“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 just 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 as it 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 porcein 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 up her left sleeve. “Feels soft.” It was pretty and felt like a thick bnket that you would fall fast asleep underneath.

  Chaya grinned even bigger at his compliment and pulled back her arm. She csped her hands together and swung her arms around as she chatted with him. Speaking a mile a minute as she told him about how she spent hours and hours grinding to find the coat. Apparently, it was a rare item that could only be received through beating a boss.

  Hearing that Chaya actually 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 pyed 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 py a mmo in the first pce. But Nova learned long ago that questioning Chaya just led to more questions and confusion in the end. She was the type of person that 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 bcksmith 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 gred 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 full force. He wished this wasn't the case.

  Because he knew for a fact that confessing his feelings would make their retionship 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 got questioned, he lied. Chaya just happened to know from the jump that he was lying and made it clear she wouldn't py 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 ziness.

  A type of ziness that wasn't out of cruelty but due to being worn down to a 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 retionships into a state that he felt awful to admit happened.

  “I have no excuse.” Nova said before swallowing thickly.

  He didn't want to expin why as it didn't matter right now. To the kind hearted girl it would be meaningless. When she had been such a good friend to him she deserved to be treated the same way. Nova had taken her sweet nature for granted and she was still here hugging him.

  “Life’s been a lot but I should have responded and kept you up to date. I'm sorry for the worry and stress I probably caused you.” The brunette apologized with all the sickly, potent regret he could muster.

  Chaya looked at him with a sympathetic glimmer in her eyes and patted his cheek with her hand. Her bedazzled nails scratched his face, tickling his skin as she stared at him. The pat was gentle as was her smile as she let go of his arm. With her expression rapidly changing.

  “Is it your mother?” He didn't have the chance to answer as she nodded and shrugged. “Then you don't have to expin yourself.”

  “Mom's been really getting on my behind about everything I told you about before and it's reaching a breaking point. It's just been a lot.” His life had become a mess and he didn't want to drag her into it.

  “But still, I could have texted you to clear the air and make it right.” He didn't want Chaya to think that she was wrong for feeling hurt.

  Chaya nodded and patted his shoulder. “It's alright. You don't have to beat yourself up to make me feel better. I forgave you months ago.” Her lip quivered and formed a cute, sympathetic little grin his way.

  “You forgive too easily.” Nova muttered half heartedly.

  Chaya shook her head and waved her long sleeves in the air dramatically as she protested his response. “No, it's normal for friends to fight and have misunderstandings.”

  “As long as we talk it out when it happens it becomes water under the bridge for me.” She further expined making him feel emotional.

  He felt incredibly lucky to have someone like her in his life. Someone who was so forgiving despite him essentially ghosting her without any warning. If he'd done that to Lottie she'd punch him in the jaw.

  The thought of the dual-toned woman seemed to conjure her back up as he saw her walking over. He wasn't sure if he should tell Chaya they could talk ter or to bring her along with them. She wasn't very close to Lottie but had no problem speaking to her casually.

  She noticed his troubled expression and smiled. “It's alright. I'll leave you two alone.” She turned to leave. “Just make sure to text me ter.”