Suzie
Six weeks later…
Margo and Matt were waiting for me at our usual lunch table in the cafeteria and their expressions lit up with eager anticipation as I walked over. I didn’t so much walk as float. I was on cloud nine and nothing—I mean, nothing—could ruin my buzz.
“Hey there, Suzie Q.”
The familiar voice to my right burst right through my happy bubble. I told myself not to look over at him. Do not give that smug jerk the satisfaction.
Too late. I shot him a glare before I could stop myself. I’d long since learned that logic had little to do with my interactions with Luke Warner—class clown turned school playboy right around the time that we all hit puberty. He was also a basketball player, a notorious flirt, and oh yeah—the bane of my existence.
That last descriptor was a new one as of this school year. I ignored his taunting smirk and the teasing wink that went with it as he sidled up next to me. “You gonna save me a seat?” he said, his tone absurdly flirtatious.
He was mocking me. Lately it seemed like Luke Warner was always mocking me. I’d gone more than a decade at the same school with this kid and now in our last year he not only took notice of me, he seemed to revel in getting on my nerves.
I met his mocking smirk with a quiet growl. Not my finest moment. In about ten minutes I was sure to come up with some clever comeback. But that was the thing I’d learned these past six weeks. When Luke was around I was completely incapable of reason. Crafting eloquent comebacks? Forget about it.
He hovered by my side, grinning down at me like my growl was so highly amusing and seemingly not caring that a gaggle of girls were waiting for him to continue walking over to their side of the cafeteria.
The cool side.
And if you think that’s a cliché then just wait for it. This year our high school had gone from a normal suburban, small-town school to one straight out of a John Hughes movie. You know, the ones where the cliques are all super obvious and forever at war.
Yup. That was my life now, and it was all thanks to a stupid prank on the first day of school. My jerky neighbor Joel managed to capture a shot of me and Margo at this lame Labor Day weekend party that my brother threw. I’d sort of blacked out with rage and next thing you knew I was accepting his challenge to do a kegstand.
I know. So dumb. I wasn’t typically such a moron, I swear.
Anyway, Joel had labeled the photo #GeeksGoneWild because he was just so hilarious like that—he was a laugh a minute, that Joel. He submitted the photo into the senior slideshow on the first day of school and…long story short? It went viral. That was the turning point. I’d gone from invisible to the biggest joke at school. My cloak of invisibility had been replaced by a Kick-Me sign on my backside. Metaphorically, of course. Ever since then I’d been the butt of the joke and Luke Warner had decided that annoying me was his new favorite hobby.
My life had gone to hell in a handbasket and it had started to seem like senior year was going to be one interminably long disaster.
But not anymore. I seized that thought, holding on to the reminder of just how great this year was going to be…if I could just survive the attentions of Luke Warner.
Luke stood there for so long that I thought he was going to say something else. But no. He just locked eyes with me and stared, his gaze sizzling and hot and…he was so making fun of me right now. Trying to make me think he was actually flirting with me? Please. The very idea was laughable. I’d thought most of our classmates had outgrown the mocking bully phase, but this year had proved me wrong.
Finally Luke broke the eye contact, and we both stopped blocking the door as he walked away toward his harem. “Good talk,” he called back to me. “Pleasure hanging with you again, as always.”
I pressed my lips together and ignored the stares of the tables nearby who’d heard him, resisting the urge to flip him off as he walked away.
I swear he heard my thoughts because when he looked back over his shoulder he was laughing like we were in on some joke.
I growled again as I watched him veer toward the line for food. I hoped against hope that the meatloaf they were serving tasted as bad as it looked. I turned back to my friends and forced a smile, but when I sat down across from them and saw their expectant looks, my earlier excitement came back in full.
“So?” Matt asked. He paused with his sandwich in front of his face.
Margo’s eyes were impossibly wide as she waited for me to speak.
I grinned. “He went for it!” ‘He’ being Mr. Marsico, the advisor for my computer science club, and ‘it’ being the competition of my dreams—a chance to be seen by the creative geniuses behind my favorite video game ever, MageLand.
They both cheered and Margo leaned over to give me an impromptu hug. “That’s amazing.”
I hugged her back, my smile so big it was starting to hurt.
“It’s about time someone at this table had something good happen to them,” Matt said, stuffing his sandwich in his mouth with a satisfied smile.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’d say Margo winning homecoming queen and dating the star quarterback are pretty good things.”
Margo fluttered her eyelashes and gave a small smile of false modesty that made me and Matt laugh.
“Yeah, yeah,” Matt said. “You know what I mean.”
I did. And he had a point—we were only six weeks into senior year and so far it had been a rough one. After that initial prank, which had led to an intense grounding from my parents and enforced tutoring for the first month of school, the school had gone a bit…crazy. The hashtag went viral and things turned nasty really quickly.
I’m not going to say that my friends and I were above it all.
We weren’t.
We were hurt and wanted to strike back so…yeah. Things escalated. I wouldn’t say it was over now, per se, but after homecoming the whole #GeeksGoneWild battle seemed to have died down a bit. People were no longer bullying my friends and my friends were no longer retaliating with humiliating photos of the cool kids. Things were better, although not the same.
I wasn’t sure if we could ever go back to how things were before that ridiculous cyber war broke out, but at least it wasn’t as prevalent anymore, and some of the anger behind it seemed to have faded. Most of the tags I saw on social media these past two weeks had been friend on friend, or frenemy on frenemy. You know, people tagging their friends with the hashtag when they did something stupid, that sort of thing. All in good fun, I guess you could say.
Margo changed the topic back to the one at hand. “You must be ecstatic, Suzie. This is like a dream come true for you.”
I grinned back at her. This wasn’t “like” a dream come true. It was literally a dream coming true.
Okay, here’s the deal—I liked video games. A lot. Like, more than most human beings liked anything. They were my escape—from my overbearing, strict mother, from my sometimes-cruel, often-thoughtless classmates, from my irritating younger brother who lived to annoy me.
At least, they started off as an escape. But then they became a passion.
Margo had her clarinet, Matt had his newspaper, and I had my games.
The only problem with that scenario was obvious. Margo’s clarinet meant she was part of a band, Matt’s love of journalism meant he was now editor-in-chief of the school newspaper. Both interests looked great on college applications and could help them on their way to success.
Video games? Not so much.
In an attempt to rectify that, I’d put my love of gaming into something more useful and productive by starting up a computer science club my freshman year. It was…not popular. That was fine by me. I hadn’t done it to be popular. God knows I never ever held out hopes of popularity. To be popular in this school one had to be an airhead, a hottie, or at the very least able to speak to others without losing their cool.
I was none of the above. I was smart, not even remotely hot, and I tended to blush and stammer when faced with actual human interactions with anyone outside of my two best friends.
So yeah, popularity was not in the cards for yours truly. But I digress. Back to the computer science club. With the help of my advisor and a small—read that very small—crew of members, we spent our afternoons learning and practicing coding skills that I hoped would one day lead me to a career in programming.
Sounds hot, right? I know. It was a wonder my club wasn’t more popular.
But now? Well, as of today my club was my pride and joy.
“Mr. Marsico said we could enter into the MageLand competition on behalf of our school,” I told my friends. “He’s having everyone in the computer science club pair up to come up with a concept to submit.” I’d started unwrapping my sandwich I’d brought with me from home and almost missed the fact that Jason had slid into the seat next to Margo across from me.
I stalled in my babbling as I watched him lean over and give Margo a kiss on the cheek, like it was the most ordinary thing in the world. Maybe for him it was. For me and Matt? We exchanged a quick look and then looked back down at our food.
Yeah, it was still weird.
Jason and Margo had been spending every free second together ever since they publicly declared themselves a couple during homecoming. But Matt and I hadn’t seen them together much—we’d been giving them some space, because we’re supportive like that. But now…he was here. At our table.
Jason Connolly. Star quarterback. Luke Warner’s best friend. One of the most popular guys in our school, rivaled only by my own personal nemesis.
And he was sitting here ready to eat lunch with us like it was normal.
Margo raised her eyebrows in my direction. “So?” she said. “All these teams get to come up with an idea…”
“Oh. Right.” I cleared my throat and ignored the fact that Jason was staring at me. I had no reason to feel lame just because I was super excited about my computer club. “So then all of the entries—”
“Hey, what did I miss?” Luke slid onto the bench seat beside me and his hip brushed against mine.
I scrambled to inch away from him and he grinned down at me like we were sharing some inside joke again. Whatever the joke might be, it was clearly at my expense. Jokes always were when it came to Luke and his friends.
“You were saying?” Jason prompted.
I glanced over and saw him giving me that smile—that nice guy smile that never failed to put everyone around him at ease. Including me. I focused on Jason and my friends and ignored Luke as I continued with my explanation, all about how each idea would be put before the club in two weeks’ time to vote on the two best ideas, then the club would split in two to focus on the winning ideas, and just before the holiday break we would present both ideas to the entire student body to decide which one would be entered into the competition.
“Whoa, whoa,” Luke interrupted. “What competition?” Luke had been oddly silent beside me up until then and I froze at the sound of his voice. But everyone was waiting for me to explain and I realized that Jason probably had no idea what I was talking about either.
See? Me and social interactions—not a match made in heaven.
I cleared my throat and mentally backed it up. “Arcadia Games,” I said, talking to Jason and trying not to notice Luke’s eyes on me lest I burst into flames of embarrassment. I mean, I was well aware of the fact that he thought I was the biggest nerd on the planet. I didn’t really relish the fact that I was currently putting all that nerdiness on full display.
“Arcadia Games is an indie gaming company,” I said. “They make some lesser known video games, and their most popular one is this online game where people team up, it’s called—”
“MageLand,” Luke finished.
I blinked in surprise and then peeked over at him. He smirked. “What? I’ve heard of it.”
I ignored that and turned back to my friends. “Anyway, the company is trying to market the game to a younger crowd. Right now its demographic is mainly…” I trailed off as I tried to come up with the right terminology.
“Basement trolls and Dungeons & Dragons freaks?” Luke suggested.
I stiffened, hating my stupid transparent skin for turning crimson at the slightest insult. My heart pounded furiously as embarrassment warred with anger.
Sometimes it felt like I was forever torn between those two emotions. I had my mother’s fiery temper that was dampened only by my ever-present fear of embarrassment. The two collided in epic fashion whenever Luke was around. His mockery brought out the worst in me at all times.
Ignore him. Just ignore him.
Nope, couldn’t do it. “Not everyone who plays video games is a loser or a freak,” I said.
His smirk grew into a grin and I cursed myself for responding. Anyone could tell you that the worst thing you could do with someone like Luke was encourage him.
“Sounds like someone is a little defensive,” he said.
I clamped my lips together to keep from saying anything else.
“Hey, if you like to play a game about wizards and witches, I’m not going to judge,” he said. But his tone said that was exactly what he was doing. He leaned forward. “But just admit that you like it.”
I arched my brows at the challenge in his tone. “Did I ever deny that I did?”
His eyes narrowed a bit but they still danced with laughter. “Admit it. You’re a fan. You’re totally into MageLand.”
I could feel the heat in my cheeks and ignored it, just like I ignored Jason’s warning tone as he said Luke’s name and Margo’s sigh of exasperation. For a second there, it felt like they were in a different world. I could hear my friends—I could even see them out of the corner of my eye—but Luke and I were all alone in a weird little bubble.
“I am into MageLand,” I said slowly, over-enunciating out of sheer anger. “What do you care?”
His smile grew and for a second I forgot how to breathe. His grin was always sexy, in an annoying smug sort of way. But this smile was one of approval, camaraderie even, and it went beyond sexy and into some territory as yet to be named.
That smile was lethal.
“Just wanted to hear you say it,” he said.
I blinked. What the heck did that mean?
He leaned forward slightly and lowered his voice. “Now was that so hard?”
I shook my head in confusion. What was he even talking about? My brain was buzzing with questions but not a single one could make it through the fog that seemed to be a constant side effect of his proximity.
Then, just as quickly as it began, the moment was over and he was leaning back, popping a chip into his mouth. “So who all is competing in this thing?”
I swallowed and turned back to my friends. Not a single one of them looked like anything strange had just occurred. I tried for normalcy, too. “Uh, the competition is open to every high school in the country. There are some rules and regulations, obviously,” I said, focusing on the logistics rather than the fact that Luke had shifted so his arm now brushed against mine and the heat from his body was impossible to ignore.
“Each high school can only submit one entry, and the school has to officially register, which is why I needed to get Mr. Marsico on board and—”
“What are you submitting?” Luke interrupted.
“Oh, um, well the company is developing new mods for the game.” I paused, ready to explain what mods were but Luke was already on to the next question.
“So, like, new settings, new magical artifacts, that sort of thing?”
“Yeah, exactly.” I didn’t even try to hide my surprise. “They’re specifically looking for new settings—something that would appeal more toward a younger demographic.”
“And what’s the prize?”
“Money toward college,” I said. “Plus…”
“Plus, what?”
I’d gone back to forgetting all about everyone at this table who was not Luke. Not because of his smiles or his proximity but because his questions were not only spot-on, they were specific and pointed, almost like…almost like, he was actually interested.
“Plus?” he said again, prompting me to continue.
I shrugged. “Plus, it’s just an awesome opportunity to be seen by some heavy-duty people in the industry.”
Luke’s eyes met mine and for a second I could have sworn he was looking right at me. Not in my direction and not at my face, but like…he was seeing me. All of me.
It was stupid.
Clearly my brain had been addled by all the excitement from the morning.
“So, is that what you want to do?” he said. “You want to be a video game developer?”
I stared at him. No one had outright asked me that before. I’d never even really asked myself. It was just what I loved. What I felt passionate about. But could it be my future?
I was saved by the bell.
Well, sort of. We all rushed to the door along with everyone else in the cafeteria but while Matt headed left for his next class, the rest of us headed right. Margo and Jason were walking so close together that I probably could have squeezed in on Margo’s other side and we wouldn’t have blocked the whole hallway. But that would’ve been weird and I wasn’t exactly thrilled at the prospect of becoming a third wheel, so I fell back behind them.
And so did Luke.
I took a deep breath and focused on staring at Jason’s back. Anything other than Luke with his incessant mocking. Even when he wasn’t teasing me he was calling attention to me in some way. Using a stupid nickname or pointing out that I was wearing my hair different. Even when he wasn’t being outright mean, he was being mean. It was like he couldn’t possibly comprehend that not everyone wanted to be the center of attention.
Of course, try explaining that to a guy who lived in the limelight. Even now his name was shouted out left and right by guys and girls alike—friends, apparently, who felt compelled to say hi or invite him out tonight.
He was in his element as I tried to edge away from him, getting as far away from the human spotlight named Luke as possible.
Apparently he noticed. “What, do I smell bad or something?” he teased as he glanced over and saw me edging toward the lockers.
Did he smell bad? No. Of course not. Life would never be so fair. In a fair universe, a guy so inherently attractive and charismatic would be cursed with body odor issues. But life was not fair, especially not when it came to people like Luke. I ignored the question and kept my focus on moving forward. We didn’t have the next class together so in a matter of minutes—seconds, really—he’d be out of my hair and I’d be free to resume my life. My invisible life at Grover High.
I made a mental note to self to add invisibility as a possible idea for MageLand. How cool would that be? What sort of setting would make invisibility ideal? I mean, other than high school, obviously. My mind was racing with possibilities about new settings and potential magical abilities but I should have known that Luke wouldn’t drop it so easily.
He never dropped anything these days. He noticed every little thing I did or said and called me out on it like suddenly it was his mission in life to see me. Like he was making up for the past decade of not noticing me—which was exactly how I liked it, not that he seemed to care one way or the other.
“Seriously, Suzie Q, are you embarrassed to be seen with me or something?” His voice was filled with laughter because of course he was joking. The thought of anyone not wanting to be graced with Luke Warner’s presence must have been unthinkable to him.
“It’s Suzie,” I said for the millionth time in the past six weeks. “Just Suzie.”
He reached out and tugged on one of the bright red curls that was held back in a ponytail. “I know, but Suzie Q just seems so fitting.”
I swatted his hand away.
“See? That right there,” he said, his eyes on me as we walked. “Why do I get the feeling that you hate being seen with me?” He leaned over and waggled his eyebrows obnoxiously. “Worried someone might get the wrong idea about us?”
My stupid telltale cheeks burned with heat as embarrassment made the contents of my stomach slosh and slide. I didn’t honestly think he was trying to be cruel—his tone said he was teasing. He was being the big jokester he always was.
But he never used to joke with me like this. And, what was more, we both knew the truth of the matter. No one in their right mind would get the wrong idea about us.
He surprised me by coming to a halt in the middle of the hallway when I didn’t reply. I should have kept walking. I have no idea why I didn’t use the opportunity to rush ahead of him and lose him in the crowd. Instead I found myself stopping too. “What?”
The teasing jokester façade faded fast and for a second he looked startlingly serious. “Wait, was I right? Are you worried someone’s going to get the wrong idea?”
I let out a little snort of disbelief. “No one would get the wrong idea.”
“Why not?” He didn’t wait for an answer as he moved closer. “Who are you worried about?”
I stared up at him with an open mouth for a second because it seemed like… No, he couldn’t possibly be serious.
But his eyes looked more serious than I’d ever seen them. He seemed one hundred percent serious.
“Um…” That was all I managed. My brain went blank at the notion that Luke Warner truly believed that I was worried people might think there was something going on between us. My mind was blown that he actually believed anyone would ever possibly jump to that conclusion.
He leaned down slightly and his normal laidback demeanor changed to something far more intense. “Who do you have a thing for, Suzie Q?”
I blinked rapidly. “Wait, what?” How were we suddenly talking about me and my crush?
He waved a hand toward my crimson cheeks. “Don’t try to deny it, babe.”
Babe. Babe? Once again my brain shorted out.
“Babe?” It sort of came out as a squeak. No one had ever called me babe. Or sweetheart, or honey, or pookiebear, or any other term of endearment. If babe could even be considered a term of endearment. Personally, I just considered it demeaning and lame.
He ignored me. He also ignored everyone else in the hall who was rushing past us to class, not even bothering to acknowledge the random “Hey Luke” that was called out in our direction.
His gaze honed in on mine and I couldn’t look away. He had nice eyes. Oh heck, he had nice everything—sharp jawline? Check. Long lashes a girl would kill for? Check. That danged cleft in his chin was just overkill. But his eyes…his eyes were darker than dark. And when they were fixed on mine like they were now, like they were trying to see deep inside to my deepest, darkest secrets…
My breath caught in my throat. Sweet mercy, a girl could drown in those eyes.
“Is it Matt?”
I blinked. Surely I’d slipped into a wormhole or something because this conversation was no longer making any sense whatsoever. “Is what Matt?”
One of his brows hitched up ever so slightly as if to say. Really? You’re playing dumb now?
Sadly, I wasn’t playing anything. I honestly had no idea what was happening here. One minute I was excited about a gaming contest and the next I was caught in some sort of absurdist scene that seemed to defy all sense of logic. I was basically living out Waiting for Godot.
“You two went to homecoming together,” he said.
“Um…” Did he expect me to deny the fact that I’d gone to homecoming with one of my best friends? Was there someone else he’d expected me to go with?
He crossed his arms over his chest, both brows arching now in a way that reminded me way too much of a teacher…or, more disturbingly, of my mother. “So, is Matt the guy you’re crushing on?”
“What? No!” Okay maybe that had been a little too vehement. One might even think I was protesting too much, but really…this was getting out of control. Yes, maybe once upon a time I’d thought maybe me and Matt would’ve made a good couple, but it had become very apparent by around eighth grade that Matt would never see me that way.
In fact, no guy had ever seen me that way, and I was starting to think they never would.
Luke’s gaze never wavered from mine.
“I’m not into Matt,” I said, instantly hating myself for being defensive. I didn’t have to explain myself to this guy.
I crossed my arms over my chest and met his gaze evenly, my lips clamped together tight.
His gaze dropped down to my mouth and I thought I saw a flicker of amusement in his eyes. “Not talking to me anymore, huh?”
I pressed them together into a thin line.
“That’s fine,” he said, dropping his arms and adopting a far less intense pose. He no longer looked like he was attempting to interrogate me. I still watched him warily, not quite buying this sudden shift in him.
“Your face gives you away anyway,” he says.
I swear all the blood in my body chose that moment to rush to my cheeks.
Stupid, traitorous cheeks.
He grinned. Point made. “So, if it’s not Matt you’re pining after, who is it?”
I wanted to say no one but I already knew that my face was doing exactly what he’d predicted. It was giving away my every thought and emotion without my consent.
“Come on,” he wheedled. “I know you’ve got the hots for someone in this school, so you might as well spill.”
Someone in this school. His specific phrasing gave my brain the loophole it needed so I could honestly deny the charge. “I don’t,” I said quickly.
He narrowed his eyes a bit but he didn’t call me out as a liar. And I wasn’t technically lying. Did I have a crush on someone? Yes. Big time. But did that person go to our school?
No, thank heavens.
I had no idea where DataG lived, let alone what school he went to. He could be on the opposite side of the continent for all I knew.
“So, you’re not crushing on anyone, huh?”
I shook my head. “Nope.” Not in this school. Try explaining to someone like Luke that the guy I’d gone and developed feelings for was only a name on a screen. That I’d never even met him in person. Ha! That would blow the smirk right off his face.
Of course, he’d be laughing his butt off at my expense, but still. It might’ve been worth it to see his shock. How to explain to a superficial jock like Luke that my crush had nothing to do with the way he looked or his social status and everything to do with his personality and his sense of humor. Most of all, it had everything to do with the way he got me. DataG understood me like no one else, and he was there for me whenever I needed someone.
I drew in a deep breath and turned away from Luke, feeling once more like I was on solid ground. It was the thought of DataG that did it. I could tell him all about this little exchange and he’d think it was hilarious…of course, I wouldn’t tell him the bit about having a crush on him. No need to ruin a great friendship by confessing to a stupid little online crush.
I sort of hoped I’d leave Luke behind but he kept pace beside me. “Okay then,” he finally said as we neared the door to my next classroom just in time for the bell to ring. “If that wasn’t the reason you’re so opposed to being seen with me, what is?”
I probably shouldn’t have answered. I wouldn’t have except that when he turned to face me he looked so genuinely curious. I let out a short breath and summoned up some courage. “It’s because you’re like Fonzie. Everyone turns to stare when you walk by.”
He stared at me for a long moment before his mouth curved up in that sexy-as-sin smile that made girls everywhere go weak in the knees.
Not me, of course, but other girls.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Did you just call me Fonzie?”
I nodded, already turning away because it dawned on me that he likely had no clue who I was referring to. Only losers like me spent their Saturday afternoons playing games while old TV show marathons played in the background.
“As in Arthur Fonzarelli?”
I hesitated halfway through the door, but I didn’t turn around. Okay, so maybe he had seen Happy Days. The fact that he knew Fonzie’s full name had me fighting a smile as I entered my classroom.
I lost the battle when I heard him burst out laughing in the hallway behind me.