Kids these days….
“Sounds neat,” I replied. “Maybe I’ll try it sometime.” I was being polite, but Alan’s eyes grew as big as saucers.
“You really want to?”
Crap. “Uh, sure. If you’ll help me set up a character.”
“Yeah, totally. If you’ve never played anything like this before, I suggest an offensive character so you can just roll in and smash things. Healers are fun and always in demand, but they require a much more savvy and patient player.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
Alan grabbed a sticky note off his dad’s desk and wrote on it. “Here you go. You can buyDragon Chaosonline and download it from that site. I’ll help you set it up after.”
“Thanks. I’ll look into it this weekend.” I stuffed the note in my jacket pocket.
Alan offered a now familiar half smile, which I suspected was from years of wearing braces and a habit he hadn’t yet broken now that he was sans metal. “You’re not just saying that, right?”
“No.”
“Awesome.” He smiled a bit wider.
Felix cleared his throat. “Why don’t you shut that off and get your jacket so we can bring Bowen down to the Christmas tree farm.”
Alan nodded, exited out of the game, and got up. He went to the coatrack in the corner of the room and started putting his winter attire on.
Felix leaned close to whisper in my ear. “You’ve just won so many points with him.”
“I have?” I murmured back.
“Only thing he loves more than that game is music. I rank third on his list.”
I chuckled. “Guess I’ll be playing my own dark elf warrior thingamajig soon.”
“Yup.” Felix went to grab his coat.
“Do you think stomping around in the cold for a Christmas tree is smart, Mr. Mer—uh—Bowen?” Alan asked. He turned to stare at me as he put his scarf on.
“What do you mean?” Felix asked.
“He had an asthma attack at school the other day,” Alan said, waving a hand at me.
Felix turned, surprised. “Is it that bad? We don’t have to go outside.”
I pulled my inhaler from my pocket. “I came prepared.”
“Are you sure?” he asked again.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. Besides, I really want that tree with the bow tie.”
“Are you wearing a bow tie now?” Alan asked, inching to the door.
“Of course,” I answered.
He rolled his eyes. “Who wears a bow tie on the weekend?”
“Me.”
“It was a rhetorical question,” Alan countered.
