Tyler Moss

"You wanna skip school and hang out with me?" Was this guy serious? Who would've thought? I looked at Jay smiling brightly. He wasn't joking. I sighed. "Oh, you don't have to-"

"Let's go." I jumped at my opportunity. It gave me a chance to think about something else for a bit. Plus I haven't skipped school in years.

"What?" Jay looked genuinely shocked.

"We're you just joking?" I asked. "I want to skip the rest of the day. Should we still stay at school? You know that's just pissing me off, right?"

"It's not that-"

"It's just what I need to release stress, let's go. Skipping class sounds fun. I haven't done it in years." I insisted. I doubt Jay has ever skipped a day of school in his life and the arcade shouldn't have long lines today, since it's a school day. Let me stop being so forceful. "Follow if you want, but I'm leaving school now."

Jay unexpectedly followed without complaint. "Where do we go?"

"You asked me to skip and you don't know where you want to go?" I laughed. "You're too innocent for your own good Jay. This must be your first time skipping!"

"It is." He was the perfect distraction. "First time skipping anything."

Jay and I managed to sneak past the teachers slacking off at the school gate and set on our way. "How have you been lately? You seem dejected like you're not yourself." I asked.

"You noticed that?"

"You know it. I've been noticing everything lately. Were you in a bad mood so you didn't want to tell me? You can. A trip to the arcade cheers me up every time. Maybe you'll like it."

"Maybe. I'm not a gamer."

"You don't have to be to enjoy the arcade." I said pulling him into the mall and the most wonderful place on earth.

"It all looks greasy," Jay made a face as he observed a kid put a gun controller down. "And unsanitary. Those things keep touching the props."

"Children aren't that gross so just Use a napkin." I said picking up the gun controller. "Let's play!"

Jay grabbed a few napkins and picked up the controller. What I saw next surprised me. Jay got every single zombie in the round while taking no damage. Every shot was on point and not a single bullet was wasted.

"Whoa, I died so quick but you're a natural!" I praised him. "I thought you weren't a gamer!"

"I'm not! It feels weird because there's no recoil but it's not hard to get used to..." Jay trailed off.

"You like guns? I never would've guessed!" I never really asked Jay about his background much. Hell, I didn't really get to know him at all. Maybe I haven't been such a good friend to everyone lately.

"Maybe I have OCD."

"Because you tend to obsess over one thing at a time? It doesn't make you full OCD." Jay told me.

"Bullseye."

"I-I just got lucky," Jay shrugged. He reminded me of Levi if he came with a gentle option. "What's next?"

"Racing cars?"

"I don't have my car with me," Jay stated. I laughed and sat down at a car racing game. Confident in my skills.

"Sit, let's play." I said confidently.

Two hours later, I left the arcade a bit upset. Jay beat me at every single game we played and he had never even played before. He would give Liam a run for his money. "You're so weird, you look so goddamn innocent, but you murdered me in there. That was seriously brutal man! You really are a genius! I've never seen anyone who could live up to Liam's gameplay! You even beat his high score! You're really good at everything!"

"I just got lucky. What do I do with this paper? It's just a long strip."

"They're tickets, you can trade for something with it," I said. I had this exact conversation the first time I brought Levi here. Ugh, even trying to forget him was making me go crazy for him. "At any of the booths."

"Like the stuffed animals?"

"Yeah, you have enough. Do you like stuffed animals, Jay?"

"N-no!" Jay said quickly. He pointed out a pink hippo to the guy and immediately handed it to me. "I have no use for these things. Take it you seem to have a million of these."

"Levi actually got me all of those," I admitted. I couldn't get the bastard off my fucking mind. It's my fault for taking him everywhere. "What else is there to do?"

"There's that!" Jay excitedly pointed to the karaoke bar but quickly hid his excitement. I knew why I couldn't forget about Levi even now....Jay and him were basically the same person. "I mean if-"

"It's ok to like things, Jay. Let's just go to karaoke," I rolled my eyes. "What song do we do first?!" I paid for both our entry and started to look in the books for songs. "Oh! They have old school kpop!"

"I'll do a Exo song," Jay said. I looked at him bewildered.

"You can be sexy?" I asked.

Jay blushed. "I-just pick one!"

I put on Bambi by Baekyhun and watched a nervous Jay take the mic.

Saying I was thoroughly shocked would be the understatement of the year. Jay could sing in a nice breathy tune, no voice breaks, and did some of the choreography flawlessly.

I clapped when the song came to a close! "You can sing!! What a talent Jay!! And you dance?! Who would've thought?! You're actually really cool!" Jay blushed a deep red as I continued to praise him. He almost looked embarrassed in the cutest way possible. "No one ever told you they like your talents?"

"Singing and dancing won't get me anywhere," Jay said. "It's just useless hobby. Good cardio and it helps with stamina."

"You're so great at it though. Why wouldn't that get you somewhere?" I asked. "Talent is talent! You're a prodigy lowkey! How'd you learn to sing so well?"

"I can't tell you that." Jay smiled. Ugh, stop reminding me of Levi! I'm here to forget about him.

"What do you want to do?" I asked. "If you're not allowed to do what you like?"

"Go somewhere far away and live peacefully. Living freely for once would be nice. I just have a few things to finish up here before I can." Jay said.

"Levi had the same dreams as you. Did you guys have this conversation too?" I joked.

"You know he hates me, I don't speak to him at all."

"You two are so similar-"

"No....we really aren't," Jay snapped. "Since you chose my song I chose yours. You like GFriend, right?"

I felt my face turn hot. My girl group addiction was about to be exposed. I knew every song. "You little shit."

"Mago!"

"The disband song! Put it on! I know every word!"

~HOURS LATER ~

"You have such a great voice, Jay!" I gushed. "You can be a star!"

"Thanks. You sang so.....passionately." Jay shrugged.

"You asshole! You made me sing like seven of the most girlish songs ever!" I laughed flashing back to me singing TT  by Twice. "Everyone stared at me like I was a lunatic! You were a natural though."

"I'm only good at a few things. Singing, reading books, drawing, dancing. I'm always alone so I've never really had any friends to show off to. Oh, am I spoiling the mood?"

"Not at all." Who knew Jay had such a deep side to him. He came alive on stage and thrived off the cheers. He was the most free performing. "You always look like you're thinking about what to do next and how it will turn out, I'm glad I was able to see a carefree side of you."

"What do you mean?"

"For once you looked like you just forgot about life and just had fun, instead of acting like you had fun." I explained. I wish Levi could, I think he only stops being paranoid when we're having sex. "It's nice not to be around paranoia disguised as concern."

"Levi's paranoid?"

"Uh....a bit. But we're not talking about him. Forget Levi today. I'd hate for it to spoil my mood." I snapped. Jay nodded.

"It's like I've known you for a very long time so it's easier to express myself freely around you-"

CRASH!!!!!

I turned my head to the loud sound behind me. "That was loud, it must've been a car crash or...." I turned back to see Jay shaking in his boots. Levi got like this at the sound of crashes too, wide eyes, short of breath, stuck. People like Jay panic? "Jay, are you alright? I'll get you some water so-"

"No!" Jay grabbed my hands and squeezed. I noticed he was crying now in his trancelike state."Please don't leave yet..."

"You need to breathe in deeply-"

"Just don't leave!"

"Jay, I won't leave." I said and pulled him into a tight hug. He reminds me of a younger Levi. Damn him, being able to creep into my thoughts even though I'm trying to comfort someone else. I may have been the one obsessed this entire time. "Have you eaten?"

"No." Jay trembled. "I'm not hungry or-"

"Let's go get some food." I said. "There's Thai food around here. I know the best foods for times like this. Eating noodles and rice always cheers people up! There's never a sad face in that restaurant."

"Ok." Jay agreed.