Page 164 of We Shouldn't Be Together
"Are you addicted to me, Tabby?"
"You bet I am, Malakai."
Seeing my full name sent by her gives me the strangest tingles.
Dang. I like it.
It’s a long wait to see Tabitha. Luckily, when the guys come over, we have a tough mission to complete in Shadow Quest. Morning quickly turns into afternoon as we take turns trying to get the Emerald Danger. It’s getting increasingly difficult, considering our avatars keep dying on spears, swords, or spikes.
Just as Parker’s avatar slides under an elf’s sword, and Lewis’s avatar narrowly evades a trap door, my ears prick to movement downstairs. My parents, Milo, Maddy, and…
“Is that James?” I call out from my armchair.
“Coming King Kai!” Jamie calls back.
As we all cheer at the double-bladed swing Parker’s avatar achieves, Jamie bounds up the stairs. Once she gets onto the landing, she places a wrapped gift on the floor and grins at me.
I get up from my armchair and give her a one-armed hug. “Hi Jamie.”
She pats my back. “Happy birthday. I hear you guys can’t finish a mission without me.”
“Oh, get real,” Parker bites defensively. “We’re doing just fine, missy.”
With my arm crooked around Jamie’s neck, I guide her to the couch. “We’ve totally needed you. Ty, move it so Jamie can sit down.” When they all move across, I clap my hand at Parker. “Hand it over.”
With a scoff, Parker hands over the controller. “Excuse me, I’ve gotten us this far. I doubt you can ace the rest.”
I signal at Lewis to hand his controller to Jamie and ask her, “Shall when we team up?”
Lewis happily hands the controller to Jamie, saying, “Good luck, bro.”
In a cheer, I tap my controller against hers. “We got this, James.”
Jamie’s avatar nimbly moves across the rock formations, dodging the molten lava river. Having seen Parker and Lewis’s pitfalls, I move my avatar ahead of her. She races behind me, and our avatars meet at a rope bridge and we duck under the swinging axes.
I grunt at the next stage, already having seen Parker fail so hard at the booby-traps. I avoid two of them, and then my avatar plummets to his death.
“Dang it!” I hiss.
As if she memorized all my moves, Jamie evades every pitfall and trap. She jumps ahead as my avatar respawns, and while I’m trying to catch up, Lewis gasps.
Pointing at the top right of the screen, he cheers, “There it is! The emerald danger is at the top. You guys gotta get it.”
Parker grunts, his competitiveness taking a beating. “You guys are gonna finish the mission.”
I smirk at him. “Why’d you ever doubt me?”
He sniggers. “Well, you seemed useless without Jamie by your side.”
“It’s his birthday,” Jamie blurts. “Don’t call him useless.”
“Thanks, James.” As if it’ll help my character gain more air, I lean forward and lift my controller. “Come on, little Kai, you can do it!”
As if cheering at the screen does the trick, my character leaves Jamie’s in his dust and collects the emerald danger.
I launch off the couch and cheer. When the other guys jump up with me, cheering at the accomplishment we’ve been striving for all day, Jamie sits back. She muffles her laugh behind a cupped hand, knowing full well this wouldn’t have happened if she didn’t show up.
I give her a bow. “Thank you for your service.”
