“How'd the homework go?” Rachel asked me as we sat across from each other at the food court waiting for our order. We would be heading into Panarena later, but we had decided to meet up here for a change and do something in real life. It had already been a couple weeks, but the two of us had become quite famous in our little corner of the virtual world -- at least, according to the forums. But it was nice to be our real selves here in this moment.
“Eh, I guess it went okay. Thanks for the math assist by the way,” I said, and she smiled back.
“It's not my strongest subject either.” she shrugged.
“Still better than me,” I softly smiled.
“I'm sure you could get it if you wanted to, Sean.” she told me gently.
“Dunno; they've been trying for ten years and I still can't get past the most basic applications... which is really all we need, right?”
“True!”
“It's not like I want to be a scientist or anything, after all.”
“What do you want to be?” Rachel asked me, and I stopped for a moment. What did I want to be?
“Hmm? Well what about you, Rey?” I asked her as a breather. “Rey” was a nickname she had decided she wanted me to use; “Rach” didn't feel right and “Rachy” was her brother's pet name for her. So now I had my own special name for her.
“Hmm... I want to help people; I'm not exactly sure how, but maybe like a counselor or a therapist, maybe a nurse... an activist or lawyer probably isn't out of the question either...” she mused aloud.
“That's some high-end stuff, career-wise,” I returned.
“True. So how about you?” she replied with a gentle smirk. I thought about it a bit more.
“There's not much that seems to fit me; I like games, I like the otherworldliness of it all. Maybe I could be a professional tester, or a creator, somehow...”
Stolen story; please report.
“Hm? But being a creator might involve...” Rachel began with a sly wink.
“Don't say it...” I returned in a low-energy voice.
“… Math!” she giggled at me.
“Uuuggghhh.” I groaned.
“But that seems cool, though... maybe you'd work on the world-building part of the games?” she suggested, and I stopped my groaning.
“That does seem like a lot of fun...” I remarked with a livelier tone.
“Order up!” a waiter said as he came over with our food. Two sodas and a plain cheese pizza with a side of breadsticks. We thanked the man, who gave us a thumbs up and then returned to his duties.
“By the way,” Rachel said as we dug in, “Do you have a middle name?”
“Hm?” I looked up at the question, swallowing the mouthful I had. “Nah, not me. I guess the folks didn't see a point to it.” I replied.
“Aw. That's kinda boring. Now I can't make it sound like you're in real trouble if you do something.” she smirked.
Exactly what the heck kind of scenario are you envisioning? I thought to myself with a funny look on my face.
“What the heck would I even get in to?” I softly grumbled.
“Dunno!” she quipped back cheerfully, eagerly devouring the slice of pizza she had. A moment of silence passed, and then I asked her the question as well. More or less.
“D-did you... that is... did your... parents... give you...”
“Anne.” she said in answer, gently smiling at me. “Bashful Sean... I love you.” she continued, returning her attention to the pizza.
Rachel Anne... Rachel Anne... the name echoed in my mind; then the wheels of my mind began turning. Rachel Anne... Danes. Rachel Anne Danes. R, A, D... thats...
“And please don't say my name is 'rad'. I've heard it enough.” Rachel added with a grin.
“N-n-not even thinking it!” I hastily said, quickly eliminating the trail of thought I had thoughtlessly meandered into. She giggled again, and reached over for my hand. Her hand met mine, and they clasped together.
“No matter what, I want to help you find your path. We'll look together, okay?” Rachel said to me with a smile, and I smiled back.
“Right back at you, partner.” I told her. “Right back at you.”
I'll never get tired of it... I'll never get tired of that smile.