Extra Ordinary

13.

I peered at myself in the school bathroom mirror, turning my face left to right. 

I'd been blessed with a clear skin. My hair comb, shower, toothbrush, deodorant and I were well acquainted, which already put me a step above many other guys. 

Despite what some classmates said about me when they weren't busy ignoring me, I had never considered myself an ugly guy. 

It wasn't actually my looks they disliked. Ugly was just an easy insult when you don't like someone and your friends don't either. Or when they don't adhere to your standards of wearing brand clothing, don't get a cool hairdo, don't visit the gym. 

I checked all the boxes of 'what not to do' and still Asa was hitting on me. 

There was no way that hadn't been clear, hard flirting. Even I couldn't deny it. 

Like I needed more sheer exhilaration and confusion added tonight. Hey, if you win this video game thing, Rolf is off your back and Asa possibly wants to get on your back. No pressure though. 

Christ. What had I gotten myself into?

After a few deep breaths, I splashed some water in my face and exited the bathroom. 

I found Asa waiting for me near the entrance inside the crowded cafeteria, now accompanied by a broadly smiling Timothy.

"Asa!" he called out, though he didn't seem to dare to pat Asa's back or put an arm around him like he always did with me. "I didn't know you played video games!" 

"I don't," was Asa's deadpan answer. 

Timothy's smile fell. He let out a nervous chuckle, and I was glad I wasn't the only one psyched out by Asa's utterly unimpressed stare. 

Timothy quickly turned to me. "Oh, okay. And you? You liked games, right?" 

"Uhm, yeah." I cleared my throat. "Actually, I was hoping I could still enter the Double Singularity tournament today. I know I'm late, but is that possible?"

Playing on my laptop was far from ideal, the graphics looked awful on low res, but there was no way I was risking hauling my game computer to the school cafeteria. It was staying safely behind closed doors, away from soda, crumbs, and vandals. 

"Of course it's possible! No problem!" Timothy waved away my concerns. "We'll get you in there."

Timothy hurried over to a row of gamers already seated at the cafeteria table. Rolf was one of them, and my stomach dropped when Timothy, out of all people, came to a halt next to him and tapped his shoulder. 

"Yep?" Rolf asked, taking his headphones off, looking up at Timothy. 

"Can you enter one extra guy in the tournament? Gabriel wants to join." Timothy pointed at me, and my shoulders automatically drew up, like that would help make me more invisible. 

Rolf turned back to his screen, not even sparing me a glance. "No," he bluntly stated. "He's too late. Entry's closed." 

"But you can just manually adjust the schedule," Timothy argued. "It's not that fixed, is it?" 

I appreciated Timothy's tenaciousness and him being one of the few teachers who stuck up for me, but I wished he shut up. 

Because he was making a scene, the people surrounding him started involving themselves, too. That was never in my advantage. 

"No, that's not fair," one of Rolf's friends complained. "We all had to sign up before Monday. You can't show up in a few minutes before and expect the rules to change for you."