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“What? Why?” she asks.

I grit my teeth. Way to be welcoming.

“Because we need reliable players and Riley wanted to.”

“Like I said, I’m here a lot now. I’d like to make better friends with everyone.” I glance around the group, letting my eyes linger on Nathan for a second longer than necessary. Sophia’s eyes flash. Good. At least she’s a quick study.

John arrives at the table next, carrying a plastic shopping bag similar to the one I was just given. I point at it. “Oh, did you get tomatoes too?”

He glances at me in confusion. “Is this a new inside joke? I can’t keep up.”

“No, they’re real.” I hold up a tomato to show the table and the others glance around with smirks. “But they aren’t rotten, so nobody better throw them at me when I sing.”

“Um, okay. Well, good job eating healthy or whatever,but Jordan and I were out buying fabric.” John opens the bag to show the group. “Fake fur to line my new cloak.”

“Wow, you two are serious about your LARPing,” Nathan says, and pulls out a chair at the table.

This conversation is beyond me. I know John is dating Jordan, but I have no idea what LARPing is and I can only keep up with so much. Right now I need to focus on tonight being a success with Sophia.

I dart to the chair next to Nathan before Sophia can get there. Sophia walks around so that she sits opposite him. I smile at him again and try to tamp down a thrill of nerves. I still can’t believe the position I’ve gotten myself into. I should have run into the back room as soon as Paul and Lainey walked in. Or given Paul whatever weird name came into my head instead of Nathan’s. Or, of course, been the bigger person and ignored his comments altogether. But let’s be real.

“So, Sophia, what kind of character do you play?” I ask her.

“I’m a half-elf rogue.”

“Cool, cool.” I don’t know why I asked. It’s obvious I have no idea what a rogue is.

“Rogues are nimble and stealthy.” Her tone has turned patronizing, and she cuts a glance over to Nathan like they’re in on the joke. To my relief, Nathan doesn’t say anything to egg her on. I don’t think I could pretend to be into him if he was actively being a jerk to me. “We can get in and out of places undetected and we have high Charisma and Persuasion,” she continues. “I’m like a spy for the group.”

“Time to get started,” Lucas says with a more authoritative voice than usual. He reminds us that we’re still travelingto find the ancient civilization where a magical sword is supposedly hidden. “As you scan the area, you see some stone ruins to your left. To your right is a well-traveled road. There are fresh tracks from wagon wheels in the mud.”

“Sounds like that way could be a town. We could replenish our food and trade for weapons,” John says to the group.

“Meh, we just came from a town,” Sophia replies. She turns to Lucas. “I’m more interested in the ruins. What kind are they?”

He looks displeased and a bit thrown off. “Um…they’re…dwarven ruins. Set in the base of a giant rock cliff.”

She sits up. “They are? Okay, I want to go there.”

John sighs. “We don’t need to explore more ruins. We need food and to gather more information about this sword.”

“But they’re dwarven, so there might be gems. Right, Spruce?”

Anthony shakes his head. “I don’t know, I’m not that kind of dwarf.”

She bats her eyes at Nathan. “What do you say, Sol? You’re up for the adventure, right?”

I try to get Nathan’s attention, but it’s too late. He nods. “Yeah. Let’s explore.”

The other guys exchange glances. “Fine. Callista, you’re going first.”

“Of course.” Sophia sits up, clearly happy to get her way, and I decide that I really don’t understand what Nathan sees in her. She’s pretty, sure, and she knows about D&D, but she doesn’t seem to care about doing what’s best for the party.

I nudge Nathan’s foot under the table and raise my eyebrows at him. “Get it together,” I whisper. He grimaces.

“Callista,” Lucas says, “as you get closer to the ruins, you hear shuffling and then a rock flies into one of the buildings, cracking it.”

She frowns. “I roll a stealth check.” She rolls and groans.