It was a hot summer day, and Noah Elder lay spread out on his bed. A game controller in his hands. His face screwed up in concentration. He could hear his friends voices in his head set.

"You're going down, Elder!" Marcus Scott yelled into his microphone.

"Cover my back, Ty!" Noah called.

"Gotta bro!" Ty Lewis responded.

Noah moved his avatar into position. Aim, and...

"Noah!" His mom called.

Fuck! Just got to take this shot, Noah thought, Marcus still hasn't discovered my position.

"Noah!" His mom called again.

Marcus's avatar moved. Noah adjusted, almost... There! He was in range. Aim, fire! Marcus's avatar fell.

"Yes!" Noah exclaimed.

"Noah Shane Elder! Get your ass down here!" His mom shouted.

"Coming!" He called back.
He turned back to the game. It's just one more minute... He thought. Then his screen flashed, Killed by MAXimum.

"Max!" Noah called.

"Did you forget about me?" Max said with a laugh.

Then, his head set was ripped off his head. He looked up to see his particularly irritable mother standing over him.

"Coming are you?" She said hitting him on the back of the head.

"I was coming. I just didn't say when," Noah responded.

She grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him up. He looked up at her. The flame tattoo under her left eye was the biggest piece of her past she had.

"We were all ready to go ten minutes ago!" She snapped.

"I'm ready!" Noah protested.

She rolled her eyes and dragged him downstairs.

"Wait, what are we ready for?" Noah asked.

"We're going to your Aunt Sadie's restaurant for dinner," she said.

Noah nodded. He didn't see why this was such a big deal. They always went to Aunt Sadie's Poet Pizza for dinner. There must be some other reason why his mom would make such a big deal about dinner. He wondered what was up.