Chapter 12 - Fishing

Tyler

I was running late because there was someone in front of me at Julia’s who asked for custom everything. I quickly jumped out of my car, holding the pizza box. I walked into my building, and when I turned the corner I saw her standing at my door. I stopped there and watched her.

She didn’t see me yet. She knocked on the door and was fidgeting with her clutch. “Come on Tyler, where are you?” she said, looking a little impatient. She then did a spin and she watched her dress twirled up. She smiled.  That’s when she saw me. She stopped, put her hands over her dress to flatten it out, looking embarrassed.

I continued walking to her. “Sorry Nikki. That took much longer than I thought it would.” 

She didn’t say anything and bit her lip as I pulled my keys out and unlocked the door. I opened it and we both walked in.

“I thought Josh would be home by now and would’ve let you in.” I put the pizza box and keys on the counter.

Nicole stood there fidgeting, looking awkward as if she was nervous. I’m not sure why she’d be nervous. Unless she was planning to break up with me. 

I glanced at her and she smiled back. “Meat lovers pizza!” I announced opening the box. “Just like you ordered.” 

“Thank God.” she said. “I’m starving.”

I turned around to get some plates out of the cabinet. When I turned around, Nicole already had a slice in her hand folded and was stuffing it in her mouth.

“Did you want a plate?” I asked.

She stopped chewing and looked at me. A muffled “Good idea” came out of her pizza filled mouth as she took the plate from me.

I don’t know what’s with her lately. The burger on Monday. The Snickers yesterday. The pizza today. It’s like she’s starving and has been out in the wilderness for weeks.

I slid my own slice of pizza onto a plate and walked into the living room. I sat down on one side of the couch. She followed me, but was leaning against the wall holding her plate. She’s nervous again. Every time she gets nervous, I get nervous.

“Nic” I said. “You can sit down.”

At that, she sat at the far other side of the couch from me. I was hoping to snuggle on the couch. I guess she wasn’t ready for that, which increased my nerves.

“Have you thought about what to watch?” I asked her. She shook her head. I picked up the remote and started scrolling through Netflix.

As I was scrolling, I was searching for some form of feedback from Nicole. She just stared straight ahead with no interest whatsoever.

“Did you see anything you wanted?” I asked.

“Nope.” she replied.

I switched to Amazon Prime. After a minute of scrolling, still nothing. Usually she’s a little more opinionated. She’d pick some rom-com, or maybe a series she’s in the middle of watching.

“So what do you want to watch?” I asked, exasperated. I took a sip of my drink as I noticed her staring off into the corner of the room. Right where my game console sat on a storage bin I have yet to put away. Was she going to nag me about the Sunday video game episode again?

“Umm. Nothing.” she said. “Why don’t we just play some video games instead.” 

I nearly choked on my drink. “You want to play a game?”

“Yeah.” she replied. “Is there something wrong with that?”

In all of my years of dating Nicole, she has never once shown any interest in playing video games with me. Card games, board games, sure. But never video games.

“No.” I said. “Not at all.” I got up, switched the TV to the game input and tossed her a controller. “Is there anything in particular you want to play?” Does she even know which games I have? I’ve got some party games she might enjoy. I even have the “Rock Band” instruments in a storage bin somewhere.

“Whatever you were playing last.” she replied, getting up to get another slice of pizza.

She can’t be serious. Now I know this is a trap. The game I was last playing is the same game from Sunday where we got into an argument.

“OK.” I said as I turned on the console. My capture-the-flag game came up. Since this is the first time Nicole has ever played this, she was going to need a character to play. I could make her a stock character, but I was curious where she was going to take this. “You’re going to have to create a player avatar.” I said.

She put her pizza down and started going through the options for creating an avatar. I watched intently and she browsed the menu. She chose the stock male elf. When it was time to insert a name, she typed “Vi”, then quickly cursed under her breath as she noticed her typo. After fixing it, she then named the character “Nicole.”

I selected my saved avatar. My character is called “PurpleMage.” It’s a female elf in purple robes. Over the months, I’ve customized my characters' clothing, hair, and skin color. I also have increased statistics from a year of playing this.

I saw Nicole shocked and just staring at the TV. “You’re PurpleMage?” she said. Why was she so surprised? She’s seen me play this game hundreds of times. Granted she’s usually bored and playing on her phone. But I’m pretty sure she’s seen me play before.

“Yeah, What’s wrong? I asked.

“Your avatar is a girl.” she said.

Not this again. She complained that time I cosplayed as a female character for halloween sophomore year. We almost broke up because of it. I took a deep breath. “So?” I replied. “She’s a badass character. I’ve gotten really good at playing her.”

“Don’t you think that’s a bit deceiving? To the other people you play with, that is.”

That’s not where I expected her to go with that. I expected her to nag me about the cosplay or the long hair. “Nic, everyone is someone else online. Sometimes they’re someone else in person too.”

She shot this weird look at me. I suppose I should elaborate.

“I mean, we all walk through life, as if we’re real life avatars…. wearing these... masks. They’re masks of expectations. They’re what everyone around you wants to see and wants you to be. The expectations everyone else around puts on you.” I then looked her in the eyes. “The pressure our parents put on us to be what they want us to be.”

She didn’t say anything. Maybe I may have said too much on my soapbox.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I can get carried away about societal expectations sometimes. Besides,” I forced a chuckle. “You chose a male avatar, yourself.”

“Hey now” she said. “I only chose this character for his agility and recovery rate” she said, I saw her trying to hide a smile behind a grin.

I feel like I’m being played. “Really?” I chuckled. “You sound like someone who has played this game before.”

She was silent for a moment. Looked down at the floor and said. “Tyler.” she said. “I get it. I feel the pressure too.”

I didn’t expect that from her. Well, that’s enough introspection for one evening. “Let’s play.” I said to her.

We started playing a two player game. Just me and Nicole. I wasn’t sure how well she’d be able to play, so I went easy on her. She won pretty easily, as if I didn't even need to handicap myself. 

 “Gotcha!” she said as she got the flag. “That’s the first time I beat you.”

“You beat me on the first try. Beginners luck I suppose.”

She looked directly at me. “Hey. You’re not going easy on me are you?”

“I’d never.” I said laughing. I saw her let out a laugh. Was she really having fun playing games with me? This new Nicole is making me excited. My nervousness about her breaking up with me started to fade away.

The next game, I dropped all pretenses that she was a newb. Maybe she became a shark over the summer, and was looking forward to taking me on. She was just about to win, when suddenly I sniped her character in front of her home base. 

“What!” she yelled. “Did you just snipe me? Bastard!” 

I laughed. “Do you want to bring in online players? We can be on the same team.”

“Absolutely, let’s do it.” she said. 

I got up and went to the fridge. “Did you want another drink?”

“Yeah.” she replied. “What do you have?” 

Typically she’d ask for water, but she’s been acting so differently, I didn’t know what to expect. “Bottled water, Mountain Dew. Beer.”

“When you get a beer for yourself, get me one.” she said. 

Again. Subverting expectations. What is she doing to me? The only beer I had was a 12 pack that Josh and I bought last night.

Speaking of Josh, as I was in the fridge, the door opened and he walked in. “Good evening!” he announced. 

“Hey man” I greeted him.

Josh saw Nicole and went into the living room to greet her. “Nicole. Long time no see.” He walked up to her, grabbed her hand and kissed it. “You’re looking ravishing as always.” 

She blushed and had a weird expression on her face. Typically she’d just agree with Josh and flirt back with him. Nicole, who knew Josh was gay, always his this fun banter back and forth with him.

“How did Tyler talk you into playing his game?” he asked.

“It was her idea.” I chimed in, closing the fridge door. “I thought you’d be earlier.”

“I stopped at the SG offices to do some campaign stuff.” He replied. “Hey man, get me one too.”

I turned back around and got a third beer and handed them out to Josh and Nicole. I sat back down on the couch and put my arm around Nicole. She tensed up. That wasn’t a reaction I was expecting, so I removed my arm.

“Nic, did Tyler invite you and your friends to my pool party tomorrow?” Josh inquired.

“Pool Party?” she responded. 

“Yeah.” he said. “My campaign for President is hosting a Welcome Back party. I find the best parties need the hottest women at them. You should totally come and bring Alexis and Madison.”

“Ohh.” she said. “You’re Josh Rivers - Senate President. I see your picture in the school paper all of the time!”

“You’re damn right!” he said. “Tyler I love your girlfriend. She gets it. People need to recognize me. I need to be out there making myself visible.”

“Well don’t let it get to your head.” I replied with a chuckle.

“Promise you’ll come?” Josh asked Nicole.

“I don’t know.” she said. “I’m not sure I have a bathing suit.”

“Oh.” he said. “Well, you don’t need to go into the pool if you don’t want to. Just your presence is requested. I’ll have food and drinks there.”

“OK” Nicole said. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Great!” Josh exclaimed. “Well - cheers” he held out the beer bottle to Nicole and she clinked it. “I will let you two love birds get back to your date night. And maybe.. Just maybe I’ll be up for a threesome later.”

Nicole suddenly choked on her beer. Usually this is where she’d take Josh’s side and tease me. Josh let out a chuckle. But she didn’t say anything and watched him leave the room.

“Shall we?” I asked, motioning to the video game.

“Let’s” she cleared her throat and smiled.

I handed her a headset, and put one on my head. “This way you can hear the other players. I use speech to text rather than my own voice. If you press this button on the controller, it will take your voice and type it out.”

“Great.” she said, putting the headset on. “Let’s kick some ass!”

* * *

We found some random people to play against. I was impressed at how Nicole was doing in this game. She must’ve practiced over the summer and didn’t tell me. Maybe she was going to surprise me with this on Sunday and I botched the surprise up.

We won the game and Nicole shouted “Yes!” She then gave me a high five. 

This is certainly a competitive side of her I've never seen.

“So Tyler.” she said. “What else do you do for fun?”

I eyed Nicole. Or maybe she’s taking a new approach to our relationship. Turning a new leaf. Vowing to be more attentive to my hobbies.

“Well, as you know. I like to go to our college football games.”

“Oh really?” she said. “Who do you think is going to win the starting QB job?”

“Banks” I replied. As if she knew who that was.

“Nah.” she said. “He’s not mobile enough. Riviera totally has it. He’s got a better pocket presence.”

“Nicole.” I said. “I didn’t know you had an interest in the team.”

“Oh.” she said, looking a little embarrassed. “I did some reading over the summer. My neighbor is a lineman, so I casually talk about it with him.”

“I didn’t know that, I thought all of the football players live off campus.”

“Oh. Right. I meant, he visits a neighbor often.”

That stopped the football talk. Now I felt bad. Here she is making this effort to show interest in my interests and I just called her on it. 

“Do you want to go to a game sometime?”

“I’d love to.” she said. “I haven't had anyone to go with for years.”

That took me by surprise as well. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know that. Or else I would’ve offered years ago.”

“Thanks Tyler.” she said. 

“Next game?”

“Definitely” She got up, grabbed the pizza box and put it right between us.

We both reached for a slice and the box and our hands touched each other. She quickly recoiled her hand. “Sorry” she said.

“What’s there to be sorry about?” I said. “Did you want that slice?”

“Kinda.” she said.

“How about we split it?”

I folded it and ripped it down the middle.

“Thanks.” she said.

I really wanted to ask her what’s up with her. Why the sudden interest in my hobbies? Or the change in diet? Or how she’s been acting? She hasn’t complained once about her classes or her parents. She also hasn’t had an anxiety attack. In some ways it feels like she’s a different person.

We started a new round. I was coaching Nicole through a few strategies. I was worried it was too much for her, but she took all of my advice well.

“Have you made any friends here?” she asked.

“From the game? Sure. There’s a number of repeat players I’ve played with a few times. I usually keep my settings to only find local players. I’ve never met anyone in real life if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Aren’t you worried that one of the players - a guy perhaps - might develop a crush on you?”

I laughed. “Why would they do that?”

“I mean. You’re such a good player. You’re friendly with everyone. And your character is cute.”

“Nikki, are you getting jealous?”

“No. Not at all. Just curious, that’s all.”

“Well, I can’t say I haven’t encountered other players being flirtatious - but they have as much chance at getting with me as Josh does.” I laughed.

Just then a game request came up on the screen. I recognized the names of players who have been harassing me every time we meet in the same game. “Not these guys again.”

“We got this.” Nicole said. “We can take ‘em.”

“You sure?” I said. “These guys like to shout expletives and offensive stuff all game. They’re trolls.”

“I’ve got thick skin.” she said.

We started playing. True to form, the trolls called us names and were overall making the game a not-so-pleasant experience. I managed to shoot one of them before they got our flag and he called me a “bitch.”

“That’s my girlfriend you’re talking about.” Nicole said back, and she shot the other one. “What if we bait them?” she asked me. Let them come after me and you pick them off.

“That could work.” 

“Let me switch up my weapon”

 I got into position. “Ready when you are.”

“Hey asshats.” she said into the controller. “I’m gonna get your flag.”

The enemies charged her, and I picked them off once they came out of hiding. I missed one and Nicole managed to duck and shoot them before they got her.

“That was close.” she said. “I got the flag. Give me cover.”

Our opponent’s respawned and I moved into position to make sure they didn’t get to her. Nicole returned to homebase with the flag. “Take that assholes!” she said, jumping up off the couch and tossing her headset back to the couch. “We did it!” she said to me.

I got up too and removed my own headset. “I’ve never beaten those guys before!”

“We did it together!” she said smiling at me.

“We make a great team” I hugged her and she hugged me back. I felt so good to be hugging my girlfriend again. I pulled away, looked into her face, and we made eye contact. I noticed a great big smile on her. I’ve never seen her smile so much. Now was a good time, so I went in for the kiss. 

I leaned in, and I noticed her eyes drift down to my lips. Her eyes closed. I closed mine. I could feel her breathing speed up. Our lips touched. I was about to nibble on her lip when she abruptly pulled away from me with wide eyes. 

“Tyler.” she said. “I uh. I have to go.”

“Why? What’s wrong? Did I do something wrong?”

“No. You didn’t. I just uh… forgot that I have something going on with Alexis right now.”

“I’m sure Lexi would understand.” I pleaded.

“I have to go.” she said, grabbing her clutch and running out of the door.

Josh came out of his room. “What happened there?”

“I don’t know.” I said, standing there dumbfounded. “I don’t know what’s up with her. She’s been acting strange all evening.”

“How so?”

“She ate and drank what I did. She was more attentive to me. Was curious about everything. She smiled more. She showed a confidence I hadn't seen in her before. Playing games with her was awesome. I mean, except for her running out of the apartment just now, that was the most fun I’ve ever had with Nicole in a long time. Everything was perfect.”

“So she likes what you like. She’s attentive, happy, confident. Sounds like your perfect girlfriend.”

What did he say? That though triggered a memory in me. “Wait - what?”

“I mean, you’ve been complaining for years how she might not be the one, and everything you just said to me, is everything you’ve complained was missing about her. If she’s now changed those things you complained about, then she’s now your perfect girlfriend. Right?”

The wish I made on Sunday. I wished for her to be my perfect girlfriend.

“I just hope,” Josh added. “You didn’t pressure her to change. That wouldn’t be cool.”

Josh put his hand on my shoulder then retreated back into his room, and I stood there alone in my living room. Suddenly a wave of guilt filled me up. My wish didn’t do that, did it?. That’d be crazy right? Did she get wind of my complaints? Did I force her or pressure her to change?

* * *

Nicole

I returned to my apartment after a quick bite to eat and a stop at my mailbox. I looked through the mail I got. Cell phone bill, coupon for the salon I go to, and a Victoria’s Secret catalog.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lexi putting on makeup. “Hey girl, Where you heading off to?”

“I’m meeting Brandon tonight.” she said.

“Who’s Brandon?”

“The guy I’ve been seeing.” she said. “You remember. You were supposed to meet him Sunday night.”

“Ohh.” I said, realizing how much out of the loop I’ve been all week. “I’m sorry. We really haven’t talked about him since then.”

When Lexi was still busy with her makeup, I started flipping through the catalog. Hmm.. That’s a cute bra. Also a cute model too. I flipped the page. The model was wearing a very skimpy bikini. I could feel an erection come on.

I immediately closed the catalog. I rolled it up and stuffed it into my backpack. “Lexi, I’m going to spend the night at Victor’s again.”

“You haven’t spent the night here since the swap.” she said. “In fact, we’ve only been roommates for 4 days and you’ve only slept here the first night. Is everything alright?”

“I’m fine.” I replied. “It’s just easier for me and Victor to stay in our respective places. Unless we want to move all of our clothes to the other’s place.”

I expected Lexi to stay something, but she was working on applying eye shadow. Honestly, my issue was that I didn’t feel like I belonged here. I also didn’t feel like I belonged in Victor’s apartment either. It was weighing me down, and affecting my mood.

“I was considering cleaning his apartment too.” I added. “It’s filthy.”

“How’s your internship application going?” she asked.

“It’s almost finished. I just need to send it.”

“How do I look?” she said. 

“You look amazing, girl. Hopefully this Brandon realizes he’s a lucky guy.”

“Thanks.” she smiled. We hugged.

“I’ll follow you out.” I said as we both left the apartment.

* * *

Victor

I unlocked the door and entered Nicole and Alexi’s apartment. The lights were off and it appeared nobody was home.

“Alexis, I’m back” I called out. Just in case.

I turned on a few lights and made my way to my bedroom. 

My heart was still racing from that kiss. I was so excited to finally beat those trolls at that game. I also enjoyed playing on the same team with PurpleMage. I’ve had the hugest crush on her. It just so happened that she was Tyler. During most of the date, I tried to not look at Tyler. I pretended I was on a date with PurpleMage. Whether he realized it or not, he kept getting closer to me on the couch as the evening went on. 

I tried to tune out my attraction to him during the game, but my delusion, coupled with this body's attraction to Tyler, and winning that game culminated with jumping up and hugging him. Then the kiss. 

Oh my God, the kiss. What’s crazy is that I actually wanted it to happen. What’s even crazier is I liked it. 

Just thinking about it is turning me on. I bit my lip and considered what I should do about it. I thought something was wrong with this body last night. That it wasn’t capable of getting turned on like my male body. Clearly it works, and does get turned on. Maybe it just wasn’t in the mood last night.

I searched the room for this “red hair tie” that Nicole told me about. I didn’t find it. But Lexi isn’t home. 

I closed the door and hopped onto the bed. I pulled off the belt and dress and leaned back against the wall in my bra and panties.

I took off my bra and started to play with my breasts. My body was a little more reactive to this than last night. I could feel a wetness building in my groin. I stuck my hand down my panties and felt around. This is the first time I’ve touched down there. It was sensitive. I quickly found the clit and rubbed that a little bit. I was wet. So I pulled off the panties and tossed them to the floor.

I thought of the same images I used last night. Images from porn, images of cute girls I’ve seen. I was getting wet, but I felt no where near to an orgasm.

I thought back to my date, and I felt something good. Yes. Dwell on that. The date. The game. PurpleMage. Tyler. No. Not Tyler.

I was getting close, I switched back to images of girls again. No. I was getting further away from climax. No. I was so close.

I heard a noise through the walls. I was so close. Why wasn’t I cumming? I tried flashing images of my favorite models, images of Nicole’s friends. I was avoiding thinking about Tyler. I didn’t want to admit I was attracted to him.

Just then the door opened. It was Alexis. “Vic, you’re ho- oh my God!” She quickly covered her eyes. 

I closed my legs with my fingers still inside me.

“Vic!” she yelled as she closed the door.

I turned red with embarrassment. I decided to do damage control. I put the dress back on, forgetting to retrieve my underwear from the floor.

“Alexis” I called after opening my door. “I’m so sorry!” I found her in her room taking off her shoes.

“I can’t believe I caught you maturbating in Nicole’s body.” she said.

“She gave me permission. I gave her permission to do the same” I said. “I’m sorry. I couldn't find the red hair tie.”

“Red hair tie?” she said. “Oh, that’s right. I remember that. She told you about that?”

“Yeah. I’m so sorry.”

She closed her eyes and shook her head. She let out a sigh and looked at me again. “It’s OK Vic.” she said. “It’s just not what I expected to come home to. I heard noises coming from your room and decided to check on you to see if you were alright.”

“I’m so embarrassed.”

“You and me both. I take it your date was good if you immediately ran to your room to... umm.. Yeah.”

“I had a blast with Tyler. We played video games and ate pizza. It’s just that- He kissed me.”

“Yeah? I’m not surprised. I told you, you were in over your head.”

“You did.” I said. A moment of silence went by. “Lexi?” I said timidly.

“Yeah?”

“When you told me I was turning into Nicole, I can’t get that out of my head.”

“I was joking, Vic. You’re nothing like Nicole. Except for creating drama. You both are pretty good at that.”

“It’s just that. When he kissed me. I uh… I think I’m attracted to him.”

“Oh.” she said. “That’s an interesting development. I probably should’ve seen that one coming. Have you told Nicole?”

“No.”

“Of course not. You’re going to need to tell her.”

“I don’t know how she’ll react. I kissed him, Alexis. I kissed Nicole’s boyfriend. And I liked it!”

Alexis was quiet.

“She’s going to kill me.”

Alexis was just shaking her head in disappointment.

“What?” I inquired.

“Just be careful, Vic. I see this getting complicated very quickly.”

I sighed. I should run back to my room, clean up and get ready for bed. I at least should put panties on. Do girls share sex tips? Maybe I should ask her about my problem. “I have a question about… umm… what you walked in on.”

She turned red and covered her eyes, trying to shield her eyes from the memory. “Um, OK?”

“I’m having trouble.... You know…. Reaching climax I was wondering if you could help-.”

“Eww.” Alexis said. “I’m not teaching you how to masturbate.”

“Sorry.” I replied. “When you put it that way, it does sound weird. I thought maybe girls share tips and tricks on that kind of stuff.”

Alexis starts laughing. “Vic, you and Nicole are going to be the death of me. You both are nuts. How do I find myself in these crazy situations?”

I shrugged. I recalled what Nicole said to me in the shower yesterday, that Lexi secretly loves the drama, and loves complaining about it.

“OK Vic.” she said. “I’m only doing this because I like you, and because you’re continually making my life… not boring” She paused for a moment. She swallowed hard. Her face was red with embarrassment. “From what I saw, you looked like you were all over the place. Try slowing down. Focus more on your body. Find your sensitive spots. Everyone has different spots. The spots that worked on your male body may not work on this one. Also. Some women require more of a… emotional connection with their imagery.”

“Emotional connection?”

“Yeah. you know.. In love.”

“Oh. So generic porn might not work with this body?”

“Yeah - I couldn’t even tell you her taste in porn, so don’t ask. Nicole and Tyler have had sex. She hasn’t gone into details with me. So I know she’s capable of getting hers.”

“So If I thought about… Tyler? No. I couldn’t do that. I can’t.”

“You’re the one who asked.”

“Anything else?”

“Well, if all else fails you can try this.” She opened her drawer, pushed aside folded bras and pulled out a giant blue vibrator.

“Holy Shit” I said, my eyes widening at the size of it. That’s bigger than my dick.

“Right. He’s a beauty.”

I reached out to touch it and she slapped my hand away. 

“No! Get your own!” She deposited it back into her drawer. “Let’s discontinue this conversation. Any more and I won’t be able to look at you or Nicole the same way ever again.”