Page 61 of Stops Along the Way
“Yeah, it does seem tough,” I admit, pushing through the double doors to the room that has a sheet of paper taped outside labeling it number three.
Though I knew he’d be there, I’m not quite ready to see Declan and Grady checking in at the front table. Declan’s in his usual yellow sweatshirt, his Space Pirate box in hand, looking so familiar it hurts. I wish I could just snap my fingers and erase the entire road trip so that this could be completely normal.
But it’s not like our Space Pirate or Fortunate Teller decks realize that anything between us is different.
“Hey,” Declan says quietly, slipping into his chair at the table.
I nod in return, taking my place.
“I’m rooting for both of you,” Grady says with a large smile, pointing enthusiastically at us with each hand.
“You know they’re playingagainsteach other,” Amelia corrects, some of her original snark returning, but she seems happy to see him. “Is there anywhere for us to sit?”
Grady leads her over to a row of chairs along the wall, where they won’t actually be able to watch any of the matches, so I suspect it’ll be a fairly boring time. But Amelia insisted on coming to the expo, so ah well.
A member of the tournament staff stops by to give Declan and me the official score card. The only stat it asks for is the winner and each player’s final health result.
“Less data than you’re used to,” I say to Declan. “You didn’t bring your notebook?”
He hesitates, unpacking his box. “I didn’t think it was likely that I’d be up against someone I knew.”
Right, because that’s all I am to him.Just someone he knows.I never should’ve expected to be anything more than that.
We roll our starting dice, and he goes first, and quickly enough we fall back into routine, but it’s as if we’re passively watching ourselves play. I leverage an action card, he rolls dice and hopes for the best, and repeat ad nauseam.
Sometimes I glance toward him when I feel certain I won’t catch his eye, and when I focus on reading a card, I can feel his gaze watching me closely, but if I look back up, his eyes dart away. It’s almost like it could be so easy to break the ice between us, but we don’t know how. Or don’t want to.
My heart isn’t in it. I don’t even care if I lose…which I do.
“Sorry,” Declan whispers as I lower my final health status.
“It doesn’t matter,” I say, grabbing the pen to record our final scores on the paper. I sign my name at the bottom; Declan signs his and waves over the staff to come attest and collect our results card. Amelia and Grady are at their seats, whispering conspiratorially. I motion for my sister to meet me at the door and leave the table without saying goodbye.
.....
Since I’m not advancing in the tournament, there’s a lot of time to kill until the board game creation winners are announced, so Amelia and I explore the Artists’ Alley. My sister buys a littlecrochet fox that she finds adorable even though it’s a character in a board game she’s never played.
I’m dragging my feet from booth to booth, not wanting to be here. “We might as well go home,” I say.
“What? No, we have to wait for the announcements!” Amelia holds up the little fox and uses a baby voice. “We gotta see if you win!”
“Do you remember everyone we’ve talked to and all their much better-sounding games? I’m not going to win.” There isn’t much seating on the main floor, so I walk over to the wall and slide down to the ground.
Amelia points to the nearby food window. “Okay, I’m going to get us some sugar, then you’ll be excited again.”
She returns with fried dough covered in an excessive amount of powdered sugar that admittedly does make me feel a lot better as I scarf it down in what must be a record number of bites.
“We can get another one,” she suggests.
“Nah, we don’t have to.”
“I’m starving; we’re getting another one.”
After we finish eating, content and happy and absolutely riding the sugar rush, Amelia and I find our way over to the announcement area. It’s a platform stage, where there are four small circular tables with the winning games displayed under a navy sheet, to be revealed. They must also each be under some sort of box, too, unless all the winners are the exact same size, in which case, Craft a Witch isdefinitelynot there, but I allow myself to maintain a smidge of optimism.
There are about fifteen rows of chairs for attendees to sit and watch the results, but I stand with Amelia along the side, not wanting to get stuck watching the team results after I lose the solo entries. That unfortunately means I notice when Declan and Grady show up and take their seats, within view of where we’re standing.
A woman in her forties wearing a purple suit takes the stage with a gaggle of other somewhat eccentric but professional-looking adults. They introduce themselves and then kick things off. “Thank you all for joining us! I’m very passionate about up-and-coming board game creation, so it was such an honor to be on the selection committee. Truly, all your submissions were wonderful, and it was so difficult narrowing this down, but we’re delighted to share our winners today.”
