Arcade's Dungeon

Hunter Hero 11: A Chance to Be Normal

"You good, Cade? You look kind of...pale."

     "What?" I swallowed and looked up from the swing set. My toes drifted just above the bark as he'd dug his shoes into it, covering them in what looked like mulch despite it not having rained. "I'm always pale. I'm German and Italian by descent. There's nothing else I could be."

     "No, not like-not like that. You're quiet, too, and I can tell something must've happened. You're not the easiest to read, but I'm...well, I'm learning."

     Chains of the swings creaked as his feet dug into the ground and turned the swing towards me. I still stared at the shadow I cast on the ground, quiet.

     "Did something happen when you went back to your aunt's?"

     "No. I didn't go back there. I went back to eat the tacos, and they burned the life out of my tongue. Normally Nita's mother doesn't make them so hot."

     "Oh, that...that's because she probably takes into consideration that you're not used to spice like that. I'm sorry, I just kind of...scooped some on top and gave it over."

     "It's fine. I liked the burn, though my mother thought I was sobbing when she found me eating my tacos alone in the dark."

     "In the dark?"

     My shoulders shrugged weakly, my shadow waving. "Nighttime is my favorite time of day. It's when the sun isn't scorching me and trying to give me skin cancer, and when I can finally be alone. Though," I finally took a deep breath in and tilted my head back to look straight up. "Don't take that to heart and walk away just yet. I do like being with people, but not many at one time. It's hard to focus on the person in front of you if fifty others are demanding your attention, and Savannah just happens to have forty-nine personalities, so I'm typically cooked after spending forty minutes with her during break and lunch. Then, after class, I just...well. Let's just say those football games have been draining me dry."

     "Am I interrupting your precious Saturday?"

     "No, Ed, because you're only one person. I'm sorry if it's your goal, but you don't hold even a fourth of a candle to Savannah's presence. I can stand you for longer periods of time."

     "I'm going to interpret that as a good thing."

     "It very much is."

     The chains clanked as his feet lifted and he swayed left and right, momentum changing the direction of his shadow this way and that. It looked like we were in an archway, seeing the distorted black line of the frame of the swing set high over our shadows' heads.

     "What are you doing tomorrow?"

     My lips tugged to the side, thinking. I felt bad that he was trying to initiate conversation by himself and I just wasn't having it, but what Mom said earlier...upset me.

     Deeply.

     "Probably just going to study. I have a call with a Korean with this website I have, but that'll only be like an hour, so...homework, cook, and clean my room. That kind of thing."

     "You're really serious about that Korean thing."

     "I'm struggling for hobbies, I know. I was just talking with my father earlier today about how they failed to put me in sports and how I'd hold it against them forever. Now I'm just one of those uncoordinated, gangly little grunts that can't do much more than run in a straight line."

     That got a bit of a laugh. A smile flashed from me, appreciating that maybe sometimes I had humor. "Have you ever seen Nita try to throw a ball?"