Flag Race

by Felipe Valente

  “He’s with me. Could you get a little name tag so he can come to the seventh floor with me? Thanks!”

  They started for the elevator, located at the center of the gym. At the ground floor, there was a wide leisure area, where men and women were coming and going, flaunting their well-toned muscles. Pedro imagined that here was where they gathered to show off the results from all their exercising. It could be easily seen from the entrance, surely doing a great job in advertising the place.

  As they went up in the scenic elevator, the whole inside of the gym could be seen. At every floor they passed by, more and more technology was employed to keep the customers in shape, every sort of slimming and muscle-toning novelty. Laser Pilates, electro-spinning, rock-climbing simulators, mentalized yoga... Pedro couldn’t imagine a single modality of exercise that wasn’t being practiced somewhere inside that immense gym.

  That’s when he realized how nervous Letícia was. She’d already checked her watch about three times since Pedro had arrived. She seemed not to know where to put her hands, crossing them, then holding one with the other, only to let them fall both to the side of her body afterwards, then beginning the whole cycle anew.

  “Le! Everything is going to work out all right. You did practice a lot, didn’t you?”

  Yes, she’d really practiced a lot, but it was impossible for her not to feel anxious. After all, this was a decisive rehearsal to select which dancers would take part in the final performance. But that wasn’t the only thing in her mind.

  “Yeah, you’re right!” she agreed, as they left the elevator on the seventh floor.

  Letícia guided him to a seat in the large auditorium where she would be performing. Then she said goodbye, thanking him once again for coming, and headed to the dressing room. The place was nearly empty. Pedro could see the instructors who would be evaluating the girls, together with the girls’ friends and family. Each one of them had a time scheduled for her audition, and Letícia’s would be up within a few minutes.

  It wasn’t long after Pedro had said goodbye to his friend when another girl began her performance. Technosamba was an interesting mix of modern music. It was a cross between the world-famous Brazilian rhythm and the strong beats of electronic music, allowing for an impressive range of dance moves. Some experts said it’d come to replace the old performances of hip-hop and jazz.

  While the girl danced, the instructors made notes on their tablets. Some barely reacted when she botched one of her steps, while others showed their disgust openly. Pedro could identify who her family members were by the way they were watching, mesmerized.

  Where were Letícia’s family and friends? There were other people in the auditorium, and, though he didn’t know who her parents were so he could find them in the audience, he couldn’t see any of her friends either. Besides, he thought, she wouldn’t leave me here by myself if she had another group of friends here...

  Soon Letícia’s name was called. As she went to the center of the stage, Pedro felt his hair stand on end. The music started and Letícia began her routine, first with light, subtle moves, which gradually became more distinct and swifter, highlighting her beauty.

  Pedro felt as if he were under a siren’s spell. The world around him faded, while he allowed himself to be carried away by the living colors that moved around and framed his muse, in her fluid, natural steps, her face always lightly smiling. Pedro was growing more and more surprised with this hidden side of that shy and restrained girl he knew. He was astonished.

  By the time the performance came to an end, Pedro wasn’t even able to imagine how it could have been any better, but still he cast a fearful glance down to the judges, who remained focused on their tablets and notes. Had they enjoyed the performance as much he had? Leaving this thought aside for now, he ran to the sides of the stage to see Letícia as soon as she left the dressing room.

  “Le, you were...! I...! Wow!” was all he could say. The girl smiled, feeling flattered.

  “Thanks, Pedro, but I don’t know if they will let go my little screw-up on the second part...”

  “Screw-up? Of course not! You were perfect!”

  She smiled. “Thank you for coming, Pedro, really. You truly are my best friend!”

  Friend. How natural that word sounded in her voice. That sank heavily in Pedro’s heart. He couldn’t focus on how important it was to be her best friend. He could only think of the fact that they were friends, and that was all.

  On the other hand, he realized there wasn’t much more he could expect. Maybe it was the music that had had this effect on him, or perhaps her routine, but he felt compelled to come forward to her now. If she’d rather they still remained friends after he’d exposed his feelings, then it would all be all right. Perhaps his future would indeed be better with Mary by his side. But it was better to solve this for once and for all than to keep on martyring himself with the two girls.

  “Letícia, I have something to tell you. I—”

  She cut him short with a gesture. “Could you hold on a little, Pedro? I’ve got to go to the locker room. I really want to take these clothes off as soon as I can.” Her green eyes were begging for his understanding.

  Pedro nodded, only to sigh while she started for the locker room. He had to keep his courage until she returned.

  As time was passing, Pedro came to regard the whole situation under a different light. Though he tried to keep his resolution that it’d be better to find out sooner than later what Letícia really thought of him, he couldn’t help but wonder whether it wasn’t a divine sign that he’d been interrupted. Maybe he really shouldn’t ask her anything. Maybe it was too soon, or perhaps he should get this stupid idea out of his head and finally understand that she didn’t want to date him; that way it would be no threat to their friendship...

  Pedro began to think he’d been waiting for way too long. Letícia should have been back already. He decided to head to the locker room door to meet her once she came out, but, before turning the corner leading to the hallway where the lockers were, he could hear Letícia’s voice.

  “...so glad you found a way to come, Dad!”

  “Yeah,” a strong male voice replied. Pedro kept listening. “I used all my powers to catch a break at the office and come see you. I knew your mother couldn’t come, but, sweetheart, there’s no way we could miss a performance that beautiful! You didn’t invite your friends, though? Where’s Thiago?”

  “I didn’t invite him, Dad... I don’t think he’s the type that likes dance.”

  “But you were talking to someone before, weren’t you? I thought it was him! He’s always working out here...”

  “Yeah...” Her voice grew fainter before she went on, “I was here with Pedro...”

  “Pedro? For sure not that slumdog?”

  “Dad!” She was furious.

  “I don’t understand, sweetheart! Why do you have to be so... immature! You have to go against everything your parents say, don’t you?” The man’s voice was growing louder. Pedro would be able to hear him even if he wasn’t lurking around.

  “But Dad, he’s just a friend and—”

  “That’s how it starts! I’ve explained it all to you already, this will get you nothing but trouble! You’re a gorgeous girl, you’re rich, you have everything a boy could expect, all the kids around are drooling over you and you’re hanging out with that thug?” She tried to get a word in, but he cut her short with a gesture. “I say it will be less than a week before he asks you out to be his girlfriend. Yes, girlfriend! I bet he’s the type that won’t want you for a one-night stand. He’s going to hang on to you for dear life, so he can mooch off your money! And worse! As soon as he goes from zero to somebody with your help, he’ll end up dumping you. Then, when that happens, you’ll wish you had listened to the advice your old man had given you, but it’ll be too late!”

  “Dad, will you listen to what you’re saying! Would it be better for you if I spent each night with a different boy instead of having a boyfr
iend? Where’s Mom to keep you from spilling all this nonsense over me?”

  The man sighed before going on, trying to resume his rant in a calmer tone. “You’re being silly, sweetheart. I’m not saying anything like that. You’re my little girl, and if it weren’t natural that you’d eventually want to have a boy around, well, if it were up to me, then nobody would lay their hands on you. I just want to keep you from being hurt. And there are so many nice boys around...”

  “Like Thiago, I suppose?” she asked, indignant.

  Pedro couldn’t see it, but the man lifted his eyebrows and shrugged. She went on.

  “You don’t understand anything, Dad! I wish you hadn’t even come! Next thing I know you’ll be keeping me from seeing my friends, just like you did with what I liked the most!”

  “Don’t you bring that up again! One thing has nothing to do with the other. All this immaturity of yours is accomplishing is that it goes to show me that you’re still not old enough to get into the Neuralnet!”

  Letícia started distancing herself from him in broad steps, going back to the spot where she had left Pedro. As she turned the corner leading back to the auditorium, she ran into him.

  “Erm... it’s just that you were taking a little too long, Le, and I—”

  “Pedro, I’m so sorry...” The girl’s eyes were welling up with tears. She kept walking while she spoke. “I have to go back to see what my grade was and... I’m sorry again, but I think you’d better go now. Can we talk some other time?”

  He nodded, not knowing what to say. For a few more moments he stood there, watching the girl as she headed to her instructors. There was nothing he could do for now. It seemed like fate really didn’t want them together.

  A few steps ahead, he ran head first into Letícia’s father, a tall and strong man, who pierced him with his gaze. His perfectly combed graying hair matched the nice black suit he wore.

  Pedro greeted him with no more than a nod of his head, while picking up his pace to reach the elevator, trying not to let it show how much he wished to be as far away from there as possible.

  On the way home, he pondered on what he’d heard, realizing that what he’d thought on his birthday was no mere impression: Letícia’s dad definitely didn’t like him at all. That would really get in the way of them being together. That is, if that even happened. Now, after the excitement he felt seeing Letícia dance, he once again realized why he had never tried asking her out. Besides, it seemed perfectly clear that she saw him as nothing more than a friend. It was true, though, judging from the way the conversation turned out, that she didn’t seem interested in Thiago either, but Pedro was still disheartened. It doesn’t matter whether she likes him or not, because she’s not into me anyhow...

  At the end of the afternoon, while he played an online game with Luiz and Daniel, Pedro remarked on how his time with Letícia had been, though he spared them the details.

  “Then this afternoon that was supposed to be super awesome ended up being lame. It was nice to know I’m her best friend and all, but... I dunno. I realized I like her a lot, even though there’s this super nice girl I met on the Neuralnet...”

  “Oh, man, I don’t think you should give up on her,” Daniel said. “If you were meant for each other, like Amanda and I, then eventually it will work out.”

  “And you suppose you and Amanda are meant for each other?” Pedro laughed.

  “Of course we are! It’s just that only now she’s getting to see all that I have to offer, which is why I’m taking it easy, but we’re gonna be together eventually!”

  Luiz was beating his friends using his favorite monster, the Trarrasko, a gigantic and practically invulnerable creature. They gave all they had to defend themselves, but were soon defeated.

  “Amanda’s giving you her attention just because you’re doing all her share of the assignment,” Luiz remarked, while he eliminated Daniel from the game. “But then... there’s this one reason why I think it’s troublesome to leave Letícia for a virtual girl, Pedro: there’s no way for you to even know whether she’s not a man, like a disgusting old man, out here, for instance. Imagine you kiss her and then when you meet her in real life she’s not even a woman?”

  Daniel laughed. Pedro scratched his head and agreed, while he watched as his troops were decimated.

  Chapter 09

  Letícia didn’t say a word about what had happened at the gym in the days that followed. Respecting her silence, Pedro didn’t bring it up either. Only a few days later did she remark that she’d been selected among the dancers for the final performance and thanked him again for having come to see her.

  Pedro spent many other nights practicing with his friends. When he wasn’t practicing, he’d drop by the Star Effect locus to have some fun there. Not one night passed without him getting inline.

  One of those nights, Pedro was anxious as he entered the Neuralnet. Dante would finally confirm whether their application to the Flag Race amateur championship had been approved or not. He smiled to see a positive message from Dante on his Neurolink. Now the real games would begin!

  They decided not to practice that night. Instead, they went to a locus of Asuka’s choice to celebrate.

  A richly decorated grand hall stood ahead of Pedro. With its ancient style, the locus simulated a charming mansion and its magnificent party hall. Its ceiling was a great transparent dome, with a most beautiful moon in sight, seemingly larger than usual, surrounded by thousands of stars.

  Ace and his friends were all dressed up for the occasion. Other users filled the hall, dancing to the sound of the beautiful orchestral music that settled the atmosphere.

  “You’re quite a classy babe, Asuka!” Dante remarked in the circle formed by the six friends, who were standing in one corner of the great hall, each one holding a glass of his or her favorite drink, which they created themselves. “I thought you’d take us to a place that would be more—”

  “Colorful and childish, right?” the little witch answered, with a smirk. “I thought this would be a good place for us to talk, dance, enjoy the scenery...”

  “Yeah, but before we have fun, there’s something important we’ve got to go through,” Kerah remarked. She had her red hair in a charming bun. “The schedule for our first matches is out already!” They all celebrated with a toast.

  “That’s important, because”—she looked at each player in the eyes while she went on—“we’ll need to have everybody inline together at the same time at the game hour! Our team doesn’t have any benched players, so we’ll need to be all together if we are to stand a chance in winning!”

  Ace gulped. Mary was taken by paler hues. Bobby, now a huge rock monster, was the one most troubled by Kerah’s words, though he tried to pretend otherwise.

  “The championship is organized according to our score,” Dante explained. “We were put in two game brackets. Inside those brackets the highest-scoring team, that is, the one that captures the most flags while having fewer captured flags themselves, is the one that faces the highest-scoring team from the other bracket in the final.”

  They spent some time chatting while Dante and Kerah explained the schedules for the following games. They grew excited to know that, besides the smaller prizes for second and third place, the winning team would be registered for the professional league, the real Flag Race World Championship!

  Ace grew calmer when he realized the first few games would all be played during what would be late nights in Brazil. He would get to play without owing explanations to his folks. Bobby was still restless, and as soon as they went over their schedule again, the stone giant took the chance to log off.

  “Has he always been like that?” Ace asked Dante.

  “He never really liked gatherings much. He’s always like this, all the quiet type. I’ve known Bobby for a while already and not once did I see him having fun out of the court. But when he’s playing... Well, you must have seen how good he feels.”

  “And he’s always been like that
, what with the shapeshifting?”

  “Oh, you have no idea! There was one match in which he turned into four different characters and still finished the game at 20% stability!”

  “Hey, Ace! How about we dance?” Asuka interrupted them, pulling him to the center of the hall, where the other users danced. “Kerah’s already there!” Ace could see the redhead waving from afar, calling them. “I’ll show you how fun all this classic-like music can be!”

  “Mary, would you give me the pleasure of this dance?” Dante asked the girl. Ace and Mary glanced at each other quickly, before they allowed themselves to be taken by their partners. Ace focused on the music.

  “Asuka!” he protested. “I’ve never waltzed before! I’ve never danced on the Neuralnet either and—”

  She silenced him with an index finger to his lips and pulled him on.

  As they came to the center of the hall, she put the boy’s right hand on her waist and held the other, positioned near him, readying herself to dance.

  “Just let the music carry you! It’s much easier here than out there!” Ace’s motions were still blocky, though, his muscles stiffened. “Come on, Ace, let yourself go. If you do, you’ll be easily performing the same steps as everyone else here!”

  All around him, Ace could see the most diverse couples, all dressed up, performing the same dance steps in sync. He and his stiff moves were sticking out like a sore thumb in that sea of people smoothly sliding around in easy motions.

  While dancing with Dante, Mary was watching him from afar and smiling. Ace felt even more self-conscious when he noticed this.

  “Come on, Ace!” Asuka tried to spur him on, to help him get in the rhythm. “You can do all that in Flag Race and you think you won’t be able to dance here? Don’t overthink it, trying to control your steps. You don’t need that. Just let the music guide you.”

  They tried a few more steps. Ace was gradually making sense of this, as he left his self-awareness behind and allowed himself to get into it. When he finally accepted getting carried away by the locus’s musical programming, he acted just like all the other dancing users. He was glad to see he’d made it, but before he realized it, instead of looking at Asuka, his eyes were seeking Mary’s approval.