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Chapter 9

“And then he thanked you by name? Eve, you were basically on a Mr. Cards livestream.” Maddie’s pixelated face beamed at Eve from her phone screen.

Eve couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “He was reading out my username. It has ‘Eve’ in it. I’m sure he didn’t know it was me.”

“Just don’t forget me when you’re famous. Hold up the black shirt again.”

Eve picked up the black, satiny shirt from her suitcase and held it up to the screen.

Maddie looked at it approvingly. “Wear that one with the red pants. You want to leave an impression.”

Eve shook her head, confused. “I didn’t pack any red pants.”

“I may have snuck a few things in when we were packing.”

Eve burst into a fit of giggles. “Are you serious?” She dug through her suitcase, and sure enough, her best friend had snuck in a pair of daring red pants, along with a few other pieces of clothing that she didn’t remember packing.

“You can thank me later. You’re going to look great.”

“Thanks, Maddie.” Eve hung up the phone and steeled her nerves. Matthew’s preliminary match was starting in an hour, and she was going to have front-row seats to blog the whole thing.

I need to make sure I get good content for the sponsored article too.

She had planned to meet Hannah and John in the hotel lobby so that they could ride over to the event center together. As the time grew closer, excitement and nerves began to build up inside of her. The thought of seeing Matthew play live made her heart flutter with anticipation. It was going to be an entirely new experience since this was for a competition, and Eve was ready for anything.

Giving herself one last look in the mirror, she left her room to meet with Hannah and John. Despite arriving five minutes early, both of them were already waiting for her when she entered the lobby.

Hannah waved to her. “Hi, Eve, did you sleep well?”

Eve decided to be honest. “Not really, I was too excited for today.”

“If you think today is exciting, just wait until the finals this weekend,” John said, glancing up from his phone.

“So, you’re pretty sure he’ll qualify, then?”

Hannah and John exchanged a knowing glance. “You’ve seen him stream Ghost Exterminators before, right?” John said. “He could do this in his sleep.”

“He might have to,” Hannah said, fidgeting with the edge of her blouse. “Angela said he was in the war room responding to messages from viewers until 3 A.M.”

John gestured for the two girls to follow him to the waiting car in front of the hotel doors. “That’s normal for him. He never sleeps.”

Once the trio was situated in the car, John turned to Eve. “I saw that you covered events when you worked for your school newspaper in college. Did you ever report on competitions?”

Eve shook her head. “No, we usually had the sports person do that. You read my school newspaper?”

John laughed. “You shouldn’t be so surprised when I say that we thoroughly vetted you. I mean thoroughly.”

“Don’t worry,” Hannah said. “Matthew’s people even reached out to my high school debate team.”

Eve felt her stomach drop in fear as she thought of her parents’ company. Matthew’s team would almost certainly have reached out to them as part of their research into her professional history.

They would have given me a less-than-glowing review.

Strangely, nobody had mentioned anything about her parents or their company.

“Eve?” John had been trying to get her attention.

Eve turned to him, embarrassed. “Sorry, what was that?”

“I said, I’m sorry I couldn’t give you more in-depth training on e-sports reporting, but just focus on the sponsored product and on Matthew, and you’ll do fine. I’m also happy to review any content that you plan to send to Pixel Pulse, as a professional favor.”

“Thank you. I think I’ll take you up on that.”

Before long, the car pulled up to the guest entrance of the event center. Eve peered up at the massive building.

“We get to go in the side entrance since we are members of staff,” Hannah explained.

“We also get front row seats,” John said. “If we get separated, just look for the box labeled “Staff and Press.”

Hannah handed Eve a lanyard. “Make sure you wear it at all times. It’s your access card.”

Eve slipped the lanyard around her neck. Her palms grew slick with sweat from anticipation as the group approached the door.

“Stick close to one of us for your first time. Things can get pretty hairy in here, especially once the competition gets started,” John said.

They each showed their access cards to the staff member at the guest entrance, and the door swung wide open. Eve was immediately overwhelmed by the throngs of people hurrying from one area to another. She kept her eyes on John, who was the tallest, and began to make her way into the arena.

Walking into the arena felt like entering the inside of a living supercomputer. Overhead, a towering array of modular LED screens ensured the on-screen gaming action could be viewed from any angle in the stadium. Multiple soundproof booths lined the stage, each decked out with individualized gaming gear and state-of-the-art PCs. Several contestants were already in their booths, waving to fans, adjusting their monitor settings, or doing warm-up stretches. Eve craned her neck, but couldn’t catch sight of Matthew anywhere.

“Watch where you’re going!” A camera operator snapped at Eve as she unconsciously stepped into his line of view.

Eve quickly ducked out of sight. “I’m so sorry!”

“That’s happened to me before. The camera operators can be pretty touchy,” Hannah said sympathetically, guiding Eve toward their seats. Eve settled in next to Hannah and pulled a simple spiral notebook and a pen from her bag.

Hannah tapped Eve’s shoulder excitedly. “It’s starting!”

Eve barely heard her. She had finally laid eyes on Matthew. The world around her swam out of focus as she watched him approach his booth. His shoulders squared off confidently, and he walked out toward the stage almost casually. As he grew closer, Eve could make out the earring amongst his curls. Today he wore a silver hoop. The crowd erupted into noise as he gave a good-natured wave before turning to sit at his PC. From her position in the front row, Eve could see every movement he made. She was vaguely aware of someone making announcements to signal the start of the competition, but her attention was held, captivated by Matthew.

He softly brushed his hair away from his eyes and slid his headphones into place over his ears. Eve frantically scribbled notes about their perfect fit and sleek appearance. Matthew popped his knuckles one by one and sat, poised at the keyboard. The loading screen for Ghost Exterminators blinked in front of him, bathing his face in a soft, lavender glow. He looked calm, almost serene.

Suddenly, the signal for the competition to begin rang out over the speakers. Eve had to restrain herself from covering her ears. Matthew’s fingers danced across his keyboard, and his eyes darted rapidly across the screen. Before Eve had time to take a single note, he had already captured a ghost.

Sometimes it takes me an entire round to catch one ghost. Eve thought in awe.

Matthew’s technique was nearly flawless. Compared to his competitors who sat stiff and rigid in their seats, Matthew was loose and relaxed. A single wrinkle sprouted above his nose as he furrowed his eyebrows in deep concentration. Eve scribbled in her notebook as Matthew’s ghost counter ticked up again by one. As riveted as she was by the competition, Eve had a job to do, and she was determined to do it well. As Matthew changed strategies to adapt to his opponents, Eve wrote notes furiously in her notebook, intent on not missing a single play.

As the time wound down, Matthew and one other player had pulled far ahead of the pack and were tied. Eve sat on the edge of her seat. Hannah watched next to her, transfixed, twisting her hair nervously. Matthew’s opponent was closing in on the final ghost that would give him the lead when, out of nowhere, Matthew equipped a mirror, climbed on top of a ledge, and lay in wait for the opponent and the ghost to pass by.

Is he going to steal that guy's ghost?!

It was one of the most difficult moves to pull off in the game, since it required near-perfect timing. Eve, along with the entire audience, held their breath as Matthew launched himself at the other guy’s ghost and triggered his trap.

It worked!

Momentarily forgetting her notebook, Eve leaped to her feet and pumped her fist. “Yes!” she cried.

She could barely hear Hannah and John laughing at her over the roar of the crowd as the timer went off, signaling the game’s end, but she didn’t care.

Matthew had won.