“It’s in the family room.”
We both look over at Dan.
“I spotted it in a box with some of my old DVDs. Want me to set it up?”
“Yes!” Hayden hops up from his seat. “I’ll show A my cosplay stuff while you do that.”
Dan gives us a thumbs-up.
This time when we head upstairs, Hayden takes the steps two at a time. I glance at the zie, zir, and zirs cutouts as we enter his room, but Hayden starts talking before I can ask anything.
“How much do you know about Kingdom Hearts?” He grabs a sheet of creamy white fabric off a tower of boxes. It looks like a crudely shaped jacket.
“Not much.” My eyes dart from the wall to the floor. “Okay, nothing.”
“It’s cool. Not everyone’s into the same things.” Hayden sits on the floor. “So, Roxas is a part of this other character, Sora, but he doesn’t have a heart, which is why he’s a Nobody.”
“A… nobody?”
“Yeah.” Hayden’s gaze drops, like he’s suddenly self-conscious. “It’s complicated, but the main point is that Roxas has to discover who he is and who his real friends are.”
I join him on the shaggy orange floor as Dan enters with the PlayStation and a stack of games. He slides a sheet of fabric off a TV on Hayden’s desk, then plugs in a cord, and it flickers to life.
I watch Hayden as he slides a plastic container out from under his bed. I think I get why he’d want to portray a character like this. Roxas has to figure out who he is in the game and maybe Hayden had to do the same thing in real life.
I wish I could relate to Princess Aurora so I could skate my program better, but all I know is she gets cursed and then a prince comes to her rescue. I’d rather be the brave hero instead of the person who needs saving.
“Voilà!” Dan straightens. He passes Hayden a controller.
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Thanks, Mr.—” I catch myself. “Dan.”
“You’re both very welcome.” Dan heads for the door. “And I’m off. My work here is done, but I’m afraid the dishes are not.”
Hayden scoots closer to the TV. It looks like he’s fast-forwarding through an animated movie. “Okay, check this out.” He hits pause. “That’s Roxas.”
I lean forward to study the image. With his tousled blond hair, Roxas looks a lot like Hayden. I point to the top of the fabric pile. “You’re making his jacket out of this?”
“Right. I still need to sew on the checkered pattern, plus attach the zipper to the red fabric. There’s this Square Enix fan event coming up that I want to get it done for.” Hayden must notice my confusion. “That’s a video game maker. They created the Kingdom Hearts games, which Roxas is a character in, plus Final Fantasy and a bunch of other awesome stuff.”
I take another look at the boy frozen in place on Hayden’s TV. The pattern that runs along Roxas’s chest repeats along the seam of his shoulders. “We can totally get this done before your meetup. I’ll work on the checkerboard pieces.”
“Here.” Hayden opens the container he pulled out from under his bed. I choose a spool of black thread and a needle.
While he starts connecting his silver zipper to the red fabric, I tackle the checkerboard pattern. It’s detailed work, requiring sharp eyes and careful hands, just like when I helped Mom bead my Nationals costume last year. We work in silence, totally focused.
When something slams against the door, my whole body jerks. My fingers fumble the needle. It slips from my grip, disappearing into the carpet.
“Got you!” The door hardly muffles Mattie’s voice at all. “Now you’re it!”
“You got my shirt. You’re not supposed to grab clothes!” That sounds like Elliot.
Beside me, Hayden lets out a heavy sigh. “Hold on.” He gets up, moves to the door, and sticks his head out into the hall.
“Hey, you two. Play somewhere else.”
“We were just—” Mattie starts, but Hayden cuts him off.
“Playing tag in the house? Mom won’t like that if she finds out.”
The hall becomes silent. Hayden shuts the door and turns back to me. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” I feel my way carefully through the carpet for my lost needle. “Are they always like that?”
“Like, annoying?” Hayden sits down beside me. “All the time, morning to night. I almost can’t wait for school to start. Even if there’re a thousand people in my grade, it’ll still be calmer.”
“Or you can just come over to my house sometime on a quest for quiet,” I say, leaning over to peer at his carpet a little closer. “Mom’s so busy with work she’s almost never—oh!”
A quick flash of movement. Bright going dark and then bright again under Hayden’s bed.
I sit back with a quiet gasp.
Hayden follows my gaze. “That’s just Fisk. Sorry if she scared you. You saw the cats downstairs, right?” I nod, pulse slowing. “Fisk came with us from Minnesota and the other two already lived here with Aunt Becca. Dad says it’ll take time for them to get used to one another. Until then, I guess Fisk’s just going to hide in my room.”
“Poor kitty.” I remember my first days at the Oakland rink, when everyone knew everyone else, except me. “I hope she gets comfortable soon.”
“Me too. She used to be really friendly.” Hayden glances back at me. “What did you say before you saw her? Something about a quiet… quest?”
“A quest for quiet.” When he doesn’t say anything, I explain. “You know, like in a video game where everyone is always going on missions and stuff?”
“That’s a perfect name for it.” Hayden drops his fabric. “Want to play Kingdom Hearts? My fingers need a break from sewing.”
“Oh, I’m okay.” I pretend to concentrate on my needle and thread. “I honestly don’t even know how. I’d probably be awful.”
“Like I was on my first day of skating?” He reaches
