“We need to start thinking about extracurriculars that will make you look more academically appealing,” my father continued. I’d been only half-paying attention to him but the thought of Suzie—of our game—that had me straightening in my seat.
From the moment Suzie had started talking about this competition at lunch I’d been intrigued. Okay, I’d been more than intrigued. I’d been psyched. My mind had instantly started reeling with ideas for the game, of ways it could be expanded and developed so that other guys my age would take more of an interest.
I’d tried my best to hide my excitement from Suzie because, really, telling her just how much I loved the game was treading way too close to the truth of the matter. In the middle of the cafeteria surrounded by her friends was so not how I imagined having that conversation. Hey, you know that guy you’ve been talking to online at all hours of night? Yeah. That’s me!
I had to find the perfect time to tell her. More than that, I needed to find a way to break this to her that didn’t end with her punching me in the throat.
Honestly, as excited as I’d been about the contest, a voice of reason had told me not to get too interested because there was no way my father would go for it. He already hated the fact that I played video games. Trying to convince him that I should spend my free time working on one?
It wouldn’t go over well.
But, then again, that was before this whole no-basketball lecture. Before my father decided that what I needed was more academic pastimes. He wanted me to do some geeky activity? Well, what was nerdier than a computer science club?
He didn’t need to know that the coding we’d be doing would be for video games. What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, and it could only help me.
Excitement had me sitting up straighter, more alert now as I nodded along with whatever my father was saying. I wasn’t listening anymore, I was too focused on how I could make my father’s latest jerky move work for me.
I needed a way to get closer to Suzie, and this was it. More than that, I’d get a chance to participate in a competition that sounded—well, okay, it sounded nerdy—but it also sounded awesome.
I forced myself to relax, to ease back against the recliner and wait for my chance. The key with my father was not to sound too eager. I had to make him think that this was his idea. If possible, I had to make him see a computer science club as some sort of punishment.
Good news? It worked.
Not so good news? Now I had to get Suzie on board with this plan. Suzie, who didn’t even want to be seen with me in the hallways. Suzie, who had a crush on someone. She might not have said who but the girl was totally an open book.
It shouldn’t have bothered me…but it did. It totally did.
Later that night as I logged on I tried to think of a way to ask her as DataG. She might not tell Luke who she had the hots for but she’d tell DataG.
Why did it matter so much? I wish I knew. I mean, Suzie was so not my type. I typically hooked up with girls who were all curves and laughter, not tiny little string beans who glared at me when I tried to be funny.
The girl would be the death of my ego.
A fact that Prince Z would probably approve of since she was always telling me to check my ego at the door when we were heading into a new battle. The girl didn’t mess around—online or in real life.
The trick wasn’t getting Suzie to be honest, it was getting her to look at me. To talk to me. To have absolutely anything to do with me. In real life, obviously. When it came to the game I had no problem getting her to pay attention to me.
I just had to fumble a basic spell and ruin our chances of reaching the next level.
Prince Z: Where’s your head?
Me: Sorry.
Prince Z: You’ve been distracted since you logged on. What’s up?
Me: The usual.
Prince Z: Your dad?
I hesitated, but what was the point? She already knew my deepest darkest secrets. She’d learned all about me long before I’d learned all about the fact that she was actually Suzie Bryers.
Me: Yup.
Prince Z: Sorry.
Me: Yeah.
There wasn’t much more to say, was there? I mean, I couldn’t exactly elaborate and tell her that I was being forced to sit out a basketball season, and I sure as heck couldn’t come right out and tell her that this new turn of events meant that she’d be forced to spend time with me outside of school and offline.
I tapped my fingers against my mouse as I considered my options.
Prince Z: You okay?
This was the part where I would either cave to the need to vent and unload on my friend all about the egotistical, perfectionist jerk that was my father. Or, I’d be looking for someone to help me forget and I’d crack a joke, starting an ever-escalating volley of quips and one-liners as we each did our best to make the other crack up so hard that our on-screen characters messed up in the middle of a battle.
It was counterproductive to winning, but it was funny. This time, though, I wasn’t in the mood to joke around and I couldn’t tell her the specifics of my latest dad run-in.
Me: Hey, not to be weird or anything but…do you have a boyfriend?
Prince Z: …
Silence. The silence on her end lasted so long I thought she might not answer. We talked about all kinds of personal stuff but I’d never thought to ask her that before I knew she was Suzie and then after I’d thought I’d known the answer.
But now?
Now I realized there was a whole lot I didn’t know about Suzie.
Prince Z: Why do you ask?
My hands hovered over the keyboard. This was the first time since I’d been chatting with Prince Z that she didn’t answer me outright.
Interesting.
These past six weeks I’d been having a hard time reconciling the quiet, guarded, unassuming girl in school with the fiery, funny badass I knew online. But this? This was the answer Suzie would have given.
Me: I just realized I’d never asked that before.
Her pause lasted too long.
Prince Z: I don’t. Why? Do you?
Prince Z: Have a girlfriend, I mean.
Me: Nope.
I typed that too quickly, almost like I was eager to tell her that. Almost like I’d just been waiting for her to ask.
I had no clue what Suzie thought about Luke and his personal life…but I could guess. My lips twitched up for the first time all night as I thought about how she’d called me Fonzie. Who even said things like that?
Only Prince Z.
And Suzie.
I looked up at the ceiling and shook my head. I really had to stop thinking of them as two different people. They weren’t different people, they were one and the same. Just like I was the same guy she seemed content to hang with most nights of the week. Even when she’d been grounded after that whole #GeeksGoneWild debacle she’d managed to sneak her brother’s laptop to play the game and hang with me.
After the Labor Day weekend party from hell, Prince Z had told me all about her humiliation after the prank to end all pranks. She’d been vague, of course, not telling me the details, but since I knew all the players involved and had seen the slideshow with my own eyes, she hadn’t needed to. And yes, I officially hated Joel and his crew, along with any of the other idiots in our class who found it funny to pick on the weak and helpless in our class.
Not that Suzie was weak. Or helpless. Good grief, the girl would have taken down each and every one of those imbeciles singlehandedly if given half a chance. Luckily Margo seemed to have a calming influence. And Matt.
I scowled down at the keyboard. Matt. I didn’t trust that guy around Suzie. Yeah, sure, I knew they were best friends. She’d even mentioned him more often than I liked as Prince Z. But I didn’t care what anyone said, no one over the age of twelve could be friends with a girl like Suzie and only want to be friends.
Of course, I was friends with her. But that was different. I’d gotten to know he
r as a faceless human on the other end of a keyboard, not as a girl. Definitely not as a pretty girl with wild red hair and a feisty little frown. Not an adorably pint-sized girl who looked so sweet and innocent in those oversized T-shirts and cardigans of hers that it made you want to pull her into your arms and keep her safe. Hypothetically speaking, of course.
My point was, Suzie might not have fit the standard definition of hot but there was no denying she was cute. Add to that her spunky personality and her intelligence and her sense of humor and—
Oh hell. I wasn’t speaking hypothetically anymore, was I?
I groaned as I ran a hand over my face, scrubbing at my eyes. I should have seen this coming. My growing obsession with trying to get past Suzie’s hard shell these past six weeks, the way I’d gone from addicted to MageLand to hooked on chatting with Suzie to the point where I no longer cared much about who won or lost.
Oh man. I had a thing for Suzie.
And for Prince Z.
I liked them both.
Prince Z: You okay over there? Are you angsting over some girl or something?
Or something. I found myself giving the screen a halfhearted smile because apparently she was reading my mind. Or maybe I’d just opened Pandora’s box by asking if she had a boyfriend. I should never have asked—at least, I shouldn’t have asked Prince Z. It wasn’t fair to let her open up to me about personal topics when she didn’t know it was me. Guilt ate at me and kept me from asking any more personal questions that had been plaguing me all day. Like why she’d blushed like that when I’d asked about her crush.
It had been one thing when she was only the nameless, faceless Prince Z, but now that I knew she was Suzie, it wasn’t right to ask her questions that Suzie wouldn’t answer.
That was when it hit me. My problem here wasn’t that she was two different people. She wasn’t, and she never had been. The problem was that she didn’t know that me and DataG were one in the same as well.
Working together on this contest, being part of the same club—surely this was my chance to come clean. For her to get to know the real me and to give her the honest truth…once she no longer despised Luke Warner.
I tapped the mouse again as I tried to figure out how exactly I could make her see me differently when all attempts over the past six weeks had failed. I’d tried to tease her like DataG would tease Prince Z. I’d tried getting close to her, trying to force her to interact with me.
Now I was going to force even more together time through the club. Nothing I’d done had helped her to see me as anything other than the notorious player who cracked jokes. If anything, I was pretty sure I’d fallen even further in her regard because now I wasn’t just some guy she saw from afar, now I was on her radar.
And not in a good way.
Prince Z: You still there?
Me: I am, and you’re right. There might be some angsting going on over here.
Prince Z: I knew it. I could smell the emo vibes from here.
I laughed out loud. She had no idea how close I really was. We were probably less than a mile apart right now, but she had no way of knowing that. I tapped at my mouse and then took the plunge. Who better to ask for advice on how to win her over, right?
Me: Question for you. How do you make someone see that you’re serious?
Prince Z: Act serious.
Her response was immediate and logical. She made it sound so easy, but what would she do if I came right up to her and told her that I had a crush on her. Oh yeah, and that I was the guy she’d been talking to almost every night for roughly six months now.
Prince Z: I’d offer to give you some more advice from a girl’s perspective but I don’t think you’d really want to hear it.
Me: Why not?
Prince Z: Because guys don’t like me like that.
I stared at the screen for a while. I wanted to deny it, but how could I since I supposedly had never seen her or even interacted with her in person.
Me: What do you mean?
Prince Z: Forget it.
Me: Can’t. I’ve got the memory of an elephant, remember?
Prince Z: You do have an uncanny ability to remember weird stats.
Me: Thank you.
Prince Z: Useless stats.
Me: I’m still taking it as a compliment.
Prince Z: I wouldn’t.
I grinned at the screen. She was trying to steer us away from that real-life divulgence and back to easy banter. Not having it. It might not be right to intentionally ask her personal questions under the guise of DataG, but she’d offered that one up willingly.
Me: Why don’t you think guys like you like that?
Prince Z: Uh…I guess because no one ever has?
In my head I could hear Suzie’s no nonsense tone. The one that said she was not amused. It also said she was not kidding. That made me inexplicably angry. Everyone should feel wanted by someone.
Me: I’m sure that’s not true. I’m sure lots of people like you.
Prince Z: Nope.
Me: Then they don’t know you.
Prince Z: It’s all good. I don’t care.
That was her pride talking. My chest literally hurt on her behalf but I hesitated too long.
Prince Z: Look, can we just drop it?
Me: Nope.
I specifically echoed her, knowing it would make her smile—just a little, at least.
Me: Look, I meant what I said. If the people at your school don’t like you, then they don’t know you.
Her silence was so long I thought maybe she wasn’t going to respond. Her silence killed me, and I found myself envisioning her on her end. Maybe she was distracted by her parents—her mom sounded as strict as my dad. Or maybe her brother was bothering her again.
I made a mental note to take him down at practice—oh wait, forget that. I wasn’t on the team anymore.
Me: Hello??? Anyone home?
Prince Z: Sorry. Yeah, I’m here. Just trying to figure out how to make this less awkward.
Me: This isn’t awkward.
Prince Z: Yeah. It is. One of the nice things about our friendship is that it isn’t awkward.
Me: Agreed. But again, this isn’t awkward.
Prince Z: I don’t normally whine about my lack of suitors.
Me: You weren’t whining.
Prince Z: I have friends.
Me: Okay.
I found myself smiling at the computer because I could picture her right now. Not just Prince Z, but Suzie. I could practically see her squirming in her seat, her lips pursed in annoyance as she tried to explain herself.
See, the thing was, now that I’d gotten to know Suzie better, I was keenly aware of just how lucky I was that she’d opened up to me as Prince Z. I now knew better than anyone just how hard it was to get through that thick shell she hid behind, the one that fooled the average passerby into believing she truly was meek. Invisible, even.
Me: Prince Z, I said it before and I’ll say it again. If they don’t like you then they don’t know you.
After a brief pause, she typed back.
Prince Z: We are officially ending this conversation.
Me: Fine. First one to the castle leads the next battle.
Prince Z: Game on.
Chapter Four
Suzie
This had to be a joke.
I stared out at the same small crowd in the computer science room after school the next day.
It was the same small group…plus one.
He had to be kidding, right? Luke’s smug smile mocked me from where he lounged at the back table. That’s right, lounged. Feet up on the table and everything. The guy truly was like Fonzie. The thought had me battling a smile even as I glared at him.
His smile grew in response, as though my glare was hilarious. Oh, I was so going to hurt this guy.
“Everyone, please give a warm welcome to Luke Warner,” our advisor said.
I drew in a deep breath as a few of the underclassmen glanced back at him with wide-
eyed awe. I supposed it wasn’t every day that a computer club was graced by the presence of one of Grover High’s most popular seniors. They typically had more important things to do, like play a sport, or flirt with cheerleaders, or…oh, who the heck knew what guys like Luke got up to during their off time. All I knew was, it probably wasn’t spent logging hours on a video game like MageLand.
“Suzie will be distributing the rules and regulations on this competition. After we’ve reviewed you can split into the teams you decided on yesterday and get started.”
Mr. Marsico sounded just as excited as I felt. This was it. It was happening. The competition I’d been angling to get my club in on was actually a thing.
My rising excitement was cut down quick by Mr. Marsico. “Suzie, since you’re the only one without a partner, why don’t you and Luke team up?”
I looked at him in horror and then back to Luke, whose grin hitched up on one side giving him that devilish grin that made girls everywhere drool. But not me. It made my fists clench at my sides.
He’d done this on purpose.
Of course, the voice of reason felt the need to point out that he hadn’t been here yesterday when the group had divvied up into teams of two, and he probably had no way of knowing that we’d had an odd number of participants prior to his joining.
I narrowed my eyes as amusement flickered in his eyes. But this was still his fault. I mean, what was he even doing here?
That was the first thing I asked him after I’d finished reviewing the rules and going over the deadlines with the group at large. He pulled out the seat beside him at the table in the back when I headed in his direction, but I ignored the gentlemanly gesture and yanked out the chair across from him instead.
“What are you doing here, Warner?”
He held his hands out in innocence. “What does it look like, Bryers?”
He said my last name teasingly, a response to my use of his name, but I didn’t mind. It was better than Suzie Q, and a heck of a lot better than babe.
I studied him. What did it look like? Crossing my arms over my chest, I met his smile with a scowl. “It looks like you’re up to something.” I looked around as if seeking out his friends. “Is this some sort of prank? Are you setting me up for another #GeeksGoneWild tag or something?”
My Virtual Prince Charming: Geeks Gone Wild #2 Page 4
