Chapter 3: The Girl at Lunch

The text was still on his screen at 3:17 AM. Unknown: Arthur. I lied.  

He didn’t sleep.  

First period, Jake slammed into homeroom like a human hurricane. “DID YOU SEE THE CLIPS?!” He shoved his phone in Arthur’s face. Twitch chat was scrolling too fast to read. ARTHUR_JOHNSON CLUTCH. AIKO TANAKA DELETED. NEW KING???  

Arthur pulled his hoodie up. “Jake. Volume.”  

“Volume?! Bro, you 1v3’d Aiko_Tanaka! The Aiko! You’re famous!” Jake wasn’t whispering. Half the class was staring.  

Kevin Shaw turned around from two desks up. His eyes were narrow. “You’re lying. No way Johnson beat anyone. He probably cheated.”  

Maggie didn’t even glance up from her biology notes. “Kevin, the only thing Arthur cheats at is letting you think you’re relevant. Shut up.”  

A few people laughed. Kevin’s face went red. He opened his mouth, but Mr. Carter walked in and started class before he could say anything.  

Arthur spent the whole period staring at his phone under the desk. No new messages from Unknown. No name. No number. Just three words that had kept him up all night.  

I lied.  

About what?  

The bell rang.  

“You good?” Maggie fell into step beside him in the hall. She had a plastic grocery bag in one hand. Something inside was cold — he could see condensation on the plastic.  

“Yeah,” Arthur said. Automatic.  

“Liar.” She bumped his shoulder. “You look like you got hit by a truck. Did you even sleep?”  

“No.”  

“Thought so.” She held up the bag. “Which is why I brought this.”  

Arthur peered inside. Ben & Jerry’s. Two pints. Half Baked. His favorite.  

“You didn’t have to—”  

“Shut up.” She grinned. “You beat the undefeated demon queen. We’re celebrating. Lunch. Courtyard. No arguments.”  

Arthur’s chest did something weird. Not quite warm. But not cold either. “Thanks, Mags.”  

“Don’t get sappy. It’s just ice cream.” But she was smiling.  

Lunch. Courtyard.  

The October air was crisp. Most of the school ate inside, but Maggie always dragged Arthur to their spot — concrete bench under the dead oak tree. Far from Kevin. Far from everyone.  

“Okay,” Maggie said, handing him a spoon. “Full debrief. Every detail. Did she rage quit? Did she cry? Please tell me she cried.”  

Arthur took a bite. The ice cream was already soft. “She didn’t cry. She called me.”  

Maggie choked. “She what?”  

“Voice call. After the match.” Arthur stared at his pint. “Said I was better than she thought. Said I play like I’m waiting for something real.”  

Maggie went quiet. That was rare. When she spoke again, her voice was careful. “That’s… weird. Right? Like, what does that even mean?”  

“I don’t know.” Arthur’s spoon stopped moving. “Then I got a text. Unknown number.”  

He didn’t tell her the words. Not yet. Saying Arthur. I lied out loud made it real.  

Maggie studied him. She’d known him since they were eight. She could read him better than anyone. “You’re scared.”  

“I’m not scared.”  

“You are. Your hands shake when you’re scared. They haven’t shaken since your dad—”  

“Don’t.” Arthur’s voice was sharp. Then softer. “Don’t.”  

Maggie’s face fell. “Sorry. I—”  

“It’s fine.” He forced himself to take another bite. “Just… drop it. Please.”  

She did. For five minutes, they ate in silence. The only sound was other students laughing somewhere across the courtyard. Distant. Separate.  

Then Maggie pointed with her spoon. “Don’t look now. But your crush is here.”  

Arthur’s head snapped up before he could stop himself.  

Sophia Evans.  

She walked into the courtyard with three other cheerleaders, pink-blonde hair catching the sunlight. She was laughing at something, head tilted back. She had a salad in one hand and a diet soda in the other. The kind of girl who made the whole world go a little quieter when she moved through it.  

She sat at the table by the fountain. Thirty feet away. A different planet.  

Arthur looked back down at his ice cream. Melting. Like always.  

“She’s out of your league,” he said. Quiet.  

“Bullshit,” Maggie said immediately.  

“It’s not.” Arthur’s spoon scraped the bottom of his pint. “You saw her. Look at me. Look at her. Be serious, Mags.”  

Maggie was quiet for a long time. Then: “You know what I see?”  

“What?”  

“I see a guy who just beat the best player in the country. I see a guy who didn’t flinch in a 1v3. I see a guy who shares his ice cream even when he’s having a bad day.” She kicked his shoe. “I see someone worth noticing.”  

Arthur didn’t answer. Because across the courtyard, Sophia had looked up.  

For one second. One stupid, impossible second. Her blue eyes scanned the courtyard and landed on their bench. On him.  

Arthur’s brain stopped working.  

Then Sophia’s friend said something, and she laughed, and looked away.  

Just like that.  

She hadn’t seen him. Not really. She’d looked through him. Like he was part of the tree. Part of the bench.  

Invisible.  

Arthur’s grip on the spoon went white. But his hands didn’t shake. They never did. Not when it mattered.  

“See?” he said to Maggie. His voice was empty. “Out of my league.”  

Maggie followed his gaze. Her face did something complicated. Angry. Sad. “Arthur—”  

His phone buzzed.  

They both froze.  

Arthur pulled it out with fingers that were too steady.  

Unknown: We need to talk. In person.  

Unknown: Tomorrow. 4 PM. The mall.  

Unknown: Come alone.  

Maggie read it over his shoulder. “Who… who is that?”  

“I don’t know.”  

“Is it Aiko?”  

Arthur thought about her voice last night. Soft. Tired. You play like you’re waiting for something real. “Maybe.”  

“Are you gonna go?”  

Arthur stared at the text. Come alone.  

In three weeks, Kevin Shaw would be dead. The mall would be red.  

He didn’t know that yet.  

But something in his gut went cold.  

“Yeah,” Arthur said. “I’m going.”  

Maggie grabbed his arm. “Arthur, no. What if it’s some weirdo? What if—”  

“I have to.” He met her eyes. “I need to know what she lied about.”  

Maggie searched his face. Then she sighed. “Fine. But I’m tracking your phone. And if you’re not back by 6, I’m calling the cops. And your mom. And God.”  

Despite everything, Arthur almost smiled. “Deal.”  

They finished their ice cream in silence.  

Across the courtyard, Sophia Evans got up, threw her salad away, and walked back inside. She didn’t look back once.  

Arthur watched her go.  

Come alone.  

The words burned in his pocket.  

He had a feeling tomorrow was going to change everything.  

He was right.