✦Hawkins, Indiana – A Little Before D&D O’Clock✦

The Hendersons’ house sat quietly under the fading gold of an Indiana afternoon, its front porch cast in long shadows. A wind chime clinked lazily above the doorway, and from the driveway Eddie Munson could already smell the telltale aroma of laundry softener and suburban safety — a strange cocktail for a guy more used to locker-room sweat and cigarette smoke.

He tapped his fingers on the leather-bound Hellfire Club binder tucked beneath one arm, then knocked.

Twice.

He grinned to himself. “Let’s roll, Dungeon Boy…”

The door opened.

And Eddie Munson forgot what language was.

Standing in the doorway was someone who definitely wasn’t Dustin.

She had curly brown hair that caught the light like molasses, an olive-toned complexion sun-kissed and warm, and — he tried not to stare — dimpled cheeks and a constellation of freckles across the bridge of her nose that made her look like she was born under a summer sky. A faded high school T-shirt clung to her comfortably, and she had a pencil stuck behind one ear like she’d just walked out of an indie film Eddie would pretend to hate but secretly love.

She squinted at him.

“Can I help you?”

Eddie blinked. “Uh. Yeah. Yeah. Totally. I’m here for Dustin. Henderson? Four-foot genius with a baseball cap addiction?”

She leaned against the doorframe slightly, arms crossed. “You mean my brother.”

He choked. “You— Wait. You’re Dustin’s sister?”

A single brow arched like it was auditioning for a role in sarcasm theater. “That a problem?”

“No, no, it’s just…” He trailed off, gesturing vaguely. “I didn’t know he had a sister. Let alone one who looks like she walked out of a Zeppelin album cover.”

She tilted her head, caught somewhere between amused and suspicious. “I’m sorry, are you hitting on me?”

“I—” Eddie held up his hands in mock surrender. “I’m trying really hard not to. Or maybe too hard. It’s unclear at this point.”

She laughed, and it was the worst thing that could have happened because now Eddie was doomed. Utterly and completely.

Just as he was about to say something to redeem himself, heavy footsteps thundered from inside the house.

“Eddie!” Dustin barreled down the hallway, backpack half-zipped and dice rolling in every direction. “Sorry, sorry — I couldn’t find my Dungeon Master screen. Again. You ready?”

Eddie cleared his throat. “Yeah. Yep. All set.”

Dustin looked between the two of them, then squinted at Eddie. “Wait… have you seriously never met my sister?”

“You never said you had one,” Eddie muttered, watching her retreat toward the kitchen. “Kind of important intel, don’t you think?”

“She’s usually at campus or buried in her books.” Dustin shrugged. “Why? What’s the big deal?”

“No big deal,” Eddie said far too quickly.

Dustin stared for a moment longer, then shook his head. “Don’t make this weird, dude.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Eddie said, grinning. “Now let’s go roll some dice and kill some orcs.”

As they stepped onto the porch, Dustin paused. “You sure you weren’t just trying to flirt with my sister?”

Eddie gave him a wide-eyed look of mock offense. “Me? Would I do that?”

“Yes.”

“…Okay, maybe.”

Dustin groaned.

But just before the door shut behind them, her voice called out:

“Hey, Dungeon Boy?”

Eddie turned.

She tossed a folded scrap of notebook paper at him. “You dropped your character sheet.”

He caught it, confused — then noticed the second sheet tucked inside it.

A phone number. And a smiley face.

Eddie blinked.

Dustin looked between them. “What just happened.”

Eddie slung an arm around his shoulder. “Kid, I think I just rolled a natural twenty.”