I turned to face the boys in the rest of the room at the sound of the high pitched squeaky voice. The other boys looked startled, kind of like a group of prairie dogs that were sensing a predator. They all seemed a bit nervous except for Michael, Robert, and Luke of course. “I’m sorry I’ve been here for a while. But you all seemed so busy so I didn’t want to disturb you.” I said and smiled at the first boy I was thinking of as “Doc” I noted the rising blush on his cheeks and ears.I thought I heard him stammer out a name but it was to low for me to hear.

Michael had looked up then shook his head and went back to work. “Guys, this is a girl. You should get used to them, they are pleasant to be around and nowadays they are also known to game.” Mr. Lagrand said with an aggrieved town. “I’m sorry…” He started to say to me.

“Victoria. Most of my boys.” He cleared his throat. “To be honest most boys, in general, aren’t used to girls taking an interest in gaming. They are going to be nervous and awkward.’ He smiled at me. “This is going to be so much fun.” He said with relish as I caught a twinkle of mischief in his eye. “Do you have any idea of what kind of a character concept you want to work with?” He asked me as he led me over to a table to take a seat.

“I don’t know,” I replied as we sat down. “I mean Luke invited me to play but I have no real idea about any of this,” I said waving at the books.

“That's fair.” The teacher said in thought. “Well, we call it a role-playing game but we roll dice to build our characters and move the action forward.” He said picking up a set of dice and displaying them for me. “The statistics you use to build your character.”

“Luke was explaining that,” I replied. “I’m still not altogether sure if I understand it completely.”

“Good. Now your character is like a character in an improvisational play. You try and determine what his actions would be based on your concept. A rogue is often a thief, but not always. They are sneaky and can disarm traps.” I nodded and he continued. “Warriors are strong and they fight on the front lines.” Again I nodded as he continued explaining the different classes and the base stats required to play them. The base stats he explained to me again and his explanation made a little more sense to me.

“Luke said there were special classes too?”

“Oh yes but they are very hard to achieve and most have prerequisites.” He said.

“So there are and there aren’t,” I stated as she looked around the room once more. I caught one or another of the boys looking at me and when I would meet their eyes they would look down or whisper to each other. “Wow they really aren’t used to girls are they,” Ie said in a whisper to the teacher, even as I started to feel self-conscious.

“Nooo,” he whispered back. “This will be good for them.” He reached into a box beside him and pulled out a bag of dice. “So let's get started.”

“One other question,” I said biting my lip. “Do all other role-playing games use the same stats?”

“Oh, no,” he said shaking his head. “Some use things like comeliness, might, brains one that's a game based on cartoons uses bonk.” He said a chuckle in his voice.

“Bonk? What does that do?” I asked puzzled.

“Oh, its like hit points in dungeons and dragons.. You use it up when you get hurt.” He said as he also took out a preprinted slip of paper. “We will just use this for your character sheet. Roll four six-sided dice.” I took up the dice shook them and then rolled. “Wow, four sixes on your first roll. “ I smiled, from what both he and Luke had said that was a great start, then I continued to roll.

“Wow, another four sixes so that's what two eighteens?” I stated. Then looked up to see the teachers wide eyes.

“Don’t mind me.” He said with a wan smile. “Keep rolling.” Again I shook the dice he had given me with each subsequent roll his smile grew less and less. One of the boys noticed and came to look over her shoulder on the third roll. He reached back and smacked one of the other boys who joined them. On her fourth roll, all the boys were behind her. Without a sound, they watched as she completed the six rolls. Their eyes were nearly as wide as their teachers.

“That’s uh impressive Victoria,” He said as he took off his hat then scratched behind his ear. “Well uh with those scores you can play anything really.” He said reaching out and taking up the dice. Then turning and picking out a book from the box beside him. “Why don’t you go read over the different character classes. The cover showed what appeared to be a red seated demon figure with what I took to be adventurers taking out its jeweled eyes. After I left I watched as he picked up the dice and examined them closely then began rolling them on the table. Six rolls and not a single totaled up to eighteen. “Some people have all the luck.” he sighed.

* * *

“So did you have fun?” Luke asked me as we were leaving school later that afternoon.

“I don’t know if I had fun exactly but I learned a few things,” I said conspiratorially. “First Mr. Lagrand has a lousy poker face.” Luke nodded at my words.

“And second?” he asked.

“The second is all those guys really need girlfriends,” I said chuckling.

Luke looked aggrieved at me then he brightened. “Hey, I’m working on one. I’ve got a date with Caroline.” He smirked.

“And why didn’t you tell them that?.” I asked.

“You saw them if I told anyone I had a date their hearts might stop.” He laughed. Thinking about it

I nodded in agreement. “So…?” He asked.

“So what?” I replied.

“So when are you going to do it?” He asked.

She sighed. Then looked over to him. “Tonight, before bed and after the hospital.” Luke regarded me in disbelief. I clenched my jaw then sighed. “This is so weird. I almost hope I’m insane.” I said as once more the notification and it flared to life before me...

“Okay that's just weird,” he said peering at me intently.

“What is?”

“Are you looking at the notification?” He asked.

“Yeah, how did you know?”

“Not sure I thought I caught just the barest of glimmers.” He said with a shrug. “Did you learn anything else?” the blond boy asked.

“Yeah, that I need to read the documentation before I make any life-altering decisions.”

“It’s not like you are signing up for the crayon eaters.” He snorted.

“Speaking of crayon eaters. How's your brother doing in basic?”

Luke kicked a rock as they left the drive of the school on the way to the bus stop. “From the letter, we got he loves it.” He said with a sigh and a shrug. “I wish I could tell him I got a date. I miss the asshole you know?”

“I wouldn’t know that I’m the big sister.” I snorted.

“Yeah well, oh shit there's my bus gotta go.” He said as he sprinted off toward the bus fifty feet away that was just pulling to a stop.