Playing Her Secret Crush

by Casey Griffin

The elevator doors slid open and Katie got in. She hit the button for the lobby. When the doors closed again, she smiled. She was facing a reflection of herself, and this time, it really was her. Well, Pikachu, technically…but still.

  Today, Katie wore no makeup, her hair was pulled back into a simple ponytail, and she wore a costume that suited her. Not who she thought she was “supposed” to be, who the magazines told her to be, or who she thought some guy would want. Today she was just Katie. And that was exactly who she wanted to be. She was confident of that.

  She wasn’t sure where the confidence had come from or when it started. Maybe somewhere between trying to be something she wasn’t and tossing her New Look into the hotel room garbage can—red pushup bra and all. At that moment, she felt more powerful than Wonder Woman, all on her own—whether or not everyone else felt the same way.

  Katie now realized that while she’d always believed she came last, it was actually all in the way she looked at it. It wasn’t a matter of finding someone who picked her first. She had to put herself first.

  Ever since she’d started believing she deserved more and took action to improve her own life, she’d grown more confident, made a new friend, went on dates, and had fun in ways she’d never expected. She’d even kissed Alex after two years of wimping out.

  The elevator slid to a stop on the twenty-second floor. Sailor Moon, Deadpool, and Agent Smith from The Matrix came on—or maybe he was a real businessman. She wasn’t sure.

  Katie moved over as they filtered inside and the doors closed. After a few floors, she could sense Sailor Moon eyeing her.

  “Nice costume,” she said.

  “Thanks.” Katie smiled. “You, too.”

  Sailor Moon pursed her lips. “But you’re missing the rosy cheeks. Pikachu has rosy cheeks.”

  Katie touched her face and glanced in the mirrored door again. “Oh, I almost forgot.”

  Reaching into the deep pockets of her onesie, Katie pulled out her ruby red lip liner. Leaning closer to her reflection, she drew a perfectly round circle on each cheek and colored them in. At least all the makeup she’d bought was good for something.

  Sailor Moon assessed the handiwork before nodding. “That’s better.”

  The elevator slowed as they reached the main floor. When the doors slid open, Katie waved goodbye before heading to the sitting area in search of her team. She was practically vibrating with nerves over both the tournament and seeing Alex, as though her body held Pikachu’s power of electricity, and she was long due for a release.

  As Katie crossed the lobby, her heartbeat picked up, and she shook with that electric tension. What would she say to Alex? What would he say? Did he really not feel the same way? And if he didn’t? Well…she didn’t want to think about that at the moment.

  She spotted a Princess Peach and a Ninja Turtle sitting on the couches by the stone hearth. She scanned the people loitering close by, but it appeared that her nerves were premature, because all she saw was a Ghostbuster about her age and a little Tinker Bell. Alex wasn’t there yet.

  The jittery feeling dialed down a bit, but it still simmered beneath the surface. She reminded herself that her love life wasn’t the only thing she had to worry about today. The battle for Caroon still loomed ahead, only a couple hours away.

  When Katie shuffled up in her fuzzy yellow slippers, Lexi did a double take, not recognizing her at first. She’d probably been expecting her other costume, Katie realized.

  After a moment, Lexi gave her a nod of approval. “Pikachu looks good on you.”

  “Thanks,” she said. “I needed to hear that. It’s not exactly Wonder Woman.”

  “You’re right,” she said. “It’s better. It’s you.”

  Katie smiled. “Thanks.”

  The jingle of high-pitched bells filled the lobby. Katie looked down to find Tinker Bell at her side.

  “Hi Fairy_gurl!” Penny said. “It’s me, Sugarplum! Did you recognize me? I recognized you, but Pizzalover was wearing a turtle head so that wasn’t a fair guess.”

  “You can call me Trevor in real life, remember?” he said, pulling off his Ninja Turtle head and setting it down beside him.

  Penny made a face as though she didn’t like that idea and turned back to Katie. “Are you excited about the tournament? I’m nervous. We’re up against some really good players. Pizzalover says that we played with Dark_Prince’s brother, and he was really good, and we made a great team so that means we should be as good as everyone else, right?”

  Katie wasn’t sure which question she was supposed to answer, but the Ghostbuster interrupted.

  “Hi, I’m Tara.” She waved her neutrona wand. “Sorry about Penny. She’s had a lot of sugar today.”

  “The name is Sugarplum. I’m staying in character this weekend. It helps keep my head in the game. And the sugar helps me play. It gives me the energy I need to vanquish my enemies.” Her fists clenched like she was imagining crushing her foes, but she was just a little too enthusiastic—probably from all the sugar.

  Tara held up her hands in surrender. “Okay, Sugarplum. Whatever you say.”

  Penny spun back to Katie, bells tinkling. “Mom had to work and couldn’t bring me, like usual.” She rolled her eyes. “So Tara offered to come. She’s my older sister. She’s a senior and she’s super smart. She took the weekend off to come with me because Mom said I couldn’t come alone. Isn’t that crazy?” She made a sound like “parents are so overprotective.” “Did your mom come with you?”

  “Umm, no. But it took a lot of convincing,” Katie added, because Penny…err, Sugarplum seemed to pout a little that her own mom couldn’t afford her that same independence. Then again, she was only ten years old, so Katie agreed with her mom.

  “Nice Ghostbuster costume,” Lexi told Tara. “I like your proton pack.”

  “Thanks. I really liked the all-female reboot, so I made this for Halloween last year.”

  “I love that movie, too,” Lexi said. “It was totally underrated.”

  Tara gestured to Lexi’s bubblegum pink dress. “Your costume is great, too, by the way. Whenever I play Mario, I always choose to be the princess.”

  Lexi reached up to rearrange her golden crown, a little self-consciously, Katie thought. “Thanks.”

  Penny took a deep breath, as though preparing to start a new monologue, but Tara saved them. “Penny, just chill for a second and catch your breath.” She patted the seat next to her on the sofa.

  “Sugarplum,” she muttered but obeyed her older sister.

  Katie glanced around the lobby. “Where’s Alex?” she asked, trying to sound casual.

  Lexi and Trevor shared a look. They’d both seen what happened from the edge of the dance floor the night before—the kiss, the argument, Alex walking out. But when Trevor nodded, Katie thought Lexi might have filled him in on some of the blanks.

  “We hoped he’d be with you,” Trevor finally said.

  Katie shook her head. “We haven’t spoken since last night.”

  Penny was on her feet again, bells jingling. “What happened last night? What did I miss?”

  “A kiss,” Lexi said.

  “A fight,” Trevor added.

  Penny spun on her sister, looking as irritable as Tinker Bell in a bad mood. “Tara! See? I knew I’d miss out. We should have gone to the dance.”

  “It was past your bedtime,” Tara said.

  “It wasn’t a big deal,” Katie assured Penny. “You didn’t miss much.”

  Trevor leaned forward on the couch. “If it wasn’t a big deal, then why isn’t Alex here? Why isn’t he answering any texts?”

  Katie froze. “He’s not?” She’d just assumed he was running late. She looked at the rest of her teammates. “Has anyone heard from him?”

  Lexi shrugged. “I saw him at breakfast this morning. He looked…distracted.”

  Frowning, Katie pulled out her phone to text him. Maybe he’d lost track of time or took a nap or went sightseeing. A whole list of excuses ran thr
ough her head so she didn’t have to consider the possibility that maybe he didn’t want to see her.

  Alex, where are you? Everyone is waiting for you in the lobby. We have to go to the tournament soon.

  Katie hit send and stared at the screen for a full minute, waiting for a response, some indication that he’d seen the message. However, not even a “…” appeared.

  “Anything?” Lexi asked.

  Katie shook her head.

  Another minute passed while they waited in silence. Finally, Trevor stood to pace in front of the hearth.

  “You just had to freak him out,” he said, throwing his three-fingered hands in the air.

  “Freak him out?” Lexi’s eyebrows shot up. She huffed, crossing her arms. “This isn’t Katie’s fault. She didn’t do anything wrong.”

  He ignored her. “Did you have to profess your love now? Right before the tournament?”

  Katie flinched at the sarcasm. “Maybe the timing could have been better, but I’m not the one acting weird about it. At least I showed up. Besides, we’re not even sure that’s what’s keeping him. Alex wanted to be here more than any of us. He’s not going to miss it because things might be awkward. He can’t,” she said, hoping it was true. But the truth was she didn’t know what to think after last night.

  “He won’t miss this,” Lexi said, as though sensing her doubt.

  “You love Dark_Prince?” Penny bounced on the couch, sending her wings flapping behind her. “Does he love you?”

  Trevor gestured around the lobby. “Do you see him anywhere? I think that answers that question.”

  Katie shot him a look but felt the words like a poison arrow to her already aching heart. Could that be the reason Alex wasn’t there? Could he really turn his back on everything they’d worked so hard for just because he couldn’t face her after last night?

  She hoped there was some other reason Alex hadn’t arrived yet. Then she recalled the look on his face when he’d pushed her away, his grimace, like simply kissing her was a painful experience.

  I just can’t think of you that way.

  Maybe she really had screwed things up for everyone. Maybe she’d ruined her friendship with Alex, too.

  “We’re not sure yet,” Lexi told Penny. “But we think he loves her back.”

  Katie gave her a grateful smile, but this didn’t seem to make Trevor feel any better. “Well, the rest of us didn’t come all this way to watch your romantic drama unfold. None of that matters right now.”

  Lexi jumped off the couch and marched up to him, puffy skirt swishing. She jabbed her golden scepter into his muscly green chest. “It matters, okay?”

  Her pretty features glowed in the firelight from the hearth, as though she burned from her own fire within. Katie supposed his cold comments were cutting her just as deeply, considering how closely she’d been caught up in all the “romantic drama.”

  Katie laid a hand on her shoulder. “Maybe he has a point,” she said. As harsh as Trevor was being, Katie tried to push her emotions aside. This was between her and Alex. Not the team. “What matters most right now is the tournament.”

  “We can’t wait much longer,” Trevor told her. “Maxware Studios is sending a car to drive us to the stadium to get set up. The organizers told us to be there at two p.m.”

  “I know, I know.” She took out her phone to text Alex again. Her fingers hovered over the screen as she tried to think of what to say.

  I’m not sure why you’re not here. I just want to say that I know things are weird between us right now. But we have to put all that aside. Today isn’t about you and me. It’s about the team. It’s about Jason. Just text me back so I know you’re coming and that you’re all right. We’ll meet you there.

  Katie hit send and took a deep breath. “All right. Let’s go. We’ll have to meet him at the stadium.”

  “What if he doesn’t show up?” Tara asked.

  “Then we forfeit the game,” Trevor said blankly, and not sounding all too pleased.

  “What about Disneyland?” Tears formed in Sugarplum’s eyes.

  Trevor grabbed his turtle head off the couch. “No Disneyland for you, no college education for me or Katie, no motorcycle, no backpacking around Europe, no being immortalized in the game for anyone.”

  Tara bent down and pulled her little sister close in front of her, speaking in a low voice. “Penny, listen. I don’t want to see any drama from you. It is what it is,” she said sternly but kindly. “I promise, you will go to Disneyland someday, even if I have to take you myself, okay?” She wiped the wet streaks off her sister’s cheeks.

  Penny nodded, dislodging more tears so they streamed down her face again.

  As everyone turned to leave, Katie shook with that inner electricity again. Only now, it wasn’t the tournament she was worried about losing.

  She was about to tuck her phone into her onesie when it rang in her hand. Everyone froze at the sound, and she scrambled to answer it. “Hello? Hello?”

  “Katie?”

  Hoping desperately for it to be Alex, it took her a second to place the voice. “Mrs. Masse?”

  “Katie! I’m so glad I got a hold of you. Something’s happened to Alex.”

  The floor fell out from under Katie’s slippers, and she sank onto the couch. Lexi rushed to sit next to her, a hand on her shoulder, but she could barely feel the touch. She felt blank, numb, nothingness.

  “Wh—what happened?”

  Mrs. Masse’s voice was shaky and a little shrill when she answered. “He’s been in a car accident at some racetrack.”

  A sudden wave of heat rushed through Katie, making her sweaty and dizzy until she felt like throwing up. She didn’t open her mouth to respond in case she actually did.

  She could hear a male voice speaking in the background. After a moment, Mrs. Masse dissolved into sobs and Alex’s dad came on the line.

  “Katie, he’s at Sunrise Hospital,” he explained in a steadier voice than his wife. “They say he’s stable but that could mean anything. We can’t get a flight for hours and…”

  Katie zoned out for a moment. It was too much news at once. She didn’t know what emotion to settle on. The shock of learning that Alex was in an accident, the relief of knowing he was alive, or the anger that he’d do something so stupid and risk his life. The fear that she might never see him again sent her back around the loop of emotions.

  “It’ll be okay,” Katie said, maybe to Mr. Masse, maybe to comfort herself. “I’m going to the hospital now. I’ll call you when I see him.”

  By the time she hung up, she blinked at her surroundings and discovered her friends had ushered her outside. Obviously they’d heard the word “hospital.” They’d flagged down a taxi and were already climbing in.

  “Wait,” Katie said. “You guys should go ahead to the tournament. You can explain the situation to the organizers.”

  “We want to be there for Alex,” Trevor argued, his annoyance with their drama obviously forgotten.

  “We don’t know what the situation is, yet. Alex might be just fine.” Katie wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince them or herself, but she knew one thing: this was something she needed to do by herself. “If there’s a chance Alex will make it to the tournament, it will be better if everyone else is checked in.”

  They didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t give them an opportunity to argue. She jumped in the taxi and turned to the driver. “Sunrise Hospital, and step on it!”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Alex studied the numbers flicking across the monitor next to the stretcher, but they were nonsense to him, and the nurse’s impassive expression gave no hint if the numbers meant good news or bad.

  After jotting his vital signs down on a clipboard, the nurse slipped a small flashlight out of her scrubs pocket. She flashed it into his eyes while staring intently at him. He tried not to squint as the light sent sharp stabs through his brain. She tucked her light away and made another note, but he still wasn’t sure if it was
good or bad.

  “How does the cast feel?” she asked.

  “It feels great.” He gave the plaster a solid knock with his knuckles like that proved it. Nothing wrong here. I’ll just be on my way now.

  She snorted. “That would be the drugs talking.”

  There was a watch pinned to her shirt, but it was upside down, and he was having trouble focusing. He knew there couldn’t be much time left until the tournament. Ever since the ambulance brought him to the emergency room, he’d been poked and prodded in all sorts of places. He’d been scanned, patched up, and drugged up. What else could they possibly do?

  “When is the doctor coming back?” he asked.

  “He was called to the operating room a while ago,” the nurse said. “I’m not sure when he’ll be back, but you’ll have lots of time to speak with him on the ward.”

  Alex leaned forward. “The ward? What do you mean?”

  “You’re being admitted overnight for observation.”

  “What?” he blurted. His heart plunged before picking up speed, and the monitor’s beeping jumped with it. “No. That’s impossible. I can’t stay.”

  “You were in a car accident,” she said, like maybe he’d forgotten. “You have a concussion, and you’re lucky it wasn’t worse. We need to keep an eye on you for at least one night.”

  Alex ripped off the blood pressure cuff and began untangling himself from wires. “I know that I’m lucky to be alive right now, but you don’t understand. I need to be somewhere like really soon.”

  She crossed her arms. “Oh yeah? Where?”

  “Caroon.”

  “You mean that silly online game my son plays? Conquerors of Caroon?” Her eyebrows rose. “Now that’s definitely the drugs talking.”

  She eyed him a little strangely and picked up the clipboard again, as though she might have missed something during her assessment. “What day is it today?”

  Alex sighed. “Saturday.”

  “And do you know where you are right now?”

  “I’ll tell you where I’m not,” he said. “Caroon.”

  She pursed her lips and placed the clipboard back on the wall. “The doctor will be with you when he can. You can take it up with him.”