Buster by Caleb Huett (ebook reader library txt) 📕

rubbed her elbow uncomfortably. “I just felt like it. I don’t know why.”

Tonio nodded. “I think we’re the same.”

She gave him a disbelieving look.

“Not the same in a lot of ways, but … it seemed like the only way to really fix what was making you sad was to move, right? But you didn’t really want to move. You know everybody here, and you love your family, and you’ve got all your dogs around. Does that sound right?”

Mia nodded, slowly.

“So maybe you were hoping I would give you a reason to stay?”

The door to Roll the Ice chimed as it opened. “Tonio?” Devon’s voice called. “Are you out here?”

Tonio gave Mia an apologetic look and called back, “Yeah, I’m here.”

I could hear Devon’s nice sneakers jogging along the sidewalk. His head poked around the corner first, and his big smile lit up the alleyway.

“Who’s that?” Mozart yipped. I kicked him.

“Mia!” Devon was oblivious to the complicated expressions on everyone else’s faces. “You made it!”

Mia looked, confused, between Devon’s grin and Tonio’s bashful expression. “What do you mean?”

“Tonio’s been worried about you all day. He fixed up your deck and even got Skyler to let you join in on the second round.” He wagged his finger and did his best grumpy-adult imitation. “You should really try to be on time for things, you know. The second round of the tournament is about to start!”

Tonio stood up. “You don’t have to go,” he said. “I just thought you might still want to. Three hundred dollars, right?” He unsnapped one of the pockets of his shorts and pulled out a deck box for her. “Just for playing a game.”

Mia pulled a deep breath in, then let it out in a big sigh. “Yeah. I’ll stay.” She took the deck from Tonio. “And you should, too, you know.”

Devon laughed. “Of course he’s staying. He won in the first round! You did, too, technically.”

They turned and started walking toward Roll the Ice. Mozart jumped for joy, and my tail wagged its absolute hardest.

We’d done it. We’d made our people happy, at least for a little while.

Isn’t that what a Good Dog is supposed to do?

Mia strolled into the game store just like someone who wasn’t bringing a puppy in against the rules and wearing only elephant pajamas.

“Where’s my sign-up sheet?” she yelled over the crowd. Devon laughed. Tonio’s face carried enough embarrassment for all three of them. “I’ve got some beams to blade!!!”

Skyler handed her a clipboard. Mia dragged the pen across it with a series of lightning-quick scratches and passed it back while a dozen adults watched and tried not to laugh at her energy. Only one spoke up—Phil, the grumpy one from our first visit to the store.

“She should really be disqualified for showing up this late.” His eyes glared out from under bushy eyebrows. Skyler returned a stern look.

“Special circumstances, Phil.”

Phil harrumphed while she listed off Blademaster names and table numbers.

“Nevod versus StoneSeraph, table six.”

“Got it!” Devon winked at the other two kids and dragged his backpack over.

“Malbrain and Combuster versus Five Paninis, table three.” Tonio glanced at Mia, who shooed him along.

“And at table four, Cool Name versus …” She squinted. “The Inevitable Winner of Tonight’s Tournament?” Skyler looked over her clipboard at Mia. “That can’t be your Blademaster name.”

Mia was already tossing Mozart onto table four. “You said it, not me. You’re on, Cool Name!”

All three kids won that round. Tonio went into his match ready to fight back, Mia didn’t miss a beat with her power-first fire deck, and Devon’s yellow deck kept him dancing quickly around his opponent, then dancing victoriously when he grabbed the last Spirit Battery.

Mia rolled her eyes at him on her way to Tonio’s table, where she booted his opponent—a nice woman whose deck was entirely robots—out of her seat so the three of them could talk strategy between rounds.

“You shoulda seen me!” Mia slammed her hands down on the table for emphasis. “I had two meteors in my first hand, and on turn three—Bash, the Twin Barrier! She came in and stunned all the Merborgs, and by turn four, it was over.”

Devon turned to Tonio. “How was your match against the sandwiches?”

The corners of his mouth quirked up. “Well, it turns out they weren’t just paninis, but were, in fact, a human. And I won.” He flinched at Devon’s playful arm punch.

“Look at you! That was almost a joke!”

Mia drummed the table with her fingers. “I wasn’t done with my story!” she complained.

Devon nodded seriously. “I see. We must have been confused, after the part where you said, ‘It was over.’ ”

“That was obviously for dramatic effect!” She raised her hand at him, palm up, and looked at Tonio. “Why are you even hanging out with this guy?”

Tonio saw the chance to plant a seed of friendship. “He’s actually—”

“Because I saved some of his throw-up and used it to cast a spell and make him my friend.”

“That’s so gross.”

“Can we stop talking about my throw-up, please?”

Round three, Devon lost to Phil, which he took okay even though you could tell he was disappointed. Tonio won, which as a trend was making him increasingly nervous. Mia also won and faced Phil in the semifinals.

When she lost she didn’t take it well, yelling “This is GARBAGE!” for everyone in the shop to hear. “I bought this at the store, opened it, used it, threw it away, they took it to a landfill.” Mia scooped up her cards in a big, angry motion. “A hundred years passed, humans got so advanced they didn’t need landfills anymore, but when they came by with their trash-cleaning lasers to convert everything to clean energy”—she let her chair fall back as she stood up—“the new guy tried to shoot it and the other guy stopped him and was like, not that one, new guy.” She dumped her cards on Tonio’s table. “Not Phil’s battle strategy. That’s just garbage.”

“I can’t believe he