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Her frown deepened. “What about your other friends? Can’t they help?”
I wasn’t going to tell my mother that I had no other friends. Saying it aloud made me sound extra pathetic. “Everyone else already has a partner. No one’s available.”
“Really?” She reached for my shoulder and leaned on it to glance down at my computer screen. “What about this Battlescar13? Looks like he wants to play with you. See? He just asked you.”
She couldn’t be serious. I whipped my head around to look at the monitor. Sure enough, my online partner had messaged me again while I’d been distracted by my mom.
Battlescar13: How about we join together for the tournament?
Battlescar13: Pretty sure we’d kick butt...
A nervous laugh escaped my mouth. I shook my head and pushed my rolling chair away from the computer.
“Um...I’m pretty sure he has other people he’d rather be playing with,” I said to her, unable to hide the nerves in my voice. For instance—his big-mouthed twin brother. It didn’t make sense that Gabriel would try to partner with me, when he had his brother around. Wouldn’t they want to take on the tournament together? Crushing and conquering everywhere they went? Kind of like they did in hockey.
The two of them were infamous for their prowess on the ice. Like a deadly pair of gladiators in skates, I heard they actually made kids from other schools cry in the rink. Why would Gabriel want to break up the dynamic duo?
“I don’t know, sweetheart, sounds like he wants to play with you.” Mom squeezed my shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t question it, just roll with your good luck. If he’s any good, you could show all those boys what’s what.” She got a proud look on her face and raised her fist. “Girl power.”
I cringed. “Mom...no one says stuff like that anymore.”
“I do.” She twinged my cheek. “Just do your best, Beth. I’m sure you’ll prove to them how wrong they were to underestimate you. Love you. Don’t stay up too late playing.”
“I won’t.” I blew her a kiss. “Night, Mom.”
As soon as she was gone, I swirled in my chair back to my computer. Battlescar13 hadn’t messaged me again. I had the feeling he was waiting for me to make a move. That sounded like Gabriel. He was kind of like a panther in real life. Stalking around, waiting for others to make a mistake first. Never showing too much of his own emotions or thoughts. He might have been a predator, but I was desperate. It was either this, or admit to Michael that I had to drop out. I hesitated over the chat box, then typed before I could stop myself.
CurrerBFighting: Are you sure you want to be my partner?
Battlescar13: Ya
I smiled at the monitor and those two little letters. Okay, so maybe I did have a partner? Honestly, this was just north of crazy. My first impulse was to jump on there and tell him I was all in, but my fingers froze over the keys. Joining the tournament was one thing—partnering with a Corrigan twin was another. Playing with Gabriel would make my life a million times more complicated.
My CurrerBFighting profile picture was of a teen boy with green eyes and blond, curly hair. I’d picked him out of the hundreds I’d googled in the hopes of finding something that resembled me in a way, but was most definitely a dude. This stranger’s identity that I’d borrowed had provided me with a security that felt like a comfort blanket. No one could breach it. No one knew that behind that picture was a girl, so sick of all the mocking and the bullying that she’d switched her identity so she could game in peace. It was a precious secret. When news got out about it, I’d lose the precious identity that had become like a second self.
Not to mention, the Corrigan brothers would torture me about it for the rest of eternity.
Dread bubbled up inside of me. There was a lot on the line here. Not just for all of girl-kind, but for my own sake. Partnering with Gabriel Corrigan felt like playing with fire.
And I was pretty sure I knew who was going to get burned in the end.
This wasn’t just a decision that could be made in the blink of an eye. It had to be studied. It had to be discussed. Swallowing down my nerves, I closed my laptop and stared at the shiny silver case.
Gabriel could wait a little while longer for his answer. There was a plan brewing inside my brain, but I seriously doubted my sanity at this point in time. There was only one way to make sure my plan wasn’t going to blow up in my face.
I needed to talk to a friend—or two.
Chapter Four
“Why did we have to meet here? What was wrong with the cafeteria?”
Lexi picked a cobweb from her shoulder with a slightly horrified expression as she and Charlotte lowered themselves into crosslegged positions in front of me and then set down their lunch trays.
I shrugged and looked around at the dark backstage area of the old theater. This was one of the quietest places at school. Hardly anyone ever came here, except for people like me, looking to escape the pressures of high school. It was the perfect place for a clandestine meeting that would affect the rest of my school career. No one could know what were about to discuss.
“I need your guys’ advice,” I said, glancing around one more time to be sure we were alone. A few abandoned props from the fall play and the heavy drapes of the stage were all that surrounded us. “I’m about to do something that could either be really brilliant or really stupid. I need you guys to talk me off a ledge.”
Lexi’s eyes grew wide with excitement. She gripped the top of her knees tightly, her petite little form hardly able to contain her energy. I’d always envied Lexi and her innate ability to be everything traditionally feminine. Her brown hair fell down her shoulders in fashionable waves, her makeup was completely flawless with a cat-eye eyeliner and shimmering cheek bones. If I’d attempted to contour my face like hers, I would’ve ended up looking like a clown. Somehow, she pulled it off every day. It was a serious skill that a lot of people took for granted.
