Page 59 of Level Up
“Okay…”
“So, is that his way of saying that he only wants to do gaming-related things with me, too?”
“You just spent three hours at the pub with him last night.”
“And we talked about video games!”
“You know, there’s a really easy solution to figuring out what he’s thinking,” Victory says pointedly, and I glare at her.
“I can’taskhim this stuff! It would be way too obvious.”
She sighs, and I feel like a petulant child. “Do you realize how much earlier Pal and I could have started dating if we hadn’t justassumedwe knew what the other was thinking?”
“That’s not a fair comparison, because you were both totally obvious and should have known better.”
Victory gives me a look that says it all:So are you.
Which is what I was afraid of. That I’m painfully obvious in my (completely nonsensical) infatuation, while it’s clear to me that he sees me as agaming friendand nothing more.
At least we still have that much. I hope.
Dinnerwith my family is tense this week, now that Marie has officially moved back home, at least for the time being. It’s like none of us know what is a safe topic of conversation anymore. Mom asks her something about her job and Marie deflects by asking me about the guy she saw walking me home the other evening.
Normally I would think she’s being cruel, but she looks so tired sitting across from me that I realize she’s probably just overwhelmed and needs to take some of the heat off of her. I just wish I wasn’t the most convenient diversion.
I assure everyone that he is just a friend—because that much was made brutally clear to me—but I feel a little guilty as I say it. If he were reallyjust a friendto me, I would be able to respond to his messages.
When I get back to my apartment after dinner, I head straight for my computer. I’m still appearing offline, but I read over the messages he sent yesterday, the ones I never acknowledged.
SconesOfAyor:
Hey, did you see that comment about doing a speedrun of 4?
I dunno if that’s something you’d be into
But it could be fun
Not as a competition, obviously, but as sort of a collab maybe?
Might attract new subs, which is good
Because I am a total sellout
SconesOfAyor:
Anyway, I guess you are probably busy but let me know when you see this
And I’m sorry if I was weird yesterday?
I wasn’t expecting your friends to show up and I felt super awkward
Your friends are cool though
I’m not
Obviously
I can tell they like you a lot
