Dating and Dragons (Dungeons and Drama, #2) (9)

The twins grin and elbow each other. “I can’t believe this is over,” Sanjiv says. The others nod sadly.

“But not forever. We’re starting a new campaign, and it’s going to be even better than this one,” Sloane reminds everyone.

“How many viewers did we get today?” Logan asks.

“A new high—a hundred and sixty-two.”

“All right, new goal, then. We’re hitting two hundred and fifty with our next campaign. Maybe even five hundred!”

Everyone chuckles and shakes their heads.

Kashvi turns around in her chair to look at me. “What did you think, Quinn?”

“You all are unbelievable.”

“So?” She raises an eyebrow. “Do you think you’re up to joining?”

“Wait,” Logan interrupts, his eyes flashing at me. “You’re thinking about joining the group?”

“Why did you think I had her come in today?” Kashvi asks incredulously.

My stomach sinks at the change in Logan’s expression. It’s as if Kashvi’s announced I’ll be swinging by every Saturday to pour a bucket of manure on the game table.

“I don’t know,” he replies. “I thought maybe you were hanging out after or something. You play D&D?”

“Yes, I play,” I reply sharply. “Just…you know, not like this.”

“You get used to it,” Mark says, and takes a huge gulp of Dr Pepper directly from the two-liter. “The cameras are intimidating at first and you overanalyze every word you say, but eventually you forget that anyone is watching and it’s just fun. I bet you’d love it.”

“You should consider joining. It would be great to have another player,” Sloane adds.

“I know I might have given you a hard time before”—Sanjiv glances at his sister—“but it’d be cool to have you. It’s good to switch things up so we don’t fall into a rut. And I know it’d make Kashvi happy.”

Logan’s eyes narrow at Sanjiv, but his silence is all I need to realize that Logan does not want me here as a player. Seriously? He was so nice before—what’s so horrible about me playing with the group? Am I not good enough for them? He doesn’t know me well enough to guess what kind of player I am.

I cock my head at him. “What do you think, Logan?”

His eyes widen, like he didn’t expect me to call him out. “Uh, you should do what you want to do.”

“But what do you think I should do? I’d like to hear your opinion.”

He clears his throat. I’m glad to see I can make him squirm.

“Do you think I can’t cut it? Or are you hesitating because you don’t want another girl in the campaign?” I push.

His mouth drops open. “What? No, it’s not that at all! I don’t care about that.”

Rather than standing up for Logan, everyone waits in silence, and I feel both vindicated and slightly nauseous. So it’s not in my head—he really doesn’t want me to join.

“It’s just…well…” He looks around again. “I’m not sure if you’d be a good fit. We’re high energy when we play, and you seem kind of quiet and easily intimidated. We need personalities more like your grandma actually—take no prisoners.”

I smirk. “That’d be your funeral. She’d role-play you all under the table.”

The others laugh.

“No decisions are being made yet,” Sloane says slowly. “But we’ve wanted to add another player, and no one else we’ve talked to can commit to our guidelines.”

“We’re doing a session zero on Wednesday after school to plan our characters for the next campaign. Why don’t you come?” Kashvi asks me. “We’ll tell you about how our group works, you can think about what character you’d want to play, and we can all chat more about whether it makes sense.” She cuts her gaze to Logan.

If I’m being honest, this whole thing is intimidating. I love D&D, but I’m more of a casual player than an expert. I was hoping for an informal game. But today is the first time since we moved that I’ve had real hope that I can make new friends here. I don’t want to quit before giving this a shot, no matter how obnoxious Logan is about the whole thing.

“I’ll be there,” I reply confidently. “Wouldn’t miss it for anything.”





Chapter Five





My stomach is twisted with nerves when I arrive at Kashvi’s house after school Wednesday for our “session zero.” I remind myself that this isn’t the first time I’ve made a character for a D&D campaign, but it’s abundantly clear that this isn’t going to be like my other experiences. Luckily, Kashvi is waiting for me at the door this time.

“I’m glad you made it,” she says, and beckons me inside. “I was worried you might back out last minute.”

“Definitely not. Though right now I’m equal parts excited and terrified.”

“I’m sorry Logan was weirded out by the idea of you joining. I don’t know what was going on with him. He usually isn’t like that.”

“Maybe I should have let Grandma run him over in the parking lot that first day,” I mutter at the reminder of him and his whiplash behavior last time I was here.