Evelyn finished cheer practice. She didn’t explain to the girls why she went into the stalls to dress now. There was no real reason, except that the grey marks on her torso made her feel vulnerable. Akshi might burst into the changing room. However, if her first day back taught her anything, it was that she possibly shook Akshi off her trail. She mentally prepared to be followed by him all day, but that wasn’t the case. He popped in and out of her classrooms, and Evelyn was proud of herself for not reacting a single time.

It still meant she was eager to get home.

She changed into her street clothes, refusing to look at the grey marks. She grabbed her bag, checking her phone messages.

“Hey, Evelyn,” Hazel said.

Despite all the times she kept her face straight throughout the day, hearing Hazel say her name made her jump, almost dropping her phone. “Oh, hey. Hey, Hazel.” She slipped her phone back in her pocket. “How are you?”

“So good. Hey, Annie!”

Evelyn glanced over to see Annie running up to them. “Sorry, got distracted. Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah.”

“Hey, Annie, Evelyn and I want to get a group together to do CCNC,” Hazel said.

“CCNC? Isn’t that a nerdy game?” Annie asked.

“Incredibly. But I also hear it’s super fun. My brothers won’t shut up about it. Brandi and I want to play, and Evelyn’s offered to be the game master. Do you want to play?”

Annie blinked, confused. “When? When would we play?”

“We have a long bus ride to the football game on Friday. I figured we’d start then.” Hazel looked at Evelyn. “If that’s alright with you.”

“Yeah, of course.” Better to say that instead of how there was a chance their characters would appear in real life if they died. It would bring up way too many questions she wasn’t ready to answer. Being the GM, it meant she could never kill off the characters, and she’d be okay with that.

“Do you want to join?” Hazel asked, looking at Annie.

“I mean, I’ve never played before,” Annie said.

“Great! Neither have Brandi or I. You’d fit right in,” Hazel said.

Annie sighed. “I guess those bus rides can get really long.”

“Is that a yes?” Hazel asked.

“It’s a yes.”

Hazel made a happy squeal and turned toward Evelyn. “Are three players enough?”

“Um, yeah. Yeah, since this is my first time being a GM, it’s best if we start small,” Evelyn said.

Hazel squealed again. “I’m so excited! Annie, you text me if you need any help creating your character.” Hazel took out her phone, checking her messages. “Rafael is a master at this. I’ll see if he can help you out.”

“Good. Because I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Again, you’ll fit right in. Now, where is that boyfriend of mine? He’s usually here to meet me?” Hazel asked. Evelyn had a strong feeling he was avoiding her. “Either way, we should all get together to make our characters. You have second lunch, right?”

“Yeah. I do,” Annie said.

“Perfect. We’ll meet at the table and get our characters ready. Rafael has the same lunch, and he can bring his dice. Do you want to join Evelyn?”

“No.” She said it before thinking of a better excuse. “No, um, I don’t need to be there. The best thing you can do is think of your character’s backstories and send them to me. Don’t tell each other, though. Half the fun is discovering other people’s backstories.”

Hazel’s thumbs flew over her phone. “I am seriously so excited. I will see you all tomorrow.”

Evelyn smiled and headed toward Annie’s car.

“Isn’t this a dice rolling game?” Annie asked. “It’s not gambling, is it?”

Evelyn’s fingers tightened over the straps of her bag. “No. It’s just a game. Dice is involved, but it’s not gambling. It’s nice if you have your own set of dice, but I can bring a few extra sets of mine.”

“Oh, okay. Choice, Chance, and Consequences, huh?” Annie said as they got to her car. “Wait, isn’t that the game from the eighties that opens you up to being possessed by devils?”

Evelyn happened to glance over to Hazel right as Rafael wrapped his arms around her. As she suspected, he waited until Evelyn was gone.

“It was a scare. Not real,” Evelyn said.

Annie chuckled. “Oh, good.”

The huge smile on Rafael’s face could be seen for miles as Hazel hugged him tight. Hazel, the most popular girl in school, the kindest, happiest person on earth, had her arms wrapped around him, giving him a kiss.

Evelyn tore her gaze away and slid into the front seat.

“They’re adorable, aren’t they?” Annie asked.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

“Hazel and Rafael?” Evelyn asked.

Annie started up her car. “Yes! Ugh, so sweet.”

“Yep. Perfect,” Evelyn said.

“Don’t worry.” Annie shifted to reverse. “We’ll find our perfect guy.”

“Yeah.” She tried to put some feeling into it.

***

Nick organized his backpack, making sure everything was in there before slamming his locker closed. He checked his phone to see the time before tucking it back into his pocket. He glanced up to see Evelyn heading toward him. “Oh, hey.” He glanced around the hallway as she approached him to see if Akshi was following her. “You alright?”

“Fine.” It didn’t sound believing. “Hey, do you know where Derek is? I want to ask him if we’d be alright playing other campaigns.”

Nick was so confused by the question. “You mean, in CCNC?”

“Yeah. Like, if a group of people wanted to play another game, I should… I should go along with it, right? I thought I settled myself on an answer last night, but now I can’t be sure.”

“You’re totally fine,” Derek said, appearing out of nowhere. “Alejandra and I still play our campaign in our CCNC after-school club, and so far, no side effects.”

Nick stared at Derek. “Where did you come from?”

“Just…” Derek, too, glanced around the hallway. “Shaking things up.”

Nick gave him a look, and he shrugged it off. Emma must be looking for him.

“Okay. It should be fine. Hazel wants to start a CCNC campaign, and I was worr—”

Derek made a noise that couldn’t be human, cutting Evelyn off and causing Nick’s gaze to shoot toward him.

“Hazel? As in Hazel Jones?” Derek asked.

“Um…” Evelyn furrowed her brows in confusion. “Yes?”

“You said Hazel Jones and a CCNC campaign in the same sentence? Are you getting the cheerleading captain involved in CCNC?”

Again, Evelyn paused, though her furrowed brow relaxed into more of a skeptical look. “Actually, a few of the cheerleaders want to play, so we’re planning a session on Friday on our way to the football games.”

Derek’s eyes were wide. “I could kiss you.”

Evelyn’s face dropped. “Please don’t.”

Nick gave his friend a look, because judging by his past stupid actions, there was a chance he might do it anyway.

“Evelyn…” Derek raised a hand, looking like he was standing in the presence of an angel. “You do anything you can to foster the spirit of CCNC among the cheerleaders. Do you hear me? Get them to want this. Please. I am beg—” Derek stopped, then his eyes widened. “Escape. Nick, Nick, escape. Open your locker. Right now.”

“What?” he asked, even as his hand already rested on the lock.

“There’s Delly, part of her squad. She’s coming. Oh, god, she’s coming. You’ve got to hide me.”

Nick opened his locker. “And what does my locker have to do—”

Derek didn’t let him finish. Once Nick’s locker opened, Derek dove inside, slamming the door shut. The two siblings stared at the closed locker, and there was a long silence as they comprehended what had transpired.

Nick glanced down the hallway to see Emma walking with a crowd of people surrounding her.

“Derek—” Nick started to say.

“I’m not here. Don’t let me out until she’s gone,” Derek whispered from inside.

Nick rubbed the bridge of his nose, giving a slight groan.

“I feel like this is one of those things that the less I know, the better.” Evelyn jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “I’ll be meeting up with some friends.”

“Wait, Evelyn.” Nick grabbed her elbow. “Mr. Stower, Akshi, they’re… they’re still not bothering you, right?”

“Oh, yeah. Don’t worry about me, Nick. I’m shaking them off.”

“Okay, but if you need help, you text me and I’ll do… something.”

Evelyn gave him a look. “No, you’re not. I’m not putting you in further danger of dad’s rage like at Homecoming.”

He didn’t let go of her elbow. “I’m serious. If he’s giving you any grief, I want to know about it.”

“Alright.” She brushed his hand away. “I’ll let you know.”

He didn’t like how uncommitted Evelyn sounded, but he let her go.

“Is she gone?” Derek asked.

“Evelyn, or Emma?” Nick asked.

“Do not speak her name!” It came out like a strangled hiss.

Nick rolled his eyes. “Still walking down the hallway too close.”

“Nick?”

His gaze shot forward to see Alejandra walking up to him. This had been the most social he felt all year. “Oh, hey.”

“Do you know where Derek is?” Alejandra asked.

At the mention of his name, Emma passed by them, and she jerked her head around as though to figure out which female was talking about him.

“Uh…” He leaned against his locker, folding his arms. “No. Nope. I have… no idea where he is.” Alejandra sighed, rubbing her forehead as she scanned the halls. “Are you okay?”

“It’s just…” She dropped her hand and her voice. “We have CCNC after school today. Señora Florez said Mr. Stower wants to be the second adult, but I told her to go ask Mr. Anderson instead. I was hoping Derek could make sure Mr. Anderson will be there.”

Inside the locker came a gasp, and Nick reflexively banged on the door. Alejandra watched the action, frowning. “Are you…”

“As soon as I see Derek, I’ll let him know,” Nick said.

She again looked at the locker. Nick didn’t exactly want her to leave, but he needed to stall at his locker for a bit longer as Emma made her oh-so-slow way through the halls. “Hey, Alejandra,” Nick started to say.

She looked up at him. “Yeah?”

“So…” Nick’s heart rate kicked up a notch. He knew exactly what he could say to keep her here, but he couldn’t deny he was nervous. “It’s… it’s been a year since I asked you out. And I know it’s not exactly the best time right now. Both of us have a lot going on.”

Alejandra gave a tiny scoff. “That’s an understatement.” There was still a smile on her face, and Nick clung to that.

“The thing is, I’m not sure what I was thinking, asking you out a year ago.” The smile was dropping from her face, and Nick panicked. “Meaning I am… not in a position to take you on dates. I can’t do much for you. But I still… there’s still a part of me that will always regret if I don’t keep asking. Because—”

“Yes,” Alejandra said.

It was the outcome he hoped for, but it still caused his mind to stutter to a stop, refusing to work. “Yes?”

She smiled. “Yes. I… don’t know how this is going to work either, but… we might as well see if it does. Right? Before…”

“Before I turn eighteen,” Nick filled in for her.

She chuckled. “Yeah. I’m sorry I… there were some things I needed to figure out a year ago, but…”

Nick shook his head, hardly believing this worked. “No, you’re good. This is… good. Great, even.”

Alejandra smiled, then reached over to take his hand. “You don’t have to take me on dates. Your father might not approve.”

“Yeah. Um… neither would… your family.”

Alejandra shrugged. “I can help ease them into the idea. But it might take some time.”

Nick nodded. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

“Don’t be. Just be yourself.”

He winced, and Alejandra shook her head, giving his hand a squeeze. She almost said something else when there was a knock from inside Nick’s locker. Alejandra jumped, her smile dropping. He sighed, then glanced around to see Emma disappear down the other side of the hall. His fingers put in his combination before he opened the door, and Derek stumbled out of his locker. Alejandra’s eyes went wide, covering her mouth with her free hand as Derek brushed himself off, scanning the hallway before his eyes settled on the sight of Nick and Alejandra holding hands. Derek shot Nick a glare. “Shut up.”

Nick chuckled as his friend sulked away in the opposite direction of where Emma was. Alejandra stared, confused. “Is… that supposed to make any sense?”

His fingers tightened over hers. “Derek has his own kind of logic. But he got your message. And let me know if Mr. Stower bothers you at all during CCNC.”

“Yeah. I will,” Alejandra said. He felt a little more certain she would tell him. “What is it?” she asked.

“What?”

“You just… what is it? You’re smiling,” Alejandra said.

Nick felt it there on his face. He had a feeling it’d been there since Alejandra had said yes. Nick smiled all the wider. “It’s…”

She was blushing. “Yeah. Okay.”

Nick pulled her into a hug, her head settling right under his chin. She fit perfectly, as she always had, but this was different. Better.

Amazing.