World Eater

22

ALZAR LAY WITH HIS HANDS ON HIS STOMACH, STARING AT THE CEILING.

Pulling himself out of his slumber, he still was in a fog, the sleeping having done nothing but postpone it temporarily. He turned on his side, watching Cephas in his tank. Two glassy eyes peered back at him from inside an empty water bowl. Alzar knew he needed to change his water. But he could barely muster the motivation to even get out of bed.

A blinking light caught his eye- his cellphone, which had been unused for days. Weakly, he snatched it off his nightstand, unlocking it.

To his surprise, he had a text message.

“Hey, Alzar! I wanted to make sure u were okay! Someone told me u were sick!” It was from Andrea. For senior year, everyone had traded numbers to keep in contact with each other for school events, especially prom. He had never expected her to text him.

“I'm doing fine now,” Alzar replied.

Several minutes later, another message popped up on screen. “That's good! We were all worried about u.”

“Thanks.” Alzar wasn't sure how to respond.

“Oh, by the way, I meant to ask u at school, but...do u have any plans for prom?”

“I don't.”

Her text appeared on screen, but it didn't even feel real: “If that's the case, do you wanna go with me?”

Alzar’s cheeks flushed red. Someone asked him to prom?

“I know this is sudden, but ur a really nice guy! Plus u have like the best grades in the class...and ur kinda cute ;)”

Falling back against the pillow, Alzar covered his face. He had never encountered anything like this. He had never even been that interested in the sweaty, loud, and overcrowded event that was prom.

But now that someone had actually asked him, it was different. Andrea actually liked him enough to want to go to prom with him? How could he say no to her?

Maybe this is exactly what he needed- an event to look forward to. These past couple weeks been dull, almost sickening to stumble through. Perhaps an upcoming event would help draw him out of that bleak monotony?

Alzar wasn't sure if he liked Andrea, or even girls in general, but it was worth a try. If she liked him, he should at least try to like her, right? This even would put to rest any rumors about him.

His fingers were numb as he typed his reply: “Sure.”