19
Game Night
It had been so late when they had flown in the night before that Kaitlyn hadn’t even bothered to unpack. Now, after dinner, she took the time to empty her bags, putting her clothes away in drawers, hanging up a sundress and a couple of blouses in her closet, and setting up her laptop—a treasured present from Zack at the G&G—over at the computer desk.
When she was done, she thought about picking up one of the paperbacks, but she wasn’t ready to settle in for the night. If she had been at home, she would have spent the evening listening to stories about what her father had been like when he was a child, or about what Detroit had been like in its heyday, or about what life in general had been like, for that matter, before the Internet, and cell phones, and color television.
Kaitlyn definitely didn’t feel like sitting around missing Grandma Maggie, so she wandered back out into the suite to see what the other girls might be up to. Unfortunately, Sam was the only one in the living room, and she clearly wasn’t in the mood for company.
“Hi,” Kaitlyn tried, but Sam never looked away from the television. She was watching some nature show in which zebras were trying desperately to cross a muddy river, struggling to climb over the dead, bloating carcasses of other animals that had been trapped by the steep banks and trampled to death in the process.
“Ugh,” Kaitlyn said. “That’s awful.”
“That’s life,” Sam said. “Survival of the fittest. Deal with it.”
“Yeah, but I mean, look at that little one. It’s so sad.”
“It’s not sad,” Sam retorted, her tone entirely unsympathetic. “It’s a zebra. If it makes it across, it’ll act like nothing happened. All those dead zebras will be right behind it, and it won’t care. See that one, there? That one just got out, and it’s already forgotten about the whole thing. Zebras are shits.”
Kaitlyn looked, and the zebra was, in fact, calmly grazing within sight of the massacre. Somehow, that didn’t make her feel any better.
“Where’s Mackenzie?” she asked.
“She didn’t say where she was going,” Sam said, her eyes never leaving the slaughter, “but she was dressed for a workout. She’s probably downstairs doing pushups like a good little soldier. Either that or beating the crap out of something. Hard to say.”
“Uh, OK. Thanks.”
As Kaitlyn opened the door to the hallway, Sam added, “Hey, if she’s beating the crap out of Rush, come back and get me. I’d give it even odds they’d knock each other out.”
Kaitlyn didn’t reply, but as the door was closing behind her, she heard Sam add, talking more to herself than to Kaitlyn, “I’d actually pay to see that.”
As Kaitlyn neared the workout room, she began to hear repetitive grunts accompanied by dull, forceful thuds, and soon enough she saw through the long, glass wall of the gym that Sam had been right. Mackenzie was beating up a heavy bag, using as much energy as physically possible.
She alternated among punches, elbows, and knee slams to its midsection, punctuated by the occasional kick for good measure, as she danced around the bag from one side to the other, her body constantly in motion.
When she circled behind it, she saw Kaitlyn standing in the hallway and nodded without pausing her barrage in the slightest. Kaitlyn went in and sat down on a weight bench while Mackenzie finished a lightning-fast combination, ultimately springing away from the bag and leaping into a nasty, spinning kick that connected with a final, resounding thud.
“Hey,” Mackenzie said, breathing heavily. She stopped and caught the bag in her hands before letting it go. “What’s up? Everything OK?” She picked up the gym towel that was hanging from a nearby handrail, used it to mop the sweat from her face and neck, and then casually flicked it back over the railing. Then she picked up a water bottle, squirting it into her mouth like a boxer.
“Yeah,” Kaitlyn said. “Sam’s watching zebras die on TV. I thought I’d find something else to do.”
“She’s watching what?”
“Never mind. How’s the workout going?”
“Good. We’ve got our one-on-ones tomorrow, so I’m going kinda light.”
“That’s light?” Kaitlyn asked, but Mackenzie only laughed.
Miss Williams had told them at dinner that Kaitlyn’s session with Ammu would be in the morning. Mackenzie’s would be in the afternoon.
“I’m kinda nervous about mine,” Kaitlyn admitted. “Are you?”
“Aw, I wouldn’t worry,” Mackenzie told her. “I mean, obviously I’m thinking about it, but I’d be here doing this either way. I try to get a two-hour workout in every day, minimum.”
“Oh,” Kaitlyn said, suddenly feeling like she should go practice fixing things. She dropped her head and started swinging her legs in the air.
Mackenzie chuckled. “Ammu just wants to see what we can do,” she said, playfully cuffing Kaitlyn in the shoulder. “You said yourself you’re a good mechanic. I’m sure he’ll be impressed.”
“You think?”
“Definitely.” Mackenzie nodded reassuringly and smiled at her.
“OK.” Kaitlyn smiled back, but she still didn’t feel that sure about it.
“Hey,” Mackenzie said gently, “you just need to get your mind off it, you know? If you find something else to do, tomorrow will be here before you know it, and then the whole thing will be behind you.”
“Maybe,” Kaitlyn said, frowning, “but not dead zebras.”
Mackenzie laughed. “No,” she agreed, “definitely not dead zebras.”
Kaitlyn pretended to shudder, and Mackenzie laughed again.
“You’re welcome to hang with me if you want,” Mackenzie offered, setting down the water bottle and stretching her back, “but I’m just going to be training. I won’t be much company. Maybe you should go see what Daniel’s up to. I’m sure he’d like to see you.” She said this last bit with a teasing grin and raised her eyebrows suggestively.
“Oh, come on. I can’t go to the guys’ suite,” Kaitlyn protested. “That’d be weird.”
“Well, suit yourself. But it’s either hang out with Daniel or watch some morbid zebra marathon. If I were you, I know which one I’d pick.”
With that, Mackenzie winked and started punching the bag again, leaving Kaitlyn to consider her options on her own.
• • •
After dinner, Rush hoofed it straight back to the suite (with his self-appointed protégé trailing loyally behind him) and immediately fired up his console to check on the Internet, which was still down, just as Miss Williams had predicted.
“Sh—” Rush stopped himself and looked down at Sketch, who had settled next to him on the couch. “—ugar,” he finished. “Another night offline. This downtime is killing me.”
“Playing online is really that much better?” Sketch asked.
“Well, yeah, but it’s not just that. You know how I said this game isn’t even out yet? That it’s still in beta?”
Sketch nodded.
“They let people play it before the release to get them all into it,” Rush explained. “So everybody’s talking about it.”
“So they sell more,” Sketch said.
“Right. And with this game, as part of the hype, they’re hosting an invitational in August. The top hundred players in the world get to compete, and the top five get a spot on a pro team.”
“And you’re number eighteen!” Sketch exclaimed. “You’re so in!”
“Yeah,” Rush said, nodding, “so I don’t want to lose my rank, and without the Internet, I can’t check on it.”
“Oh man, you’re gonna lose your rank if you can’t play?” Sketch asked, his eyes wide with horror.
“Naw. I mean, I hope not. If they were just going by total kills, maybe, but that’s not how it works. They’re tracking ratios, not totals.”
Sketch just blinked up at him, saying nothing.
“The point is, the rankings haven’t changed much over the last couple weeks. Things have kind of settled out more or less where they’re going to be, I think. But I can’t afford to lose my edge.”
“Well, I know I’m not that good,” Sketch said, wanting to help, “but I can practice with you. If you want?”
“Hey, man, don’t sell yourself short. You’re good for a beginner.”
Sketch grinned.
“But sure. I’m gonna play either way. You can join in if you want. That way I can practice kicking grenades back in people’s faces.”
Sketch laughed and picked up the other controller.
They hadn’t been playing very long when Daniel walked in, coming back from dinner.
“Hey, Rush, can Daniel play?” Sketch asked.
“Sure, but you guys would have to take turns. I only brought the two controllers.”
“I don’t mind,” Sketch said. “Daniel, you wanna play?”
“Oh, no thanks,” Daniel said, his mind obviously elsewhere.
Sketch glanced up at Rush, who caught the look out of the corner of his eye.
“What?” Rush asked him, but Sketch just looked at Daniel and then back at Rush again.
Rush sighed. “Daniel?” he tried. “You sure you don’t want to play? We don’t mind, do we Sketch?”
“Naw, we don’t mind,” Sketch said, holding his controller out to Daniel, but Daniel just shook his head.
“No, thanks. Really. I’m OK.”
“You can play your guitar out here,” Sketch tried again. “We don’t mind, right, Rush?”
“Sketch, why you want to hang out with Daniel so bad? Let him do what he wants to do, man.”
But Sketch hated it when he felt like he had to go hide from Marquon in his room, and he didn’t want Daniel to feel like he had to hide from them either. Sketch didn’t say anything else, but Rush saw him droop his shoulders and hunch in on himself. He sighed again.
“Daniel,” Rush said. “For real, man, you can sing or play or whatever out here. You know that, right? The living room’s for everybody. There, are you happy now?” He said this last to Sketch, who smiled and nodded his head.
“I know. Thanks,” Daniel replied, but he headed back toward his room anyway, and Sketch shrugged, satisfied that at least they had tried.
It wasn’t much longer, though, before a light knock came at the suite door. Rush glanced at the door in surprise and then looked down at Sketch, who was looking back up at him expectantly.
“Really?” Rush asked him. “How did I get to be in charge?”
“You’re bigger,” Sketch said, and Rush laughed out loud.
“Come in,” he called out, still laughing.
The door opened just enough for Kaitlyn to poke her head past it.
“Why, hello,” Rush said. “You looking for someone?” He grinned, and Kaitlyn blushed furiously.
“What are you guys doing?” she asked, dodging the question.
“We’re playing HRT Alpha,” Sketch answered her. “You wanna play? We can share.” He held the controller out toward her as a bot shot him in the face.
“I don’t know how,” she admitted. “I don’t get to play games much.”
“I can teach you,” Sketch offered. “I mean, if Rush says it’s OK.”
“Dude,” Rush said, “some helpful advice for a couple years down the road, OK? Never suggest that you have the right to tell a girl what she can or can’t do. Trust me. They hate that.”
Sketch laughed.
“It’s true,” Kaitlyn said, grinning. “That’s good advice, actually.”
“OK,” Sketch said. “So, you wanna play?”
“Sure.” Kaitlyn came in and sat down next to Sketch, the two boys both scooting over a little to make room for her, and Sketch started explaining the controls.
Once Kaitlyn seemed to have the basic idea, Sketch turned the controller over to her for a game, and then Rush handed his own controller to Sketch.
“Bio break,” Rush said. “Play one without me.”
“OK,” Sketch said, and Rush showed him how to start a new match.
After disappearing into his room for a few minutes, Rush came back out again, but instead of sitting down on the couch, he made sure Kaitlyn and Sketch were involved in their game and then crossed the suite to knock softly on Daniel’s door. When Daniel didn’t answer, Rush opened it anyway. Daniel was sitting on the edge of his bed playing his guitar, the instrument plugged directly into a headset.
“Well, that explains that,” Rush muttered.
When Daniel finally looked up enough to catch Rush out of the corner of his eye, he jumped a mile and yanked the headset off.
“Don’t say I never did anything for you,” Rush whispered, walking into the room and putting a finger to his lips.
“Huh?”
“Dude, shh. Just come here. I’m telling you, I’m doing you a favor.”
Daniel set the guitar down and walked over to the doorway, looking out to see Kaitlyn sitting on the couch with Sketch, playing video games. Daniel looked up at Rush in surprise, and Rush placed a conspiratorial hand on his shoulder.
“Yep,” Rush murmured so that only Daniel could hear him. “There you go. Now, follow my lead.”
Daniel just looked at him.
“Dude, just do it, OK? I got your back,” Rush whispered, raising his eyebrows at him, waiting for Daniel to agree to the plan, such as it was.
Daniel finally nodded, and Rush walked out to the couch, sitting down next to Sketch. Daniel frowned in confusion, but Rush immediately turned and looked in his direction, pretending just to notice him.
“Oh, hey, Daniel,” Rush said. “You taking a break?”
“Uh… yeah,” Daniel said.
“Sweet. You wanna come play HRT Alpha with us?”
“Um… sure,” Daniel said, smiling at Kaitlyn, who had turned and grinned brightly at him when Rush had announced his presence.
“Cool. Hey, Sketch, come slide over here so there’s room on the end for Daniel.”
Sketch dutifully slid over, and Kaitlyn followed him to make room for Daniel next to her.
“Kaitlyn,” Rush said, “you think you can show Daniel how to play?”
“Oh! Sure!” Kaitlyn said cheerfully.
Rush nudged Sketch, who handed his controller over to Daniel, happy enough just to sit next to Rush and watch while Daniel did his best to follow Kaitlyn’s directions.
The four of them played several games in a row, switching the controllers around between matches so everyone could play. It took two more games before Kaitlyn finally got her first kill—on Daniel, as it happened. Sketch crowed in his seat and turned to give her a high five.
“You got a kill! Hey Rush, she got a kill! Give her a gamer tag!”
“Oh, hey—” Rush almost admitted that giving someone a gamer tag on their first kill wasn’t really a thing before he looked down and saw Sketch’s expression, realizing all at once just how much that rite of passage had meant to him. “You’re absolutely right!” he continued smoothly.
“What’s her tag, Rush?” Sketch asked, his eyes bright with excitement.
“Well, let’s see…” Rush said, making a show of it. “She’s good at fixing things…” He rubbed his thumb and forefinger along his chin, looking at her thoughtfully.
“What was the name of that place you said you worked?” he finally asked.
“The G&G?” she asked.
“Yeah, but the whole thing. Gadgets or something?”
“The Gears and Gadgets Repair Shop.”
“Gears!” Rush said. “There we go. That’s totally it. In honor of your first HRT Alpha player kill, I hereby dub thee, ‘Gears.’”
“Awesome!” Kaitlyn said, doing a little dance where she sat. Sketch laughed and grinned from ear to ear.
It was three games after that before Daniel finally got a kill of his own, this time on Sketch. Sketch crowed again in delight and looked over at Rush expectantly, who was ready for it this time, having had more than thirty minutes to think of the perfect gamer tag for Daniel.
“Disco,” he pronounced immediately.
Sketch laughed while Daniel scrunched up his face and raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“You want me to come up with something else, maybe, Mr. Stayin’ Alive?” Rush asked, grinning wickedly. It took Daniel only a moment to consider his options.
“Disco, it is,” Daniel agreed.
Rush nodded, smirking, and started up another game.