I duck under her sword and try to sidestep around her. Maybe there are some balls on the ground nearby? She misses me as I duck but swings again and catches me in my back. Not only does she hit me with her sword, but her other forearm follows. It slams into me, knocking me to the ground.
#28
“Stop!” Sorenson yells again as he steps between us. “That last hit doesn’t count, and you know it, Kelsey. She’s allowed to reload on magic.”
“But I hit her fair and square!” Her voice is so high I expect to see the neighborhood strays come jogging up any second.
“That was not fair, you hit her. For real, you hit her,” Dan says.
The crowd begins to murmur. I hear words like “ejected” and “suspension” thrown around.
I sit up. “No. I’ll take that last hit.” Her not crossing her fingers was one thing, but I’ll be dammed if I win the whole shebang on a technicality.
“Are you sure? A move like that is cause for ejection from—”
I don’t let Sorenson finish. “I’m sure.”
Something hits my arm, and I look around thinking one of Kelsey’s friends has decided to enter the fight. But it’s just one of my own energy bolts lying on the grass next to me. Another one hits my leg, then another lands by my hand. The surrounding players are searching the ground for my ping-pong balls and tossing them to me. One person, the only female dwarf in the game that I’ve seen, actually brings me a handful.
“Kick the crap out of her,” she whispers to me, then returns to the crowd.
I scoop all the balls back into my bag. I stand up and dust the grass and dirt from my clothes. Everyone applauds like I’m an injured basketball player that just got up off the court.
Kelsey stands by Sorenson, grasping and releasing the hilt of her sword. She huffs like she just ran all the way to the Hot Topic store in Alexandria.
Sorenson faces me and in his most distinguished British accent, says, “Are you prepared to continue the battle, elfling?”
I straighten my back, square my shoulders, and look from side to side at all the painted and made-up faces around me. They all seem to lean forward, eyes unblinking. There’s only one person I’m looking for, though. Logan stands by Dan with the same look of disbelief as everyone else.
“Let’s do this,” I finally say to Tommy. “And don’t call me elfling, Gandalf.”
The crowd cheers as Kelsey and I face off again. Her skin has turned an apple red, which, with her black ensemble, is not a good look. Not that I can really say anything. My hair probably looks like a bird’s nest complete with dead grass from my tumble on the lawn.
She snatches her character sheet from Sorenson. When she glances over it, her frown confirms my suspicions. If I’m right, Kelsey’s character should be close to incapacitation. Just one or two more hits and I’ll be able to bring my plan to fruition, hopefully.
Sorenson steps back to the sidelines. “Resume!”
I wait for Kelsey to make a move. Instead of charging, she says, “I heal.”
The rules state that, depending on a character’s level, they can only dodge attacks while they heal. The higher the level, the shorter the amount of time they can’t retaliate.
“It’ll take you five seconds,” Sorenson says, which means her character isn’t as awesome as she’d like everyone to believe. “One one thousand…”
I throw a ball, but she’s ready. She dodges easily.
“Two one thousand. Three…” The crowd joins Sorenson in counting.
This is my last chance to tag her before she heals a substantial amount of health points potentially putting me at the disadvantage. I aim at her left thigh, head toward her, and swing my arm. She darts to her right, but fails to notice I didn’t actually throw the ball.
“Four one thousand…”
My arm follows her motion, and the ball still in my hand easily connects with the exposed skin on her upper arm. She screams like I really did just slam an energy bolt into her.
“You’re down!” Tommy says, and the crowd hoots and jumps. Dan is shaking Logan by his jacket as he throws his head back and howls.
I look at Kelsey, and she’s staring at me like I just dropped out of the sky.
I shrug and say, “Sorry,” as sincerely as possible.
Once the crowd calms down, Sorenson steps up to us. “What do you want to do with your prisoner, Laowyn?”
“I cast the elven incantation Change of Heart,” I declare.
“No way!” Kelsey says.
“Hold up.” Logan holds out his hand to Sorenson. “Let me see her sheet. There’s no way she can have that spell.”
Sorenson looks at me for my permission to let Logan see my character sheet. I nod. Logan takes it and scours it.
I’m not surprised he doubts me. This specific spell is super expensive, hence why I had to get the potions from the bright fairies instead of getting the healing power. When he shakes his head in disbelief, I stand next to him and point at my experience point expenditure log.
“Did I do it right?” I ask.
His bright blue eyes lock with mine. “How…”
I lean in so close our noses are almost touching. “Ask your mom.”
He blinks a few times, then gives my sheet back to Sorenson. “Looks good to me.”
“Uh-uh,” Kelsey says. “Let me see that thing.”
“It has been approved by two game masters and another player. There’s no need for you to look at it,” Sorenson says.
Kelsey’s mouth drops open.
Sorenson straightens my character sheet. “Now, Maddie, you do realize this spell takes health points to initiate and if you use it now, it’ll kill you, so—”
I pull out the index cards from the bright fairies and shove them against Sorenson’s chest.
He reads them and grins. “You sneaky little elf. All right, these potions put you at full health. You’ll survive the casting, but only barely.” He throws his arms up to get the chattering crowd’s attention. “For those of you who aren’t familiar with the incantation called Change of Heart, Maddie will need to roll seven different dice. It’s extremely difficult to complete this spell because of what it does. It completely changes the target’s sensibilities. If your character loves winter, after this spell, she’ll love summer. If she loves order, after this spell, she’ll love chaos. If she is dark, after this spell, she’ll be bright.”
The crowd’s chattering gets louder as Sorenson explains things. I look up at Logan. He’s still staring at me with a bewildered look on his face.
Sorenson continues. “This spell is not only hard to cast because it saps your health, it is considered nearly impossible because you must roll perfect on five of the seven dice.”
He forgot to mention that the five dice have to be the five highest-rolling dice. I have to roll a twenty on the twenty-sided die, a twelve on the twelve-sided die, a ten on both ten-sided dice, and an eight on the eight-sided die. I don’t even want to try to calculate the odds on this or my brain will explode.
“Do you have a set of dice? I think I have a spare upstairs,” Sorenson says to me.
I pull out Roy G. Biv. “I have my own.”
The crowd parts for Sorenson, Kelsey, Logan, and me as we head up to the porch. Tommy clears a coffee table that looks more like a Dumpster treasure than a table. I kneel down in front of it, and Kelsey pulls up a chair.
“This is never going to work, you know that, right? You’re going to knock yourself out, I’ll wake up before you, and chop your head off,” she says.
“Not if I chop yours off first,” Dan says from the steps.
I just smile and rub the dice in my hands. They click together creating a twinkling tune.
Sorenson kneels down. I can feel Logan standing above me.
“Here I go,” I say.
Everything goes into slow motion when the dice fall from my fingers. Each one bounces a couple of times then rolls along the table, one after the other, their rainbow colors reflect
ing the dim porch light. I force myself not to watch them as they come to a stop. When the last one leaves my hand, I stand and turn around, putting me face to face with Logan.
He’s not watching the outcome either. His eyes sparkle like the dice, bright and sigh-inducing. His brow is furrowed, though, making me wonder what is running through his mind. I find out soon enough. His fingertips lightly touching the sides of my neck are the only things I feel as the dice are totaled behind me. The creases between his eyebrows disappear as the smile that struck me as irresistible the first time I saw it in The Phoenix appears. I breathe in his scent, and my eyes drift shut like I just caught a whiff of hot chocolate on Christmas day. I forget where I am when his perfect boy-lips brush against mine.
Then, we kiss. We kiss like no else exists, like we were made for each other, like there’s nowhere else in the entire world either one of us wants to be.
When we break apart, my heart goes into overdrive. I lean into Logan, resting my forehead against his. Somehow, my hands slipped under his jacket and are now flat against his chest. I try to pull them back, but he covers them with his own, keeping them in place. My blue face paint has transferred to his nose and cheeks making him look slightly frost-bitten.
“Finally,” he says, voice ragged. I like this tone a lot more than his normal, smooth radio voice.
“Finally what?” My voice is just as shaky as his.
He opens his mouth to say something, but Kelsey shouts, “No freakin’ way!”
Sorenson stands slowly, still staring at the table. “I can’t believe it,” he says in a whisper. Then he turns to the crowd, which I now realize has been deathly quiet this whole time. “Six out of seven rolled high number! The spell is complete!”
The crowd roars. People rush forward to congratulate me, shaking my hands, slapping my back.
“That was the best thing ever!” a guy vamp says, his yellow contact covered eyes wide.
“I can’t believe it. You’re one badass mamma-jamma,” a lizard girl says as she squeezes my shoulder.
Dan shoves through the sea of people. “That was the most donkey-butt crazy shit I’ve ever witnessed!” He punctuates every word by bonking my head with his gigantor sword.
“Excuse us,” Sha-ra says, and people hop off the porch and the steps to make room for her and her crew.
She puts a hand on Kelsey’s shoulder. Kelsey looks up at her with frantic eyes, then jumps up and backs away.
“No, no, this can’t be happening.” She shakes her head the whole time.
“Don’t be afraid, sister,” Sha-ra says. “You are one of us now. We’re going to have to do something about your wardrobe, though.”
As Sha-ra drags Kelsey off the porch by the arm, Kelsey searches for her murder. “Avenge me! Avenge me!”
“Uh-uh,” Sorenson says. “Don’t act out-of-character. She wouldn’t say that now. The second the spell was cast, your character became bright. She’d be thankful for Laowyn’s actions.”
I cover my mouth and look around to see if Logan notices the humor in the whole scene, too, but I can’t find him.
I try to wade through the crowd, searching each face for him, but every player has something to say to me.
“That took a lot of guts, elf,” a broad dwarf says and claps me hard on the back.
Another vampire, this one tall with a top hat and a monocle, stops me. “You are welcome at the Critory clan’s castle anytime, Lady Laowyn.” I nod respectfully, trying to stay in character even though I have no idea what he’s talking about.
Finally, the players start to dissipate, moving back inside or to the backyard.
I spend the next thirty minutes looking for Logan, but he’s nowhere to be found.
#29
I tossed and turned all night. And I blame it all on Logan Scott and those perfect boy-lips of his. Sure, I won. I defeated the evil fairy and saved the day. I can’t wait to go to the next game and be heralded as a hero. Facing Logan might be tough, though, seeing as what I did wasn’t enough to save our relationship.
I looked for him but never found him. He also never called. I know, because I stared at my phone most of the night, waiting. His disappearance has to mean something. Most likely, “Sorry, Maddie. He got what he came for and now he’s over it.”
“So, today’s the big day,” Mom says when I come downstairs. It is six o’clock in the morning, way too early to be wearing my scratchy, maroon and gold cheer uniform, but even though Logan isn’t interested any more, I’ve worked too hard on this part of the plan to let it go. It’s too important to me and everyone involved. So, I have to be there on time, thirty minutes from now.
“Yep.” I’m surprised my sleep-deprived brain can even say that simple word.
“How’d it go last night? Did you stop the evil…what was it?”
“Dark fairy. Yes, I did. Everything went as planned.” Except for the part where I was supposed to get Logan back. That went completely against the plan.
“Good, good. You know, I just love you in your uniform. You look so nice, you have such a cute figure and the bow with the ponytail is—”
“Cut it out, Mom. I don’t think I can take all the gushing this early.” I give her a playful love tap on the shoulder.
She returns the tap with a slight push on my arm. “Fine, be grumpy.”
As I slather some raspberry jam on a slice of buttered toast, she leans against the counter and watches me with a grin.
“Stop looking at me like that,” I say.
“Why?”
I take a huge bite of toast. “‘Cause it’s freaking me out.”
“I was just thinking.” She sips her coffee. “You really like this boy, don’t you?”
I stare out the window into the gray morning as I chew. Do I “really like” him? Is that the right way to put it? I’ve only known him for the summer technically, but “really like” doesn’t seem to encompass it. If you “really like” someone, do they insist on invading your every thought? Does just saying their name make goose bumps rise on your arms? Do you contemplate how many freckles your children will have?
“Yeah, I really like him.”
Mom would definitely freak out if I told her how I actually feel.
…
When I get to The Phoenix, Martha, Vera, Jonah, and Mr. Scott are setting up tables in front of the display windows.
“Good morning, sunshine,” Martha says.
“Morning,” I say. Then, I’m almost knocked down when Vera runs into me and clasps her arms around me in a hug.
“This is going to be so much fun, Maddie. I can’t wait to see the cheerleaders. Are you guys going to do flips and cheers and oh, a pyramid thing? Please do a pyramid thing!” Vera strings her words together. What has she eaten to be so awake this early, and where can I get some of this magical substance?
“I’ll tell the girls you request a pyramid,” I say.
“Veer, go help Daddy with the boxes in the back room, please,” Martha says.
Vera takes off to the front door, pausing before she goes inside to attempt a hurky jump. The girl has decent form for a seven-year-old.
“Want to help me hang the banner?” Martha asks.
I’m surprised she hasn’t begun interrogating me about what happened last night. I nod and pick up the large folded plastic sign from one of the tables., and stretch it out on the concrete while Martha goes to get a ladder and scan the sign for typos.
1st Annual Natchitoches Small Business Festival
The local signage place did a great job.
It suddenly hits me how unbelievable it is that we got all this together in such a short period of time when the Mi Pueblo van pulls up. Corina hops out and opens the back doors. She waves as I walk up.
I help her pull out a cooler. “Good morning. I just wanted to say thanks for taking part in this.”
“Are you kidding? My mom thinks this is a wonderful idea. She’s been running around like a crazy person all week getting everything r
eady.”
“I have not been crazy,” Mrs. Garcia says as she comes around the corner of the van.
Mi Pueblo was the first business I approached other than The Phoenix with the idea of having a small business festival. Mrs. Garcia was so stoked about it, she signed up in two minutes flat. The same thing happened with pretty much every other business I went to. They didn’t even mind a small percentage of all of their proceeds would go to local charities and the college’s radio department. That seemed to be the cherry on the cupcake for them, in fact.
There’s only so much room in The Phoenix’s lot, though, so when businesses started calling Martha about reserving a spot, I went next door to Mes Amis. They offered up their lot as well. Then the problem of where people were going to park came up. Luckily, the college library across the street was more than happy to help seeing as their lot is huge.
There were also permits to be gotten and that’s where Dan’s dad, a.k.a. Taxidermy Todd, came into play. Without his connections in the city council, none of this would be happening.
Then it was just a matter of promotion. My cheerleading coach was all for recruiting the squad to help spread the word seeing as her partner, Sarah, reserved a spot for her bookstore. Plus, the college radio station has been broadcasting the where and when of the festival, like, every ten minutes for the past week.
Now, all I can hope for is the heat won’t keep customers from coming out.
By the time Martha and I get the banner hung, things are in full swing. I hand out copies of the layout to every business so they know where to set up. Tents and tables start dotting the two parking lots. Everything is going smoothly. I couldn’t ask for anything more.
Except, maybe, for a certain someone to show up.
I get a call, and I know it’s Dan before I answer because he’s earned himself his own ringtone: the Mario Brothers’ theme song.
“We’re in the back. Get your lazy ass back here and help us with this crap.” He hangs up before I even say hello.
The Summer I Became a Nerd Page 19