Chasing Rusty Parker - 7. Sunny Hill Wildlife

Chapter Seven – Sunny Hill Wildlife

Matty could hardly believe his luck if that was what he should call Rusty walking straight toward him. After Zoey had done some quick research on Rusty’s whereabouts by checking the local gossip page that, sometimes, offered the latest rumors live, he had been armed with a general idea where the new girl might be waiting to get the king of the campus into her clutches.

He had gone there, thankful for being able to take the same wall route as before, but without having high hopes.

And yet, fate or the laws of the universe were on his side, so lo and behold, Rusty was right there, befriending the new girl. Matty had remained stuck on the wall, not knowing what exactly cockblocking implied as a general practice, until Rusty had decided to wave the girl goodbye and head over to him.

His heart beat faster, but he had the presence of mind to hike himself to his feet and keep his tail away from Rusty’s wandering hands. By how the guy was moving forward, his hands raised and his fingers moving, he was very much in the mood to either drag Matty down from the wall by his tail, scratch his back, tickle him, or all of the above.

“What’s your name, kitten?” Rusty purred as he got closer.

Name, name, oh, fuck, he hadn’t thought about it. “My name is,” he started and then he realized that he was supposed to speak in a different voice. He cleared his throat and began again in a shrilly voice. “My name is…” so, his coat was pretty slick, being latex and all, and, um, his eyes fell on a small tree nearby with some sort of decorative fruit on it, “Slicky Coolplums.”

Rusty blinked a few times and leaned on the wall with one hand while staring at him with a huge smile. “So, are your balls always cold because you have no actual fur, or are you chill as balls?”

Ah, damn, what a stupid name to choose. No going back now. Fuck. “My balls are always cool because I fear nothing,” he declared and sidestepped as Rusty tried to reach for the tip of his tail that was hanging low, feigning a casual move.

“Hmm, that’s cool,” Rusty replied. “Pun intended. Who owns you, kitty?”

Matty threw Rusty a withering look from above. “Take that back.” Could he try to hiss? Better not risk it without knowing firsthand what he sounded like. This was supposed to be seduction of some sort. “I’m a stray and proud of it.”

“Very well. I’m glad to hear that,” Rusty said in a very strange polite manner. “Then I shall be the one to domesticate you.”

Matty snorted. “I am not to be domesticated.”

“What are you to be?” Rusty continued in the same deferential way.

They were two actors playing in a very bad play.

So, the plan had been to cockblock Rusty, but right now, Matty had no idea how to continue this very strange interaction. Ah, he was supposed to play hard to get. “I do whatever I want,” he said and began marching along the wall.

Rusty pushed himself away from the wall and began to walk by his side. At least, he wasn’t getting on the wall to chase him like before. That was a good thing.

“Do you take classes here, at Sunny Hill?” Rusty asked.

“What nonsense,” Matty quipped. “I am a cat. Cats don’t go to school.”

“Wow, you’re pretty amazing. Totally into your cat persona,” Rusty praised him.

“Thank you,” Matty said primly.

He knew where to go to put some sort of barrier between him and his dutiful follower. He jumped from the wall behind the wire fence going round the vegetable garden where the biology students were conducting their various experiments on improving crops. The ground was soft under his feet, and he stopped for a moment to check where Rusty was.

Safely enough on the other side of the fence. Rusty hooked his fingers into the wire and stared at him. “I could swear you had a different hairstyle and hair color last time.”

Yeah, because this time, he had gone full cat boy. Zoey had even forced him to wear the contacts he had ordered. It was, indeed, an expensive hobby, but it served well to know that his eyes were safely hidden from Rusty’s inquisitive stares. One great thing about these contacts is that they had been made to help his eyesight, so he wasn’t in any danger of ending up making a fool of himself by falling off a wall. That, and, of course, all the balance exercises he had performed since high school.

“You have poor eyesight,” he accused and winced inside. He wasn’t one to talk.

“Nah, I think you’re just getting into it. You’re pretty shy.”

“I beg your pardon?” Matty said in the best grating voice he could muster.

“Yeah. You need to do better.”

Matty turned on his heel. “I do not take advice from a human.”

And that had been a mistake because somehow, his tail brushed by the fence and Rusty’s deft fingers caught it.

“Take your hands off me,” Matty growled at him. “Leave my tail alone.”

But Rusty already had one hand pushed through what looked like a hole in the fence and was now holding onto his tail with all his might. Matty was well aware that if he tried to pull, and Rusty pulled in the opposite direction, the tail might tear, or worse, tear the material where it was sewn into the rest, and most likely expose Matty’s naked ass underneath. He really needed to consider some skimpy underwear. That way, he wouldn’t have to clean the costume so thoroughly after each use.

“I’m going to scratch you,” he warned. The claws the costume came with were pretty sharp, which had been a surprise to him when trying to gauge their quality.

“I don’t mind. Scratch me all you want.”

Matty wavered. What was he supposed to do?

“All I want is to pet you,” Rusty explained. “Come closer.”

“Don’t touch my hair,” Matty warned, pointing at his wig. Being exposed so early in the game would be bad.

“No worries,” Rusty said brightly.

He didn’t like it, but those were the risks he was taking as a cat boy. He moved close to the fence. And gasped promptly when Rusty’s other hand grabbed his ass.

How on earth did he manage to put his hands through the fence so easily? Matty grabbed Rusty’s wrist, but it was so strong, and his wandering hand was kneading Matty’s ass while its owner didn’t care to conceal his delight.

“You perv,” Matty accused. Yeah, right, like he wasn’t there, while it was still light outside, dressed in a latex suit that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. Such a hard case of the pot calling the kettle black.

“Come on, only a little,” Rusty begged. “You have an awesome ass. Do you do house calls?”

Matty gasped in outrage. Actually, Rusty’s hand on his ass felt rather nice. At least, his tail was left alone, but that was only because Rusty had different plans.

“Nice plums,” Rusty said in a low, seductive voice, as his fingers reached through the fence and touched Matty with only the tips.

Matty pushed himself away and escaped. He stood a few feet back and took in Rusty, who had an obvious look of satisfaction on his face. “House calls,” he said and scoffed. “You cannot bribe me.”

“Don’t blame a man for trying. I could leave a bowl of milk outside. Or do you prefer something stronger?”

“Stronger than your milk?” Oops, the weird things coming out of his mouth.

“Point taken,” Rusty said and his eyes flashed with mischief. “Are you challenging me to fill an entire bowl? That might take some time.”

Matty crossed his arms and turned his head to one side, while setting his chin high. “Your human perversions do not interest me.”

“That’s all right,” Rusty said. “I’m sure we can find common ground. Walk you home?”

“You grabbed my ass, and now you’re asking this?”

“It’s the least I can do since you won’t let me buy you… I mean, make you dinner.”

Matty shrugged. “I am not so silly as to lead you to my hiding place.”

“Good point. When will I see you again?”

Matty was already putting distance between them, and it looked like Rusty didn’t feel like scaling the wire fence and coming after him. The chances were that he would get caught if they were to go for a race in the open vegetable field. Was this enough to cockblock Rusty for the entire evening? Should he dally some more? But he was supposed to play hard to get, and except for the ass-grabbing incident, things had gone rather well so far.

“Only if you play nice,” he shouted back.

“I’m the nicest dude in the land,” Rusty assured him.

“I know who you are, Mr. King. The moment I turn my back, you’ll be in someone’s panties.”

“Not tonight. All this talk about milk made me hungry. But if you want me to play nice, you’ll have to give me something in return.”

“Like what? More petting?”

“Yeah, why not? And maybe meeting without a fence between us.”

“We’ll see,” Matty replied and waved.

“Goodbye, Slicky Coolplums,” Rusty shouted after him.

Matty hunched his head into his shoulders from the cringe. Great. He was stuck with that stupid nickname now.

***

What do you know of local wildlife, boys and girls of Sunny Hill? Just like you, we thought that unless you count the somewhat reprobate behavior of the football team after a win, there was none of it.

We bring you great news, dear audience. We do have wildlife here, on campus! So far, only one specimen has been spotted, but who’s to say that there are not more.

We are talking about a cat boy. Yes, a cat boy, complete with ears, tail, and claws. How sharp those are, we cannot say. But we are willing to pay grandly for any reports on spotting him and any additional information. How? Let’s say that we’ll forgive you for all those times you ended up puking your guts out after a party, or all the promises you made not to fall for the same wrong guy or girl again. Take advantage of our generous offer. It’s for a limited time only.

“Oh, wow, Rusty wasn’t talking out of his ass,” Kane commented. “We have a cat boy on campus.”

“When do I ever talk out of my ass?” Rusty asked with emphasis. “I told you the cat boy was real.”

“Did you summon him with the power of your mind?” Dex intervened in the conversation.

They were enjoying leftovers from dinner the night before, and they were still better than anything else Rusty would normally have eaten. Jonathan could always become a chef if the chemistry thing didn’t pan out.

“I wouldn’t be surprised.” Maddox was holding Jonathan close and nuzzling his neck while they were both leaning against the countertop.

Rusty observed them with a sour look on his face.

“Is there a chance,” Kane began again, “that you actually put on a cat boy suit and pranced all over the campus at night?”

Rusty gave his housemate a look he hoped appeared insufferable enough. “No, Kane the Bane of all sexy fantasies. What would be the point of that?”

Kane shrugged. “I don’t know. So that you can fulfill your crazy-ass fantasy and touch yourself all over.”

“For your information, I like it better when someone else does the touching.”

“Something you are said not to have indulged in lately,” Dex reminded him.

Rusty took in his friend who was grinning at him like he knew some awesome joke and didn’t care to share. “You’re all a bit too curious about my sex life.”

“It’s not our fault you are practically having it out in the open. We couldn’t dodge being kept up to date with your latest conquests even if we wanted to,” Dex pointed out.

Maddox and Jonathan were sharing some private joke, because they were giggling and kissing.

“You two, move away from each other,” Rusty told them. “You’re giving me a boner.”

Jonathan straightened up and tried to move away, but Maddox pulled him back. “Don’t worry about this ass. Watching paint dry gives Rusty a boner.”

“True,” Rusty admitted. Still, the two lovebirds were totally getting on his nerves. Not in a very bad way, but still. They indulged in too much touching of each other, while – Dex was right about one thing – he was getting derailed by a certain cat boy and also, by his tutor who used safe words all randomly.

“So,” Kane brought him back from his musings, “Xpress doesn’t seem to know much about this cat boy. Did you get your hands on him?”

“Yes, a bit,” Rusty replied and admired his non-existent manicure for a moment. That just helped him remember how sharp those claws had looked. They were probably sharp enough to hurt nice and good. Hmm.

“Enlighten us,” Kane said in a fatherly tone. “What did you do with him?”

“Scared him away, without a doubt,” Dex quipped.

“Yeah, right.” Rusty snorted and turned in his chair, away from his nosy friends. He wanted to focus on remembering the very pleasant sensation of having that shapely buttock filling his hand so well. Too bad he hadn’t been able to examine the plums at length.

“It’s not like you to keep it to yourself,” Maddox pointed out. “Spill the beans already.”

Jonathan cupped his boyfriend’s cheek to turn his attention back to him. “Guys, let’s leave Rusty some room to breathe. If he’s not comfortable with telling us all the details, we’re not supposed to corner him.”

“Thank you, dear sir,” Rusty said and saluted. “Well, I know more than Xpress. I know his name.”

“Really? What’s he called?” Maddox asked.

Rusty smiled triumphantly and turned back around in his chair to take in everyone. “Slicky Coolplums,” he announced.

A moment of silence followed, and then all the assholes in the room burst into laughter. Even Jonathan giggled discreetly and tried to hide it behind his hand.

“What? It’s an awesome name for a cat boy,” he protested. “He’s very slick, and I also tested his plums a little. They’re perfectly cool.”

“You touched his balls?” Kane was holding his belly with one hand.

Rusty wiggled his index and middle fingers. “Just a bit. There was a wire fence between us.”

“Your sex life just got incredibly interesting,” Dex commented.

“My sex life,” Rusty pronounced with emphasis on each word, “is always incredible.”

“Maybe,” Dex said with a shrug. “But not that interesting. This is all very new.”

“And a little bit--” Jonathan added and then stopped, his face scrunched up in thought.

“Gay?” Rusty supplied.

“Hetero-challenged, maybe?” Jonathan offered and winced.

Rusty waved. “Don’t try your hand at what you’re not good at, Johnny boy. Stick to the kitchen. New words are not your thing.”

“Did you just send my man to the kitchen?” Maddox gasped in feigned outrage.

“Say everything you want, Maddie, but your man belongs to the kitchen, and the kitchen belongs to him.”

To his surprise, Kane and Dex added agreements of their own, chiefly concerning the food quality. Good thing it was senior year, and Jonathan was bound to practice most of his cooking skills at their house. It would be hard to go back to normal food afterwards.

Afterwards was a time far away, and Rusty didn’t want to think about it anyway.

“And you don’t mind it?” Kane started a new line of questioning.

“Mind what?” Rusty asked.

“This obsession with touching cat boys’ plums,” Kane replied promptly.

“Cat boys are a totally different thing,” Rusty argued. “It’s their personality I’m interested in the most. You know, what makes them purr, what makes them scratch, all that.”

“And kissing your tutor… oh, sorry, letting yourself be kissed by your tutor,” Kane continued, “that belongs to what category?”

“The category of ‘none of your damn business’,” Rusty replied with a plastic smile. Well, that was a bit worrying, maybe, if he had the time to think about it, which he didn’t. “Actually, it’s charity work. Don’t tell anyone, but I’m helping Matty turn into the most awesome gay butterfly you ignoramuses have ever seen.”

“Why?” Dex asked in obvious confusion. “Why would you want to turn Matthew Han gay?”

“He’s already gay, you must have enough wax to make a dozen candles in your ears. I’m making him an awesome gay.”

“Butterfly,” Jonathan added for precision’s sake.

“What he said,” Rusty said and pointed at Jonathan. “Otherwise, he’s going to finish college with his bum untouched.”

“So, you’re touching his bum for this reason only?” Kane asked.

Rusty rolled his eyes. “Talking to you is like running in circles. I repay his tutoring lessons with helping him discover his inner gay superpowers of having any dude he wants. By the way, Maddie and cook extraordinaire, I saved you two. He’s not going to steal either of you. We shook on it.”

“We weren’t included in this little deal of yours?” Kane asked and pointed at him and Dex.

“No,” Rusty said with satisfaction. “Kane, you’re safe, since you’re a lifer and all. But if Matty wants Dex, it’s going to be fun watching you get jealous.”

Dex grunted. Kane sighed.

“What if the student ends up outplaying the teacher?” Jonathan intervened.

“Not gonna happen,” Rusty replied. “He’s three years behind me. I’ll allow him to be the king of gay hookups, but, you know, that’s niche. I don’t fear him getting more famous than I am.”

Jonathan frowned and tried to find the right words. “That’s not exactly what I meant.”

Rusty smacked his hands on the table. “I don’t know about you, boys, but I have places to go and people to see. All that. Thanks for the food, Jonathan. Chef’s kiss.” To make it clear, he brought three fingers to his mouth and smooched them loudly.

Also, he needed to make a board. One for setting powerful traps meant for cat boys. A cat boy.

***

What did he know so far about the cat boy? Rusty examined the white board in front of him and gestured artistically with the black marker right above the pristine surface. Once he had put his mind to making the board, gathering the supplies needed had been easy. Sure, he had to keep everything under wraps until he reached a conclusion, and when anyone else was in the room, he would just turn the board to face the wall.

First of all, he knew the cat boy’s name. Sure, it was only his name as a feline, and said nothing about the Sunny Hill student hidden underneath, yet it was an invaluable piece of information. Rusty wrote it down dutifully. What else did he know? Well, the cat boy was, indeed, a male. Those balls felt real, and overall, he looked male.

Next. His height. Rusty had had the time to gauge it while they had measured one another with the wire fence between them. Five foot nine or ten? That was a good enough estimate. He wrote it down, as well.

Real hair color. The wig was a stark pink color, which helped with identifying the cat boy from afar, but what lay underneath was a different thing. It had been dark enough the first time he had chased the cat boy down, but he could tell his hair color wasn’t too light, nor too dark.

Ass. Rusty nodded. A little plump, a little perky. Just right. Although he could have worn special padding underneath. That wouldn’t be too unusual.

Voice had to go to downsides. Rusty dragged a long line to separate the section. Yeah, that voice was good enough to scratch ears.

Personality. A bit timid, but brave and getting into his cat persona with definite enthusiasm. That was a plus. Not much to say about his face, as the mask rode down over his cheeks. The contacts were pretty awesome, though. Golden cat eyes. Top notch. Those had to be expensive.

Another thing had to be mentioned. Despite a bit of hissing, the cat boy hadn’t seemed easily shaken by Rusty’s risky propositions. Actually, it was as if he knew how much to allow and when to pull away to keep things interesting.

A knock on the door made him flip the board in an instant. “Come in,” he called out loudly.

Dex walked in but looked around warily as if he expected strange things or creatures to jump at him from every corner.

“Yeah?” Rusty asked, using as much insolence as he could muster. That should give Dex an idea about what to do next, which was walking out the same way he had walked in.

“A certain team misses a certain power forward at practice,” Dex cut straight to the chase.

“So…” Rusty could feel the tips of his fingers tingling. He wanted to ignore Dex and get back to his cat boy board. It was such a case of hidden identity, a mystery waiting to be solved. But in due time. Rusty had nothing against a game of cat and mouse, and he didn’t intend to be the mouse. It was more like cat versus cat. Or was he a dog, because he was so horny all the time? Not when he was thinking –

“Rusty!” Dex boomed at him to get his attention.

Rusty grimaced to express his displeasure in a non-violent way. “You don’t have to yell, you know.”

“You said ‘so’ and left me hanging for two minutes without saying a word.”

He had? All was possible. “Right. What I mean is, I don’t need the practice. I’m naturally gifted. Even the coach said so.”

“He only said it once, according to gospel. And he regretted it instantly. Why don’t you go to practice, Rusty? What secret project are you on?”

“Why do you care?”

“Don’t you at least need to train your voice or something? With that coach?” Dex had only a vague understanding of why Rusty needed a vocal coach. His first reaction had been something like ‘Rusty already knows how to sing, the way I see it.’ Rusty loved him all the more for being so pure and precious.

“Stop looking around, all suspicious like that. I didn’t hide the vocal coach under the bed,” he pointed out.

“You are hiding something.” Dex crossed his arms and watched him with half-hooded eyes. “Come on, spit it out. I’ll tell you if it’s a good idea or not.”

Rusty snorted, and, just like that, a sneeze came out. Dex watched him without hiding his amusement. Rusty managed to stop after the fourth sneeze or so.

“Some people might be talking about you. I bet it’s the coach. And the entire team,” Dex said.

With some difficulty, Rusty found a tissue and blew his nose loudly. “It’s said ‘bless you’, T-Dex. Where are your manners?”

“The same place you’re coming from,” Dex replied promptly. “If you’re not getting into that voice thing, at least go to practice. You’re going to cry later when you lose your crown.”

“I’m not going to cry,” Rusty protested. He would, a little. A little sniffle. But yeah, Dex was right, as annoying as he was. The crown came with responsibilities, one of them being an athlete, because what chick didn’t want to bag a king and a champion?

What were cat boys into? Or, at least, Slicky Coolplums? Hmm, Rusty needed a strategy in place until they met again.

“I’m already studying. Isn’t that enough?” he complained and opened his arms wide, as if too much was being asked of him.

“I’m telling you all this for your own good. I’m not going to force you or anything.” Dex put his hands up in surrender.

“Like you could force me,” Rusty said with a shrug.

That was enough of a challenge. The next moment, Dex was all over him, catching him in a deadly headlock, holding him tightly and making it impossible to fight back. Rusty knew better than to be subdued like that, so after his initial surprise, he let himself go slack and Dex eased his hold. That was enough to turn the tables and have Dex in the same position he had been in earlier.

“Okay, okay, you win,” Dex admitted, although Rusty had an inkling that he was being allowed that win.

Nonetheless, he let go of Dex. He didn’t have time to fool around with friends, when he had to design a trap to catch a cat boy. “I’ll go to practice,” Rusty said. “Just so that you get off my sexy ass.” He slapped his own bottom and brought two fingers to his mouth to blow on them.

Dex rolled his eyes. “One day, some dude might think you’re serious.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rusty asked.

“He might think you want your cherry popped,” Dex joked. “And he might catch you in a tight corner.”

Rusty grinned. “You said tight.”

“Derail the conversation all you want. It’s going to happen to you. We’re all going to have a laugh while you struggle to fend off some determined gay boy who thinks you’re into it for real.”

Rusty flexed his guns. “He’ll have to be one hell of a dude. I’m not that easy to bend over. I just wiped the floor with you like seconds ago. He’ll have to be bigger than you.”

Dex didn’t take it to heart but smirked instead. “It’s not all about size, Rusty. His strongest asset might be his power of persuasion. That, coupled with your natural curiosity might turn you into a --”

Rusty put his hand up. “Don’t say the word. Thanks for the warning. Bye, Dex. The door is over there. For the record, for the next half hour or so, you’re not welcome. I’m going to jerk off to the nastiest porn on the planet.”

“What’s that?” Dex asked, always the curious.

“Pollination in plants,” Rusty said right away.

Dex shivered and grimaced. “Nasty indeed. Okay, I go. It’s mission accomplished, anyway. You’ll go to practice.”

“Yeah, because you can’t bear the thought of not having the king as your close and dear friend. I’m doing it for you.”

“Whatever floats your boat,” Dex said with a shrug. “See ya, Rusty. Make sure to play safe around thirsty gay boys.” He even dared to give him a wink on his way out.

Thirsty gay boys. Right, he had a project, beside the cat boy. So, he had Matty to turn into the coolest, most desirable gay bachelor at Sunny Hill, a cat boy to trap, textbooks to study, basketball to practice… No wonder he wasn’t getting laid! He had no free time.

No problem. He was happy for now. The getting laid part came naturally to him, anyway.

***

“When are you going to stop me?” Matty eventually asked.

“Stop you?” Zoey grinned at him and then wrapped an arm around his. “But this is all so very entertaining.”

“I think I’ve been talking about Rusty for at least half an hour straight, and you didn’t say a word.”

“I’m an avid listener when it comes to the adventures of,” Zoey paused for effect and looked at him from underneath her eyelashes, “Slicky Coolplums.”

She said the secret cat boy name in a whisper, but Matty still felt compelled to shush her. He looked around at the other students strolling through the quad. They seemed indifferent to whatever he and Zoey were sharing right now. If only they knew he had managed to catch the attention of no one other than their uncrowned king, they wouldn’t be so indifferent. Matty shivered. He wasn’t the kind to like attention; the fact that Rusty basked in it all the time amazed him. And, of course, made him think about the rule saying that opposites attract, and blah, blah, blah.

“That’s a crazy good name, no matter what you think.”

“You’re just laughing at me and I know it,” Matty warned her.

“No, no, it proves that you’re bringing your best whenever you meet--”

“Don’t say his name, someone might hear us.”

Zoey nodded. “Xpress caught a whiff that a cat boy is prancing about. However, they haven’t seemed to be able to put two and two together.”

“What do you mean?”

“That Slicky Coolplums is our dear king’s latest obsession,” Zoey pointed out.

“I wouldn’t go as far as to call it that.” Matty would have liked very much to call it that.

“Really? Then how do you explain that he’s not hooking up? He left that chick staring at the moon while he went chasing after you. And, according to everyone, he hasn’t chased after anyone else lately. You got his attention, my friend.”

“He might be busy with other things,” Matty argued.

“Yeah, probably the homework you gave him last time. I must say, you’re playing the champ like a champ.”

“Who’s the champ?” someone asked from their left, making both of them jump.

Matty felt all color draining from his face, as his eyes met the smiling face of no other than Ray Franklin, who was Jonathan Hamilton’s roommate, and part of Rusty’s closest circle, as far as he knew.

“We were talking about board games,” Zoey chirped to save the day.

Ray nodded. “I was thinking that. Sorry I barged into your conversation and didn’t even introduce myself.”

“We know who you are,” Zoey said quickly.

Ray smiled and offered his hand. “Even so, it’s only polite.”

Matty shook Ray’s hand, hoping that the throbbing of his heart couldn’t be felt down to his pinky. How much had Ray overheard? He seemed like a nice guy, but still, anything concerning Rusty counted as juicy gossip.

“I’m Matthew--”

“I also know who you are,” Ray said and grinned while holding his hand. “You’re really giving Rusty a run for his money, aren’t you? I’m already in awe of your tutoring skills. Hey, do you and Zoey--”

“You also know who I am?” Zoey asked and pressed her hands to her chest.

Ray offered her his hand, too. “Yes. I’m sorry if I’m being too straightforward, but what do you say about a little tournament? You can pick the game. Hanna and I – Hanna is--”

“Your girlfriend, yes,” Zoey said quickly.

“We’re both big into board games. And since I overheard you saying something about a champion, I thought that maybe you wouldn’t mind a little bit of friendly sparring.”

“We’d love that,” Zoey exclaimed. She nudged Matty in the ribs. “Wouldn’t we?”

“Yes, totally,” Matty replied automatically.

“All right,” Ray said and pulled out his phone. “Just to let you know, Hanna and I, we’re pretty good.”

“Bring the heat, pal,” Zoey said enthusiastically.

Matty looked after Ray for a bit, as he said goodbye, and then turned toward Zoey. “I am so going to kill you, Zoey. Why on earth did we accept?”

“Because Ray is one of the ‘in’ people, Matty. Making friends with the ‘in’ people is very important.”

“And very dangerous. He almost overheard us talking about Rusty, Slicky Coolplums, and whatnot.”

“Chillax,” Zoey said and grabbed his arm harder. “Let’s speak in a different language from now on.”

“What language?”

Zoey pondered for a moment, then gestured as if she wanted to lick her loose fist. “Meow?”

“One day, Zoey, one day,” Matty promised.

TBC