european // ONEYNG

four

I hung out a few more hours, talking to Suzy, Ross and Arin a majority of the time until I got a text from my best friend.

His name was Todd. He was a hairless, gay, incredibly attractive Japanese man. Sure, he exerted that energy pretty hard, he was very stereotypical. The lisp, abs, hair, he even had the earring to match his flamboyant personality.

   I always assumed gay men like him were so flamboyant and happy all the time because they don't have to deal with women.

   Hey, he texted, text me the address, so I can pick you up.

   I had met Todd in high school, and since then he had never left Los Angeles. I knew that he was doing journalism for a local news station down near the Bay Area, but past that I knew a bare minimum about where his life had ended up.

   I didn't know the address, so I told him to go fuck himself, I'd call a cab. I was staying with him until I got the apartment straightened out. It would take around a week at best, 2 if I'm lucky, and a month, worst case scenario.

   Arin explained how I should come by and have dinner with everyone tomorrow. He told me how I should meet Matt and Ryan, then continued to make a joke, saying, "I'm gonna fucking pre."

   I hastily agreed, seeing as how they were Arin's friends, and any friend of Arin's was a friend of mine.

Chris had left an hour before I had. I didn't know how or where he was going, but I gave him a nod off goodbye. I told him it was nice to meet him, he told me the same thing back, and he disappeared into the California sunshine.

I wondered if anyone could sense the instant crush radiating off of me. I didn't realise it at the time, that I had found him attractive. In fact, it was a running joke with a few Philly friends that I was typically the last to realise what I was feeling.

So, naturally, I didn't think much of it at the time.

I said my goodbyes, exchanged a few hugs, and called a cab to pick me up. I knew Todd's apartment by heart, I had been by a few times when I was in my late-teens. I had been sending him things from many various celebrations all over the world, so I had memorised his address from writing it over and over again.

I hadn't seen how his building had been remodelled, it had been around 4 years since I had last seen the place and it had become much nicer. It was a run down shit hole when I was 19, but now it resembled an upstate Manhattan paradise. Which was a shame, considering it stood out from all the trashy buildings on the street.

I walked in to find him making out with another dude. I had never seen him be gay up until this point, and hadn't realised it until then. I cleared my throat at the door, which he had foolishly left unlocked.

"Oh!" He jolted up off the couch in a flash, "Chloe! You're back already... this is my husband, Paul." I watched him blink rapidly and straighten out his shirt.

"Am I cock-blocking you, Paul?" I asked him. He was a short white guy with frosted tips and dark eyes. He somewhat resembled Eminem, which I found hilarious, mixed with David Quaid. I anticipated Paul's answer.

He shifted his eyes, "n-n-no? I just... it's alright, I'm sorry."

"Paul, she's cool, she already knows," Todd chuckled, and faced away from him to face me, "I'll give you 50 bucks if you get us Chinese while we fuck."

"Deal," I nodded him off. He pulled out a 50, I walked over to take it, and he gave it to me effortlessly. "Paul, what do you want?"

He hesitated, and couldn't choke any words out.

"He wants General Tso's with Chow Mein, get us both a Diet Pepsi, too." He went back to mowing down on his husband's face. I chuckled, and desperately tried to remember what Todd usually ordered.

Chicken? I tried to piece it together as I walked down the building. Wait, he hates chicken. Beef? Probably beef.

   Across the street was the Chinese place we always preferred. It was kind-of funny, because it was called Young Dong, Todd made jokes about it, saying we both liked the place only because we both liked dong.

   While I was walking across the street, my mind trailed back to earlier today. I was always scared of meeting Chris. He seemed almost unapproachable, and on top of that, he was 6 feet tall, which was terrifying to me. I was somewhat reserved, very shy. Plus, he was one of the few artists I looked up to, due to his cult-like following. He just seemed like a cool guy all around, and I wasn't wrong about it.

Arin was happy to have me back, I found. Him, Ross, and Suzy, specifically. I never realised how much of a family they were to one another. I never got to really talk to Holly, at least not nearly enough as I would've liked to. I figured now was my chance, and I couldn't see how I'd regret that.

I waited for the food, and scrolled through my Instagram feed. I found that the last picture I had uploaded, which was a digital drawing of Goofy with tits, had gotten a couple thousand likes. I was fortunate to have fans, though they did want me to animate again. That was why I moved to LA. I wanted to animate again, so I decided to move back to the place where it all started. Everyone would be so psyched, I knew it, to see me getting back into animation. I had an Egoraptor level of fame, and somehow managed to keep it.