My Life as a Gamer

by Janet Tashjian

  I turn to Carly. “It might be time to break out one of the retro games.”

  She rubs her hands together like a bad guy in a silent movie. “I’m thinking Ms. Pac-Man on the old Atari.”

  Matt and I never play Ms. Pac-Man but I’m definitely outnumbered today. The funny thing is, I don’t even mind.

  As we head to the basement to find the old console, I ask Amanda a ton of questions. What’s the highest score she’s ever gotten on a game? (An incredible 527,988.) Did Tom know her real identity? (Yes, but he and Amanda’s mother are the only people who do. Tom agreed to the private dining room to help her keep El Cid’s identity secret.) Is her name really Amanda, or is that fake too? (It’s Amanda. Duh!) What was her professional opinion of Arctic Ninja? (She thought the graphics were good but the game itself was a little slow!!!) Did any of her long list of improvements get picked? (The one about adding a real boss to the boss level.) I save the most important question for last.

  “Did you let Carly and me win that competition?”

  Amanda reaches into her pocket and pulls out a package of gum. She pops a piece into her mouth and tosses one to me. “I let Carly win,” she says. “You just happened to be on her team. But the cod/code thing was all you guys; I didn’t figure that out till later.”

  I should’ve known I never could’ve beaten a gamer like El Cid. Amanda must know what a letdown it is because she starts talking about how great it was that I helped her pass the state tests.

  “Derek never gives himself enough credit,” Carly says. “He’s got a million great ideas.”

  “A million might be stretching it,” I answer. “But I’m glad I could help.”

  Carly shoves a controller into my hand. “Ready to lose like you’ve never lost before?”

  I point to Amanda. “But this time, no one lets anyone win, got it?”

  “Then prepare to get obliterated,” Amanda says.

  I race back to the spare room and come out a few minutes later wearing El Cid’s helmet, gloves, and cape. Both Amanda and Carly burst out laughing.

  “I’m going to beat you BOTH,” I say in my best Darth Vader voice.

  “I don’t think so.” Amanda hits PLAY and makes her first move.

  Let me say this: The helmet didn’t help.

  I got KILLED.

  Game Over

  My mother runs into the house to grab a sweater and is surprised to see my friends and me huddled around the kitchen table. I introduce her to Amanda, who she’s never met before. Mom heads to the sink to wash her hands before shaking Amanda’s.

  After Mom goes back to her office, I open my laptop and turn the screen so we all can see it. “You sure you want to do this?” I ask Amanda.

  Carly looks at her “cousin” expectantly. Umberto and Matt wait for Amanda’s answer too.

  Not revealing El Cid’s identity to two of my best friends was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. But after seeing how disappointed Tom was with the Hannah leak—not to mention how much trouble I could’ve gotten into—I decided to actually try to learn something from one of my many mistakes. When Amanda finally decided to let the world know she was El Cid, she and Carly let me do the honors. The look on Matt’s and Umberto’s faces when I told them yesterday made it almost worth the wait.

  Amanda finally lets out a sigh. “I’ve been putting this off for long enough. Let’s do it. My brothers are going to have a conniption!”

  “Or maybe they’ll love you even more,” Carly says.

  Leave it to Carly to always focus on the bright side.

  Amanda’s finger pauses over the keyboard.

  “Come on!” Umberto says. “The world wants to know the true identity of El Cid!”

  Amanda looks a little sad. “I kind of enjoyed having a secret. It’ll be different now.”

  “Yeah,” Matt says. “Everyone will know that girls kick butt!”

  “You don’t have to do this now,” Carly says. “Do you want to take a few days and think about it?”

  A slow grin spreads across Amanda’s face. “It’s like jumping into the ocean without your wet suit. There’s only one way to do it.” She looks at Carly, who grins right back.

  “One, two, three, GO!” Without a moment’s hesitation, Amanda hits ENTER on the laptop, sending out a photo of herself sitting in front of my PlayStation with a score of over 220,000, holding El Cid’s helmet.

  The fallout happens over the next few hours. First a Japanese gaming site is plastered with Amanda’s picture. Then the Sony chat rooms start spreading the news. Amanda’s phone pings with new texts. Throughout the afternoon, Umberto goes from site to site, calling out various responses. (It’s the most fun he’s had in years.)

  “This one blog says you’re the fangirl of all fangirls. Another one says you’re a champion of kid power.” Umberto continues to scroll. “I bet you have a ton of interview requests by the end of the day.”

  “And a dozen new challenges for El Cid.” Amanda holds out her phone so we can see the texts filling her screen. “These are just from my brothers.”

  Carly reads the texts and laughs. “I TOLD you they’d be proud.”

  “Yeah, if they don’t wallop me first—in a game, that is.”

  I microwave a few bags of popcorn for us to enjoy while we help Amanda get through this hectic afternoon.

  “We’re friends with El Cid!” Matt whispers to me. “Would it be lame to take notes next time we play her?”

  “I don’t know if it’s lame, but it certainly doesn’t sound like fun.” I hand him a bowl of popcorn to pass to the others.

  When I go into the den to find the laptop’s power cord, Carly follows me in.

  “Amanda’s life is about to get insane,” Carly says. “But it’ll be exciting too.”

  “She could even get a sponsor out of this.” I act like the idea is mine but that kind of thinking is totally Matt’s.

  I find the computer cord hiding under my dad’s sweatshirt. I look at Carly standing beside me near the bookcase. Amanda showed a lot of courage today; now it’s my turn. I reach over and give Carly a quick kiss on the cheek. She seems as flustered as I was on the day she kissed me.

  “Um … I’m glad you found the cord,” Carly stammers.

  “I know—I hate it when my laptop loses power.”

  “I freak out when the battery power goes below fifteen percent,” Carly says.

  “Me too! I always worry I’ll lose what I’m working on.”

  Carly and I are officially having the lamest conversation in the history of the world. But then as we head back to the kitchen, she grabs my hand. Is she trying to hold hands or help me carry the power cord? I’m not sure! I feel stupid and thrilled at the same time. Amanda may have given up her secret identity today, but now I’M the one with a secret. My mind races, wondering if my friends at the table will be able to tell there’s just been an earth-shattering shift in the person formerly known as Derek Fallon.

  As I’m about to head into a mental tailspin, Matt shouts at me from across the room. “Chill out, you frozen nimrod!”

  It’s actually a pretty good piece of advice.

  My Life as a Book

  Derek Fallon has trouble sitting still and reading. But creating cartoons of his vocabulary words comes easy. If only life were as simple!

  My Life as a Stuntboy

  Derek gets the opportunity of a lifetime—to be a stuntboy in a major movie—but he soon learns that it’s not as glamorous as he thought it would be.

  My Life as a Cartoonist

  There’s a new kid at school who loves drawing cartoons as much as Derek does. What could be better?

  My Life as a Joke

  Now in middle school, Derek just wants to feel grown-up—but his own life gets in the way, and he feels more like a baby than ever.

  About the Author

  Janet Tashjian is the author of many popular novels, including My Life as a Book, My Life as a Stuntboy, Tru Confessions, and the Larry seri
es. She loves doing school visits and talking to kids about writing. She lives with her family in Los Angeles, California. janettashjian.com. You can sign up for email updates here.

  About the Illustrator

  Jake Tashjian is the illustrator of My Life as a Book and My Life as a Stuntboy. He has been drawing pictures of his vocabulary words on index cards since he was a kid and now has a stack taller than a house. When he’s not drawing, he loves to surf, watch cartoons, and make his own movies.

  Other Books by Janet Tashjian, illustrated by Jake Tashjian

  The Einstein the Class Hamster Series:

  Einstein the Class Hamster

  Einstein the Class Hamster and the Very Real Game Show

  The My Life Series:

  My Life as a Book

  My Life as a Stuntboy

  My Life as a Cartoonist

  My Life as a Joke

  by Janet Tashjian

  Fault Line

  For What It’s Worth

  Marty Frye, Private Eye

  Multiple Choice

  Tru Confessions

  The Larry Series:

  The Gospel According to Larry

  Vote for Larry

  Larry and the Meaning of Life

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  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  An Offer I Can’t Refuse

  My Friends Go Nuts

  Here She Comes to Wreck the Day

  The Details

  Umberto Is the Ringer

  I’m a Little Worried About Dad

  Tutor #13

  Saturday Is Finally Here

  A Quiz?!

  Carly Surprises Us

  What I CAN Say

  Why Is Saturday Always So Far Away?

  My Kind of Studying

  Someone Else Wants to Play

  Too Many Notes

  It’s Finally Saturday!

  It Gets Better

  Couch Potato

  Who Knew I Could Keep a Secret?

  Maybe I Shouldn’t Head to the Mountains Just Yet

  It Only Gets Worse

  At Least It’s Saturday Again

  Bragging Rights

  The Wrong Kind of Party

  You’re Doing What?

  WHAT?!

  Should I Come Clean?

  My Own Version of Arctic Ninja

  Unexpected Fun

  The Day of Reckoning

  An Unexpected Argument

  HELP!

  You Want Us to What?

  My Own Kind of Instruction Manual

  Drawings, Drawings Everywhere

  For the Win

  My Contribution

  Hannah Rears Her Head

  GG

  Game Over

  Read All the Books in the My Life Series

  About the Author and Illustrator

  Other Books by Janet Tashjian

  Copyright Page

  Text copyright © 2015 by Janet Tashjian

  Illustrations copyright © 2015 by Jake Tashjian

  Henry Holt and Company, LLC

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Tashjian, Janet.

  My life as a gamer / by Janet Tashjian; illustrated by Jake Tashjian.—First edition.

  pages cm.—(The my life series)

  Summary: Derek Fallon gets the chance of a lifetime when he is asked to test software for new video games, but he soon discovers that his dream job isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

  ISBN 978-0-8050-9851-8 (hardback)—ISBN 978-0-8050-9865-5 (e-book)

  1. Children’s art. [1. Video games—Fiction. 2. Tutors and tutoring—Fiction. 3. Middle schools—Fiction. 4. Schools—Fiction. 5. Family life—California—Los Angeles—Fiction. 6. Los Angeles (Calif.)—Fiction. 7. Children’s art.] I. Tashjian, Jake, 1994– illustrator. II. Title.

  PZ7.T211135Mycm 2015 [Fic]—dc23 2014039906

  First edition 2015

  eBook edition April 2015

  eISBN 9780805098655