I watched as Eli got more and more distraught, by round six he’d only hit five pins in total. His confidence had left the building, eyes glassy and empty from humiliation. The worst part was that no one but him cared that he sucked at bowling. Aria looked at me, pleading with her eyes as she motioned for me to help him. I sighed before getting up next to Eli, his hands cramping as he held the bowling ball in his small grasp.

- Do you mind if I show you how to bowl easier?

- E-Eh...fine. Don’t think that will help much though.

I simply took a hold of the bowling ball he’d chosen, the size and weight was way off for his build, as I picked a newer and better one. After I gave him the new ball, I positioned him in front of me, gently assisting him to stand and move correctly. I gently placed my hands on his shoulder and arm to guide the motions of his throw, and guided him into the right position. After a moment or two of this quick step-by-step, he managed to throw a ball that hit 8 pins. He looked back at me, his eyes wide in wonder, smile small but present. I felt my stomach do a flip, as I watched his eyes sparkle, towards me, as I had made him like that. The feeling stayed for the rest of the sets, and even later on during the evening as Aria was crowned winner, after playing her last perfect strike of the evening, me close behind with 18 points. Even though Eli lost amongst us, he was the one who was smiling the widest. I couldn’t help but find myself watching him closely, not possessively but rather curiously. I was both amused and intrigued by the younger, and wanted to get closer to him. As we made our way from the bowling center, I fell into conversation with Caspar and Aria, who were still talking about Caspar’s “bowling technique”.

- I’m just saying, soccer players play soccer, and follow the rules set for the game. Why can’t you do the same?

- Well, I get good results my way, and it’s technically not against any rules. So, why not?

- I think you’re right Caspar. I think it’s nice that you’ve found your own way of doing it.

- Thank you-

- Don’t encourage hiiim!

Aria looked up at me with betrayal written in her eyes. I simply chuckled at their shenanigans, before letting my eyes once again look over towards Eli; Who I realized was watching me as our eyes met and our gazes held for a moment or so before he looked away. I didn’t bother pointing out his behavior, as by now I had realized he was not pleased with having me around. I never liked people assuming that I was a typical alpha, dominant, flamboyant and full of hormones. Though I knew that many people had a good reason to not like alphas, as we weren’t known for our kindness towards the other sexes. Instead of demanding them to change their presumptions of me, I always looked forward to when they realized that I was actually not an alpha asshole. 

The night went by, but not wanting to go home so soon we had all decided to hang out at our favorite burger-joint down the street from the station. We hung out for a few hours there, sharing fries and blowing straws at each other. I found myself laughing a lot, the tension from earlier lifting off of my shoulders pound by pound. 

They all seemed really nice, I watched Simon with his arm slung around Aria’s shoulders, the two whisper-shouting about who’d get the last nugget. I looked over towards Caspar. He was leaning back in the booth, his eyes fixed onto his now-melted ice cream; which he was slowly sticking his left-over cold fries into, making it look like a cholesterol-infused porcupine. I flicked over a stray fry to get his attention, he looked up, his eyes shallow and confused.

I motioned with my own towards Simon and Aria, before looking back at Caspar with a slightly quirked eyebrow. He let out a sigh in return, deep from within, his eyes were practically saying “I thought he didn’t like girls. I thought he liked me, maybe?”. I shook my head slightly in exasperation, giving him a look that said, “we both know Simon certainly never showed any interest in other girls, that Aria was likely just a friend and for him to get a fucking grip, you broody little shit”. 

Caspar let his eyebrows rise by the last inquiry, a small huff escaping him as he now shoved down the last cold fry into his gooey ice cream, all with the power of a man whose feelings were as constipated as his lactose intolerant ass would be in a few hours. What a hopeless idiot, I thought to myself. It didn’t take long after that before we were all finally saying our goodbyes, as we were all splitting up and heading home. I found myself walking the last half of the way back with no one but Simon. We both lived in the same complex so we usually ended up going home together most days. 

- I really like them, you know?

- Mm? Yeah, they’re great people to hang-out with.

- You think so too? I’m glad. Caspar didn’t look very happy about it though.

- Well Caspar is a little shit so.

- Yeah. He really is.

- He thinks you and Aria are hitting it off.

- Well... We are?-

- He thinks romantically.

- Oh stop! Aria is gay, and so am I. Caspar is an idiot, why does he care anyway?

- Well. I think we both know why.

Simon let his smile fade slowly, eyes evasive and went quiet for a few blocks. I never pushed, but I knew there was something that always made him step back whenever Caspar and him came up in the conversation. I knew Caspar was completely head-over-heels for Simon, had been since we were small, but Simon had always had his guard up, like an abused dog, frightful of human affection. Simon changed the subject once he spoke up again and I, like always, never asked. It’s just like it’s always been, though I knew it wouldn’t take much more for Caspars resolve to crumble, a wall he’d built and fortified for years and years only for it to crumble from a small lesbian beta girl, with long hair and shiny eyes. I’d feel sorry for him if he hadn’t been hiding himself with his feelings ever since he realized they were even there. 

Simon stepped out on his floor, waving goodbye, before I continued up towards the top floor where me and my family live. I didn’t bother making myself known as I stepped inside, knowing it was only me at home by this hour. Letting myself fall down onto my big, soft bed before closing my eyes, thinking of what would happen once Caspar brakes and confesses to Simon. I was unsure of how it would go, but I was pretty sure Simon dreaded for that day to come.