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Marcy did her best to keep calm, but it was hard to avoid the sweat forming on her brow. She was never this anxious in a game store. This hub of nerdery and gaming goodness was usually the most relaxing place on earth, next to libraries, bookstores, school campuses and the comfort of her friend’s homes, but today, she could only feel the searing gazes of every occupant of the building at once.
Even though that topped out at 3 pairs of eyes, one of which was patiently waiting for her to voice her request at the check-out counter.
“So… can I help you, or…?”
Marcy swallowed. This conversation would be painful, yes, but necessary. The items of her desire were locked behind a cabinet, and she needed to speak to the woman with the key. And so, breathing deep, after a seemingly excruciating amount of time had passed, she spit it out.
“Can I get two sets of Swap controllers? Specifically the pink and green, and the blue and green? If they’re in stock, of course!”
She smiled tensely. The cashier quirked an eyebrow, but nodded anyway. She quietly turned to the display case behind her, opening the latch and sliding the glass door out of the way of Marcy’s prize. She grabbed two boxes, each no bigger than her journal, and set them on the counter. Marcy looked on them, and smiled. She was one step closer to her dream, and she could hardly believe it had been that eas–
“That’ll be 180 dollars and 89 cents. Tax included.”
… Of course there’d be a hitch. Marcy sighed before pulling out her wallet. Good thing she’d gotten first place at that robotics tournament last month, or she’d have been in trouble. Now to come up with an explanation for nearly two hundred missing dollars to her parents…
Marcy Wu was losing her cool, which is to say, she was losing what little cool she had left, which wasn’t much to begin with. But how could she stay calm? She was so close to completing her mission; one whose outcome would determine the rest of her life, or end it, if things went particularly badly.
She knew it was the anxiety talking. Logically, things were almost certain to at least end on an amicable, if awkward, note. But she was struggling, really struggling, to find a route that didn’t at least humiliate her. At this point, it was too late to back out. And so, she soldiered on to the two people she wanted to see more than anything in the world, and prayed to whatever was listening that she could summon the words, and that her gesture would be received as she wanted it to.
Anne and Sasha were found outside. The tennis courts on campus were often crowded with students, seeing as it was so close to the buses, but today it was mercifully abandoned, save for her two friends. Her two… good friends. She started shaking, her heartbeat betraying her in her moment of need. She took a couple of deep breaths, and started walking towards them, boxes in hand.
Sasha was the first to notice, as she was facing her when she arrived. She waved and gave a wink. “Yo, Marcy! What up, girl?” she said in a sing-song tone. Marcy’s breath caught in her throat. She loved the sound of her voice. She had to get a hold of herself, though, or everything would be ruined. She got closer, and Anne turned to see her.
“Hey, Marcy! How’s it hanging?”
The sweetness of her oldest friend’s voice was like honey to her. Her knees almost buckled as she watched her auburn eyes look over her. “Uh, I-I’m good! Th-thanks for asking!”
Anne tilted her head, as a curious puppy might, and she squinted at Marcy. “Is everything ok? You sound a little…”
“Nervous. She sounds nervous,” Sasha helpfully finished for Anne. Anne shot her a glare, and Sasha huffed, but said nothing else.
Marcy knew they were onto her. It was now or never. She slowly closed the distance between them, and handed them the boxes she had purchased. “I… I got you guys something!”
Hesitantly, the two shared a glance, and then reached for their gifts. Anne’s eyes went wide as she realized what they were.
“Woah, dude, new controllers?! Don’t these things cost a fortune?!”
“Yeah, but it’s worth it for you two! I’ve, uh… been saving up.”
Sasha coughed to get her attention. “Thanks, Mar-mar, but uh… neither of us have a Swap.”
“Yeah, Sasha,” Anne said, turning to her, “but now we can play more games with Marcy! Right?” She looked back to their mutual friend, eyes silently searching for a nod or other validating signifier.
Marcy sighed a little. Of course the gesture wouldn’t be obvious. She had gone out of her way to be vague about it. But it still stung a little that something so obvious to her was going over their heads. Despite the momentary frustration, she pushed ahead; after all, she had planned for this outcome.
“Well, do you wanna open them? To, uh… test them out?”
“Really? Here?” Sasha quipped, earning an elbow to the side from Anne.
“Why not?” Anne asked, always negotiating. “Marcy has her Swap. You have it, right?”
Marcy nodded. “Always! Here, let me just get it…” She slowly slipped off her backpack, not turning to look in it, as she was far more concerned with the girls who were opening their own boxes. Anne had received the pink and green controllers. Sasha was unboxing the blue and green ones. And Marcy had just laid hold of the Swap in her bag, with its red and blue controllers, when they found the items she had secretly placed within each one before arriving.
When they pulled out the controllers, still wrapped in their protective packaging, a small gacha capsule fell out of each of them. Anne and Sasha moved as one to grab them as they rolled away. Picking up hers, Anne held it close to her face and inspected the blue container.
“What? How did this get in here? Isn’t this one of those vending machine prizes?”
Sasha looked at hers, with a red bottom and a clear plastic top. “Hey, there’s something in mine. It looks like a… ring?”
The words died on her lips as Sasha turned to look at Marcy, who was all of a sudden on one knee. Anne followed her eyes downward, and her eyes widened as her jaw went slack.
Inside, Marcy was screaming, but it was too late to stop now. They were putting together the pieces. It was time to do this. She inhaled through the nose, and cleared her throat.
“Anne, Sasha, you two are… my best friends. I’ve never met a pair of people so… perfect for me. Despite a lot of ups and downs, you guys stuck by me. I can never thank you enough for that. But now, I have a confession. Don’t worry, it won’t be like last time…” She tried to chuckle at her own bad joke, despite the welling fear in her heart. Anne smiled a little, and Sasha even snorted. A good sign. She pressed on…
“… I have… in recent months… realized something about myself. In hindsight, it should’ve been obvious, but feelings are… difficult to understand. They aren’t always logical, and they rarely can be predicted with any accuracy.” She looked up to see confused faces staring back. She had to get to the point. “What I’m trying to say is… and this might be shocking to you two…”
She inhaled one last time, and all at once, she ripped the band-aid off. “I HAVE A CRUSH ON YOU GUYS!”
Sasha’s jaw fell, and the ring and box along with it. Thank goodness for the bubble wrap… Anne, meanwhile, brought up a hand to cover her mouth. Marcy wasn’t sure if it was the light, but she thought there might be tears in her eyes. Not good. This was not good. She had to hurry and wrap this up, so she could at least try to explain. But she had to get to the point first.
“I know this is big. I’m sorry for dropping it on you guys like this out of nowhere, but this is something I can’t hide anymore. I understand if you guys don’t feel the same…” She wiped a tear away. “But I couldn’t hide it anymore. So, I guess I just have a question for you two.”
She undocked her controllers, and held up her barren Swap to the objects of her deepest affection. Her voice trembled, but she still asked:
“Wanna sync with me?”
There was… a pause.
The still air carried the sounds of Marcy’s heavy breathing, a stark contrast to the breathless silence Anne and Sasha stood in. They looked to Marcy, then the ground, then each other. And then, back to Marcy.
Marcy could feel the tears running down her face, feel the sting in her eyes, but she kept them open, kept her stupid, goofy smile up, because confidence was key, right? Even if the world felt like it was crumbling under her every second they avoided responding. Even if her heart felt like it was burning again as they took their precious time telling her to go away. Even as her lungs felt like they’d never have enough air as she realized that saving her from an evil newt and being her girlfriends were completely different things, and of course they wouldn’t say yes, what was she thinking, had she lost her mind?!
But Sasha stepped forward, and shook her head, laughing. She was LAUGHING. Marcy’s smile broke. She never thought Sasha was THAT cruel, but maybe she should’ve expected–
“Marcy Wu, you are perhaps the biggest dork alive!” She sighed, and picked up the controllers she had dropped earlier. She carefully unwrapped them, and slid them into the docks on the sides with a satisfying click.
Marcy could only stare slack-jawed. Sasha kneeled down to look her in the eye, and wiped a tear away with an index finger.
“You’re a dork with really pretty eyes, though.”
Marcy blushed hard, shocked and confused, but mostly delighted. Her smile came back with a new strength, but she still stole a look in Anne’s direction. To her delight, she was walking over, too. And she was smiling just as wide.
Anne carefully detached Sasha’s controllers, and gently placed her own in the slots. “So… does this count as a ‘yes,’ or do I still need to say it?”
Marcy put the Swap down, and stood up to grab both of them in the biggest hug.
“I’m dreaming, I have to be. It was a long shot to get one of you to say ‘yes,’ but both of you? ” She looked at her girls, now her partners, and let the tears flow, now shed in joy.
“What can we say, you’re our best friend, Marce.” Sasha leaned in and placed a kiss on Marcy’s cheek, turning her face a beet red.
Anne gawked. “Sasha?!”
“What? If we’re dating, you’re gonna have to get used to it, Annie.”
Marcy gently touched the place where Sasha had kissed her. It felt warm, still. She liked it. But she barely had time to register that before Anne grabbed the sides of her face and kissed her on the mouth. She sunk into it, losing the fight almost immediately, letting her lips be embraced by those of her sweetheart. And all too soon, Anne pulled away, beaming at a mortified Sasha.
“You’re right. Guess we’ll have to get used to it, huh, Marcy?”
Marcy was too dazed to respond. Anne barely had a second to catch her when she passed out afterward. Sasha shook her head and watched as Anne tried to fan her new girlfriend off.
“I’m dating such a nerd. There goes what cred I had left.” She smiled despite herself.
Marcy’s plan worked. And now, her players two and three would stick even closer than before, fitting together better than the controllers on her Swap. It was better than she could have ever asked for.