21 Down Like Dominoes

Have you ever had one of those days where things just kept going on and on and on?

Yeah.

It seemed I was having one of those.

Nash and I got off at different stops, mine came first. After hearing him out, Nash seemed to have become much more friendly to me.

I couldn't pin it down, but it just felt that way. Maybe it was his shoulders or maybe the eye-contact that was much more natural than before. 

The second backstory was heavier than I expected. Nash had talked about his uncle, but clearly there was much more to him than what a simple 'backstory' could encompass.

[What do you think? Still the same?]

The system's message flickered in front of my eyes as I strolled back home.

A while back, the system had said that I was wrong. That people were like characters.

Everything people did reflected their personality. It all had a reason behind it. 

I had no choice but to agree. From Nash's timidness to his approachability, it all felt like there was some part of him that reflected his every action.

Even the way he was scared about the future. His uncle had lost the future that all of us took for granted, for Nash it was something much more sensitive than what the future was for someone like me.

But…

"I still think the same," I said. "People can never be like characters. There's always so much more than what we can see. Just a story can never tell everything about a person."

[Haha… naive, host.]

"Naive?"

[Every person is living out their own tale. They are all main-characters in a story. Just like you.]

A main character in their own story…

[A good story reflects everything about a character, even if it isn't explicitly mentioned. You can go the whole book without hearing about someone's sibling, but their personality can tell you that they might have been an elder child.]

My thoughts rushed to Ray at those words. 

Was it just being popular? No, the whole clique around him could be called the group of popular kids, and he stood out even amongst them.

There might be more to him than meets the eye. If I wanted to write stories, I had to make my characters stand out.

"Let's take a longer route today."

I had a lot to think about now. Walking was a good way to process things.

There were many streets on the way back that I had never explored before. 

I found myself walking along a narrow path. Leaves rustled in the gentle spring breeze, the empty streets seemed almost abandoned here. 

The scents from the kitchens were carried out here by the wind. This street was behind most of the shops facing the busy ones.

I looked around. There was no real thought in my head, but it still felt to be processing everything that had happened.

My eyes fell on a blonde kid in an apron. The kid was staring at me with widened eyes. 

Almost on instinct, I nodded at him.

And he nodded back.

I turned my eyes away and continued walking past. But for some reason he still stared at me.

"That guy looks a lot like Ray Smith…"

[You buffoon! That WAS Ray Smith!]

I retraced my steps like a car running in reverse. I spun just as fast as wheels would and found myself back in front of the person I had passed by.

The apron-clad handsome young man was no one other than my classmate, Ray Smith. I had just nodded past him on instinct.

"Ray Smith?" I asked. 

"Edward, right?"

I nodded at him and smiled. "You work here? Right after school?"

Ray seemed slightly embarrassed about it. He gave me a wry smile.

"Yeah, it ended up that way."

"Neat! Working at restaurants must be tough, it's definitely worse than at a cake studio."

"Oh right, your family runs a cake studio…"

"It is pretty closeby," I said, pointing at the street. "You should pop in sometime. What about this place, a family business?"

"Not really… they were hiring, and few other places were ready to have me on board."

That was stupid. I didn't mean to sound weird but Ray's visuals were good enough for him to go down and become an idol. If I owned any shop, I would place him on the front desk right away and see my sales boom up.

That said, it was still uncommon for kids our age to be working part time. Especially in this country…

"Hey, Edward…" Ray muttered, he inched closer and spoke carefully. "I'd really appreciate it if you don't tell anyone about this… At school…"

I crossed my hands and hummed. "Sure," I said. "But there's a condition."

"Condition…?" His gaze turned sharp. "What do you—"

"Come have a cheesecake once you're free after your shifts. On me, of course. Just google Eckart Studio and get there."

Ray stopped speaking. 

"A cake?"

I nodded frantically.

Shit, I almost messed that up. Maybe saying 'condition' was too stupid. I had to seriously up my social skills.

Ray let out a small smile and sighed.

"Fine, I'll do that if you're treating me. How about next week?"