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.“Maybe we could do it again sometime? I mean, you know, hang out?”Autumn gave him a slight smile.“Yeah…yeah, I’d like that.”She waited while he dug out his cell phone, and then they exchanged numbers.“Call me,” he said, seeing that her eyes were shining.She went into the door just before her smile became a wide grin.He couldn’t keep one off his own face, whistling “Hell’s Bells” as his eyes searched for a taxi.“I need a heal!” came the frantic, high-pitched, barely-masculine voice in Phil’s ear.“I’m coming,” he said, fingers flashing over his keyboard.The figure on his computer screen, a pointy-eared fellow with baroque armor, was obscured briefly by an open menu.Without really seeing the symbols flashing before him, Phil made a rapid series of commands.When he came back out of the menu, his avatar strolled up to an animated melee.The avatar’s hands glowed, and one of the fallen digital warriors was soon back on his feet.“What took so long?” came the whining voice in his headset.“You’re welcome, Dean.” Phil’s voice dripped with venom.“Hey, is that Phillip’s voice I hear?” asked a feminine voice through the headset.“It’s me, Crawley.You need a heal?”Crawley chuckled.“No, I just thought you had band practice on Saturday nights.”“There is no band right now.” Phil’s fingers flashed over the keyboard.“Unless we can find another lead guitarist, stat!”“Who cares about your fucking band?” said Dean.“We’re in the middle of a raid here.”“I can carry on a conversation and play, you know.” Phil gritted his teeth.“Then how come my heal was so late?”“I play guitar,” said Crawley’s voice.Phil felt a rush of elation, but he was busy trying to keep Dean off his back.“Uhm, that’s great.”“I’ve been playing since I was eleven! I know there’s chicks who embarrass themselves all over the Internet trying to seem artistic, but I can actually play.”“Am I the only one who cares about the Darkstone Legacy Shadow Warriors bearing down upon us?” asked Dean.“Yes,” said Crawley and Phil at the same time, causing them both to burst into laughter.“I guess you could come out and, I don’t know, jam with us or whatever,” said Phil, clicking rapidly on his mouse.“That would be awesome! I used to play a lot with my brother’s band, but they broke up when he got deployed to Afghanistan.”Phil allowed himself to be cautiously optimistic.“What kind of music did they play?”“Kind of classic rock, but they did a few contemporary songs, like Nickelback.”“Oh, yeah, that’s cool.”“If you want to be in this guild, you have to take it seriously!” said Dean.“Shut up, asshole,” said Phil.He winced at his own words.“I was talking to Dean, not you Crawley.”“Yeah, I knew that.You said asshole, so I knew you were talking about Dean.”They both laughed, causing the butt of her joke to sputter.“I don’t need this shit! I’m turning off my headset, so you two can flirt all you want.”“Uh,” said Phil.Crawley’s voice giggled in his ear, a girlish sound that made him grin.“So when are we gonna do this?”“Uh, I guess tomorrow might be good,” he said slowly.“I know Rex is off, and our lead singer never works weekends.Rex will just use it as an excuse to have a barbeque.”“I love barbeque! You’re still friends with me on Facebook, right?”“I should be,” said Phil, bringing up another window.He looked at a picture quite similar to the video game character she used as an avatar.The name looked a little strange.“Uh, there’s an Eleanor Chav Rng Leizl…What is this, Chinese? I can’t pronounce it.”Crawley’s voice giggled in his ear.“Tagalog, actually.Crawley is our Anglo approximation.Dad got sick of his mail never coming to the house a few years ago and legally changed it to Crawley.It’s close enough and easy to spell.When I started an online account, I thought I’d use the old family name.”“That’s cool.” Phil felt foolish for mangling the name.“I’ll message you my number…right after this raid.”“Right!” Phil’s focus returned to the game.Chapter 4SUSAN BANGED on the thin door of Steve’s apartment, raising her voice to be heard above the din she was making.“Wake up, jerk! It’s noon, for God’s sake!”A moment later his face appeared in the doorway, still swollen with sleep.An indentation from his pillow created a comical design across his cheeks, which were covered in fine stubble.“I don’t give a shit what time it is, I’m goddamn tired.What are you doing here?”“Uh, duh?” She pushed past him into his tiny apartment.“We’re having lunch with dad today, remember?”“Oh, shit…give me a minute?”“Take two.” Susan plopped down on his sofa.She had on tight jeans and a snug-fitting T-shirt, her long, dirty-blond hair cascading down her back.Her painted thumbnail flicked through a dozen channels in a matter of seconds [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]