Eric’s girlfriend.

Turns out this girl, Maya, is actually pretty chatty. We didn’t have to do much to get her to tell us about herself, and after she started talking, all I had to do was confirm whether or not she was telling the truth or if there was something she was hiding.

“Yeah, I’m a sophomore in university,” Maya told us after Mila asked. “Majoring in business, sadly.”

“Not your first choice?” Mila asked her.

“My parents’ first choice.”

Noelle grimaced. “I’m on that boat, too.”

“Sucks, doesn’t it?” Despite her words, Maya kept a cheerful attitude. “Still, not like I had a path for myself, so I’m just going along for now. Enjoying my freedom while it lasts. Other than that, I have plenty of freedom. It’s fun.”

“Are you living on your own?” I asked her, trying to get in the conversation.

“I’m renting a place with my cousin.”

So far, all true. I was confident I was reading her right. Then, without shame, Mila asked the important questions.

“So… Am I getting this right? Are you two dating?” Mila grinned teasingly, eyeing both Maya and Eric.

Eric tensed up, and it was easy to understand why. The dude didn’t even know if they were officially dating. Would Maya confirm or deny it?

“Yeah, we’ve been going out for… Is it three months already?” she asked Eric, looking at him for confirmation.

Eric nodded. “Y-Yeah, three months.”

“Well, look at you, my guy…” Mila laughed and gave him a thumbs up. “So? How’d you meet?”

“Oh, you know, just a dating app. We matched because of our taste in music.”

Noelle chuckled. “Dating apps work?”

“Yeah, I didn’t believe it would, either, but…” Maya smiled. “I think we hit it off really quickly. Eric is an amazing drummer, too.”

I saw Eric blush. I set down my drink and nodded in agreement. “He is. He’s very consistent and has very solid rudiments.”

Eric had to do a double take after hearing me say that. “A-Are you serious?”

I nodded again. “Yeah.”

“Right, you guys were in the music club together. What do you play, Oliver?” Maya asked me.

“Guitar.” And I was learning bass and ocarina, but I had to avoid drawing the conversation to myself. “Do you play any instruments?”

Maya laughed. “No, no! I tried when I was younger, but it was too hard and I didn’t have the patience for it. I still think it’s the coolest thing, though.”

“What do you do for fun? Beside listening to music, I mean,” Mila asked.

“Oh, I play VTM with some friends, like, every week, if possible.”

“VTM?” Mila asked.

“Wait, that vampire table top game?” Noelle asked.

Maya beamed. “Oh, you know it?”

“Um… I’ve played a video game based on it,” Noelle said. “I don’t know if I could play the TTRPG, though.”

“What’s with all these acronyms? I don’t get it,” Mila said, pouting.

“Table Top Role Playing Games,” I told her. “Kind of like board games but with a lot more freedom to do whatever you want.”

“The grown up way to play pretend, basically,” Maya said, laughing.

I think that’s when it hit Eric in the head. “W-Wait, is that what you do when you... go out with your friends?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah. Didn’t I tell you? Oh wow, I think I didn’t. Sorry I didn’t invite you, but we’ve had that group for like a year, so…”

“N-No, no. I get it, don’t worry.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

Mila, Noelle and I looked at each other. Or more like they looked at me to confirm what they had just guessed. And yeah, that pretty much gave us the answer we’d been looking for.

Maya was telling the truth. When she went out with her own group of friends, she was getting together to play a table top RPG. I felt fairly confident that, if something of sexual or romantic nature was happening during those gatherings, I would’ve felt it when she mentioned it. The lingering emotions of sexual encounters are strong enough to remain in the subconscious for a while, though I’d learn that later. At that moment, I just felt confident she wasn’t doing anything behind Eric’s back. Especially because…

Well, I wouldn’t call it love or even infatuation, but she did like him a lot. There was admiration in her voice when she spoke of him playing drums, and she thought about him when she said she thought playing instruments was cool. Safe to say, most of it was just Eric’s insecurities, which again, I don’t really blame him for. But considering how easily she told him what she was doing with her friends… Yeah, the guy needed to learn to talk to her more.

Also, regarding Eric himself, it seemed pretty obvious even without having to read his feelings, but he was more focused on Maya than anyone else. Whatever it was he felt for Noelle was gone, and I’d bet they weren’t even that strong to begin with, but I’m not about to pass judgment on people’s feelings.

At one point, Maya had to go to the restroom and Mila and Noelle took the opportunity to go with her. By then I'd already been made privy to the secret of women going to the restroom together, so I didn’t have to speculate that Mila was trying to get more info out of Maya.

That meant I was left alone with Eric, and I took the chance to tell him everything I had noticed.

“So… You’re saying she’s not cheating on me? How are you so sure?” Eric asked me. “You’ve talked to her for like 15 minutes.”

“You can either believe me or not, but I have my methods and I have no reason to lie to you. Besides, all I said was that nothing she said was a lie and that she genuinely seems to like you. Her gatherings with her friends are just as she said, get-togethers to play table top games. She told you so herself. You need to talk to her more.”

“Easy for you to say. If you fuck up with one of your girlfriends you have like five more in reserve…”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Eric, you’re lucky I sympathize with you because if not I would fucking break your nose for saying that.” Eric flinched. “I know you don’t want to screw up, I know this means a lot to you, but you can’t treat her like a thing you own and are afraid to lose so you’d rather keep it under lock. I’m not saying this because I have six girlfriends, I’m saying this because I have six friends to whom I could ask questions about this kind of stuff.”

Eric groaned and rubbed his face. “Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean that. It’s just… I don’t want to lose her.”

“...” I felt like there were plenty of things I could say to that, but this was all stuff he had to understand for himself. Telling him more, especially coming from the guy in a weird yet stable relationship, would only make everything worse. “Well, I promised I’d help, and this is as much as I can do. She’s telling you the truth, and if you still doubt her after that, then that’s your choice.”

“...”

I got a text in the middle of that. Sarah, Grace and Alice were on their way to the mall, and a moment later the girls came back. We finished up our drinks and Eric and Maya excused themselves and went on their way.

This is one of those awkward moments that just doesn’t wrap up neatly, is it? Eric at least texted later.

-Eric: Hey, thanks. Really. And… I’m sorry for what I said.

Might have not been great, but I still don’t regret it.

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