They scanned their way into their apartment and Theo headed straight for the couch where he face-planted and yelled into a pillow.

“Theo,” Lucia tried, but he groaned louder.

“Theo,” Eniola tried, but he groaned even louder. Like a ragdoll, he slid off the couch onto the floor.

“We lost.” Theo groaned to the floor.

“No, we didn’t,” Iris said optimistically. “8th place is good.”

“For people who want participation trophies and are fine with losing,” Theo finished. Out of everyone on the team, he took SCOPE the most seriously. It was his biggest passion after watching anime. He had brought the team together and inspired them every day.

“It was probably my fault,” Iris blamed herself. “I probably spoke too loud.”

“It was my fault,” Eniola then said. “I spaced out.”

“It’s no one’s fault,” Lucia reassured. “All that matters is that we get to the top. Side quests win us things. And with a good brain and smarts,” Lucia gestured to Eniola. “We’ll be fine.”

They all nodded to Lucia’s pep talk. A vibration hit her pocket, and she quickly pulled out the clear phone. Dad.

Shoot. Shoot. Shoot. Shoot. Shoot.

“I have to—” she quickly started, then bolted down the hall and into her room.

She answered the phone and both of her parents’ holograms flashed out and appeared in front of her.

“Mom! Dad!” Eniola exclaimed as she plastered on a quick smile.

“Eniola!” Her parents addressed, smiling. “Have you gotten there safely?”

“Yeah,” she exclaimed. “The train ride was super smooth, and I got there in three hours.”

“Perfect,” her dad said. “Where did you go?”

Eniola swallowed back a gulp. “Uh… UCLA,” she said, picking a safe one everyone knew.

“That’s it?” her mom asked, feeling unsatisfied.

“Yeah,” I went along. “Lucia has very high standards, so her options are more limited.”

“What’s she majoring in?”

“Pop Culture,” she said, naming the first degree that came to mind. Why did one come first? She could’ve said biology or engineering or something more digestible.

“She’s spending her money on that useless degree so she can be poor?” her dad said in disgust. “Listen, Eniola, you must convince her to choose wisely. She needs to understand that with a degree like that, she’ll be living on the streets.”

“I’ll say so,” she told him, obviously not planning to say so. The door slid open and Lucia emerged. Eniola was both relieved and even more scared at the same time.

“And speaking of Lucia,” Eniola improvised. “Here she is.”

“Go along with it,” Eniola quietly whispered.

“Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Adeyemi,” she said, waving to the hologram with a toothy smile.

“Eniola tells me you’ve gone to some colleges,” they told her, and her eyes froze with confusion.

“Yes!” she went along. “We’re visiting colleges for me. We went to USC today.”

Shoot. “I thought you went to UCLA,” her mom asked, eye squinting. She always did that when she was confused.

“I was just about to talk to them about it,” Eniola said.

“Uh…,” she stumbled. “We visited two.” They looked at her with suspicion.

“I want to talk to you about your major—”

“Chemistry, yes,” she confirmed, and Eniola could practically feel her parents’ ever-growing confusion.

“I thought you were doing pop culture history?” her dad asked with an eyebrow raised. Now Eniola felt like this was the moment her dreams and gaming career were going to crash and burn.

“Double majoring,” Lucia quickly said, and her dad hummed in agreement.

“Very well then,” her dad concluded. “Could we see the hotel?”

“Ah… yes,” Lucia was the quickest to say. Her parents stood up and began viewing the room.

“Why are there three beds?” her mom pointed out.

“There was a problem in the computer, so they gave us an extra bed,” Lucia quickly said. “But we just use it to keep extra stuff. It’s a win-win.”

Suddenly the room doors slid open and Eniola expected Wendy to come through, but it wasn’t her. It was much worse.

Jay appeared, towel in hand. “Anyway, our shower got clogged and the androids are taking forever. Can we use yours?”

“Ah-ah!” her mom yelled. “Who is that boy?”

Jay froze in the doorway when he caught on. “Uh, your towels are here!” He said with another fake smile. “Where would you like them to go?”

Eniola breathed finally. “Just put them in the bathroom. The androids will note their freshness when they come to fix our shower. I’ll tip!” she yelled, as Jay quickly scrambled out.

“Room service can be so unpredictable,” Lucia joked, facing her parents.

“Mom, we need to go,” Eniola said. “Talk to you tomorrow!”

“Wait,” her dad began. “Stay safe out there. LA is very weird.”

“I know mom,” Eniola said.

“And make sure to eat,” her mom reminded. “You look very very skinny.”

“And make sure that Lucia makes wide decisions about her major!” her dad said.

“Okay,” Eniola said, trying to end the call. “I need to go right now.”

“Okay,” they finally replied. Her dad continued. “We love you!”

“I love you too!” Eniola replied, before pressing the call to an end. Their holograms vanished from thin air. Eniola flopped down onto her bed stressfully, and let out a huge sigh.

“What was that all about?” Lucia demanded. “Colleges and everything.”

Eniola sighed. “Okay. I told my parents that we were going to look at universities in Los Angeles.”

“You what?” Lucia exclaimed.

“It was the only way they would let me go!” Eniola defended. “It worked out, and I still got here.”

“You need to come clean to your parents,” Lucia prodded. “I almost pissed my pants. You’re lucky I’m great at improvisation.”

“Ah, yes,” Eniola jokingly reminded herself. “Let’s not forget the one drama class you took in middle school.”

“Hey!” Lucia called. “I’m an acting virtuoso!”

“Whatever you say,” Eniola said, and they both broke into giggles.

“Next time you want to pull something like that, tell me first so we can at least create an elaborate cover-up. Nothing like the half-assed backstory you just gave,” Lucia reminded her.

“I will,” Eniola huffed.

“I’m going to go now,” Lucia said. “Theo wants to take me to this new restaurant that opened. It’s a one-night reservation type thing.”

“Okay,” Eniola agreed. “See you!”

“See you!” Lucia replied before leaving the room through the sliding doors. Not a second later, they opened again. Jay was at the doorway, towel still in hand.

“So the shower thing?” he asked again.

“Just wait for yours to be fixed,” Eniola huffed, breaking eye contact. She felt the door slide closed.

Eniola sighed again but in satisfaction. Her friendship with Lucia had been short, but full of tons of appreciation for each other. She loved SCOPE because of the thrill it gave her, but also because she got to do it with Lucia.

🎮

Eniola walked into the new school, already feeling overwhelmed. All she had to do was keep her head down and not interact with these people. The middle schoolers at Ambrose Prep were all so big. Already bigger than her ten-year-old self. They would barely even notice her. And that was the way it should be. She reached down into her tablet bag and went over her schedule again, making sure she was heading in the right direction. Math first.

The world of her parents and brother rang into her head. Her parents told her to hold her head higher because she was likely smarter than everyone in her grade. Olu told her to be confident, smile, and try to make friends. He’d been through middle school and had the battle scars to show it. He was going to university now. That advice was outdated. But these kids were a world ahead of her.

Suddenly she collided with someone and stumbled back. She blinked before looking down. Don’t make eye contact. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

She got a good look at the boy, followed by two lackeys. He was super tall, with dark black hair and pale skin. But that wasn’t what she was interested in. It was the tragically obvious case of acne on his face. A chill trickled down her spine.

“Look where you’re going,” he scoffed, then analyzed her with unfeeling eyes. “Newbie.”

“I didn’t see you,” Eniola began, then stammered. “Sorry. I was just trying to find my class because I couldn’t see.” She moved away from him and walked past them before her tablet was violently yanked out from above her. Eniola immediately panicked.

“Hey!” Eniola yelled. “Give that back!” She reached for it, but he pulled his arm away, dangling it into the air.

“Or what?” he asked. “What will such a small girl do to me?”

Eniola held back tears. “Please, just give it back! It’s mine! I didn’t do anything to you!”

He outright ignored her and instead showed it to his friends, flipping it over and analyzing it. She reached, but a lackey pushed his arm away. “This is such a nice tablet! I hoped you had a good run with it because it’s mine now.”

“Do you think she was looking at it for so long because she had dirty photos on here?” one guy teased and they all laughed. Tears started filling her eyes.

“Don’t delete those,” one of them replies. Her vision went blurry, and she wiped her eyes. Eniola wasn’t ready for middle school. She should’ve just stayed back in the fifth grade. She wasn’t better than them.

“Hey,” a voice yells out, cutting through the silence. Eniola wipes her eyes and blinks back tears. A taller girl walks up to them and plucks the tablet out of their hands. She had shoulder-length brown hair, deeply tan skin, and a stern look on her face.

“I believe this belongs to you,” the girl says, giving her back the tablet. Eniola grabs it.

“Of course Lucia has to come in and save the day,” Acne-Face grumbled. “This doesn’t involve you.”

“Neither does this girl you’re harassing,” the girl—- Lucia snaps back. When she talks, Eniola notices the glint of metal shining from her mouth. Braces. “Ganging up on every new kid here doesn’t make you tough or cool. It makes you look weak and annoying.”

The other runs his tongue over his teeth. “Whatever. Guys, let’s just go.”

Eniola walks before the girl calls her again. “Hey!”

Eniola turned back to face her nervously. “You didn’t just stand up to them to take my tablet away, did you?”

Lucia laughed. “You’re funny. I won’t gang up on you. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m fine,” Eniola replied.

“Hey, I’ve never seen you around,” the girl says, with an eyebrow raised. “You look young? Are you in elementary school? This is the wrong building.”

“I skipped a grade,” Eniola told her, and the girl’s eyes went wide. “I’m 10.”

“You must be so smart then,” the girl said. “I’m Lucia!”

“I’m Eniola,” Eniola said.

“Well, Eniola,” Lucia said, putting an arm around her. “I think we should get to know each other.”

“Do you know where math is?” Eniola asked.

“I’m in that class next!” Lucia exclaimed, before grabbing her by the hand and leading her into the vast hallways, filled with lockers.

Eniola thought this girl was weirdly enthusiastic about school, but Eniola thought she’d stick with her because she seemed like some kind of protection.

A couple of even bigger kids strolled past them down the hallway. They looked more mature and refined. Eniola wanted to shy away even more

However, Lucia didn’t. Instead, she slowed down, keeping her eyes on one guy. He had olive skin with curly hair and was tall and kind of muscular. These kids were practically adults!

“Why did we stop?” Eniola asked.

Lucia instead only kept her eyes on the guy, while her mouth curled up into an unnaturally wide smile. Then she whispered down to Eniola. “That is Theodore Aurillo. He’s the cutest guy you’ll ever meet, but only I can think that because I’ve called dibs. He’s an eighth-grader and he’s super smart. I plan to marry him.”

Eniola raised an eyebrow at Lucia who’s eyes had gone bright with affection. Eniola wanted to go because this random kid Theo was making them late, but she didn’t want to get lost. Theo and his friend walked past them, while Lucia suddenly straightened herself to look more serious.

“Hi, Theo!” Lucia said, waving enthusiastically.

It seemed like he only registered the sound moments later before looking at Lucia. His eyes narrowed in confusion before he finally shot a quick nod at her.

Lucia sighed, before slumping down. “He doesn’t even know I exist.”

“Can we please just go to class now?” Eniola grumbled.

🎮

Eniola closed the memory and exhaled. To think, if she never had her tablet stolen, they would’ve never met. Lucia and they would have never taken the maglev together and met a crying Iris, which led them to SCOPE.

Crazy how one little thing in your life can lead to so many new things.

A new glow came from her phone. A phone call. She prepared for her parents to come with a follow-up call and bust her, but she sighed in relief as she saw the caller.

Olufemi Adeyemi

Eniola still had his number, even after their parents disowned him. She answered the call, and his hologram popped up from the phone.

“Olu!” she exclaimed, facing him casually. “What’s up?”

“Oh, nothing much,” he replied. “What about you? Where are you?”

Eniola’s eyes widened. “I’m at home in my room.”

“Really?” he said in a disbelieving tone. “That’s interesting.” Then suddenly, another image came up next to him, showing something very familiar.

It was the last SCOPE match and Eniola was playing in it

She froze in her tracks.

“You didn’t tell me you were some big-time gamer!” Olu exclaimed, smiling. “Rogue? What’s that about?”

Eniola sighed. “Fine, you caught me. Lucia and I and some other friends play on a SCOPE team called Rogue. I’m in Los Angeles for a SCOPE championship.”

“And you got out of the house?” Olu said, unbelieving. “Mom and Dad must’ve gone soft in the last three years.”

“Actually,” Eniola said. “They don’t know I play. They think I’m here because I’m helping Lucia look for a university to go to next year.”

“Oh wow,” Olu said. “Why didn’t you tell me you played?”

“Because we haven’t talked for three years,” Eniola said bluntly. Eniola had tried to call him a bunch when he left but he never answered her. Those futile attempts became no attempts and Eniola gave up. “I thought you didn’t want to talk to me. I thought you forgot about me and Kol.”

“Listen Eni, I never once stopped caring about you when I left. I didn’t choose to cut you off,” he said, before pausing and sighing. “I knew Mom and Dad would never forgive me and I didn’t want you to get in trouble for trying to reach out to me.”

“I know,” Eniola replied. “But it still bothered me.”

“Sorry,” he apologized.

They both paused and stared at each other for an entity of a second. Eniola remembered the times Olu would let her hang out with his older friends because he deemed her cool to hang with them. Or all the times Olu snuck her out to gaming cafes after school and at night. Or the time he bought her the motorcycle without their parents’ knowledge. There were so many memories she hadn’t cherished at the time, that she did now.

“May showed me the SCOPE matches, I recognized you immediately. You were so good out there. And you made it to the top five last year? Damn. If I was Mom and Dad, I’d be your biggest supporter.”

“They call it a demonic street game,” Eniola joked, and Olu laughed instantly. “Lucia told me that if we win or get close, I’ll have to tell them so they can see I’m successful.”

“But their version of success is being a doctor,” Olu sighed. “I tried to convince them with famous fashion designers that exist, but they still didn’t support me.”

“I’m not trying to be a downer here, but they didn’t support me all that much. Even with May,” Olu continued, “If something happens, and they disown you, then you can live in LA with me and May.”

Eniola’s eyes bulged in surprise at the offer. “But aren’t you and May going to be busy with the baby when it comes? What if I just stand in the way?”

“You’re my sister, Eniola,” Olu said. “We have to have each other’s backs. May’s down with the idea, too. And since you’ll be some super famous SCOPE player, you might travel most of the time.”

“I have to win for that,” Eniola huffed, smiling shyly.

“But with how you played, I wouldn’t doubt it,” Olu said with a smile that she returned. “Anyway, I have to go. See you?”

“See you,” she said back, and the hologram flickered off.