“And what a perfect name for your alter ego,” she said with a toothy satisfied grin. “You know, I was hoping to find some girl gamers at Rock Valley. I was pretty much the only one when I went to school here. It wasn’t easy.”
“I don’t think it’s gotten any easier,” I said with a hollow laugh. “The boys around here pretty much think I’m a freak and that I should go back to playing with dolls or something.”
Her sharp chin jutted out as her nostrils flared. “I hope you told them they could go eat dirt.”
I laughed. I liked this chick even more, now. “Something like that.”
“Good.” Her expression softened and her gaze flicked over me. “I’ll be secretly rooting for you on Saturday. Tell me your name.”
“Beth Frye.” I bounced on the balls of my feet. “And thank you!”
“Good luck, Beth. I’m sure we’ll talk again soon and you can tell me all about your big plans for the future.” She winked and turned to head back to the administration offices in the back.
“Thanks...Fred!”
I watched her go with bated breath. My heart was just about ready to fall out of my chest. I’d been so nervous. That wasn’t like me. Already, I was thinking of a million different questions I should’ve asked her. How did she get into her line of work? What made her go to Silicone Valley? Would she do anything differently? Did she still game? I was coming up with them faster than I could memorize them. And by the time she slipped into the offices, I was feeling more than a little overwhelmed.
Now, Fred Brown expected to see me at the tournament on Saturday. It was official. I had to tell Gabriel the truth. If he ever got here...
Spinning around on my heels, my stomach about dropped to the floor when I saw a familiar figure walking into the club. He wore a dark gray sweatshirt with the hood pulled up tight around his face and the remnants of raindrops all over his head. As soon as he cleared the entryway, his blue-eyed gaze landed on me and he took confident strides in my direction. I closed my eyes briefly, praying for a last surge of confidence.
I was going to need everything I had.
“Hey.” I opened my eyes and tried my best to smile at him. “Thanks for meeting me. I wasn’t sure if you got my note.”
“Sure.” He nodded and then walked straight past me to look at the board. “I like the look of this.”
“Yeah, me, too.” I glanced over at my secret name printed beside his head. It was now or never. This was the time, even if my stomach felt heavier than a cannon ball.
“Should be a good game,” he said, bending closer to look at his name printed on the wall.
“Yeah, about that. It’s actually why I wanted to meet.”
“Don’t tell me you want a piece of the cash prize when I win.” He chuckled and then scrubbed a hand over the beginnings of his beard.
I pulled back, slightly enraged by the very suggestion. I’d never even mentioned the prize. Why would he make such an accusation? I hoped Gabriel knew me enough by now to know that I wasn’t interested in stuff like that.
Maybe in preparing myself for this big reveal I’d become extra sensitive. I was just touchy. In need of a bite of chocolate, as Lexi would say. With a calming breath, I smiled at the side of his face and tried to brush off my irritation.
“No, that’s not why I wanted to talk. I actually wanted to confess something before it comes out. It’s something I did. And something I’ve been keeping from you.” I swallowed, doing my best to keep my words straight in my head. I’d rehearsed this a million times in front of my mirror at home last night, but now it was all coming out in a rambling mess. “Before we get into any of that, I just want to say that I am so very sorry. This was all before I knew you. When I thought you were like Michael. And before we kissed. Twice.”
“He kissed you?” His chin snapped up and he glared at me with cold, dark eyes. “Are you serious?”
A wave of cold water washed over me as I searched his face straight on. The hoodie had done a good job obscuring it when he wasn’t looking at me, but now it was all too clear that the scar was missing, along with all of the soft mannerisms that I’d come to recognize in the boy I’d fallen for. This wasn’t Gabriel.
“Michael.” I breathed out his name like a curse.
His lips twitched in a cruel smile. “Bingo, baby. Guess you got the wrong locker and the wrong twin. Lucky you.”
My stomach convulsed with disgust as he looked me up and down with cold disinterest. I could’ve sworn I’d put the note into Gabriel’s locker, but they were assigned by alphabetical order, so it wouldn’t have been impossible to mistakenly get Michael’s locker instead. I wrapped my arms around my torso, the same old dislike for the boy in front of me bubbling up into my esophagus like a bad case of food poisoning.
“You could’ve done the decent thing and passed the note on to the rightful owner,” I snapped.
He leaned his elbow on the bulletin board and smirked. “True, but then I would’ve missed this lovely confession. What were you about to tell me? I’m sure my brother would be very interested to know that you have a secret.”
I could feel the blood drain from my face. My hands shook slightly as I grasped the hem of my sweatshirt. I’d just been about to confess everything to my tormentor. What would’ve happened if he’d found out before Gabriel? I never would’ve recovered from that. And Gabriel never would’ve forgiven me.
“Nothing,” I lied, taking a step back. “It was nothing.”