and my hands are shaking. Without him, we wouldn’t be up here.
I accept the award, happy about the implication that I don’t have to take the mic and can leave the talking to Sophia.
“Thank you so, so much!” Sophia’s voice breaks almost as badly as mine does normally, and she laughs at herself.
“Thank you to all the sponsors of this prize, to Rodrick Crow and the entire roster of judges, who gave us a chance. Thank you, every single one of you out there who played Novel Haven and voted for us. In the end, this is an audience award, and my entire team and I vow to create the best possible gaming experience for you, and to use the money wisely. Thank you to my wonderful team here . . .” Sophia turns to face me, and there are tears in her eyes.
Nat has already dissolved into tears in the stands.
“. . . and the ones at home: Aria, Ramon, Kamal, we can’t wait to celebrate with you.
And I also want to thank all my co-competitors.
” She looks left and right, and her eyes pause on Maeve, who has a smile on her face and doesn’t seem sad in the slightest. “I’m honored to be sharing a stage with people like you.
You make the gaming industry a better place. ”
Her gaze moves forward, and I follow it—straight to Luca.
“Solidarity always strengthens the industry, and I will never forget what I’ve learned about solidarity at GameChanger as long as I live.
And I certainly won’t be losing those gray hairs anytime soon, because I’m with Mr. Crow on this: It was more chaotic than expected.
” Mr. Crow lets out a low laugh, which is echoed by the audience.
“You’ve probably heard already that the allegations against me and my studio have been dropped—and for this, too, I would like to thank you for your trust. Yours, but also the organizers’, who were so calm and level-headed in the face of this exceptional situation.
Thank you. I can’t wait to finally present you all with our finished game soon! ”
Luca’s smile outshines the cheering of the crowd like a ray of pure sunshine.
I want to run over to him. He put everything on the line so we could see justice served.
Back when I got my tattoo, I didn’t realize that the phrase was a wish as much as it was a memory.
I wanted to caution myself to stay open to the world, but deep down, I’ve always wished for someone who sees me as I truly am too.
Someone who sees with their heart. That person is Luca.
I know what it feels like to give a single thing your all.
And I know how it feels when that thing slips from your fingers in spite of everything.
But Luca was there for me. No matter how unreasonable it was.
He let go of his heart’s desire to catch me when I fell.