"Hey, Penny, I'm glad I caught you!" Sam called out to her. He ran over to the bridge to the library where she'd been sitting and watching the river. He hopped up beside her on the stone wall.

"How are you, Sam?" Penny asked.

"Oh, you know. Living the dream." He flashed a big cheesy grin. Penny couldn't help but smile too. "Yoba, it's getting hot," he added. "I can't wait till the ice cream stand opens."

"Did you finish that song you were working on?" Penny asked.

"Oh yeah, it's just about done. I need to stop rhyming words with themselves, though. Like, what rhymes with pretty?"

"Mmm... city, witty, ditty, committee—"

"Okay, okay," Sam cut her off with a laugh. "I get it, you're, like, a walking thesaurus or something. No need to show off. Besides, I'm not going to write a song about someone who's pretty and is on a committee."

Penny shrugged. "I'm no music expert. It could turn out nice."

"Oh! I almost forgot why I wanted to talk to you!" Sam said. "I swear, I'd forget my own name if it wasn't written on the band of my underwear."

Penny laughed. There was nothing so easy, so fun, as talking to Sam.

"Do you want to play Solarion Chronicles with us tonight?" he asked. "We're getting kind of a big group going."

"Oh..." Penny's smile dropped. She was always happy to spend time with Sam, but...joining some big group was intimidating. Especially with the people she assumed would be there.

"Don't be like that Penny," Sam whined. "It's just a game, it's nothing to be nervous about. And Maru will be there."

Penny pasted her smile back on. It was still daunting, even with Maru there. But if Sam wanted her to go..."Alright. You'll have to teach me how to play though."

"Awesome!" Sam hopped off the wall and held up his fist, which Penny bumped awkwardly. "Catch you later, dudette! Six o'clock!" Sam started to run off but turned around. "Oh yeah, it was Seb's idea to invite you, so you don't have to feel awkward about coming to his house!"

Penny's stomach flipped as she watched him run out of sight. Why would Sebastian want to invite her? He'd always ignored her; and she assumed that after the other night, he'd have even less interest in her, if that were possible. 

Penny shook her head. He'd seen her book on the shelf, she remembered. They must be really desperate for another player.

She checked her watch—it was already four. She'd have to hurry if she wanted to make dinner for her mom beforehand. She hopped down off the bridge and headed home.

Penny couldn't remember the last time she'd been up to 24 Mountain Road. She'd been to Maru's room once or twice, but they usually hung out in town. She took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

Robin answered it. "Hi sweetie, how have you been?"

"Very well, thank you." Penny smiled.

"The kids are downstairs," Robin said. "Well, I guess you're not kids anymore. But you'll always be kids to us moms, ha ha!"

Penny walked down the stairs and knocked softly on the door at the bottom. She could hear talking inside, and they must not have heard her knock. She decided to just push the door open.

"Penny!" Sam called as she came in. "The Penn-meister! Can I get you a beer? Or a soda?"

"Uh, soda please," she said. Maru, Sebastian, Abigail, and Sam were all packed into Sebastian's bedroom, watching her come in. The room was a little dark and there was a lot of stuff on the walls, but it was more normal than she thought it would be. She didn't know what she'd expected of Sebastian, maybe some biker gang stuff? It felt silly imagining it now. Sam tossed her a Joja Cola.

"Maru? How about you?" Sam asked.

"Beer please!" she said.

"Yeah, not a chance." Sebastian said. "You're not 21 for another half season."

"Aw, lighten up, Sebby!" Abigail teased.

"No. No way, Demetrius will kill me if he finds out." Sebastian shook his head.

"Dad's not going to find out," Maru insisted. "It's less than two weeks from now." She got up and took the beer from Sam. Sebastian groaned but let it go, and grabbed himself a Cola from the mini-fridge.

"Well, if everyone's sufficiently hydrated, let's get this show on the road, shall we?" Sam said.

They all took seats around the table. Penny found herself between Sam and Maru, which she thought was lucky, until she realized that Abigail and Sebastian would be directly across from her. Abigail wasn't paying her any attention, but Sebastian looked up at her every so often.

She couldn't stop thinking about him coming to her house the other night. Letting someone into the trailer was embarrassing enough, but having him see her mom's behavior? The memory alone was enough to mortify her, but now he was looking right at her, and she just knew that he was remembering it too.

"We each pick a character," Sebastian began. "For this scenario, they are Wizard, Marksman, Bard, Warrior, and Healer."

"Ooh! Bard!" Abigail cried, grabbing the character card. "I pick Bard!"

"Alright, no need to shout." Sebastian rearranged the other character cards that she'd bumped out of place.

"Marksman looks fun," Maru said, and Sebastian handed her the card.

Sam elbowed Penny. "Penny? Healer, Wizard, or Warrior?"

"Um, Healer."

"Nice, that leaves Warrior for me." Sam grabbed his card and passed Penny the Healer card.

"You're a fan of Healer Storix in the books, aren't you?" Sebastian said to her as he grabbed the Wizard card.

Penny nodded and smiled.

"She's got the best character development of the whole series," Sebastian said enthusiastically.

"I know!" Penny said, forgetting her shyness for the moment. "I couldn't believe it when she sacrificed herself for Dunthor."

"And then when he chooses her for the final resurrection!"

Penny nodded eagerly, but reddened a little when she remembered where she was.

"Okay, nerds, not all of us have read the actual book," Sam said playfully.

Sebastian rolled his eyes and picked up the scenario card. "Our adventure begins twelve years after the defeat of Dreadlord Xarth and the recovery of the Solarion Staff. Rumors have spread that in a village near the remains of the Necromancer's Tower, the dead rise from their graves at night and terrorize the villagers. We have been tasked with investigating these rumors and putting a stop to any evil-doing we uncover."

Sebastian read with more feeling than Penny had ever heard him speak. Her anxiety about the evening was dissipating, and she was excited to play.

"Our company begins their long hike through the Everwolde Forest," Sebastian continued.

"I play a walking tune on the lute!" Abigail said excitedly.

"You know that's not really how this game works, Abby, but sure." Sebastian picked up another card. "Here's our first decision, and it goes to Sam. We are traveling east through the forest, and reach the Redstone Mountains. Should we scale the mountains, or take a boat down a river that's headed south?"

"Let's take the river," Sam said.

Penny started to speak, but held her tongue. She knew from the books that this river led to an ogre enclave, but she wasn't sure in this game if she was allowed to say something on someone else's turn, or if the lore was even the same as in the books. She caught Sebastian's eye for a second, and thought he gave her a knowing look. He must have remembered the same thing she had.

Sebastian continued the story. "One night, as we are camped on the bank of the river, you hear rustling in the trees. This decision goes to our Marksman, Maru. Should we investigate the wood in hopes of finding game to hunt, or should we run away to the boats?"

"Let's hunt!" Maru said, and Abigail whooped.

Sebastian smiled as he drew the next card. "The party follows the Marksman into the dark woods. Suddenly, huge creatures jump out from among the trees! You are surrounded and attacked by ogres!"

"No!" Abigail shouted.

Sebastian said, "The Marksman, the Warrior, and the Wizard are injured. Healer, who do you choose to heal?"

Penny chewed on her lip. From what she remembered, ogres have tough skin that is resistant to magic and weaker weapons. "I heal the Warrior," she said.

"Aw, Penny," complained Maru.

"Noice!" said Sam.

"The Warrior's dual-handed blade makes quick work of the creatures," Sebastian said, "killing all but one, who runs off into the woods. Warrior, do you follow the last ogre, or stay with the group?"

"Uh, I follow the last ogre," Sam said indecisively. "He could be telling his ogre friends about us."

"While the Warrior is away, and the Healer is busy healing the Wizard and the Marksman, the Bard hears more rustling in the woods. Bard, do you investigate the noise or should we run back to the boats?"

"Oh, crap," Abigail said. "The boats! We should run to the boats!"

"The party scrambles to board the boats, and prepares to push off from the shore as soon as the Warrior returns. Suddenly, out of the woods..." Sebastian paused dramatically. "A pack of ravenous, but harmless squirrels appear!"

"Aw come on," Abigail pushed back from the table.

Sebastian laughed. "The squirrels descend upon the remains of our camp, feasting on weeks worth of food."

Groans came from everyone around the table.

"I leave you guys alone for one minute, and this is what I come back to!" Sam laughed.

They took about a dozen more turns, obtaining more provisions, following the river to the sea and then traveling northeast along the coast. They had just fought their first undead corpse when Abigail got a look at the clock. It was well past midnight.

"Dang, you guys, I've got class in the morning," she said.

"I don't think we're even close to the village from the quest," Sam said. "Should we pick this up another time?"

Sebastian looked at the deck of cards still in his hand and nodded. "Yeah, probably for the best."

"I'll leave first then, if you don't mind, I haven't done my reading." Abigail got up and left.

"Ready to go, Penny?" Sam said. She was startled for a moment at being singled out, then remembered she and Sam were the only other two going back to town.

She followed him up the stairs, but Sebastian stopped them. 

"Penny, wait," he called. "I need your number. To set up the next game." He held out his cell phone to her.

"I can just send it to you, dude," Sam said without stopping.

"No, it's alright." Penny took Sebastian's phone and typed her number in before handing it back. "Thanks for having me," she said with a smile, before following Sam out.

It was pitch black when they got outside; she always forgot how dark it could get in the mountains where there weren't any streetlights. They walked slowly to keep from tripping on the rocky path, and every so often Sam held her lower arm lightly when the road got steep.

All they could hear were crickets and cicadas until Sam finally spoke. "Did you have fun?"

"I did, I really did," she answered, and she meant it.

"If I'd known you were a fan of the books, I would have asked you to join us ages ago," he said. "How did Sebastian find that out before I did, anyway?"

Penny's heart thrummed at the idea of Sam finding out that Sebastian had been to her house. It wasn't really a secret, but she didn't want him to know. She struggled to answer him.

Sam sighed jokingly. "He's just got a way with people, I guess."

Penny grinned. "I don't know about that, but he's very different from how I thought he'd be. I misjudged him, and I wish I hadn't."

"Hey, see, I like to think I'm a pretty good judge of character!" Sam said.

"Yes, yes you are."

"And you are too!" Sam nudged her with his shoulder.

"Why, because I hang out with you?"

"No, I mean Maru. I've always thought of her as Sebastian's kid sister, but she's actually pretty cool. I'm glad we're all playing together."

They stopped in front of Penny's trailer. She didn't want him to see the inside, so she opened the door just a crack and waited for him to turn before going in.

"If you see Vincent in the morning, remind him to bring something for show and tell!" Penny called, and Sam waved goodbye.

She crept inside; her mom was already asleep. When she got to her room, her phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number.

Hey, Penny, this is Sebastian. Thanks for playing tonight, it was fun having a fellow Solarion fan at the table.