#gameplayrevamp

arven's birthday rolled around, and amy baked him a small cake for when he got home from school.

a couple glasses of wine helped to relax the two women, and soon the conversation was flowing like nothing had happened. sakura was delighted when eve started flirting with her, and she wasted no time flirting back.

the check arrived after a while, and eve pulled sakura into a hug.

having a crush meant feeling anxious all the time, arven realized. every day felt like he was one wrong step from accidentally blurting out his feelings, and skye kept looking at him like she was trying to figure something out.

arven woke up one day and realized he missed the relationship he used to have with his best friend. no nerves, no dishonesty, just being happy in each other's company. so he stopped skye after school and asked to talk to her.

"so uhh.. there's a karaoke place that opened near my apartment. if you're free on saturday, we could go? and maybe grab dinner afterwards?"

"sure! i can text the others and ask if they're free too, lemme just-"

arven's heart jumped into his throat. it was now or never.

"no, um.. i was kind of hoping it could just be the two of us. like a date."

skye stopped reaching for her phone and dropped her hands in her lap. she didn't speak for a few seconds, lost in thought.

"arven i... i'm sorry. you're my best friend so you deserve complete honesty from me. i don't want to lead you on so i think we just... shouldn't."

arven felt numb. "well.. thanks for being honest with me. i need to catch my bus home, so i guess i'll see you around."

arven was more happy than he'd like to admit to see skye waiting for his bus to arrive. it was pretty hot out, so while she was scoping out her new classrooms for the year, he bought her a cold drink from the vending machine.

his morning classes went in one ear and out the other. luckily, his teachers didn't point it out- arven had done so well in his previous years that his reputation preceded him. he rushed out of precalc when the lunch bell rang, and met skye in her stats class.

"hey! wanna go look for a table together?"

"wow, you got here quick. the food won't magically get better this year, you know."

skye was right, the food was just as bad. but skye was talking about her first week assignment for ap art and design, and that was infinitely more interesting than the weird mush they were calling green bean casserole.

"hey, dude? ...arven?"

"wha- huh? what's up?"

"you're kinda zoning out. you've been acting weird for a while, actually, everything good?"

"oh, yeah, i'm fine. just... hot outside, you know?"

"yeah, i guess it is hot outside. anyway, did you see penelope in precalc? i looked at her schedule and i think you guys are both in honors this year."

"huh... i guess i didn't see her."

summer break came and the temperatures climbed higher and higher. alex texted the group that she had found some bluffs behind her parents' house that seemed like a cool hangout, and that was all the motivation the group needed.

the dip in the pool sufficiently cooled arven down, and goofing off around the bonfire made him even happier. but skye sitting right next to him and complimenting his grilling made his stomach all fluttery.

the setting sun brought with it a sudden downpour that made the group decide to end their hangout there. arven raced to the train station in the pouring rain, but he couldn't wipe a smile off his face.

arven got home, greeted boss, then ran up to his room and shut the door behind him.

"shadow, it was so great to spend time with her. i mean, it was great to see everyone, but.. man. we sit next to each other all the time, but this time it was so different! i can't wait to see her soon, we have english and chemistry together this year, so i'll see her so often and we'll have the same lunch block pretty often and..."

sakura had recently asked eve to move in with her, which everyone thought was a long time coming. living with eve was a little strange for arven. she definitely wasn't like a mom to him, but he had known eve for so long it just felt like a weird acquaintance that he saw every day.

"oof, the krebs cycle? i forgot that shit immediately after high school. i wasn't really one for biology, though."

"uhh.. do you remember anything about the mitochondria? question 7 is asking about that."

arven spent the next couple days at skye's apartment (giving amy ample notice and a long list of boss and shadow's needs).