Star Runners (5 page)

"I saw online today was the final game, right?"

Austin sighed and thought of how to change the subject. "Yeah, it was fine. Is that your room?"

Josh turned around and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. Nothing much to write home about."

"You still coming home Memorial Day?"

The emotion left Josh's gaunt face. For several moments, he stared back into the camera. Austin thought he lost the connection.

"No, buddy," Josh said. "Doesn't look like it."

Austin sighed. He missed his friend, but he didn't want to be annoying. "So, when do you think you'll be back? July? Labor Day?"

Josh shook his head. "Probably not this summer."

Austin glanced at the ceiling. "I have to go eat."

Josh leaned forward. "Hey, man, I wish I could say more."

Wish you could say more? What does that mean?

"I don't get it. You haven't logged onto the game in months. No emails. What's going on? Are you okay?"

"Oh, we have a LAN here at the school. I've been playing a lot here." He bit down on his lip and looked off camera. "I might not have a chance to write for a while. We have a special trip coming up soon."

"Special trip? Like what?"

Josh glanced at his desk. "We're going on a humanitarian aid mission."

Austin crossed his arms. "You read that off a script or something?" He didn't wait for an answer. “Look, man, I have to go eat. I know you got more important things to do than talk to a high school student. I don't want to bother you."

"Austin." Josh said in a deeper, calm voice. His face looked like a stone carving as he leaned close into the camera and obscured the room behind him. When his face filled the entire screen, Josh spoke in a hushed voice so slight, it sent a chill shooting down Austin's neck. "
I wish I could tell you how cool this is
."

The image froze on Josh's eyes and an error popped on the screen. The connection had been lost. He sat at his desk for several minutes, alternating his view from the error message and back to the window. The evening sunlight beamed in through the glass.

"What a jerk," Austin said, tossing his headset down onto the desk.

"Austin," Mom called as she knocked at the door. "I've been calling you for dinner. You okay?"

Austin stood and exhaled. "Sorry, I was online."

"That game again?"

"No, Josh and I were chatting."

"Oh." She stepped back. "Josh? You haven't talked about him in a while? How is he?"

"Too cool for me."

Mom’s expression softened as she touched his shoulder. "Hey, let's go eat."

Mom cooked breakfast for supper. The pancakes stacked high on the kitchen table and the house smelled of bacon. His stomach grumbled when he walked into the kitchen.

"Tell me what's up," Mom said, pointing at the table.

Austin grabbed the syrup and watched it make a maple pool on his top pancake. The syrup tumbled over the sides, creating tiny golden rivers of tasty goodness as it spread on the plate. He scooped up some bacon and placed it at the edge of the plate.

"This is awesome," he said, taking his first bite.

"Well, thank you," Mom said, sipping milk from her glass, "but you can't change the subject."

Austin chewed his food and tried to think of his next words. "Josh's changed. He doesn't really seem to want to talk, and he ended that last conversation like some freak."

She grinned and placed a hand over her mouth.

"Are you laughing?"

"No," she said. "It was just the way you phrased that." She cleared her throat. "You know, college changes some people. They are never the same. I had friends in high school that I knew would be by my side forever. A couple of them I haven't seen since graduation. Some tried to stay in touch during college, but all of them eventually faded."

Austin frowned. "So I have to say goodbye to everyone?"

"Not really, the good ones will stay put no matter what. It will never be the same again, though. Life will take you in different directions and you probably won't keep in touch like you used to, but you'll still be friends with some of them."

They ate in silence.

"Did Josh's parents say anything about his school?"

"I haven't talked to Roxanne in a while, but they said he was happy. Last time we did talk, she said she hadn't spoken to him as much as she would have liked. That's college."

"You think I would have a chance to go there?"

Mom's head swayed to the left as she eyed him with a pathetic look on her face. "Is that what this is about?"

He polished off the last bite of his first pancake and held a piece of bacon. "I don't know what I'm going to do," he said, twirling the bacon in his hand. "I want to go to college, but I don't know how that's going to happen. I know we can't afford it. Josh's off in California. Kadyn's going to art school. What do I do?"

"We talked about this, honey. I'm making enough to help you go to community college. We'll have to take out a loan, but you don't have to pay those back right away. You get the grades and you can transfer to wherever you'd like, maybe even get a scholarship."

"Coach pretty much said I had to walk on."

"There are more scholarships than just baseball, you know."

Austin snorted. "I'm not good at anything else. I've never really played football and I don't want to wrestle."

"Academic scholarships," Mom said, shaking her head. "Come on now, you've got good grades and you spend more time playing that computer than anything else. Just imagine if you applied yourself."

He rolled his eyes. "I know."

"Besides, you don't want to go to California to Josh's school."

"Why?"

"Roxanne said they had regular exercises and workouts that were mandatory. Healthy students were good students, or something like that. I know how much you hate practices."

Josh's school also made him shave his head and prevented him from communicating with his friends. He took so many classes he looked tired. On top of all that, the school required him to take part in regular workouts. At least that accounts for why he lost so much weight.

They finished dinner and Austin helped load the plates in the dishwasher.

"This is all going to work out in the end," Mom said. "You know that, don't you?"

Austin held her gaze and managed a smile. "I know."

He dragged his feet back to his room, wondering if Mom had believed him.

The air conditioning blasted from the old car’s vents, sending particles flurrying around his face like a dust storm. Austin leaned back in the driver seat and enjoyed the lack of traffic. When Mom had been hired at the doctor's office, they used a credit card to fix Dad's old Honda. The final bill covered a new transmission, new tires and an overall tune up. Of course, Austin rarely got to drive it and Kadyn didn't seem to mind driving him to school.

But the summer had been different. Austin found creative ways to get to his job at the fruit stand. Kadyn had been sweet enough to take him a few times already and it was only the third week of summer. When she was off from work, Mom let him have the car. Twice, he had to get a ride from one of his coworkers. He struggled for a job paying minimum wage, but they needed the money. Every penny went into his college fund.

He felt his stomach twist.

Every time the subject of college came up in conversation or inside his own mind, Austin fought a wave of nausea. Josh had been gone six months and communication with him slowed to a trickle. The previous email was short: Josh would not be coming back this summer due to the school's relief trips. Mom said yesterday he would have to take the minimum amount of classes to remain a full time student to lower the cost of books and give him time to get a job closer to school. College would take forever.

He stared at the coffee shop as he sat idling in the parking lot, listening to the last song on the radio. Kadyn waited for him inside, but he lingered in the car. He turned off the engine, strolled across the parking lot and marveled at the crowd. Even on a hot June afternoon, people still wanted their coffee.

Kadyn sat at a table near the black and white Marilyn Monroe photo, flipping through the pages of a tattered paperback. She wore a light blue T-shirt and well-worn jeans. She pulled her brown hair back into a ponytail as she bit down on her lip.

The powerful smell of coffee and sweets bombarded him as he entered the coffee shop. Music played over the dull roar of the crowd but he couldn't make out the tune. A girl behind the counter looked up and smiled as he entered. She looked familiar. It took a moment, but he realized she was in the class behind him in high school.

He towered over Kadyn's table before she glanced up from her book.

"It must be a good one," he said and sat down.

Kadyn grinned and placed the book on the table. "It is. You aren't getting anything?"

"I have to go to work after this unfortunately," he said with a sigh. "I get tired of peeing in the woods behind the fruit stand."

"I don't blame you."

An awkward silence fell over the table. Austin popped his knuckles and nodded to the music even though he had never heard the song before. Kadyn brought her hand to her lips and fidgeted.

“You excited about leaving today?” he asked.

“I guess. Have you heard from Josh?"

"Not recently. Got an e-mail saying he was going on another relief mission to help starving people or build a school. I get them all mixed up."

"It's good he's trying to make a difference."

Austin shrugged. "Yeah, I know."

He glanced at Marilyn's photo, thought of Josh drooling the last time the three of them hung out in the coffee shop. He smiled.

"I've been thinking about something," Kadyn said as she tore apart a napkin on the table. Her almond eyes shot back to his. "Would you like to come down to visit me this summer?"

He stared at the napkin as she tore it into strips. "To Savannah?"

"Yeah."

Austin swallowed. "I don't know if I could afford it, honestly, but I would love to save up to come visit."

"That would be great. I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you, too." He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. "I can't believe this is all over."

"Over?"

"High school, graduation. All of it. It doesn't seem real." He gazed out the window and watched the traffic. "I thought it would be different."

"Lots of people start off at a community college before transferring," she said, her voice lowering as if someone else would hear. "There is nothing wrong with that."

"Yeah, but no one tells you that you're going to be the only one left in the town when you start at the community college."

"There will be lots of people you know there."

"People I know doesn't mean it's people I want to be around."

She laughed. "Yeah, that's true."

He glanced at his watch. "I have to get going to work. Travel safe and be careful once you're down there."

"I will.”

They embraced. She squeezed him hard, and she sniffled. He eased his hug, but she squeezed harder, so they held one another as other patrons pretended not to look. Austin glanced around the room and noticed the staff staring. Kadyn wrapped her hands around his neck. She brought her mouth to his ear.

"Don't forget me," she whispered.

"How could I forget you?"

She breathed in his ear for a moment, and then kissed him on the cheek. "I'll miss you."

*****

Austin drove to work, his thoughts on Kadyn. He left the radio off and became lost in his thoughts. He nearly missed the turn into work. The gravel of the parking lot rattled against the base of his car as he brought it in for a stop. The Georgia heat surrounded him as he walked to the fruit stand. The thick air stuck to his skin as if he could move it with his hands. Sweat formed on his skin the moment he exited the car.

"Alright, Austin," Rick Snell, the owner of the fruit stand, called. "Let's get to work. Gotta truck load of 'maters back there need unloading."

"Yes, sir.”

Rick Snell wore baseball hats with fishnet backings and strange logos on the front Austin never recognized. His twenty-year-old T-shirts always needed to be washed. The ragged blue jeans topped off his work "uniform." Austin turned fourteen the week before Rick hired him and paid him in cash. Dad got him the job when Austin would have rather been playing
Star Runners
online with Josh. Over the years, Rick had been a tough and fair boss. He even gave Austin a raise after he'd been there a year.

"I'd like this done before you leave today," Rick said in his thick southern accent.

"Yes, sir." Austin lifted the back door of the truck. Rick used this same truck to transport thousands of pumpkins for Halloween and hundreds of Christmas trees. Like Rick’s baseball hats, this truck could have been decades old.

"You alright, son?"

Austin frowned as he walked back into the truck. "Yes, sir. Why?"

"You don't seem like yourself."

Austin sighed and slipped on his work gloves. "Lot going on right now."

"Well, your birthday's coming up, ain't it?"

"Yes, sir, July 13."

"I reckon you're going to want some time off then."

"Hadn't thought about it."

Rick laughed. "Sure you had. Nineteen, right?"

"That's right."

Leaning against the back of the truck, Rick gazed off at the bales of hay behind the fruit stand. "I've been thinking about something."

Austin stopped moving. The last time Rick started a sentence like this, Austin received a raise.

"You've been working for me for about five years now. You're always on time and you managed to never miss a day except for ballgames and school stuff. I'd like to give you some more responsibilities. Maybe make you the assistant manager here."

Austin looked down. Being an assistant manager of a fruit stand in the middle of suburbia with all of its modern day mega grocery stores seemed like joining the Pony Express while telegraph lines ascended on your route. Austin didn't plan on living around here for the rest of his life. Did he?

Again, Austin thought of all his friends now gone. Kadyn traveled to Savannah. Josh attended an elite college and saved poor countries from whatever. No baseball team to look forward to playing on. He would never go back to high school.

"I am taking a few classes this fall," he said.

"Yeah, I know. A man needs to earn a living, though. Right?" Rick shrugged. "Besides, how long is this college thing going to last anyway?"

"Four years, I hope," he said through clinched teeth.

"Come on. Get real. These fancy degrees don't mean as much as they used to. You'd be better off staying here and not wasting your Mama's money."

Shaking his head, Austin grabbed the next box of tomatoes. "We'll see, sir."

"Great!"

And with that, Rick left Austin with a truck load of tomatoes.

Maybe he was right. Maybe college didn't mean much or maybe it just wasn't for someone like him. He had no savings and no real money on hand. The cash he earned from Rick went to pay his car insurance, gas and little else. Unloading and loading fruits and vegetables every day,  looking forward to the arrival of pumpkins and Christmas trees, did not sound like an appealing way to spend his life.

He ignored the clock ticking in his mind.

*****

Austin went to his room after work. He turned on his computer and his inbox had a message waiting on him.

Austin,

Hey man! Hope all is well. Looks like I'm not coming home for the 4th. Sorry about that. Still holding out hope for Labor Day.
Gotta go. Just wanted to check in. Talk soon.

Josh

Austin closed his e-mail and shook his head, stretched his legs. His muscles felt every box of tomatoes he had lifted. He didn't have to go in to work until ten tomorrow morning. He thought about asking for the day off, but knew a day off meant no pay.

He logged into
Star Runners
and planned to take out a few pour souls who wandered onto the elite server. Once he logged in, the messages on his account topped two hundred. Two hundred? What's going on?

Most players asked for pointers since everyone on the server knew "Rock took down Scorpion." He smiled at the thought. While his real world spun tires, his online persona lifted off.

The first two games passed with ease. Austin never took a hit and earned the highest number of kills in both contests. The third game opened the same way. Sixteen fighters spawned at different locations throughout the space. The battle took place in the orbit of a blue green planet like Earth. The other fighters splintered off to take on nearby enemies, but one took a different path. This bogey bore down directly on his position.

He allowed his Trident to drift to the right while the sensors obtained an identification.

Scorpion
.

Austin bit down on his lip. He shifted power into the forward shields. Scorpion must have taken their last meeting personally. The guy headed straight for him. He keyed for a missile's activation. The crosshairs blinked yellow as the sensors tried to achieve a lock.

A high pitched wail screeched in his headset. Another fighter came in behind him while he focused on Scorpion. He killed the engines, pitched the craft up from his current position, and gave all the power he had back into the primary drive.

Too late.

Sparks flew from the dashboard and around his cockpit. Pieces of electronics and sensors dangled from multi-colored wires on his display. While he had tried to evade the two enemies, he neglected to toss power back into his rear shields. The incoming missile ripped all his energy to the weapons and shields. Austin powered the Trident away from danger. He keyed for a rear view. Scorpion closed in. The other fighter who had fired lucky shot disappeared from the sensor. Scorpion must have taken him out.

Austin yanked the joystick back and launched into evasive action. Scorpion pursued with lethal precision and destroyed Austin with spitting laser fire.

YOU ARE DEAD

It had been a long time since he had seen the screen. The red lettering covered the free camera showing the rest of the match. Austin remained logged in so he could see the results. Scorpion made short work of the remaining pilots.

If he had a wingman, this third match of the day would have been different. He sipped on a soda and watched Scorpion cutting through the rest of the competition with ease. Sure would like to have him as a wingman.

Austin blinked.

He never thought about it before, but Scorpion always flew alone. In all the games and contests in the past years, Scorpion always played alone. No other player so highly ranked flew alone every single time.

Austin placed the can on the desk and keyed for an instant message to Scorpion. He wouldn't receive it during the match, but would be notified afterward. When the game had first come out, sending IMs to pilots during a match was considered a cheap but extremely widespread tactic for throwing your enemy off their game. Recent patches prevented this from being possible.

ROCK: Nice one out there today. I'd love to get some pointers from you on what I did wrong. Also, let me know if you ever need a wingman. Nobody should fly alone all the time.

After he typed the message, Austin stood and stretched while Scorpion mopped up the remaining enemy fighters. He considered raiding the kitchen for another soda and some snacks when the computer beeped. The match ended and Scorpion wrote him back.