Game Over: Life's Over

Winning

Soleil handed me the gift she brought for me and sat down on the couch beside me. "Open. I wanna see your reaction."

I looked at her as I hesitated with the box. "Is it going to be embarrassing?"

She smiled. "I would never."

I groaned. "Soleil."

She giggled. "The gift isn't embarrassing, I promise. I really think you'll like it."

I opened the wrapping paper to find an Amazon box inside. I ripped it open and pulled out a stuffed animal. It was a Squishmallow—a blue and yellow fish, similar to Flounder from the Little Mermaid.

I raised my eyebrows at Soleil. "I thought you said this wasn't embarrassing."

"It's not. I wanted you to have one so we could match."

"I appreciate you getting me one instead of all one hundred you have."

She shoved my shoulder. "Don't insult my stuffed animals. They're all special in their own way and I love them all."

I rolled my eyes.

"You don't have to sleep with it or anything. I know you aren't into them like I am." She reached down into the box and pulled out a card. "I got you a gift card too. Just in case you didn't like the stuffed animal."

I smiled. "Thanks."

Will pushed the gift bag he brought towards me so it was on my side of the coffee table. "Mine next."

I set the stuffed animal down between me and Soleil and put the card with it. I grabbed the gift bag and started pulling the tissue paper out of the bag. I tossed it onto the floor so I could get to the gift easier.

A blue kickball sat inside the bag. It wasn't what I was expecting but I was just glad to get presents in general. It didn't happen all that often.

"Emily let me pick out your present," Will said.

I smiled at Will. "Thanks."

"You should come to the park so we can play with it," Soleil said.

Will glanced into the kitchen where all the adults were gathered to talk. "I know. We're just... busy at home so we haven't fit it in our schedule."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Emily functions best when she has a routine to follow. Everything is timed out. Like playgroup is at a certain time so we can make it work. We sometimes go to the park but when the weather switches up on us, it throws her schedule out of whack and she can't function as normal."

"That seems kind of weird though. Like she can't just... take you? It can't be random?"

"I wish. But I'm happy with her and I like the routine. It helps when my brain gets all jumbled."

"Jumbled?"

"He means when he regresses," Soleil said, glancing over at me.

Will frowned. "It happens more than I'd like to admit."

Mom walked into the room carrying the bag she brought with her. She set it on the coffee table in front of me. "This is from me, Theo, and Eric."

I set aside one bag and swapped it for another. I tossed the paper to the floor again, enjoying being able to make a mess without getting yelled at for it, and looked inside. I saw a red box but couldn't tell what it was.

I pulled it out and was surprised at how heavy it was. As it came out of the box, my mouth fell open.

They had gotten me a Nintendo Switch. Along with it was Mario Kart 8.

"Jeez, Mom. You guys didn't have to get me this."

Mom patted my shoulders. She was standing behind the couch where Soleil and I sat. "We wanted to do something nice for you. Getting your diploma is a big deal and we wanted you to know how proud of you we are."

Soleil turned so she could see Mom. "Can we play it?"

"You have to ask Theo and Eric. It's their house."

Soleil grinned at me before she got to her feet. She ran into the kitchen so she could ask if we could play.

Mom smiled at me. "I like her."

My face flushed. I really hated it when Mom embarrassed me in front of other people.

Soleil skipped back into the room and sat back down beside me. She bumped into me when she first sat down. She put her legs under her which gave us some distance. I tried my best to hide my disappointment.

Eric followed Soleil in and walked over to the TV. He removed a plug from the TV and then grabbed the box with the game console.

Will crawled over to my little couch and got comfortable. He pushed his binky into his mouth and watched Eric as he hooked up the Switch to the TV.

I leaned back and propped my feet up on the coffee table. I was excited to have friends over to do stuff with like play video games and hang out. I hadn't been able to do it since I lived at home with Mom and was still friends with Alex.

I hated to even think of those days considering how different my life was in the present. Things were okay and I didn't want to think about how they might not have been just because of my condition.

Eric handed over the two controllers. "There are only two so you'll have to take turns."

Will waved in our direction. His eyelids already looked droopy. "You guys play. I'm getting tired."

"Already?" Soleil asked.

He nodded. "Sorry. I go to bed early."

"I take naps," I said with a shrug.

Will leaned back and closed his eyes. I had a feeling he wouldn't last long.

We had to wait a little bit for the game to download. It felt like it took forever but after a few minutes, we were ready to play.

Soleil sat up on her knees as we picked a race and then picked our characters. She picked cat Peach and I went with Mario. Soleil's cart was a cat with a tail that matched her character. I went with the standard cart, hoping it would make me go fast on the tracks.

Soleil leaned into me as the countdown began for the race. "You know you're gonna lose."

I looked over at her. "I don't think so."

"Well you're already in last place so it's not looking good for you."

I looked back at the TV to see that the race had already started and I wasn't moving. I quickly started, trying my best to catch up with everyone else. "Thanks a lot."

She giggled. "You're welcome a lot."

She ended up winning the race.