The Rift by J.T. Stoll Page B

seriously, you get why we can’t just
ignore this whole thing, right? It won’t ignore us.”
    Sure, it might not, but that didn’t make it
easier to handle. That didn’t make it easier to want to take
action. The joint in Pieter’s car sounded really nice right
now.
    “ Okay, so what are the other
scenarios?”
    “ Scenario two: Zip the lips. We
kill Jed and his sidekick before more highlanders come through.
Then we go back to our quiet lives.” He said it so casually, as
though planning a raid in WoW. The thought of real violence—so
unlike the video game imitation—made Pieter shiver. The night
before had been enough to last a lifetime.
    “ Or scenario three: Save the
world.” Neil grinned as he said it. “Kill Jed for secrecy then do
exactly what James asked: Fight a guerilla war against Terian and
make Earth a graveyard for his forces. Make sure Rolland wins then
get rewards and glory. And the girls.”
    “ Assuming Rolland’s the good
guy.”
    Neil swirled back and forth in his chair.
“Well, if the prince shows up with an army, it’ll be pretty
obvious, yeah?”
    Pieter stared open mouthed at his friend. “Are
you joking?”
    “ Usually, I’m the one asking you that question.”
    Pieter glanced at the sword hanging on the
wall. “So, you been… waiting for this or something?”
    Neil swiveled and stared dead on at Pieter.
“What, expect a portal to open in my backyard and somebody to come
out and tell me I have to save world?” He breathed heavily. His
eyes had an impulsive, agitated look. Pieter hadn’t seen him this
excited since the first WoW expansion, back when they’d hung out a
bit more and been better friends.
    “ You sound like you’re enjoying
yourself,” Pieter said. “Like Bad Guy Destroy.”
    Neil stared into the distance, an absent,
pleasant look on his face. They both remembered it, meeting as kids
living in the same neighborhood when they were four, right after
Pieter’s family moved to SLO. Their parents had made them play
outside in the park, and the two became best friends. They invented
Bad Guy Destroy, a game that involved turning every toy into a
laser, bazooka, or sword and blasting imaginary bad guys. Co-op,
not versus. It was something like Halo back before their
parents let them play violent video games.
    “ Enjoying myself? Of course not.”
Neil spun away from Pieter. “This isn’t a game. It’s real danger,
real pain and sweat and blood. Excited? No.” But the wild look
didn’t vanish from his eyes.
    “ No, of course not,” Pieter
muttered. He knew which scenario Neil was rooting for. And he
didn’t like it.
     
     
     
     
6. Algebra
     
     
    Pieter lightly jogged through an empty,
locker-lined hallway. It wasn’t that this weekend’s excitement had
caused him to sleep in; it was that every weekend’s excitement
caused him to sleep in. Now that he drove himself to school, his
mom didn’t bother him in the morning.
    Pieter slid into a seat near the back, directly
behind Gloria, just as Mr. Miner finished the roll call. “Pieter
Walters.”
    “ Here,” Pieter called out. Every
once in a while, his last name came in handy.
    Mr. Miner, a tall black man wearing floating
math symbols on his tie, leaped into a lecture on quadratic
equations. The bleary-eyed students slowly felt the freedom of the
weekend drain away. Pieter stared at the back of Gloria’s
head.
    South Obispo High was about ten years old and
lay spread across a hillside surrounded mostly by undeveloped land.
Unlike the older SLO High across town, South Obispo drew students
from nearby county land and a couple towns down the freeway. Pieter
heard some of the teachers who’d grown up elsewhere talk about how
they loved the small town feel of the school and how they never
wanted to teach anywhere else. He couldn’t wait to leave this
parochial village for somewhere fun.
    At the same time, he recognized most of the
students. They’d grown up together, and he brought spice to their
life.