“No!” Gina exclaimed and then saw my smirk. “Don’t tease me. I’m worried I might have a gaming addiction.”
“What?!”
“I’ve been playing
You basically created a mini-you and guided them through life. The funny part was your Sim would sometimes do something idiotic like set themselves on fire or jump to their death.
Now I was pissed at Gina because I wanted to play the stupid game. I’d read about a couple of expansion packs I might want to try out. One was a house party, and the other let you have your very own pets to play with.
That was one of the problems with the game. Every month, they seemed to have a new expansion pack. If you bought them all, it got pricey in a hurry.
I grudgingly took my tablet back. I would have to fight the urge to waste time playing later today.
Gina gave me a weak smile.
“When I hear you guys talking about playing video games, I figure you were all just being boys. I never imagined it would be so much fun,” she admitted.
“You might want to get it out of your system before you go off to college and flunk out,” I advised.
I suspected gaming was like the cliché preacher’s daughter who goes wild. If you didn’t play video games when you were younger to get it out of your system, when you finally discovered them, they were all-consuming. Maybe Gina would play all summer and hopefully get past the urge to play all the time once she needed to focus on college.
“Incoming,” Gina warned me.
Darius and Chrissy walked up.
“Are you sick?” Dare asked Gina.
“She’s been up the last few nights cramming for her math final,” I said.
Chrissy slugged me.
“What?” I complained.
“Quit teasing him, or I’ll have to distract him like you suggested,” Chrissy admonished me.
Gina figured that one out and began to laugh. We all laughed when Dare still looked clueless as to what Chrissy was talking about. I would bet big money that once he did, all his worries about being the smartest kid in class would go away.
“Prom is Friday,” I suggested.
Chrissy pulled Dare away from me and my reasonable suggestion.
“The same advice goes for you,” I said to Gina with a straight face.
There was the Gina I had come to love. She stormed off, leaving me to wonder if Cassidy planned to fulfill the implied Prom Contract and sleep with her date—me—after the dance.
◊◊◊
At lunch, I grabbed Cassidy and made her eat with me away from prying ears at our lunch table.
“What’s this all about?” Cassidy asked.
“Tell me about your volunteering at the large animal clinic at State.”
“I wanted to see if I really do want to become a vet or not, so I asked if they’d let me spend some time helping out.”
“And …?”
“And I think I do,” she said sheepishly.
“That’s good. You should do something you love. I just wish I had a better idea what I wanted to do when I grow up.”
“You’re not mad?” she asked.
“Why would I be mad?”
“Because I wouldn’t have time to be your trainer,” she admitted.
“Do you plan to stop being my friend?” I asked.
“No.”
“Then, I’m fine.”
She still didn’t seem happy, which confused me a little.
“Why the sad face?” I asked.
“Because I haven’t told Daddy that I might not join the Marines.”
I shook my head.
“Your dad will support you no matter what you do.”
“But he always was so proud of me when I said I wanted to be just like him,” she said, getting to the root of the problem.
“Do you really want to be in the Marines someday?” I asked.
“I thought I did; now, I’m not so sure.”
“Who says you can’t do both?” I asked.
She became quiet for a moment before responding.
“Sort of like you.”
I wasn’t sure if she was slamming or praising me. I decided to just nod.
“You’re right,” she said. “I don’t have to one hundred percent decide right now. I can take veterinarian classes and still join up if I decide to later.”
“You can still train me, too.”
“I guess I could,” she admitted and looked happy for the first time since we sat down.
“I need to ask you a favor,” I said to change to the topic.
“This doesn’t have anything to do with what you told Chrissy and Gina to do after Prom, does it?”
By now, hearing how fast the girl network worked no longer surprised me. I shrugged off her jab and powered through with what I wanted to ask.
“When I was in LA, I talked to a psychic. He suggested I ask you to start working with the little ones for their safety. Coby has been getting physical with other kids at daycare that he sees as bullies,” I explained.
Cassidy thought about it for a moment.
“I’d like that. When I’m done with them, no bully will dare cross their paths,” she predicted.
