"Douglas! Hey Douglas!!.....Douglas!" "Ughnnnnn. What is it now Tess?" "Oh..nothing." Tessa sung. "It's just...class is over. That's all. Nothing important." "Oh...Alright..That's okay." Douglas noted with a yawn. "Mhmmmm.." Tessa retorted while folding her arms in observation "Any second now.." "WHAAAAAAAAAT!!! I SLEPT THROUGH CLASS AGAIN!! HOW'D YOU LET THIS HAPPEN!" Douglas screamed. "Shhhh.Quiet Doug. This is why people think there's something weird between us ." Tessa said as she placed a finger to his lips "You uh..think this helps??" Douglas replied while brushing off her hand "Don't see why they'd think that. You act just like my Mom." "You....know people do that right?" "Really?!" Douglas questioned "Oh my God." Tessa pinched her nose in frustration "Hmmm..nah. I wouldn't wanna date my mom. She's a freak." "It's...not supposed to be taken literally." "I hope not." "Oh man. Sometimes you just don't think do you?" "Watch it now. I know where you live." "Nooooo, you watch it." "No! You!!" They went back and forth."Hey guys. Am I interrupting something?" Tessa's boyfriend interjected as he walked in the empty classroom and greeted Tess with a kiss "I think I'm gonna be sick!!"
Douglas bletched as he adjusted his glasses. "Third wheels usually are." Tessa joked. "Hey Dougie you want us to join at the usual spot or you good? We're really not doing anything until much later. Right Babe?" "I'm always down to throw down a few cold ones with you guys. Tess here's a lightweight so it'll be good to drink with someone who can hang for once." Brook said with a wink. "Ehh..I'm good. I'm not really a pleasant drunk, plus you guys haven't had a lot of time together this week. I'll fly solo tonight." "Oh.. Alright Then. I guess I'll see ya later Doug. Stay safe out there man." Brook said with a wave"See ya next week Dougie." "I guess I"m off too friend." Tessa said as she gave him a warm embrace "Sorry bout Brook. He's just reaching out.
You two are the most important guys in my life so he just really wants to get along." "Yeah I know Tess'. I'm just feeling...off lately. I hope he doesn't take it personal. Just...suffering from a case of bad vibes I guess." "If you say so." Tess said with a sigh as she started him for a couple seconds. "Just...let me know when you need to talk about it. No matter what happens with Brook we'll always be family and I'll always have your back. Never forget that." "Ah..I'll be fine." Douglas said as he waved off her concern "Just need a night at the bar and a couple hours getting lost in my research. I'll be fine. Who knows, I might even win a Noble Prize." "A noble prize? Researching Espers and Aliens??" Tess raised her eyebrow " Good luck with that. Just make sure to remember to eat and sleep you conspiracy nut. Even rabbits come out the hole and eat sometimes." "Don't you have a sex deprived boyfriend to be tending to " That earned him a slap" He's not sex deprived...Ass! Anyways..take care of yourself. I'd hate to have to bail in the middle of the date to pick you up from the bar...again." "That was one time!" "Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just be safe out there? Okay?" "Okay." "See you."
Douglas hated the bar. Well, he didn't hate it so much as the bar hated him. Douglas was a conspiracy theorist at heart. Espers, aliens, psychics, new world order, lizard people-you name it-he believed it. It wasn't that ordinary life was too boring for him; it was that ordinary life as it was, was a bit too boring to believe. All of the awesome and paranormal things that exist in video games, comics, manga, and movies you're saying none of it was real? Get outta here. His discontent with normalcy probably started with his parents. His dad was an anthropologist and his mother was a medical biologist.
As a child, up until his teenage years they frequently left on trips or spent long hours absent from home in the lab. He spent so much time with his Aunt Rain there were times he wondered if his parents were his parents at all. That's not to say they were bad people. They were loving, caring, and compassionate people when present, but Douglas feared their guilt over not being present caused them overcompensate in some really strange ways. He first took notice of this during his teenaged years when he went through the famed "trouble phase" that most young men go through. Parents who always aspired to achieve like his should've been livid at some of his antics, but the worst reaction his could be summed as "Oh gee. That son of ours sure is crazy!"
