Page 37 of Dating and Dragons

Andrew decided last year when he turned fifteen that he was done talking to anybody older than his friends. I feel like I know more about the fictional characters in our D&D game than I do about him.

“Not really, they’re teachers. But they could be worse.” He shovels another piece of lasagna into his mouth.

Dad and Mom share a smirk. “Glad for the clarification. How about you, Quinn?”

“Things are good.” I’m ready with my answer. I need to give details, but just enough so they’re satisfied without needing to ask more questions. “I really like my English teacher. She’s young and the system hasn’t completely burned her out yet.”

Mom takes a drink of water and eyes me. “Have you thought any more about how you might want to get involved at school? Like some clubs you could get involved with or maybe even a sport? It’s too late for winter sports now, but what about something for spring like softball or tennis?”

I shake my head in exasperation. “You know I’m not into sports.”

“But you’ve never tried,” she argues. “You don’t know if you haven’t tried.”

“I think my abject lack of interest is a pretty good hint.” My tone is sharper than I intend and even Andrew lifts his eyes briefly to mine before looking away.

“Mom, you can’t just pick up a sport like that in high school,” Andrew adds. “Especially if you’re like Quinn.”

I jab at my salad rather than say something snarky to Andrew. I know I should be grateful that he’s standing up for me, but he has a real talent for supporting me through insults.

Mom puts her hands up in surrender. “Okay, fine, I was just wondering. This is a good time to make new friends and get involved. That’s all I’m saying.”

“D&D is going well,” I reply. “We got more followers on our last livestream than the one previous.”

“I’m still not sure I understand what this all is. So, you and these other kids play D&D and videotape yourselves and then put it online?” Dad looks more than skeptical.

“People log in to watch us play live.”

Dad shakes his head. “But…why?”

Andrew snorts into his food and I sink deeper into my chair. “Because it’s fun and interesting and our DM comes up with cool ideas for our campaign. In case you haven’t realized, D&D is actually a really big deal.”

“Sure, of course,” Dad says quickly, and glances at Mom for help. “It’s been around since I was in school.”

“We have people watching from around the world.”

Okay, we have three Germans butstill.

“Well, maybe we should start watching, too, then,” Mom says pointedly. “What’s the name of this? How do we do it?”

I can tell from her big eyes and eager nod that she’s tryingreally hard to be supportive. And I guess it isn’t fair to be annoyed since I don’t like it when they support Andrew’s interests and not mine, but the idea of my parents hovering around their old laptop and watching the livestream is so cringy. Just the possibility of it sucks the joy out of the game. The only way I’m able to enjoy playing is by telling myself that everyone watching is a faceless stranger I’ll never have to interact with. But if I refuse to give them the info, then they’ll probably get suspicious about what exactly I’m livestreaming to the masses.

I push down a sigh and give them the details of how to log onto the livestream and how to rewatch old sessions. Then I have to write down the instructions because it’s too confusing for them. By the time I’m finished, Andrew’s done eating. He sits back and shakes his head.

“I still can’t believe people watch you talking in someone’s basement.”

“At least it’s more interesting than watching people run around a field trying to kick a ball,” I reply.

“All right, all right,” Dad says. “Let’s not ruin dinner with you two sniping at each other. Now, speaking of soccer, when is your next game, Andrew?”

“Friday.”

“You know what would be great?” Mom asks, and I’m already sure this will be the opposite of great. “If all of us had a family night together at Andrew’s game.” She turns to me. “You don’t have anything going on Friday. Let’s all go and we’ll cheer him on. We can get ice cream afterward.”

Now I’m the one snorting into my lasagna. There’s no way Andrew’s going to get ice cream with his parents and dorkyolder sister when he has cool friends to hang out with. I wish I had a good excuse, but there’s no reason I can’t go. I just don’t want to.

“I guess?”

“You could be a little more enthusiastic to cheer on your brother. It’s pretty amazing what he’s doing.”