A lone simple question was enough to send Sebastian into shock. As he stood there frozen stiff with a knot in his stomach, beads of sweat began to protrude from his forehead, the color draining from his skin. Delilah immediately noticed the change and, at first, became a bit confused; however, that emotion faded into disappointment as she felt that a reaction like that simply meant that she had made a mistake. She hung her head low as she felt tears begin to well up in her eyes.

How am I supposed to answer this? I feel so nauseated right now. I feel something coming up in my throat. Is it bile? Man, it’s getting bad…

“I’m sorry…” she muttered softly.

When she muttered those words, the heartache returned. It pierced through Sebastian’s body and sent a shiver up the ladder of his spine. It was a momentary distraction from the knot in his stomach but it was enough for him to, again, be coaxed into giving her an answer that he had no intention of giving.

“No…” replied Sebastian. “I was just taken off guard by your question. Of course, I accept.”

She lifted her head to see him forcing a smile, his skin even paler than before and his head covered in sweat. She figured that he was a bit nervous but suddenly, it became apparent that wasn’t the case. Just accepting her as a friend caused the knot to intensify to a nearly unbearable level. He knew that he wasn’t going to be able to hold it back for much longer.

“Forgive me but, I need to go. I think I ate that hot pizza a little too fast…”

Before Delilah could acknowledge that, Sebastian darted off. Thankfully, there was a restroom right across the hall from where they stood. Once inside, he ducked into the nearest stall, locked the door, and threw himself over the toilet. A mere second later, all of the contents of his stomach spilled into the bowl. It wasn’t a pleasant experience but at least the knot in his stomach had relieved itself.

A flush of the toilet later, Sebastian got up off his knees and used some toilet paper to wipe any remaining residue from his mouth. He used the sink to clean himself up and to wash the taste out of his mouth. When he looked at himself in the mirror, he noticed how pale he still was but the color was slowly returning.

“What the hell am I doing?” he asked himself quietly.

Soon, without realizing it, Sebastian began to cry. Tear after tear fell from his eyes, splashing down into the sink below. All he could do was stand there and stare into his reflection.

“I can’t go through this again… I just can’t…” he said. “But… she’s waiting outside. Do I go back and tell her I made a mistake? No, I can’t do that. That would hurt her feelings and… why do I care? All I want is to be left alone so, naturally, I’m going to need to hurt her feelings if I want to get back to the life I desire. But I still have to see her at school every day and… ARGH!”

Suddenly, his vision became blurry. That boy from his last vision appeared in the mirror in Sebastian’s place, sporting a sinister grin. The boy reached out with his hand as if it were inviting him someplace; however, as soon as he blinked, he was gone and everything returned to normal.

Sebastian gritted his teeth and pounded his fist on the sink’s counter. Right after, he heard the door open to the restroom so he quickly turned the water on and began to wash his hands. A man walked right past him and into the stall behind him. He quickly dried his hands and wiped the tears from his eyes before heading back out to where Delilah had been waiting for him.

“Are you okay!?”

“Yeah. I’m sure that was the worst timing ever. You asked me a very important question and the lunch that I ate too fast decided to come back up at that moment. I didn’t mean to give you the wrong idea. It was my fault for eating so quickly.”

“I mean, you did scarf that pizza down in record time. I had simply thought you took a bite, didn’t like it, and threw it away. I guess lesson learned, huh?”

“Yeah…”

“Do you need to sit and rest?”

“No, I’m fine now but I think I’m going to call it a day and go home.”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. I have nothing else that I need to do here so, would it be okay if we could walk home together?”

I don’t have a choice here. Might as well just get it over with.

“Sure.”

They left the mall and took the short trip back home. Usually, Sebastian would go down Sycamore to take his shortcut but he only did that when he left for and returned from school. Not even his mother knew that he went out the back door every day. When they got to the corner of Ambrose St., Delilah paused for a moment then spoke with a bit of a quiver in her voice.

“Thank you for accepting my friendship. I know that sounds corny but… I don’t think you know how much that meant to me. I just wanted to say that.”

“You’re welcome.”

When she looked up there was a faint smile on his face. She already thought he was insanely cute but that smile took things over the top for her. She began to blush a little bit before she looked off in the direction of her house.

“I better get going. The sun is beginning to set and my parents worry if I’m out too late. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

“Yeah. See you around.”

With that, they parted ways. When Sebastian walked into the house, he could still smell the lingering scent of his mother’s cooking. She was sitting on the couch watching television, her face sporting a smile.

“Welcome back!”

“Thanks… um… are there any leftovers from dinner?”

“Yeah but didn’t you just come from your friend’s house where you ate dinner?”

“Yeah, but I’m still kind of hungry.”

“Well, they are in the fridge. Help yourself.”

Sebastian did just that. With a plate full of food, he sat at the kitchen table and began to pick at it. He wanted to devour it all right then and there but he didn’t want to suffer another situation like he did at the mall. As he nibbled away, his mother decided to join him in the kitchen. She sat down and placed her elbows on the table, resting her head in the palms of her hands.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“So, was it your friend Roxy that you went and saw?”

“Y-Yeah…”

“What did he serve you if you’re still so hungry?”

“His mom cooked tilapia. It didn’t exactly taste that great but I ate it so I wouldn’t be rude. I didn’t have much of it, though.”

“Ah, that makes sense. You were never the type to like fish. I tried feeding it to you for years but you never took to it. I can’t magically program your taste buds to like something you don’t.”

“Yeah…”

“So, when is Roxy ever going to come over and visit us? That’s twice that you went over to his house and he hasn’t yet stepped foot into ours.”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, maybe the next time he invites you over, just ask if he wants to come over here instead. I’d love to meet him. Also, find out what his least favorite meal is and I’ll cook it as an act of revenge.”

“Then he’ll never want to come over here again. Isn’t that counterintuitive?”

“It was a joke, sweetie.”

“Right…”

Sebastian finished eating and put his plate in the sink. After washing it off, he excused himself and he retreated to his room. Rather than going back to playing games, he climbed into his bed and scooted himself into the corner where he pressed his back up against the wall. He hung his head low and suddenly, the tears returned.

The last thing I ever wanted was a friend. Friends are only good until they get tired of you. Why couldn’t I turn her down? What is it about her that keeps compelling me to be nice to her? Am I really that obsessed with the fear of how others would perceive me if I let my true thoughts out?

Maybe it would be worth enduring things for a while? After all… it would be awkward for everyone at first but it would eventually blow over and things would return to how they are now. I’ll just get a few more looks of disgust from time to time but at least people would leave me alone. Besides, it’ll be best for Delilah. She’ll find someone else to latch on to… someone who can return her feelings with modesty rather than deception… but still…

Even if I’m aware of all of this, I still can’t pull the trigger. Why? Why do the words that come out of my mouth never match what I’m thinking? Why can’t I let go of the person that I used to be? Being my old self got me here so why would I ever go back? I have no reason to and still… ugh… this is making my head hurt. All I know is that tomorrow is not a day I’m not looking forward to.

Despite not wanting tomorrow to come, time marched forward. This time, he remembered to set his alarm but the lack of sleep from tossing and turning all night made beating it a trivial task. When he got up, he heard the front door close and breathed a sigh of relief that he was alone in peace and quiet. It only re-affirmed that this was the perfect life for him but it also made him realize that his own decisions were aiming to destroy the life that he desired.

Nevertheless, he made himself breakfast and made sure to pack a lunch. He wasn’t going to miss out on food again after what he had put himself through yesterday. With everything set, he headed out the back door and began his trek to school. After the typical shortcut, he arrived at the end of Sycamore. He turned left and headed down the road when he heard a voice behind him.

“Good morning, friend!”

Oh no…

He turned around and, sure enough, Delilah was heading in his direction with a warm smile on her face. He wished that he could pick up the pace and just disappear but, instead, he stood there and waited for her to catch up.

“M-Morning…” he said rather groggily.

“Aw, someone’s still tired! Didn’t sleep well, I take it?”

“Mmm, you could say that.”

Delilah started going off on several topics that included what was in store for them in their classes today, what she packed for lunch, what her plans were after school, how she decided on her outfit, and more. Sebastian didn’t respond much to any of that outside of a few “Mmm’s” and nods. While he was tired, he truly wasn’t interested in anything she had to say and didn’t feel the need to jump into the conversation. This continued until they got to the school gate.

“Welp… here we are! Sorry for chewing your ear off but I guess you’re still a bit out of it, huh?”

“Yeah… just struggling to wake up.”

“In the mornings, I usually drink a French Vanilla Cappuccino and do some stretching. It helps with the walk to school and the caffeine perks me right up. You should try something like that, especially if you didn’t get enough sleep. It’ll probably work wonders!”

“Hmm.. maybe. I don’t like the taste of coffee all that much, though.”

“With cappuccino, you barely taste the coffee. The flavor of the French Vanilla on top of whatever flavor of creamer you use typically masks the taste. I don’t like regular coffee either and it’s only because it’s flavored so much that I can stand drinking a cappuccino.”

“I see…”

During class, Sebastian had a hard time staying awake. He nodded off a few times which caught Delilah’s attention. She gave him a quick nudge to wake him up. When he looked over, she gave him a faint smile to convey that she did him a favor. Soon enough, the lunch bell rang and, as he expected, Delilah pounced on the opportunity and asked him if he wanted to have lunch together.

No. I don’t. I want to go to one of my hiding places and take a nap but… I agreed to be her friend and I already ditched her multiple times. On top of that, I’m too tired to even come up with a valid excuse. I don’t think I can refuse in this situation and that’s been my problem this whole time. My mind keeps saying no but my mouth keeps saying yes and it’s driving me mad trying to understand why. Ugh… I guess I’ll just get this over with.

“Sure, we can eat lunch together.”

“SWEET!” she said with a bit too much enthusiasm. “I know just the place where we can go! C’mon!”

Delilah brought Sebastian outside to a place behind the school. There was a set of picnic tables along the east-side parking lot. Sebastian had seen them plenty of times because they were right next to the wooded area that he used as one of his hiding spots. He never opted to use them because the woods could conceal his location whereas the picnic tables wouldn’t. The mere fact that she knew about this place less than a week of attending the school worried him. He noted in his mind that he needed to eliminate one of his hiding spots out of fear that she could catch him one day.

When they sat down, they took out their lunches but before Sebastian could even take a bite, Delilah prodded him with a question in a rather sheepish tone.

“Say, um, I don’t want to put you on the spot or anything but I was wondering if maybe you could draw something for me?”

First, she asked me to lunch and now she wants me to put on a show for her!? I’m not just some art machine to use for your entertainment! Then again, I usually spend my lunch breaks drawing anyway so this would allow me to keep doing what I normally do… I just hate the fact that I have an audience. Argh…

“S-Sure…”

Sebastian took out his notebook and pencil set. As per usual, he flipped to an empty page and thought about what he wanted to draw. When Delilah noticed that he was struggling, she offered up a suggestion.

“Say, how about drawing a cute little cat girl?”

Great, now the peanut gallery is making requests. Although come to think of it, I never really did any anthropomorphized characters before. All of mine have all been a variation of a normal human. I mean, I don’t think it’ll be any different, though. I just need to draw a cute girl and add some cat ears to her head. It’s easy but… WAIT! Why am I even entertaining this? I want to draw what I want to draw! God, this would be so much easier if I were alone…

“O-Okay…”

Sebastian put pencil to paper and began by making some basic shapes. He decided to do this character as a bust shot in a three-quarter turn pose. He began with the face by using some quick guides for where the eyes, nose, and mouth would be. Once he sketched those in, he added the basic shapes for the cat ears and erased his guides. From there, it was the hair. He went for a typical shoujo bowl cut that stopped just below where her ears would be if she were human.

Next, he decided to give her some accents. He drew a couple of lines across her cheeks to indicate whiskers and then added two triangular markings on her upper cheeks to either signify facepaint or tattoos. He sketched in the ears and made them as furry as possible. To hide the fact that they were poking out of her head, he erased some of the hair in front of them and put in a band that wrapped around the top of her head.

Next, he gave her some indication of where her shoulders would be and started to do a frilly design for her shirt, especially around the neck. Once everything came into place, he thought about what would send it over the top. That’s when he added a thin collar around her neck with a small bell in the center of it.

Throughout the entire process, Delilah looked on with eyes full of wonder. She was mesmerized by the movements of his hands, the cleanliness of each of his lines, the control he had over all of them, and just how good the finished product looked… or at least, she thought it was finished. Once all of the shapes were in place, he switched between different pencils and began to do some basic shading. The image started to pop off the page and it amazed her even more!

When it was done, Sebastian touched the tip of his pencil to his chin as he thought about what to name her. When Delilah saw him thinking, she became curious.

“Stuck on something?”

“A name. I name all of my characters.”

“She looks like a Cora.”

Even I will admit, that’s not a bad name for a cat girl. My only regret is that I didn’t come up with it but… there’s not much time left on lunch so I’ll roll with it.

“Cora works for me.”

Sebastian scribbled her name on the paper and went to close the sketchbook when he felt Delilah’s hand grab his wrist. When he looked over, she looked rather nervous.

“Say, this might sound selfish of me… especially since you worked so hard on her but… could I possibly have it?

I wouldn’t say I worked hard on it. Drawing is easy for me but I can understand how some simpletons who have no experience in it whatsoever would think that way. Plus, if I give it to her, I won’t have a reminder to nag me about how this drawing came to be. By getting rid of it, it’s doing me a favor so…

“Sure.”

Sebastian tore the drawing out of his sketchbook and handed it to her. What came next annoyed him even more.

“C-Could you sign it for me?”

Uh… what? Why in the world would she want an autograph from me? I’m nobody famous and, to be honest, this is creepy. I know I said that I would be her friend and all but… this is a bit too much. Even if we were best friends, I wouldn’t ever dream of asking for an autograph. Hell, she’s not even stopping to think of how embarrassing this is for me! That’s inconsiderate!

“O-Okay…”

Sebastian took the drawing back and scribbled his name on it. His signature wasn’t anything remarkable as he rarely had to sign his name for anything. As crude as it was, Delilah’s face lit up when he passed the paper back to her.

“Thanks! This is so cool!”

As she held the paper in her hands, proverbial stars adorned her eyes. Whether it was the wonder of the moment or something else entirely, Delilah decided at that moment that she was going to learn how to draw so that one day she would return the favor and draw something for Sebastian. However, she wasn’t about to tell him that.