Amity

Chapter 8: Calm Before the Storm

Don't make this awkward. Don't make this awkward, Dré pleaded with himself as Megumi opened the door. He followed her inside and, for a split second, looked as if he had eaten something sour. The walls were all painted a loud pink, along with the mesh curtain glowing with the sunlight. Posters of anime and video game characters hung around the walls, along with a poster of a rock band perched above her queen-sized bed. There was a black blanket with pink hearts sprawled over it draped across the bed. "So, what do you think?"

Dré looked around the room for a moment. It looked like a little girl's room. "It's bigger than my room but it's very... pink."

"Pink happens to be my favorite color," she said. "Is there a problem with it?"

"Oh, no, no, no." Dré furiously shook his head. "I do want to ask you about the '8-Bit' thing. If that's alright with you," he added.

She sighed as she said, "8-Bit is a name that Joel gave me since I'm such a short person who also happens to be an avid gamer. Unfortunately, the name stuck, and now it's become a family name."

"Well, look on the bright side. You're not that much shorter than me," he said with a sheepish chuckle.

"I'm four foot nine and that's only when I have my combat boots on. I'm almost sure that counts as short." Megumi slid off her black fingerless gloves, laid them on her dresser, and threw herself on the bed. It must have been a memory foam mattress, considering how she sunk into it. "I can't believe we have to wait until three o'clock for this big, mysterious secret. Why couldn't daddy just tell us what the secret was?" she groaned, looking up at the ceiling as she laid the back of her hands on her forehead.

"Because it wouldn't be a secret?" Dré said, wishing that he didn't the instant the words spewed from his mouth. He didn't want to seem like a smart aleck. Luckily for him, Megumi hadn't noticed him say anything. That, or she wasn't paying attention. "Well, it's 10:15 now," he said as he looked at his phone. "What are we supposed to do until three?"

"There are some games and junk in the wardrobe over there," she said, pointing to the large wardrobe sitting beside the window. "Help yourself."

He walked over to the black wardrobe, swung open the doors, and stared slack-jawed what he saw. A Nintendo Entertainment System, a Sega Genesis, and a Super Nintendo rested on the counters, each in mint condition. "I think I'm in love."

Frick!

"And these aren't even all of my games," she said, raising her head. "Though, I guess that it is easy to fall in love with the classics."

"Ye-yeah. Totally," he stammered before whispering to himself, "Get your head together, Dré."

Megumi appeared beside Dré and pulled open a drawer at the bottom of the wardrobe filled with rows of manga. The intoxicating smell of freshly picked strawberries clouded his mind for a second. "Think I'm gonna get caught up in my manga," She said as she slid out a book that didn't have a cover page and jumped back onto the bed. "Make yourself at home. The games are in the middle drawer," she said as she crossed her legs under her and opened the book.

"W-wait. You mean that we're going to spend the day in here? In your room?" Alone, he added in his mind. He dared not to open that can of worms.

Megumi looked up at him, confused. "Yeah? Did you think that we were gonna spend it listening to our daddies play their game?"

"To save you from my crippling awkwardness, possibly," he mumbled.

"What?"

"To save you from my crippling quietness, possibly."

Megumi grinned. "Don't worry about that. You can tell me all about yourself while you play, if you want."

Dré narrowed his eyes. A beautiful girl invited him to her room and she actually wants to know about him? Not possible. Not even in his sweetest dreams. "Is my dad trying to set us up?"

Megumi inclined a brow. "Come again?"

"I-I didn't mean hook us up. I mean, like, a platonic set up."

"Why would he do that?" Megumi asked, furrowing her brows.

"Do you remember the girl that you saw in the school? The tall one with the cat ears on her hat?"

"Yeah."

"Well, she was a friend of mine back in elementary school, all the way through high school. Both my mom and my dad loved her like a daughter. Our friendship seemed endless up until a few days before summer break last year. She just suddenly came up to me, crying, and said that we couldn't be friends anymore. She ran away before I could ask what happened."

Placing the comic book down, Megumi asked, "So, you think that your dad is trying to replace her?"

Dré sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "No. I don't know. I mean, it sucked and all, but I don't think that my dad would try to do anything like that. It's just that this doesn't really feel real, if that makes sense."

Megumi studied him for a moment in silence, her eyes glued to him. Maybe saying all of that wasn't a good idea since he barely even knew her, especially considering how well they were getting along. Maybe he was just destined to drive women away because of his awkwardness. It was probably why Kimmy didn't want to be friends with him anymore.

After the brutal silence, Megumi finally said, "If you want the truth, daddy just wanted our families to be as close as they were when they were still in school. That, and you remind me of someone from New York. It's funny how similar you and her are."

Her?

Abruptly, Megumi picked up the comic book and started reading again, as if she wasn't talking to Dré. "Wait, is that it? You're not going to explain who she was?"

"In due time, Dré," she said from behind the book.