Chapter 148 Can I Have Your Dad?
Maya’s neck felt cold. Toby’s hands were freezing. She shivered.
She pressed her palms together and leaned in, eyes wide, pulling the most cartoonishly adoring face she could manage.
“Starting tomorrow, I’ll go to bed early and be a perfect student!” The words tumbled out at top speed. “Please, Toby, I love you so much, please don’t tell Mom!”
Toby pressed his palm against her forehead and pushed her back.
He studied her face carefully. He’d heard what he wanted to hear, and for once, he didn’t give the two kids a hard time.
“Let’s go.”
Back at Toby’s place, Maya changed out of her clothes and bolted for the shower, then bed.
She was beyond exhausted.
But she’d barely been lying down for five minutes when Alfred appeared in her doorway, freshly showered, wearing pajamas, holding his phone. Staring at her in silence.
“What?”
She looked at him, confused. It was the middle of the night, and he was still awake.
“Gaming.”
Alfred’s dark eyes locked onto her.
Maya could’ve sworn she detected a sliver of excitement buried under that flat monotone.
Gaming. Gaming. Gaming.
And from his phone’s mic, a teammate was yelling, “Who sleeps at this hour? Get up, let’s keep going!” Maya wanted to scream. Alfred had turned into a gaming addict overnight. She snatched the phone out of his hand and discovered that the voice belonged to the same friend they’d been playing with online recently.
“We’re going to bed!” Maya announced into the mic. “We have school tomorrow!”
She was genuinely baffled. Alfred had been running around with her all day. Wasn’t he tired? Where did all this energy come from?
Maybe it was some kind of conservation of energy thing. He’d been in standby mode for so long that once someone cracked open the door to a new world, all that stored-up power came flooding out.
“Wait, hold on. Are you two elementary schoolers? Who goes to bed this early?”
A bright, clear voice came through the speaker.
Maya said yes.
The guy flipped instantly, suddenly righteous. “Kids need their sleep! What are you doing playing games? Study hard! Be good! Turn off the phone and go to bed!”
Alfred got kicked out of the party.
He stood there holding his phone, looking faintly crushed.


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