12. Role Playing
ROLE PLAYING
We make our way towards the drama room on the second floor in Block F. It has been a while since I’ve been here. I think the last time was Year Seven Drama—one of the mandatory classes, and I hated it.
After my awkward attempt at acting, the drama teacher let me sit at the back of the class. She never called my name for the remainder of the year.
Even she knew I was hopeless at acting.
Conner stops at the door furthest down the corridor. Loud noises come from within. I arch my brow and eye him as he takes a deep breath and opens the door. Seated at a long table are three guys. They have a board game with tiny figurines and props in the centre of the table.
A thin, shaved-headed person described the figure as the “Sorcerer Lord that can do transmutation spells”. The bigger guy scoffs and raises his figurine, saying that his Warlock had a powerful pact with a demon.
“What’s this?” I say in a hushed voice to Conner.
“Are you familiar with Dungeons & Dragons?”
I shake my head. From what I can tell, it’s a board game.
“Come on.”
The bigger guy notices us first. His grin widens when he sees Conner. “Hey, man. Didn’t think you would show.”
“Yeah…You said it would depend on whether she says yes.” The short student at the back focuses on placing the figurines. After he’s done, he straightens up and presses his glasses to the bridge of his nose. “Is this the girl you were talking about?”
Conner turns a bashful red, which causes the others to laugh and call him cute.
“All right, enough,” Conner snaps, but his tone is light and warm-hearted.
He then focuses on me and says, “We come here every Friday to play a short campaign of Dungeons and Dragons. Noya, the one holding the sorcerer figurine, is Troy. He is our Dungeon Master and evil mastermind. Next to him is Aaron, and the one at the back is Finch.”
“Is she playing?” Finch asks while holding up two more figurines. “We lack a cleric and a fighter.”
Conner glances at me, and I twitch my head from side to side. Knowing myself, I’ll ruin the game somehow.
“She’s watching,” Conner declares.
“Next time,” Aaron says as he sits down.
Conner drags a chair beside him, and I sit, placing my hands on my thighs. Finch hands Conner a figurine of a man holding two daggers. Aaron is apparently the Dungeon Master, Troy is a Sorcerer, and Finch is a Druid. Something about being able to shapeshift into animals?
They speak in a language I should know because this game is all about imagination, creativity and storytelling, but I can’t. Their words made me double back as I try to figure out what they meant.
The dice are also critical, and Aaron is the one who holds the dice the most because, apparently, a rogue—what Conner is—likes to steal things.
Finch and Conner jolt in their seats when they roll high, dodging an attack from the dungeon troll standing in their way of a chest they want to lock pick.
While Troy attacks, Conner says he will be back and that I will take his place instead. I go rigid, and the chain and ball known as Conner unshackles himself from me, leaving me here defenceless and alone.
Troy raises his arm high while I glare at the door, silently begging Conner to enter, but Aaron is already calling Conner’s Rogue.
“Granick raises his club, which has sharp nails sticking out, and he moves the club down towards the rogue, ready to crumble the thief who dares to sneak past him,” Aaron declares.
As I swallow, my mouth has a cotton feel and taste to it while they stare at me as if I’m supposed to know what to do!
Finch leans towards me and whispers, “Try dodging the attack. If you dodge it, I’ll use my move to attack. Attacks are higher than dodging.”
I nod as I stare at the characters on the board. The rogue stands before Aaron’s gnarly-looking monsters. He has a beaming grin on his face as he awaits my fate.
Aren’t game masters supposed to be neutral?
“I…” I lick my cracked lips. “I use my…dagger to deflect the blow, and then I step to the side and f-fall back to my team,” I mumble.
“Nice,” Finch says as he leans away from me. “You heard the lady.”
Aaron clears his throat. “The Rogue raises his dagger to pierce the skin of the Orc and,”—he rolls the dice, and when it stops in the middle of the board, Finch and Troy wince—“misses, causing the Orc’s club to swing down on the Rogue’s arm.”
I slump my shoulders and sit back. Crap, I screwed up.
“The Sorcerer, Barthis, raises his staff to protect the Rogue, summoning a shield of protection!” Troy declares.
“Sorcerer Barthis raises his staff and,”—Aaron rolls the dice, and from Troy’s mutter of a swear, it isn’t good—“the shield isn’t powerful enough.”
We look at Finch as he glares at the board like it’s a math problem. As he looks up, he says, “Sorry, Noya, but we won’t all make it if I don’t attack—and I don’t have any pots left.”
I nod, accepting the fate of Conner’s Rogue.
Finch raises his hand and bellows, “I turn into an owlbear and slash my claws across the midsection the orc left open!”
The Druid approaches the Orc and…” Aaron rolls the dice, and we all lean closer to the board until it slows to a stop in the middle.
I lean back with a smile as Aaron says, “And he lands the blow, but it isn’t enough to prevent the Rogue’s death.
Perhaps he shouldn’t have thought it wise to sneak around the Orc with so little perks to keep him evaded. ”
Finch and Troy snigger. I suppose this is a recurring thing for Conner.”
“And so,” Aaron continues, “Granick, in a low, slurred voice, asks the Rogue, ‘Do you have any last words?’”
They look at me expectantly.
“Um…” I scan the board as I bite the inside of my cheek, peeling the skin away. My focus settles on the sorcerer. “With the rest of my strength, I g-give my precious dagger…thing…,”—I whisper the last word with little confidence—“to the Sorcerer to use in my stead…”
“Wow,” Troy says.
“You need to roll high for you to give me your equipment,” Finch states. “But if you do, Sorcerer Barthis will use it on his roll. Conner’s daggers are OP, with a high critical roll and frighten chance. We can defeat Granick if this works!”
I lean forward and glare at the dice as they roll across the board, my heart skipping a beat until they roll once more, landing on Critical Success—but I have no idea what they’re talking about.
Still, I stand with them and smile.
“Fuck yes!” Finch says.
“And so, before the Rogue draws his last breath, he hands the Crimson Dagger to Barthis, and he says…”
They look at me expectantly. So, I take a deep breath and say, “Tear them into ribbons.”
“Whoa!” Troy laughs.
The door opens, and Conner enters with a bag of hot chips. “Hey! Did I miss anything? How did Noya go?”
“She died,” Aaron answers, and I wince.
Conner grins, eyeing me playfully as he sits beside me.
“But it was your mistake for trying to do a sneak attack, and it failed, so…she made up for your mistake by rolling high and giving your dagger to Troy. Now, if he rolls high, the mighty Granick will fall.”
“Wow…” He raises the bag of chips towards me. “Have some.
Blush burns on my face when I take a chip and lean back comfortably in my chair.
The adrenaline still courses through me. I imagine myself there as the orc shattered my arm, and I lay in a pool of blood. With the last of my strength, I gave my prized possession to the sorcerer dude.
My fingers tighten against my tights, and I smile.
I haven’t had this much fun since I can remember.
Conner points to Troy, laughing with his mouth full.
And it’s all thanks to him.
Conner leans towards me as the others play the rest of the game. He says, “So, you killed me?”
“Sorry,” I murmur.
“Nah, it’s good. Means I get to talk to you more.” Before I can speak, he raises the bag of chops again. I take another bite, feeling the sudden hunger taking over me. “Would you come back next Friday?”
I place my hand over my mouth as I chew and say, “Yes.”
“You can be my cleric and make sure I don’t fall in battle.”
I shake my head and say, “I want to be a Paladin.”
“Oh…” Conner arches a brow and says, “My shield.”
“Stop.” I playfully nudge him. “You’re being creepy again.”
“But it’s not a red flag?”
“Yet.”
“You will tell me if I get too overbearing, right?” he asks as he raises the bag of chips towards me.
“Yes.” I take another chip. “I thought you were going to the bathroom.”
“I got hungry on the way back.”
“You don’t have your lunch?”
“Nah. My parents and I used to have a lot of arguments about why I never ate my sandwich, and after a while, they just started packing me lunch money instead. You?”
Crap. I forget that if I ask Conner a question, I must expect him to uno reverse card me with the same question. He’s too curious for his own good.
But if he had known better, he would have stayed away from me after the first night. If anything, he could have driven off and left me to lie my way out of the police officers’ questioning.
“Um…” I look away. “I forgot.”
Aaron looks over to us and says, “Hey, Conner, can you help?”
“Sure.” He hands me the bags of chips and says, “You can finish the rest. And after I pack up, I’ll take you to your next class. You have P.E. on Fridays, right?”
“Yes…” I look at the chips. This burning sensation stings behind my eyes as I take in the full packet.
It hurts—this feeling of uncertainty and confusion. My stomach aches as if thousands of caterpillars have flourished into butterflies after months of transforming in their cocoons. They explode inside my belly, out of my mouth, eyes, and ears, making me high from this feeling.
“You like her?” Finch asks Conner.
“Yeah,” he says, and a smile plays across his lips.
“Is she new?” Aaron asks.
“No. Noya’s been here since year seven. She hangs around the back with Andy,” Conner replies.
“Andy?” Troy says as he cringes. “Does she smoke?”
“Why don’t you ask her?” Conner looks toward me. “You’re talking loud enough for her to hear.”
Finch and Troy go rigid as they mechanically turn towards me. I smile tightly, unsure of what I should do in this situation. So, I look down and eat the chips in silence.
“You’d better be careful, Conner. If you like this girl, keep her away from Sarah. You know how dramatic she can be.”
“As if I’d ever let Sarah near her,” Conner responds with a curl of his top lip. “Noya is nothing like her.”
“Yeah, she’s cool. I mean, she was fully getting invested in the game,” Aaron says. Then, as he notices me, he adds, “Make sure you come back next Friday.”
“Okay,” I whisper, and after I realise they didn’t hear me, I nod.
They all beam grins as they slap Conner on the shoulder. He turns a bashful red again. “See ya in Science,” they say.
“Yeah, yeah.” Conner waves them off.
I stand beside Conner with the empty bag of chips scrunched in my grasp.
“Let’s go. The bell will go off soon.”
I want to ask him about Sarah, but the way he acted makes me believe she’s a touchy subject for him. So, instead, I smile, and we make our way towards the oval. Conner tells me the rules of Dungeons and Dragons so that I won’t be “winging it” the next time I play.