Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 46875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
That’s the feeling I’m talking about; you won’t find that in any game.
If Zak can do that to me just by smiling and staring at me….
I shiver at the thought, already knowing which I already prefer, Zak or gaming.
It’s a bit of a no-brainer, but he’s a gamer, so it’s like a win-win, no matter how I view it.
Aside from the fact he’s like, what? Forty?
So?
Age is just a number, and he looks way fitter and definitely more handsome than any guys my age that I know, which isn’t many.
After college, I’ve really only kept in loose contact with a couple of classmates.
And no. I was never a hit with the guys at college, or anyplace in my life, so I don’t hold much hope of someone as amazing as Zak being interested in me in that way.
I settle on keeping my message light, just saying hi and letting him know I’m not the average gamer, meaning I have a degree as well as an interest.
Hitting send, I feel relieved but instantly come up with a million ways I could have worded my message better.
But there’s no time to dwell on it now, and it’s too late to cancel sending the email.
Plus, my cell chiming on top of Joey’s noise brings me snapping back to reality.
Mom’s calling.
Clutching my phone, I race to get outside before answering, so she doesn’t hear Joey gaming. But from the tone of her voice, it’s pretty clear she knows.
The teacher blabbed.
“Where’s Joey?” My mom snaps, not even saying hello and not giving me any time to think of an excuse.
I make an involuntary sound while she spells it out for me.
“Sheree just got a call from the school. You called them and told them Joey was sick today?” she snarls, sounding madder than I’ve heard her since I was about Joey’s age.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Jade?” she says fiercely.
I promised Joey I wouldn’t lie to our parents about it, so I fess up.
“He’s home, Mom. I didn’t know he’d skipped school and was just trying to…,” I start to explain, surprising myself with how calm I sound compared to her.
But she won’t let me say anything.
“Well, he’s grounded. And so are you!” she spits angrily. “We’ve got to work back-to-back shifts because someone here actually was sick today,” she adds, annoyed.
I open my mouth to speak, but she’s so mad I can’t get a word in.
“I don’t want to hear another word about it until we get home, which will be late by the looks of things. Now get your butts inside and stay there until we get home, Jade. Understand? I’m very disappointed in you,” she says with a harsh note of finality before hanging up on me.
I stood stunned for a moment but figured it would probably never work with me just calling the school.
I’ve never done it before, and I know I won’t be doing it again.
But grounded. Me?
The thought makes me laugh out loud to myself.
“I’m twenty, Mom. You can’t ground me,” I tell no one and nothing aloud.
But what choice do I have? It’s not as though I pay rent or have anywhere else I could go, even if I wanted to.
And Joey’s going to be hating on me now too.
He’ll think I told or just folded, which is worse because it’s kind of true. I folded just now.
Groaning as I force myself back inside, I’m met with deafening silence, and making my way to Joey’s computer room, the look on his face says it all.
“They know,” he says gravely, looking sick for real now.
“Yep,” I confirm, crimping my mouth. Forgetting all about how great today’s been so far.
Up until now.
“I’m grounded,” Joey croaks in a dramatic tone.
I’d normally laugh, but his lower lip’s quivering, and I can see he’s holding back real tears on my account.
“Me, too,” I murmur, getting annoyed now. Wishing there was more to my life than just being stuck at my mom’s place or looking out for Joey all the time.
But I feel bad for him too. Since his dad left about a year back, he’s had no one else either.
“How can you be grounded?” Joey sniffs, wiping his nose with his sleeve and trying hard to look brave in the face of what we both know is coming.
I shoot him a wry smile. “I know, right?” I ask him before suggesting we have a match or three of something before our moms both get home.
“You’re right,” he says, suddenly looking better, cocking his brow. “I’m pretty sure I won’t be gaming for however long I’m grounded for,” he sighs. So we get sucked into our favorite game we usually play together.
It’s so loud, so full of action, swords, and gore that we forget all about moms and groundings.
The trouble is, I also forget about Zak. The sudden drama with Joey eclipses all the magic of the day, making both Joey and I realize the real reason why we love gaming so much.