Page 55 of Theoretically Straight

“Okay, sweet. I’ll go easy on you, then.”

I follow him up the stairs and down the hallway till he opens the door on his left, leading into his bedroom. He pulls out his phone, tapping a few times, and an LED strip lights up around the molding along the ceiling. At first, they’re harsh white, but then he clicks another button, and they soften to gold.

Theo does a quick three-sixty, then lets out a sigh. “Crap, I forgot I took my Switch downstairs earlier to show Oliver something on my Animal Crossing island. I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere, okay?”

“No worries. Take your time.”

He dashes out into the hallway, and I’m left to take in all that is Theo’s bedroom. The wall directly across from his bed is painted a dark hunter's green, the deep color broken up by rows of framed band posters, only some of which I recognize. In the center, under the mounted TV, is one of those consoles with the record player built into the top. The cover is open, and my curiosity gets the better of me, so I take a peek at what vinyl is loaded. Interesting, The Black Keys would not have been my guess, but the more I think about it, the more I can picture Theo reclined in his bed while the table turns andLonely Boyplays in the background.

It makes perfect sense.

A stack of notebooks sits at the bottom of his nightstand, the one on top hanging open over the stack with a pen hooked onto the side. Are all of these full? Journals, maybe?

Theo reenters the room at a sprint, his socks skidding on the floor before he comes to a stop at the foot of the bed. “Got it,” he says, holding up the rectangular device. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“It’s fine,” I say, hovering by the bed because I’m not really sure where I should sit. Plus, his bed is actually made–like sheets tucked in and everything–and I don’t want to mess it up.

He plugs the Switch into the dock, the TV coming to life. “Here,” he says, handing me one of the controllers. “You can sit if you want.”

“Here?” I clarify, pointing to the bed.

Theo chuckles, his dark eyes catching the lights from above and reflecting them like a starry sky. “Yeah, or wherever. Make yourself comfy.”

I lower myself gingerly onto the bed, scooting closer to the end because I feel weird about my clothes touching his pillows.

Theo looks over at the chair by the desk in the corner, but then he comes over and sits on the other end of the bed, throwing the pillows behind him so he can lean against them on the wall. “Okay, let’s commence the smashing. Who do you main?”

My face feels hot again, but this time, it has nothing to do with Theo. “You can’t make fun of me.”

“Oh no, please don’t tell me you’re a Kirby stan because if that’s the case, I don’t think we can be friends anymore.”

I shake my head. “No, no, I’m not a child. But I suck the least when I play as Princess Peach. You can insert a stereotypical gay joke here.”

“Dude, Peach is actually super balanced. Why would I judge you for picking her? Oliver kicks my ass as Peach half the time.”

“Well, cool. I guess I make good choices then. Who do you play as?”

Theo leans forward, grabbing one of his pillows to hold in his lap. “It depends on the situation. Like, if I’m going against Harrison one-on-one, I usually play as Fox because he usually picks the slower characters, and I can run circles around him. Then, if Oliver and Elise join in, I’ll pick a heavy hitter so I can maximize the number of launches I can get in a round and try and win that way. Then, if I’m just messing around with the actual game, I’ll switch it up and play Ness or even Sonic if I want to give myself a challenge, but then again–oh, I’m sorry. I’m, like, really rambling right now.”

“It’s okay!” I encourage him, pulling my leg up onto the bed and tucking it under me. “It doesn’t bother me in the slightest.”

Theo clears his throat and switches his focus to the screen. “Anyways, let’s play a couple warm-up rounds and see what trouble we can get into.”

It quickly becomes obvious that Theo is the far superior Smasher. The first game is a massacre, with my score being somewhere in the negative double digits. After that, he suggests we play on the same team against some computer players, and that goes far better. Before long, we’ve killed half an hour, which means our day together is quickly coming to an end.

“Do you ever think about posting non-spooky content on TikTok?” I ask between rounds.

Theo sets his controller down, scooting himself to the edge of the bed so we’re aligned. “What do you mean?”

“You know, like, stupid stuff? Dance trends or maybe one of those cool transition videos where you throw the shoe in the air and change outfits?”

“Dance trends?” Theo echoes, looking at me like I’ve just suggested he try jumping out of a plane. “Nah, no one wants to see that. I can’t dance worth a crap.”

“Seriously? They’re never that complicated. I think I still remember the last one. Hang on.” I hop off the bed, pull out my phone, and open my music app. I scroll till I find the song, hitting play and tossing it onto the bed. “Come on! You’ve got to at least try it. I’ll show you how easy it can be. This one needs two people anyway.”

Theo doesn’t look convinced, but he does roll off the bed and stand in front of me, his arms folded across his chest. “Who do you usually do these with?”

“My sister, Lola. Or sometimes Freddy, but bless his heart, he was not gifted with rhythm, so I really only let him do one if I want to make myself look good.”

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