Early the next morning, I walked to homeroom through the sleepy school corridors. Mama was back to normal, so she was there for breakfast and made me a full lunch box—pasta, though.

Mrs. Asaka wasn't in yet, but the janitors had unlocked the homeroom door. I was shocked to see someone had beaten me there.

Her peachy-red hair shined under the ceiling lights, and her short ponytail bounced over a fleece outfit that made her look like a giant plush toy in a black sports jersey and track pants. Beneath her right arm was something that looked like a head—a wide, pointy thing with two fleece eyes and a long nose.

Annok and I didn't spend much time with each other since she had her own clique of friends, but a project or two threw us together.

Before I could open my mouth to greet her, whatever she was holding slipped from her hands and tumbled onto the floor. With a gasp, I rushed forward to chase after it. Annok dashed over, too.

I managed to catch the thing and stared at it before handing it over.

"Is this some kind of...animal head?" I asked.

"Yeah!" Annok beamed. "It's the soccer team's new mascot. His name is Marly the Marlin! I made him myself. It's his big reveal today!" Despite all her enthusiasm, Annok's voice was quiet, like the soft rush of a stream hidden in a forest. "But now, I've ruined it." She held up the head for me to see.

Two little orbs that were meant to be the mascot's eyes were detached from the head due to the impact of the fall.

"Sorry I couldn't catch it faster," I lamented.

"It's okay! Don't worry about it." Annok smiled. "I'm the one who dropped it."

I nodded and then remembered the stuck super glue. "Wait! I think I have something that can help!" I sprinted to my locker, and Annok followed. After a moment of thorough searching, I held the tube of superglue triumphantly in the air. "Here! Do you think it'll fix it?"

"Oh my gosh, Inaya, you're amazing!" Annok gushed. "Can you hold the head while I glue the eyes back on?"

"Sure!"

While we worked together to attach the mascot's eyes back to its head, Annok told me some fun trivia about swordfish, like how they had special organs next to their eyes to keep their brain and eyes warm in cold water.

"That's...interesting," I said with a smile. I remembered the last time we'd worked on a project together earlier that year. Annok did all the talking for the whole forty-five minutes, unrelated to the Sherman Anti-Trust Act the class time was meant for.

"Yeah!" Annok grinned. "I bet they can eat however much ice cream they want and not get brain freeze!"

I laughed. I really liked that about her. Annok noticed things most wouldn't and talked about all sorts of things most wouldn't, like how the iridescence of dragonfly wings in the sunlight was similar in beauty to the gleam of a hummingbird's back feathers.

Finally, with the eyes affixed back to their places, the head looked as if it hadn't taken a three-yard tumble on the floor.

My phone dinged as I returned the glue to my locker. It wasn't just one text but two from Valentino. He probably needed to finish up some homework like yesterday, and I leaned against my locker to tap the phone screen.

The first text was a link to a video of CrusadEon Online gameplay tips and hacks for beginners, and the second was a personality quiz that helped someone determine which class they should be in CrusadEon.

I didn't realize I was smiling as I hit play. It was either because I had a genuine interest in CrusadEon Online or because it was the first time Valentino didn't limit his texts to school-related stuff anymore. Maybe both.

"Is that CrusadEon Online?"

I turned to Annok, surprised she recognized it. "Do you play?"

"Mhm," she responded with a nod. "Well, I used to play, actually. It got a little complicated for me. There are a lot of things to remember, and there are so many more players who know the rules better than I do. I'm always losing at the Battle Zones, and I get lost trying to do the quests. It's not really fun being like that all the time," she added with a laugh.

"Oh, so you didn't hear about the game update?"

"Nope." Annok shook her head. "Do you play?"

"Oh, no, this is from Valentino," I rushed. "I don't play."

"So why is he sending you a video about it?"

"I, um," I stopped. "I'm interested. Yeah, I was interested, and so he decided to send this." At Annok's silence, I caved. "Okay, it's complicated. Valentino told me about the game, but you know the whole character-making process? I'm scared of sending in my picture. What if they don't accept me in hijab? Are they going to make me take it off?"

"Oh, I didn't realize." Annok briefly placed a hand on her chest in empathy. "When I made mine, I used some pictures of me with a filter on, so it wasn't really me. But they accepted it, and it all worked out."

We shared a moment of silence as I glanced at the paused video in my hands.

"Inaya," Annok suddenly said, "If you want to play the game, I can give you my account, and you can play for me."

I inhaled sharply. I couldn't believe my ears. "Really?"

"Why not?" Annok shrugged. "I don't play, and you don't have to go through the whole fuss of making the character, right? I wouldn't mind."

"You'd do that for me?" I could feel my heart racing in my ears. Me and Valentino, playing side-by-side. Him smiling at me like he did yesterday....

Annok nodded in earnest. "Keeping an unused account when you can enjoy it doesn't make sense! Think about it like petals drifting in the wind with no one to watch them fall. You'll love their clothing designs. They're so...magical."

"I totally thought they were pretty!" I grabbed her hand and did a little jump. "Annok, I can't wait!"

She giggled. "I can give you the username and stuff during homeroom after lunch. Actually, I could just do it now." I let go of her so she could turn to fetch a piece of paper from her bag while I failed to calm myself down.

This was my golden opportunity to play the game! Who knew that Annok, of all people, had a CrusadEon Online account? Excitement surged in my chest like ocean waves on a shore. I could show this character to Valentino! He'd be so ecstatic for me.

Or what if he added my character, not knowing it was me? We'd be friends and do all sorts of quests together, but on my time, without risking my grades for playing too long like Valentino had a habit of doing. Then, when we came closer to the end of the school year with less work to do, I'd reveal my identity.

Mrs. Asaka arrived. Annok handed the sticky note to me with a smile and then went to her locker. Keeping the note in my folder, I couldn't hold back a beaming smile to greet Mrs. Asaka. She raised her brows at my energetic look so early in the day and only nodded back. But I didn't care. The days I didn't play CrusadEon were over.

025Tino, here I come!