SAVE POINT 31
Dormouse
So, I wasn’t supposed to leave before nightfall because, apparently, the nasty-wasty lions and tigers and bears oh-my might get me in the dark. And I had to admit, it left me wondering where the girls' heads were at: where exactly did Mimi and Maude think I was going to sleep for the remainder of the nights while I was out in the wilderness searching for EmeraldCity_88? The logic was beyond backwards, but, to be real, I couldn't argue with the second logic point: Mimi wanted me to stay so we could spend another night together. Screw that, it had nothing to do with logic at all, but it had me grinning ear-to-ear as the sun sunk below the horizon. If I only got one more day in this nerd camp, I wanted to spend it swapping stories and saliva with Mimi under the stars.
...What Mimi and Maude didn't realize was that, with every passing second, I was losing my nerve.
I mean, earlier today when that little, green-haired pistol, with an ego the size of Texas and the balls to back it up, rode out of here basically intent to do as much harm as possible... I was pissed. I was going after her. No question about it.
I was so fired up that, in my mind, I was both the charging bull AND the matador.
...Now, I was wondering if it was all just a stupid game. Was I riding into the ring of my own death with basically little hope to find the green-haired girl or survive? I mean, my last solo field mission I’d gotten poison ivy so bad that they had to medivac me out. It was more than semi-embarrassing. Let's just say I was kind of hoping this one went better...
My quick steps parted the high, meadow grass with soldier efficiency as I all but jogged towards our yurt. For most of the trek, crowds had been my biggest deterrent—'swarms', I called them in my mind. And I wished I could label the swarms as merely 'nerds', but, to be honest, I was noticing that they weren’t.
They were girls—hordes of girls buzzing around me like hornets. Rustling through the grass like snakes you couldn't see coming up on you till it was too late.
Some wanted to talk to me. Others wanted a signature. They didn't know me, but they all knew of me.
"Dormouse, pose with me for a picture!" they'd squeal.
"Dormouse, OMG I'm such a fan!" another’d gush. The Swag Point system options would pop up like rising bubbles: ‘flirt with this girl?’ ‘try an interested conversation with this one?’ ‘flirt back?’. At first, I’d been excited to even see such options, but, now, the constant popups were just getting annoying. ...And all the attention didn't make me feel like I’d thought it would in my daydreams; it made me all fidgety and uncomfortable inside. Like I wanted to run away and hide—anywhere—away from them. Somewhere I didn't have to try so hard to be someone who they thought they knew...when, really, all they saw was just a cardboard cutout of me—something incomplete and plastic. A skin I'd already grown out of and shed.
Just thinking of the groups of girls, I was breathing hard and frazzled. I ducked under the fabric doorway of the yurt, swiping my hair to the side of what was probably my overly-sweaty forehead to find—
Not Mimi.
I froze.
...Maude?
My eyes adjusted to the dim lantern glow. Breaching all fire safety, the blonde had brought one of the lanterns from outside, inside. Its flickering light warmed the outline of the girl's curves. She knelt, strangely, in the center of the tent, sitting so still...almost like she was waiting for someone.
I half-stood in the entrance feeling kind of stupid and intrusive, watching the blonde girl wind a strand of hair around her finger and noticing that she was wearing a very sheer, white tank top. She hadn't been wearing that before, had she?
[System Query: Would You Like to Flirt with MAUDE, PORTAL GUARD 12? Use 30 Swag Points to Flirt?]
[Yes, Flirt] [No, Thank You]
I flicked the words away, clearing my throat and shaking my head, trying to clear it too—and not stare certain places, "Err, have you seen Mimi?"
"Mimi, Mimi, Mimi," Maude cooed, nearly singing as she rolled her eyes, "All he ever talks about is Mimi." And I was, suddenly, aware of how alone we were—and how quiet everything was. Where the heck did Mimi go? My skin was itching with a million alarm bells. It felt way too hard to take a breath.
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The girl shifted, sliding closer. Her lips hovered near my ear, "I could make you talk about something else, you know. Someone else..."
And she was faster than a cheetah and, maybe, more deadly than one. Like a viper going in for a strike or some hellish vampire, she leaned in, her lips latching onto my neck.
Wet.
Warm.
She smelled really fucking good this close.
[System Reward: Alert! Hot Girl Is Into You. Repeat: Hot Girl Is Into You! +10 Swag Points, 100]
Oh God. I was right here. In the middle of one heck of a sticky situation. To shove off the girl I'd had a crush on for nearly forever because I liked Mimi? Or just go with it because... because Maude was like chili peppers dipped in flaming hot sauce?
This was one hell of a decision.
Everything was pounding as her lips lingered on my skin there, tickling.
It was like the world paused.
Like the question throbbed in midair with every rushing inhale-exhale of my breath.
[System Query: Would You Like the System to Simplify This Situation?]
[Yes] [No]
I blinked at the text looping in my vision. Yes, absolutely fucking yes. I gasped for air. I gasped for an idea of what the hell to do. My brain was so foggy. The system beeped.
[System Understands Query…Loading Response…]
[System Answer: It Appears You Have Two Choices: 1) Throw Caution To The Wind & Make Out With Maude OR 2) Think of Mimi & Turn Down Maude. Which Would You Prefer?]
[#1, Hot-Digity-Maude] [#2, Resist]
Prefer?! Oh Grand Dragon, everything in me was tingling! My finger shook, hovering over the metaphorical answers. My body trembled. My breath shuttered out of me.
[#2, Resist]
I clicked it. I fucking chose #2. I pushed off every urge I had to do otherwise and put an arm out, nudging Maude back a step. Anything to get her blessed lips off my neck before I changed my mind.
"Hold on—” I started, trying to breathe, “you couldn't even remember my name before everyone thought I was famous here."
I watched her plucked eyebrows crease in annoyance even in the dark.
[System Penalty: MAUDE, PORTAL GUARD 12 Thinks You’re A Stupid Dweeb -10 Swag Points, 90]
Her winged eyeliner looked, suddenly, angry as her face constricted in a huff, "Oh, come on, Dormouse; think this through. You're being offered a diamond and you choose the fool’s gold? You want Mimi?" Her face hardened as she realized I wasn’t budging. Her voice stiffened into sarcasm, "…Wait, Mimi? The one who thinks minigolf is fun and actually studies for her job?" She looked disgusted.
And I had to jump in before the blonde said anything else completely offensive.
"For starters," I blurted, backing out of the tent, "minigolf IS fun and so is using your brain. I like Mimi, and Mimi likes me. Why don't you and—" my voice shook as I tried to assert some sort of backbone, "And every other girl in this place—leave me alone."
And I ducked out into the dark night.
Trying to shake off the girl's advances and marvel in the way I'd put my foot down at the same time—
Not watching where I was walking, I almost ran headlong into Mimi. The freckled girl smiled at me, looping an arm around my middle, "Hey, stranger." Her eyes had that glint I liked in this moonlight.
"Mimi, thank God," I blurted, relief rushing through my veins like an antitoxin. I leaned in to kiss the girl—to wrap my arms around her and finally snuggle into the feeling of home and full acceptance but...
But the girl went rigid under my fingers.
I pulled back from her, confused, "Mimi?"
But her eyes had changed. They were black and ice cold. Her lips twisted in a severe frown.
[System Penalty: MIMI, PORTAL GUARD 17 Thinks You’re A Player Asshole -10 Swag Points, 80]
Oh shit—what the—
"You know, I probably wouldn't even have noticed if it was anyone else," she spat, glaring at me.
I blinked blankly into her face, "What—?"
"Really?!" she goaded, "You don't have the balls to own up to it? You didn't think I'd recognize my best friend's perfume?" Tears welled in her eyes. She looked so hurt. It wrenched my heart in two.
No! She had it all wrong! She had this backwards! I’d just turned Maude down when she’d been basically throwing herself at me! I—I had to fix this, I—
"No!" I sputtered, "You don't understand. I mean, that IS Maude's perfume, but it's not what you think—"
"And the smudge of lipstick on your shirt collar is also not what I think?!" Mimi fumed, her freckles standing out starkly against her bulging eyes as her short hair fluttered in the night wind.
She was pissed.
Royally.
Fucking.
Irreparably pissed.
"I didn't even—" I started.
"You know what, Dormouse?" Mimi flipped around, looking like she was going to storm off, "Go fuck yourself or my best friend. I really don't care anymore. Go play hero and barge out into the dark wilderness and get yourself killed going after some green-haired psycho, leaving the rest of us here to play house. I thought you were different, but you're just like everyone else."
She swiped at a tear and raced off into the night.
And I tried to follow her, but she held out an intolerant hand, "Just don't."
My heart broke in my chest.
My whole word, that I didn't know was balanced on a pyramid, came crashing down.
Splintering.
Hitting me harder than I deserved, and the system didn’t have the decency to soften it:
[System Penalty: Well, Whatever Was There, Isn’t Anymore. Goodbye Fairytale Romance. -5 XP, 1459/1500]
...
...Anyway, that was how I’d ended up out here.
Walking on this dark trail.
By myself.
With lions and tigers and bears oh-my probably abounding in the night forest on either side.
Poor little, ole, dumb.
Me.
Alone again.
A nerd again.
Goddammit.