Page 26 of Love in Development

Our avatars stood next to each other under the willow blowing in the breeze.There always seemed to be wind up here.Sunlight glinted off the small wave peaks like a lake full of diamonds.It felt peaceful...and a little romantic being here, quiet like this.Just me and IK.I shook my head as if to dislodge the feeling along with my headphones.

ScarlettSaber: Yeah.Yeah, I do.Why cant we just read peoples minds?

IvoryKnight: That could get a bit awkward.I mean, my thoughts arent always the purest.And havent you ever said something that you didnt mean or regretted the moment it left your mouth?Sometimes we need the time to filter through and say what we mean.

ScarlettSaber: Youre right.Maybe I just wish that we could understand what people mean.What they are trying to say or what they really need when they say something.

I thought back to my escape from the theater without saying goodbye to either of my friends.Or congratulating Charisse.She’d known I’d been there to support her, but would Lin tell her I left immediately after?I just hadn’t been able to stand another moment trapped next to Ni.Was it genetics?

IvoryKnight: Just ask them.

ScarlettSaber: What?

IvoryKnight: If you dont understand, are confused, or feel hurt just ask what they meant.Tell them how it made you feel.

I picked up my can and tilted it only to find it empty.

ScarlettSaber: If they really cared about me, they would know.

IvoryKnight: Why do you playChampions of the Shattered Age?

I tilted my head, pulling the blanket tighter around me.What did that have to do with anything?

ScarlettSaber: Um, because its fun.

IvoryKnight: They don’t tell you right away what strengths and weaknesses each monster has.Instead, you have to figure out the puzzle from clues from the things they do and how their health bar reacts to attacks.People are just like that.Thats what makes them interesting.And everyone has their secrets.They are never just what they appear to be.They are complex riddles with multiple layers.

ScarlettSaber: Like onions?Now youre sounding like an animated talking donkey.

IvoryKnight: Sorry.I have a little sister.

I thought about that.I had gotten so caught up that I’d forgotten.IK could be anyone: an eighty-year-old woman, a ten-year-old boy.I didn’t actually know him, just what he told me.But I felt like I knew him.And he seemed too mature to be ten.

ScarlettSaber: You sound like a psychologist.

IvoryKnight: Thanks.I think its interesting, but I dont want to be one.Actually, I want to use psych to figure out why people play games, so I can be a dev when I graduate.

ScarlettSaber: Really, me too.Are you in college?

IvoryKnight: High school.

He could still be younger than me.Truly, I didn’t know anything about him.In fact—

ScarlettSaber: Are you a bio guy or girl IRL?

IvoryKnight: Guy.You?

Should I tell him and lose the anonymity?He was a guy, and I’d learned the hard way that gaming guys could be weird about gaming girls.But I had never felt this kind of connection with anyone online or in person before.

ScarlettSaber: Girl.

There.The word was out.

I shouldn’t have said anything.Why had I even asked that question?

But he’d already added me to ‌his team.Would he take it back now?Or act all icky like RogueStriker and ask to meet in person?It had been a mistake to tell him.Should I say that I’d just been kidding to get a rise out of him?I found myself sliding my hands under my armpits for warmth.

IvoryKnight: Do you have any siblings?