"Are you going to the career fair, Kate?"

  Kaitlyn paused at the question, her heavily-doctored Cappy's burrito halfway to her mouth. The dining hall bustled with lunch-rush traffic, threatening to drown out Elliot's voice below the din of conversation and music. Fortunately, Kaitlyn's years spent in the loop had yet to turn her into an old deaf woman yet.

  She lowered her meal back down to her plate as Elliot gave her a questioning look. "I… don't know. I honestly wasn't planning on it."

  "Really?" Esme chimed in, twirling her fork amidst a plateful of pasta. After seeing Kaitlyn stuff her burrito with a copious amount of salad bar toppings, she'd decided to give it a try herself. The result strongly resembled a salad dumped on top of a pasta dish rather than anything more intentional, but it was certainly a start. "Why not? It's a huge opportunity!"

  Kaitlyn shrugged. “I mean, I'm just not sure what I'd get out of it. I've already got an awesome job. I sincerely doubt that I'll find anything better than that.”

  “Hmm...” Elliot mused. “The odds aren't high, I'll give you that. But they're not zero.”

  They actually were, Kaitlyn knew. But instead of correcting him, she simply shook her head. “Either way, it just doesn't seem worth it. I've got plenty of other things I could do instead.”

  Esme gave a sage nod. “That certainly is true. I don't know how you manage with so many things on your plate. Do you even sleep, Kate?”

  “I doubt it. You barely seem to have time for classes, even.” Elliot's emerald eyes fixed her with a piercing stare. “At least, I haven't seen much of you in lecture.”

  Esme's jaw dropped. “What?!”

  Kaitlyn just stared back in surprise. “What, you've been looking?”

  “Of course. Why wouldn't I? We're labmates, aren't we?”

  A ghost of a smile touched his lips as he emphasized the word. Kaitlyn couldn't help but roll her eyes at the veiled dig. “Ok, fine, you got me. But please don't tell Anna, ok? She's a really good lecturer and all, but... I was being serious. There really are just better things I could be doing. And I'm going to show up for the midterm, so…”

  “Hey, no judgement here,” Elliot raised his hands in a placating gesture. “It's your call. And besides, we've studied together enough that I'd agree. You already know this stuff.”

  “Wait, you're being serious?!” Esme recovered enough to look between the two. “You can't be. There's no way!”

  “Er... sorry?” Kaitlyn gave an apologetic shrug. “If it makes you feel better, I've, uh... taken something like this class before. A few times.”

  The petite girl moaned, thudding her forehead against the table. “That's just unfair, Kate! What, did you go to some kind of super-special high school for gifted kids? It's like you don't even need college!”

  “At least you're benefiting from it,” Elliot pointed out. “She does help you study.”

  Kaitlyn couldn't help but smile as Esme continued to bemoan her situation. The girl did have a point. At this point, she was well past the point of getting value out of Hartland. In fact, the only real times she interacted with the school as intended were to ace her tests, work in lab, and run with the cross country team.

  I could always audit more classes, try to learn something new. But at some point, it just feels like stalling. Besides, I've been going to school for... how many years? She shuddered. Too many. WAY too many. Longer than I want to think about. I'm kind of tired of it.

  “Well, if you do decide to go to the career fair, let us know,” Elliot circled back to the topic once Esme had finished. “Both of us are planning to go, so you're welcome to tag along.”

  She nodded. “Thanks. I will.”

  “I hope you won't be too busy for our baking session on Saturday, though?” Esme raised a thin eyebrow at her. “Don't think that I forgot.”

  A grin stretched across Kaitlyn's features. “Of course! I wouldn't miss it for the world. Did you ask your roommate about me commandeering the oven for a bit?”

  “She's totally fine with it. Especially if she gets to try your cookies. Jam thumbprints are apparently her favorites, so she's really excited.”

  “Good. I hope you're ready, because I'm pretty proud of my jam flavors. I'll make sure that they blow both of you out of the water.”

  As it turned out, there were actually commercial kitchens for rent around campus, meaning that Kaitlyn had even more options for expanding her business. However, it wasn't as simple as just walking in and getting to work. There were requirements like a written business plan, food safety certifications, and insurance that she'd need to provide. Most importantly, Kaitlyn's business needed to be officially registered—something that she'd never done nor had much intention of starting now.

  Overall, it simply didn't seem like a great solution. And given how much she enjoyed spending time with Esme, she often found herself simply content to leverage the girl's apartment kitchen and turn her dessert prep sessions into hangouts. It was a great way to kill two birds with one stone while also keeping her baking batch sizes within reasonable limits.

  The trio finished their meals and headed out, Elliot and Kaitlyn heading to lab as Esme broke off for class. As they meandered down the broad pathways lined with rosebushes and oaks, Elliot turned to her. “By the way... are you busy on Sunday?”

  Kaitlyn raised an eyebrow. Does he want to hang out again? I mean, I definitely don't mind if he does, but...

  “Not really. Well, yes, but not with anything too important. Why?”

  “Well...” he paused as though to formulate his thoughts. “You mentioned that those Bash Bros tournaments happen on Sundays, right? I was wondering if you wanted to go to one.”

  This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  She stumbled.

  “Kate? You ok?”

  “S-sorry! Tripped over something...” Catching herself, Kaitlyn took a deep breath. “What... what brought this on?”

  “Eh,” The ginger gave a slight shrug, still eying her warily. “It just sounded interesting. I've been enjoying it whenever we play, so why not? Besides, maybe I'll meet some secret master who can teach me how to beat you.”

  Yeah. Sorry, Elliot, but that's not gonna happen.

  Still, the suggestion caught her completely off guard. She hadn't been oblivious to how much he enjoyed playing the game together, obviously. But for him to push things a step further like this…

  Elliot seemed to notice her hesitation. “You obviously don't have to come. I'm fine with going alone, since I can tell you in no uncertain terms that Esme won't want to come. But since you said you used to go to these things...”

  He let the sentence linger as Kaitlyn seriously considered the proposition. It wasn't just the idea of going to a tournament again that had her hesitating. It was also the prospect of doing it with Elliot.

  Going there already feels like it might be a little... loaded for me. Having to unpack that around him? Do I really want to do that?

  But this was so different, so far out of line with her expectations that she had to know where it led. Besides, if Bash Bros had the potential to be part of Elliot's route for some reason, then she had to investigate it eventually. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to do it now, when the stakes were low.

  She shook her head in disbelief. “Sure. Why not?”

  ***

  Only a few days later, Kaitlyn found herself walking through the deserted halls of one of Hartland University's buildings. Empty lecture halls and silent study rooms lined the walls on either side, their contents hidden behind closed doors.

  "Wow. They really do hide this place, don't they?"

  Elliot's footsteps echoed alongside her own as they navigated the maze of rooms. She nodded. "Yeah. It definitely feels that way, doesn't it? You'll be able to hear it once we get closer, though."

  "I'm surprised we can't hear it already with how dead this place is. We might as well be the only ones in here."

  It didn't take long for Kaitlyn's words to prove true. As they rounded a final corner, the faint buzzing that had begun to echo through the halls resolved into frenzied clicking, low resolution music, and voices. The sounds grew until they reached a single door standing ajar along the hallway.

  "Here we are."

  Leading the way inside, Kaitlyn's gaze swept across the familiar space. The bulky PlaySphere setups, the hunched figures manically mashing their controllers, the smell of sweat… It was all just as she'd left it. The familiar sensations crashed over her in a wave of nostalgia as she stood there.

  Never thought I'd come back here again. Not after getting my closure with…

  Her attention wandered toward the corner of the room. There, just like last time, she saw Ian sitting in front of his laptop. John sat at his elbow, gesturing emphatically as the pair talked in low voices. From this distance, the screen's contents were impossible to make out, but she knew exactly what they were talking about.

  "Are we late?"

  Her attention snapped back to the present. "Huh?"

  Elliot gestured to the clusters of students gathered around each setup. "Seems like everyone's already playing."

  "Oh! No, don't worry. They're just playing friendlies. You know, practicing until the tournament actually starts." Kaitlyn dismissed his concern, gesturing toward a table at the back. "We can join in, but let's sign up first."

  It took a bit of effort to keep her eyes from wandering once more to the corner of the room. However, she and Elliot made their way toward the sign up desk and the surly-looking student who currently manned it. He lifted his head with a baleful look, scratching an acne-scarred cheek as he spoke.

  "Signing up?" At Kaitlyn's nod, he grunted. "Singles or doubles?"

  Eliot shot her a questioning look. "Doubles?"

  She bit her lip. "Yeah. It's… a team format. Two on two."

  "That sounds fun. Want to try?"

  "I…" She wasn't entirely sure how to answer. On one hand, it was a completely reasonable thing to do in this situation. But on the other…

  Elliot seemed to sense her hesitation. “We don't have to. I wouldn't want to embarrass you in front of all the cool Bash Bros kids.”

  Slowly, she shook her head. “...No, we should do it. At least, I'd like to.”

  I thought I'd moved past all this, moved past Ian. But... guess I still have a few hangups, huh? She squared her shoulders. But it's ok. Elliot's an entirely different person. He's not him, and just because I'm teaming with him doesn't mean anything. It's... it's ok.

  As she worked through her inner turmoil, the student behind the table tapped a few keys on his laptop. “Tags?”

  “K,” she answered automatically. “As in, the letter.”

  “Wow. Creative.” The ginger raised an eyebrow at her. “How did you come up with that one?”

  Kaitlyn rolled her eyes. “Yeah? And what's yours?”

  They both turned to stare expectantly at Elliot, who crossed his arms. “I don't have one. Does that mean I need to make something up?”

  “Yeah. It can be whatever you want—even your name, if it's not too 'boring' for you.” She shot him a look that said he'd never hear the end of it if he did. “Just be careful, whatever you pick is what you're stuck with forever. Especially if you end up being any good. So don't pick something like 'xXShadowLordXx' or 'Prince of Flames' or something dumb like that. Not if you want to team up.”

  Or Burger Bob. Please don't pick something like Burger Bob.

  “That's a lot of pressure. I might need to think about this...” The surly student let out a low grumble of impatience, eliciting a small smirk from the ginger. “Let's see... how about something using Xylem? Xylelli? Xylell? I kind of like that one.”

  Kaitlyn stared at him. “Xylem? Like, the plant term?”

  “Exactly. Combines parts of my name with the plant bio stuff. Why not?”

  “It's... not the worst,” she chose her words carefully. “But that's gonna be so hard to spell.”

  He grinned. “I know. That's half the fun.”

  “Just gotta make my life difficult, don't you… What was it? Xylell?” After getting the spelling and typing the tag in, the acne-scarred student's eyes flicked back up at them. “Alright, singles and doubles for both of you. You paying separate or together?”

  “I got it,” Kaitlyn quickly offered, digging out her phone.

  Elliot's eyebrows shot up. “Ooh, miss moneybags here. Trying to flex on me by paying my entry?”

  “Obviously. Are you not impressed that I can spare a few extra bucks without even batting an eye?”

  “Naturally. Unless it's just a ploy to keep the winnings all to yourself.”

  After finally getting signed up, the pair headed over toward the setups for some friendlies. It was finally time to do what they came here for—play some Bash Bros.

  I'm curious to see how we might do in doubles. I've never teamed with anyone else before, much less someone with so little experience.

  She looked over at her partner. Though he'd managed to pick up a few things, it was quite clear that she'd be doing most of the work between them. That meant she'd have to entirely rethink her strategy.

  Kaitlyn cracked her neck. I don't think I'm rusty enough that anyone will give me issues, honestly. And it's not like there's much on the line here. Then again... I DO want to win.

  She allowed herself a quiet smile. Just when she thought she'd done it all, a new kind of challenge found its way into her lap. A small one, sure, but an interesting one nonetheless.

  Guess it's time to see how good I really am.