Page 18 of The Chemistry Coach
“I’m not part of the team that needs building.”
Hazy nudged her shoulder.“You don’t have to be part of the team to play the game.If you want us to play, you should be willing to play too.”
“I’m willing to play, but you guys need to build chemistry.It doesn’t make sense to include me.”
Connor shrugged.He couldn’t imagine it would be fun to watch a group of grown men play a video game, but whatever.“Got it.Are we ready?”
Lover pressed the button, and the game threw them into chaos.Their characters got separated by walls on the screen.Connor hadn’t figured out the buttons, so his character ran in circles.Lover tried to explain the game, but Connor could only pick up a tomato and slice it.He put the sliced tomato on the counter.
“Beanie.I need the flour, throw me the flour!”
Connor smashed random buttons.The screen pulsed at them, a clock Connor couldn’t see counting down.
“We haven’t delivered a single dish!We’re not going to get a star!”Hazy piped in.
Connor had no idea what was going on.
The timer ran out, and they had indeed earned zero stars.Hazy and Lover laughed at the failure.Connor didn’t join them.His blood pressure skyrocketed, and his hands went clammy despite knowing the activity was supposed to be fun.
He set the controller on the coffee table.He could not have a meltdown over a children’s game.He excused himself to the restroom, where he focused on deep breaths and splashed some water on his face.When his heart was no longer beating out of his chest, he rejoined the group.
Hazy had taken Connor’s spot.He and Lover had handfuls of circus cookies, the other snacks sitting untouched on the coffee table.He grimaced.They had fistfuls of frosting.Their hands were going to be so sticky.
He glared at the boys, who stared back with mischief in their eyes, but he sat next to Daisy without argument.He did grab his cookies though, making sure they were well out of their reach.Now that he remembered their existence, he would never go without.
It took him a moment to realize Daisy held a controller.She lifted it to show him.
“I said I wasn’t going to play.But they convinced me.”Lover tried to interrupt her, but she shot him a death glare and he closed his mouth.“If you’re okay with that?”
He didn’t care.Whatever it took to get him out of here the quickest.“Yeah, that’s fine.”
She wiggled in her seat.“Yay!”
She commandeered the player-one duties and added a princess to the player list.Then she flipped through different maps on the screen and selected one to play.This time, instructions popped up.They hadn’t before.Or Lover had skipped them.
“Sorry,” Daisy said.“It’s been a couple of years since I played.I don’t remember the controls.”She compared her controller to the instructions on the screen.Connor followed her lead.He studied the controller and found each button, trying to be stealthy.No chance in hell would he admit to those two yahoos that the only video game he’d ever played was Mario Kart with his nephew.
She gave him plenty of time to understand the game.Food needed prepared, and customers would order one of the options.They had to complete the order before the customer got mad and stormed away.Simple.
She pressed play, and the kitchen came into view.They had access to the whole kitchen this time.They had more time on the clock.Daisy directed her character over to the crates of ingredients.
“Okay, who’s chopping?”
Hazy stood his character next to a knife.“Me!”
Lover’s little avatar stood next to a stove.“I’ll cook!”
She looked at Connor, who waited for her instructions.“Dishes or food delivery?”she asked.
“Dishes.”
“Okay.We have a plan.Go!”
They were able to work together to serve a few customers, and when the time ran out, they had earned two stars.Connor had never been more hyped about a pixilated gold star.
“Fuck yeah!Crushed it!”Lover did a fist pump.
They spent the next hour feeding hungry patrons.The levels got more advanced as they went along, but there were instructions for every new challenge.Connor relaxed more with every gold star.When they got to a level that separated them again, Hazy discovered he could hit fellow players in the head with thrown objects, and they all burst into laughter.
