Page 11 of Fragments

“You know it,” Tony replies, that southern accent and the fact that he’s mowing down a Texan delicacy giving away his obvious location.

My eyes flick from where I’m finishing up my stockpile, to the new screen name that just popped up asactive.

“No need to fret, boys. The queen is here!”KillaClam25shouts in our ears, and we all cheer.

“There she is!” Tony says between bites.

“Hurry up, Leah! Let’s kill this bitch!” Reno exclaims.

Leah laughs. “How’s it goin’, kids?”

“As good as it can without you around,” I tell her, stomping up to her character and giving her some love. My character makes a heart with his hands, and hers gives me one back. “Missed you, Leez. Where have you been??”

Leah doesn’t answer right away.Pretty standard.

Of our little group of online friends, she’s definitely the most… private.

But eventually, she sighs. “Oh, you know. Around.”

I frown at the screen, because I have very little idea what she actually means by that. But I don’t push it. I just jaunt past her—well, mycharacterdoes—heading in the direction of the giant beasts we’re about to battle for goods and level points.

“Come on, Clam.” I grin, and she giggles. “Good to have you back.”

I’m a gamer. I think that much is clear, but honestly, it’s a hard thing to explain to people who don’t get it. Video games have always been mything. But when I discovered the vast world of online gameplay, well… suffice it to say, it changed my life.

I came up an introvert; a quiet kid who took to tech right from the start. I was twelve when my parents got me my first laptop, and even before then, PlayStation and Nintendo were where most of my interests lied.I’m sure now they regret the gift, though…

My Turtle Beach headphones block all noise outside of the game, so I don’t even notice my father’s presence in the room until he’s standing in front of me, waving at my face. Pushing one off my ear, I glance around his body, which is blocking half the screen.

“What’s up?” I ask, though I’m paying more attention to thelegendarywe’re all trying to slay.

“Your mother wants to know what you want for dinner,” he says in a stern tone, giving way to his underlying dissatisfaction.

I shrug. “Not really hungry.”

My dad’s eyes fall to the giant bag of Smartfood popcorn next to my chair and the open can of Mountain Dew in my cupholder. “Because you spoil your appetite snacking all day.”

“What’s the big deal? She said she wasn’t cooking…” I huff, fingers going crazy on the buttons, shooting hundreds of rounds of my Gatlin Plasma at the huge monster.

“Regardless, we’re eating dinner as afamily,” he goes on, wandering around the room, assessing the setup of my ultimate gamer lounge I’ve created in our garage.

Thing is, it’s notjustfor gaming. My computer is in here, the one I built all by myself; a modification of a machine and software that I undoubtedly made a hundred times better. And maybe not entirelylegal… But we won’t focus on that part.

“Lex, it’s a beautiful day,” my father says. “Why don’t you go outside and get some fresh air? It’s too dark in here…”

“It’s always beautiful in California,” I argue. “I can go outside any time.”

“But you don’t,” he gripes, and I finally peel my eyes off the screen to peer up at him.

“I will tomorrow.” My brows lift petulantly. “I have class.”

“Great,” he mumbles. “From the house to your car to your classroom… that’s not exactly what I’d call beingoutside.”

I groan. “Why are you hassling me?”

“Because I just don’t understand why you have to spend all your time online.” He starts with the berating, this god-forsaken conversation I’ve heard so many times, I have the damn thing memorized at this point. “It’s notreal, Lexington.”

“It’s real to me,” I bark, muting my mic so my friends don’t hear us fighting. “This is whatIlike to do, Dad. Seriously, lay off.”