In My Head

Hi everyone,

This is my attempt at writing something more age appropriate for myself. I usually just write high school based stories. I currently have a decently long story and still ongoing here on Nifty but it's in the high school section. It's called "Remember Me". If you like what you read here, you'll probably like that story too. This story will be set within the same universe so characters from both will make appearances in...well both. Anyway, I hope you guys like this story too and I hope I can make this one ongoing as well.

Thank you and enjoy!

In My Head

Chapter One: The Guy Next Door

"Let's go, Jason!" a familiar effeminate voice said. "You promised me you would get out of bed tonight!"

Ladies and gentleman, this is my best friend Micah and well everyone's gay best friend, but he's officially my best friend. He's a bright, bubbly contrast to my grating, doom and gloom. We've been besties since we were little and who's sexuality was always pretty obvious before either one of us knew what it meant to be different. He's the kind of guy who no matter what was thrown at him he'd find a way to prevail, to succeed. And with all the hate that was thrown at us when we were little, he always turned the toxicity into something positive. Like this one time in high school, they had some ridiculous pageant. It started off as a joke and everyone pushed him to do it. Not like they had to do much pushing because he was so stoked for an all male pageant. He ended up winning the whole thing without much competition and our class ended up dubbing him "Mr. Latino" for the rest of the year. He ate it all up too. I don't really know how any of that shit doesn't bother him like it does me but he's the sweetest person I've ever known; a pure heart. He's sort of my guide into the whole gay world since I don't really feel a sense of belonging in any subcategory of our alphabet mafia community.

"Ugh, but I don't want to! Why can't you just leave me alone?" I whined burying my face into my old, flattened pillow.

"And leave you to rot in your room when you could be living your best life at Devour? Come on, you just turned twenty-one! Let's go out and dance the night away!"

"I still can't believe Devour isn't the name of some restaurant downtown but is instead some swanky gay club. And speaking of clubs, why are you trying so hard to drag me into a scene I don't feel comfortable with? You know I don't like the club scene. All the drug use, the flashy strobe lights, and the music that's far too loud for anyone to have a decent conversation with, it's all just too much for me. Let alone the guys who are just out of my league and very uninterested in me. I'm straight up invisible."

"They were not out of your league! The only reason guys didn't come up to you the last few times we went was because they saw the x's marked onto the tops of your hands, but now we both can drink. We can just stand by the bar, look pretty while men buy us drinks. Think about it. You're gonna love it!"

"Micah, you've had a fake ID since our days at Azure Academy."

"Yeah and? What's your point?"

"I don't think you really care about the legality of the drinking age and guys already flock to you because you're young, hot, and skinny...and always willing to party. You don't need to bring your ugly friend to make you look even more desirable. You're already a solid ten while I'm at most a four."

"Aw look at you complimenting me but ugh, not this self-loathing pity party again," he sighed as he sat down on carpet of my bedroom floor. I haven't vacuumed in weeks. I'm sure its full of crumbs from the amount of takeout I've been ordering. "You, my friend, are a catch. You just need to find your light and shine bright, brighter than anyone else in the room. You just have to believe in yourself."

"Easy for you to say, you've never had any problems in the guy category. You literally have a new guy over every weekend. I haven't had sex since we were sixteen."

"That's a you problem. Instead of facing reality and venturing out into the real world, you'd rather binge watch some anime or TV show and fantasize about a life with these fictional characters that will never be. You have to give people a chance or else you'll end up an old hag with like thirteen cats."

"What wrong with thirteen cats?"

He sighed again, this time shaking his head in disagreement.

"You're wasting your youth over a guy who broke your heart years ago when we were kids. I've had enough of it. You're going out with me whether you like it or not," he stood up, dusting off the crumbs that clung to his sun-kissed skin. "Talk some sense into him, please Bailey?"

"I'll try," said an unconvinced feminine voice.

Next up is Bailey, she's the one person we both met here in college who wasn't a one off interaction and can actually stand the both of us and that's rare. Usually people only vibe with Micah and then they take one look at me and are instantly put off by my not so sunny disposition. We often joke that she's our fag hag because her two bff's are both gay, but I mean she doesn't really collect gays. She's only really hanging with us. Not that she didn't have any friends before us but I don't really see them around much anymore. I used to see them more often when we just met her but they've slowly faded into the background. Bailey's the voice of reason in our tight knit, little group. If it weren't for her, Micah and I would never get anything done. When we first met her, she had long icy, blonde hair that just barely touched her shoulders. It wasn't until maybe a semester or two later did she decide to chop it all off and dye it black similar to Ruby Rose. She said she was tired of everyone not taking her seriously because everyone just thought she was some dumb blonde bimbo. Oh did I forget to mention she's pre-law? Apparently she comes from a long line of attorneys and law enforcement officials so she's following in her family's footsteps. She'd probably make for a good attorney. She likes to argue and usually wins them even if she's not right, most people just submit to her because she'll make you feel like a lesser being...all with just using her brain. Yeah...she's pretty scary now that I think about it.

"Jason, why do you have to make everything difficult? You act like we didn't all make plans to do this for your big day. You signed the contract."

"I still can't believe you made me sign a fucking contract!" I whined as I sat up in my bed.

"It's your own fault. It was the only way to get you to commit to the plan," she argued. She then sighed and stood up, facing me. "He's not going to like what I'm about to tell you and if you say anything about this to him I'm going to plead the fifth, but Micah was really excited to take you out tonight. He said he was going to take care of everything from buying the drinks, making sure you felt comfortable, and even being the DD tonight and you know how much he loves drinking especially in a room full of sweaty men. Do you understand how big that is for him? He's willing to give up his own good time just so you can have some fun. If you ask me you're being a bad friend for baiting him and changing your mind at the last second."

"Ugh can you please stop guilt tripping me already? I get it. I have no choice. Just give me a second to change alright?"

"Finally, if you weren't going to agree after that, I was going to bring out the big guns."

"By big guns, you mean you were going to fake cry right?"

"Mhm," she nodded. "I have a bottle of water in my purse for such an occasion."

"Yeah thanks for not crying. That really would have made today even more stressful than it already is," I said throwing the blanket off to the side and hopping off the bed.

And last but not least, there's me, Jason Lo and boy do I fit the name. I don't mean to be stuffy or a stick in the mud but when you're the ugly friend it's kind of hard not to. I wasn't always like this. I used to be a naive, cheerful kid that is until high school came around and made me feel less than everyone else in the student body. I went to a pretty prestigious all male high school, Azure Academy is what it's called. Only the best of the best can get in, either through brains, brawn, or the best method...money and bribery. It sort of acted like a precursor for college. They even had dorms and some people had scholarships just to attend that place. Honestly, I don't know how I got in. If my life were a role-playing game, I'd probably have at best, below average to average stats, not excelling or specializing in anything.

Well I guess that would be a lie. I'm pretty creative which is probably why I got into the arts program at the academy. I can't draw or paint or anything like that but I'd be damned if I couldn't make you look good in a picture. That's actually what I'm studying right now, commercial photography. I've done a few competitions here and there, never won any. I did place second one time which was nice. Would have been nicer if my family came out to support me but they chose to attend a family party instead. But Micah and Bailey are always there for me, with smiles and a bouquet of flowers even if I don't place.

My parents don't exactly understand my craft or art in general. But if anyone in the family ever needs a photographer you can bet your ass I'm the one they call. And I get called a lot, perks of having a large family on both sides. I have a lot of cousins on both my Filipino side and my Lao side. It's ridiculous.

The only person who brought any excitement in my family is my little brother, Jayden. He's really smart. So smart that he had the option to move up a few grades but he didn't want to leave his friends behind. Oh and he's really good at chess. He's won recognition from the world chess association or whatever they're called after winning a few national tournaments when he was fifteen. He's definitely made my parents proud. I've never really accomplished anything as outstanding as that. And before you go mouthing off, no I'm not speaking out of spite or jealously. I'm really happy for him, proud even. I don't know, I just wish that there was something that I could do that would make my parents proud of me too. Would it hurt them to brag about me and my art sometimes too?

Anyway, sorry about the trip down memory lane. Let's forget I mentioned any of that shall we? With a heavy sigh I stepped over Bailey, who was now sitting in the exact spot Micah was in earlier, walking towards my already open closet. As I looked through the sparse selection of hung up shirts and jeans, I couldn't help but notice that Bailey was still in the room.

"Hey Bailey, could I get some privacy?"

"Why are you acting all weird? I know what you're packing down there. It's how we met."

Okay it's not what it sounds like. Micah and I met Bailey at a random frat party when we were all freshman. I got beyond wasted and somehow got talked into streaking for the whole party. I didn't end up actually doing it though. She found me stripping behind some bushes and when she realized what was going on she pulled off her hoodie and wrapped it around me as she proceeded to take me somewhere safe and get me to sober up. She saved my drunk ass from something that probably would have scarred me for life, not gonna lie.

"I know it's just, well can you like turn around so at least your back is facing me?"

"Okay, I wasn't going to look though," she said as did what I asked. "I'm far too busy checking if Ms. Caputo updated my grade online yet."

"Why are you so worried about grades? I thought you said all your classes this semester were blow off classes?" I asked as I started to pull from the rack to change into something more appropriate for clubbing. I don't think I'll be let in if I go over there with a baseball sized hole ripped under one of the sleeves. My kind of underboob probably wouldn't be appreciated.

"They're supposed to be but Caputo's making her psych 101 class feel like a grad class. It's stupid."

"But I thought you love challenges? Isn't that where you thrive?"

"I do and it is but I was already in the mindset that I didn't have to make much of an effort. I could just let myself relax instead of stressing myself out to the point where I overwork myself to make it look easy. Sometimes I wish I chose an easy major like art. Is it took late to switch into one of your classes?"

"You think my classes are easy? You have a lot to learn about art."

"What's so hard about taking a picture? I take pictures all the time on my phone."

"I'm going to pretend like I didn't hear you compare your phone to my actual DSLR. There's a big difference and trust me when I say, you would fail out of my classes day one."

"Is that shade?"

"It's not shade. Your brain is better suited for logical studies and mine is better suited for creative avenues. If, for some reason, we got Freaky Friday'd we'd both fail for the semester. It's not a jab at you and it's not a jab at me. I'm just saying that just because I'm not burying my head in mountains of textbooks doesn't make my area of expertise a blow off major. It's just as difficult as yours just under different parameters."

"Okay, okay, I get it. I shouldn't have made it seem like your major was any less compared to mine. I'm sorry. Are you done yet? Can I turn around now? My back is killing me without any support."

"Yup, just finished," I said fastening the button at the top of my black skinny jeans. I really need to move down to slim jeans. These skinny ones keep squeezing what belly fat I have into an uncomfortable muffin top. After a full day of wearing these, I have these irritated, red imprints left over. It's really unflattering, but nothing a black shirt can't hide. I could lose the weight but who am I kidding? I'm far too lazy and unmotivated to do that. Nah Micah already has the body and Bailey has the mind. I have the...sarcasm and self-deprecating jokes. "So...how do I look? Good enough to go to a club for like five seconds?"

"That's funny," she laughed.

"What? Do I look like shit or something? I thought for sure my clothes matched."

"No it's not that, well kinda, but I just think it's funny that you think we're only going to be there for five seconds. We're going to be gone for the whole night so don't think you can just make an appearance and come back to play one of your video games. You're stuck with us and don't even think about calling an Uber. I will take your phone if you try to be sneaky."

"What? Who me? Be sneaky? I would never," I lied uncomfortably.

"Uh huh, I'm going to go grab Micah. You know we can't leave without his seal of approval," she said standing up. She walked towards the shut door and as soon as she twisted the knob to the right, out came Micah dropping to her feet with a resounding thud. "I should have known you'd be listening by the door."

"Fuck!" he cried rubbing his arm as he helped himself up. "Warn me next time."

"Warn you next time I open a door? That doesn't seem very logical. You should have just chilled in here with us instead of leaving to eavesdrop on the conversation. I'm sure you heard. I took care of the problem, he's all yours. I'm stepping out for a quick smoke break," she said walking out of my room and disappearing into the dimly lit hallway.

"So? Are we good to go?" I asked presenting myself to him.

He didn't say anything immediately, just a grimace with flared nostrils and his eyes darting in every direction but me. I knew something was wrong.

"I'm sorry, I can't let you go out like that," he finally spoke.

"Wh-Why? What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" I asked looking at myself.

"Everything. You're dressed all in black from head to toe, no accent color in sight, and that's not even the main issue! You look like someone who goes to internet cafes just to hide in some poorly lit corner looking all suspicious. But thankfully, I knew you'd try to sabotage the plan so I thought ahead and—."

"Micah you didn't!"

"I did!" he squealed in excitement. He stepped back into the hallway briefly only to toss a large, black garbage bag onto my bed. "Now before you complain, I bought some things for myself too. I didn't spend my whole paycheck on you."

"Oh my god Micah!" I whined knocking my head back. "Why does your vice have to be shopping? Weren't you saving up so you could finally pay off your massive credit card debt?"

"Eh it can wait. It's not everyday I get to glam up my best friend!"

I didn't say anything, just rolled my eyes in discontent.

"Don't be like that. Let Mr. Latino help you out!" he said cheerfully.

"Why do you still call yourself that? It's been three years already! Plus, don't you think that's a little racist?"

"Why? Just because the majority of our student body was white? Besides, I like the name. It has a nice ring to it. When there's another pageant, I'll let you know. That way I can start calling you Mr. Asian."

"Yeah, that's a hard pass."

"I was kidding!" he smirked, playfully jabbing me in the arm. "Well let's get started then. The sooner we get out of here, the quicker we can start the night."

"And the sooner I can go back to bed once it hits you that I'm going to be an awkward wallflower compared to your social butterfly."

"Eh, we'll see see about that."

I underestimated the amount of clothes he had stuffed into that trash bag. I honestly felt like I was his life-size Barbie due to how many wardrobe changes we went through. I want to say we went through maybe six different outfits, all of varying styles that didn't match my personality whatsoever, until we got to the last one. I'm still not happy about it and one major issue.

"I can't go out like this! Are you insane?" I yelped.

"Why not? You look hot! I'd fuck you!"

"Please don't say that again, one awkward and uncomfortable time was enough growing up. Do we really need to revisit that memory?"

"It was a figure of speech! What's wrong with this? It's mainly all black like you like it. Sure there's some silver accents but is that really such a big deal?"

"It's not the silver accents and you know it! It's this crop top!"

"What's wrong with that? Crop tops are in!"

"Yeah maybe for you! You're skinny!"

"Quit being so melodramatic, Jason. You're skinny too!"

"Are you high right now? I have a muffin top! Something tells me people are going to take one look at me and think that I'm a joke. I can't! Isn't there anything else in there that's a little less...revealing? Maybe something that can hide my little pooch?"

"Well maybe if someone would stop stress drinking all my bottles of rosé, they wouldn't have a muffin top."

"But it's so good! Come on, you can't tell me that there's nothing in that bag of yours that didn't come prepared for just this kind of occasion. I know you. When it comes to style, you have backups for literally any situation."

"That's true but I didn't think you'd shoot down all of my sets," he sighed in disappointment. "I have a pair of these limited edition high-waisted pants in my closet. They're expensive due to the fact that the designer somehow embedded shards of rhinestones into the fabric. You have no idea how lucky I was to even get them on the first and only drop. I was saving it for a special occasion, but if loaning them to you means you'll actually go out then I'll do it."

"Okay well I don't want to wear it if you were saving it for something special. Knowing me, I'll probably ruin them. You know I can't stay stain-free for long. I always drop something on me."

"My mind's made up. You can't back out now. Give me a second to grab them," he said rushing out of my room.

Oh did I forget to mention that Micah and I share an apartment together? We haven't lived together for very long, I've only been here for maybe six months. I used to live with my parents but then Micah's past roommate left without notice or got arrested, I forget. He practically begged me to move in because he didn't want to screen for another roommate. Let's just say moving out of my parent's house wasn't the easiest transition. It's not that I didn't want to leave, because I did, it's just that my mom didn't want to relinquish her hold over me. I think she was conflicted. She really likes Micah and there's no one else she'd want for me to live with besides her and my dad but at the same time, she's really overprotective and overbearing. I think she was more prepared for me to leave the nest when I start my career much later in the future or at least when I graduate. There was a lot of back and forth arguing, a lot of the time spent was us screaming at each other. Not on purpose of course, my mom doesn't exactly have an inside voice. Whenever she talks to one of her many sisters on the phone, she's usually screaming into it. Eventually after going at it for weeks, I was able to whittle her down. She had one condition, I had to talk to her at least once a week. That's not too hard a feat as she already texts me everyday to ask how I'm doing or to help her pay some bill online.

"I can't believe he actually got you to wear that!" Bailey said as she walked back into my room. "I never thought I'd live to see the day that you would wear a crop top. I need to record this!"

"Well enjoy it while it lasts because it's going in the trash...as soon as Micah comes back."

"Ugh what? But why? You look hot! I'd fuck—."

"Please don't finish that sentence. Micah said the same thing and I can already feel the vomit travel up my esophagus."

"That's mean. I think you two would look cute together. I don't know why you two aren't a couple already. Talk about power couple vibes."

"Trust me, we tried. It's not going to work out between us," Micah said coming back with his sparkle pants or whatever he called them.

"Wait, you two actually dated in the past?" she asked taken aback.

"You didn't know?"

"Micah, please don't fill her head with nonsense. No we never dated. We just kissed."

"We? I kissed you! You didn't kiss back."

"Well what did you expect? I-It felt weird!"

"Okay I'm going to need the run down or maybe just a synopsis since we're so low on time."

"I got you!" Micah said while unnecessarily clearing his throat. "For as long as I can remember, I've always had a crush on Jason. In a way, I guess you could say he was my first love. We were always together and I loved spending every waking moment with him. Problem was that I didn't actually know how bad I was crushing on him until a boy in our class, his heartbreaker, started flirting with him hardcore. I got so jealous that I kissed Jason right in front of him just to spite him. But as soon as I did it, I realized that my love for Jason was just platonic and not the least bit romantic. Just like he said, it was weird. It felt like I was kissing my brother...if I had one."

"Ditto on the brother. I actually have a brother and I never want his lips anywhere near mine."

"Well there goes my hopes and dreams of you two being more than just friends."

"Please tell me you haven't dreamt of us like that," I begged.

"I may or may have had one or two sexual dreams about you two flip-fucking each other."

"Ew!" Micah and I cried out in unison.

"What? Straight porn is so boring. Gay porn is much more entertaining. You two are literally my BL yaoi fantasy come to life. You two have no idea what this information is going to do for me tonight."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," I said in disgust.

"You haven't fantasized about us have you?" he asked.

"Micah! Why would you ask that? Bailey, don't you dare answer that. I'm going to feign ignorance right now."

"Well," she said looking in the air.

"Oh Jesus Christ Bailey! Why?!" I asked in disbelief.

"Well one thing lead to another and well...you two did the deed and then again...and again. Probably one of the best fantasies I've had in a while and I wasn't even a part of it. That's probably why I thought it was so hot. I told one of my girlfriends about you two and she may have created a short comic out of it. I have a signed copy back at my place if you guys are curious."

"I feel sick," I said in disgust.

"Hey don't be that way! Take it as a compliment. I am. If you think about it as an alternate version of ourselves it's actually not that bad of a concept."

"Why is it that you always have to look at the bright side?"

"I'd rather be positive than dwell on the negative. I have you for that," he smirked pinching my cheek. He then handed me the pants and some extra things too. "Hurry up and get changed. If you need me, just holler. Bailey, I'm gonna need to see that comic of yours, see if I approve."

"Trust me, it's hot. You'll love it!" she grinned fanning herself. As soon as they walked out of the room, I walked backwards shutting the door with my back. I looked up and sighed, rolling my eyes in the process. Is it too late to unfriend her? I'm kidding but I don't know if I'm exactly comfortable with there being a smutty comic of Micah and I out there for the whole world to see. Besides my obvious disgust, would this count as a breach of privacy or even defamation of character? It's not like I would force anyone to destroy their own creative work, my social anxiety would probably stop me before I can even have those words pass my lips. I'm just uncomfortable. Wait I already said that didn't I?

"Hey why don't I hear anything in there? You better be changing in there Jason!" Micah's voice echoed through the walls.

"I am! Thanks mom!"

With one final sigh, I locked the door. I didn't want anyone to barge in while I was changing. Micah and Bailey have both seen me naked (Micah and I played doctor when we were really young so no we have not had sex so get your mind out of the gutter) but I still get embarrassed when people catch me off guard especially when I have more skin showing than I would like. As I slipped out of the clothes I was wearing and slipping in the ones Micah had set out for me, I can hear muffled laughter coming from across the apartment. Why are they laughing so much? Is it because of the comic? Isn't it supposed to be sexual? Why would they be laughing if that's the case? I don't get it and now I really don't want to see it. I tried ignoring the laughter but as I finished the outfit, I just got irritated by it all. Trying to shake the irritation off of my face before I face those two but I think I only made it worse. Once I'm in a mood, it's tough for me to get over it. I kept pacing back and forth knowing that if I go out there the way I am, they'll keep pestering me until I tell the truth and when I tell the truth they'll apologize and then I'll feel bad because I brought the mood to a depressingly new low and well—I don't want that. They're pretty immune to my many mood killers but I don't think they'll be immune to this new method. I have to look like I'm having a good time. I know I'm contradicting myself especially for the way I was acting earlier but it can't be helped. That's just the kind of person I am. Well somehow I was able to look like how I usually do and for the most part, the irritation has almost subsided. Thank goodness! I took one last look in my full length mirror that I had hung up against my door. Leave it to Micah to make me look good, better than I could ever do. I've always admired his sense of style and how he can apply his eye for fashion for everyone else.

While I was checking myself out, I noticed in the corner of my eye that my doorknob shook profusely. I rolled my eyes and sighed again.

"God Micah, impatient much?" I grunted as I unlocked my door and opened it wide. To my surprise, it wasn't Micah nor was it Bailey. It was a complete stranger...a hot one. He was about my height, five foot ten inches, maybe just an inch taller. His skin was bright red and drenched with sweat, I assume it was from being out in the sun for too long. He had a wife beater, that clung to his muscled body, and your standard light blue jeans. He didn't look like one of those social media gym rats who only posted shirtless gym selfies while using some inspirational quote that made no sense other than being a thirst trap. It just looked like he just cared about his body. On his arms, were two full sleeves of colorful tats and through his soaked wife beater, a set of claw marks that ripped through his side revealing an artistic view of his insides. They looked cool, maybe I could ask him about them some time. Remember that sweat I was just mentioned? Well it had soaked through his tank top completely that I could see that his entire torso was covered in dark brown, almost black fur. Did I open a portal to that alternate universe Micah was joking about or did his God finally send me that werewolf I've been longing for, for years? "You're not Micah. I'm sorry who are you?"

"Shit I'm sorry man. I'm Gideon, I just moved in next door. Um your friend said I could use your bathroom but I know a better spot I can stick my dick in. On your knees bitch!"

"Wh-What?" I asked squinting as eyes darted from side to side.

Without saying anything else, he pushed his way inside my room, slamming the door behind him. Before I knew it, he had his hands all over me, pressing his lips against mine. The stubble from his five o'clock shadow scratched against my soft and supple skin. What did I do to deserve this absolute stranger to ravage me so? It almost sounds far fetched. Well because it is. It's all in my head. Let me tell you what really happened.

"Shit I'm sorry man. I'm Gideon, I just moved in next door. Um your friend said I could use your bathroom. My water hasn't been turned on yet and I really have to go."

"I too am very turned on," I said to myself aloud in a daze.

"Excuse me?"

"I-I-I mean, the bathroom is to your right—m-m-my right, your left," I stuttered pointing in the direction of the bathroom.

"Thanks bro," he said with a smile as he walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

"What is wrong with me? Did I just tell him I'm turned on?" I questioned myself, hitting my forehead against the door frame. "Stupid fantasy. Stupid, stupid, stupid. This is why I'm single."

I sighed once again and dragged myself to the other two. I didn't stop until my body face planted into the sunken gray blue cushions of our couch. We found it on the side of the road during our search for cheap furniture. It's definitely seen better days but we're broke college students so we weren't going to pass up something like this.

"What's wrong with you now?" Micah asked. "Does it have anything to do with that cute guy I sent your way?"

"Yes, he's so hot," I cried. "Why would you do that to me?"

"I figured you could use some practice before we hit the club. I'm sorry to say this, but you're a little rusty."

"Well I made a complete fool out of myself so thanks for that," I said sliding my head into his lap.

"It couldn't have been that bad. What did you do?" Bailey asked as she pulled my legs onto her lap.

"Wanna bet? As soon as I saw him, I slipped into a surreal fantasy and I told him that he turned me on."

"Oh, so this is what secondhand embarrassment feels like?" she replied. "Jason, I don't think you're rusty. I think all of this bottled up social anxiety has made you a lost cause."

"Kill me now. Mercy kill me. I don't want to be here anymore."

"Oh relax, will you? Quit acting like it's the end of the world," Micah said as he twirled my long silvery dyed locks around his fingers.

"So what team do you think he plays for?" Bailey asked.

"What? I don't know. I didn't exactly have time to ask since I was picking my jaw up off of the floor."

"I think he's straight," Bailey said.

"What? No way! Did you not see the way he was eyeing me when I opened the door?" Micah argued. "The man's gay."

"In your dreams. Did you see the way that man's dressed? He's straight," Bailey countered.

The two of them continued to argue about our new neighbor's sexuality while I couldn't help but to remember him as he was when I opened the door. He's a gift sent from the gods. Although I still can't believe I said what I said. If the government's really watching or listening in, I'm sure they're laughing it up and thinking "This kid's a walking disaster."

"Thank you guys so much for letting me use your bathroom. I know I could have gone in the bushes but I don't want management to hate me on day one. Trying to stay on people's good sides for once," Gideon said coming back from the bathroom. As he walked through the dimly lit hallway, I could tell he disregarded the towels and used his ripped, worn jeans instead. They had slipped down low enough to where the waistband and a little bit of the his Hanes boxers were visible.

"Don't worry about it. We're all friends here," Micah replied, then he looked down at me. "Right Jason?"

"Err right," I said nervously. I situated myself so that I was now sitting awkwardly between the two. I only say awkwardly because I don't really know how to act around strangers, especially attractive ones.

"If you want to keep what you have between your legs, I would caution against using the bushes here. Mrs. Petrillo's demon spawn likes to hide in them and attacks whenever anyone gets too close. I'd hate to see your face on the channel five evening news about a vicious dog attack here at the Diamond villas."

"Demon spawn?" he asked.

"She means her yappy, little chihuahua. She frequently lets him out unleashed when she comes out of her hidey hole for a smoke break," I said averting my gaze from him. I couldn't bear looking at him after what I had said to him earlier.

"Oh, I'll keep that in mind," he laughed. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry but you guys look exceptionally flashy, especially you in the middle. Mind if I ask what's the occasion?"

"This guy turned twenty-one today," Micah said wrapping his left arm around my shoulders. "We're taking him out to Devour tonight to celebrate. Would you like to join us? I've got an extra seat in the back if you're down."

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"Play along. I'm trying to get you laid," he answered back in the same fashion.

"What's Devour? Is that like some hipster restaurant or something?"

"It's only the best gay nightclub in Azure! I promise you, you won't be disappointed!"

"Oh, that actually sounds like a lot of fun!" he smiled but then sighed. "I would love to go out with you guys but I should probably head back and unpack. It's not gonna unpack itself."

"I feel ya! Rain check?"

"For sure, man. Um well I'm gonna head out now," he said walking towards the front door. "It was nice meeting you all!"

"Go walk him out!" Micah whispered pushing me off of the couch.

"What? Why? He knows where the door is!"

"Just go do it!"

I sighed and quickly caught up to him. I opened the door for him and he walked out but he didn't leave. Instead he quickly pivoted around, leaning against the door frame above him with both arms. I am definitely enjoying the view.

"Hey so I know I had no right in doing this but I went into your room and saw you had a gaming PC and then I saw the Overwatch stickers. Who do you main?"

"O-Oh you went into my room? Um y-yeah, I dabble in...that. I um main Symmetra but I usually flex. I don't get to play dps all that often. Who do you play?"

"I play the old lady, Ana. Maybe I can nano you sometime?"

"Wh-What?"

"In the game. You know, her ult?" he smiled. Suddenly he pulls out a pad of bright yellow sticky notes from his back pocket along with a pen. He scribbled down on it then pulled the sheet off handing it to me. "Here's my number and my battle net ID. Text me whenever you want to play. I can only solo queue for so long before I lose it. It'd be cool to have someone to play with for once."

"Thanks. But um, you just casually carry around sticky notes?" I smiled.

"Today I do. Gotta keep track of everything somehow," he said turning back around towards his apartment which was right across from me, maybe ten feet away from me. He turned around again right as he placed his hand on the knob. "Hey I never got your name."

"I-It's Jason."

"Cool. See you around Jason," he winked as he opened the door leading to his apartment and walked in disappearing behind the door. Stunned by what happened, I stepped back from the door only for it to be shut for me. When I turned to look, Micah was there with a devilish grin.

"I see someone got the hot neighbor's number!" he said as he swiped it out of my hands. "And he's a traditionalist. Who writes their number on paper nowadays?"

"So you're not a lost cause," Bailey said standing the opposite side of me.

"I-It's not like that! He's a gamer too so we're just going to play sometime. You guys wouldn't understand. And why are you both here? Were you both listening in on our conversation?"

"Ooooo someone's blushing!" she teased.

"I am not!"

"I hope that's not the only thing he gave you," Micah teased staring down at my pants.

"You pervert! I just made a friend, that's all."

"Mhm," they hummed in unison.

"Give me that!" I said annoyed snatching the sticky note back. "You two are the literal worst. Can you guys stop acting like we're in grade school?"

"Only if you admit that you want to be more than friends with him. Cause you're so into him, into him," he sang to the tune of Ariana Grande's "Into You" song.

"You guys already know I like him but that doesn't matter, he's gay and I'm straight. Wait I-I mean he's straight and I'm gay."

"I haven't seen you this flustered in a long time, not since you know who."

"Shut up!"

"Well I still think he's straight. But with Jason's unconventional geeky charm, he may be able to convert him to the dark side," Bailey said.

"If he can pull that off, we'll actually have something entertaining to watch for once."

"Guys my life is not a TV show for you to view for your pleasure. And you both know you can't convert someone from being straight to gay, it's not like religion. You can't just convert someone."

But they didn't listen to me. They just went back to talking about boys...like usual. I, however, walked back to my room just so I could decompress from this whole thing. As I lied on my back staring at the ceiling, I couldn't help but glance at the sticky note in my hand. I should probably text him, just to share my own information. You know, no ulterior motive or anything like that.

"Hey this is Jason! Just wanted to text you so you have my number. Sorry about my friends, I know they can be a lot."

"It's all good man!"

I didn't know what else to say to that. I wanted to say more, to continue our conversation, but I didn't want to come off too clingy right off the bat. Instead I tossed my phone off to the side of me and continued my stare off with the ceiling. A couple moments later, my phone vibrated and when I grabbed my phone to check who it was I was surprised and touched at the text I just received. It was from him again, Gideon.

"Before I forget, Happy Birthday Jason! Have fun tonight but don't get too hammered," he sent with a winky face at the end.

What the hell does that mean? I don't know if you've noticed but I'm not exactly great at deciphering texts from other people. After staring at that emoji for much longer than I should have, I sent him a simple thank you and set my phone down again. I was hoping for another text but nothing. I turned over to my side to face the wall when I saw him again, this time not in my head but instead right in front of me in my bed.

"Hey there cutie, is now a good time to stick you with my nano?" the imaginary Gideon asked, winking at me.

Oh god, not again.