Chapter 3

Kaitlynn threw the comforter off her legs.

Her bare feet hit the cold carpet.

She marched across the room and grabbed the brass doorknob, yanking the door open.

Her mother, Martha, stood in the hallway.

She was wearing a floral apron, her right hand gripping a spatula covered in white flour.

"You stayed up playing that stupid game again, didn't you?" Martha snapped, her eyes narrowing. "You've wasted the entire morning."

Kaitlynn looked away, staring at a spot on the hallway wallpaper.

She chewed on the inside of her lower lip.

"I was finishing a group project." she mumbled, her voice thick with sleep.

Martha let out a harsh scoff.

She turned around, her slippers slapping against the hardwood floor as she headed for the stairs.

"Ten minutes. Downstairs for brunch. Don't make me come back up here. And we have a lot to do this afternoon-the guest room needs to be cleaned out."

Kaitlynn blew out a heavy breath.

She walked into her attached bathroom and turned on the faucet.

She splashed freezing water onto her face, the shock making her gasp.

She grabbed a towel, dried her skin roughly, and pulled a massive, faded UCLA hoodie over her head.

She slipped on a pair of gym shorts and shoved her feet into her slides.

She dragged herself down the wooden staircase.

The smell of frying bacon and bitter coffee hit her nose before she even reached the bottom step.

Her father, Arthur, was sitting at the kitchen island.

He was staring at his iPad, his reading glasses perched on the end of his nose.

Kaitlynn pulled out a tall metal stool and sat down.

She reached across the marble counter, grabbed a piece of burnt toast, and took a massive bite.

Martha walked over and slammed a plate of scrambled eggs onto the counter in front of Kaitlynn.

"We are having a very important guest this weekend," Martha announced, her tone leaving no room for debate.

Kaitlynn chewed the dry toast, swallowing hard.

"Who?" she asked. "Is the HOA coming to fine us for the grass again?"

Martha glared at her.

"Aunt Eleanor's son. Jorden. He's coming to Seattle to stay for a while."

Kaitlynn froze.

Her brain scrambled, digging through years of buried memories.

An image of a seven-year-old boy with mud smeared across his cheeks and a missing front tooth flashed in her mind.

She curled her upper lip in disgust.

"Why is he coming here?" she asked, her voice tight. "Is he going to steal my Legos again?"

Arthur lowered his iPad.

"Jorden is a professional esports player now," Arthur said, his voice calm. "He just flew back from a tournament in Korea."

Kaitlynn's hand stopped halfway to her mouth.

The word 'esports' made the muscles in her neck tighten.

"I don't understand how playing video games is a real job," Martha complained, wiping down the stove. "And they pay him for it."

Kaitlynn slammed her toast down on the plate.

"Esports is a real athletic competition, Mom," she argued, her voice rising. "It takes insane reflexes and talent."

Hex's impossible shield-block from last night flashed behind her eyes.

That was a real god.

Martha tapped the spatula against the counter, a sharp, warning sound.

"I don't care what it is. You will be polite to him this weekend. No attitude. And I need you to clean out the guest room this afternoon. Change the sheets. Put out fresh towels."

Kaitlynn rolled her eyes, her shoulders slumping.

A guy who ate mud was probably sitting on the bench of some amateur, second-rate team.

"What team does he even play for?" Kaitlynn asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Arthur pushed his glasses up his nose and looked at the Wikipedia page on his screen.

"He is the captain of... SG."

Kaitlynn's breath caught in her throat.

Her stomach tightened. "SG? The massive esports org?" she blurted out, her gamer instincts overriding her annoyance for a split second. "Don't they only play games like Valorant and League of Legends?" Even if they didn't play her game, she knew the name.

SG. The biggest, wealthiest esports organization in North America.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, forcing her face to remain blank.

It didn't matter. Even if he was the captain of SG, he was nothing compared to Hex.

Kaitlynn groaned, dropping her head onto her arms on the counter. "Fine, fine," she muttered. "But he better not steal my stuff like he used to."

She shoved the rest of the toast into her mouth, grabbed her coffee mug, and slid off the stool.

She practically ran out of the kitchen, her slides smacking against the stairs.

She slammed her bedroom door shut.

She threw herself face-first onto her mattress.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket, her thumbs flying across the screen as she opened Discord.

She opened Hex's chat, ready to complain about the absolute nightmare that was about to ruin her life. Some annoying guy from her childhood was showing up this weekend, and she was stuck cleaning out the guest room.