Page 2 of Fated
Kaitlyn would laugh and claim my hair was closer to silver than white. Josh would say I was an old man in a young man’s body. Only Lauren had anything nice to say about my weird hair. She maintained that I had main character anime hair. I liked her version best, even though I had the opposite of main character energy. Was there something more removed than tertiary character energy? Because that was me. I never did anything interesting.
Until the flower thing, I mean.
When Josh came back, he continued the conversation like he hadn’t just added a little more trauma to my overly neurotic pet. “Going back to Max’s obsessive love for me-”
“It’s not you, Josh,” I said through gritted teeth. “Why does everyone think it’s Josh?”
“I haven’t said anything about who it is yet, but… I have to agree with everyone else. It’s got to be Josh,” Kaitlyn said. “I mean, you’re gay as a maypole, Max, and you only hang out with us. Who else could it be?”
“There’s no shame in admitting that you fell for me, dude. Honestly, I’m flattered, but who wouldn’t want to get in on this?” Josh gestured to his six-foot-five frame.
Josh would have been tolerably attractive if he was more muscular and wasn’t adorned in his gym outfit from three days ago. The Hot Cheetos stains from two days ago were not a positive addition. Josh’s hygiene issues alone were enough to make him unlayable, but even if they weren’t, my tastes tended toward beefy himbos with at least some semblance of fashion sense.
My mind immediately strayed to him, but I forced it away. Imaginary characters didn’t belong in the conversation. Even I knew that, and I was about as nerdy as they got.
“So if it’s not Josh, who is it?”
My mind went right back to the unmentionable him, which was becoming worrisome. He was a fictional person. I couldn’t be in love with someone in a game.
Could I?
I really freaking hoped not, because if I was, I would die if this really was Hanahaki. I couldn’t confess and gain the love of someone who wasn’t real. I’d be deader than the dryer sheet and napkin industries if that were the case.
“I have no idea who it could be,” I said finally. It was only kind of a lie.
I wished Mitzy was here and that Josh hadn’t farted her out of the house. Then I could hide behind her soft fur and try to forget the flowers I was slowly crushing into a sticky pulp. The flower juice was dripping onto my pants, and I knew it was going to leave a stain.
“I wonder…” Lauren said and then left us hanging as she tapped her chin thoughtfully. She did it for so long that Josh had to leave the room again, but when he returned, she finally said the one thing I didn’t want her to say. “Wouldn’t it be ironic if it was Areth? I mean, he’s the only person Max ever talks about.”
Josh snorted, “Person? More like demon. Max, if you’ve fallen in love with Areth, you are screwed.”
I ignored him since I already knew that. “It’s not Areth.” It couldn’t be. I wasn’t going to make it out of the conversation sane if it was.
Lauren immediately stopped being my favorite friend by saying, “No one is going to shame you if it is Areth, Max. I mean, his body is amazing. He’d be perfect if it weren’t for the hooves.”
Josh and Kaitlyn each lept up to grab one of my arms and held me down in my chair before I had a chance to lunge at Lauren. I’d delivered far too many epic monologues to them on Areth’s hooves for them to not know how I would react. I believe Step on me daddy had been said on several occasions.
“Shut up, Lauren,” I said, blushing furiously.
“I mean, can you imagine what those things would do to your hardwood floors?” Lauren shuddered. “They’re the best feature of your house! Not to mention he’d scare the shit out of Mitzy the moment he stepped inside. The guy isn’t small. And how are you two supposed to cuddle? He’d destroy your sheets and blankets for sure. If not with his hooves, then definitely with his horns. And don’t even get me started on the wings and tail.”
“Don’t kill her, Max. She’s only trying to snap you out of this obsession so you won’t die,” Kaitlyn said firmly, sitting on the arm of my chair and gripping me even tighter.
Lauren nodded and was about to continue, but I cut her off. If she said one more bad thing about Areth I was going to completely lose my shit.
“Ok, A: I’m not in love with Areth. B: We’d hang out at his place so he can destroy his own floors and not scare Mitzy. C: He’s big enough that I could use him as a bed, and, once again, he can destroy his own sheets. Also, D: I like the wings and the tail. So, seriously, drop it or I won’t be held responsible for my actions.”
“You do know he isn’t real…right? And that he’s just a character in a game?” Kaitlyn asked, her voice tight with worry. Her nails were digging deep into the material of my shirt, and if she squeezed me any harder, she was going to break through and draw blood.
“Of course I know that. I just really like him, okay?” It was too bad for me that even I wasn’t convinced by my tone of voice. It had gotten all small and sad.
“Oh, Max,” Lauren said mournfully.
She rushed forward to climb into my lap and give me a desperate hug. When Kaitlyn threw her arms around me too, Josh looked like he was considering letting go of his deeply ingrained guys don’t give other guys physical affection bullshitfor a few minutes. Eventually, he released his death grip on my arm and joined the hug pile. My cheap, thrift-store chair creaked alarmingly under the weight of all four of us.
When Areth and I finally sat in this chair together, it would become a pile of splinters. I laughed out loud at the thought and was left smiling as I imagined his face after. I’d kiss him and tell him I didn’t mind. I could get a new chair. A stronger, more Areth-friendly chair, and then we could cuddle to our hearts’ content.
I wondered where I could get a chair that strong, and decided to google it once my friends left.
