A Single Yes [MPC 25-2]
Jan 26, 2014 22:34:38 GMT
Post by poru on Jan 26, 2014 22:34:38 GMT
*Beep beep beep*
Groaning a bit, Paul rolled over and blindly fumbled about on the night stand for his cell phone. Blinking a few times, he managed to hit the snooze button before collapsing back onto his bed.
“You should get up soon or you’ll miss your class again.”
Paul looked over at the source of the comment. The girl curled up next to him snuggled further into his side, making him smile. It was hard to believe that it had been close to five years. Staring up at the ceiling with one arm wrapped around the girl, he thought back to that pivotal moment years ago.
It was midway through his sophomore year of high school. There was a girl, Katherine, in his English class who over the course of the year he had slowly started to like. They knew each other from freshman year but hadn’t talked much. Now though in class, they had the occasional flirty exchange, and his friends in the class kept pestering him to ask her out. Each time, Paul just rolled his eyes and told them it would never happen. She was too pretty for a nerdy, shy guy like Paul to ask out on a date. Odds were that she’d laugh in his face and walk away, and Paul had no inclination to make a complete fool out of himself.
Still, the small talk continued and at one point they even began to text each other some, but Paul was adamant about not getting his hopes raised. The months passed without incident, and before he knew it, the sophomore dance was just two weeks away. Paul had yet to ask anyone out, although the thought had crossed his mind to ask Katherine. Each time it drifted up though, he pushed it ruthlessly back down. Then one day when he was sitting at his house, he got a text from a number he didn’t recognize. It simply said “She wants you to ask her out. Man up and do it.” Paul immediately sent a scathing text to his friends, trying to find out who had sent the joke text. Of course they all denied it, but even the next day when he got to question them in person, he couldn’t detect a hint of deception in them.
The following night he received another text, this time saying “If you don’t do it tomorrow, you’ll never win her.” As best Paul could tell, the number was from his area, but a search on the internet didn’t turn up any results either. As he fell asleep, he debated over and over in his head whether or not to act on what the texts commanded.
The next morning brought him no comfort and he only felt more conflicted. Sitting in class, he couldn’t help but glance over at her constantly, waves of anxiety and adrenaline rolling over him. The bell rang for class to end, and he slowly got out of his seat, indecision nearly paralyzing him.
“Katherine!” Paul suddenly half-shouted, as much to his surprise as anyone else’s. Everyone in the room turned to look at him, Katherine included. He could feel his face heating up, but he gulped once, mustering up as much courage as he possibly could. “Would you like to go to the dance with me?”
“Hmm… sure, why not? Let’s go to the dance,” Katherine said with a smile.
An audible gasp could be heard from the students who were mid-exiting the classroom. Even Paul wasn’t entirely sure that his ears had heard Katherine correctly. She said yes! “Uhh… great! I’ll text you about it later, okay?” He said nervously, adrenaline still pumping through his veins although a haze of happiness and confusion had settled over his mind.
“Sounds good. Can’t wait.” With a wink, Katherine walked out of the room.
The rest of the day passed in a blur for Paul. Numerous people walked up to him, asking about him and Katherine. The best reply he could give was he was just as surprised as they were.
The rest, as they say, is history. Paul and Katherine had a wonderful time at the dance and began to properly date. As weird as it was to see one of the geekier guys in their class dating one of the prettier girls in their class, everyone slowly began to accept that this relationship had a way of working. In an odd way, the two complemented each other, bringing out hidden sides of each other that neither knew were there. Katherine began to excel in school, and Paul grew more confident and drifted away from video games and debate to sports, even making the varsity basketball team his senior year as a starting player.
Oddly enough, he never found out who sent the text messages. None of Katherine's friends said they had even known of the texts. Even stranger still was what Katherine said when he asked about his timing. She mentioned that had he asked her after the dance, she wasn't sure she would have said yes. There was something about that moment that made her say yes, but she didn't regret it in the least. Paul just chalked it up to a stroke of luck, but there was still a slight uneasiness when he considered those texts.
His group of friends online wondered what happened to him as gradually he signed on less and less frequently, eventually going weeks at a time without talking to them. Part of him missed them, but he had found a new life that he enjoyed. When it came time to go to college, he and Katherine ended up going to the same school, continuing their relationship. Freshman year came and went, Paul doing well in engineering while working out to try to walk on to the college basketball team during his sophomore year. In a move that upset their parents, Paul and Katherine even decided to move in together at the beginning of their sophomore year.
A year later they were still happily living together, but Paul couldn’t help but get the feeling there was something missing from his life. Once in a blue moon he logged onto the old chatroom to see how the group was doing. From the few times he talked with them, he found out that they had all visited Japan in the past year. Rorudo in particular said some weird stuff happened to him, but he didn’t elaborate any further. The others mentioned that Rorudo sometimes disappeared for weeks at a time and recently hadn’t been heard from in nearly four months. Paul just shrugged it off as people growing up and losing interest in gaming. It had happened to him, why couldn’t it happen to Rorudo too?
*Beep beep beep*
The snooze button broke through his thoughts again. Swinging his legs out of bed, he gingerly placed his feet on the cold wood floors, shivering a bit. Leaning back over, he placed a kiss on Katherine’s shoulder, making her giggle a little.
“Have a good day, love. I’ll see you tonight for dinner.” Standing up, he stretched his arms over his head. He went about his normal routine before heading out the door for class. As he stepped over the threshold, he heard a small click.
“Make a quick action and I’ll end you right here and now. Come with me, we have things we need to discuss.” Standing beside his door was a squat, lizard looking creature dressed in combat gear with a large gun pointed at his head. A variety of options flashed through Paul’s head as to what he could do, but ultimately he knew that the best way of getting out of this would be to listen to this creature. Of course that didn’t stop his mind from freaking out over the fact that there was a talking lizard with dark camo for skin standing beside him, yet there was a small part of him that felt he had already seen this thing before. He had no idea why that would be, but that tiny part told him that this was the inevitable.
“Fine, but explain on the way,” Paul stated, his tone indicating that he was willing to do something stupid if the lizard didn’t comply.
Nodding, the creature turned and starting walking away. “It boils down to this. Rorudo is dead. I was his partner. Now you’re my partner. Get used to it and say good bye to your old life.”
Something broke inside of Paul when he heard that because he knew that lizard spoke the truth. Life would never be the same.
OOC: Posts please!
Groaning a bit, Paul rolled over and blindly fumbled about on the night stand for his cell phone. Blinking a few times, he managed to hit the snooze button before collapsing back onto his bed.
“You should get up soon or you’ll miss your class again.”
Paul looked over at the source of the comment. The girl curled up next to him snuggled further into his side, making him smile. It was hard to believe that it had been close to five years. Staring up at the ceiling with one arm wrapped around the girl, he thought back to that pivotal moment years ago.
It was midway through his sophomore year of high school. There was a girl, Katherine, in his English class who over the course of the year he had slowly started to like. They knew each other from freshman year but hadn’t talked much. Now though in class, they had the occasional flirty exchange, and his friends in the class kept pestering him to ask her out. Each time, Paul just rolled his eyes and told them it would never happen. She was too pretty for a nerdy, shy guy like Paul to ask out on a date. Odds were that she’d laugh in his face and walk away, and Paul had no inclination to make a complete fool out of himself.
Still, the small talk continued and at one point they even began to text each other some, but Paul was adamant about not getting his hopes raised. The months passed without incident, and before he knew it, the sophomore dance was just two weeks away. Paul had yet to ask anyone out, although the thought had crossed his mind to ask Katherine. Each time it drifted up though, he pushed it ruthlessly back down. Then one day when he was sitting at his house, he got a text from a number he didn’t recognize. It simply said “She wants you to ask her out. Man up and do it.” Paul immediately sent a scathing text to his friends, trying to find out who had sent the joke text. Of course they all denied it, but even the next day when he got to question them in person, he couldn’t detect a hint of deception in them.
The following night he received another text, this time saying “If you don’t do it tomorrow, you’ll never win her.” As best Paul could tell, the number was from his area, but a search on the internet didn’t turn up any results either. As he fell asleep, he debated over and over in his head whether or not to act on what the texts commanded.
The next morning brought him no comfort and he only felt more conflicted. Sitting in class, he couldn’t help but glance over at her constantly, waves of anxiety and adrenaline rolling over him. The bell rang for class to end, and he slowly got out of his seat, indecision nearly paralyzing him.
“Katherine!” Paul suddenly half-shouted, as much to his surprise as anyone else’s. Everyone in the room turned to look at him, Katherine included. He could feel his face heating up, but he gulped once, mustering up as much courage as he possibly could. “Would you like to go to the dance with me?”
“Hmm… sure, why not? Let’s go to the dance,” Katherine said with a smile.
An audible gasp could be heard from the students who were mid-exiting the classroom. Even Paul wasn’t entirely sure that his ears had heard Katherine correctly. She said yes! “Uhh… great! I’ll text you about it later, okay?” He said nervously, adrenaline still pumping through his veins although a haze of happiness and confusion had settled over his mind.
“Sounds good. Can’t wait.” With a wink, Katherine walked out of the room.
The rest of the day passed in a blur for Paul. Numerous people walked up to him, asking about him and Katherine. The best reply he could give was he was just as surprised as they were.
The rest, as they say, is history. Paul and Katherine had a wonderful time at the dance and began to properly date. As weird as it was to see one of the geekier guys in their class dating one of the prettier girls in their class, everyone slowly began to accept that this relationship had a way of working. In an odd way, the two complemented each other, bringing out hidden sides of each other that neither knew were there. Katherine began to excel in school, and Paul grew more confident and drifted away from video games and debate to sports, even making the varsity basketball team his senior year as a starting player.
Oddly enough, he never found out who sent the text messages. None of Katherine's friends said they had even known of the texts. Even stranger still was what Katherine said when he asked about his timing. She mentioned that had he asked her after the dance, she wasn't sure she would have said yes. There was something about that moment that made her say yes, but she didn't regret it in the least. Paul just chalked it up to a stroke of luck, but there was still a slight uneasiness when he considered those texts.
His group of friends online wondered what happened to him as gradually he signed on less and less frequently, eventually going weeks at a time without talking to them. Part of him missed them, but he had found a new life that he enjoyed. When it came time to go to college, he and Katherine ended up going to the same school, continuing their relationship. Freshman year came and went, Paul doing well in engineering while working out to try to walk on to the college basketball team during his sophomore year. In a move that upset their parents, Paul and Katherine even decided to move in together at the beginning of their sophomore year.
A year later they were still happily living together, but Paul couldn’t help but get the feeling there was something missing from his life. Once in a blue moon he logged onto the old chatroom to see how the group was doing. From the few times he talked with them, he found out that they had all visited Japan in the past year. Rorudo in particular said some weird stuff happened to him, but he didn’t elaborate any further. The others mentioned that Rorudo sometimes disappeared for weeks at a time and recently hadn’t been heard from in nearly four months. Paul just shrugged it off as people growing up and losing interest in gaming. It had happened to him, why couldn’t it happen to Rorudo too?
*Beep beep beep*
The snooze button broke through his thoughts again. Swinging his legs out of bed, he gingerly placed his feet on the cold wood floors, shivering a bit. Leaning back over, he placed a kiss on Katherine’s shoulder, making her giggle a little.
“Have a good day, love. I’ll see you tonight for dinner.” Standing up, he stretched his arms over his head. He went about his normal routine before heading out the door for class. As he stepped over the threshold, he heard a small click.
“Make a quick action and I’ll end you right here and now. Come with me, we have things we need to discuss.” Standing beside his door was a squat, lizard looking creature dressed in combat gear with a large gun pointed at his head. A variety of options flashed through Paul’s head as to what he could do, but ultimately he knew that the best way of getting out of this would be to listen to this creature. Of course that didn’t stop his mind from freaking out over the fact that there was a talking lizard with dark camo for skin standing beside him, yet there was a small part of him that felt he had already seen this thing before. He had no idea why that would be, but that tiny part told him that this was the inevitable.
“Fine, but explain on the way,” Paul stated, his tone indicating that he was willing to do something stupid if the lizard didn’t comply.
Nodding, the creature turned and starting walking away. “It boils down to this. Rorudo is dead. I was his partner. Now you’re my partner. Get used to it and say good bye to your old life.”
Something broke inside of Paul when he heard that because he knew that lizard spoke the truth. Life would never be the same.
OOC: Posts please!