Page 60 of Stops Along the Way
“You don’t want to.”
“I do! I want to see your board game creations win.”
“It’s not going to. And”—I don’t want to say Declan’s name, so I avoid doing so—“I’m only submitting the one. We gave up on the team submission.”
Amelia is quiet for a moment, finally sensing that something must’ve happened on the way home. “Why?”
“Just ’cause.”
She decides now isn’t the best time to pry into the obvious situation with Declan that I’m not telling her about sincewe’ve already covered a lot tonight. “Well, I’m coming with to the expo.”
“You’ll have to see if there’s still tickets available.”
“I’ll check right after this.” She holds up her phone.
“They’re not super cheap.”
“I’ll figure it out.”
“You really don’t have to go. I’ll be busy with the gameplay tournament part too.”
Amelia stands up, having conclusively decided and therefore no longer wanting to deliberate this point. “Then I’ll be there to cheer you on.”
“This feels a little condescending now.”
“It’s not.” She steps over to wrap her arms around me in a hug. “I want to be there for you.”
Chapter Eighteen
The Omaha Board Game Expo is at a large convention center, with different booths on the main floor and several breakout rooms where tournament matches are taking place. Amelia managed to scrounge up a basic attendee badge. Meanwhile, my badge identifies me as both a competitor and a contest entrant, so a few of the more extroverted attendees have very nicely asked about my creation while telling me about their own. The exchanges have all been lovely and friendly, but the other games sound so incredible that I doubt Craft a Witch will amount to much.
After an initial hour of exploring, I refresh the app to see if I’ve been assigned to my first match in the Rivalry tournament yet.
I have been assigned. “Ugh.”
“What?” Amelia asks, peering over my shoulder. She’s holding the clear plastic tote bag with my Fortune Teller character kit inside.
I zoom in on my phone screen and hold up the large-text name on my screen.
“Oh, you’re playing Declan?” she says, confused by my reaction.
“Yeah, and I was kind of hoping to be able to avoid him today.” I shake my head but start walking us toward breakout room number three, where my playing table will be.
“All right, so are you going to tell me what exactly happened there?” Amelia asks. “You two were getting along so well.”
“I thought we were, too, but not well enough, I guess.”
Amelia nods knowingly. “I’m sure the stuff with his parents is—”
I consult the convention center map in the hallway and discover that we have to go up the nearby flight of stairs. “How do you know about that?”
“Grady told me.”
Sure, because she and Grady are still flirty friends. Glad that situation is working out for them. I’m not bitter at all.
“Right,” I say, slightly out of breath after ascending to the second floor.
My sister continues to share what she learned from Declan’s brother. “Grady felt bad about how much Declan had to deal with on his own these past two years.”
