Love is not too late
After finding out I scored a 1480 on the SAT,
my online gaming boyfriend dumped me.
“With that score, and wanting to major in
engineering? She’s probably a total nerd,” he
scoffed to his roommate, forgetting to mute his
mic.
Then, one of our teammates shot him dead in
the game.
“Messing with my little sister from the
engineering department? You’re asking for it.”
At the orientation, I stared at the gorgeous 6’2”
guy in front of me, speechless.
Dude, with a face like that, calling someone
else shallow? How ironic.
<
After the SAT scores came out, I gamed all
night. My parents were busy bragging to
relatives and friends, so they left me alone. As a
result, my voice was hoarse when I got Josh’s
call in the morning.
He got straight to the point: “Sarah, let’s break
up.”
I met Josh randomly in a game. He wasn’t very
good, but he was rich, a typical “whale.”
He was also sweet–talking and charming. The
night after the SAT, he confessed his feelings,
and we started dating.
I didn’t expect us to break up less than a month
later.
“Okay,” I said without arguing. We hadn’t met in
person anyway. It was like losing a virtual pet.
Josh seemed relieved: “So, we can still play
<
games together, right?”
I agreed.
434
After a round, Josh changed his profile picture.
I didn’t pay much attention and was about to log off.
Suddenly, a teasing voice came from my
headphones, “Yo, Josh, why the sudden profile
pic change? Break up?”
Josh hadn’t muted his mic.
Before I could warn him, I heard him scoff, “Of
course we broke up! Did you know she got a
1480 on the SAT? And she wants to go to MIT
for computer science!”
“With that score, and engineering? She’s
probably a total nerd. I can’t imagine what she
looks like! No way I’m meeting that!”
<
10:48
The other teammates fell silent.
Josh sounded confused, “Hey, why aren’t you
guys moving-”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
434
Suddenly, the pro gamer on our team shot Josh
three times, killing him instantly.
Josh exploded, “Are you crazy?! Why did you
kill me-”
His voice abruptly stopped as he realized
everyone had heard him.
A laid–back voice drawled, “Messing with my
little sister from the engineering department? You’re asking for it.”
Huh???
<
This teammate usually never spoke, but he was
an incredibly skilled player. I’d always thought
he was the aloof type.
I didn’t expect his first words to be defending
- me.
My phone started buzzing like crazy. It was
Chloe, my best friend.
I quit the game and answered. She immediately
bombarded me with excited chatter.
“Sarah! You’re my hero!”
“You got a 1480! Top of the state! Carry me to glory, please!!!”
I pulled the phone away from my ear, “Hold on,
girl, I just got dumped.”
Chloe: “?”
<
I repeated what had happened, “He probably
thinks I’m ugly.”
Chloe was furious, “??? Is he insane? If you’re a
nerd, then what are we?!”
“Forget it.” I was too lazy to care. I remembered
the pro gamer teammate and messaged him
privately, “Hey, thanks for that! Want to add me
on Snapchat? I’ll buy you lunch when school
starts!”
A minute later, the aloof gamer replied with one
word: “Sure.”
2
Getting headshot in front of everyone was
humiliating for Josh, and he immediately left the
game.
Unexpectedly, he messaged me later that
evening.
CODO
Г
“Come online, let’s play another round!”
Apparently, he was determined to get his
revenge. He had a temper.
I glanced at his teammates: “That ID looks
familiar.”
A lazy voice came from my headphones,
“Professional player, for hire.”
I was startled, fidgeting with my ear. This guy
had barely spoken after playing with us for so
long. But after standing up for me, he seemed
to prefer voice chat over typing.
It took some getting used to.
Looking at Josh’s newly acquired gear, I was a
little worried: “Can we win?”
He was determined to make a comeback and
had clearly onont a fortiinn
<
དuo u༦༦ད་་་་་ད༦ས པ ད་དཔ\༦ པ VUTIGDGUrn GIIG
had clearly spent a fortune.
The pro gamer asked lazily, “Do you want to
beat him?”
I didn’t hesitate: “Of course!”
Money doesn’t buy skill!
He chuckled softly, “Okay.”
Nine minutes later, Josh and his expensive hired
gun were both dead.
Josh cursed and logged off.
After thinking for a long time, I finally messaged
the pro gamer:
“Hey, does studying computer science at MIT
make you as good as you are?”
“…Not necessarily,” the pro gamer actually
<
10:48
aptitude.”
I got it.
444
“Then I’ll cover your breakfast for a month!”
The pro gamer went back to being aloof and didn’t reply.
After the scores came out, my life got busy
again. Interviews, college applications, driver’s ed… there was so much to do that I barely played games for over a month.
Unexpectedly, Josh messaged me again.
“Sarah, we broke up amicably, you don’t have to stop playing games just because of me, right?”
Me: ??? What are you talking about?!
