Wishful Thinking ~Puzzleshipping~

Prologue

  I never really thought about anyone falling in love with me. I was too awkward, too short; too shy. I was never handsome enough for the school girls; never gallant enough or brave enough. Even I knew I seemed more like a best friend than a boyfriend.

  I sighed, sitting on the steps of my grandfather’s gameshop, picking petals off a daisy. I just wanted to love someone. I wanted to brighten up somebody’s world and treat them best I could and hope I’d never hurt them. Though, the only thing I was good at was duel monsters, and that only made me seem even more dorky and awkward.

  A breeze stole the flower from my fingertips and I sighed deeply. It was a Saturday afternoon and everyone had plans but me. Anzu went to the arcade with a few cute boys from school, Joey was visiting his sister, and Tristen had to do chores at home. I sat on the steps of the game shop with nothing to fill the empty time.

  It was oddly quiet for a Saturday, though most people were already in the larger part of the city by this time of the day. I decided to go inside and get started on the puzzle my grandfather had given me for my birthday. It was a strange Egyptian artifact that he couldn’t quite figure out and thus was basically rendered useless.

  Sitting at the desk in my room, I tried to fit the pieces together. To my pleasant surprise, they fit together easily.

  “Huh.” I said, wondering why it had been so difficult for anyone else to solve. I placed the last piece in the three-dimensional puzzle, a strange piece embroidered with an Egyptian stylized eye. The only thing that happened when I popped the last piece in was a satisfying click. The pieces came together as an upside-down pyramid shape.

  I read the inscriptions on the golden-colored casing. They mentioned a power of darkness and a wish. I giggled a little to myself and held the puzzle in my hands.

  “I wish for someone to fall in love with me, anyone, just someone my age.” I whispered. I laughed and shook my head, feeling silly. I placed the puzzle on top of its special box and decided to sleep the day away.