“What the hell are you doing?” Kris shouted.

“I don’t know!” I shouted back at her, my feet running ahead of my mind and critical thinking skills.

The tweaker with his arms around Kara had a moment to look surprised before I slammed into both of them and we went tumbling.

The wind was knocked out of me as we hit the ground. It was weird. I’d had the wind knocked out of me before, but my most recent experience was in a VR game where there was usually a bar that popped up to let me know how long I had until I could breathe again.

It felt weird having the same thing happening in the real world without a heads up display to helpfully inform me how fucked up I was. Though from the crunch and yell the tweaker let out as we rolled he was getting more fucked up.

At least I hoped that crunch was from the tweaker and not Kara. Or me. Adrenaline was a hell of a drug, after all.

We rolled a few times and then I landed on top of something soft. I balled my hand in a fist and held it up, knowing that fist wouldn’t do any good if the other assholes lurking in the shadows came at us but knowing I had to do something to save…

“Kara?”

“It’d be great if you didn’t punch me,” she said, staring up at me and cocking an eyebrow.

“Sorry,” I said, then I realized I’d landed right on top of her.

I looked down. I was pressing against her in all the right places. Talk about a situation I’d been dreaming about for years, and now that it was happening it turns out I should’ve been way more specific about how my fantasy scenario came true.

“Sorry,” I said, rolling off of her.

“You’re crazy,” she said. “But thanks for helping me.”

She looked to where Trent and company had disappeared. I’m sure she was thinking a few uncharitable thoughts about that asshole, but she kept them to herself.

“No problem,” I said. “But we’re not out of it yet.”

I got up on my knees and took stock of our situation. It wasn’t good.

We were still stuck in a narrow street surrounded on all sides by narrow alleys that could bring more tweakers down on us as they got word there were teens ripe for the robbing here.

“Shit,” Kara hissed, staring at the same shadows I was. “Not good.”

“Tell me about it,” I muttered, low enough that they wouldn’t be able to hear us.

Hey, we might be fucked, but I didn’t want to let on how fucked we were. That was the kind of talk that would only hasten the fucking.

A moan drew my attention away from the shadows. Shadows that, for some reason, weren’t moving in like the world’s druggiest zombie movie. Which was a surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.

The moan came from the tweaker I’d slammed into while I was under the influence of a pair of pretty eyes and a body that wouldn’t quit. I was going to have to be careful around this girl if she had that effect on me.

She stared at the guy I’d tackled. “Looks like you really did a number on this one.”

“I didn’t mean to,” I said, though I couldn’t bring myself to feel too sorry for the asshole. He was rolling on the ground clutching his arm like he’d suffered some serious damage in the fall.

The jerk might’ve just broken his arm, but the thing probably broke because he was so weak from all the shit he was constantly putting in his body. Not to mention he was the one who made the choice to attack us, which meant he was getting everything he deserved as far as I was concerned.

“Bastard,” Kara said, scrambling to her feet and spitting on the guy.

I stared in astonishment. I had a few classes with her and I’d chatted with her. It’s not like I was the kind of person who was terrified by a pretty girl even if I didn’t think I had a chance with her. At school she was always bubbly and happy.

It was weird seeing this other side of her. For all that I agreed with this side of her. For all that I found this side of her… intriguing.

“Yeah, bastard,” I said, though I didn’t spit on the guy.

“Um, guys, spitting on the scary drug addict might be fun and everything,” Kris said. “But I think we should get the fuck out of here before the rest of the scary drug addicts decide to dogpile us.”

I looked out at those lurking shadows threatening us. Only they still hadn’t attacked. Then I looked down at the one with the broken arm and started to put two and two together as another half baked plan started forming.

I stepped over the addict who seemed a hell of a lot less threatening rolling around on the ground moaning in pain, and threw my arms out to address the rest.

“Who else wants some?” I shouted. “Come on!”

“What the hell are you doing?” Kara asked.

“Probably something stupid to try and impress you,” Kris said.

“What?” she hissed at her. “I’d be impressed if we were getting the hell out of here!”

I beat my hands against my chest. Kris was sort of right. It was a damn good thing it was still dark and I was facing away from them. Otherwise the blush that hit my cheeks would be obvious.

If I was being perfectly honest, there was a part of me that was doing this because I wanted to show off in front of the pretty girl, but mostly I was doing it because there were a lot of druggies out there who wouldn’t bat an eyelash at rushing us and stealing anything they could, and maybe worse with Kara and Kris, or maybe worse with me depending on which team they played for, and I wanted them to think we were more trouble than it was worth.

“Come get some!” I shouted, pointing at the asshole cradling his broken arm. “See if I don’t do the same to you!”

There was some muttering from the shadows. Shadows that were getting more and more human as the lights overhead turned everything from pitch black to the twilight that passed for daytime around here. The busted light panels overhead only ever provided a fitful, flickering light.

“That’s what I thought,” I said.

I forced myself to turn my back to them. I wanted them to think I wasn’t afraid, for all that my bowels were on the verge of turning to liquid and all it would take was the sound of a couple of those tweakers coming at me to get all that liquid to come spilling out in an embarrassing display.

Only none of them made a move. I guess the sight of one of their own rolling on the ground in serious pain was enough to get them to think twice.

It was one of the oldest rules in war, for all that this was a bunch of druggies threatening to rob us and not exactly a war. So many people thought the point of a fight was to mess up the other guy. Sure that was part of it, but the real point of messing up the other guy was to make the enemy think it’d be way too costly to continue fucking with you.

“Are they moving any closer?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“Nope,” Kris said. “I don’t know what the fuck you did there, but it’s working.”

“Their friend got fucked up on accident in that tackle,” I said. “With a little luck they’re worried I’m going to do the same to them.”

Kris snorted. “You? Fucking up one of them?”

“Not so loud,” I said. “What they don’t know might keep them from hurting us.”

I tapped Kara’s arm. She jumped and looked between me and the assholes gathered behind us like I was a madman. It was a look I was used to getting from Kris. Typically in the game and not in the real world, but still.

“Walk this way if you want to make it out of this in one piece,” I said through my teeth.

“They’re not coming after you,” she said.

“That’s the idea,” I replied.

“Why aren’t they coming after you?” she asked.

“I’ve learned it’s usually better to go along with whatever plan Colin’s running and ask questions later when you’re out of danger,” Kris said.

“You sound like you’ve done this a lot,” she said, but she fell into step next to us.

“Mostly in games, but yeah,” Kris said.

“Speaking of,” I said. “Did Trent really get into Lotus early?”

Kara stared at me for a long moment, then shook her head and sighed.

“He’s telling the truth,” she said. “He got into the game somehow, and he’s bringing some of his friends along.”

There was something to her tone. She had the look of someone who was only telling part of the truth. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what that would be unless…

I nearly tripped over my feet when it hit me.

“You’re in Lotus with him,” I said. “Aren’t you?”

She looked away. Meanwhile Kris chuckled as she looked at me, then to Kara, and shook her head. It was the sort of knowing look she gave me when she thought she knew something I didn’t.

Which didn’t happen all that often. That made it all the more annoying when it did happen.

“She’s dating the dude,” Kris said. “If that asshole figured out a way into Lotus then it makes sense he’d bring his girlfriend along with, right?”

“I’m not his girlfriend,” Kara spat.

I blinked. It was surprising that she was saying she wasn’t his girlfriend, sure, but it was more surprising that she got so angry at the insinuation she was his girlfriend. Like she really didn’t want us to make that mistake.

“Oh yeah?” Kris said. “So just a good enough friend that he’s using money he doesn’t have to get you a ridiculously expensive early access key to the hottest thing in the history of gaming?”

Kris wiggled her eyebrows as she said it. The implication was clear. She wasn’t buying the “not dating” line.

“I’d just as soon date that tweaker back there as date Trent,” Kara said. “And if you’re going to act like this then I don’t want to be around you either.”

“Wait,” I said. “Kris can be a jerk sometimes, but she’s not trying to be an jerk.”

“Hey!” Kris said.

“Come on,” I said. “Maybe you could be nicer? She just had a bad experience.”

“Yeah, and maybe you’re just thinking with the wrong head,” Kris said.

“I don’t need this,” Kara said. “Thanks for tackling that guy back there. And thanks for… whatever the fuck that was you did with that posturing.”

“I was trying to intimidate them,” I said.

“You what?” she asked.

“I was trying to intimidate them,” I said. “Didn’t you see how they weren’t attacking us? Usually you get mobbed if you’re unlucky enough to get a crowd around you like that, but they weren’t doing anything.”

“So?” Kara asked.

“So they weren’t attacking because that one I tackled broke his arm. That was an accident, but they didn’t know that,” I said.

“Totally an accident,” Kris said with a giggle.

I rolled my eyes. She wasn’t helping things. “I was trying to act big and bad because they didn’t know I didn’t break that guy’s arm on purpose. I was hoping I could get them to stay away from us long enough to get the hell out of there, and it worked.”

Kara stared at me. Finally the ghost of a thin smile hit her face, and she shook her head as she laughed.

“You’re fucking crazy,” she said. She reached out and touched my shoulder. It was an electric touch, for all that it was probably just a touch for her. “But thanks. I appreciate it.”

I wanted to tell her it was nothing, but I also didn’t want her to think that I thought saving her was nothing. Not to mention tackling a tweaker who could’ve been armed while he was surrounded by a bunch of other tweakers who could’ve mobbed us hardly felt like it rose to the level of nothing.

“Glad I could help,” I finally said.

Kara turned to Kris, and that thin smile turned to a thin frown. Then she shook her head, laughed again and turned and disappeared into the darkness.

It was one of those situations where I hated to see her go, but watching her leave wasn’t a bad experience at all. Once she’d disappeared I turned and punched Kris in the shoulder.

It wasn’t a gentle friendly punch either.

“Ow! What the fuck?” she growled, rubbing her shoulder.

“You know what you did,” I said.

“What, prevented you from embarrassing yourself trying to make kissyface with the pretty girl who wasn’t interested?” Kris asked.

Her words stung. Mostly because I knew they were true. A girl like Kara wouldn’t be interested in me, for all that it felt like we’d shared a moment there.

Only a moment, but thinking about that shoulder touch was enough to make me feel better about not being able to pay my way into the Lotus early release. Until thinking about the early release naturally led to thoughts of Trent and his asshole friends getting to run around the game thanks to whatever the fuck they’d done to come up with the money to pay the ridiculous fee.

How did those assholes do it? That was going to bother me more than not being able to get into Lotus early, damn it.