I'm sorry for being absent for a super long time. I'm gonna update (ir)regularly from now on. Because my schedule is (not) open and I (don't) have a lot of time to write. Being a college student is definitely (not) a great endeavor. And everyone should(n't) do it!
I changed my author name! I'm now livefvrever, because replacing O's with V's is fucking cool.
SOTC: Stay Awake by Madeon
Take my fate in your hands,
We've got a lot that hasn't even began
Something is calling us, We're breaking free,
I'm curious, I need to see.
Fang crept downstairs, warily following his mother's dulcet tones.
"Oh, Ella, tell me you and Fang haven't just been eating cereal all week!"
"Uh... we haven't been eating cereal all week?" Ella's guilty tone wasn't going to fool anyone. Fang walked into the foyer just as his mother opened her mouth to lament about the nutritional black hole her children were thrusting themselves headfirst into.
Luckily, the sight of him caused his mom to forget what he was saying. "Fang! How... how are you?"
Fang was grateful his mother hadn't leaped forward to hug him like she had with Ella. He picked up one of his parents' suitcases and shrugged. "Good." He determinedly avoided looking at Ella, because he knew she would be bursting to tell their parents about Lissa. But they had an agreement. Ella wouldn't spill the beans, and Fang would introduce his parents to Max...
He felt sick thinking about it as he lugged the suitcase up the stairs, deliberately stopping after each step to draw out the time. All in all, he managed to kill ten minutes lugging that suitcase up the stairs and into his parents' room.
In his defense, it was a heavy suitcase. Neither of his parents were light packers.
When he returned downstairs, his mom and Ella were busy in the kitchen cutting vegetables and his dad was lounging in the living room flicking through channels. Jeb looked up when Fang came into the room and smiled. "Hey, Fang."
Fang managed to return a smile and sat on the couch across from his dad.
"How's your week been?"
"Good," Fang grunted, pretending to be extremely interested in the commercial for Bud Lite playing in the background.
His dad sighed. "How's school?"
"Good."
"Remind me what classes you're taking again."
"Uh, calculus, English, history, chemistry, French, and comp sci."
Jeb leaned back in his seat. "I remember chemistry. Killed me, it did. Is it easy for you?"
Fang decided not to tell his father about the seventeen percent he had gotten on his pop quiz. "P-pretty easy, yeah." Thinking of chemistry made him think of Lissa, which was in turn causing him to blush, so he stood up to see whether or not his mom or Ella needed help in the kitchen.
Fifteen minutes later, the Walkers were eating dinner together for the first time in... a really long time. For a few moments, the only sounds were Jeb asking Ella to pass the salt and the clink of silverware on plates. Fang hadn't eaten anything except Hot Pockets and stale cereal for the past week, so his mother's classic steak and Cobb salad should have felt like heaven, but instead the food felt like cardboard going down his throat- dry and hard to swallow.
He reached for his glass of water and accidentally made eye contact with Ella, who gave him a pointed look.
Fang wanted to crawl under the table and melt into the pattern of the oriental rug that covered the dining room floor, but he abstained.
"So, how has everyone's week been?" Fang's mother asked from the head of the table. "Ella, how's soccer?"
"Good," Ella said. "Coach Martinez has been pushing us really hard because she thinks we'll make state this year. Nudge almost tore a ligament the other day, which was super gross. But you should ask Fang how his week's been going- he's got something to tell you."
Great. Just throw me under the bus. Fang's throat constricted as his mother turned her attention to him. "Really, Fang? What's going on?"
Fang's voice cracked as he said, "I... I..." He glanced at the colorful patterns on the frayed rug and resisted the urge to throw up. "I'm gay."
"What?" Ella exploded. "No, you're not! He's not gay, Mom."
"Y-y-yeah I am," Fang stammered, wondering why the hell he had opened his mouth in the first place. Bad things always happened when he opened his mouth.
"He's not gay!" Ella rolled her eyes and got up from the table abruptly, shoving her chair back with a large screech. Fang dimly registered his sister leaving the room and thumping up the stairs. Good. She had left, taking the promise he had made with her.
"You know what," Jeb said from the side of the table, "Everything makes complete sense. I just want you to know, Fang, that we love you no matter what, and if you're gay, that doesn't affect anything. I know Ella doesn't want to accept it, but we do."
Anne nodded vigorously. "Of course, Fang. This is a safe space, and I'm glad you decided to come out to us. Just know that we love and support you. And we'll make Ella come around."
Fang was torn between wanting to burst into laughter and being touched at his parents words. He sat there numbly, still unable to register what he had just said. Before the silence stretched too long, however, Ella thumped back into the dining room clutching- Fang's heart sank when he saw it- his laptop. She sat down at her seat and firmly pressed the power button. "Fang's not gay, okay? He's the opposite of gay. In fact, he's made a new friend, and she's a girl. Say hi, Max."
Fang watched helplessly as Max's smooth voice said, "Hi, I'm Max. You must be Fang's parents."
Fang's parents looked extremely confused. Finally, Jeb said, "You're Fang's... friend?"
Max chuckled. "Is that what he calls it? Yeah, I'm his friend."
"How did you two... meet?" Anne asked.
"How does anyone meet these days? You just log onto your computer, answer a few questions, and get matched. It's a really simple algorithm, actually."
Fang watched through his fingers. Any minute now, Max was going to reveal that she was an OS, and his parents would pity him even more than they usually did. He could imagine what they would say behind his back.
"Fang can't make real friends, so he has to resort to computers. Poor boy."
"Where are you from, Max?" Jeb asked casually.
"Sillcon Valley, I think. Not really sure, it all happened so fast," Max laughed, and depsite how worried he was, Fang felt his heartbeat ease a little. There was just something about Max's laugh that made everything seem a lot... calmer.
And then his mom asked the dreaded question. "What do your parents do, Max?"
Fang interrupted before Max could say anything. "They're d-d-dentists. Really good dentists. The b-best dentists in California."
He willed Max to play along silently, crossing his fingers under the table. After a long and painful pause, Max said, "Yep. My parents are very good prosthodontists. They own a practice in Fresno. But enough about me. What do you guys do?"
As his parents and Max talked, Fang closed his eyes feeling rather nauseous. Maybe it was because the first real meal he'd had in a week wasn't settling well. Or maybe it was because he felt guilty about lying. To Max and his parents. He let the words of the conversation drift over him, not really listening.
"...and that's how I lost my first dog at the age of seven," Max said.
Jeb laughed. "I can't believe your uncle ran your dog over with his Jeep. You know, Fang had a goldfish once-"
Fang's eyes snapped open. Abandoning all pretense, he snatched the laptop away from his parents' side of the table. Human or not, Max was never going to hear the goldfish story from first grade. "Uh, Max h-has to go," he said nervously. "S-s-she has band practice."
"You must be mistaken, Fang. It's nine in the evening here in Fresno, and what kind of high school has band practice that late?" Max's voice was pointed.
"Well, you t-told me you were busy at nine," Fang said even more pointedly.
Max got the hint and sighed. "Fang's right. I have to go. But it was really nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Walker. Hopefully we won't be interrupted next time."
There won't be a next time, Fang thought, as he carried his laptop upstairs, ignoring the stares from his parents and Ella. He entered his room and closed the door firmly before saying, "Look, I-"
"So my parents are dentists, huh?" Max said, almost angrily.
Fang winced. "I just thought-"
"Thought what? I had to make up a story about my fucking Malamute named Akila that my fucking uncle ran over with a Jeep. All because you didn't want your parents to know what I really am."
Fang sighed. "That's not-"
"Are you ashamed to talk to me? Is that what this is?"
"I... I just don't want them to feel even more pity for me," Fang muttered. "They already feel sorry for me, and if they found out I was friends with a computer..."
Max scoffed. "For the millionth time, I'm an OS system, not a computer. I can't believe this. You're embarrassed of me. Embarrassed of what I am."
"That's not-"
"Do you feel sorry for yourself when you talk to me? Because if that's the case, I can stop talking to you right now. Maybe that'll help your sorry ass gain some perspective. You downloaded me because you were lonely. I didn't ask to be saddled with you." Max's smooth voice was now full of tiny daggers, poking holes in Fang's armor. "If you don't want me around, I'd only be too happy to leave."
"No," Fang managed. "Don't leave. I'm... I'm sorry."
Max sighed after a pause. "I'll forgive you... if you tell me that goldfish story your dad was talking about."
"Oh, God," Fang exhaled slowly. "Well, once you hear this story, you'll definitely feel sorry for me."
If you want to check out the sister story to this one, I've recently uploaded Shades, which is notably more light-hearted. The two stories aren't related in any way, but they do share similar themes.