Chapter 4 #2
“Okay, Makiplaysvolley. First of all, thank you for the dono, but more importantly, how the fuck would you know?”
I barely contain a shiver as he says my name out loud. I don’t understand my reaction so I ignore it, focusing on typing my credit card information into the little box again, sending Blue another ten dollars.
“Don’t spend all your money sending messages, Maki,” Kent says, shaking his head. “I swear, that’s how they get you.”
“This is so juicy I’m willing to send you some cash to cover the donations,” Oli says with a chuckle.
“You’re such a drama queen,” Ivan says, shoving his elbow into Oli’s side.
“I don’t normally like drama but I’m kinda eating this up,” Sullivan murmurs from the other side of Daniel.
Someone snorts before Daniel says, “you don’t like drama?”
“Hey!”
You are talking about me and that is not what happened, the voice reads out. Blue’s face turns to one of surprise. He stares at the dono for a long moment before turning back towards the screen.
“You’re shitting me. You’re actually shitting my dick right now. No fucking way,” he breathes out, running a hand through his pretty blue hair. “If you’re really the guy I met today, then what was I wearing?”
“Holy shit,” Oli says, pointing at the top corner of the screen. “Look at the view count! It’s spiking!”
“What does that mean?”
“It means, people are flocking to Blue’s channel to watch the drama unfold,” Oli explains. “Look, it just jumped up to 20k!”
“What’s this logo,” I quickly ask Oli, showing him the picture of Blue and I again. He explains it for me as I write out my donation message.
You were wearing jeans and a hoodie with a video game logo on the front. I did not recognize it but my friend says it is from ‘Sugar Land World’. You are exaggerating your story. I was not rude to you or thought I was better than you. The same cannot be said about your behavior.
“If it makes you feel any better, chat is totally taking your side,” Kurstin says, his eyes glued to the chat. “They’re all bullying the hell out of Blue on your behalf.”
I frown. “That’s not what I wanted.”
“We know that,” Amour says softly, “but I get the sense Blue’s chat likes giving him a hard time even on the best days.”
“That’s it,” Blue says, suddenly looking off to the side, typing rapidly. “If you were really the guy, why don’t you call me and we can straighten this out. Let chat hear your side of the story, big guy.”
My phone pings with a private message.
“Oh my gods. No fucking way,” Oli says, practically shaking with excitement. “He actually wants to call you!”
“I don’t know if this is such a good idea,” Daniel says slowly, his eyes wide.
Sullivan looks like he can’t decide if he wants to cheer me on or tell me to stop. Ivan is yelling at Oli while Bo looks excited at the prospect of me getting attention online because that means he might have more fans come watch us in the future.
“Oh my gods,” Kent says, pointing at the stream. “Someone in chat recognizes you, Maki! They say they love our team!”
“I’m calling him,” I tell them all, going through the steps to set up a call with Blue. It only takes a few moments before my phone is ringing. I look at them, telling them to keep quiet before finally answering. “Hello.”
“Hi! It’s nice to officially meet you, Maki.”
“We’ve met before,” I tell him, staring at my television. Apparently the stream is delayed because it takes a moment before I see him take my call. It’s weird, seeing him like this while I have him in my ear.
“Yes, well, apparently that meeting wasn’t very good. Would you like to give me your side of the story?”
“Very much so,” I say seriously. “You worded things to make me sound like some stalker or something. We kept running into each other by coincidence, both needing the same aisles at the same time. Yes, I will admit that I continued to look at you but that was simply because I found you beautiful.”
Blue sucks in a sharp breath. All around me, my teammates are making noises. Some of them are shocked, Kent is chuckling to himself, Oli is staring at me with wide eyes. When I look at him, he gives me a grin and thumbs up. My eyes dart back to the television.
Blue’s face has turned a shocking red color and he covers his face.
“Dude,” he says in my ear. “You can’t just say stuff like that!”
“It’s the truth. You’re beautiful. I don’t approach people in public, never have.
But with you, I wanted to. I was working up the courage when you approached me.
How do you think it made me feel when you took a selfie with me and then left in a hurry?
If anyone was feeling superior in that meeting it was not me. ”
“Fuck,” Blue breathes out, “I really am so sorry. Streamers get a sense for when someone is trying to work up the nerve to ask for a photo. I thought I was being nice!”
“You weren’t. You were the most beautiful asshole I’ve ever met but an asshole nonetheless.”
“Oh my gods! No! He cut his sound!” Oli cries out, waving frantically at the tv screen. “Fuck you, Azaad! I see you typing that you’re cutting the stream! I want to hear the drama!”
“Oh shit,” Ivan says as the screen cuts off, jumping to someone else’s stream. “They just raided some other guy’s stream and completely shut down Blue’s!”
“I can totally see why you’d think that,” Blue says, his voice much softer. “I really am sorry.”
“I can’t hear it on the stream so turn your phone on speaker phone,” Oli says with a hissed out whisper. “I want to hear.”
I roll my eyes before taking the phone away, hitting speaker phone. Everyone crowds around, listening in.
“Maki? You still there? Sorry, my mods just shut down my stream because they could see how worked up it was making me and they said I was going to start a scandal,” he says with a sigh.
“I’m still here.”
“Okay, good. I want to talk this out, genuinely.”
“I’m listening.”
“The truth is, I assumed you were a fan and I realize now that I shouldn’t have done that. I didn’t mean to brush you off but my phone kept vibrating in my pocket because my roommate was frantically trying to get ahold of me. This is all just a really big, stupid misunderstanding.”
I let out a long breath, my chest suddenly feeling so much lighter. “I see,” I say slowly, looking at Oli who’s standing right in front of me. He waves at me to say more. “I understand how this was all a misunderstanding and I forgive you.”
“That’s a huge relief,” Blue says and I swear I can hear a small smile in his voice. “Can I make it up to you? Please?”
Against my permission, I find my cheeks heating up. I look up at everyone around me, all of them wearing various faces of intrigue and excitement. Oli just barely keeps himself from jumping up and down while clapping.
“Say yes!” Oli hisses out, softly enough that my phone doesn’t pick it up.
“Umm, sure. I think I would like that. What do you have in mind?”
“How about we go to dinner somewhere, my treat. We can talk things out properly and I’ll show you I’m not an asshole?”
“Okay. I will give you my phone number and you can text me the details. Does Friday work?”
“I’m busy Friday but I could do Thursday night?”
“Thursday night after my practice. That would work.”
“Perfect. Thanks for giving me another chance, Maki.”
“Don’t waste it, Blue,” I say before hanging up the call.
Oli starts jumping up and down, just barely keeping an elbow out of Ivan’s face. “Oh my gods! You’re going on a date with Blue! This is so exciting!”
“A date?”
Daniel jumps in. “I’m not so sure it’s a date.”
“I don’t know,” Bo says, rubbing at his chin. “Sounded like a date to me.”
Sullivan declares, “all those who think it’s a date, raise your hand!” Sullivan, Oli, Bo, Kent, and reluctantly, Ivan, all raise their hands.
“So it would seem to be a date,” I say slowly, my brows furrowing. “I don’t seem to mind the idea of a date with him, but there is the issue of being an undine.”
Oli nods his head. “When you get to the date, you just have to be straightforward with him. Tell him you’re an undine and what that means. Then you have nothing to be anxious about because he’ll have all the information in front of him and the decision to continue the date is up to him.”
“You know what I’m anxious about?”
“Duh!” Oli says right away with a grin. “I researched everyone’s species when I joined the team,” he says in explanation.”
“You did what?” Daniel asks, looking shocked.
“What? I’m the setter! It’s my job to know everything about my team as the playmaker!” Oli says, crossing his arms over his chest and looking shy all of a sudden. “Silly, don’t look at me like that,” he says, pointing at Sullivan who’s smiling softly.
“Sorry, sorry. I know you hate it when I get all sappy on you.”
“Shifters,” Oli says, rolling his eyes but based on his soft smile, he’s teasing.
Then he looks back at me. “I just like knowing everything, it helps me feel more in control. Undine is a type of fae that shares a special bond with their romantic partners, one that can be broken so long as it’s not broken through adultery. ”
“That’s right,” I say, nodding my head. “If my partner were to ever be unfaithful, their heart would stop.”
Bo gasps, clutching at his chest. “For real? What if you guys were poly, would that mean the other two could never sleep with each other?”
I watch as Amour’s face turns bright red. He adjusts his glasses, looking anywhere but at Bo. I wish I was better at reading people so I could better understand what’s happening with them.
“Not necessarily,” I say, tilting my head to the side. “I think consensual polyamory is very different from being unfaithful. Everyone is on the same page in that type of relationship.”
“That makes sense,” Kurstin says, nodding his head.
“I, personally, think this is great,” Kent says, placing his hands on my shoulders from behind though he practically has to jump to reach. “When’s the last time you’ve been on a date?”
“Oh, umm. Never?”
There’s another chorus of gasps before Oli is pushing me down onto the couch, everyone surrounding me. “Okay, we’re about to give you the best rundown of dating advice we can all think of. Don’t worry, Maki, we’ll help however we can to make sure this date goes off without a hitch.”
I pull up my note app on my phone and start listening intently.