Page 19 of From Drummer to Gamer

My eyes darted to Matt, and he was staring at me with a look in his eyes that I didn’t recognize.

Heat crawled up my chest. Uh-oh, I was in big fucking trouble, wasn’t I?

“That’s probably for the best,” Dad said in a soft tone, focusing his attention on Matt. “I would feel better knowing Sierra is there with him, Mr. Evans.”

Aside from the slight clench in his jaw, his face gave nothing away. “Fine,” he said, bouncing to his feet. “It was nice meeting all of you, but I have to go now.” He didn’t wait for a reply as he hurried out the door in refined steps.

Silence crowded the Chan household, except for Abuela’s soap opera humming in the background.

Mother assessed me with her judging eyes as if she knew the real truth, and Dad beamed at both of us with pride in his smile.

Though the weight of her gaze was on me, excitement fired my veins.

Suddenly, I had a chance. Like a sole light brimming in my deep, dark tunnel.

I could see the path clearly now.

A path so close to my fingers that I only had to grasp it.

I’m going to give everything in me to this tournament.

Maybe with tangible proof in my hands, she could see I was made for this.

And maybe…

She would be proud of me for once.

MATT

“I’ve seen a princess sulk better than you,” Mikey, the other clown in my life, jeered out.

“Fucker,” I muttered, my eyes still focused on my phone. Among several open tabs were the possible names for the company or at least the possible names you could keep according to Google.

Fuck, I sucked at this.

I wanted my sister to do it, but she denied, asking me to put on my big boy pants.

But something else added to my edginess.

The reason was a loud, obnoxious kid, but more so a pair of hazel eyes I couldn’t stop thinking about.

It’s been two fucking days since I saw them, yet I couldn’t stop.

Why the fuck was I even thinking about it?

It was just fucking eyes, right?

I’ve fucking seen eyes before.

But they weren’t just eyes.

They were gilded specks of amber shining on a warm, sunny day.

It swaddled my heart in a sensation I couldn’t explain.

Yet there was another inkling in me. Was it because of the eyes, or was it because of the owner who looked at me through them?

Why was a girl from the middle of nowhere fucking with my head like this?