Yeah. You?
“Yeah,” he answers. There’s a pause before he continues. “Just… a lot going on lately.”
I swallow and focus on keeping my eyes on the screen and my head in the game. We clear the next round.
“Feels like we haven’t played in forever, although I guess it’s probably been about a month now. Right?” he asks.
Yeah, it’s been a few weeks.
“Yeah.”
There’s a small laugh in his voice. I want to tell him to keep talking, that I want to hear him, but that’s not who we are to each other on here. I don’t want to risk him finding out it’s me either.
“Life gets in the way sometimes.”
That a good thing?
He seems to hesitate again. We push through another lane, and he takes out two guys quickly before he finally responds.
“I guess I would say it depends on the day.”
I shift in my seat and type out my reply without second-guessing it.
You happy, though?
Every second that ticks by feels more like minutes.
On my screen, I see him crouch behind a wall to seek cover, waiting to reload.
“Yeah,” he says finally. “For the most part, I am.”
Something in my chest loosens and tightens all at once.
We continue moving in the game.
“I’ve just been distracted,” he adds. “Trying to figure some stuff out.”
He pauses, and I wonder if he’s going to say more before he continues.
“There’s this girl,” he says, and I force myself not to freeze on the controller. “We’ve been… well, a little back-and-forth. Not in a bad way. I know how it probably sounds. Just… timing.”
I stare at the screen.
Timing sucks.
He lets out a breath that almost sounds like a chuckle.
“Yeah. It does.”
We clear another round.
“She thinks I’m pulling away,” he says after a second. “Which… she’s not wrong. Just not for the reasons she probably thinks. It’s not her. I just have stuff I need to handle, and I’m not great with words.”
My fingers hover over the keys.
Have you tried talking to her?
“I tried,” he says. “I don’t know if she believes me. Or if she trusts me.”
