Clay wasn't really as good at Xbox as he had hoped. I mean, it made sense he wasn't as good as the other guys who had been playing for months or years, but he had hoped he could maybe kill a few monsters.

"That was a lot better!" Bad said as he came over to revive Clay's character for the hundredth time. "Destiny's a tricky game, it's hard to get to know the controls if you've never played Xbox before."

"Yeah." Skeppy agreed as he completely wrecked everything on screen. "It's, like, hard to do."

Bad glared at him as a6d spoke up, "And he's at a lower power level than you guys, so he does less damage and gets hurt faster."

Vincent had his eyes on the screen, but he was absentmindedly petting his cat, Ian, who was purring happily.

Vin continued, "Plus, he doesn't stand much of a chance if Skeppy's Titan wipes out the easy guys first."

Oh, he was doing that? I thought I was just really bad.

"Yeah Skeppy," Bad turned his Warlock to him in the game and used the scolding emote as the boss melted into the floor and the level ended. "You should think about Clay more and let him level up."

Skeppy leaned back and rolled his eyes.

"It's not my fault I'm used to tanking everything because you don't back me up."

"HEY- that's not true I snipe them like cOnStAnTLy and ALSO SKEPPY," he paused a second to make him pay attention, "you would have died like a Billion more times if I wasn't healing you."

"NUH-UH!" Skeppy went for the most childish reply possible and crossed his arms.

"YEAH-HUH!" Bad seemed intent on making his point.

Clay stood up as Bad and Skeppy started another pointless fight.

Honestly they're like an old married couple.

He announced he was going to get some snacks. Only a6d heard him; he had been playing with his cat but he looked up and said, "Hey can you get me some Skittles?"

"Yeah sure." Clay let the sounds of his friend's argument fade away a little bit as he made his way to the kitchen.

He took a deep breath once he was alone and rested his arms on the cool countertop.

Why am I so tired?

I'm probably just anxious about George. He's acting so weird.

I wish I knew why he's avoiding me.

Clay did his best to stop the pity party and distracted himself by looking through the cupboards for food. Maybe I'm overthinking.

But his mind always wondered back to George as he puzzled over his sudden distance.

Maybe he's replacing me with those guys he started talking to. I wasn't a very good friend anyway.

Maybe I was too busy with soccer so he felt ignored. That's probably it. I ignored him. It's my fault.

He let this bitter thought sink in and absentmindedly got more sodas from the fridge.

I hope his new friends are better to him than I was.

He deserves better. Better than me.

George is amazing. He's such a great friend.

The thought of George's happiness brightened Clay's dim mood.

George should always be happy. His smile is so bright; it fills up his whole face and I can't help but smile back. He's shy, but when he laughs it's contagious. He has the best laugh; he giggles and blushes. I want to make him laugh more.

I miss his laugh.

The thought brought it all back crashing down on Clay. How George didn't make eye contact with him anymore. How he left the room when Clay entered. How he always seemed uncomfortable around him now. How he hadn't heard his beautiful laugh in a long time.

Clay's mood was sinking deeper and deeper as accusations swirled in his head.

It's your fault. You ignored him. He was the perfect friend to you but you just pushed him aside to play soccer and be popular. You left him alone. You're so selfish. You didn't even deserve him in the first place and now he hates you. He hates you for what you did to him. You are a terrible, selfish friend and he knows it.

Clay tried to shake the thoughts from his head as he gathered up the drinks and snacks. He turned to go back to Vin, Skeppy, and Bad. They were nice for putting up with him. They didn't really want to invite him over but they took pity on him. He didn't even deserve their pity; they helped distract him but he didn't appreciate them for it.

No, I do. They're my friends. They like me. We all tell jokes and enjoy each other's company. I don't have to be "worthy" to have them as friends.

I don't feel the same around them as George, but George is different.

I can't compare them to George; they're still trying to help me.

George is gone.

Don't think about him; just hang out with the guys.

Clay suddenly realized he had been standing alone in the kitchen with his arms full of snacks for a good 5 minutes.

He could really get lost in thought sometimes.

Clay made an effort to start walking back to the others.

I should do something to repay them for inviting me.

He ran right into Bad's mom.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, sorry I wasn't looking." Clay said, flustered and mad at himself for not paying attention.

She waved him off with a smile, "Oh, don't worry about it; it's not the first time I've been bumped into." She caught sight of all the food he was holding. "You are a very sweet young man for taking all that to the others; make sure Darryl says thank you, okay?"

Clay was embarrassed. It really wasn't a big deal.

"It's no problem, ma' am. Thank you for letting me stay over."

"Oh sure! I'm glad Darryl has a friend like you," she said.

Maybe I can ask her-

He opened his mouth but the words died on his tongue.

"It's no problem." He said again, moving past her and smiling widely. "Thanks again!"

She replied, "of course." But Clay was already speed-walking away, berating himself for choking on his words.

"Bad can come to my house."

Not very hard to say, is it?

It shouldn't be hard to say.

He continued into the basement and resolved to ask them all if they wanted to stay over at his house sometime.

But as he walked in he stopped, all the snacks falling from his arms.

(1099 words)