Gaming Time

Back home, I tiptoed to my room despite my parents already being at work. Waiting for me on my bed was a note. Addressed specifically to me, it read:

Paige, we need to talk about what you’ve been doing lately. Sorry that I didn’t respond to your text. Figured that it would be better to talk in person. By the way, I know today was a half-day for you, so I left some lunch in the fridge. And don’t worry, it’ll just be us for a while in the house, as I already arranged for a friend to pick me up since your father will be late at work. I’ll see you at 4.

At least it was from Mom and not Dad. Still, I feared how the conversation would go now that it was inevitable. In the event of something bad happening, I called Maple to give her a heads-up.

“Hey, Maple, is now a good time?”

“Of course, dear! Anytime is good with you!”

“So, my mother wants to talk with me about what I’ve been up to lately. I guess staying the night away from home raised some eyebrows—hence why she wants to talk to me about it.”

Some time went by without a word from Maple.

“Maple, are you still there?”

“Yeah, I am! Sorry, I was searching for something. Is it just your mom that wants to talk?”

“Currently only her, but I’m pretty sure my father too. My mother will be here around 4, while he won’t be back until late at night.”

“Nice! That works out!”

“Uh, nice? What do you mean by nice?”

“I’m coming over!”

“Coming over? You don’t even have my address!”

“Then tell me, silly!”

“O—Okay, I can, but Mom will know that you and I are—”

“Exactly; we’ll confront her together with the news, maybe even your father too.”

Although I wanted to decline, Maple’s persistence was compelling.

“Alright, you can come over. My address is…”

* * *

Expecting Maple to show up around 4 pm, I started gaming, only to be interrupted by the doorbell. Checking the door’s peephole, I spotted Maple carrying something in her hands.

“Maple, aren’t you a bit early?” I asked.

“Is that a bad thing? I was thinking we could hang out until your mom came back.”

“Oh, I see. What’s that in your hand, though?”

“This? It’s a board game I like to play with Nicole. A video game board game to be exact!”

From her bag, Maple pulled out a game console. It was a relatively new model from Jimtendo that combined both a traditional console and a handheld device.

“We can play it on this. Here, I’ll show you!”

Letting her inside, Maple began exploring everything, reminiscent of the first time we met at the abandoned house. As she did, I realized that she was wearing one of the outfits we picked at the mall. It was a brown, plaid button dress with a long-sleeved blouse underneath, complete with a pair of doll shoes and white socks.

“Do you like it?” Maple asked, having caught wind of me staring.

“I think it’s adorable.”

“Not as adorable as you,” she smiled. “Anyhow, let me set up the game in the living room, then I’ll show you how to play.”

After a lengthy tutorial, we were immersed in the world of Pokapon Kingdom. Like a typical board game, each player took turns spinning a wheel to move, but this was only one segment of the game. The other half featured role-playing elements, such as turn-based combat, spells, items, jobs and experience points, and a whole selection of quests and monsters.

With a story centered around saving the kingdom and making the most gold, the game was both fun and competitive. Naturally, Maple was beating me, but with time, I managed to close the gap. Now in the last stretch of the campaign, we were both in the final dungeon attempting to reach the grand boss. It was anyone’s game.

“This is it; I’m going to win!” Maple declared.

“Oh no, you won’t! I’m beating the demon king first!”

“That’s if you can even land on the space!”

“Land on the space? Pfft, that’s easy. All I have to do is spin either a two, three, four, or five to move directly onto the boss tile.”

“And if you don’t?”

“Then I’ll keep taking turns until I do. Don’t believe me? I’ll show you!”

Five minutes later, I was still stuck trying to land on the boss. Out of movement items, I had no choice but to keep spinning the wheel, over and over again, in an endless loop.

“What is this luck!? How can the game’s RNG be this bad!?” I said, venting my frustration.

“Don’t blame the game!” Maple replied while giggling.

“Let’s see how your luck fares then, huh?”

“Bet!”

Like a cruel prank played by the universe, Maple made it on the first spin. Without delay, she entered battle, managing to score several direct hits on the boss. If she had succeeded, then the gold obtained would have likely won her the entire game.

It was all or nothing now as I spun the wheel. At last, it was in my favor, allowing me to land on the space. All I had to do now was steal the final blow and be crowned the victor.

“With this decisive strike, I win!”

Mashing the attack button, my character went in for the kill, soaring high in the air with her longsword. My ears awaited the sweet satisfaction of the critical hit sound. Victory was mine!

Then I heard it…

Whoosh.

My attack missed.

How!?

I had 95% accuracy!

“I win!” Maple shouted as the credits rolled. And while normally I would have been upset losing in such a fashion, Maple’s smile was too pure and uplifting for that.

To cool off after the game, we went to the kitchen to fetch some desserts.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“Hmm, do you have anything tropical?”

“Yeah, we have some mango popsicles. Real fruit and all.”

“I’ll take that then, but what about yourself?”

“Probably some strawberry ice cream. Would you like to try some?”

Exchanging bites, we shared in each other’s delight. It was a perfect day with Maple, almost too perfect, when suddenly, my phone buzzed with a notification.

It was Mom. She was only five minutes away from the house.