Ace in the Hole [COMPLETED]

C.7

Their first semester was halfway to completion. While Matthew had sufficiently survived the assassination attempts acted upon by his fellow peers (mostly in the form of pranks and social calls), he seemed to enjoy his narrator side gig more than his coding classes. While he did create nifty projects that could do basic algorithmic functions, and a few basic number games and graphical user interfaces, he found himself in love with the stories he narrated for, and the process of characterizing each voice and each narration.

The pay from his job, combined with other gigs with voice acting and coding, got him and Joceline enough money to keep up with rent. Of course, he only paid one half, with Joceline effectively shouldering the other with her commissions. Then again, her situation was more precarious, being a freelancer, but Matthew was hoping it didn't get to her too much.

One afternoon, they got a knock on the door. Both of them felt startled by the sudden knock, but after a brief debate on who should answer, Matthew stood up.

Joceline tried to see who it was, but Matthew's body blocked the view.

"Hey...!" Matthew awkwardly rubbed at his neck, leaning even more against the door. "I... wasn't expecting you."

"Well, it's your birthday." A girl's voice, one Joceline didn't know. It sounded rather squeaky and nasally, just like Matthew's. "Thought I'd give you a gift."

"Right... uh... uh... thanks...?" Matthew cracked the door open more to get the gift, and he stepped back enough to see who it was. Her teeth were stuck with braces, her eyes cased in wire-frame glasses, and her face sprinkled with acne. Dyed auburn hair and tanned skin, with a shy smile that wavered when she saw Joceline.

"Oh, uhm, hi." She waved her hand carefully at Joceline, who Matthew turned to look at now. The girl then asked Matt, "She your uh...?"

"Roommate," he said, now taking into his hands a wrapped box from Alexis.

"Oooh, alright..." She nodded, then turned back to Matthew with a smile. "Anyways, I gotta go, so... yeah. Happy birthday!"

"Thanks." Matthew was about to wave before Alexis stepped in, hugging Matthew furiously. Joceline restrained a laugh as he saw how shocked Matthew was, but she got a quick glare from Alexis. It happened so quickly, she barely noticed it as Alexis stepped back.

"Uhm..." Matthew took a deep breath, his face flushed red. "So... Seeya later tomorrow?"

"Yeah! Seeya!" called Alexis, and Joceline watched as Alexis walked off. Matthew closed the door, now hyperventilating as his nerves began to fully fire off.

That left Matthew to face Joceline, who simply stared at him, then asked in outrage, "It's your birthday?!"