It Started as a Joke

Ghost

<<Wrighteous' POV>>

'hello?' i text slat worriedly 'are you okay?' i text again, this is probably like the 5th text and he hasnt responded, im about to cry.. did his sister do something? i start to tear up at how many things couldve went wrong. 'im sorry..' i text before putting my phone down and putting on my vr to play recroom golden trophy. not really talking, still worried about slat "do you have your mic muted wrighteous? youre usually talking a lot." someone asks me when were on act 3, "no i dont, i just.. dont feel like talking right now really." i say trying not to cry. "you sound upset, are you alright?" her tone softens, why would she have to ask that of all questions? i tried to breathe to stop myself from crying in front of her and 2 other people who all know who i am but it doesnt work, i never expected to start fuckin crying in front of people who know me, not personally but still "shit shit what happened?" she asks, sounding like she felt bad about asking if i was alright the first time "its nothing just slat just.. nevermind" i regret mentioning slat, theres already rumors about us dating and when he tried to help it didnt work, "what did slat say he doesnt wanna date you?" someone who sounds like theyre like 6 says to annoy me i guess, "shut up youre not funny!" she yells at them "just say what you wanted to," she says, obviously not caring about the rumors or anything "slat just stopped talking in the middle of the conversation, hes not even reading my messages so i dont know if hes there! he ca-" i cut myself off before i tell any secrets about slat, im a bad person for not being able to stop before i mentioned him.. "go on.." she says, i lift my headset up a bit so i can wipe my face "he said something to his sister and im scared she couldve hurt him or something because of it" i say, not mentioning him coming out or us dating or anything. "what did he say that was that bad?" she asks, i shake my head "its a secret.." i say quietly. "alright, do you wanna continue the quest or?" she asks, this is when i realize the other 2 people have literally just been listening and watching us, also ive been sitting down for i dont know how long. "thats why i joined the quest, to get my mind off of it but.. i just want him to be okay.." i say "well its your choice if you wanna continue the quest, or join a different game. i can go to another game and play with you if you want me to" she says. i shug "i dont know.." i respond "we could just hang out at the rec center" i add. "can i join?!" the kid who made the stupid joke about me and slat asks "no, youre annoying and dont actually care why." i respond to him and he gasps offendedly. she sends me a party invite and i accept, she leaves the game and i get an invite to the reccenter, when i get there more little kids are being annoying about me and slat, i look down thinking this isnt a good idea "can yall shut up for once? i think he understands the fact you get no attention in life so you resort to annoying people you dont even know behind the fact theyre popular." she says to shut them up as she walks over to the basketball court, i follow her. were both just shooting the basketball into the hoop and talking to each other about dumb shit, at aome point it reminds me of the convorsation i was having with slat this morning and i stop talking, am i a bad person? i walk over to my phone and check my messages, no new ones. the only new thing is he read them. i sniffle trying to hold back tears again "shit what happened" amber, the girl i was talking to, asks. "now im on read.." i say with a few tears going down my face. "i am so sorry, maybe hes doing something?" she says, i like her optimism, it helps a bit in this situation. "how much yall wanna bet its slat leving him on read?" some kid behind us says "shut up! i already said youre not funny." amber replies. "what if it is slat?" i ask while turning around to face them, they go silent "uh, youd be gay?" one of them finally says "what if im not even gay? did you stop to think maybe im upset that my best friend isnt responding because he could be hurt?" i say back to them, them going silent again, all but one go over to the mirror, that one that didnt started crying "fuck im so sorry! i wasnt thinking.. i didnt mean to hurt you im sorry!" i say while panicking, she doesnt stop crying, she sounds pretty young too. "im a bad person.." i say quietly "no youre not, if theyre crying about you saying the truth then thats their fault. dont blame yourself," amber says probably just to shut me up. i sit back down on the floor and open my watch, i go to my dorm and invite amber, shes the only person i trust being around right now, other than slat who wont respond, amber joined the room and i already feel like im gonna cry "im sorry you have to deal with this.. its not even your life and im just.." i sigh in the middle of my sentance "pushing everything onto you i guess..". "its really no probablem, you can talk to me if you want to, just know that youre not a bad person, and nothing that happened was your fault." she says, it feels pretty genuine to me

<<Slat's POV>>

i got in my sisters car with a toy car with a remote controller thingy and a can of monster, im pretty happy, until i realizei have 6 missed messages 'LMFAOO' 'we gotta move to like austrailia or somethin now ig' 'hello?' 'are you okay?' 'im sorry..' SHIT WHY DID I LEAVE MY PHONE IN THE CAR! "bro why do you look like the world is ending" my sister asks "i left my phone in the car and wrighteous has been messaging me!" i say "im sure youll be fine, just explain that it was an accident" she responds "what if he hates me now!" i say pretty much making up scenarios out of fear "if he hated you for this he would never date you, youre very forgetful and i think he knows that" finally, she says something that actually helps a bit. "thanks." the car ride home was just blasting music and singing both badly, and loudly. when i get back inside i text wrighteous 'i am so sorry i left my phone in the car when i went into the store' i text wrighteous. he doesnt read it or respond, maybe his phone is dead? or off? i put on my headset and join recroom, i see hes in his dor so i request an invite. he invites almost immediately after i requested it. i join the room and he seems reallyhappy to see me "OH MY GOD WHAT HAPPENED WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME ON READ DID I DO SOMETHING?" he asks sort of panicked "i am so sorry i left my phone in the car when i was in the store with my sister and i.. im a bad boyfriend.." i say feeling bad for scaring him "no no youre not, it wasnt your fault and youre amazing" he says, making me feel better "aww thats cute but slat you should really check for other random people in his dorm before confessing your love to him" someone says from down where the basketball hoop is "shit i am so sorry wrighteous-" i say getting cut off "its fine, she literally doesnt care about the rumors and if you were okay with it i wouldve told her, but you werent here to say if you were okay" he says, jesus christ he speaks as much as my sister. "slat please tell this man you he isnt a bad person because hes cried like 3 times today over thinking you were hurt" she says walking over to us i sigh with a smile "i love you, you didnt do anything. it was a mistake i made." i say "wrighteous wanna friend me? just in case something happens to you so you dont have to cry in front of fans again." she asks as if she was about to leave. he nods his head and they handshake, then she leaves the room "i cant wait to see you at school tomorrow" i say to him "i have to go to bed though, bye wrighteous!" he waves goodbye and i leave the game and head to bed.

(word count: 1525)