The following Saturday Jess, true to her word, was on time for a change, and her hair was dry. She also uncharacteristically wore a simple white dress in lieu of sweats to go with her usual sweatshirt atop. What struck Jake as even more surprising was that she had also applied makeup. His imagination began to run wild. He envisioned her in front of a mirror deftly applying mascara across her long fluttering eyelashes highlighting her already stunning eyes. Immediately, however, he shut his spinning brain down. Jess isn't a girl -- she's just a friend he told himself for the umpteenth time.
"No swim meet today?" Jake asked, resuming focus on the upcoming campaign, but trying to remain polite. Though he had zero interest in swimming, it had become an absolute passion for Jess, so he figured it was nice to at least feign some interest.
"No, just lifting today."
"Lifting?"
"Yeah, the coach has stepped up the weightlifting program this year. So, my life pretty much revolves around school, workouts, and eating tons of protein."
"And D&D," Jake chimed in, pulling out the game board.
Dan, the pasty red-haired freckled member of the group, clearly ready, put his figurine on the board first. He called his muscular fighter character an 'Amazon warrior.' Inevitably, there always seemed to be one guy in any campaign who played a female character. Usually, when a woman was present, that wasn't the case. To all in the gang, however, Jess registered, despite her undeniable cute pixielike face, as asexual, or one of the boys. Thus, it didn't matter that she was there, and Dan's natural inclination prevailed.
Playing D&D was an outlet for Dan. Scheduled night and day between art, music, and academic activities, his doting parents saw it as their mission to manufacture his future success by channeling his inner genius. Weekly games with the group were his release from his planned life and he always seemed determined to move the game along and have his time well spent. "Tara is ready," he called out enthusiastically.
The others followed suit. A cleric, paladin, and a fighter/thief joined the board. Elvin, the only Asian kid in their virtually all-white school, played a cleric named Luke, named after his brother. Elvin was adept at nearly everything but not truly stellar at anything. He played basketball and had a good shot but was too short and slow to make the team. He was bright, but never at the top of his class. He got along with people but was never too popular and seemed on an endless yet fruitless quest to find a way to be a part of the 'in-crowd.' Jake didn't see it at the time, but later he became convinced that Elvin's skin color in their white-washed community left him feeling like he was on the outs. Thus, Elvin played the role of the model minority and acted like he didn't care that he wasn't particularly popular, but truthfully, it grated on him dearly.
Craig, who played lacrosse and passed loosely for the title of the group's athlete (though he looked more like a skater boi), role-played a paladin. It was a running joke that he'd taken the role of the paladin given his relationship with his redneck, overly religious father. Craig went out of his way to reject everything his dad stood for. His dad expected him to play football; instead, he surfed and played lacrosse. His dad rejected science while Craig was highly academic, and science was his favorite class. The resulting relationship was a rocky one which, looking back, might have resulted in a visit from child services in the modern world. Jake often half-expected Craig to arrive home one day with his dad and an army recruiter in his living room, papers filled out and waiting for him to sign. While Craig went out of his way to repudiate his dad's values, some of the trailer park's toxic masculinity seeped into his everyday life. In particular, his male chauvinism. Though he made it seem like a joke, it was readily apparent in his sexualization of women. Thus, he made the perfect paladin.
Finally, Jess played the part of the party's fighter/thief. Though their characters were skilled, after writing the campaign Jake surmised that their group lacked enough firepower to make it through without casualties. That was problematic because this time the group had fallen in love with their characters. His solution to the problem was to introduce a non-player-character to add to the party tonight who was not only the reveal for Jess but a needed spell caster to join the party.
"Yeah, DnD too. You guys are my outlet, I guess," Jess explained.
"I always liked being referred to as an outlet." Elvin retorted.
Jess ignored him and continued, "My coach is pretty serious, and he's definitely brought me to a new level. He says college swimmers lift regularly and it's going to help us to start early. We've been at it for over a year, and I actually like it a lot. I always do extra but it's hard work."
"Won't that stunt your growth?" Craig asked, seemingly not caring much either.
