Page 48 of Dance with Me on New Year's Eve

CastGamer55:Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.

SawyerRox4:It’s no different from any other day, really.

CastGamer55:You’re always stressed out and overwhelmed?

SawyerRox4:Pretty much

CastGamer55:That’s no way to live.

SawyerRox4:Tell me about it

He didn’t reply at first, and I wondered if I was being too negative. People didn’t like being around negative people, right?

You should smile more.

You should be optimistic.

You should think positively.

You should be grateful for what you have.

You should stop being so depressing.

I wiped a lone tear about to escape my eye. I was so tired of the voices. The voices from my childhood—parents, friends, teachers, everyone—but also my adulthood. Nowadays, it was justmyvoice. My parents were rarely that blunt anymore, and I avoided most people anyway. Still, that harsh voice was as strong as ever.

SawyerRox4:Sorry to be a Debbie Downer. I’m really fine. How are you doing?

CastGamer55:You’re not a Debbie Downer. Don’t apologize. You can say whatever you want to me.

A rush of warmth passed through me, followed by goosebumps. No one ever said that to me. Apart from Julia, I couldn’t really be myself with anyone. Until now.

CastGamer55:Do you want to try doing a call?

My eyes widened as I scrambled to sit up straight.

What?

We’d never done that, never even discussed it. Why didhe want to call me? I looked down at my old pajamas and remembered the messy ponytail I’d hastily assembled before parking myself on the couch for the night.

No way.

CastGamer55:Hello?

SawyerRox4:Sorry, I wasn’t ready for that question. Like a video call?

CastGamer55:We don’t have to. The idea just popped in.

SawyerRox4:I don’t know …

CastGamer55:You’d asked about my day, and I was thinking it’d be easier to explain in a call rather than doing a ton of typing. And I have an idea for the game. But you can say no.

SawyerRox4:Ah, well I want to hear about your day. What if … maybe an audio call? I’m honestly not camera-ready at the moment

CastGamer55:I don’t even know what camera-ready means, but OK. Audio is fine.

SawyerRox4:Typical man, you’re probably wearing sweatpants but looking just as good as usual

Why onearthdid I say that? I had no idea what he looked like. And even if I did, that was so, so inappropriate.

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