Page 22 of Legacy Wolf: Semester One (Legacy Wolf #1)
RAWLING
Sombertooth’s archery team was pretty well known for its skill, and consequently, got invited to a number of tournaments.
Coach liked to tell us about the invites, but afterward always said that she politely declined the request, usually citing something about staying within our division.
There was one exception to this rule and that was the tournament we had just finished competing in.
For whatever reason, Coach thought this one was exactly what we needed—and of course, it was two hours away.
We did really well and left with the trophy, which I was sure Sombertooth would appreciate. As a reward, Coach decided to let us stop at a shopping center about halfway home. I appreciated it because the bus ride sucked.
I had expected it to be a mall type place, but it was more a traditional northeastern street, complete with cobblestones.
The only thing that made it a shopping center was the fact that it had a shared parking lot and the road itself was only for foot traffic.
As we got off the bus, most everyone raced to the food truck row they had.
It had been a decent day, Atticus not even being an ass to me, and I decided the best way to keep it like that was to head in the opposite direction and look around.
Most of the shops were what you’d expect to see; gift shops, clothing boutiques, and even a candy shop.
There was one place that caught my eye, a shop that exclusively sold board games.
Once upon a time I lived for board games.
I would play with Rawlins on the weekends, and in middle school, I was even part of a board game club at school.
I headed in and was greeted by a man with a beard wearing a vintage rock-and-roll t-shirt.
“Looking for anything in particular?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I used to play a lot when I was younger, and I’m at college now and didn’t bring any with me.
I’m thinking something that can be played with as few as two people but possibly as many as ten, is easy entry, and can be set up and put away quickly.
” It was a tall order, but if this guy specialized in games, he would have some ideas.
“Are you thinking of role play or strategy or more something that’s silly fun which doesn’t take a lot of thought?”
“Maybe you could help me find a few because I’m not really sure, and I don’t know when I’ll be up this way again.”
That had the man walking around the corner with a smile. “I’ve got you.”
And he did, too. I left with five games, only one of which I’d ever played before.
He also signed me up for his newsletter so I could order online if I decided I wanted to grow my collection.
It was safe to say, I probably would. It all depended on whether or not I could find some people who would be interested in playing.
I made it back to the bus, and we arrived at campus barely on time for dinner. I stashed my games in my room and raced to the dining hall, happy to see that Jack, Channon, and Bardoul were still there enjoying taco night. After grabbing my food, I joined them.
“You’re back earlier than we thought you would be,” Jack said. “How’d it go?”
I gave them all the details on the tournament and how we won, and in turn, they told me about their days.
“What are your plans for tonight?” I asked the crew as we were getting ready to leave.
“I was thinking maybe laundry.” Channon’s plans sounded dreadful.
“I was going to hang in my room again?” Bardoul said it as if it was a question. “Why? Do you have an idea?”
“I have a bag full of them,,” I told them. “Want to meet in the Phoenix House common room in half an hour?”
They all agreed and I raced back to my room with Jack by my side to get things ready.
“What has you so giddy?” Jack asked as I grabbed my huge paper bag from the game store.
“On our way home we stopped, as a reward I guess, and I found a shop that was all games, mostly board, but some cards and such. I grabbed a bunch, and I don’t know. We never seem to do silly fun things here, and it just seems like exactly what I need, you know?”
“Snacks. We need snacks.” I loved how she didn’t look at me like I had eight heads and instead jumped in. “Let me see what I can dig out. We can always head to town tomorrow and restock.”
Between the two of us, we had enough snacks for the night, even if others decided to join us. I’d have suggested we play in my room for privacy, but we really needed the larger table. When the two of us reached the common room with all of our goodies in tow, Bardoul and Channon were already there.
“Snacks!” Channon broke into a smile. “That means whatever you have planned is gonna be good.” How he came to that conclusion, I had no idea, but I was happy to see his enthusiasm.
“Board games.” I pulled them down one at a time and gave them the descriptions of each that I had been given.
We picked out a strategy game with dragons, fae, and knights as our first one.
Out of all the games, it was supposed to be the easiest to learn yet the hardest to master, and that felt like the best option.
We set up and read through the instructions together.
It took up most of the table, and from what we could piece together, people could enter the game at any time.
It would make their “quest” more challenging, but wouldn’t impact anyone else’s.
“Rock, Paper, Scissors for who goes first?” Bardoul suggested.
I lost the first round, my paper cut by Jack’s scissors. The last man standing was Channon, and he rolled his dice first and landed on a spot that had him drawing a card.
“I got the skull.” He scrunched up his nose. “I have to sit here in quicksand for two rounds.”
“That’s what you get for breaking my scissors with a rock.” Jack stuck out her tongue and rolled her dice, on a fire element. “Ha. I’m a dragon and I can sit here.”
“That’s not what that means.” Bardoul pointed out that it meant she lost her fire.
The entire first half-hour of the game was filled with misunderstandings and bad luck, and with each and every one of them, there was teasing and laughter… and of course, snacks. What I didn’t notice at first was that we were no longer alone in the room. There were other housemates watching us.
“Anyone can play,” I offered, and to my surprise, a couple of people who had never spoken to me, even when I said excuse me or asked the time, instantly asked to join. About ten minutes later, another person joined.
While the small group of us had been having fun, that fun grew exponentially as we got more people. By the time the game was over, there were ten of us smushed around the table trying to gain the hoard of the ancient dragon realm.
I’d been hoping for a bit of nostalgia and something different to do with my friends. Instead, I had a night filled with laughter, new friends, and a feeling like I belonged here for the first time.
“We should do this again,” Grey, one of the people who joined us, said.
“I was thinking the same thing,” Bardoul piped in. “Maybe we could make it a thing. Pick a night and anyone who wants to play can come down here. I know I have a couple of games too.”
Others added in that they had a game also. After a quick discussion, we decided that Sunday was the best day to plan game night. It didn’t conflict with sports, and people tended to be around and bored then anyway.
“Need some help?” Jack offered.
“I think they will all be fine in the bag.” We didn’t have any snacks to bring back. They were all in everyone’s bellies. “Thanks for the offer, though.”
We walked back to our room together, and she opened the door for us, while I glanced at Phelan’s door, thankful Atticus wasn’t there. I was glad his folks had taken him out for dinner after the tournament and perhaps the night.
“Maybe next week our neighbors across the hall will join us for game night,” Jack teased. While I didn’t want Atticus there, it’d be awkward if Phelan turned up. “They’ll probably even bring the snacks.” She took her towel off the hook. “I’m grabbing a shower and then it’s vampire time.”
Because yes, we had become those fans that watched as the new episodes dropped at midnight.
She went in, and I found myself thinking about what Phelan was doing. He’d played well at the tournament, but we hadn’t sat near one another on the bus. And not for the first time, I wondered why Phelan wasn’t in the Sable Hounds.