Page 8 of Love in Development

I raced forward and used a stone wall to bounce off of, and I flipped over him while slicing his back.The armor protected him, and he only took a fraction of the damage my blood sword could do, but it partially refilled my health bar as well.

He spun to face me.We both dodged, feinted, and swiped at one another in an epic duel.His finger speed was at least as fast as mine, and his timing was perfection.I blocked another swing of his sword and saw an opening—just a momentary hesitation.I dove in and attacked, then was smashed from behind...and I lost.

I sat there, stunned.Stupid threes.The roar of the crowd returned as I slipped off the headphones and hung them back up.

Somehow during that battle that kept me on my toes, he had re-summoned his magical shield behind me.Sneaky.

Buzz was yelling in my ear, thel’ssounding liker’s.“Can’t believe you almost defeated IvoryKnight.He’s legend!”

I turned to see that a large group had gathered in the chairs behind me as well.Everyone was talking loudly, and several were cuffing me on the back.No longer protected by my avatar, I wanted to fast-travel away.

Through the crowd, sitting in a corner with the non-gamers, a head covered in a hood peeked around the screen, and a familiar smile caught me in its web, my throat tightening.His brown waves were dry now, and the brightness of the overhead lights revealed a face that didn’t disappoint.

If anything, he was even more attractive than the bad lighting and rain had led me to believe.My Parking Lot Angel was probably too shy to join the crowd.I know I was, but I could feel his congratulations from across the room.Time to leave.I’d find out what loot I got for second place later.Whenever they got around to sending it.

Chapter 3

Monday morning, a coupleof weeks after the tourney, my pencil lead snapped.Again.I’d been pressing too hard, grinding through my homework in the sun while a cool breeze snatched at the escaped hairs along my face, increasing my frustration.

The cement bench behind the school cafeteria chilled my butt, and the matching table chilled my elbows.Soon I wouldn’t be able to sit out here anymore as fall changed to winter.The other kids either sat inside the glass-walled room eating and socializing while a few walked by; some of them wearing jackets.My denim one didn’t stand out so much anymore.

I twisted the pencil in my sharpener.It was all IvoryKnight’s fault that I was writing by hand.I knew that thought was irrational, but I was having a hard time focusing on programming.This problem should be easy, but all I could see was his blue radiating armor and that oversized two-handed sword.He wasn’t God; he hadn’t caused the lightning, yet he had stolen the first prize that would have fixed my computer.I knew not to expect the loot for a couple more weeks, so it didn’t really matter whether I’d gotten first prize or not.

Okay—he hadn’t stolen it from me.I tucked my sharpener back into my bag and tapped my eraser against my notebook.As grumpy as I was about losing, I had to admit that he had been smooth and fast.Replaying the fight in my head, I wondered if he had drawn it out on purpose.There were a few times he could’ve defeated me but missed by a hair.

An ancient oak towered some distance to the right of me, its shadow reaching toward my combat boots as I pulled them out of the way.One of its discarded leaves landed on the programming problem vexing me.I swiped it off, ignoring the fact that I should’ve done the homework over the weekend instead of playing COTSA.

I wondered if IvoryKnight was actually a girl using a male avatar, so she didn’t have to deal with the attention that being female and good at playing brought.There were guys who played female characters, just like I played a male one.There had to be others out there who were like me.Other than my old gaming group, who had heard me on voice chat, and those from DragonByte who’d seen me play, everyone else just assumed I was a guy, and I liked it that way.I didn’t want the extra attention.

The programming problem stared me in the face accusingly.I was procrastinating again.Why couldn’t I just figure out this problem?Usually, I found tricky coding questions interesting, but not today.Today, I just wanted to scream and throw my pencil across campus.The homework was due last hour, and any F’s would affect my GPA.My fist tightened, and the whole pencil snapped this time.I shut my eyes and dropped my forehead onto my books and papers.I should just use the library computers to work out this problem.I was going there after lunch anyway, for the volunteer hours that would help pad my college applications.

Parking Lot Angel’s smile appeared in the blackness behind my eyelids.I let it drift there, debuffing the berserk ailment that seemed to be affecting me.Only this time, the Parking Lot Angel in my mind reached out and trailed fingers along my face.I sat up quickly.No.Absolutely not.Why was he lingering in my thoughts?I’d seen handsome guys before.It was no big deal.

But none of them had ever been so kind and thoughtful, an inner voice whispered.I squeezed my eyes tighter, scrunching my whole face and grinding my teeth.

“Being computerless is making her crazy.”Lin’s voice came from behind me.“Are you sure I can’t buy you a new one?”