It's a Dream

the 1 and only

     Waking up that morning, Murphy certainly wouldn't have expected what happened, but nonetheless got ready. Her best friend, Nell Bohan, finally had the day off and wanted to go to downtown London as they'd been talking about doing for weeks. They were polar opposites in appearance- Nell with her ability to look amazing in anything she tried on and Murphy not even trying to look remotely pretty anymore. Around ten, she got dressed in something she liked- a strange dress she had thrifted, with doc martins and tying her hair up in two ponytails and waited for Nell to pick her up. Though they were both sophomores, Nell was the only one with her license.

     First things first, they stopped at the convenience store and picked up the only type of picnic food they could afford- shitty  refrigerated gas station dango. Not nearly as cute as the kind from the anime, but tasty enough, and allowed them enough money left over to get slushies.

     They'd decided to eat at the park in front of the Science Museum, where they'd spend the rest of the day. Murphy looked up stores nearby while they found an empty spot on top of one of the many old ledges across the pavilion. Murphy, who'd always enjoyed people watching, rotated between checking her texts and watching for interesting strangers to fixate on. Nell was busy snapping, and they enjoyed the comfortable silence while they both ate. Until someone across the swath of pathing caught Murphy's eye.

     "Nell, that kid over there looks like Tommy." 

     Murphy pointed with her phone, not bothering to turn it off. Nell squinted across the pavilion at a lanky blond boy gesturing to a couple of girls. It looked like someone was filming him- there was another guy next to him, holding up what must have been a camera. It was too far to hear anything- they were at the opposite side of the pavilion, farther off to their left.

     Nell looked back at Murphy, scrunching her brow. "Who's that again? From our school?" She asked, with a mouthful of the dango they had brought to the park.

    "No, from twitch. He streams with GeorgeNotFound, and Dream, I think. TommyInnit's his channel name." Murphy said. She blushed red, ever so faintly. "I've only just started watching his channel. He's funny. I thought you used to pay attention to it."

     Nell turned back to the two guys. They were walking away from the girls with the camera down now, and who they'd assumed was Tommy was shoving his hands in his pockets and looking down. The girls couldn't stop staring them as they walked across the pavillion, the same side Nell and Murphy were sitting on now. "No, I only really watched Dream. Tommy was too loud for my tastes. If I'd met him I think I might've decked him." Nell shrugged.

     "Chrissakes," Murphy said, rolling her eyes. "I'm grabbing a drink." Murphy hopped off of the ledge they were sitting on to grab her bag. From the ground, she could get a closer look- he was talking to some people but Murphy couldn't make out who- but whoever it was, didn't seem to be going along with whatever he was doing. Tommy looked uncomfortable, looking back between the camera and the person in front of him. Murphy hopped back up the wall.

    "Are you gonna say hello?" Nell asked. "Maybe get his number?"

    "Shove off!" Murphy said, playfully pushing Nell. Nell feigned falling off. "He wouldn't give it to me. He'd probably ask for yours."

     "Oh, stop," Nell scoffed. Nell didn't say it, but they both knew it was true- Nell with her long, natural black locks, gorgeous eyes, and baby-soft smooth skin, and Murphy with her ginger hair fried from pink dye, sharp nose, and undefined body. Murphy sometimes thought she was beautiful in a different, sad way, hoping some boy or girl might see it too, but next to Nell's perfect body she felt like a fifth grader. 

     "I don't know. I feel like that's weird, you know? 'Hi, I watch your videos on YouTube. Can I get your number?'" Murphy sighed and glanced back at him. It was definitely Tommy, and he was definitely working his way up towards them, doing whatever skit he was doing. It wasn't like she avidly watched his videos, she barely knew anything about Minecraft YouTubers beyond Dream and George and speed running. Though she'd been playing most of her life, most of Murphy's interest in Minecraft YouTube had dropped off after fifth grade. His videos had just popped up in her recommended, and she'd blushed to think of his fluffy hair in her hands, of laughing with him as hard as he did, of making their own survival world together...