Yes, I Am

Chapter One.

Eight months ago...
November, 2015.

A football was thrown straight at my face and I only had time to turn my neck so it hit the side of my head instead of dead in the center, completing the blunder my genes had done on my face. I was only happy that I shielded my new book from its fatal hit. "Austin!" I chided as I swatted the ball away.

"Get your ass off the couch and get ready. We're having a party here in two hours," he stated.

"What?" I shrieked in a pitch so high that I would be ashamed if it was anyone but my best friend. "No! We can't have a party here. Where will I go?"

"You'll stay here and make friends that are not fictional characters. That's the whole point," he said firmly, a little smirk playing on his face that I itched to slap off.

"I don't know how to do that," I whined. Socializing was a word that scared the fuck out of me. Mingling and making friends wasn't as first nature to me as it was to Austin. I'd rather bury my face in a book than have a pointless conversation with dumb people.

"It's not that tough, nerd. All you gotta do is talk, have a drink with someone, maybe exchange numbers. Make friends, Matt. It's high time the contact list on your phone expanded beyond your family and me," he said.

"I don't ever force you to read a book, do I? Because I know it's not your thing. Can't you extend the same courtesy towards me?" I was very close to whining some more, and not in a very graceful way. My mind was already running through possibilities of an escape plan.

He sat down beside me and snatched the book from my hands, carefully putting a bookmark and closing it so I didn't shout at him for disrespecting it. He knew not to mess with my treasure trove. "No. You're 20, not 64. You need more friends. Do this for me, okay? If you don't like it, I'll never force you to socialize ever again."

"Promise?"

"Scout's honor. Now get ready and help me set things up," he said.

I reluctantly did as he asked, my only hope lying on the fact that if I survived tonight, I would never have to be around people again. I threw my super comfortable sweats in my closet, sighing as I closed the door to the perfect evening I had in my mind. I helped Austin clean up the mess that was our apartment, setting up drinks and food on the kitchen landing, giving me a pep talk about how I was brave enough to interact with a couple of humans. He failed to mention that 'a couple of' in his language meant about thirty people.

When the bell rung and the first few people streamed in, I hid in the kitchen, pretending to be doing something when they came to say hi to me. But thankfully, no one wanted to stay that long and chat with the awkward roommate. They were much more interested in Austin, the handsome, popular Austin, the homecoming king in high school Austin. He was a much more tantalizing prospect and I preferred it that way.

Soon, I got my window of escape and retreated to the balcony, quietly sipping on a beer and staring at the view. It wasn't very spectacular but I had an overactive imagination so you could leave me in a slum and I could convince my mind that we were in Italy. I could hear the vague thrum of the music inside, the sound of raucous laughter, and it all seemed a world away. I didn't want to be a part of a universe where people giggled at jokes that made no sense, where they talked in racist slang that they didn't know the meaning of. I didn't want anything to do with a universe where pretending was a fashion statement.

"Hey, man. What are you doing out here?"

I whirled around to see an attractive guy leaning against the half closed door. He was built up in an athletic kind of way, his golden hair curling at the nape of his neck and around his ears. His big hazel eyes were sweeping over me in a mildly interested way, his head cocked slightly to one side.