CHAPTER 1
If I’d known that girls go crazy over zombie slayers, I would have gone medieval on some undead a long time ago.
Sure, I’m the smallest guy in the freshman class, smaller even than Kai Tipton, and his mom is a bona fide little person. And maybe I’m addicted to computer games, like
Dragons of Roargan Kross
, and yes, the jocks sometimes duct-tape me to toilets for fun. But once I’d kicked some zombie butt?
The ladies loved me.
Of course, going to homecoming with
the
Kiki Carlyle, our homecoming queen, hadn’t hurt either. And Kiki was definitely on my mind this morning. I slapped some gel on my hands and ran them through my do. I looked a whole inch taller. Now I’d come all the way up to Kiki’s
shoulder
.
“You’re going to miss the bus, dorkwad.” Kate—my sister—stuck her head into the bathroom, ruining the nice Kiki-related daydreams I’d been entertaining, and ruffled my hair. I shrank about a quarter inch.
“Die, lich spawn!” I yelled, throwing the bottle of gel in her general direction.
She took off, and I tore down the stairs in hot pursuit. I would have caught her too, if I hadn’t turned the corner and nearly bulldozed Kiki herself. If Kate had wanted to motivate me, she should have known that the presence of a goddess in the house would have worked. I skidded to a stop and almost swallowed my tongue as I took in the view.
The girl of my dreams stood in our entryway. Her blond hair was pulled into a ponytail, exposing a slender neck. That neck killed me. I’d spent a whole night staring at it while we danced at homecoming. But her looks weren’t the best thing about her. What got me the most was that she smiled every time she saw me. Always had.
This time, she laughed outright. I grinned back. Kate kept on going toward the kitchen,cackling madly like she’d won something. Maybe she’d won the battle, but no way would she take the war.
I knew a lot about battle tactics from playing
Roargan Kross
.
“Kiki!” I grinned up at her. “What’s the girl of my dreams doing in my house this fine morning?”
She blushed a little. “I thought you and Kate might like a ride. It’s better than the bus, right?”
“Thanks!” My voice squeaked, but I pretended not to notice, and so did she. “I’ll be sixteen next month, so maybe then I’ll drive
you
around.”
She might have been out of my league, but she didn’t scoff. She totally liked me; I could sense it.
“Maybe.” She jingled her keys, smiling. “So listen. I wanted to ask you something.”
“Anything.” I meant it too. At that moment, or any moment, really, I would have died for her.
“My cousin is going to be stuck here while her parents are in Fresno. I’d hang with her, but I’m going to be at the cheer tournament all weekend, and she’s not really into that stuff. But she’s really into
Roargan Kross
. Do you think she could come to your LARP?”
I swear the woman couldn’t have been more perfect. Most of the popular crowd wouldn’t have bothered to learn about live action role-playing, let alone use the acronym in conversation. But Kiki had actually gone to a LARP just to see what it was like. A bunch of geeks pretending to be warriors and wizards didn’t bother her at all. Like I said,
perfect
.
Gaming was one of my favorite activities, and the upcoming weekend of epic epicness would be the best LARP in the history of the universe.
Dragons of Roargan Kross
had started out as an MMO—it was only the most popular multiplayer video game on the market—and when they’d developed a live action system, I’d practically fainted from excitement. There’s nothing cooler than dressing up like your favorite character and acting out the fight scenes just like you would online.
And now the LARP club was sponsoring a weekend event at the Boy Scout camp outside of town. A whole weekend of waving swords around and flirting with girls in elf ears. The only way it could be better was if Kiki was
If I’d known that girls go crazy over zombie slayers, I would have gone medieval on some undead a long time ago.
Sure, I’m the smallest guy in the freshman class, smaller even than Kai Tipton, and his mom is a bona fide little person. And maybe I’m addicted to computer games, like
Dragons of Roargan Kross
, and yes, the jocks sometimes duct-tape me to toilets for fun. But once I’d kicked some zombie butt?
The ladies loved me.
Of course, going to homecoming with
the
Kiki Carlyle, our homecoming queen, hadn’t hurt either. And Kiki was definitely on my mind this morning. I slapped some gel on my hands and ran them through my do. I looked a whole inch taller. Now I’d come all the way up to Kiki’s
shoulder
.
“You’re going to miss the bus, dorkwad.” Kate—my sister—stuck her head into the bathroom, ruining the nice Kiki-related daydreams I’d been entertaining, and ruffled my hair. I shrank about a quarter inch.
“Die, lich spawn!” I yelled, throwing the bottle of gel in her general direction.
She took off, and I tore down the stairs in hot pursuit. I would have caught her too, if I hadn’t turned the corner and nearly bulldozed Kiki herself. If Kate had wanted to motivate me, she should have known that the presence of a goddess in the house would have worked. I skidded to a stop and almost swallowed my tongue as I took in the view.
The girl of my dreams stood in our entryway. Her blond hair was pulled into a ponytail, exposing a slender neck. That neck killed me. I’d spent a whole night staring at it while we danced at homecoming. But her looks weren’t the best thing about her. What got me the most was that she smiled every time she saw me. Always had.
This time, she laughed outright. I grinned back. Kate kept on going toward the kitchen,cackling madly like she’d won something. Maybe she’d won the battle, but no way would she take the war.
I knew a lot about battle tactics from playing
Roargan Kross
.
“Kiki!” I grinned up at her. “What’s the girl of my dreams doing in my house this fine morning?”
She blushed a little. “I thought you and Kate might like a ride. It’s better than the bus, right?”
“Thanks!” My voice squeaked, but I pretended not to notice, and so did she. “I’ll be sixteen next month, so maybe then I’ll drive
you
around.”
She might have been out of my league, but she didn’t scoff. She totally liked me; I could sense it.
“Maybe.” She jingled her keys, smiling. “So listen. I wanted to ask you something.”
“Anything.” I meant it too. At that moment, or any moment, really, I would have died for her.
“My cousin is going to be stuck here while her parents are in Fresno. I’d hang with her, but I’m going to be at the cheer tournament all weekend, and she’s not really into that stuff. But she’s really into
Roargan Kross
. Do you think she could come to your LARP?”
I swear the woman couldn’t have been more perfect. Most of the popular crowd wouldn’t have bothered to learn about live action role-playing, let alone use the acronym in conversation. But Kiki had actually gone to a LARP just to see what it was like. A bunch of geeks pretending to be warriors and wizards didn’t bother her at all. Like I said,
perfect
.
Gaming was one of my favorite activities, and the upcoming weekend of epic epicness would be the best LARP in the history of the universe.
Dragons of Roargan Kross
had started out as an MMO—it was only the most popular multiplayer video game on the market—and when they’d developed a live action system, I’d practically fainted from excitement. There’s nothing cooler than dressing up like your favorite character and acting out the fight scenes just like you would online.
And now the LARP club was sponsoring a weekend event at the Boy Scout camp outside of town. A whole weekend of waving swords around and flirting with girls in elf ears. The only way it could be better was if Kiki was
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