Touch: a Survival Story.

Mistakes: 1.8

Mistakes: 1.8

James:

The two boys walked together in an awkward silence, neither one entirely sure of what they were supposed to say. James didn't like the idea that the other boy could tell what he was feeling. It made him nervous, and the fact that he knew Casper could probably feel that nervousness wasn't helping. A small part of him cursed the thin width of the sidewalk that prevented him from standing a little further out from the other boy without it being obvious. A larger part of him wished he'd played it a little cooler back in the alleyway.

"... So-" James began eventually, before Casper cut him off.

"You're probably wondering if I've figured out what happened to you," he said bluntly. "Just gonna let you know, I haven't, and I'm not really planning on trying very hard to find out. I have a hunch, but I'm not gonna follow it. It's your thing to deal with, okay?"

"Uhh, okay." James replied, unsure what else to say.

"Okay, good." The other boy nodded. The two walked in silence for a few seconds, until Casper spoke again, sounding annoyed. "Can you stop that?"

"Stop what?" James asked, a little helplessly.

"Stop feeling so weird and awkward," Casper groaned. "It makes talking to you super hard!"

"I'm sorry," said James, raising his hands in aimless placation. "But it's kinda hard when you..." He tried to figure out how best to put it for a few moments, then groaned, putting a hand over his eyes. "Okay look. You find out that your new friend can tell what you're feeling every second, right at a time when you're kinda going through some stuff, and obviously, that makes you feel kinda awkward around him, and you know he can tell that you feel awkward, so you start feeling awkward about feeling awkward and after a few loops of that, you can't really stop anymore!"

"What?" Casper asked, an eyebrow raised. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. You make it sound like I'm judging you for feeling things."

"Well you kind of are, aren't you?" James retorted, a little irritated. "I mean, you were judging me for feeling awkward about you just a few seconds ago."

"Well, yeah," Casper muttered. "But that was only cuz there's no reason to feel awkward about me."

"Well I kinda think there is," James snapped, fast approaching something akin to anger. "I had a really bad thing happen and I didn't want anyone to know about it and then you come along and I can't even hide it from you when something makes me feel bad!"

Casper stopped walking and gazed at James, a stricken look on his face.

"Does... does this mean we can't really be friends anymore?" The boy asked, his voice trembling just a little. "I... I'd really like to keep being friends... if it's okay... I d-don't really have many and it's nice having someone to talk to and..." He trailed off into silence.

It was painfully obvious that Casper was holding back tears. James gazed at him stonily for a few moments, his arms folded, then let out a long sigh.

"Yes, we're still friends, Casper," he grumbled eventually. "But you can't pretend this doesn't change stuff a little. I mean, for starters, why the heck did you only start talking to me after I came back to school, huh? If you've been able to feel how I felt every day, then why did you only start talking to me after I started feeling worse, huh? How am I supposed to feel, when by the looks of things, I'm pretty sure you only started trying to be my friend out of pity!"

"Pity?" Casper asked quietly, eyes glistening. "James, I got my powers after my dad got angry one night and broke my arm. I spent three whole months after that trying not to drown in other people's feelings and thinking I was going crazy. I don't do pity, James, cuz no matter what happened to you, I'm pretty sure that I have it worse." That made James stop, he opened his mouth, unsure of what to say, but Casper wasn't done, he continued, his voice rising steadily in pitch. "And yeah, I came to find you cuz you felt sadder than you used to, and yeah, maybe I did want to help you to feel better. You can feel whatever you want to feel about that, but I'm not gonna apologise for trying to make someone feel better when they're sad!"