Hidden in Plain Sight

Gophers, Bowling, and Boundaries

A/NI apologies for my unexpected absence. As I've mentioned before, I work at a summer camp. We are gearing up for the summer season which means I've been super busy as of late and will be busy for the next three months. I'll try to stick to my upload schedule, but I may have to miss a week here and there. I wish I could commit to my schedule but I can't; I'll just do my best. And I know my quality control hasn't been up to par, and I apologise for that. Bear with me. Thank you for your understanding and for reading my story. 

Due to my inability to wait for anything (and me running from all the anxiety brought on by my phone call with Nya), I convinced Zane to join me in returning to Borg Tower before bowling. We said we'd meet other guys at the bowling alley. Thus, for the second time in two days, Zane and I went to Borg Tower to meet with Cyrus Borg. We stood outside the tower. Zane stood as stiff as a board while I bounced up and down on my feet.

"Are you ready to woo Pixal?" Saying those words hyped me up. Zane was about to have a romantic moment with Pixal that will echo throughout their relationship. It was like when Cole and I ran into Nya at Chen's. Torn apart by circumstances and unsure feelings, we reconnected with bashful flirting (and color commentary done by Cole and Lloyd that made me seem completely awkward.) I asked her out and she didn't exactly reject me . She needed time to think my proposition over. By the end of the week, we had our first date (albeit it was unofficial and my parents were present the entire time, embarrassing me) and she asked me to be her boyfriend.

"I confess, I'm nervous," Zane said.

"Don't be! It's going to be something out of a romance movie," I said. Zane and I started towards Borg Tower.

"I do not agree with your assessment. Life very rarely plays out like a romance movie. By nature, the love displayed in any romantic story is romanticised. Hence the name of the genre."

"With an attitude like that, you'll never sweep Pixal off her feet."

"I don't wish to do that," Zane said.

"It's a metaphor."

"I am familiar with the idiom. But I do not see the need to charm Pixal." Wow, Zane knows nothing about love. Poor chap.

"You're lucky I'm your wingman," I said, "Now here's the first step to getting a girl to like you: find out what you have in common. So you have a backup talking point if ever things get awkward. Then you need to find out what she likes about you. Play that trait up to the nth degree. And once she's swooning, swoop in for the kill with a grand romantic gesture. Voila! You now have a girlfriend."

"What is the success rate of this method?" Oh, the success rate is awful. It has only worked two and a half times. And I can't count how many times I've attempted to woo a girl.

I used it on my first girlfriend but she was only pretending to like me as a 'prank'. It worked on my second girlfriend. But she turned out to be the fourth worst person I've ever met in my life. And I tried it with Nya but everything got derailed when Lloyd started sabotaging me. I had to scramble to pick up the pieces. But my method did lay down the groundwork for my relationship with Nya.

But I've pined after so many girls in my life. I remembered sitting down in my kindergarten class on the first day and scanning the girls for my future wife. I fell in love every other week. It seems so silly now, especially because Nya was my soulmate. I couldn't imagine loving another girl. Nonetheless, my obsession with love has been a part of my personality from the start. I've always been searching for my one true love.

"Trust me, Zane. I know love," I said, "More than Kai 'I-think-I'm-a-womanizer' Smith, that's for sure."

"Considering Kai isn't interested in a long-term relationship, I would agree," Zane said.