by Claire Adams
Quinn's father frowned as if I was a bug buzzing. "You really want to be a quitter? All your life you've wanted to flit from one thing to another and it’s gotten you nowhere. Your sister, all of us, tried to push you in the right direction, but it is exhausting."
"Maybe she's tired of being pushed around," I said.
Quinn put a hand on my arm and pushed me back. "I'm quitting the nursing program so I can find my own way. I'm sorry I don't know what that is yet, but I'm trying."
"Is that what you call running off to Vegas to play video games?" her father asked. "Don't think I don't know how many hours you log on that ridiculous game. I bought you that computer for your studies."
I made a mental note to change Quinn's privacy settings right away. I wanted to jump in between her and her father, but all I could do was cross my arms and hope. I hoped she would fight free. She deserved a chance to find her own way.
"Then take the computer," she said. "Stop paying my tuition. Cut me off entirely. That might be the best thing that has ever happened to me."
"Is this his idea?" her mother asked. "Is he convincing you to ruin your life? Oh, Quinn, darling, he is only using you. Can't you see that?"
The anger was too hard to swallow. "I am not using Quinn. I would never stand in the way of anything she wanted to do. I'm supporting her. Maybe you should try it. She's playing a tournament in Vegas this weekend. Watch her play, see how talented she is."
Quinn flashed me a surprised look. We had not discussed the tournament. Then, I saw a gleam in her eyes. It dissipated the worry I felt for her.
"I'm not saying that gaming is my future, either, but I think now is the time to explore my talents," Quinn said. "You always told Sienna she had all the options in the world."
"Because she had always taken advantage of the best ones," her father said. "Sienna never floundered."
"Call it whatever you want, but I'm doing it. It’s my life and I'm going to make my own decisions," Quinn said.
Her father softened his rigid shoulders. He decided to try another tactic. "Fine. If you insist on this ridiculous course of action, you are going to need our support. I will come see this tournament of yours, but only if you come back home with us."
I opened my mouth to protest, but Quinn's father shot me an angry look. He held up his hand as if testifying in front of a court.
"We will not discuss your future plans. We will not put any pressure on you. All I ask is that you come home where we can guarantee you will have some neutral ground to think about all of this on your own."
Quinn's parents glared at me. Clearly, this was all my fault. Dragging Quinn back to their house was the only way to break her free from my influence. "You know their house is never going to be neutral ground," I objected.
"Fine. I will come home. Only if you promise we will not talk about any of this until after the tournament," Quinn said.
I tried to catch her hand, but Quinn's mother opened her arms and hugged her. They started back towards her dorm room to pack. I stood on the steps and flexed my fingers into tight fists. Watching Quinn be sucked back into her old self was too hard to see.
She spun loose and ran back. "We'll meet at your place and drive together to the tournament. Right?" she asked.
"I'll be there," I said. "If you need me, just call."
I headed back to Summerlin and realized my hands had been clenched white-knuckled for the entire drive. I sat in the driveway and rubbed the stiffness from them. Then, I noticed the flash of color in my window. Someone was inside the apartment.
The door was unlocked, and Anya was posed in the picture window, the bright sun illuminating her almost transparent sundress. "Your landlord let me in. Nice guy. I told him I wanted to surprise you."
"This is a surprise," I said. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be holed up in another luxury suite in Vegas."
"I thought it'd be more fun to visit an old friend," Anya said. She swept across the room and kissed my cheek. "You know, like old times. We used to have a great time practicing for tournaments, playing all night, snuggling up on the couch for a few hours of sleep."
Her smile was open to much more than snuggling. I peeled her hands off my shoulders and retreated to the kitchen for a beer. "Sorry, but I'm trying to take these things more seriously now."
Anya pouted and leaned across the kitchen island. "I get it. I won't distract you unless you want me to."
"And who is this?" Jasper asked. He left the door open as he strode across the apartment to introduce himself to Anya. "I'm the roommate, Jasper. And you are?"
She tossed her silken black hair. "Anya. Nice to meet you. I didn't know Owen had a roommate. And here I was just begging for a place to crash for the night."
"Well, don't let me stand in your way," Jasper said. "Can I get you something to drink?"
He gave me a look as he came around the kitchen island and opened the refrigerator. I shrugged. If he wanted to make a pass at Anya, I was certainly not going to stand in his way. It would be a relief.
"So, enchanting Anya, what brings you to town?" Jasper asked as he handed her a beer.
"We're heading to a tournament in Vegas tomorrow morning," Anya said. She toasted Jasper but licked her lips at me.
It was going to be a long night.
#
I felt as if I had just shut my eyes when my alarm went off. I had set it early so I could spend what little time I had in the morning getting ready for my tournament appearances. When I locked myself in the bathroom, I saw Anya had left her black lace bra hanging provocatively over the shower curtain. I plucked it off and tossed it in the corner.
She and Jasper had flirted all night. In order to maintain my facade of amusement, I had drunk way too many beers. I was exhausted from fending off Anya's many advances. Finally, I had escaped to my room and actually locked the door. I wondered if she had ended up in Jasper's bed.
By the time I was showered and dressed, the blankets and pillow I had left on the couch were neatly folded. Anya was making breakfast and Jasper was nowhere to be seen.
"Sleep well?" I asked.
"Wouldn't you like to know. Poor man, drank a little too much?" Anya asked. "Here. I made you coffee."
Before I could sit down, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to see Quinn and her father. "Good morning?" I asked.
"He's just dropping me off on his way to see a client," Quinn said. She said goodbye, but her father followed her inside.
"Oh, how cute! Is your dad driving you to the tournament?" Anya asked.
"Yes. I've been told I need to see her play," Mr. Thomas replied.
"You can meet me there," Quinn said. "I don't want to get in the way of your work."
Her father took out his phone and sent a quick message. "It’s rescheduled. Now, how about you introduce me to your friend?" he asked me.
"Mr. Thomas, this is Anya. She is another player on the gaming scene and one of my oldest friends in the business."
"Friends?" he asked.
Anya laughed. "I'm also one of your daughter's biggest rivals. At the tournament, I mean. I'm the obstacle she's going to have to defeat if she wants to be anything but a newbie the rest of her life."
"You volunteered?" I asked Anya. I ground my teeth as she nodded and tossed her hair.
"Somebody has to put the upstarts in their place, don't you think?" she said.
"Can I use your bathroom?" Quinn asked me.
"Sure," I pretended to show her the way. "I had no idea. She just showed up last night and Jasper invited her to stay."
"It’s fine. I just need a minute," Quinn said.
She shut the door in my face. In the main room, Mr. Thomas had taken the coffee Anya gave him and was looking out the picture window. I went to the kitchen to tell her to back off.
"It’s so nice that you are taking Sienna's little sister under your wing," Anya said.
I tried to grab her arm and whisper to make her stop, but Anya spun away.
&nbs
p; "I mean, Sienna was so distraught when you broke up with her that it’s no wonder you feel guilty. You have to know it wasn't your fault, Owen. What Sienna did was her choice. It had nothing to do with your breakup," Anya said.
I was rigid with anger when Quinn reappeared in the main room. "Should we go?" she asked brightly.
"A go-getter. Now, that's the right attitude," Anya said. She breezed to the door and grabbed her things. "I'm ready when you are."
I grabbed my stuff and headed to the door in a haze. It cleared abruptly when Mr. Thomas grabbed my arm. He waited until the ladies had disappeared down the stairwell.
"You broke up with Sienna? Before she died?" he asked. The white clenched lines around his lips deepened. His grip on my arm was painful. "Does Quinn know?"
"Know what?" I asked.
"That you killed her sister," Mr. Thomas said.
Chapter Fifteen
Quinn
I thought about canceling my participation in the tournament 100 times on the short drive to Vegas. The Luxor Casino was an easy drive from Summerlin, but my father's ominous mood filled the car. I did not dare ask him what was wrong because I could not stand to hear another lecture about my life choices.
Was this all worth it? I asked myself again and again.
Owen seemed to think I should break all ties with my parents. The thought was appealing, but after Sienna's death, there was no way I could leave them. It would be too heartless. All I could do was endure my father's seething disapproval and try to make the best of it.
He said nothing as we walked across the white, shining floor of the Luxor's lobby. The tall pyramid walls reached up above us, but he saw nothing. He waited while I registered and paced back and forth while I looked for Owen and Anya.
My portion of the tournament was taking place in one of the smaller ballrooms, and it was there I found Owen.
He kissed the top of my head. "Good luck."
The tension between him and my father was palpable, and I was glad to find my computer console and take my place. Somehow, I had missed what could have only been an awful exchange between Owen and my father. I wanted to figure out what it could have been, but the Dark Flag challenge was already being announced.
"And thanks to one of our top players, the Green Witch Ayaan, this promises to be the hardest challenge posed to newbies yet. So, good luck to you all," the announcer said.
Within minutes of starting the game, Anya had enthralled three players, stunned two others, and sent five searching in the opposite direction of their goal. When I decrypted her first two riddles, she tried to cast a Memory Spell on me that would have sent me back to the beginning of the game. I managed to deflect it with a Shattered Mirror Charm I had discovered only the night before.
Anya countered with a high-level Easter egg that had the crowd booing. She had stepped far outside the agreed-upon realm of play in order to stop me. My only consolation was that the crowd of players and onlookers had all noticed.
Even the announcer and judge of the tournament bracket took my side, because when it came time to call the rankings, I was placed among the top three players, instead of listed with the defeated.
"It seems your friend made a fool out of herself," my father said.
"Is that your way of congratulating me?" I asked.
He gave a gruff smile that seemed to cost him. "Impressive. I can see why this hobby has an appeal for you."
Hobby. Of course my father would never see it as more. His dismissal only made me more determined to use the rest of the tournament activities to make contacts. I would show my father there was a whole world there and uncover exactly what my career choices could be.
I left my father to thank the judge for his decision. As I wove through a crowd of players that wanted to congratulate me, I ran into Owen.
"Did you talk to your father?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said. "He actually choked out the word 'impressive.' Not really a wholesale endorsement, but at least I didn't make a fool of myself."
Owen shot my father a look across the ballroom. "Right, yeah. The Shattered Mirror Charm was an amazing move. Just shows that players don't need the high-level weapons if they have creativity. Nice job."
He was speaking to me like I was a stranger, and I half-expected him to pat me on the arm like a child. Owen was taller than me, and scanning the crowd as I waited for him to celebrate with me.
"Nice job? I thought it'd at least be worth a drink. Maybe lunch? I'm sure my father wants to get back to work and I thought we could hang out for a while."
"Maybe after my events. I've got to find Anya and give her my car keys before I head to a panel discussion."
"Is everything alright?" I asked. He had yet to make eye contact with me. "Did my father say something to you at your place?"
"Quinn, look, I'm sorry. I know your rank is a big deal, but I've got work to do here. Alright?" Owen said. He kissed the top of my head. "Keep your phone on and I'll send you a message when I can meet up."
He moved off through the crowd and left me standing alone. I watched him go off without me as I had all throughout high school. The arrival of my father at my side made me feel even more foolish.
"Come on, sweetheart. I'll drive you home," my father said.
"No, thanks. I've got some contacts to meet. There are always people here looking to hire Beta Testers or sponsor players," I said.
My father frowned. He did not believe me. "I have to get back to work. You'll take a cab directly home?"
"Don't worry. I'll be fine," I said.
It was hard to believe my own words as I wandered through the ballroom. People shook my hand and chatted about the game, but it was all just casual interest. I recognized some of the people that represented Owen's sponsorships, but when I approached them, they only gave me cheap swag. I walked away with lanyards, pens, a free T-shirt, and bumper stickers.
The only thing my ranking had done was qualify me for another tournament. If I was going to leverage my playing into any sort of job, it was going to be a very steep uphill battle.
Is it worth it? I wondered again.
I loved it, that much I knew. The thrill of the game, the way it felt so natural and right. But maybe my father was right, and it was only an interesting hobby. Everyone I met had a day job outside of the gaming world except Owen. And Anya.
"You look like you were hoping for laurels and medals. Not quite the big win you thought you were getting, huh?" Anya appeared behind me.
"At least I played honorably," I said.
"Please. You sound like such a newbie. The whole point of Dark Flag is that it mirrors the free will of real life. You don't lose points for doing something dishonorable. If it hadn't been a judged tournament challenge, you would have been dead," Anya said.
"So what did your play get you?" I asked. "It’s not like sponsors are lining up to endorse your style of playing."
"You forget, newbie, that I don't need sponsors to play. I've already made enough money to support myself for the rest of three lifespans. I'm not some little girl getting taken care of by daddy."
"You don't know anything about me," I countered. My chest burned and I pressed hard against it, worried she might be right.
"Face it," Anya said, "you're not even in his league."
There, at least, she was wrong. I looked where she nodded across the ballroom and caught sight of Owen. My heart jumped, remembering the intimate tangle of our bodies. He might be a celebrity in the gaming world, a towering hero in Dark Flag, but wrapped in the blankets of my bed, he and I were on a level playing field. My mind flashed over the feel of his strong shoulders under my kneading fingers, the ragged catch of his breath as we came together. I had seen the ecstasy and relief on his face when we were together.
I left Anya standing with her smug smile and wove through the crowd to Owen. It did not matter that everything else felt like a mess, I knew the touch of our hands would feel right. I slipped next to him and reached for his fingers.
>
"Oh, Quinn. There you are," Owen said. He pulled back his hand. "The panel discussion has been pushed back an hour. I can't do lunch, but you can have this buffet voucher they gave me. Maybe we can meet up afterwards."
His eyes skimmed past me and found someone else he wanted to talk to more than me. I could not find a single word to say, so I turned around and left. I fought my way out of the crowded ballroom and through the Luxor's towering lobby. It felt like I could not breathe until I pushed through the front doors and walked out onto The Strip.
The day was heating up, and most visitors jumped directly in cabs. I took off down the sidewalk, glad for the space and the movement. I needed to walk off the acidic feelings Anya's nasty comments and Owen's cold responses had stirred up inside me.
I told myself I was glad to be all on my own. I needed time to think. Though when my phone rang, I picked up immediately.
"Quinn? How are you, honey? Your lab partner just stopped by and told me you quit the nursing program. Where are you?" Darla asked.
"I'm in Vegas," I said. "I just ranked third in another Dark Flag tournament."
"That's awesome, but are you okay? You sound funny."
"I don't know. I just feel lost. I'm supposed to know exactly what I want to do with my life, but I can't even figure out what to do with the rest of this afternoon," I said.
Darla laughed. "You overthink everything. Don't worry, something will come up."
I did not have time to respond. There was a horrible screech and the smell of burnt rubber. Directly in front of me a car with Iowa license plates, full of tourists, slammed on its brakes before missing a right-hand turn off The Strip. It barely missed hitting two people in the crosswalk. The car behind them swerved to avoid a collision and bumped up onto the sidewalk. The few pedestrians scattered, and more than one person screamed as the car slammed into a light post.
"Oh my God. What was that?" Darla screamed into the phone.
"I'm fine, but there was an accident right in front of me. I have to go help." I hung up the phone and ran up the sidewalk.