Headlights shine in my rearview mirror as someone parks behind me. I scoot down in my seat and watch as a group of dark fairies pile out of Kelsey’s familiar black Beetle. Or maybe they have a specific word used to describe a group, like a gaggle of geese. I’m more inclined to call them a murder, like crows. Yes, a murder of dark fairies is appropriate because goodness knows their wardrobe of black on black makes them resemble the winged creatures. Their cackling at some joke Kelsey just made sends a shiver down my spine, reminding me of that old scary movie where all the birds go crazy and attack the humans. Then again, I could be being a little overdramatic.
Thankfully, they don’t notice me when they pass my car. They go inside, their tattered black wings bumping against the door frame. Just seeing her renews my courage, not that it was ever really there to begin with. I get out of my car before I can talk myself out of it. A curse escapes my lips when I notice she parked way too close to my bumper.
My high heels click on the wooden front porch as I approach the door, echoing in my mind like a countdown to detonation. Again, I open the door before I can really think about what is about to happen.
I accidentally slam the door behind me, and every head turns in my direction. My thoughts waffle for a moment as the part of my brain that’s all about running and hiding screams at me to get out of here. But New Me snaps at Old Me like a master Jedi would a young Padowan who just used the force to bring the TV remote to him. I tilt my head up, channeling my inner elven princess, and head for the back door. The gazes of every creature in the game follow me.
I step into the crunchy grass, dry and dying from the heat. The ground is so lacking in moisture my heels don’t sink the least bit into the dirt. I glance around as I walk to the far end of the yard. Tommy is decked out in full wizard garb, of course. When he sees me, he nods with respect. Martha has been talking with him on and off during our sessions. He’s the game master so, of course, he knows what I’ve been up to. I return the nod.
I find Dan with the rest of his clan. Once again, I trade nods. Even if our characters don’t know each other, technically, he’ll still have my back if things get out of hand. A few days ago, when I was at his house to speak to his dad about sponsoring the phase two of my plan, Dan told me he wouldn’t let me go down.
“Number one, Kelsey deserves it,” he said, “Ever since your jock boyfriend clocked Logan—which I’m seriously pissed about, but I won’t take it out on you—she’s been spending every waking minute at the shop. I know she’s just using him for his access to the radio waves, trying to get her boyfriend’s songs played, and I’m sure Logan knows it, too, but she’s trying to give him hope they might get back together one day. Number two, my character is always looking for a fight. So, it’s believable he’d jump in if things got crazy.”
No wonder Logan has put up with Dan’s insanity for so long. Talk about fierce loyalty.
Every one of the four bright fairies turn to me with warm smiles as step I up to their circle. This is a big part of the plan. The bright fairies see the dark fairies as fallen sisters. One of the main goals in any bright fairy’s life is to “return” as many dark fairies to the light as possible.
“Well met, elf,” the shortest one says. Her face sparkles with glitter powder making her look like she just stepped off a constellation. She wears a daisy chain as a headband in her white blond, pixie-cut hair, and her iridescent wings remind me of a dragonfly.
“Well met.” I echo the classic fairy greeting. “I am Laowyn, and I come to you to humbly ask a favor.”
When she responds with, “I’m Sha-ra,” I know I’ve found the girl Martha wanted me to talk to. This girl’s real name is Courtney, and despite her short stature and youthful appearance, I know she’s twenty-two. She’s been playing for five years, she attends the big convention in New Orleans every year, and her character from two years ago became the Overseer (which is kind of like a mayor) of the Natchitoches and Shreveport LoA territories. I’m intimidated, to say the least, not only because of her experience at LARP, but also—and I know this is ridiculous—because she’s over the legal drinking age.
“These are my bright sisters, and we are always willing to help others as long as it is a good cause. Is this a good cause?” Her every movement is regal.
“The best,” I say. Her mouth quirks up at that.
I look her in the eyes, then glance in the direction of the murder of dark fairies. Hopefully, she understands what I’m trying to say without me having to say it. Martha put it best the other day when she said, “Even if there isn’t anyone near you to overhear your conversation, one never knows what powers others hold and what they notice.”
Knowing all these little ins and outs of this game makes me feel so empowered. I’m a geeky badass, and I’m loving it.
“In that case,” she says, “we shall help in whatever way you require as long as it does not put any of us in danger.”
“None of you will even have to step foot near a battle. I just need any potions you’re willing to give. Healing is something I’ve not yet mastered.”
Considering the amount of experience points I’ve earned while working with Martha, I should have the healing ability, but I spent them on other powers all because I’m counting on the bright fairies’ help. They’re the only race that holds the knowledge it takes to create these potions.
“Could you give us a moment to discuss this?”
“Of course,” I say.
I take up a spot in the shadow of a large gardenia bush on the edge of the yard. Courtney and her fairies are deep in conversation, heads together, so I take the opportunity to scan the other players, desperate to see Logan. I find him quickly. He sits in the exact same lawn chair across the yard as he did the first game. His elbows rest on his knees, his head is down, and his hands grasp the back of his neck. He hasn’t even put on his makeup. I wonder if he’s noticed I’m here.
Sorenson calls for everyone’s attention. I stay in my shadowed spot as he gives practically the same speech he gave last time I was here. Apparently, no one else has been trying to find out what’s going on with the humans in our town like I have because he gives no new information on that front. My eyes dart over to watch Kelsey as he says this. Her arms are crossed. An evil smirk is plastered on her face.
God, I hope this works.
When Sorenson finishes, the bright fairies are waiting to talk to him. I hope they’re informing him that over the past couple of weeks, they’ve each brewed a potion. And sure enough, after a quick back and forth, Tommy reaches into his robe and pulls out some index cards. He writes something on them and gives one to each of the girls.
Courtney begins to search the crowd as they return to their spot at the end of the yard, so I step out of my shadow. Everyone from inside has crowded into the backyard. I go unnoticed as I walk by Courtney. I casually open my bag so she can discreetly slip the index cards in it. I whisper a quick, “Thank you.”
#27
Just like last time, there’s a long line to talk to either Sorenson or Torrak, the red-bearded dwarf. As I wait, I start to realize there are so many different layers to this game. First, there’s the main storyline developed by the game masters, but beneath that, there seem to be all these little stories going on at the same time that are created by the players themselves. Like, there’s a vampire under the disco ball who must have taken offense to some dwarf’s dirty joke because he’s now using an emotional control power to make the dwarf fall in love with the cute elf standing by the snack table.
This makes me think of my own little player-created story. I check over my shoulder to see if Logan is still in the lawn chair. He’s not. I really hope he didn’t decide to leave. My immediate reaction is to find Kelsey and make sure she hasn’t kidnapped him and stuck him in a tall tower somewhere. When I can’t find her in the crowd either, my heart really starts to pound.
By the time I get in front of Sorenson, I’m sure I’ve worn blisters on both my pinky toes bec
ause I’ve been bouncing on the balls of my feet.
“Yes, Laowyn, how may I help you?” he asks in his fake British accent.
“I need to speak with you and another, but I do not want to do it inside Sanctuary. I fear it may get heated.”
Sorenson crosses his fingers and holds them up for me to see, the sign he’s about to speak out of character. “Are you sure about this, Maddie? Kelsey’s been doing this a lot longer than you and—”
I hold up a hand. “I’m sure.”
He nods and uncrosses his fingers. “So be it. Lead me to the one you wish to speak with.”
I don’t tell Sorenson I don’t really know where she is. He follows me inside, and, thankfully, she’s right there in the kitchen. With Logan. He looks even more tired than he did earlier. Her right hand lays flat against his chest, right over his heart, and she’s looking up at him, saying something. As he shakes his head no, his gaze lands on me across the room. At first, he looks relieved, even happy, but his brows quickly knit together, his mouth turning into that thin line of pissed-offness.
“Her,” I point at Kelsey, “The fairy with my friend.”
“You go ahead out front. I’ll bring her out.”
The few people inside must have noticed the exchange between Sorenson and me because they part, giving me a clear path to the front door. My feet are really hurting me now so I sit on the porch steps and slip off my killer heels. The only lights out here are the streetlamps and the occasional headlights from a passing vehicle. I walk out onto the lawn, wiggling my toes in the still-warm grass.
I try to tell myself even if this doesn’t work and I don’t win, Kelsey will still be outed as the bad guy. Everyone will still respect me for figuring everything out, but that’s not the goal here. I don’t care what everyone else thinks. I want to prove to myself I’m not a coward. That the part of me that was obsessed with hiding who I am is dead. And there’s Logan, of course. I really only care what he thinks. I want him to know I’d do anything for him, even battle his ex-girlfriend to the death—or to the final hit point, as the case is.
The door opens, and out steps Kelsey, that same smug look on her face, followed by Sorenson. They’re not alone, though. The word has spread that something is going down. Everyone that was inside is behind them. A commotion moves around the side of the house. I know for sure everyone expects something interesting is about to happen when Dan’s voice floats to my ears.
“Aw, yeah! It’s on, y’all!” I can see the silhouette of a gigantor sword raised in the air at the back of the crowd encircling me.
Kelsey stops a few feet from me and crosses her arms. “What’s this about?”
“Laowyn wishes to have a word with you, Kelsey.” How lame is it she used her own name for her character?
She looks at me, an eyebrow raised.
“I, Laowyn, daughter of the Trulu,” I begin with a shaky voice, “accuse you of misuse of powers. In addition to this misuse, you’ve also tormented the people of this fine city, thereby endangering our way of life. This is a disgrace. I leave it to The Overseer to determine your fate.” I turn to Sorenson. Behind him, everyone is whispering to each other.
“Is this true, Kelsey?” he asks her.
She flips her hair, which immediately settles back into a perfect, shiny, onyx frame around her face I could never pull off. “You have got to be kidding me. You’re not actually believing this child, are you, Sorenson?” Then crosses her fingers and leans in to me. “Give it up, Barbie. I’ll be nice and give you a heads up: there is no way your crappy little princess character can take me on. And no one here will back you up. You should walk away. Now.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Logan push his way to the front of the crowd. His eye is pretty much healed now. There’s only a little yellow tint on his cheek. He looks from me to Kelsey to Sorenson. Fingers crossed, he says, “This is crazy. You can’t let this happen, it’d ruin your storyline, right? We still have the rest of summer to play. You’d have to come up with a whole new story.”
Sorenson shrugs. “Nothing I can do. Maddie’s played out all the proper scenarios. It was all legit. And she got the experience points for it.” He looks at Kelsey when he says that last bit.
I raise my voice so all the players can hear. “I went to the scenes of the crimes, to the people’s homes who were so unjustly treated, and through a special technique, I was able to identify a unique aura signature.” Announcing this to a crowd full of vamps and centaurs, especially in this very proper way of speaking, sounds crazy. It makes me feel like I’m in a period film. But it all needs to be said so no one thinks I’m lying.
I used experience points from the first game to get a special Aura Detection ability, and then Martha and I gave Tommy a call. I told him I wanted to search the peoples’ homes for a consistent aura. He told me I would find one. When I asked him which person this aura would match up with at the game tonight, he named Kelsey. It was that easy. Plus, I got a ton more experience points for doing all that.
Kelsey blinks slowly at me a few times, and then her head snaps to Sorenson. “She’s obviously lying!”
“I shall determine who is lying and who is telling the truth. Laowyn, would you give me your hand so I might search your thoughts?” He holds out his hand to me. Normally, my character wouldn’t want anyone picking around in her brain, but since this is the only way to prove I’m right, I don’t challenge him.
He holds my hand for a long, tension-building moment, even though he already knows what his character will see.
“Laowyn speaks the truth!” He flings his arms up for maximum effect and turns to the crowd. It works. There’s a collective gasp from the other players. Then the illusion is ruined when his fake beard gets caught in his watch as he lowers his arms.
Kelsey’s eyes cast about as she looks from me to Sorenson, then to her murder of dark fairies. They seem to be sinking back into the crowd, unwilling to risk their necks for a law-breaker.
She and I lock eyes as Sorenson speaks. “Kelsey, if you surrender yourself to the Counsel’s judgment, we might show mercy if you are repentant. If you do not comply… I don’t think you will get too far. I recommend you come with me. Now.”
Dead silence settles. The only noise is a truck rumbling by.
Kelsey tenses. In the next second, she draws her sword from her back where it was hanging between her wings. It has the look of a scimitar, but is obviously made of foam then spray-painted, you guessed it, black.
“Never!” she yells, and everyone takes a few steps back.
I hear a clomp of boots behind me. “Have at thee!” Dan screams, his sword almost whacking me in the ear. Sorenson steps between Kelsey and me.
“No.” I hold up a hand to Dan. I lightly touch Sorenson’s shoulder. “Let me prove I belong here with you. Allow me to complete my quest.”
Sorenson nods. “Your character sheet, please?” I give him my sheet from my bag. He goes over to Kelsey and asks for the same thing. She reaches into her bra and pulls out her sheet, hands it to him, then returns to her ready stance.
Sorenson goes back to the sidelines and whispers into Torrak’s ear. Then he hands him something from the depths of his cloak. Torrak dashes to the sidewalk. He hops into a car parked directly in front of us, rolls down the windows, and turns on the stereo. A heavy, thumping, techno beat starts. Is that the Matrix soundtrack?
I’m unprepared, distracted by Torrak as he shuffles back to the circle, when Kelsey rushes me, sword high in the air. She tags me on the shoulder. Of course, it doesn’t physically hurt, but when Sorenson yells, “Negative twenty health points from Laowyn,” my jaw clenches in anguish.
With my focus fully on her, Kelsey and I begin to circle each other. Thank goodness I took off those heels.
“I know why you’re really doing this,” she says. “He’s over you. He wouldn’t touch your skanky ass if you were the last cheerleader on Earth.”
Her words sting, but I didn’t do all this to give up
now. My hand tightens around a ping-pong ball, a.k.a. an energy bolt, in my bag. I juke to the left, and she swings, but I’ve already doubled back to my right. My bolt flies straight and true, bouncing off her left temple.
“Negative twenty from Kelsey,” Sorenson says.
I continue around her and hit her in the back with another ball while she’s still looking around for what hit her the first time.
“Another twenty from Kelsey.”
“How are her hits as powerful as mine? There’s no way—”
I tag her again on the arm.
“I was talking out of character! That means pause the fight, bitch.” She whacks her sword on the ground.
I cross my fingers, then look at Sorenson. “But her fingers weren’t crossed, right?”
Dan pipes up from behind me, “I didn’t see her fingers crossed.”
“Neither did I,” Sorenson says. “The hit counts.”
Kelsey’s head whips from face to face, looking for someone to lie for her. Her gaze lands on me, that snarl of hers in rare form. I wink and uncross my fingers to arm myself with another ball.
She lunges at me, swinging at my knees, but I’m faster. I jump and manage to do a textbook toe-touch. Thank you, cheerleading. The crowd lets out a collective, “Whoa!”
Her momentum puts her off balance, and she almost falls. She catches herself with one hand. I take the chance to throw another ball, but amazingly, she deflects it with her sword and regains her footing.
We begin circling each other again, both of us too stubborn to be the first to look away. She charges me, randomly slashing the air. I just keep backing up, slinging ball after ball at her chest.
“That’s another twenty, forty, sixty! Kelsey, stop charging!” Sorenson tries to run over to us, but trips on his ill-fitting robe.
“Pause, Kelsey, pause!” Logan’s voice comes from somewhere behind me.
She doesn’t stop. She keeps swinging at me. I’ve run out of ammo, and there’s nowhere to run considering we’re surrounded by people. The rules in the handbook state if a character runs out of magical ammo, the game master should pause the fight so said character can restock. That’s apparently what Sorenson and Logan are trying to do, but Kelsey isn’t listening.
The Summer I Became a Nerd Page 18