Slide To Open

Part Five

Sam thought he had prepared for everything in terms of his obtained online friendships. Three months into the everyday chat, and things were going about as smooth as they could considering the circumstances. The group found Sam's antics hilarious, even more so when his insults were geared towards Skip, the least friendly of the chat. Skip, however, remained amused and unaffected, seeing Sam as the little brother he never wanted, and taking his constant prodding as a sign of affection (which it truly was regardless). In fact, the two had gotten close enough to start a private chat of their own, either to discuss the days events without the looming threat of Elijah to joke about it, or to complain about another member of the group in times of distress. Perhaps 'complain' is not a comfortable enough term to describe the events that took place inside the direct message; it was more so making fun of and then screenshotting to send to the larger group later on.

Elijah, a common jokester and friendly face to confide in, was another victim of Sam's private messages. They bonded one day over the hilarity that was Zeke's past; something that Skip would not mention or bring up in any conversation. His upbringing had been the most ironic of the bunch, and was made fun of quite often as long as he allowed it. Of course, the moment Skip showed any discomfort, all teasing would cease and the topic would change with a snap of their fingers.

Sam learned that Elijah had divorced parents, and had to be explained to what it meant to separate as a married couple living in today's society. He learned of how the fake ginger used comedy as a coping mechanism to make others smile in his times of distress, and how easy it was for Eli to laugh even when he himself was not happy.

Sam did his best to keep the smile on Eli's face.

As far as Leo went in the grand scheme of things, Sam still considered him to be his favorite. Amongst all the gratitude he had for his three friends, Leo never faltered in allowing Sam to vent off his problems, or give advice on how to work the piece of technology he 'borrowed' from what seemed like forever ago. And while it was made certain that all issues Sam revealed were under wraps, made as discreet as possible, Leo would remain vigilant and unrelenting in his assistance, despite not being clear on what exactly it was Sam went through at the time. He was a good person, Sam decided, and someone he would trust with his life.

Now if only he could find the courage to tell the truth.

The days passed by like seconds when Sam had his friends to speak to, and he was at peak comfort in the hollow home he resided in. His views on revealing himself stayed still, though, no matter how he saw things. For Sam, a nice human did not mean a safe human, and such was put into perspective when he witnessed Leo get upset one night.

A school night, Sam couldn't tell which one at the time, and another rainstorm puttered against the sole window in the room. The nonhuman was up on the wardrobe, too high for Leo to see, and he found himself staring down at the human from his perch. Said human cursed to himself, silent but deadly, and jumped high enough in the air to meet God, all in one second. There appeared to be a small speck of black legs crawling on the hardwood below them, giving Leo a fright that had him leaping up onto swift feet and grabbing a cup from his bedside table.

Sam watched in awe at first, and then utter terror as Leo trapped the creature underneath the cup in less time than it took for the spider to realize what was happening. Sam couldn't help but wonder what might happen if he were to be found on the floor. Would he, too, be screeched at and slammed under a cup for a human to determine the last of his fate? Or would Leo simply crush him on the spot in disgust? Such questions slammed into his head from every side, causing a raging headache and forcing Sam to go back into the outlet behind the wardrobe before he could watch the spider lose its life to the giant monster in the room.