I sigh, sitting up. I need something to distract me. I boot up the Switch, seeing the Pokémon game I’m currently playing.
A notification tells me Will is online.
So much for distractions.
Grinning, I type a message.
Fancy seeing you here.
I wait for him to reply, clutching the controllers.
I catch myself chewing a nail, staring at the screen, waiting for his reply like a lovestruck puppy. I tell myself it’s nothing romantic. It’s the excitable feeling of having a friend again. Seeing someone who reminded you of happier times.
Nostalgia.
Yes, that’s what it is.
I’m nostalgic for a simpler time. Will’s that simpler time.
I’m sorry, how did you add me, Mr Greer?
I’m about to reply, when Will’s next message comes through.
Just here playing Animal Crossing for the foreseeable.
Must visit his island, I think.
What have you been up to today?
Will replies:
Went wine tasting with Ollie.
My stomach drops.
He’s been with Ollie.
My hands begin to sweat. Maybe they’ve rekindled.
Another message.
And I’m listening to Pallet Town on Spotify to calm myself down.
I exhale, eyebrows raised. The soundtrack from the Pokémon Red and Blue days are as familiar to me now as they were back then, when we were two boys huddled next to each other in a den we’d constructed from blankets and pillows.
I write back.
Remind me that we need to do a duet to the theme tune.
Maybe I should tell him that I have a whole playlist dedicated to the game score. Another time. Our message box looks back at me, and I glance at the kitchen, to the food I’d bought for our double date. A wild idea forms.
I’ve got food here. Let me wine and dine you?
I stare at the words wine and dine, tongue tracing my lips as I get lost in thought. Is it too forward? Too desperate? Too cheeky? Should I add ‘all in the name of research’?
Fuck it.
With a deep breath, I send it.
