The Otaku and The Prince

The Closet and The Kiss

Somehow I was abandoned by Alison.

"I'll be back. She says, che!" I crossed my arms and glared at the lake. I had escaped from the party. My social debut hadn't gone so well. I was awkward and I didn't want to dance or drink. Though someone passed me a blunt, I took a hit of that and was going to talk to them some more but then the girl and guy next to me started to grind on each other so I left. The lake wasn't much of an escape though. A bunch of teens were skinny dipping and doing a bunch of other stupid shit. I searched for a quiet place but there was none. I went back into the house through the back kitchen door and found Jack still passed out, but someone had drawn on a mustache and 'I eat Dick' on his forehead with permanent marker. There was a tiny penis drawn on his cheek towards his mouth. A few girls took pics of it and laughed about it.

I kind of felt bad. Kind of... at the fact that I laughed at him too.

I walked into the main hall, saw the dance floor, steered away from that, then headed up the stairs. The hall upstairs was more empty but I knew better than to open any doors. I went up and down the hall until I found a perfect hiding space to play on my PSP.

I opened the foldable closet door; underneath was free space. I grinned to myself as I ducked down to sit down on the carpet floor. It was actually a lot of space here. I closed the door and was surrounded with darkness. Just the way I like it. I pulled out my silver PSP and turned it on. While the screen booted up I wondered (briefly) if I had taken another step deep into Weirdness.

"Probably." I thought aloud. "Do I care? Nope."

The game booted and three anime girls appeared on the screen. One blushing, the other was grinning, and the other was silent and dark. The title was Sweet Paradise. I highlighted the continue button and clicked away with responses. I had both boy and girl RPG games but I had just beaten the guy one so I was playing this. It was actually pretty good. The characters were so moe!

I don't know how long I played and I didn't realize how loud I was getting either. Sometimes I tended to yell at the screen. Well, anyway, the door suddenly opened.

I froze.

Looked up.

Blinked.

"Hi?" I said awkwardly. Kale stared at me, then at the PSP, then looked closer at my character kissing Mimi-san, then back up at me, closed the door, opened it, and then stared at me some more.

Okay. Awkward.

"What are you doing?" He finally asked. His voice was very gritty, not deep, but not high either.

"Playing a game."

"In a closet?"

"In a closet." I confirmed.

"You're....weird."

"I'm aware."

There was a moment of silence, then I asked, "Did you need me for something?"

"Honestly I forgot.... Why are you playing that here? At a party?"

"I got bored."

I could already tell that in his head he was labeling me a freak. I blushed and looked away, suddenly very self-conscious about my PSP. I imagined he would shut the door hard now, run downstairs, and tell everyone what a freak I was. My face was steaming at the thought. Maybe I should just run and jump out the window.... No, this is not an anime. I'd break my legs if I dare try.

So imagine my surprise when instead Kale popped a seat next to me and slid the door close until there was a small crack.

It got ten degrees hotter. My heart was pounding too. I couldn't even move my fingers, they felt unnaturally stiff. What the hell is this!? My mind screamed.