Page 41 of From Drummer to Gamer

Qualifiers went through like a breeze—just like I’d imagined. This was just a warm-up for the top teams. A perfect opportunity to gauge the other teams, to study them, to know their strengths, but especially their weakness. Because everybody had a weakness, you just had to look beyond their veil of confidence.

“We ranked third on the tally, but there’s still a long way to go,” Tin said. “How do you think we should train?”

Tin was the first gamer friend I ever made. I was playing in an open game world online when we got matched as teammates. Soon, I met Freddy and Kiki through him, and Ken joined us last.

One day, Tin suggested we compete in tournaments, and the rest was history.

Together we were the Voltron Voids, I was the top laner with Tin as my shadow and co-leader, Freddy was our marksmen, Ken the mid-laner, and Kiki, our support. And our team’s biggest strength was the synergy we created in the game; we played together rather than as individuals.

“We change nothing,” I answered Tin before sipping on my Coke. “We stick to what we know and keep going. A last-minute change in our pattern would only derail us.”

“Okay,” Tin mumbled as they all nodded.

Even though I was the youngest, my team respected my word as their leader. They knew I was very good at this and didn’t second-guess my decision. They were all badass gamers on their own. It warmed my heart to know they valued me like that.

It was the first time in my life I felt like that.

I would never let them down,ever.

That was the promise I made to myself.

“Let’s go eat. I’m hungry,” Freddy grumbled, running a hand through his platinum-blond hair streaked with blue highlights, the same shade as the blue leather bracelets he wore. The one he wore to every game without fail—his lucky bracelet.

We all had our lucky objects we wore. Mine was something special from my favorite rock star that I scored on eBay.

“What do you say we get some pizza, your favorite?” Ken grinned, grabbing Kiki from the side, who was already fighting his hold. Ken loved to pull Kiki’s leg, but I think he secretly crushed on her and so did she.

Ken was half-Japanese and half-American from Boston, and Kiki was from Texas, a typical Southern belle, and was a year older than me. But unlike my parents, hers supported her gaming career and were even here to cheer her on.

“Get off me, pig,” Kiki mumbled, blushing as she finally pushed Ken away.

“Si, you coming with us?” Tin’s hopeful brown eyes slid to me.

I hated to disappoint him, but Matty’s apartment was on the other side of the city, and I had to leave now if I wanted to escape the traffic and get back at a decent hour. Plus, I was exhausted. The high was finally crashing down on me.

“No, I’m gonna go home. I’m tired,” I said with a smile as I chucked the soda can at a nearby trash bag. We were hanging out by the concourse, the crowds dying as all the games wrapped up for the evening. Only a few teams and fans lingered about buying merch and taking photos.

“You sure?” He scratched his head, looking wistful. “You can stay with us.”

“Yes, you can.” Kiki jumped to my side, grabbing my hand as she gave me her doe-eyes.

The team was staying with Tin since he was the only one from New York, and he lived pretty close to the arena.

“No, Ki,” I mumbled. “Sorry, I really got to go.”

“But why!?” she whined.

I hadn’t told them the specifications of my living situation yet. They knew I was living with Raphy in the city while he worked on his album. But I didn’t tell them it was with Matt Evans because they knew how much of a crazy fan I was, and right now, the tournament was more important than my friends knowing that detail.

They were all diehard fans of the Four Foxes, but Matty was a very private person, and I wanted to respect his wishes.

“You’re wasting your time here, Luna.” A loud, leering voice snapped my attention from Kiki.

I looked up to see Vincent and his team approach us, sporting a cocky-ass grin on their faces.

“You and your stupid team don’t stand a chance against us,” Vincent commented slyly, flicking invisible dust from his shoulder.

The ease in our group dropped as we all tensed, turning our attention toward the incoming group.