The Guy of Misfortune

DJ and Amara

My acting camp was the best experience of my life! I got to go up on stage and act my heart out without anyone treating me badly. It's an experience unlike anything I had ever felt before! I could actually be myself! 

But school starts tomorrow, and my senior year is giving me a whole lot of anxiety. Zuri isn't talking to me as much, but that's fine. Maybe she just doesn't want to be bothered with me. She hates acting, after all.

I decide to have a chat with DJ, a guy I've known for years. He's pretty tall, taller than me, is crazy funny, and definitely attractive. It's no wonder he's got a girlfriend, he's the epitome of a perfect man! I'm not gay, but if I liked guys, I would definitely be jealous of her.

I talk about how nervous I am, and he tries to calm me down. He asks me to come over, and I tell him that I can't because of Helicopter Dad. He laughs, like usual, and continues texting me instead. God, I love this man.

He sends me funny memes and we have a chat about lots of stuff other than school. Then he invites me to a group chat with him and Amara.

I'll admit, Amara and I got off on the wrong foot at first, always arguing and whatnot. But I guess since DJ is such great friends with her, I should definitely make an effort. I watch the chat and study it so I understand how to act.

"Ares, quit lurkin!" I get called out in the chat by DJ.

I flush red. Thankfully nobody can see that from my side of the phone screen. I want to make a good impression, for DJ's sake. He invited me here, after all.

"Hey" I type plainly.

I gulp, wondering how Amara will respond. We hadn't talked in months!

"Hey" she responds.

"Nice social skills, Ares" DJ replies, and I can tell, even from across the town, that he's giving me a dorky grin for being such a dork.

Can I help it if I'm in a chat with two people I want to keep around for a while?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I show up at school, dressed in my most masculine clothes. I hope nobody looks at me, but I also hope they do. I just wish I was manly enough!

Zuri spots me and gives me a big hug. I can smell her sweet shampoo, and admittedly sniff a little too hard and get some of her hair stuck in my nose. I play it off.

"So, I saw the latest episode of that anime you mentioned" She starts a conversation with me.

"Oh..." I trail off. Zuri always tries to invest herself in the things I like, but our tastes differ too much.

"Yeah! It was actually really cool! I liked the part when--"

"Hey, Zuri!" Amara cuts Zuri off, running towards us.

I can't help but stare at her as she runs towards us. I've joked with Zuri about how my ideal woman would look, and she hits nearly every tick on the list.

But I don't care! She's gorgeous, sure, but her personality can't possibly measure up to Zuri's, so I'm not interested.

"Oh, and hey, Ares" She smiles at me, and it's as if everything I ever wanted in my life was handed to me on a silver platter.

Ah, shoot.