What a Jinx

“Guys, you won’t believe what happened last night,” Abbie said excitedly as she slipped onto the bench at the table. Shelby turned to her with an amused expression while Devon, who was about to take a bite out of his sandwich, stopped and looked at her.

“What?” Shelby asked with a smile as she toyed with the pasta in her school lunch.

“Whatever it is, are you looking for an immediate response? Or can I eat?” Devon asked, still holding his sandwich in midair.

“You can eat, Devon,” Abbie said with a little laugh and a wave of her hand. “It will take me a bit to explain anyway. Have I told you guys about the video game my sister and I were playing?”

“Yeah...Dungeons and Dragons, right?” Shelby asked as Devon instantly bit into his sandwich.

“What? No, that’s a role-playing tabletop game,” Abbie said as she tried not to look at her friend incredulously, but failing. “It’s called The Legend of Dra-”

Then Abbie shook her head.

“You know what, it doesn’t matter. You’re just gonna forget the title anyway. All you need to know is that my sister and I were in the middle of a boss battle…”

**

“This isn’t good, Courtney,” Abbie said after the villain landed a big hit on one of their playable characters, who was arguably the strongest on the team of three that they picked for this fight. The character, Rose, was thankfully still standing, but if she got one more hit, she would definitely be in critical health mode.

And while they still had a few potions left...one of the other characters was in critical health.

They had no revives left.

“I know,” Courtney said when the TV screen signaled that it was the dying character’s turn to fight. “...I think I’m gonna risk it and have Lavitz heal him. I’m better at doing Dart’s addition than I am with Lavitz's.”

“O-okay,” said Abbie nervously. “Oh, why isn’t there a character that can heal everybody at once?!” cried Abbie while Courtney narrowed her eyes before she clicked the fight button.

“We are still kinda early in the game. We probably haven’t met them yet. That or-oh shoot,” Courtney said as Dart’s last hit missed the boss, making what would have been a combo of four into a combo of three. And that wasn’t even including the critical attack they would have gotten as a reward if they had made the full combo.

And obviously, they needed as many hit points as they could get.

“It’s okay,” Abbie assured as she nervously stared at the screen. “Just heal Dart before anything else happens!”

As soon as it became Lavitz’s turn, Courtney quickly scrolled down on the list of options and clicked on potion and chose to use it on Dart. The main protagonist instantly drank the potion, granting him near full health. Abbie breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t that she expected the villain to break protocol and attack when it was still Levitz’s turn, but still.

Bosses could be mean.

“Alright,” Courtney said as soon as Lavitz’s turn came to an end. “I’m going to fight-”

Suddenly, the disturbing boss unleashed a move that hit all of their whole team, knocking them all to the ground. Dart and Lavitz got back on their feet, a little worse for wear but okay.

Rose, however, was now kneeling.

“Oh no,” Abbie said with dread as she stared at how little health Rose had left. “Wait, it’s her turn. Heal her!”

“Can’t,” Courtney said, looking scared. “I used the last potion to heal Dart. You didn’t notice?”

“...Shoot,” Abbie said right before Courtney sighed and chose the fight option. “Wait, what are you doing?! You could have used guard. Guard heals!”

“Not by much,” Courtney said as Rose landed several hits on the boss. “Right now, we need to hurt him as much as possible.”

And even though Courtney managed to make all the quick-time events, thus completing Rose’s addition, or combo, with great success, it wasn’t enough.

The boss was still standing.

And the boss was moving to attack again.

It was with great horror that Abbie realized that Rose was its target once again.

“Why Rose?!” Abbie cried with indignation.

“Rose is gonna die,” Courtney said as soon as the boss hit Rose.

“Don’t jinx her!” Abbie admonished her older sister even though she knew Courtney was right. However, instead of staying on the ground after the villain finished attacking her, Rose got back up.

She was somehow still alive.

Both sisters stared silently at the screen, neither of them moving a muscle.

“Courtney,” Abbie said finally. “Jinx her again.”

**

“And soon after that we won the boss fight,” Abbie finished happily. Her story done, she looked at her two friends, who to her surprise, didn’t seem as awed as she expected.

“Is that it?” asked Devon, his sandwich finished as he popped a chip into his mouth.

“Um, yes,” Abbie said, her smile dimming in confusion.

“Well, that’s a nice story,” Shelby said kindly. “Anyway, are you guys worried about Mr. Whittier’s test? I am…”

As Devon and Shelby quickly talked about their test worries, Abbie frowned. She had been expecting them to laugh or maybe even give her a high five. But as she thought about it, why did Abbie think that? Devon and Shelby didn’t play video games. So why would they get her story? It was okay though. Abbie still loved Devon and Shelby. Abbie had other friends who played video games anyway. But if they somehow didn’t understand just how amazing her story was either...well...

...Then Courtney certainly would.