The Badboy, the Catfish & Me

Sixteen

It made me relax. It was like seeing and talking to the real Valentino.

He glanced at the clock on the lunchroom wall. "We still have about half an hour. Good enough." Valentino placed and opened his laptop onto the table to type away at the keyboard. "There are a few updates since last you saw me play. Here, for example, they added more items to craft."

I leaned over the table, my eyes wide and glued to the screen as he spoke. Despite his initial excitement, I noticed he was a little fidgety. Valentino tensed every time a notification appeared to say someone was online, and his cursor almost always remained hovering over his Diplomat List.

"Look how cool these are..." Valentino continued to show me things in-game, but I stared as the cursor repeatedly returned to his Diplomat List at the top right corner of the screen.

"How come your cursor is over the Diplomat List?" I blurted.

"Oh, the Diplomat List is nothing big. Habit for waiting if a friend of mine would show up," he replied, and I thought that there was a slight blush creeping up his neck. "But she's not usually online during this time of the day...uh, did you see this new guy?" Valentino added, changing the subject and moving his cursor to hover over an NPC. "He's good for people who want to craft but are low-level."

I bit my bottom lip, and the rest of his tutorial was lost to me.

Tireya didn't show up online at this time of the day because I was still at school. Did Valentino like Tireya so much that he waited for her to log in at any possible moment? My eyes traced Valentino's profile, drinking in every strand of hair and every inch of exposed skin. Did he fall in love?

When I got home, I nearly tripped when I kicked my shoes off at the front door. I dumped my bag at the foot of the bed with a thud—it had gotten heavier with practice packets for mandatory exams and college applications. I rushed to change clothes and have lunch with Mama, and I dove right into my homework the first chance I got, knowing that the sooner I finished my work, the sooner I could log in and prove my theory.

I rolled my shoulders not long after, put away the papers, and cleared my desk to sit by my bed to log into CrusadEon Online. I checked the latest newsletter for a new update in the game and was reading it on my phone when a chat notification appeared on my screen. I put my phone down.

[Hey!!

You're a bit late today]

My face felt warm. My heart was never going to catch a break.

Yeah, homework.

Ugh

The highlight of every teen's life

"Haha. But, hey, you're making progress like crazy in this game. It's awesome." He had switched on his microphone.

Only because I get help from the best!!!

I have you to thank, really <3

"Eh, it's all you. Don't be so modest now."

I could hear the smirk in his voice, and I was sure there was a full blush on my cheeks.

So how's soccer?

Your coach making you guys run in this heat again?

"Ugh, yeah, we have to work so hard. But I guess it'll pay out in the end. The team is lookin' real good. I doubt Morrison High can beat us at this rate.

"But practice is the east part. It's the expectations that come with, you know? I have to work harder than the rest of the team to meet them. And I get that—I've got to be the leader and inspire. But several of my teammates want the captain position, too, so it's not even about leading. It's about proving that I deserve this title." His voice was stern, but there was a softness to it, too, like he knew the person on the other end would care. "I hate staying late at practice games, too. Because my teammates aren't the only problem. Every parent's dream is to have their kid be the captain, and the last time I stayed on the field, I overheard some rich parents trying to persuade the coach to appoint their kid as captain of the team instead of me."