The Summer I Became a Nerd - By Leah Rae Miller Page 0,35
play this game. What if my character gets killed? In the first game, no less? I’ll be the dumbest nerd who ever nerded.
“You ready?” Logan says when he opens my door.
“I don’t know if this is such a good idea,” I say.
“You’ll be fine.” He holds out a blue tinted hand. He looks at me with eyes that seem to be bluer than ever because of his face paint. His smile isn’t the knowing one I’ve come to expect. It’s gentle and confident.
I take his hand and don’t let go as we walk into the mass of role players.
We go through the front door which has a sign taped to it that reads:
YOU ARE ABOUT TO ENTER A NIGHTCLUB FOR PARANORMAL CREATURES CALLED SANCTUARY, WHICH MEANS STEPPING OVER THIS THRESHOLD PUTS YOU IN GAME:
RULE #1: NO DRINKING OR DRUGS ALLOWED. ANYONE SUSPECTED OF BEING UNDER THE INFLUENCE WILL BE EJECTED FROM THE GAME.
RULE #2: LEAVE YOUR TRUE SELF AT THE DOOR. DO NOT DRAG OUT-OF-GAME EVENTS AND FEELINGS INTO THE GAME. JUST BECAUSE SO-AND-SO STOLE YOUR GIRLFRIEND DOES NOT MEAN YOUR CHARACTER WILL ALSO WANT TO RIP SO-AND-SO TO SHREDS.
RULE #3: IF YOU NEED TO RUN A SCENE THAT INVOLVES ATTRIBUTES, POWERS, OR ITEMS, PLEASE FIND A GAME MASTER TO OVERSEE. LET’S KEEP THINGS OFFICIAL.
RULE #4: BE RESPECTFUL TO OTHERS AND HAVE FUN!
As we make our way through the front room toward the kitchen, my eyes don’t know where to look. Dwarves, vampires, shape-shifters, bright fairies, dark fairies, werewolves, and creatures I can’t even put a name to mill about all over the place. In the kitchen, Logan and Dan add their sodas to a growing pile of other drinks and snacks. We head toward the back door but have to wait for some type of dragon guy with a long, lumpy tail to go by before we can go through to the gaming venue.
Moody, almost hypnotizing music washes over me as I step into the thick grass. A towering magnolia tree grows in the middle of the yard. From it hangs an enormous, rotating disco ball that reflects dots of light onto many more gamers. It looks like creatures of the same race are splitting up into groups. In a back corner of the yard, there’s a group of glittery fairies wearing sparkly mesh wings. They look so pretty, I make a mental note to search for fairy costumes this coming Halloween.
In the completely opposite corner, closer to the house, is a group of dark fairies. They’re all dressed in black with black hair, black eye shadow, black lips, and torn black wings. Just black all over. I make eye contact with one of these fairies, and she scowls. Her charcoal-encircled eyes narrow, and her deathly lips form a snarl. I immediately look away because I’m actually frightened. I can almost feel the animosity rolling off this chick.
When I look at Logan, he smiles down at me and squeezes my hand, which he has thankfully yet to let go of.
“Brothers, ho!” Dan yells and stomps across the yard to a group dwarves also covered in foam spikes. He’s met with elaborate handshakes and chest pounds and head slams.
“Come on, dude, I have neighbors,” a guy standing next to us in a flowing, dark green robe and sporting an extremely fake, white beard, says to Dan.
Logan leads me to a couple of lawn chairs on the edge of the yard. When we sit, he says, “See, not so crazy, is it?”
I let out a nervous laugh. “Of course not. This is all completely normal.”
“Just relax. Remember, you’re an elven princess. Get into your character.”
“Right, right.” My name is Laowyn. I am the heir to a throne. I should sit straight and cross my ankles. I’m prissy, but not snobby. I’m naive about the world outside my kingdom.
“By the way, I added something to your character sheet in the history section, so it would be more believable that you’re here tonight.”
He hands me my character sheet, and I scan it over to find the history. Tacked onto the last paragraph I wrote is a sentence in Logan’s handwriting which is small and precise, easy to read. It says: Laowyn is in a relationship with Graffin.
“Oh really, Graffin?” I look at him out of the corner of my eye.
“You had to have a reason to be here tonight. Your character wouldn’t have had any clue this was a club for our kind. I figure our parents could have known each other and