Oh How The Tables Have Turned

I'll Help You

I walked into the coffee shop, ordered a hot chocolate and sat down. Most people my age like coffee, nope, it's bitter to me and I'd rather drink sugarless tea over it. I took out my phone, waiting for George. What should I even say to him? It's been years and I don't want to scare him off. When will I ever meet him again? After all, I'm a "speedrunner" no one wants to talk to me let alone befriend me. I don't want to tell George but as they all say, "In the end, the truth always wins out" It's scary because last I knew, he joined those hunters. Betrayal is worse than heartbreak in a way.

I see his short brown hair, with his favourite sunglasses that had a thick white rim and were tinted black. As usual, he wore a blue shirt with a pair of grey pants. George always had a simple style. Just blue and another dark colour.

——o0o——

I park my bicycle outside, I probably wouldn't take long. Walking in I searched the coffee shop for Clay. Looking for brown-ish blonde hair and his green clothes. Clay would always wear something green, everyone thought it was simply his favorite colour- which it was. I spotted him in the corner, drinking his hot chocolate while playing on his phone. An idea pops into my head and I take out my phone and send him a message saying, "Look up :)"

He looks up surprised, and spots me. I walked over to his seat and sat down. I start the conversation saying, "Clay! It's been awhile. What happened?"

He responds, "Well, it's a long story"

"Then, I'll wait and listen"

He thought about it.

"Promise me you'll still stay my best friend"

"Please" he added, pleadingly.

"You'd always be my best friend no matter what"

"We've been through so much, I'm not just going to throw that away"

He lets out a shaky breath. He's nervous. I can tell. I add in a smile to reassure him.

"George, I-"

There was a silence as he thought about his words.

"I have to be on the run away from everyone... I'm a criminal, George" he whispers, saying it as fast as he could but slow enough so that it was understandable.

...well, I didn't expect that. I hope I wouldn't have to catch him- that would be awkward. Plus, I doubt I would have to anyway. I wanted to help him. I've heard of stories where criminals die in the wilderness. Clay dying? No way, I'd do everything in my power to avoid that. The grief, sadness and everything would be like an everlasting cloud, raining guilt on me because I let my best friend die. Despite my job, I would still help him. I'll keep my job away from my friends, I have to. "Then, I can help."

"You don't have to. Last I remember, you didn't like criminals. You worked against them" Tears forming in his eyes. He tried blinking them back but decided to wipe them away with his hand in the end.

"Clay, I promise. No. I swear, I'll try my best to"

He looks at me, I can see tears starting to well up in his eyes again. How long has it been since someone has been nice to him? Probably not long, seeing as he'd cry at me helping him. It was the obvious choice. I felt a tug at my heartstrings. Why can't people just be nice to him?

Pulling me out of my thoughts was Clay, who had come over and is now hugging me- crying softing into my shoulder. I let him. Who knows what he experienced. My heart ached at what he could've gone through. Maybe near death experiences. He pulls back and wipes his tears.

"Thank you George"

"No problem, it's fine"

We sat in a silence, with the chatter of everyone else in the background. It wasn't awkward but rather like a silence full of words. Words that couldn't be spoken. Yet they were understood. A ding from my phone interrupts that. I groan and check it, seeing a message from Sapnap.

"Hey wru?"

I doubt Clay would be able to handle questioning so I decided against telling him that I was with Clay.

"I went to a coffee shop, the one near the exit"
"You want anything"

"Sure, get me milk but carbonated pleaseee, tyy"

"...no Snapmap that's weird. I'll just get a iced coffee. I'll drink it if you don't"

"Georgie if you call me Snapmap again we're gonna have issues"

I let out a giggle, closed my phone and said to Clay,"Sapnap messaged, I didn't tell him about you. I'm gonna go get him his iced coffee. If you need anything, text me"

"Okay, thank you though. I'll be going to a nearby village in a while but I'll see when I can get access the Internet."

I told him to stay safe and walked over to the counter and ordered Sapnap's drink. Sapnap liked weird drinks. He told me when he had heard about people trying to carbonate drinks that weren't supposed to be carbonated, he also wanted to try. Apparently he used up his money for a coffee machine for those soda machines that could carbonate things. Despite his disappointment of not having coffee, he was still quite happy about his newfound "creation" of carbonated milk- which to me sounds awful.

"iced coffee with milk for...Snap map?"

They've misspelled it yet again. Oh well, Sapnap is going to be angry though. It'll be very funny for me though. The last time they misspelled his name, he went on a 5 minute rant about how annoying it was. I wonder how he'll react this time.

"Yeah, that me"

I collected his drink. Some people were giving me weird looks, others not bothered by the odd name- probably thinking it was a misspelling. I ignored the looks, they weren't bothering me much. I hung his drink that was in a bag on the handles of my bicycle, making sure to put it on the handle where my hand would grip the handle of the bicycle. Once I had made sure that it would not fall, I started my journey back. Feeling the cool breeze against my skin as I cycled back. I wonder if Clay would be okay. I'll follow him to make sure but I can't, not right now at least. I had a mission and I have to focus on that now.