by Margo Kelly
“If you’d give him a chance, you’d see that he’s great. He’s a lot like Marcus. Who knows? Maybe it is Marcus, and he’s just too embarrassed to say so—” I couldn’t believe I said that out loud . . . to my mom! But I knew she liked Marcus, and her approval still mattered to me. I needed to redirect the conversation.“Besides,” I said, “didn’t I prove last night that I can take care of myself?”
“Yes.” She studied me like she was trying to read a map of a foreign land. “I suppose you can keep playing Skadi today, but only if you promise to keep your door open, and promise to not collapse the screen when I walk in . . . and promise to not announce my presence to your friends when I observe you.”
“Sure thing, Mom,” I said.
“Have fun.” She set the chair back where it belonged and headed out.
Success. I breathed a sigh of relief and hopped up. I dropped my dirty clothes from last night outside my room and closed the door halfway. I knew if Mom came to check on me, she’d see the pile first and complain aloud about it . . . which would serve as a perfect early warning system. I opened a new chat box with Kit.
Kitsuneshin: What took so long?
ImmortalSlayer: Mom lecturing me about Internet safety LOL
Kitsuneshin: Yikes! Anything I should know?
ImmortalSlayer: Well . . . she wants to pop in and observe chats unannounced . . . what are we supposed to do about that?
Kitsuneshin: Do u always know she’s coming before she gets there?
ImmortalSlayer: Nope
Kitsuneshin: Let me think about it for a few minutes *taps finger on desk*
ImmortalSlayer: Ok . . . hey . . . what did you do last night?
Kitsuneshin: Besides sit and wait and worry for u?
ImmortalSlayer: Seriously! Spill . . .
Kitsuneshin: Oh . . . nothing fun . . . Dad was drinking so there was a lot of yelling
ImmortalSlayer: Sorry! I wish there was something I could do to help you.
Kitsuneshin: UR doing it right now! Listening and being here.
ImmortalSlayer: ☺
Kitsuneshin: I really appreciate our relationship.
ImmortalSlayer: Me too!
Kitsuneshin: I feel like I can tell you things and you won’t make fun of me.
ImmortalSlayer: Same here! ☺
Kitsuneshin: So . . . what’s the Quote for the Day?
ImmortalSlayer: *jumps up and grabs calendar*
ImmortalSlayer: *clears throat and tries to sound important* “In the moment of crisis, the wise build bridges and the foolish build dams.”—Nigerian Proverb
Kitsuneshin: Oooohh . . . I think that means we need to build up our characters more in Skadi today! *rubs hands together*
ImmortalSlayer: Haha! Sounds good!
We started a new quest. Red and Janie never got on, which let Kit and I chat privately for hours. I was no longer jealous of Red. I knew they were only friends. Besides, she loved quotes. How could I not like her?
Kit and I came up with a system of codes to share with Red and Janie so we’d know when someone’s parents were watching us. We also came up with a plan for the private chat box. Since I was sure Mom had no clue about these, I could close the box when I heard her coming down the hall. But, to be safe, I regularly closed it. Kit knew if I didn’t respond in a private chat, it was because I couldn’t.
We also agreed on other codes. If he suspected Mom was watching, he’d ask in the purple guild box if I liked a certain CD. And likewise, if I wanted to warn Kit of Mom’s presence I’d type about the most recent CD I’d borrowed from the library. With this system, we could keep everyone happy.
CHAPTER 7
Summer arrived and school finally let out. Janie and I spent a ton of time online with Kit and Red, and we all became a lot closer. Janie even shared personal stories with them . . . like how her hair got chopped off. I also let Janie observe some of my private chats with Kit. She started to agree he was a good guy who just needed friends.
Kit had been promoted to Guild Leader, and I’d even advanced my character quite a bit in the game, clear up to level seventeen. I was so close to the next level I could taste it. However, today, Skadi would have to wait because Janie and I planned to go to the water park, Rapid Shores.
I pulled my swimsuit from the back of a drawer and inspected it. I wanted a new one, but only my legs had grown longer, not my torso. So, the one-piece still fit, and Mom figured it was fine. Oh well, at least it was bright pink.
Examining myself in the full-length mirror, I noticed the suit fit snugger around my chest. I looked over my shoulder and checked out different angles of my reflection. I lifted my arms to see if I should’ve shaved my pits, but not a single stubble of hair showed.
I moved over to my computer, hoping Kit had come online. I wanted to chat with him before we left. His name appeared, and I typed:
ImmortalSlayer: O Yay! I was worried u wouldn’t get on before I had to leave! How RU?
My toes tapped with anticipation. He might be five years older, but he understood me and I understood him. I had finally found someone I could talk to and confide in; someone who would love me, for me, alone.
Kitsuneshin: Good. How RU? I’ve missed you.
ImmortalSlayer: It’s only been since last night, how can u miss me already?
Kit switched to the private chat box. A small blue square appeared next to my username. I clicked it and a secondary blue screen appeared on my monitor.
Kitsuneshin: How can u even ask that? *nearly falls off chair* You are the world to me. Every minute I can’t talk to u feels like an eternity. I love spending time with u, and I don’t want you to leave.
ImmortalSlayer: I love spending time with you, too, but I have to go. Mom thinks I spend too much time on the computer.
Kitsuneshin: Where are you going?
ImmortalSlayer: Swimming at Rapid Shores
Kitsuneshin: RU going to wear a bikini? ☺
ImmortalSlayer: No! *blushing*
ImmortalSlayer: I couldn’t wear a bikini. I don’t like how much skin shows. I would feel naked in it.
Kitsuneshin: Naked wouldn’t be a problem from my perspective! LOL
ImmortalSlayer: Not funny! *shakes head*
Kitsuneshin: JK—UR the most beautiful person in the world to me!
ImmortalSlayer: How do you know? You’ve never even seen me!
Kitsuneshin: Send a picture to my cell. And then we could text . . . we wouldn’t have to be apart!
I wanted to give him my cell number, because then we’d have the freedom of texting, and he could send me a picture. I’d finally know what he looked like. Nervous flutters rose from my gut, and I realized I was free to choose. I drummed my fingers on the desktop and pictured my parents discovering I’d given out my cell number. It would be certain death. I could give him my e-mail address, but my parents monitored the family e-mail accounts just like they did our Facebook accounts. There was only one thing I could do. I reached for the keyboard . . . but I had taken too long to decide.
ImmortalSlayer: —mom coming—brb
I closed the chat box as Mom knocked and opened the door. I lifted my hands away from the keyboard, and Kit typed a bunch of Skadi lingo into the purple guild box to make it appear we’d been discussing leveling up and what quest we’d pursue next.
“Are you ready to go?” Mom asked.
“Yup.”
“Really? Looks like you’re playing Skadi.” Mom peered at the monitor and read Kit’s previous comments. I reached forward and typed.
ImmortalSlayer: We should do the dungeon next . . . but later cuz I’m going swimming now.
Kitsuneshin: Ok. Have fun.
“Why do you always play with this Kit character?” Mom asked.
“Because we’re in the same guild and his character is at a super high level. It’s easier for me to level up with him.”
“Is there a reason you’re in his guild?”
“When I joined Skadi, he was the only one
accepting new members.”
“Okay . . . shut it down and grab your stuff. We need to pick up Janie. Sunlight’s a-wasting!”
■
Mom pulled to the curb near the water park’s entrance and handed me cash. “For admission and food,” she said.
“Thanks, Mom.” I shoved the money into the side pocket of my bag and turned toward Janie. “Let’s go!” We bolted from the car, and our flip-flops smacked our feet as we ran to the water park’s entrance.
“I won!” Janie proclaimed and touched the ticket window first. I bent forward and braced my hands on my knees to catch my breath.
“Too bad you both run like girls.”
We spun around to see who had insulted us. Josh.
“What are you doing here?” Janie asked. Tim and Taylor walked over and joined their partner-in-crime.
“Uh, it’s a water park.” Josh bugged out his eyes. “We came for the slides. What did you come for? Shopping?”
“Very funny.” Janie gave her usual angry head sway, which looked much better since her hair had grown a bit. Instead of short spikes, she now had cute little flips in the back and on the sides.
Josh brushed against my shoulder. “You babies are probably too chicken to plummet down the big slides,” he said and started to walk away.
“Too bad you forgot your deodorant,” I said. He stank like a bad onion. He lifted an arm and smelled his pit. Then he glared at me before cutting in front of us to pay for his admission. His friends joined him, and they acted like the Three Stooges entering the water park.
“And we’re not babies,” I hollered at him as he moved out of earshot. “We’re fifteen just like you.”
Janie lifted her sunglasses and peeked at me. “Actually, I’m fifteen. Your birthday isn’t until August.”
“Whatever,” I said.
Janie and I paid our admission, and then we searched out the best spot for our base of operations. We spread our towels on the lounge chairs and plopped down to discuss strategy.
“Can you believe Josh is here?” Janie said and fiddled with her hair.
“Let’s ignore him and have fun.” I fished out a bottle of sunscreen from my bag and began to slather my legs. Janie pulled off her navy A&F T-shirt and wiggled out of her super cute blue and white plaid shorts, but then she snatched her towel and wrapped it around her.
“I can’t do this, not with Josh here.” She slumped next to me.
“What are you talking about?” I smeared lotion onto my cheeks. The sun’s ultra-violet rays would make more freckles pop out, and I needed protection.
“Thea, I can’t let people see me in a swimsuit. I’m fat.”
I stopped applying sunscreen. “If by ‘people’ you mean Josh, forget him. He’s just a brainless pizza-faced toad.” I had to shield my eyes from the sun as I spoke to Janie, because I had forgotten my sunglasses. “And, that’s beside the point. You are so not fat. You’re skinny. You’re gorgeous. And you wear the cutest clothes. Now put on some sunscreen, and let’s go hit our favorite slides.”
“Are you sure I look okay?”
“Yes.” I handed her the bottle.
“No, thank you.” She waved it off. “My skin doesn’t react to the sun like yours does, and I need a tan.” She moved back to her seat, and I finished applying the lotion. What she said was true. She tanned in the summer. I burned, peeled, and freckled.
■
Our favorite slide was the Colossus. After plummeting ninety feet, a park camera snapped our photo with our hands stretched up and our hair flying out. At the picture booth, a hefty employee, old enough to be my dad, offered to e-mail the shot to us for an additional two dollars.
Janie eyed the guy up and down. His shoulders drooped, his uniform was untucked, and his hair was disheveled.
“Well?” he asked.
She shifted her focus back to me and said, “Let’s do it. We can forward the picture to everyone we know.”
I ran my fingers through my wet stringy hair, and an idea popped into my head. I snatched the form out of the guy’s fingers, wrote an e-mail address, and handed it back to him with my money.
“Whose e-mail did you put?” Janie asked.
“Kit’s.”
“How do you know his address?”
“He gave it to me.” And it was easy to remember, because I’d thought about it ever since. His e-mail was the initial of his first name (real name): D for Derek; followed by his last name: Felton; at georgiasouthern.edu. Derek Felton lived in Georgia, and I was sending him my picture because he wanted to know what I looked like. But he didn’t want me to tell anyone we’d exchanged real names. He worried one of us would get in trouble. So, I kept it to myself.
“Thea!” Janie shoved me.
“What? He’s been asking me to send him a picture. This is perfect. Plus . . . this way there’s no record of it on my computer. My parents will never know I sent it to him.”
“Sneaky . . . and still not a good idea.” She raised her eyebrows and shrugged. “Your choice,” she said and filled out her own form. When she handed it back to the attendant, he smirked, and a bit of mustard flaked off his lower lip.
We waited for our prints, and Tim slid in next to us. “Nice picture.” He pointed to our photo, still displayed on the monitors with other pictures of swimsuit-clad kids.
“You are in my bubble.” Janie used her hands to define an imaginary space around her.
Tim recoiled in mock horror and stepped closer to me; his toes touched mine. I had to bend my neck backward to look up at him. He’d grown even taller since school let out, and his honey-colored hair glistened with water droplets in the summer sun.
“Do you have a bubble, too?” he asked.
“Where you’re concerned, yes. Back off.”
“Why are you so cruel to me?” He lifted a hand to his bare chest.
“Why are you so dramatic?”
“I can’t help myself when I’m near you.” He rocked back and forth. His blue eyes shined brighter when he smiled. “Come on, Thea, go out with me. We’d be great together.”
Janie’s mouth dropped open and her eyes just about popped out. She stood behind Tim, listening to every word. Maybe a month ago my eyes would’ve popped too, but I was over Tim. My heart beat faster for someone else now.
“Sorry, I already have a boyfriend,” I said.
Janie mouthed the word, “What?”
“Who?” Tim’s shoulders sagged.
“Oh, nobody you know. He’s older.”
“What’s his name?”
“Yeah, what’s his name?” Janie asked, clearly upset hearing headline news this way.
“Kit.”
“Kit?” Janie asked.
“Kit,” I said.
“Kit? What kind of stupid name is that?” Tim asked. “Are you making him up?”
“No, he’s real,” Janie said.
“Then why didn’t you know about him?” Tim asked her.
“I knew about him. I just didn’t know it was an official boyfriend-girlfriend situation.” She emphasized each word making it clear she was mad.
“Where did you meet him?” Tim shot the words at me.
Janie answered before I could. “On Skadi.”
“That online game?” he asked. Janie nodded. He popped his knuckles and took a step back. “Okay,” he said and then jogged toward his friends on the other side of the pool.
Janie whacked me on the shoulder.
“Ouch! What was that for?”
With both hands on hips, she said, “I’ve asked you a million times if you were serious with Kit and you’ve always said you were just friends. What’s up with that?”
“Sorry. It’s gotten more involved. I think he really likes me.” I grinned.
“What about Red?”
“What about her?”
“He totally flirts with her when you’re not online.”
“Maybe he did that to make me jealous . . . to see if I was interested. Besides, Kit ge
ts me. He cares about everything I do and think.”
“But do we know him? He’s like way older than us.”
“He’s barely nineteen. And we know a lot about him. He’s an only child. His mom is dead. He lives with his dad. He has a summer job, and he’s trying to decide if he should go to a college closer to me so we can see each other.”
“Does he know where you live?”
“Not specifically.”
“Have you seen a picture of him?”
“No, but he could text me a picture if I—”
“Do not give him your cell number!” She stuck her finger in my face. “I mean it!”
“Okay. I won’t.”
She relaxed; then with a spark in her eyes she said, “You could have him send a picture to my e-mail, and then we both could see what he looks like. And your parents still wouldn’t suspect anything.”
Her change in attitude surprised me.
“Look, you’re going to find a way to do this whether I help you or not,” Janie said. “So, I might as well help and keep an eye out for you at the same time.” She lifted one eyebrow, and we both smiled.
“You’re the best friend ever!”
The rumpled attendant cleared his throat and slid our prints across the counter. We grabbed them and ran back over to our lounge chairs to admire our pictures.
“I love them!” Janie said. “But that guy was creepy. Did you see the way he gawked at us?”
“Well, you were kind of staring at him first,” I said.
“Only out of morbid curiosity,” she said. “You’d think he’d get fired for being a slob.”
“Appearances aren’t everything,” I said. “Maybe he’s a hard worker.”
Janie cocked an eyebrow.
“Maybe he’s a really nice guy on the inside,” I said.
“Are you nuts?”
“Fine,” I said. “You’re right. He should’ve at least combed his hair.”
We slid our pictures into our bags and bolted for the next slide.
The line stretched for a mile, so we diverted to the water fountain. After I took a drink, I stepped too quickly and slipped, landing hard on my rear. A hand reached down to help me. I shielded my eyes from the sun and discovered the hand belonged to Josh.