“Uh oh… I know that look.” Jasper laughed as his brother took a seat at the table. “What are you up to this time?”

Bryce rolled his eyes as he and Meg joined their table as well. “He’s been weird all morning. But he said we had to wait til lunch before he’d tell us anything.”

Phoenix just shrugged. Neither his brother nor Tamsin were in the same grade as him and Bryce. He’d had to wait until lunchtime for the chance to talk to everyone together.

“I’ve just been… thinking.” He explained slowly, now that all his friends were present. “Ever since Hallie and I broke up. Like, figuring some stuff out, I guess? And I wanted to talk to you guys about it.”

“Aha! I knew it…” Tamsin leaned across the table toward his friend as he spoke. “It’s okay, Phee… You’re totally not alone, trust me.” He gave a small wink before continuing. “And none of us are gonna judge you for it. Promise. We love you no matter what. And you can always be yourself with us, right guys?”

Phoenix’s eyes widened. “What?! No! No!” He shook his head. “That’s not what I’m saying!”

Tamsin’s face appeared to fall slightly. “Oh.”

“So what is it then?” Jasper interjected quickly, his cheeks flushed. “What’s going on?”

He took a deep breath before replying. “I think I finally figured out what my problem is. Like… why girls don’t think i’m ‘interesting’ or whatever.”

“Well… I think we all knew the answer to that question already, didn’t we?” Bryce smirked playfully at his friend. “I mean, duh.”

Meg swatted his arm, smiling apologetically at Phoenix as she did so. “So… What do you think it is?”

Phoenix turned to address his best friend. “Tam, do you remember back when you were like… twelve? And you tried running your first D&D campaign?”

“Eleven.” Tamsin corrected him gently. “You were twelve. And of course I remember! You never forget your first time… Isn’t that what they always say?” He sighed almost wistfully.

Phoenix shook his head in amusement, letting out a soft chuckle. “Um, pretty sure they aren’t talking about D&D campaigns though…”

Tamsin ignored him. “Oh man, I still remember how pumped I was to try running my own game! But I had to beg like crazy for you to let Jasper play with us.” His smile widened. “I was so excited when you finally caved and said he could!”

Phoenix couldn’t help but laugh softly. Leave it to Tam to remember all those details.

Jasper laughed too, his eyes lighting up at the memory. “I’ll never forget that… I was so freaking excited when you asked me too.”

Tam smiled warmly at him. “I remember.”

“Yeah… those were the days, huh?” Phoenix continued, trying to get their conversation back on-track. “Anyway, remember how much we sucked at it? And how me and Jasper totally fucked up character creation?”

Tamsin nodded, finally returning his gaze back to Phoenix. “Unfortunately… I’ve been trying really hard to purge that part from my memory, you know.” He teased. “Man… it was so bad. We didn’t even know how to roll right!” He shook his head almost sadly.

“Yeah, and none of us had any idea how classes worked or anything.” His friend replied. “I made that lame human character, and I tried so hard to make him good at everything…” Phoenix paused for a moment. “But I spread all my attribute points way too thin. And instead of being good at everything…”

“You were good at nothing.” Jasper finished for him, laughing. “Yeah, it was a super boring character. But, uh… what does that have to do with anything?”

“Well, that’s still my problem, I think. I’m a boring character.” Phoenix chewed his lip for a moment, trying to think of how to explain it. “Okay, so like… If school was some kind of big RPG, instead of classes like paladins or bards or wizards, you’d have like, jocks, geeks, partiers, nerds…” He rattled the names off quickly. “That kinda thing. Right? Like, you get what I mean?”

Tamsin and Jasper nodded.

“And they all kinda ‘specialize’ in something, or whatever. Like, they have something they’re really good at and makes them stand out and stuff… But I don’t. I’m like… mediocre at a bunch of random shit, instead of actually good at anything.”

Tamsin’s eyes lit up in understanding. “Oh my God… It’s like you never picked a class!”

“Exactly!”

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Bryce muttered, earning a disapproving look from Meg. “Alright, I must’ve missed a lesson or two in geek-ese…” He continued, smiling in amusement. “‘Cause I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about.”

Before Phoenix could reply, Tamsin turned toward Bryce, smiling. “Phee wants to re-roll his character.”

“Um…?”

“I think what he’s trying to say is that Phoenix wants to find a new hobby or something?” Meg suggested. “Something to make him stand out a little more?”

He nodded happily. “That’s gotta make me more interesting, right? I’ll find a way to get really good at something, and then I’ll finally be like ‘special’, or whatever. And everyone will see I’m not the boring loser Hallie thinks I am.”

None of his friends spoke for a few moments. And, judging by the looks on their faces, they each had very different thoughts crossing their minds.

“I dunno…” Jasper was the first to break the silence. “Isn’t that kinda like lying or something?”

Meg nodded. “Yeah, Jasper’s right… If you want a girlfriend, she should like you for… you. Right? The real you.”

“Well, I’m still gonna be the ‘real’ me.” Phoenix insisted. “Just… a new me? Do you know what I mean?”

She chuckled softly to herself. “Sure. Whatever you say…”

“So anyway, um… What do you guys think? I still haven’t figured out what I’m gonna try first… But do you think it’ll work? Should I try it?”

“Hell yeah!” Tamsin cried. “You know how much I love character creation… This is gonna be fun!”

Bryce shook his head for a moment. “Honestly? I think this is the absolute dumbest fucking idea I have ever heard in my life… and you should totally do it.” He grinned.

Phoenix turned toward his brother hopefully.

Jasper just shrugged. “I guess it couldn’t hurt to try?”

Phoenix smiled softly, a feeling of relief washing over him at his friends’ approval. He knew it was a crazy idea, but like Jasper had said, it couldn’t hurt to try, could it?

“Exactly.” Phoenix’s smile widened. “I’ve gotta at least give it a shot. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?”