Real-Life Fairytale; a renga oneshot book

does he have to know? pt.1

Langa had a two step plan for success. One: repair his friendship with Reki. Two: confess his feelings for Reki. The steps were simple, the execution however, was not.

Reki was incredibly skilled at avoiding him. It was truly a feat considering they sat next to each other for most of the day and worked at the same store. He somehow made it lonely to even be in the same room as him.

When the lunch bell rang, Langa quickly pulled out the snack he had been hiding in his desk. He made a special trip to the convenience store yesterday to get them. "Reki, I got those honey butter chips you like. Do you want some?"

Langa knew Reki heard him, but he wouldn't turn around. "No thanks," he muttered.

"Here." Langa put them on his desk anyways.

"Langa, I'm okay." Reki finally turned to look at him.

You don't seem like you're okay.

Reki tried to give the chips back. Langa put his hands up. "I don't want them."

Reki set them on Langa's desk. Langa put them back on his.

"Langa, stop. I don't want them." He shoved them back onto Langa's table.

Langa pushed them into Reki's chest, they dropped into his lap. "Well, I want you to have them."

He put them back on Langa's desk. "I said, I don't want them!"

Langa dropped them on Reki's lap. "Too bad. They're yours now."

"They aren't even opened. I'll just give them to someone else."

Langa frowned. "Do whatever you want with them, they're yours."

"Fine, I will." Reki stomped over to a puzzled classmate and dropped them on their desk. He sat back down at his desk and pulled out his phone, ready to ignore Langa for another day.

Great.

~~

~~

Langa learned a lot of new things about himself since meeting Reki. Today, he learned he was not above playing dirty.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Taking a deep breath, he knocked on Reki's front door before he lost his nerve. He anxiously tangled his fingers behind his back.

Reki's mom answered. "Langa? It's so good to see you! Are you here to see Reki?"

Langa nodded. "Yes, please. We have homework to do." Technically they did have homework they had to do.

"So polite. Come in, he's just in his room. You know where it is."

"Thank you." He slipped off his shoes.

"I'll bring you guys some snacks later," she said.

Langa hadn't actually thought about what he would do if he got this far. He paused outside Reki's door and swallowed. He knocked.

"What is it?"

He opened the door. "Hey, Reki."

Reki startled. He was sitting on his bed with his phone. "What are you doing here?" He sounded tired.

For the first time in a week Langa felt his heart flutter but, unlike the thrill he got from skating it felt wrong. Maybe Reki really was done with him.

But he still had to try.

"Can we talk?" Langa stepped inside.

"We don't have anything to talk about."