so apparently all the odd chapters are gonna have to be really long oops

Believe Me

Ch 1: Screening

Ty's POV

"Alesa!"

Ashley jumps as I fling open the door to her house and march inside. "Ty! How are you?"

"Where is Alesa?"

"Bedroom, playing video games. Wanna play with us? I was just getting snacks," she says, beaming. I growl and walk past her to the bedroom. "Uh, is that a 'no,' or a 'yes?'"

"Alesa!"

The girl drops her game controller after hearing her name called so loudly. "Ty?" she asks, tilting her head.

"Are you taking your medicine?" I ask sharply.

"Well, no, not at this very moment-" My eyes widen, and she rolls her own eyes and huffs. "But, yes, I took it this morning."

I nod and then turn to Ashley. "Does it seem to be working? No, scratch that, is it working?"

Ashley shrugs. "I guess so."

"Yes or no," I hiss. She puts up her hands in a defensive gesture.

"Yes, Ty, it's working. What's wrong?"

I take a deep breath and then blow it out slowly. "Nothing, nothing is wrong. What are you guys playing?"

"Something Seth coded recently," Alesa replies, brushing off my earlier panic. "Wanna play?"

"Um... Yes, please."

"Geez, Ty, loosen up," Ashley jokes, raising an eyebrow. "Seriously, there must be something wrong."

"No, there isn't. How do we play?" I sit down by Alesa on the floor and grab one of the extra controllers.

"Pretty simple, really," Alesa says, pushing a few buttons and causing the game menu to pop up. "It's like parkour, kind of? You'll see. Press that button to jump, that one to crouch, and that one to sprint."

"Thanks." Three more deep breaths, and I'm playing a video game with Alesa without trying to kill her. Props to me. Five minutes later, and I'm actually enjoying the game. "You said Seth made this?"

"Yeah, he works on this kind of thing when he's not doing huge builds," Ashley confirms, munching on some food.

"Oh, that's cool. Is-" I'm cut off by the annoying ringing of my phone. "Ugh, hold on... Hello?"

"Hey, Ty!" Sky's overly excited voice shouts, and I blink. "Are you ready to screen some people?"

"Um... what?"

"You know, screening! You said you'd screen all my potential future partners. Or friends."

"I- Oh, right. Okay, then. Where are you?"

"We're all meeting at the pizzeria."

"The pizzeria?"

"The pizzeria."

"Maybe 'the pizzeria' can be your 'always,'" Alesa giggles, and I glare at her and make a mental note to actually turn down the volume on my phone.

"I'll be there in ten minutes, Sky. How many people am I screening?"

"Thirty." I can almost hear his obnoxious grin.

"Thirty!? What the heck, Sky, that's ridiculous!"

"Nah, it's not. I mean, it's not like I'm planning to date all of them, that's weird. And, anyways, it can't hurt to screen all thirty. Half of these people are Recruits, and this'll help filter out the crazy ones!"

"I have yet to figure out why I still talk to you."

"Aw, you love me."

"Hmph. I'll be there soon, Sky." I press 'end call' and then close my eyes and blow out a long breath. Oh, Sky. Idiot.

"Oh," Alesa whispers, wincing. "I get it. Now I feel twice as bad about making you kill Sky."

"You- what!?"

"It's obvious if you just take a moment to look," she says, shrugging sadly. "I'm sorry."

"I- please don't tell anyone," I beg, because I've kept this secret for years, and it can't get out now-

"Don't worry," Alesa assures me, and then she pretends to zip her lips.

"Um... what just happened?" asks a very confused Ashley.

"I won the game, that's what!" Alesa covers easily, and I am terrified yet again of her ability to so flawlessly lie.

Partially because Alesa always gives me a feeling of unease and partially because I'm going to be late if I wait any longer, I spit out a terse congratulations and then wave to them both before walking out the door.

I enter the pizzeria cautiously, sneaking around as though that will keep the many customers from noticing me. "Uh... Sky?" Why in Minecraftia would he decide we should meet here, of all places? Does he not remember the Angry Manager? That seems like something you wouldn't easily forget.

"Hey, Ty, we're back here!"

I raise an eyebrow and follow the sound of his voice past two columns and a picture of a dancing pizza. "Um..."

"Welcome!" he shouts, brandishing a pair of jazz hands. "I reserved the private section of the restaurant, it's perfect!"

"Sky, we were banned from this restaurant ages ago."

"What? Nah."

"The manager chased Ant out of the restaurant because we told him Ant was you."

"Sorry, not ringing any bells. Come on, Ty, you have to meet them!" He grins and grabs my hand to drag me into the room.

I remind myself that it is only a form of directed transportation.

"If you don't mind my asking, why do you have so many people here?" I ask to distract myself.

"Gotta make sure potential friends/more-than-friends aren't psycho, duh. I've explained this already, haven't I?"

"Not very well."

"Hmph. Well, you've been my friend for years, Ty, and you haven't gone crazy yet, so I trust you as a good judge of character."

"That doesn't quite make sense. Good effort, though, you're getting closer to sanity."

"Thank you. Wait, I'm insane, and you hang out with me all the time! You're a horrible judge of character!" I smack my hand against my forehead, and he furrows his eyebrows. "On the other hand, you said I'm getting closer to sanity, so does that mean your sane-ness is rubbing off on me?"

"Okay, stop talking," I command, pushing past him to meet the people he brought. "So, introductions?"

"No, no, we'll do introductions later," Sky says, bouncing around a bit. "You're gonna have a date-type thing with each of them – except please don't fall in love – or do, whatever, I don't even know these people-" Sky stops for a moment to plan his words, and several people glare at him while others only laugh. "Anyways. They'll have fifteen minutes to introduce themselves to you and prove that they are relatively normal and not planning to kill anyone."

"Ah, lovely. Wait, thirty people – that's seven and a half hours, Sky."

"Woah, you did that in your head!? You're amazing, holy crap!" he laughs, and I hide my barely visible blush behind an unamused poker face.

"Yes, I am. But do you seriously expect me to meet with each and every one of these people?"

"Uh-huh."

"Okay, I'm leaving." I turn around and step out of the private area, and Sky panics and grabs onto my arm.

"No, hold on, I'm sorry! Here, pick all the ones that look sane at first glance, then you can meet just those guys."

With an exaggerated sigh and rolling of the eyes, I spin back around and walk closer to the people, who have gathered into a single file line. "Right, okay." The first person is a brunette with brown eyes to match her hair, and she would look perfectly innocent if not for the dagger in her purse. Now, sure, maybe it's wrong to judge her seeing as I've got a dagger of my own in my backpack, but, I mean... not safe. Sky should definitely not associate with this woman. "You. Out."

She growls at me and and reaches for her purse, but I grab the dagger and toss it to Sky before she can stab it at my face. "No. Get out. Don't talk to Sky ever again." She glares at me and marches out of the room.

"Well, dang, Ty! That was quick. I thought she was lovely."

"Yes, and I thought she was a murderer." I turn back to the line of people and blow out a breath. "So. If anyone else plans to go crazy or try to harm either of us, now would be a good time to leave. Act now, and you can even take a bit of your pride with you!"

Twenty-four of them look down and then walk out the door, and Sky gapes at the backs of their heads. "Oh my Notch, seriously!? No way!"

"You're a terrible judge of character, Sky. Maybe you should just stick with Team Crafted for a bit."

"Make new friends, and keep the old, one is silver and the other's budder!" Sky sings, and I sigh in exasperation.

"Yes, Sky, and the old friends are the budder part. Don't you like budder?"

"Pssh, duh, of course I like budder."

"So just keep your budder and stop going after silver."

"Ty, come on. The point of the song is that you should make new friends, but that you should also stick with your current ones. I'm not gonna abandon you again," he promises, bumping my shoulder gently with his own.

"You can say that, but..," I mumble, barely inaudible. "Sorry. So, these are the five that are left. They look nice enough. Where'd you meet them all?"

"They'll tell you that during the interviews."

"Interviews."

"Yeah, that's what they are, right? I mean, basically, yeah. Okay, Number Eighty-Five, you're up first!"

"Eighty-Five- first of all, why did you number them? And, second, there were only thirty to begin with!"

"Aw, he was just having fun," one of the girls says, wearing a soft smile.

"Hmm. So, who's Eighty-Five?"

"Me," one of them speaks up, stepping forward. Tall, blond, not really Sky's type. Wait, does Sky have a type? I suppose we all do, subconsciously. I call my type my Skype. Get it? 'Cause, you know- okay, yeah, I'm done.

"All right, the rest of us will just head over into the main part of the restaurant – you guys have this room to yourself. See you soon!" Sky says quickly, rushing out of the room and dragging the remaining four girls with him.

"Wait, Sky, don't let the manager see you-" I sigh, because he's already left. "Well."

"Ready to start?" Eighty-Five asks as she pulls out my chair, and I wonder if she knows she's got the traditional rules mixed up just a bit.

"Uh, yeah, sure. So, what's your name? I'm Ty, in case you didn't catch that."

"Oh, don't worry, I caught it," the girl laughs, sitting down across from me at the table. "I'm Jef."

"Uh..."

"It stands for Jennifer Elizabeth Fairfield."

"Ah. Okay." I swallow, glancing around. What do we talk about? Awkward, there are even candles lit everywhere.

"So, are you supposed to interview me or something?" she asks, kindly nudging me along, and I silently thank her.

"Right, I guess so. Uh... hobbies, I guess?"

"Of course! I'm an artist, so clearly there's a bunch of artsy stuff going on in my life. I'm currently working on a portrait of my girlfriend, and-"

"Wait, girlfriend?" I raise an eyebrow questioningly.

"Problem?" she asks, matching my expression.

"None at all," I reply, sighing with relief. "You're clear, I think. Can you bring in whoever Sky wants to go next?"

"Sure." She stands up and then pauses. "So, hold on, you're just letting me go, though? What if I were planning to murder Sky in his sleep?"

"Well, hopefully, since he won't be dating you, he won't be tempted to give you a key to his house, and you won't have the chance to kill him in his sleep."

"What if I sneaked in through the window? And, hey, what if I'm bi or something and I end up breaking up with my girlfriend?"

"You're painting a picture of her– she definitely means a lot to you, and, even if you did break up with her, you seem sweet. You wouldn't try to murder Sky."

"What!? You don't know that! Maybe I was lying about the picture! Haha, I'm actually not an artist, I'm secretly a banker!"

"No, you aren't. Are you done?"

"I- No! What if one of these girls tricks you and hurts Sky?" she asks, frowning. "It'll be your fault if he's injured."

"I will not let anyone hurt Sky," I growl, and she snorts and throws up her hands.

"Might wanna up your interviewing skills, then, buddy."

"Look, I know what I'm doing, okay? Kind of. Just- I care about him. Even if I do screw up this interview thing, I'll be there to save him when things go wrong."

"Hmm." She nods approvingly. "I like you. All right, well, bye! Good luck with Sky."

"Wha- I didn't say that I-"

"You didn't have to," she says, winking, and then she turns and walks out of the room.

"Number Eleventy-Seven!" shouts Sky's familiar voice, and I sigh. Of course there would be an eleventy-seven.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Cheryl, how are you today?" she asks, marching into the room and shaking my hand as she sits down. She's wearing what looks like a business suit and it's kind of weirding me out, but, I mean, hey, whatever.

"Uh, I'm okay. You?"

"Splendid, now let's talk. You're Sky's best friend, correct?"

"Um-"

"Lovely, how long have you known each other?"

"Quite a while, we-"

"I see," she mutters, scribbling on a notepad. I furrow my eyebrows.

"Uh, I think I'm supposed to be conducting the interview-"

"That's sexist, why do men always do the interviewing?"

"They don't-"

"How long has Sky been in control of the city?"

"What? I don't know, like... more than a few years, I guess-"

"And how much power does he have over the civilians?"

"Okay, I feel like you need to leave," I huff, standing up and dragging her up as well.

"Augh, molestation!"

"Seriously, get out." She glares at me before sniffing and walking out the door. Sky peeks in at me, raises an eyebrow, and then shrugs and yells, "Negative Three!"

"Hello," the redhead says, smiling gently as she takes her spot.

"Hi, I'm Ty," I greet her, and she nods like she already knows. Well, yeah, Ty, of course she already knows.

"Sky talks about you a lot. Not that I've known him all that long. 'Cause I haven't. I met him yesterday. In an arcade. It was really fun."

"Oh, I'm sure. Did he rage?"

She laughs. "A lot."

"Predictable," I reply, smiling at the mental image. "Sorry, though, what was your name again?"

"Sorry. It's Tara. I didn't tell you. My bad."

"No problem, Tara. Why did you put up with Sky long enough to come to this meeting?"

"He's funny," she says, grinning. "And I love the way he raged. It really left an impression on me. He was just so angry! It was great. I think he might even agree to help me pillage a village in the future. That would be awesome. I love making new friends."

My eyebrows shoot up. "Was that a... Was that a joke?"

She stares at me blankly. "Was what a joke?"

"Yeah, no. Out you go, thanks for shopping at Wal-Mart."

"Can I come again?"

"No. Bye!"

"Number B!" Sky calls, and I have to laugh a little.

A black-haired lady with bright blue eyes shuffles into the room, refusing to meet my eyes as she sits down. "Hi, I'm Rena."

"Nice to meet you, Rena. Where did you meet Sky?"

She gives me a one-sided shoulder shrug before glancing around the table and answering, "This very pizzeria, actually. He was fighting with the manager, I think." She scratches absently at her neck.

"Ugh," I groan, "of course he was."

There's a short silence, and then she barks out an uncomfortable laugh.

"Hey, Rena, calm down! You don't have to worry, all right? I don't bite."

"Right, sorry," she replies, licking her lips.

"Not a problem," I assure her, smiling as nicely as I can manage. "So, what do you want out of your relationship with Sky?"

"Not much, to be honest," she laughs, tapping her fingers silently against the tabletop. "I guess just someone to laugh with."

"That's sweet," I say, hating how nice she seems.

"You don't believe me?"

"What? No, of course I believe you." I frown as she stands up.

"Listen, Ty, I know that you're here to protect him and all, but I've got a job to do. So if you could kindly approve me so I can hurry up and get close to this idiot, that would be greatly appreciated."

"Ah, oh. You changed quickly."

She pulls out a sword.

"Hmm, okay, definitely not letting you near my best friend," I say, biting my lip nervously and standing up.

"Wrong thing to say," she snaps, and then she's holding the blade to my neck and I'm trying to remember where I last set my spawnpoint. Seto's house, I think – I was staying over for an experiment. Well, heck, that's ages away.

"Sky!" I shout, because I can't get to my backpack to draw my own sword, and he's still got that girl's dagger, so maybe he can help.

"Ty!" he screeches, shoving the door open and launching across the room, and Jef follows him with wide eyes. "Dude, what the crap!?" The dagger comes out.

The girl's body goes poof, and her sword clatters to the ground.

"Well," I say, panting slightly as the pressure releases from my neck, "you definitely can't date her."

"Ha, you do know what you're doing!" Jef laughs, and I sigh.

"I was pinned up against the wall."

"So? You got the action outta that one!"

"Yeah, you need to stop talking now. Sky, who's the last one?"

"Nancy went home after Jef confiscated her light saber."

"What- why did she have a light saber?"

Sky shrugs and walks towards the door. "How should I know?"

"Hmph. Well, Sky, congrats; out of thirty people, you have made one friend. She seems pretty cool, though, so that's neat."

Sky looks over at me, studying my face as we exit the private room. "Yes," he says slowly. "I guess so."

"What's wrong?" I ask, pausing in my movement.

"Oh, nothing," he says, and then his voice drops to a whisper as he adds, "I'll try again tomorrow."

"Don't worry, it'll work," Jef reassures him, bumping his shoulder, and I tilt my head.

"What are you guys-"

"YOU!"

Oh, dear Notch, no.

"I WARNED YOU TO STAY OUT OF MY RESTAURANT!"

"No, you didn't, you warned our friend Ant," Sky replies calmly.

The Angry Manager growls at us. "I should have warned you. You two tricked me!"

"What did you guys do!?" Jef whispers.

"Nothing!" Sky and I reply in scary sync. Then we exchange a glance and giggle.

"GET OUT!"

"But we didn't even do anything! … This time," Sky complains.

"Hmm," I say quietly, glancing up at the tall manager's furious features. "For some odd reason, I'm getting the impression that you don't really like us all that much."

His face transforms into something even more terrifying, and my eyes widen. Sky squeaks, and then I grab his hand and he grabs Jef's and we sprint out of the restaurant.

"Never again, Sky," I pant as we lean against a random building.

"But," he puffs, "but you have to interview the next ten tomorrow!"

He's lucky I don't punch him then and there.