Page 17 of Oblivious Roommate

It feels weird to stalk him, but I have good intentions, and that’s what counts, right?

“Change of plans,” I tell Aaron. “Just make sure Logan stays here.”

And with that, I follow Cass out of the room, already feeling the weight of what I was about to do. What if Cass recognizes me once I conduct my experiment? What if he shoves me away and tears off my mask?

It could be the end of our long friendship, the end of the best thing in my life.

But I can’t back down, so I trail his tall silhouette in green past the dancefloor in the main room, past an area full of people chatting in small groups, all the way into the night outside.

We’re on the other side of the frat house, and I’m certain he’s seeking a bit of peace and quiet, but there’s music here too. Not the pop booming inside the building though. Here, the air trembles with low, spooky tones. Ahead is the main attraction of the party—a labyrinth built of fabric-clad metal fencing. I saw it get a lot of traffic earlier, due to it being used as a fundraiser, but now only a few stragglers linger in front of it, waiting for their turn to enter.

And Cass is headed straight for the entrance. All on his own. I couldn’t have dreamed up a more perfect setup. I take the plastic mace with rubber spikes off my back and follow him into the darkness.

The walls of the labyrinth are illuminated by small lanterns, but all I focus on is the Robin Hood not far ahead of me. I am a troll now, not Matt, and if I manage to separate myself from what I’m about to do, I’ll get the most objective outcome.

The idea of me being gay is still kinda incomprehensible, but yeah, I did watch some gay porn the other day. I felt extremely weird about it, and decided to not jerk off to it, in case I could condition myself to like it.

But I did get hard rather fast when I allowed myself to look instead of frantically clicking away from the website like I normally would.

The instrumental, unsettling music becomes dominant now that we’re farther from the party house, but while I hear other people’s voices, all I see is the tall silhouette ahead, barely a shadow in this alternative reality.

The labyrinth is the perfect place to let myself do something I’d never do in my real life.

My Robin looks back, and while I can’t see his expression in the low light, he misses a step, as if he were startled by my presence. Something about it makes his heart skip a beat and my stomach tightens.

I speed up.

The platform boots make it hard to not fall behind, but I take turn after turn to avoid losing him. I’m sweaty under the foam muscles and the face mask, but none of it matters. I have to at least try to go through with my plan. I can’t force Cass into anything, obviously, but if he goes for it, it won’t be my fault.

The lights make me dizzy, the spooky music pumps adrenaline into my veins, but I never stop moving, as if there’s someone chasing me.

Even though I’m the one hunting the green-eyed Robin Hood.

I take the next turn to find the long alley ahead empty, and my heart almost stops.

Think, I tell myself, peeking into a short side alley that leads nowhere. I stomp toward the next, following it all the way to where it ends.

He’s there, waiting at the end of the blind alley. His bow is out, loaded with an arrow aimed straight at me.

“Who are you?” he asks, standing tall and proud.

I step closer. “I troll!”

My voice doesn’t tremble even though my heart does. It’s weird to be taller than him, but the platform shoes give me that edge and I take another step closer.

His hands twitch, and for a moment I worry that he might be frightened, but Cass is the kind of guy who sleeps alone in the woods and isn’t afraid of anything, so he’s likely playing a role, like me.

“What do you want, troll?” he asks as I approach, for once watching him from above.

“Toll!” I grunt with my shoulders squared and walk into his rubber arrow, making it bend against my chest armor.

He’s so close now I can smell the mint and rosemary on him, and while his face remains shadowed I can still see the contour of his nose and brow line. Is it just me or has his breath quickened?

“What is the toll?”

I can’t believe I’m actually going through with this.

I lean down to his face and sniff him, reminding myself this is the troll in action, not me. I have no reason to want to lick his face.