Roll Initiative

A basement cluttered with old Highlights magazines and empty soda cans contains a group of friends. These teenagers are left to their devices, which consist of a few sets of plastic die, imagination, and unfettered teenage hormones.

The girl of the group's name is Naomi Grace. She smells of something other than sixteen year old angst and sweat. She smells of shampoo, the fruity kind. If one were to ask her, she'd tell them that she doesn't believe in contrived notions of what mainstream media impresses upon women, and stereotypical beauty is beyond her. Regardless though the boys find her pretty, but the intricate balance of a friend group is hinged upon none of them making that move. She sews together a tapestry of story, weaving detail and thought into a shared reality. She is the dungeon master.

"The party, escaping from the hordes of darkness flee into the countryside where they see an old, and dilapidated barn in the distance." She has made a world, and it is for their eyes only. Kevin is transfixed, at first it was from immaculate storytelling, friendship, and excitement. Something more keeps his attention now. In the not-so-far-away distance of upstairs he exists as Kevin Corrine: proud owner of the best comic book collection in the neighborhood, and an expert at not talking to women. Especially the girl who he had a crush on type of woman. But in the world created with thought and inspired by word he was Tristan Goldenbranch: A prince on the run, dashing, daring, and an accumulation of the kind of man Kevin wanted badly to be. "Behold, sanctuary, Tristan dashes as fast as he can towards that barn. He's sick of the rain after all." Kevin smiles at Naomi who returns it, because of course it would be rude to ignore plot bait when presented.

"Whoa there prince, don't be hasty" Brian sits opposite Kevin, and in a lot of ways is opposite Kevin. The gym had been kind to Brian Baylor, and so had the genetics lottery. And as such, so had the young women, and some young men in their class for the last six months or so. Brian, who had just obtained his license was thinking before his outburst, about Naomi. 'She had seriously developed', he thought, and he couldn't get the idea of making out with her out of his head. That was of course until Tristan Goldenbranch darted off into an obvious trap. Hector Von Brunmeister wasn't about to let his friend die an unsightly death because he was tired of being wet. Adopting his best Dwarvish (Boston) accent, he called out "It could be a kinda trap." Hector Von Brunmeister was careful and considerate, he was a good brother and friend. Above all though, he hated traps- and that barn was definitely a trap.

"Traps Schmaps, it's getting late and we've been walking for ages, my legs are tired." The last member of this quartet of wayward teenagers rubbed his legs as if he were the one who had been walking. Gary Croftson, the only one in the group who had managed to grow any facial hair, and displayed what little he had proudly. He had outgrown his clothes at a similar rate that he had outgrown fat jokes. With great fat, he said once on a playground outside of St. Claire's comes great strength. He then proceeded to throw the child who had called him fat off of the slide at an angle that broke an ankle and wounded the pride of one Brian Baylor. He was the spark that ignited the friendship and often was the one who kept it going. It wasn't lost on him that Brian had grown muscles and a jawline, or that Kevin in many ways was developing into a promising protagonist of some other story. It also wasn't lost on him that Naomi, who had begun as a fellow comic book enthusiast, had become that girl. The one who inevitably ends friend groups by being alive. "Besides, if there's any trap in there, we're a good team," Sylvester Oakenblade was an Elven sorcerer, capable of magic feats of miraculous wonders, and was usually the logician of the group.

"Alright, fine." Brian said.

Naomi smiled, brightening both worlds for a moment. "The party makes their way toward the old barn, a parliament of barn owls flies towards the party and then arcs their way west"

"A what?" Brian asked.

"A parliament of barn owls" Naomi said, glancing up from her notes, "in the darkness-"

"I don't get it." Brian said.

"It's what a group of owls is called, like swarm of bees, or flock of pigeons," Gary said.

"Or murder of crows," Kevin added.

"Exactly!" Naomi acknowledged the last with enthusiasm, as both parliament and murder were both things she had really just learned, but she wasn't about to diminish her brilliance by admitting that what she was passing off as common, was recently acquired knowledge.

"Oh." Brian said, he got it now, but parliament still didn't make much sense. Why would a group of owls be called a parliament, and was it just him or did Kevin seem closer to Naomi recently?

"Okay, so these barn owls come out, then what?" Gary asked.

"Right, in the darkness the party can see a figure, everyone make me a perception check."

The trio of young men roll a twenty sided die to decide the fate of their characters.

"2" said Brian crossing his arms, this game isn't really fun anymore he thought. He took a quick glance under the table. Naomi had long legs that Brian couldn't ignore anymore.

"11" Gary said, checking for perception meant that there was probably danger in the barn, but the bigger question was, did Brian just do a once over of Naomi?

"20!" A 20 rolled in this particular game is a critical success making sure that the efforts of a character are rewarded, it could make a doomed plan succeed, it was the equivalent of a small miracle. Kevin made a point of not moving that twenty sided die he had cast. It was a perfect score after all. His heart was beating fast, for a few reasons.

"Excellent, Hector Von Brunmeister you're a little too occupied searching for traps near the entrance and on the ground in front of you to really see the figure, or anything beyond the entrance." Brian's glances were not foreign to her, and if she had been another girl, they might've meant something more. It was true that he did fit a certain ideal of Instagram worthy photo ops and probably the ability to slide underneath a car on a skateboard. At another time perhaps she could explore feelings and decide how she felt, but right now a higher responsibility presented itself in the form of being a dungeon architect and master

"Sylvester Oakenblade, your keen senses have allowed you to be aware of a dark presence, you see on the ground just beyond the entrance of the barn a dark mist coiling in on itself as if from a cauldron of other worldly substance-"

"Whoa, I run!" Brian said, "I definitely run"

"No you don't, you haven't seen any of that" Kevin said

"What are you talking about, Naomi literally just said-"

"She said that Sylvester saw and sensed those things, not Hector so he has no reason to run," Gary couldn't quite see the heat that started to make its way into Brian's face

"But I knew it was a trap, I knew it!"

"Look, it was raining, and we needed a place to sleep. We'd also been walking for a long time, and a barn was a good logical fit," Kevin said.

"Whatever." Brian slouched down in the white plastic folding chair, it both expressed his defeatism mentality and allowed him to look at Naomi without making it too obvious.

Naomi continued, "with a 20 on the dice though, a critical success Tristan Goldenbranch, you peer into the darkness as if it were daylight. You see the figure silhouetted against the aging barn. His yellow eyes meet yours in a silent reverie and you recognize him at once, as Orshe' the Dark Minister." Naomi closed her notebook of scrawled sentences and scribbled doodles, and the temporary closure of a universe existent in the minds of the players. "And with that, we'll end our session today."

The first up from the table was Brian who took the opportunity to stretch and flex, because he saw in a video on Youtube that stretching and showing off your flexible side can attract women.

"Well, I'll catch you losers later," No one reacted, he was usually first to leave, but he didn't recognize his words until they came out of his mouth. Of course they were his words, and they were normal, and they were exactly something he would say. He had even said them before, with the exact same tone, inflection and cadence. The difference this time was, when he said it, looking down at the three of them, a part of him really meant it. He walked towards the stairs, his Nike's leaving impressions in the brown shag carpet. "Naomi, what are you up to tomorrow night?" He hadn't originally meant to ask it at all, let alone so nonchalantly, let alone in front of everyone.

Kevin and Gary both looked at each other. It was never agreed upon formally, but wasn't there some sort of rule about asking that girl out?

"I'm not entirely sure, it's Saturday tomorrow, so binge watching anime and eating cup noodle. Probably here, maybe at my house though you can come if you want to, but I doubt you'll enjoy it."

"Well, if you don't end up doing that, come with me to Sullivan's car show, my dad's got a car in the show." Brian started walking up the stairs. It felt to Gary like the inevitable tearing of the friend group had just begun fray. He could feel it, and it was equal parts Brian and Kevin's faults, with an equal share of blame going to puberty. It was Brian's fault because he had asked, and it was Kevin's fault because he had not.

"Okay, I'll let you know" Naomi said, projecting her voice so Brian could hear it on his way out. She didn't really like cars. His dad's 1974 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am SD455 was nice and all, and she had even made it a point to memorize exactly what kind of car it was so she wouldn't sound dumb in front of Mr. Baylor. Besides why would she not want to watch anime?

A silence enveloped the small group, each gathering their various supplies from around the table.

"Hey. Naomi, you can go with Brian," Kevin said.

"Excuse me?" Naomi asked. She wasn't sure she caught that completely right, and as if a record scratched and the track stopped a second world shattered. The one in which a group of friends would sit in a basement pretending to be people they weren't so that they could live with who they were.

"Naomi, great session, thank you, very well done." Gary stood up, and collected the dice in front of him, as well as the ones that he kept bringing for Brian. "I hate to play and run, but I've actually got a pretty big assignment due for Mr. Tinklepaugh, see ya." As he closed the door to the basement and waved goodbye to Ms. Corrine, he had a terrible feeling that they wouldn't ever get to face the Dark Minister in that barn.

"I'm just saying you don't have to watch anime here tomorrow if you don't want to, you can go with Brian to the car show," Kevin hadn't missed the way that Brian was staring in those last few minutes, or the fact that he had purposefully stretched and flexed in front of everyone, a technique he had shown Brian on Youtube a year or so before for attracting women.

"And I said excuse me, because I know you didn't just give me permission to do anything," she wasn't entirely prepared for her anger, but the words kept coming, "and also, I think you remember literally just a second ago me telling Brian that I wanted to watch anime instead of going to his car show," she said. She stared at him for a second, and then stood up and started making her way towards the stairs.

"Hey, no, I wasn't giving you permission or anything like that. I was just saying, like-" Kevin stopped, he wasn't exactly sure what he was saying, he was so confident a second ago when he had assumed that she had wanted to go with Brian "I mean I just don't want you to miss out on anything, or, I don't, like, if you like Brian or something-" he stopped himself again. Words were pouring out faster than sense was.

"If I like- oh for the love of-" She rolled her eyes and took the first step of the stairs, but then turned around, white knuckling her notebook "What!? so it's okay with you if I like Brian?" she probably didn't, but Kevin was being such an idiot.

"Yeah, I mean. No, I mean, do you?" Kevin could have sworn he saw her eyes bulge in the dimly lit basement. "Naomi, look, I'm just saying I wouldn't be offended, and it wouldn't ruin the group," of course he would be hurt, but that was besides the point because at that moment he realized those were not the words to say.

"Oh. My. God." She threw her notebook and strode towards Kevin, she had never in her life been so frustrated with him. "It's none of your business whether I like him or not, maybe I don't, but maybe I do!" she said, what was it that she saw in his eyes at that moment? It didn't really matter "But God Kevin, I didn't think it would impact the group at all, and when did you get made captain of this group by the way, huh? Did we take a vote or something?"

"No, I just-" Kevin started

"Oh, you just thought you would take sole responsibility of the group's well being? I've got news, it's not yours, and neither is who I like, or what I do. And you wouldn't be offended?" She asked, but Kevin finally starting to catch on, didn't answer.

"When, on this green round earth did who I like or didn't like become a matter of offense for you? If I chose to like Gary would that be better or worse, hey here's an idea, why don't I list my top ten guys, and you can tell me whether you'd be offended or not if I dated them."

"Naomi, I-" Truthfully, he didn't want Naomi to go out with Brian so badly it hurt, but his natural response was to give up prematurely and take an approach of never having liked her at all, that way he wouldn't be hurt if they were together.

"Save it Kevin. I'm not an idiot, you think I can't see when Brian obviously stares at me, when he literally flexes in front of me? Do you think it's lost on me that I know exactly what Brian wants?" She stopped for a second, as if expecting some response but she was busy analyzing her prey. She saw it then in his face, something she had suspected for a little, but didn't want to assume. "But you know what pisses me off the most? Is that instead of being my friend and accepting whoever it is that I like or don't like, you went and shipped me off in your head with Brian like I was some sort of daughter in Renaissance French literature," a partial truth, but what had hurt just the same was that he didn't trust her enough to share how he really felt, because she could have been trusted to handle that with care. She then turned around and started walking up the steps that seemed to separate worlds.

Kevin almost stopped her. He just couldn't bring himself to. He sat down in one of the chairs looking at the 20 on the dice.

Kevin woke up Saturday morning wishing that Friday night was a bad nightmare, but one trip to the basement confirmed a terrible reality. He picked up Naomi's notebook and placed it gently on the desk. It didn't take long for him to roam over to Gary's to play video games, relating the tale that had burned a deep possibly irreparable hole in the group.

"It's all Brian's fault" Kevin said, rapidly pressing buttons on a Playstation controller, a soda threatening to spill on the couch

"It really sounds like yours honestly," Gary replied, very methodical in his approach to reality and to the pressing of buttons, leading him to an early victory in an argument and a game.

"What?" Kevin laid the controller down.

"I mean, if you wouldn't have said anything, she would've watched anime with you tonight, and Brian would've gone to the car show alone, and everything would've been fine probably. Now she's going with Brian to a car show she's studying for" Gary continued to eat his bowl of Cookie Crisp, because he was sixteen, basically a man, and could eat whatever cereal he damn well pleased.

"She's what!?" Kevin sat up straight, he knew he had made a mistake, but he didn't think she'd actually go to the stupid car show.

"Yeah, studying, right? She texted me earlier asking what kind of car show it was, and I told her it was a classic, to which she responded 'thanks' and you just know she's Googling it, like, I get it, but who cares if you know about cars or not, y'know?" Gary put more Cookie Crisp into the bowl.

"I gotta go, I'll see you later" Kevin said

"Awesome man, yeah, see you. Really don't go to that car show though." Gary said, warning Kevin not to do something that Gary knew he would almost assuredly do. The door closed as Kevin left, and Gary unpaused the game.

Naomi was beginning to hate cars, but she wasn't going to look like an idiot at a car show. If anything she would prove that she could know more than Brian about them. As she scrolled through fact sheets on 1950s through 1960s classic cars she couldn't get the day before out of her head. Should she have been as rough as she was with Kev? Yes was her answer, a million times yes. She had texted Brian as soon as she got home telling him that plans had changed and that she was able to go to that car show. He texted back three smiley face emojis.

Brian was helping his dad wax the Firebird in his garage on Saturday morning. He knew Naomi wasn't into cars, so it was the perfect date idea, because if she ended up saying yes, it wasn't because of the event, but because of him. He took a moment to admire himself in the newly waxed exterior of the vehicle. Mr. Baylor slapped him in the back of the neck lightly with a rag "D'you think maybe you could stop admiring yourself and start on the tires? We gotta have her ready by one."

"Where are you?" Naomi texted Brian at the start of the show. Never one to be late she got dropped off at the car show at six thirty on the dot. The car show was set up in an old airplane hangar, old cars stretched from one end to the other. A yellow 1970 Buick GSX Stage 1, she recognized to her left and either a 1968 Ford Mustang GT500KR, or a 1969 Ford Boss 429 Mustang she really couldn't remember from her 'exam' cramming. She was just about to Google it when she heard a voice say "I'm right here."

She looked up, and almost didn't recognize Brian. She was used to seeing him in a lousy Nike t-shirt and jeans, but because his dad was in the show, he was wearing an official car show polo with khakis, and she had to admit that he didn't look awful.

"Hey." She said

"Sup?" He replied, "My dad's car is that way," he pointed to one end of the long hangar, "but let's walk around for a bit, I'll show you around." He took her by the hand, and she was a little surprised at her heart rate. She absolutely didn't have a crush, but it was nice to be wanted right?

Kevin was busy burying himself in a Deadpool comic book, who was busy fighting the dead presidents. As interesting as it was though, he couldn't shake the unbearable pit in his stomach as he thought about the Snapchat stories of the 'happy couple'. Brian had become obsessed with posting things on his story so that everyone could see how awesome he was. When did he start feeling this type of resentment towards Brian? Was it always there, or was it jealousy? He knew he shouldn't go that car show. He didn't know anything about cars after all, but it was only a thirty minute walk away.

Brian showed her around, pointing out interesting facts about famous looking cars, an orange car that Brian pointed out looked just like the one from the Dukes of Hazzard, but it couldn't have been. Naomi asked why not, as if she cared, and he pointed at the grille, it wasn't split like the 1969 versions used in the show, so it was a 1968 edition. "That's a detail that Hector Von Brunmeister would've missed" She joked.

"Only if he rolled a 2 for perception, but if he rolled any higher he definitely would've noticed." He took that moment to put his arm around her waist. She didn't fight it, and they went walking like that, even though it was awkward, it felt okay.

Kevin was fifteen minutes away from the car show. What was he going to do or say when he got there? "Hey Naomi, I know we had a super big fight, but please come back to my house and watch Anime with me tonight?" Nope, 'I'll figure it out when I see her' he thought.

The lights dimmed in the hangar, as they do when the show starts proper. Certain displays were lit up by an above skylight, spinning and sparkling in the direct light. Maybe Naomi didn't hate cars really, maybe she didn't mind the idea of Brian. She'd figure it out later.

Brian didn't want to figure it out later, "Hey, I've got the keys to a buddy's car if you want to see the inside of one?" Brian had begged to use one of his dad's friends Oldsmobile Toranados for a very urgent reason. His dad, and the friend were no strangers to teenage romance, so he just asked that they return the interior exactly as they found it. "No problem" Brian said.

"Uh, sure" Naomi said. 'He probably wants to make out a little bit. I can deal with that, and promised herself that she would figure out how she felt after the fact.

Kevin arrived to the car show and looked like a sixteen year old who knows nothing about cars, because he was a sixteen year old who knew nothing about cars.

The Oldsmobile Toranado has a lot of leg room and raisable arms, so getting to the point where a couple could become physically engaged was not difficult. Brian imagined himself as a fantastic kisser, and he thought 'Naomi's not too bad either' He got caught up in her scent of fruity shampoo and cinnamon.

Naomi realized too quickly that if making out were an art form Brian was still using finger paints. She felt a hand on her thigh and didn't really hate it being there, but when it started to creep up higher than what was comfortable she gently laid a hand on his, and was almost surprised when he didn't push.

Kevin wandered around, thinking about what he was gonna say, he found his way in some time to Mr. Baylor's Pontiac. "Hey Kevin, what's up?" Brian's dad was showing the car off to a few enthusiasts with fancy cameras out taking flash photos. "If you're looking for Brian I think he's on a date" He said turning back to talk to the fans. "No, that's okay, I'm just here to look around." Mr. Baylor raised his eyebrow "Really?"

Brian thoroughly enjoyed everything that was happening, if only he could see a little more skin, touch a little more. "Take your shirt off," he whispered in here ear after biting it.

"What?" She asked

"Take off your-" He tried to say it just as softly

"No, no I heard you, no thank you." She went back in to continue the moment as if nothing happened.

"Hey, I can't go up your skirt, you won't take off your shirt, are we gonna have any fun?" He asked, still smiling with a practiced slow cadence.

"Roll for performance." She said, voice devoid of any flirtation, as she slid out of the position of embrace.

"What?" He was both confused and frustrated

"It's a one on the dice, sorry critical failure," she was nearly out when he grabbed her wrist.

"Really? Classic douche move? You gonna call me a prude next or try to restrain me?" The fact that it was cliche' and that she had known Brian since the time they were little didn't make her fear in that moment any less real. There was a common thought that told her he would never, but there was a still small voice that asked, would he?

"Oh come on, don't be like this, I thought were were having a good time? I won't pressure you anymore promise" he released his hand, what was he trying to accomplish there. It's not like he was going to force himself on her right? He knew better. Didn't he? The conflict in him was just as subtle and violent as the one raging inside of her.

"I'm gonna go." She opened the car door, and he remained inside, each to be alone with their growing thoughts.

Kevin didn't see her leave, he had wandered around aimlessly for the better part of half an hour, and didn't stop until an Oldsmobile Coronado honked at him.

Kevin and Brian sat in the car for a few moments in silence, and then

"What are you doing here man? You don't even like cars" Brian asked.

"I was looking for you and Naomi" Kevin admitted.

"What, why?" Brian asked, the momentary confusion distracted him from the whirl of his own thoughts.

Kevin explained the fight in the basement after he left.

"So you like her too." Brian said

"Yeah." Kevin answered. No point in denying it. No point in acting shocked that Brian figured it out. No point in lying to himself about it anymore either.

After another few moments of silence Brian said "Well, you'd better get going if you want to catch the beginning of Ruroni Kenshin," Brian said.

Kevin didn't know whether to be more shocked by the fact that Brian knew that Ruroni Kenshin existed, that he knew what it was, that he knew what time it aired, or that he knew that Kevin and Namoi watched it. Brian shrugged as if doing basic research on a girl one liked was completely natural.

"I think she needs a friend is all." Brian said, eyes looking beyond a car show, into a one story house on a suburban street, into the room of a girl who was busy distracting herself with a popular Japanese Cartoon.

The doorbell rang, and Naomi could hear her mom answering the door. "Thanks Mrs. Grace" she heard an all too familiar voice say. Then she heard the footsteps approach her door, and a knock. "Hey," Kevin said, through the door.

He wasn't sure if she'd open the door, or talk to him, or what, but there was a churning in his gut telling him that this was the right place to be. The door opened a crack of less than an inch "What do you want?" She asked.

"I came to apologize." He said to mostly a door. "Puberty and the fact that you're beautiful, and me being a coward came together in a really bad way, and I'm sorry." The door shut completely. She wasn't exactly sure how she felt, but hearing Kevin's voice unwavering even if it was through a door, reminded her of a certain Tristan Goldenbranch. But that didn't make everything right.

"I know sorry doesn't cut it, but if you don't let me in, I'm going to miss the beginning of Ruroni Kenshin, and that makes you an awful person," Kevin said.

"Appealing to my mercy now are we?" She said smiling. She had to admit, it would make her an awful person. She deserved to be awful once in a while though she thought. Without thinking about it, she blurted out "Roll for performance."

After a little bit she didn't hear anything, and called out, "Kevin?" but no answer availed itself. Curiosity got the best of her after five minutes, and she opened the door. Kevin was gone.

Half way into the Ruroni Kenshin episode she got a text with a screenshot of a dice roll on the middle of the table "I got a twenty."

She smiled at the picture, and texted back, "Critical Success."