Alejandra was packing up from CCNC club on Thursday. She didn’t have work, and it had been a good session, so she was feeling social. Which meant she was smiling at what other people were saying and imagining how she would respond if she was a bit braver.

“I just think people give the ranger class too much hate,” one of Derek’s friend Oskar said.

Derek scoffed. “Because rangers deserve it.”

“It’s a class that gives a bit of everything!” Oskar said.

“No, it’s a class that is an absolute badass in a rare scenario, and just mediocre all the other times.”

Señora Florez gave a tiny scoff. “Honestly, I wish a ranger existed in real life.”

This slightly confused Alejandra, and she glanced at her favorite teacher. “Sorry?”

“The weirdest thing is happening at my husband’s restaurant.”

Derek, whose conversation was almost turning heated, held out a hand to stop Oskar and turned to Señora Florez. “Is something wrong?”

“Not wrong, per se. Just… strange.”

Oskar’s eyes went wide. “The restaurant is okay, though, right?”

“Of course.”

He let out a breath. “Oh, god, the five stages of grief I just cycled through in that instant.” He leaned down, gripping his heart. “Don’t do that to me, Señora Florez.”

She cracked a smile, shaking her head. “The restaurant is fine. No, there’s just something really weird going on next to the restaurant.”

“Like what?” As soon as Alejandra said that, she felt heat prick around her ears. The thought of hiding something from adults always made her anxious. She had been hiding Jack’s toxic anger from adults for a long time, and it felt shameful to return to such a place.

“At first, I thought it was some sort of homeless person, because we’d heard some shuffling around outside our restaurant. Only a few days ago have I seen a tent.”

“A tent? There’s a tent?” Derek asked.

“Sort of a tent. It’s hard to explain. Sometimes I catch it out of the corner of my eye, but when I try to find it again, it’s gone. José has never seen it.” She sighed. “I’d say it’s stress from the job, but it’s always been about the same amount of stress as usual.” She folded her arms, leaning against the desk.

“Maybe you don’t need a ranger, but a therapist,” Oskar said.

Señora Florez let out a large laugh. “CCNC is therapy, Oskar. Or at least the cheap person’s therapy.”

“Yes! Thank you! My thoughts exactly!” Derek said.

Alejandra glanced at Derek, frowning. He caught her eye, too. Milo told him that the people who could see the characters had some part to play in helping them. Was Señora Florez going to help somehow?

Derek’s gaze unfocused. Alejandra recognized it as looking at the interface system. She followed suit and saw there was a new side quest.

Find out who owns the tent.

Looks like they had their Saturday planned out.

***

Evelyn zipped up her gym bag and slung it over her shoulder before checking her phone. She had a few texts from friends giving party invites for tomorrow and Saturday. She saw the one from Derek.

Development in the campaign! Mandatory session this Saturday! (Looking at you, Rafael)

Evelyn felt her heart sinking a bit as she scrolled through everyone’s available time. Was this going to be every weekend for her? She wasn’t sure she could do this. The possibility of seeing Rafael every weekend was spoiling her enjoyment of CCNC. She craved CCNC simply because it was a different outlet than her school life. She kind of loved it, even if it seemed so contradictory.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

She was so engrossed in trying to figure out if any of the times her friends mentioned would work for her when someone appeared in front of her.

“Oh. Sorry.” She recognized Hazel after a moment of disorientation, and she smiled. “Hazel! Hi! Are you still okay with taking me home?”

“Of course!” The cheer captain was holding her own bag. “Excited for the game next week?”

“Yeah! I think the routines are really coming together.”

“They really are.” They walked together toward the parking lot.

“Thanks again. I usually get Annie to give me a ride,” Evelyn said.

“No problem. Poor Annie. I hope she gets feeling better.”

Once they were at Hazel’s car, Evelyn noticed the uncomfortable look on the cheer captain’s face. It was so odd and out of character for the most popular and the kindest girl in the entire school that Evelyn couldn’t let it go. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah. Look, I’m super low drama. But I also don’t want to just text this, because it’s also really important to me. I just… is it okay? That I’m dating Rafael?”

Evelyn felt herself laugh, even if she didn’t feel like it. She got into the car, with Hazel following soon after. “Of course! Why wouldn’t I feel okay about it?”

“It’s just…” Hazel let out a small laugh of her own. “I’ve heard that you and Rafael really liked each other before. And I don’t want to step on any toes. He doesn’t talk about you much, but I’ve noticed how he seems to react weird whenever you—”

“Hazel, you’re far too sweet for your own good,” Evelyn said, slipping her phone into her pocket. Hazel started the car, and they headed out of the parking lot. “Really. I am happy for you two. I guarantee there is nothing between Rafael and I.”

Hazel seemed to relax at this, but only a little. “I was… I was afraid he was just sort of waiting until you got older, you know? You’re only a sophomore, and—”

Evelyn lifted a hand, stopping Hazel, hoping the unease rolling her stomach would stop, too. “Please. There really is nothing between us. I guarantee I will never date Rafael Walker.” That much was one hundred percent true. “You’re reading far too into this.” Hazel relaxed even further. “Have you tried talking to him about it?”

“Yeah. I’ve tried. He shuts down those conversations real fast.”

Evelyn looked out the window. “Strange.”

Her heart was drowning, beating wildly even as it was suffocating. She didn’t want to be here. For once she wished Hazel was the person who would only communicate over text. Evelyn had a feeling that’s why Hazel was the most popular kid at school. She really was low drama, and she always confronted problems before they got out of hand.

Which was another reason Evelyn felt so nauseous about this. Rafael had to know that Hazel was going to figure out what happened between them. Evelyn was proud of how steady her hand was when she pointed to which street she needed to go down when her phone vibrated again.

Alejandra texted, saying she was going to get Rafael to come this weekend. “I assure you. You two are great together, and I’m thrilled. I’m honored you want to ask permission, but it’s also unnecessary. He was only ever a friend to me.”

“Alright. Thanks, Evelyn. Hey, are you going to Jennifer’s party on Saturday night? I’m trying to convince Rafael to come,” Hazel said.

“It sounds fun, but I’ve got a CCNC session to go to,” Evelyn said.

“That’s right! Someday you’ll have to teach me how to play.”

“Yeah. Of course.” Evelyn gave a smile that didn’t reflect at all the panic she felt inside. “I’d suggest the after-school club, but you have the same problem I have.”

“Cheer practice?” Hazel asked.

Evelyn nodded. “Cheer practice.”

Hazel scoffed. “Honestly, they keep telling us not to focus on specific groups or cliques, but then they make it impossible for cheerleaders to go to a CCNC game. That’s why you’re so cool to me.”

“Cool?” The surprise almost drowned out the panic. “Me? You think I’m cool?”

“Yeah? The way you balance fun games like CCNC on top of cheer. I’m trying to get Rafael back into the game. He misses it. I can tell. He had so much fun playing with my brothers last weekend.”

Evelyn again pointed to the street, taking far more mental energy to keep her fingers steady. “Yeah. It really is a pity.” The urge to start up a game with Hazel was strong. If her CCNC session wasn’t a cover for figuring out how to return some actual people back to a realm she didn’t realize was real, she would have invited Hazel. She could tell, in the silence, that Hazel perhaps expected an invitation, so Evelyn had to switch gears. “You know what? We should make a CCNC campaign with the cheerleaders. Sometimes those bus rides to other high schools can get long, and it’d be fun. If… anyone else was interested.” Evelyn didn’t know anyone else on the cheer team that would be interested. But perhaps they just needed an invitation.

Hazel’s eyes lit up. “Oh my god, yes! You could be the game master!”

Evelyn swallowed, because she wasn’t sure if she understood the game well enough to be a game master. All she knew was that she couldn’t invite Hazel to her CCNC game. Which meant she needed to find a few more people on the cheer team to do this. “Me? God, that would push everyone out of their comfort zone. But it’d be fun. It’s what this game is about, anyway.”

Hazel smiled as she pulled into the driveway. “Oh, I’m excited. I’ll talk to the girls tomorrow! I’ll keep you posted. Thank you, Evelyn. I’m really glad I got to drive you home.”

“Yeah, thanks Hazel.” She waved as she walked toward her front door. The nerves returned. Hazel was such a sweet girl. She was smart, beautiful, and kind. Evelyn was as stunned as anyone that Rafael was dating her. Then again, she felt as though she no longer knew Rafael.

She felt nervous as she walked toward her house. At first, she was confused. It wasn’t like she was against Hazel learning CCNC. It was more the unknown. She didn’t want to hang around Rafael, and they still didn’t know why their characters got into the real world. She didn’t even know how they became real in the first place. Was it smart to create even more characters?