Page 68 of From Drummer to Gamer

He thought for a second. “Everything—she’s perfect in everything,” he praised, a subtle hint of awe in the undertones of his voice. “She’s got the best dagger skills I’d ever seen. She flows with it in a way that she never misses a blow. I learned they called her the dagger princess because of that. But even then, she’s good with every weapon. She whips up strategies at crucial times, and I’ve never seen anything like that. I don’t admire many people, but I admire her gameplay. It’s flawless.”

I’d never heard Matty speak so much at once, well, except for his speech yesterday.

“Admire her?” I whispered. “Like a fan.”

He lifted a shoulder. “You could say that.”

I swooned on the inside, melting against the couch.

Matty Evans was my fan, mine,and who could’ve guessed that?

My favorite celebrity’s favorite gamer was me?

I was his fan, and he was mine, and only I knew the truth.

But my devious mind had already devised a selfish plan.

Like a craving, I couldn’t get enough of…

I was already here, so why not dip my feet a little further?

What Matty didn’t know was that Daisy Luna was soon going to be his friend.

I didn’t just watch him play. I also secretly memorized his gamer ID.

Lootbot10124.

And in the world of anonymous gaming, he would hardly recognize that it’s me.

It was risky, I knew that, but any chance to get closer to him, any chance for a bit more of him, I wouldn’t miss.

He was a craving I wasn’t supposed to have, but we always wanted what we couldn’t have, right?

MATT

“That was good,” Emmie said, nodding toward Raphael, who was grinning like he had just won a Grammy award.

Still had a far way to go on that, but assuming the trajectory, he would easily be standing on that stage one day.

“Good song,” Emmie added. “But it’s very rough, and the lyrics could be much better.”

Raphael gave him a nod instead of arguing like he usually did. The kid did surprise me. For a sixteen-year-old who loved to act recklessly, the level of commitment he gave to his music was unprecedented. I could tell that this really was his dream.

As much as I wanted to voice my opinions, I wanted this record to be his vision. So I gave him full rein over it and told him to bring me his best pieces that could work as an album.

We’d spent the entire morning listening to his ideas, and I must say he had some brilliant songs taking shape already.

I’d already worked in my head to cohesively arrange it into one fine product.

I’d asked if he wanted to collaborate with anyone in the industry for a particular sound or tone, but he denied, saying he wanted to only work with me and trusted we both could bring his music to life.

His style fit into a dark, moody alternative rock with a light air quality, where the notes flowed perfectly with each other. It was similar to our band’s sound, so I agreed to make this record with him rather than bring in someone else.

I wanted True Beats to represent all genres instead of solely sticking to one. We’d soon bring in more talent and staff to make this a smooth-running machine.

“What do you think I should work on first?” Raphy questioned, taking his notes to Emmie, and they chatted in low whispers while Mikey groaned, tossing and turning on the couch.

We’d all been holed up in the studio the whole day. The expansive recording room had every possible equipment and instruments, our own offices, and a wide lounge area equipped with a TV system and a huge snack bar where we all were currently lounging.