Page 5 of Game Changer

14:32 Lisa Millar: Ok, that totally doesn’t work in an online chat. It was funnier in my head.

14:35 Lisa Millar: Gmail says you’re all online, so, where is everyone?

14:40 Lisa Millar: Sigh.

14:45 Chelsea Davis: Sorry. I’m here. Lost track of time.

Lisa Millar: In your not-so-secret one-to-one chat with Jer, you mean?

Jeremy Lewis: You rang?

Lisa Millar: Imagine that, you’re both suddenly here. You know you don’t need wing-people if you’re intent on getting it on either way, right?

AJ Williams: The lady has a point, Jer.

AJ Williams: Afternoon, ladies. I’m Jeremy’s much-more-sensible best friend, AJ.

Jeremy Lewis: You forgot ‘much less hot’.

Lisa Millar: Hi AJ, I’m Chelsea’s much-more-sensible best friend, Lisa. Great game last night!

AJ Williams: You watched it?

Lisa Millar: Eh. I did. Is that weird? That’s weird, right? I couldn’t sleep. Chels said Jer had a hockey game and I like hockey. Sooooo, I watched it.

***

AJ dropped out of the group chat for a moment and sent Jeremy a one-to-one message.

AJ: What the hell did you get me into?

Jeremy: Dude. I can’t have another chat window open. You know I’m easily confused. I’ll say the wrong thing to the wrong person.

AJ: Just how much of a weirdo is she? She’s watching our games online?

Jeremy: Admit it, you think it’s kinda hot.

AJ: Or creepy. I can’t quite decide which.

Jeremy: It’s hot. You know it’s hot.

***

Lisa Millar: I don’t think that goal should have been disallowed and that #3 guy shoulda just been sent home. But otherwise it was a great game.

***

Jeremy: Told you. It’s totally hot.

***

AJ sat staring at the screen after Lisa had signed off. They’d talked for longer than he’d intended and he was quite captivated by the Irish woman he’d just been introduced to in Gmail chat. He had learned that she was left-handed, always wore odd socks, her favorite food was popcorn and her favorite color was purple. She had been chatty, bubbly and she seemed like the most genuine person he’d ever met. Despite the fact that she was only a presence in a chat box on his screen, she somehow made him feel like she cared about him, about what he was saying, and about his life. He wanted to talk to her again, but he didn’t feel comfortable starting a chat with her without Jeremy and Chelsea around as an excuse. Nor did he want to hear Jeremy’s big fat ‘I told you so’, that would inevitably be the first thing out of his mouth if AJ had conceded that he was, in fact, intrigued by Lisa, just as Jeremy had predicted he would be.

I guess I just need to hope that he and Chelsea still need adult supervision in their chats for a little longer.

Chapter 2

“You like her, don’tcha?”

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