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"A frat party, you fool. Not that you'd know what that is."
"I've watched American Pie. I know exactly what that is," she said accusatorially.
Interesting. That at least told Raf she'd never been to college. He assumed she was around his age from what they had talked, but neither had ever revealed a number. That would be too personal.
"Watching and going to one are two completely different things. Nerd," he didn't know why he said that, mostly because he wanted to one up her, but the word came out teasingly, almosttooteasingly.
"Well, if you're so busy what are you doing on the server? Go to your frat party and leave me alone," she mumbled in annoyance.
"It's a Friday night. You're really not doing anything?" He felt compelled to ask as he detected a hint of sadness in her voice.
"My family is strict," she said matter-of-factly. "I can't go out as I like."
He nodded in understanding. He knew what that was like. If he'd been living at home, his mother would have never allowed him to go anywhere.
"Well, I'll think about you at the party," he forced a laugh.
"You're not going anywhere, are you?"
"What do you mean, of course I am!"
"Come on, Blue. I rather think we're more alike than you care to admit," she added, almost chastising him.
And it was this precise reason why he thought she was around the same age as him, maybe older. She displayed a maturity and self-awareness that he hadn't encountered before. And it fascinated him.
"I was invited to one, ok?" he eventually admitted. "But I'm not sure I'm going yet. Maybe…" he mumbled under his breath.
"Why wouldn't you go? Go out and have fun for us mere mortals too. You can come back and tell me if American Pie lied or not about what goes there."
"I'm not sure," he sighed. "I don't know anyone there. I'm not…popular," he forced the words out, admitting his weakness.
"So? Does it matter what they think? You're not going there to make them happy. You're going there for yourself. So put on your big boy pants and go!"
"You're very bossy, aren’t you?" he smiled.
"Damn, Blue, don't tell me you've fallen for me already," she chided playfully.
"No way. You're not my type. I happen to like shy, meek girls," he retorted, though he didn't have the vaguest idea about what he liked. And if he were honest with himself, curiouscat wasn't so bad. She was…real. As ironic as that sounded, she was more real than anyone he'd ever met, regardless that she was just a digitized voice coming out of his computer.
"Of course you would. You need someone to submit to your tyrannical will, don't you?" she asked pointedly, but somewhere along the line, their bickering had lost its edge. It was now a comfortable teasing that didn't fail to put a smile on his face.
"Are you offering?"
"In your dreams," she huffed. "Now log off and go party! I'll be waiting for your stories."
No sooner did she finish her words than her avatar went offline.
Rafaelo supposed it was her way of emphasizing he needed to go out into the world. And maybe… Maybe he did.
He spent another hour dithering before he finally decided to give it a try.
After all, how bad could it be?
Taking a shower, he chose a pair of dark jeans and a clean, white shirt. He'd heard that the polite etiquette to such parties was to bring something to drink, so before he headed to the party, he made a stop at a liquor shop that didn't card. He didn't have a fake ID, and he didn't want to go through the trouble of getting one—not when he risked being found out by his family. And that was the last thing he needed.
He bought a bottle of the more expensive vodka he could find to show his thanks for the invite before going to the frat house.
By the time he made it there, he was right on the dot.
