𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬, 𝐬𝐞𝐭, 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐤𝐞!! ʳᵃⁿᵇᵒᵒ

NINE.

CASSIA.

"whats... whats 'ranboo'?"

the words left my mouth before i could even process it. i stood up from my place on the bed and walked over to spencer's pc. twitch analytics, a twitter profile, and discord with a server full with thousands of people.

"oh—uhm, thats. not how i wanted you to find out..." spencer looked at his hands in embarrassment.

i didn't know what to feel. i wanted be mad at him for keeping this secret for months, trust me, the logical part of my brain was yelling at me to scream and question him, but i couldn't.

"why did you hide this?" i looked at the screen, this time with more intent to see the contents.

spencer, or "ranboo", was borderline famous.

he began to stammer and stumble on his own words, "i honestly—okay i didn't mean to—? i mean—it never came up and i didn't want you thinking of me differently and—"

i turned around, and he stopped his rambling. again, i wanted to be upset. maybe it was the fact that he was my only friend at this point, but it was physically impossible for me to be mad at this boy.

"in truth, i didn't want you to think i was weird...?" spencer ended his own statement as a question, "not weird but—like—weirded out by it all? i don't know how to explain it..."

i didn't respond. i looked between the monitor and spencer.

he replied before i could think of my own, "i didn't want to lose you."

then it hit me.

and i raced to his side, engulfing him in my arms the best to my ability.

 ' , —

spencer, or "ranboo" online, eventually told me everything. upon the mention of his friends, i immediately asked to meet them.

and then there i was, sat in a unicorn desk chair, donning headphones too big for my own head and microphone in front of me.

"i won't be able to hear them, but they're all nice. if you are overwhelmed at any moment, let me know, okay?" spencer leaned over the chair partially as he had his hand on the mouse.

i nodded, taking deep breaths to prepare myself. ranboo clicked "join call".

first, a small ring, the one that discord plays when you join a voice channel.

for a moment, there was silence.

and then;

"oh my god!" a light sounding british voice, "okay wait—hi! you're cassia, right?"

"WOMAN! HELLO!" a raspy british boy's.

"hello! he's told us so much about you!" a softer british male tone.

"oh—shit shes here?" rustling followed the third posh voice this one again male, "hello!"

and a final "hello! nice to finally talk to you!" from a fourth british boy.

the voices all overlapped each other. in any other situation i'd be flustered instantly, but just then, i could only muster the words my instincts wished to say.

"oh ew," i fake gagged, "spence, why are they all fucking british? disgusting."

 ' , —

the people i talked to were all lovely. after the chaos of the introduction, i learned their names were aimsey, tommy, toby, bill, and freddie.

apparently, someone had told them about me. a lot. every little detail from spencer and i's friendship, the five of them were able to recall them.

that fact alone made my heart stutter in it's own beating.

after two hours or so of speaking, they all had to leave, seeing as england was 8 hours ahead due to time zones.

after the call, i spent a little while longer hanging out with spencer before leaving his home.

we bid an awkward goodbye, me being so desperately unsure on whether or not i kiss him on the cheek again. instead we parted with a hug, one that was far to long to have been partaken in by two people who are "just friends".

my drive home was far from calming. music blasting at full volume, my windows rolled down all the way. despite trying my best, somehow, some way, my thoughts managed to get past the large wall i attempted to make in front of them.

i am most likely in love with spencer wilson.

what a dangerous slope i was heading down.

 ' , —

the next two weeks rolled by, but not without stress. i woke up at 11 am on a sunday morning, beginning as normal, but as i entered the kitchen, my aunts cheeky grin reminded me of the harsh truth.

"FUCK!" i raced back to my room in a panic, quickly gathering up all the makeup i owned.

from outside my room, just down the hall, i heard my aunt call out, "you need to shower first, dear!"

i groaned back a "yeah, yeah" before swiftly making my way to the bathroom just across from my bedroom. a bundle of random, but (hopefully) clean clothes in my hand.

it was perhaps the most stressful shower i had ever taken. i had accidentally nicked myself on my razor multiple times on each leg. the sound of rushing water and my fumbling was dull enough to numb my brain as i bathed.

with fresh clothes on and a hair wrap placed atop my head, i began to work on my makeup.

as i sat at my vanity, my aunt appeared in the doorframe, "when you you have to leave to pick him up?"

"uh—" i stumbled for my phone, checking the time and the texts i had exchanged with spencer the day before. "FUCK—in an hour and a half!"

before i could even try to speed through my makeup, my aunt hastily stopped me before my brush touched my skin.

"let me do it, you're obviously panicked, you're going to just keep fucking it up."

i only nodded with a sigh (that i needed for at least an hour at this point), and let her get to work.

 ' , —

when i entered spencer's home, i was greeted by his mother. after softly rambling on how "beautifully stunning, absolutely gorgeous" i was, with an excited grin, she quietly rushed me to the end of the hall, instructing me to stay silent and walk out when she calls.

i did as told, anxiously fumbling with the hems of my dress. the dark brown velvet fabric of the bodice was adorned with rhinestones that followed the natural pattern of the corset boning. for the skirt, the dress then shifted to a long silk of the same color, layered over top of itself. the sleeves felt itchy, the off the shoulder cut followed by long and puffy mesh sleeves.

when my queue was called, my inner thoughts suddenly stopped. after hesitation, i began to walk out.

spencer's expression was painfully hard to read, but as soon as a jumbled mess of words exited his mouth, i just knew.

he was star struck.

and dammit so was i.

his golden tux was tailored perfectly for his body, a corsage of the same color sat carefully in its box as he held it with trembling hands.

no words were exhanged as he carefully put the flowered band around my wrist. i also carefully placed the brown rose into his tux's chest pocket.

a soft and sweet moment, silent, but the only words uttered exited spencer's mouth.

a whisper. a sentence just for me. for my ears.

"i think i'm in love with you."

silence again, my heart pounding faster than ever before, but a smile sat fondly on my face. no better moment for a confession than before we were to leave for my school's prom.

"i think i'm in love with you too."