This Time

|3| IKATLONG KABANATA

AIDEN

"I love you too, mom. Tell dad I love him," I said before hanging up, finishing the call from my mom that lasted for almost half an hour. But I don't mind; talking to my parents brings me comfort. 

"Your parents?" Julius asked as he threw the controller back to me. I caught it easily and sat beside him. I crossed my legs on the couch. 

"Yeah, they were asking about my week," I replied as he started the game again. 

"Told her about your awesome new friends?" He teased, making me chuckle. Although I couldn't deny it, I did tell my mom about them. She was so excited to find out that I'm trying to be more social and have friends now. She always feared I would grow up alone when they left the world. Learning that I'm making new friends made her happy. I honestly thought she was about to cry earlier.

"What awesome friends?" I teased back, gaining a bit of confidence enough to joke about the past two weeks of spending time with their group.

It was surprising how they're still stuck with me; most people would've been gone by now. It's likely because they still don't know I'm intersex. 

"Me, bitch. Who else?" Julius cursed out loud when he got knocked down by an enemy. "Shit! Kill him, Aiden."

I stuck out my tongue in concentration as I fought against the enemy, a rather good one at that. My fingers were fast as they moved the thumbsticks. Julius and I couldn't help but cheer out loud when I knocked down the enemy. I immediately healed him as we continued to play. 

"Stop the game; time to eat," Lexie ordered us as she and Zoey placed down the pizza and pasta. The four of us have been hanging out in the dorm room, and Lexie and I are sharing as we are the majority. It's been a little over two weeks since Lexie approached me, and there hasn't been a day where they didn't include me in everything they do. Right now, Julius and I are playing Call of Duty while Lexie and Zoey just finished cooking the pasta. Although I insisted on cooking or at least helping, Julius forced me to play with him instead. 

"Just a few more minutes," Julius mumbled distractedly. We are already in the top 10, and there are already three teams left in the game, including us.

Lexie only rolled her eyes, but she let us finish the game. We gave each other a high five when we won. Zoey shoved Julius away from me and took his spot instead. I chuckled as they began to bicker.

The blonde and I have also been close, much to my surprise. She was the person in the group I talked to the least. In the first week of us hanging out, she was a bit wary of me, always looking away when our eyes met and stopping from arguing with Julius every time I arrived. But after we bonded over a book, she had been sticking to me like glue. 

"How is it?" Zoey asked with hopeful eyes after I took the first bite of the pasta. 

"It's really delicious; thank you for cooking," I said with a shy smile. 

"You're welcome." The girl beamed and put more on my plate. Lexie and Julius are shooting us looks I'm not familiar with. I shook it off and continued eating. 

After eating, I took the initiative to clean up the mess. We also did a group study with the general courses we all shared. As for my major subjects, I could say I've been doing well. Although it was hard, the professors made it easy for us to understand.

"Dude! You should've seen her; she's so beautiful, like damn," Julius rambled on, gaining my attention as I was a bit distracted with my thoughts. "Right, Aiden?"

"I'm sorry, who are we talking about?" I questioned.

"Who else? Professor Peterson!" he said excitedly, earning a smack on the arm from Lexie. "Ouch, babe! I let you fantasize about other men; let me be."