Author's Note: I messed up the title so this is technically chapter five onward. I only realized way after I published the first chapters so oopsy.
"It's fine, Chaya. We haven't been able to hang out much since August so it's my fault." Nova hadn't had time to meet up with her in both worlds and he felt pretty bad seeing how excited she was behaving.
Thankfully, the bright-haired girl was incredibly forgiving as she shrugged her shoulders and smiled with all her teeth. "It's all good!"
"I don't want to talk about the past. I want to hear what you think!" She twirled and showed off her outfit. "Do you like my look?"
Nova was used to the younger girl wearing eccentric outfits that matched her heartfelt personality. In summer camp she always wore the trendiest crop tops with glitter words over her chest and bedazzled mini skirts. In-game she wore much the same even as her new avatar.
Today, Chaya was dressed in a coat that reminded him of a porcelain doll with how detailed it was. It was a deep, luscious red that was like red velvet cake with its fluffiness, ruffles, and stitched-on bows. Nova had to hand it to her; the South Asian girl had the world's best taste.
It made total sense that her mother was a personal stylist. She raised an eyebrow, noticing his silence, and puffed out her cheeks. "Well?"
Nova blushed and lifted her left sleeve. "Feels soft." It was pretty and felt like a thick blanket that you would fall fast asleep underneath.
Chaya grinned even bigger at his compliment and pulled back her arm. She clasped her hands together and swung her arms around as she chatted with him. Speaking a mile a minute she told him about how she spent hours and hours grinding to find the coat. It was a rare item that could only be received through beating a boss.
Hearing that Chaya participated in combat that extreme made his brain stumble. The tan girl wasn't the type to fight even when it became necessary to complete a mission. She played Snowdrop Queen solely for the experience of living in a fantasy world. Everything else that came with it was a nuisance she tried to ignore.
It often made him wonder why she bothered to play an MMO in the first place. But Nova learned long ago that questioning Chaya just led to more questions and confusion in the end. She was the type of person who said a lot that you just nodded along with and hummed to. Not that it was a bad thing. It was just HER thing and always would be.
"So," The tan girl asked as they walked away from the stall so Ann had privacy with a customer that had come up. "What are you up to?"
Nova smiled and answered. "Well, I came here with Lottie so we could go to the blacksmith and get some weapons fixed. She saw someone she wanted to talk to so I walked away to give her time."
An animated gasp left the short stack's mouth at the mention of his best friend and she grabbed his arm to hug him. "Lottie's with you?"
"Yes?" The brunette was confused by her sudden closeness. She knew that Lottie was the one who mainly spent his time with these days.
Her behavior became mischievous as she swayed as they walked and whispered cheekily. "Is she your girlfriend now? You two having‐"
Nova glared at her and shut her up with a blunt almost cold. "No."
He wasn't trying to be rude but it was a secret between the pair that he had feelings for Lottie. They came initially when they first met as he was attracted to her avatar.
After some time it went away but over the summer his lust returned to full force. He wished this wasn't the case.
Because he knew for a fact that confessing his feelings would make their relationship awkward if she didn't reciprocate them.
He had gone through it before and it ended with his entire friend group fracturing. Snowdrop Queen was his escape from that time in his life and Nova couldn't risk his escape turning into a nightmare.
So, whenever his feelings for Lottie were questioned, he lied. Chaya just happened to know from the jump that he was lying and made it clear she wouldn't play along with him.
She believed that burying his feelings would make things worse in the long run. That he needed to confess to the girl before she found out and made assumptions.
Chaya frowned but didn't let go of him as she spoke in a much softer tone. "I wasn't trying to be pushy. I just wanted to know since we haven't had any time to talk or hang out in how many months? Four?"
Hearing this made Nova feel like shit. He hadn't been paying attention to his friendship with Chaya and it was obvious he hurt her.
Even with her saying everything was all good her words said otherwise. He had no excuse for it either. He just didn't respond to her out of laziness.
A type of laziness that wasn't out of cruelty but due to being worn down to the point he couldn't move. He couldn't think.
All he could do was go to school and log on whenever he could. Degrading his real-world relationships into a state that he felt awful to admit happened.
"I have no excuse," Nova said before swallowing thickly.
He didn't want to explain why as it didn't matter right now. To the kind-hearted girl it would be meaningless.
