(THIRD PERSON POV)

  Our iconic half-Spanish half-Mexican ??????boy, Hugo Diaz-Alvarez and the infinite amount of dashes/hyphens, is currently hosting his first D&D session for the new school year.

  As a proud nerd and an even prouder DM, Hugo takes this very seriously (by making everything fun for everyone).

  He and his friends are sitting around the table, hoping to get started soon.

  But they’re waiting on one more person.

  Curly-haired brunette Rhett groans. “Where the hell is Emmet?”

  Noah, a blonde boy, gives him a sharp look. “Watch your mouth.”

  Rhett mocks, “To what location beyond the big furnace doth I inquire-“

  Noah tries not to laugh as he shoves Rhett. “Shut your mouth, cretin.”

  Rhett’s arms flail as he tries to regain balance in the chair and he accidentally hits his other seat neighbor.

  The shorter boy whines, “Hey! Careful! I’m drawing a grasshopper!”

  Rhett’s face heats up a little. “I’m sorry Logan- I didn’t mean to.” He glares. “Noah pushed me.”

  Logan just focuses back on his drawing, not caring to listen to people bicker about who did what.

  Hugo sighs. “Seriously, where is Emmet?”

  Noah puts his head in his hands. “We could always just start without him.”

  Hugo rolls his eyes. “We don’t know when he’ll be here, and I would rather not do the first day of a campaign Druid-less. What is Emmet even doing?”

  Rhett leans back. “He said he would be coming late. Had to get something first.”

  Hugo raises an eyebrow. “And you’re just telling me this now?”

  Rhett glances at the ground, but then makes an apologetic smile. “Uh, surprise?”

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  Looking up at Hugo, Logan assures him. “Don’t worry about it. He’s probably just planning a dramatic entrance.”

  Just then, as if on cue, a familiar and loud voice calls, “Did someone say… Sausage?!”

  Noah doesn’t even look up from his phone. “There he is.”

  Emmet walks in with a boy Hugo has never seen before.

  He has brown skin and he’s wearing a black hoodie. Hugo notices this guy has very gentle eyes.

  Emmet waves. “Yo! We’re here!”

  Hoodie-boy looks a bit startled, probably because Emmet just yelled right by his ear.

  He looks like he’s about to run away but Emmet grabs him by the arm and drags him into the room.

  Noticing this boy’s discomfort, Rhett tries to ease things by joking: “Em, I said tell your friends about D&D, not kidnap them.”

  The Thai-Canadian boy scoffs. “Kidnapping? That is so funny??.”

  Emmet fakes a laugh before putting a hand on Hoodie-boy’s back. “This little goofball is my friend Arjan. Got some Asian fidelity going on here, he and I. I thought he’d like to give our group a try.”

  Hugo looks at Arjan. “Asia? Where are you from?”

  Arjan’s voice is soft and shy, but it’s also very smooth. “Uh, I was born here… in Leduc. Umm, but my ancestors are from India.”

  Logan glances up. “India? Wow. The cockroach population is impressive there. Isn’t their national insect the giant forest scorpion?”

  Arjan shrugs at the same time Rhett snickers. “Scorpions aren’t insects.”

  “Actually, they’re called scorpions, but they’re counted in the arachnid family.”

  Emmet lets out a small chuckle before gesturing to the ginger boy. “Arjan, meet Logan. He really likes bugs.”

  Logan just gives a small nod before resuming his drawing of a grasshopper.

  Emmet gestures at the brunette. “This curly flirt over here is Rhett.”

  “I’m not a flirt.”

  “Oh please, you were talking with a girl on your way here. I saw you.”

  Rhett is about to protest but Emmet continues talking.

  “And this is Noah. He’s just… blonde.” Emmet snickers.

  Noah’s voice comes out deadpan. “Wow. Inspiring introduction.”

  Emmet points at Hugo. “And that is Hugo. He’s our DM.”

  “What’s a DM?” Arjan asks.

  “Dungeon Master. He basically directs the roleplay.”

  Arjan clarafies, “And that’s for D&D?”

  Noah nods. “Yeah. Why don’t you sit down? I can help you make a character sheet.”

  Arjan has no clue what a character sheet is but he decides just going with it is better than asking 100 more questions.

  As Nosh digs for a character sheet and prepares to help Arjan through that process, Hugo asks, “So, uhh, what brings you to D&D club?”

  With a small smirk, Arjan points ~ “Emmet. You were right, I was kidnapped.”

  Emmet puts his hands up. “Oh for f#ck’s sake, Arj, I did not kidnap you!”

  Noah rolls his eyes. “Can we not joke about that please?”

  Emmet ignores Noah and continues talking. “I merely… encouraged you to get out more and talk with more people.”

  Arjan rolls his eyes. “You’re acting like I’m a basement troll that never goes outside.”

  Emmet laughs. “I mean- you are, aren’t you? Besides, this is perfect for you. You love nerd-stuff.”

  Hugo interjects, “If you like nerd-stuff, you’ll love the pretty math-rocks we have.”

  Arjan snickers. “Sorry, I thought you said METH rocks.”

  Hugo jokes, “I mean we have those too. That’s for later.”

  Arjan and Hugo laugh, and Emmet says, “Seeee? I knew you and Hugo would get along.”