"Yo, what happened to Anon last session?" Max asked.
Max was one of Anon's D&D friends. Anon had met him at the gas station he used to work at, and they used to have lots of fun leaving notes for each other in the cash register.
"I don't know," Aidan texted back. "I saw him sprinting down the street, and since then he hasn't responded to any of my messages."
"Do you think maybe something's up with him?"
"Pfft. Something's always up with him. He probably just realized that he had forgotten to jerk off that day. Honestly, I wouldn't make it into such a big deal."
"Do you think maybe it was because of Evelynn?" Max texted.
Aidan typed something, then deleted it. He started typing again.
"Maybe. I mean, if anyone's afraid enough of women to ditch his favorite thing in the world to avoid talking to them, it's Anon. He did say he was working on his cholesterol, though. Maybe he just wanted to get some exercise in."
"You really think he just wanted to get some exercise in?"
"Well, no, I guess. I mean, there's no way that Anon is actually committed to exercising. If he is, then good for him. But I highly doubt that cholesterol is the real reason he dipped on us. Again, though, I don't necessarily think it has to be such a big deal. Maybe he just had to go do something."
"I guess that could be why. Whatever. You're right, it's not that big of a deal. I won't worry about it too much."
"Ok man, see you next session. Bye."
Aidan set down his phone. "Ok, back to studying now," he told himself. But he couldn't focus. There was this weird smell in the air distracting him.
Aidan ignored it for a few minutes, but then came the sirens. Loud fire truck sirens were blaring from down the street.
"Whatever, fuck this. I'll study later."
He put his books away and opened up his window to get a better view. Instantly he was overwhelmed by a dark, smokey smell, so he closed it again, covering his nose. He could see huge fumes coming up from a house down the block. "Holy shit," he thought to himself, "whoever lives there is fucked." He laughed morbidly to himself, and then froze. His face went white.
Oh no.
It was Anon's apartment.
To be continued...
