A classmate recommends it

Something was up with a classmate of mine, but I couldn't put my fingers to it.

When Edwin entered the room, he looked anxious, his eyes darting all over the place. Though he tried to make it pass as normal, his hands were constantly hovering around his groin, as if trying to obscure it from view. He'd placed his bag on top of his lap before class actually started, but Ms. Richards called him out on it, and demanded that he placed his bag back on the ground, just like the rest of us students.

That made me chortle. I really didn't understand what made him act that way. The guy was hung like a horse! With little effort, the nerdy boy with glasses could take any girl to bed if he wanted. It was a more pressing question whether the girl could take him as well.

I shook my head. It was probably unhealthy to obsess over another guy's junk like that, even if it was only, purely, out of envy.

Averting my eyes from the smaller boy's junk, I saw him staring daggers at me, his cheeks red and flustered, like I had uncovered a dirty secret of his.

Nothing I could do about what was already glaringly obvious Ed. With how the boy was seated, it was impossible not to notice the size of his balls between his furry thighs.

Ah well, if it is any consolation for you big guy, my lips are sealed. Not like I would want to talk about his girth to my friends or anything. What would they think of me?

***

Time went its merry way, and after forty-five minutes, our first lesson of the day was over. History was always a slump, especially on the Mondays.

Edwin had sent several looks my way during class, but nothing that brought me out of my concentration whatsoever. It seemed like he wanted to talk to me during class, but Ms. Richards had once again reprimanded him when he first whispered my name.

Instead, he'd decided to wait until the end of class to approach me. As I was packing my bags, I heard the tell-tale sound of hooves clopping in my direction, indicating his approach.

"Hey, Bryce?"

I looked up at him, giving him a nod. "That's my name. Good to know you haven't forgotten it."

"Yeah." He said, timidly. "It's not like we can talk much during class. And we haven't worked together in any group assignments either. It's not that easy making conversation with someone when there isn't much reason to start one."

"In my eyes, it's also because you are kind of hard to approach. A bit of a loner, no offense."

He paused, and he pulled his lips taut, his expression mirthless. I got the idea that our talk ended there, but despite my little jab he pressed on, his fingers drumming on my desk.

"Say," he began, "the reason you were looking at me in class, was it because you noticed something... off about me?"

I paused. I felt my face flush in embarrassment. I mean, he did notice me looking after all. It was kind of obvious he would approach me because of that. He said it himself, there is not much else him and I could talk about. Me and most of my friends, we are part of the athletics team, a close-knit group in our school. Edwin... I wasn't even sure he was in any club. With the way he looked he didn't seem much of a sporty type either. There were bags under his eyes, his face was acne-ridden, and there was no sign of a tan on him, despite the warm summer we'd had.

Edwin looked at me expectantly. I decided to give him an honest answer, hopefully not betraying too much of my envy.

"You were acting weird when you entered class, that's all." Wanting to preventing further inquiry, I quickly landed another unnecessary comment on his person. "Not that it should've bothered me. It's probably just normal behaviour coming from you."

Throwing my backpack over my shoulder, I landed a parting glance, seeing his tail swish past his hip, before I stepped out of the classroom, hurrying towards my next class.

***

In all honesty, I lied. About my friends that is.

Not all of them are part of the athletics team. Some of them, I actually know from before I entered high school. One of them, and my only girl friend, I had Math class with during second period. Her name is Lea.

She has been a godsend for me when it comes to studying for important math tests. Her brain is filled with equations and solutions I cannot even begin to fathom. I felt so lucky that this year, we were yet again in the same math class. My parents' support for being part of the athletics team entirely depended on Lea's help in solving the complex problems we had to learn for this class.

Lea is bound to start a study in STEM once she graduates, and she has my full support. I admit to liking her for more reasons than her willingness to help me during math class. We have known each other since elementary, our parents became friends, and with them occassionally visiting each other's houses during our youth, that automatically made us playmates.

But where Lea is a serious fit for a great university, I struggle with several high school courses, and I only do track as a hobby and to keep up fitness. Lea is about as tall as I am, which does not bode well for my own height as a guy. In spite of it all, or perhaps exactly because she seemed to surpass me in basically everything, I have come to grow a crush on her.

I landed my backpack on top of my desk, right next to Lea. She startled from the thump. "Bryce! That scared me."

Ignoring her scolding, I gave my crush a bright smile, delivering some good news to her.

"I got my grade back up again, thanks to your help."

Lea gasped. "The assignment from last week? Did we finally get the grades?"

"Yup." I cheered.

Having sat down, I froze up as Lea embraced me in a one-armed hug. Not really knowing how to respond, I patted her back in a fashion that felt more akin to a tap-out in ring-fighting.

"Bryce, that is amazing news! And you are so welcome!"

It was funny how she cheered up immediately, as if my grades, rather than her own, were the ones to brighten her day.

"You happy?" I asked.

She hummed. "It means I get to cheer you on again during track meet come Friday."

"I will beat the opposition for you." I replied. "First place finish, new personal record. Though you may do the counting on the latter."

Lea laughed, patting my shoulder. "Seriously Bryce," she looked me in the eyes and grinned at me. "Helping you with math is nice, but it feels even more rewarding knowing that you like studying with me, and that you want to put effort into doing well with me in this class."

She leaned forward in her chair a little. "With dedication like that, you deserve a reward," teased Lea with a wink.

I scrunched up my face in mock-disgust and surprise. Sputtering, I replied, "you're a weird flirt sometimes Lea!"

I was rewarded some laughter again, and my friend worked on ordering her desk as class was about to begin. In all honesty though, I was still hoping that there was some truth in that offer.

***

"So... You and Lea. How long has that been a thing?"

I froze. Then I turned my head to see Edwin of all people staring at me with a shit-eating grin.

Glaring at him, I responded. "Whatever 'thing' you think me and my friend have, you are wrong."

Edwin mulled over this, before he offered a strange, mysterious suggestion.

"What if I told you, Bryce, that just a few days ago, I discovered something that could help you with whatever relationship problems you currently have with your 'friend'?"

"I would call your bluff." Was my snobbish remark.

He fumbled with something in his pocket, clearly having trouble getting it out of there - which was understandable with how tight the jeans he was wearing were - until he conjured up his smartphone. He opened it, and then revealed his screen to me, showing an unfamiliar app.

"It is called the Monkey Paw Interactive, MPI for short." He said in a low voice. "I think that, beside you and me, there is nobody else in this school that knows about it. After all, I only discovered it after I accessed the Deep Web."

I snorted. Yet despite myself, I couldn't help but feel intrigued by his story. Without needing further prompting he continued.

"Bryce, I am telling you here and now: this app can actually grant wishes. Any wish that you type in this little text bubble, whatever it is, it comes true."

"Really now?" I asked him, mostly sarcastically.

"On my scout's honour, I am telling you the truth." He promised.

"Well here's the thing, Edwin. I simply do not believe you. And even if I did, there are still two things to consider. One: I don't exactly know why you would tell me all this. After all, we aren't friends, let alone ever talk to each other. Two: there is quite frankly nothing I could think to wish for at this moment in time, as there is nothing between me and Lea going on, and even less that you need to be concerned about, ever."

Rather than glare back at me as I passed him, headed for yet another class, he kept his smile up. "Just humour me Bryce," he called after me, grabbing my shoulder to stop me. "After all, what harm can be done when typing out an innocent wish? According to yourself, none of this is real, let alone possible, to begin with."

There was a pause in my step.

Edwin patted my back as he passed by me himself. "I'll send you the link tonight." He whispered in my ear. Then he trotted off, his tail lazily swishing behind him.

School passed by quickly that day.

***

At eleven PM that same evening, I had finished my homework for tomorrow, I was done with my shower, and I'd gotten ready for bed.

My bedroom lights were already dimmed, so it was pitch-black in my room. Underneath my covers, I checked my phone for messages one last time that night.

I had received one new message. It was an unknown number.

Clicking on it, I saw that the number in question had sent me a link, to yet another unfamiliar website. The link's URL revealed a familiar term.

Monkey Paw Interactive.

Finally, it clicked to me. Edwin had in fact sent me a link to that strange website of his.

I scoffed, before putting my phone on its charger and relaxing in my bed, getting ready for sleep.

Yet for the next fifteen minutes, sleep wouldn't come.

My admittedly tired mind went over multiple scenarios at once, all of them pointing back towards the conversation I'd had with the weird nerd from History class.

'What if?' My thoughts seemed to constantly ask me.

After several blinks, my eyes adjusting to the brightness of my phone screen, I was met with the mysterious website that called itself, in bold letters, the Monkey Paw Interactive. All it showed was a text bubble, and in the background, an unpleasant looking transparent image of an unfortunate primate's detached limb.

Before I knew it, I had typed out a line of text inside the app's small text bubble.

"I wish my crush would be my girlfriend." It read. I decided to write down 'my crush', since I did not know how specific I had to be. Or how vague. My crush is not the only girl in the world called Lea after all.

Of course, I debated all this in my had with some healthy skepticism as an afterthought. None of this could possibly work, after all.

Remarkably, the text bubble's outline turned red, and I received a warning message back.

"Rule #1: Free will is holy." It read. Tapping on the red text, it clarified how I could not other people into doing something in case my wish was granted. They could not be or into doing what I wanted regardless of what I wished for, so to speak. Thinking about it, it hadn't even registered to me how the app knew to interpret my words as violating its own rules. Somebody had to be manning it from behind the curtain.

Thinking nothing of it, I decided to try rephrasing my wish a little.

"I wish I could have sex with my crush."

There. As blunt as it was, with some luck its phrasing would skirt around the app's oddly specific guidelines.

What I received, was a warning message about the violation of yet another rule.

"Rule #2: No use of bad/vulgar language allowed."

Of course, it saw the word 'sex', as a violation of their second rule. Ever more curious, I decided to make this a little puzzle before going to sleep. Let's try to phrase my wish in such a way that I could get exactly what I wanted, without violating any of the MPI's rules.

After several tries, I managed it.

"I wish I could get in my crush's pants."

The text bubble turned green, and I received yet another message from the app.

"Wish granted, ... "