My Crush Was a Monster Boy

Chapter Three

"Bye mom, I'm heading out!" Cul said as she sped out the door.

"Don't be out too late—ah, she's gone." Meiko sighed as she put away the night's leftover food.

Fukase listened to the exchange through his ajar bedroom door. "Hey Mom, I'm finished with my homework," Fukase called down, unsure of whether she heard him or not.

Hearing no response from Meiko, Fukase sighed and began to make his way out of his bedroom and down the stairs, stopping right before the bottom as he heard Kaito's voice.

"Does she always go out this late?" he asked.

"She's been going out more recently. At first it was rare, but it's becoming almost daily now... which you would know if you were around more."

He sighed. "You know very well why I have to work late."

"Yeah? And what about weekends?"

"Am I not allowed to have a break every once in a while?"

Not bothered to hear more, Fukase retreated to his den, closing the door completely this time. Fukase's mind began to wander back to what he was doing before he was called to dinner.

"Oh right! I was going to call Piko! I wonder what he's up to right now," Fukase thought.

He grabbed his phone and went through his messages, picking Piko's contact to call. Wait, why was I going to call again—

"Hey, Fukase, what's up?"

"Uh- hey, Piko!" He chuckled nervously. "How are ya...?"

"Um. I'm doing fine. Same as I was a few hours ago when we met in school, I guess." There was an awkward pause between them. "So... is there a reason you called? Don't you usually just text?"

"It's about Oliver," Fukase blurted out.

"Oliver?" Piko questioned, "What does he have to do with me?"

"Ah well, I just... well you guys are in the same class, and—"

Fukase remembered all the rude things people were saying about Oliver. That's why he has wanted to call him!
"I don't know, people weren't saying the nicest things about him."

"Fukase? Worried about someone he doesn't know? That's a first."

"Shut up! I'm just worried that he'll be bullied or something. What if Gumi gets to him?"

"Ah, so that's what this is about." Piko sighed as if everything had become clear to him. "Your ex and your current crush are within reach of each other. That's what all the drama is about."

"What."

"Am I wrong?"

Fukase held the phone away from him briefly to huff and fume in embarrassment. "...Not entirely."

Fukase could practically hear the smirk through the phone. "So you admit you have a crush on him?"

"Yeah, yeah, maybe just a little. You better not tell the others or... or I'll tell them you and Flower are dating."

"You wouldn't."

"Whether I would or won't is up to you to test."

"This is blackmail!"

"That's the point, Piko."

"Fine, my lips are sealed," Piko huffed.

"Glad we're on the same page, then."

They stayed on the line in comfortable quiet as Fukase lay on his bed and heard Piko shuffling around. After a while, Piko spoke again.

"You mentioned that his classmates were saying rude things about him," he paused, making sure Fukase was still listening. "What exactly is going on?"

"They were making fun of how he has no friends," Fukase replied, somewhat bitterly. "Like, how stupid is that? Of course he has no friends, he just got here yesterday. And then, they all said they'll just leave him alone anyway. It's ridiculous."

"Well that's something we can fix, isn't it?" Piko suggested, a hint of mischief in his voice.

Fukase blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Let's invite him to our group," Piko continued, "He can make friends with us, and who knows? Maybe he'll be more than friends with you."

Fukase could feel his face heating up, "PIKO!" They sat in silence for a bit, Fukase recovering from Piko's teasing. "But you really would do that? We can really invite him?"

"Yeah! How about I invite him to lunch with us soon?"

"Yes!" Fukase responded, quickly realizing he sounded a little bit too excited, "I mean, yeah that'd be nice."

"Okay then! It's a date!"

"A double date, you mean."

The other side of the phone went silent. Then the hangup sound followed.

"He really hung up on me!" He threw his phone down and stood up, flabbergasted.

He threw a sideways glance to the clock above his door. It was pretty late, just about time to sleep. Tomorrow was a school day, after all. He changed into a new set of pajamas, brushed his teeth, and plugged his phone in for the night. God knows he couldn't live if it was dead the next morning.

He switched off the lights, yawning dramatically as he tumbled into bed. Time for a full eight hours of restful, healthy sleep. Right?

Fukase soon discovered he was very, very wrong.

He waited.

And waited.

And waited...

This is impossible!

All he was able to think about was getting to eat lunch with Oliver. He would actually get a chance to talk to him! Not just in passing, but for real this time. He'd get to sit next to him and his friends would meet him and—

But what if things went wrong? What if Oliver really was as "strange" as his classmates had said? Or, even worse, what if Gumi got to him sooner?

No, there was no way Piko would let that happen. Especially not after their last conversation. He had promised to get them together—he'd sworn on his relationship with Flower. Or something like that.

Ughhhh, Fukase groaned inwardly and turned on his stomach, burying his face in his pillow. It was terrible. The absolute worst. Why won't his stupid brain shut up for once? He was going to have bags under his eyes while trying to get with Oliver and it was all his brain's fault. Come on, focus on something boring!

He thought about Oliver, but differently. What was he like from an objective standpoint?

His hair was blonde. His eyes were golden. He had... freckles. Like constellations, Fukase thought. There weren't many people with freckles like his, at least where he lived in Japan; they were light like powder and made his eyes glitter.

Finally, he managed to drift into sleep, his mind still overflowing with thoughts of Oliver. Not a bad way to fall asleep.