As a ghost in the night

Fate's gotta be bored

I get out of the car and shake my hair into place, 'Tave shooting me a look. We walk into the lounge, and my eyes grow wide. The room is painted cosmic purple, with gaming culture splattered over the walls. 'Tave pays for us, buys himself a drink, says something to Melody. I'm too busy staring at everything all at once; rows of high-tech computers, some used, some waiting. A huge collection of consoles lines the wall farthest away from me, some hooked up to T.Vs, computer screens, and one hooked up to a projector with a massive screen. Behind me, I hear "Chase is wondering if he died and went to heaven, guarantee it." He walks up to my side and hands me a soda.

"shall we?" he asks, holding out his hand like a gentleman would to a lady. I push him away and thank him for the soda, and follow him to a row of computers. "when are your friends showing up?" I ask, looking around.

"oh, soon. See, this place doesn't technically open to the public until 2:00, but I know the owner." I look around, astounded that this place was fairly crowded before it even opened. cool. Him and Melody play some new M.O.B.A he keeps trying to get me to play, and after a time, I try it too. Its actually pretty cool, despite me not really being a fan of the genre. We play as a team, protecting our base and destroying the other teams. we lose a lot, probably because of me, but we don't care; its fun. and an hour later, we hear the guy behind the desk shout "ok, opening time. I recommend headphones so the twelve year olds won't drive you nuts. they get a little shouty sometimes." He opens the door, hangs an "open" flag, and sits back down. the flow of people is immediate and staggering; I see why 'Tavian told me to bring my fancy headphones (one of the few expensive items I own, and like the others, it was a gift), because it got loud. there were some tweens shouting over C.O.D, and a general cacophony of good times. I hear 'Tavien stir beside me, and assume he's buying a drink or something. Intending to ask him to buy me a snack, I look in his assumed direction. my eyes, instead of finding the copper and hazelnut color of his eyes, are met by eyes the color of an emerald, sunk beneath a sapphire sea. this is my first thought. my second is "shit, its that kid! Its Dakota! And He's staring right the fuck into my eyes, I can't deal with this, I don't know how to respond, what the fuck should I do, go and say hi? Sit with him? What would I even say, I-" my racing thoughts are cut short by realizing 'Tavien is talking to him, and the group of kids he's with. Kody breaks eye contact and looks back at 'Tavien. (how long was he looking at me? it can't have been more than three seconds. or was it?) "and that short fucker over there is my brother, Chase. He looks like a nerd, and he totally is, but he's cool. And he'll probably beat all of our asses in MarioKart, but don't let him hear you even think it, cause then he'll throw the match just to hustle us." I smile, him and I both remembering how I used to do just that; hustle the shit out of friends and family to get some cash. I beat him so many times that never bets with me unless he's quite alright with the idea of losing it. I certainly don't always win, but when moneys on the line, and I have my eye on something... I can put up a good fight. they walked over to our spot and he quickly introduced us, but I only really focused on Dakota. I wasn't in love with the kid or anything, but he certainly had my attention. For the next three hours, we all hung out, playing games and goofing off. it was a lot of fun, and Dakota and I talked a lot. When it was time to head home, we waved, and Dakota said he'd see me Monday. I smiled, agreed, and went back to 'Taviens car.

I was eating a sandwich when 'Tavien walked up to me and sat down, staring at me with interest. I offered him a pickle, and grunted a greeting through a mouthful of food. ignoring the outstretched pickle, he says "so, that new kids basically just like you, but like, less of a geek, huh?" I throw the pickle at him and laugh, my mouth thankfully empty now. "yeah, he and I met Friday, he's in my grade. get this; he sat down and started talking to me (surprise enough as it is), and it turns out our schedules are literally identical. every class."

"sounds like something some lovesick teen would make a shitty story of on watt pad or something, goodness. He is pretty cute though, right?" I stare at him. He's the only person who knows I'm gay (and doesn't hate me for it), and he ships me with any guy who has a face practically (and that has yet to rule anyone out). I blush, and stuff my face with sandwich. "That's what I thought." he says, laughing. "so, you think he's into you at all? I don't quite know how he couldn't be, look at that face" he says, pinching my very full cheek. I swallow, once, twice, and my mouth is empty. "He's definitely straight. I mean, you should've seen him at school; he was totally surrounded by girls, and they were all over him. He's a ladies man, alright. and plus, this isn't some romance novel; new kid, is basically flawless and popular and cool, sits next to me, we have every single class together, and he likes video games? yeah, no, that kind of stuff doesn't happen to me. come on, you know what my luck is like when it comes to other people."

"yeah, you do have shit people in your life. who knows, he seems different. we'll see." He sees I'm thinking of past friends, and snaps his fingers in my face. "Hey, snap the fuck out of it. don't go down that road right now. I know that look, but what scares me more is that you didn't even notice when I took your sandwich. its a good fucking sandwich, too."
I look up and see him take a bite. he's right; I didn't notice. I laugh. "you know somethings fucked if I'm ignoring food" I say, snatching it from his hands. I smile at him, grateful, when Melody walks up behind him, hair still wet, and sits down. I offer her a pickle, and she takes it. Together, we go into the living room and spend the day watching T.V.