by Sylv Chiang
“JStar really ramped up his play in game two, but the change to Ylva has thrown him off here in game three.”
Was it that obvious?
It’s amazing how fast Cross Ups seems when you’re not in control. Even though I played that match, I have trouble following all the action.
“Look at that cross up and—oh! The juggle! She’s really taking control of this match.” The commentator’s words sting.
“These are promising young players,” the other commentator says. “Watching these up-and-comers gives me hope for the future of Cross Ups. Not a lot of kids put in the work to become stellar at 2-D fighting games anymore.”
“I agree. The next generation is before our eyes. These two are closely matched. But I have to say, he relies too heavily on the crouching light punch–Dragon Claw combo, and she’s figured it out.”
The guy’s right. I’d better change that up.
Cali knocks on the door just as she’s finishing me off on screen.
“Devesh, your family just got home. They brought tons of food.”
Hugh jumps up faster than Kaigo recovering from a hit, but Devesh still manages to push past him on the way to the kitchen.
Food? I don’t know if it’s my nerves about the tournament or this whole thing with Cali, but my stomach feels like it’s taken a sucker punch and landed up near my throat. From the laptop the commentator says, “Looks like JStar’s not happy with that loss.” Oh, crap! This is the most embarrassing part. I wish Cali would go to the kitchen with the guys.
“You see that? Not even a handshake!”
“Only twelve years old. His lack of maturity is really showing here. No need to get all salty over this one, though. Both competitors advance to Top 16. We may get to see this matchup again tomorrow.”
“Doesn’t matter how old he is or how mad, he should shake hands. That’s not cool.”
I swallow. “He’s right. That wasn’t cool. Sorry.” I’ve been saying that to Cali a lot today.
“It’s okay,” she says.
Things are still weird between us. The only way I can think of to fix it is to pretend like everything’s normal. “You play a kickass Ylva.”
“Thanks.”
“When’d you start playing her?”
“Ever since she came out last year. I love her Super where she howls for moon power. I’ve been using her a lot lately, so that creep—Sage—wouldn’t find me so easy.”
“I’m sorry Mel’s freaking you out about him.”
“It’s not Melanie. She’s just looking out for me. She’s the only one here who knows what it feels like to be a girl.”
What can I say to that?
Chapter 22
Back in the little house, Ruby cries and cries. I finally give up on sleeping, grab the cookie bag from my backpack, and take three steps to the kitchen. They might not have much in the fridge, but there is no shortage of milk in this house. Most of it is in little jars. I open a carton and pour myself a glass.
Cali’s laptop is on the kitchen table, so while I’m dunking cookies I scroll through the comments under our match again. The one from Ty and Flash is annoying. What’s their problem?
There’s a new comment under it:
Hailstorm: @Tygerflash U R way bigger losers than @JSTAR
Could that be Hailey? Is she actually watching Underground Hype? I want to write back to her, but what can I say? Thanks for kind of sticking up for me?
I keep scrolling to Sage’s comment.
ShoMe: New outfit & imperio will rule stream TMRW
ShoMe: Shorter + Tighter = Better
I imagine how Cali would feel reading that. He’s not talking about Cali’s skills; it’s all about her looks. Does anyone comment on my looks? Even when Devesh streams my fights, no one mentions that I’m a guy. Haters write things like, “What a loser to drop that combo.” The worst I’ve gotten is some swear words or “You suck, stop playing.” Now that I think of it, I’m surprised no one’s ever commented on my hair. I’ve got some weird parts that always stick up.
I keep reading.
HYlo: @ShoMe: So tru I’d watch that
Baman: She can super me any day
Jumbolaya: Too young :( Look but don’t touch LOL
“You can’t sleep either?” I jump at the sound of Cali’s voice. I didn’t hear her coming with all the crying. I close the laptop. She sits in the chair across from me.
I push the cookie bag in her direction. There are only a couple left. “I don’t know how you do it. The crying—it’s like an infinity attack on my brain.”
“You get used to it.” She takes one.
“Really?”
“No.”
We sit in what would be silence if Ruby wasn’t howling. We used to hang out like this all the time. We had a Spy Club under our porch at home, and we’d sit in it forever without talking so no one would know we were there. Now, things are so weird between us, I feel like I have to fill the air with words.
“You like it here?” I ask.
“No.”
Stupid question.
“I want to go home,” she says. A tear rolls down her cheek, and with it comes a super-combo attack of complaints. “I miss my mom. I worry about her all the time. And my sister—I’m supposed to love her, but she’s always screaming. And I can’t sleep, like, ever. I’ve got no one to talk to. All my friends are back home. My dad ignores me. He ignores all of us. He thinks we’re annoying. Marnie’s nice, but she’s always busy with Ruby. And then Sage sends me all those creepy messages. And my best friend thinks I’m making it all up.”
Me? If I’m her best friend, I sure suck at it. No wonder Cali’s been acting so crazy. I probably would too if I was dealing with all that.
“I’m sorry,” I say again because I can’t think of anything else and that’s been working pretty good today.
“Geez, Jaden, I don’t want you to be sorry. I need you to get it.” She looks at me and sighs. “You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?” She’s a better best friend than I am. She knows me so well.
“It’s like everything is different now that you’re a girl,” I say.
“I’ve always been a girl.”
“I know, but it never mattered before.” She wants me to get it, so I ask, “What’s it like?”
“What?”
“Being a girl.”
She squints her eyes at me.
“Before, you said Melanie’s the only one around here who knows what it feels like.”
She shrugs. “I don’t know. It’s hard to explain.”
My turn to sigh.
After a minute she says, “Do you ever get a gross feeling, deep in your gut, when you’re watching a scary movie?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, that’s the feeling I get when I read some of those comments. Remember that movie where the girl is on the phone with the psycho guy and then she finds out that the phone call is coming from inside the house?”
I nod.
“That’s how I felt when ShoMe said he knows where I live. I mean, who says that? He must know that’s scary. And I got that feeling around Sage yesterday too, even before I knew he was ShoMe. The way he looks at me and the stuff he says. Creeps me out.”
“Wow.”
“I knew you wouldn’t understand.”
“No, seriously. Wow. I had no idea.” I look at her. “But you don’t have to worry. We’re all here to protect you if anyone ever does anything.”
“That’s exactly it. And I hate it.”
“What?”
“What it feels like to be a girl. It’s like . . . like you’re never safe.”
We pass Ruby’s room on our way back to bed. Marnie is sitting in a rocking chair holding the baby, whose crying is down to a light whimper. It’s dark in the room, but I’m
pretty sure both of them have their eyes closed. Cali carefully takes Ruby out of Marnie’s arms. The baby turns up the volume long enough to wake Marnie, then quiets down again.
“Whatever you do, don’t put her down,” Marnie says.
“I know,” Cali answers. “Go sleep. I’ll hold her.”
Marnie hesitates. “I should say no, but . . . I’m so tired.” She gets up and Cali sits in the rocking chair. “Thank you.”
I lie down on the floor of the dark room. As long as Ruby’s not crying, I think I could fall asleep anywhere.
As I’m drifting off to sleep I hear Cali whispering, “It’s okay, Ruby. You can do this. You’re going to learn to sleep on your own. I know you will. You’re strong like Ylva. You can do anything.”
Chapter 23
In the morning I wake early on the floor of Ruby’s room. At some point Marnie must have come back and taken Ruby again. I take a shower. When I peek into Cali’s room I’m not surprised to see Mel still lying in bed. But I am surprised that Cali’s not up. It’s almost time to leave.
“I’m not going,” she says.
“You have to. You made Top 16. That’s huge.”
“I never should have signed up for this tournament. I don’t want to compete if it’s going to mess us up. Anyway, I only made Top 16 because of you.”
“No way. I had no chance against you playing Ylva. You slaughtered me.”
She shakes her head. “You’re just being nice.”
“I wish. Seriously, you were fierce. Now get ready.”
“It’s okay, this is your thing.”
“Nu-uh. You made Top 16. If you’re not there, I’ll always wonder if you would have won. And you will too.” She doesn’t make a move to get up. “Is this about Sage?”
She shrugs.
“Because you’re not just fierce in the game, you know. You’re fierce in real life too. That’s what I lo— like about you.” That was close; I almost said the other L word. “You handle all this stuff I never could. Like taking care of your mom and dealing with a baby.”
She presses her lips together and looks down at her blanket. It doesn’t look like I convinced her.
“You can take on the trash-talkers. Beat Sage and show him what a girl can do. Show everyone.”
When she doesn’t move, I hit her with my best shot. “I’m not going without you.”
She gets up. “Fine,” she says, and heads to the kitchen.
When she’s gone, I grab Melanie’s phone and dial.
“Wei?”
“Ma ma? It’s me.”
“Er zi? What are you wearing? Jie jie told me you lost your suitcase.”
“Don’t worry, Ma. I’m just wearing my jeans again. They gave me a shirt from ArcadeStix.”
“But what about your underwear?”
She tells me to buy some new ones. Like I have time for that. I turn the conversation to something more important. “Ma, I think Cali should come home with us. Can you call her dad?”
Of course, it’s not that simple. My mom has lots of questions. But this time I actually have some answers.
When I hang up, Melanie rolls over. Without opening her eyes she says, “Maybe you’re not such a jerk after all.”
The rest of the team stayed at the hotel, so I’m the last one to get to our meeting at Chez Antoine again. Kyle nods at me from his seat at the head of the table, but he’s deep in conversation with Jeffy and Nicco on either side of him. They all made the Mega Haunt Top 16.
The only seat left is at the other end of the table between Sage and Chung-Key.
Sage is sucking coffee through a fat lip. He looks like he just lost a battle with Kaigo. “Good morning,” he says, but not like he means it.
I don’t know what to think of Sage anymore. I remember his online comments about Cali, and what she said about him making her feel scared. Then I remember the help he gave me yesterday. He’s the only one besides Kyle who’s been nice to me from the beginning. Not like Chung-Key, who thinks I’m an annoying kid, or the other guys, who just ignore me. “You okay?” I ask.
Sage nods halfheartedly.
I look at Chung-Key. As usual, he’s frowning. “We went out last night and someone”—he looks at Sage—“didn’t know when to shut up.”
“You got in a fight with the O team?” I ask, kind of freaked.
“Not O,” Chung-Key says. “SaltyPeppa.”
“Why? What’d you say?”
“Nothing your young ears should hear,” Chung-Key says.
Kyle turns his attention to our Cross Ups end of the table. “Okay, guys. No more easy games. Everyone competing today earned their spot. Remember, it’s double elimination now.”
That’s what the T3 tournament was like too. You get two chances. So, if you lose a game, you get knocked down to the losers’ bracket; if you lose again, you’re out.
Kyle goes on. “We’ve got four Os still in play, including that big mouth ORevoir. JStar, we filled you in a lot yesterday on how these guys play. But there are a couple of surprises out there, even another young unknown.”
“Oh, that’s She-Star’s girl,” Sage says.
“Seriously? Now it’s your turn to fill us in,” Kyle says.
I squirm. Do I even know? “Honestly, she played a whole different character and style yesterday. She changed everything up.”
“Uh-oh! Better hope she’s not looking to change up her boyfriend too!” Sage laughs.
“She’s just a friend,” I say. My best friend!
Devesh and Hugh are at my first station before I am.
“Today we’re going to watch all your matches,” Devesh says. After what Cali said yesterday, I think they’re scared to go near her.
My first game is against some guy from New York who calls himself 2Bad. Too bad for him, because I win in two games.
“How’d your first game go?” I ask Cali when we find her with Mel and Roy.
“I didn’t play. The guy never showed up.”
“Sweet!” Devesh says. “Automatic win.”
“Not that you need it, of course,” Hugh stammers.
“You guys need to relax,” Melanie says.
I’m glad when I hear my name being called to station seven for my next match. I can see a neon-blue shirt there already. From a distance I can tell the guy’s hair is too short to be ORevoir. I’m relieved, until we start playing. This guy, Odyssée, is godlike too. No wonder the O team is so cocky!
He mains Kaigo, so it’s a mirror match. I dress my Kaigo in red for ArcadeStix and he dresses his in blue for O.
Odyssée plays a typical O rushdown style and I do my best to keep up. The match is total mayhem. Fireballs fly everywhere. Our dragons lock necks and swing each other around in crazy circles.
He lands a number of counterattacks that hit me while I’m using my bread-and-butter combo. Looks like I’m not the only one who did some research last night. He’s ready when I make the mistakes the commentators pointed out.
My red Kaigo gets juggled and thrown to the ground a lot more than his blue Kaigo. The loss knocks me down to the losers’ bracket.
I try not to freak out. At T3 I showed up late and missed my first game, so I played the entire tournament from the losers’. It was actually a good thing, because that’s where the weaker players all end up. I can avoid the best of the best—at least for now.
Hugh comes running over, waving his paper in my face. “OMG, Jaden! Look who you’re playing next!”
Chapter 24
I grab the paper out of Hugh’s hand and try to read the names in the bracket he drew. He’s been filling it out based on everyone’s wins and losses. I think he has more information on here than the tournament organizers, if anyone could read it. His writing is so messy, I can’t even find my name.
“You’re J, for JStar. He
re!” He points to what I thought was a U. Under it he’s scribbled what looks like a C.
“Who’s that? Cali?”
“No! She’s I for Imperio.”
“So is that an O? Which one?”
“An O? ” Hugh points the paper at Devesh. “Does that look like an O to you?”
Devesh puts up his hands. “I can’t read any of that.”
“Just tell me who I’m playing.”
“It’s Chung-Key!”
I stare at Hugh. “But . . . how’d he get into losers?”
“He lost to one of the guys from the O team,” Hugh explains. “Ohlala.”
This is not good. No matter who wins this game, ArcadeStix will be down one player in the tournament. Chung-Key’s words from yesterday loop in my head. “Don’t make us look stupid for having a kid on our team.”
If I lose he’ll be mad.
But I’m pretty sure he’ll be even madder if I win.
A few minutes later I sit at the station, thumbs tapping my controller like crazy.
Cali slumps down beside me in the empty seat. Turns out she lost her match too.
“Don’t worry, you guys,” Hugh says. “It’s not over yet.”
“I know,” Cali says.
“Of course you know. I was just, like, giving you a pep talk . . .” Hugh can’t talk fast enough. “Which of course you don’t nee—”
I cut him off. “Who’s she playing next?”
Hugh consults his crumpled paper. “2Bad.”
“I played him. He was nothing special,” I say. “He played Cantu and he likes his space. Just keep pressuring him into the corner. He hates that. He’ll take risks to get past you and you can punish him.”
“Okay. Thanks,” she says.
Chung-Key shows up and Cali gets up to give him the seat. His eyes, nose, and mouth are all frowning as he shakes my hand. “Teammates or not, every man for himself,” he says.
