Rui wasn't a man of spite or a simple grudge, not when everyone wronged him.

Not that that was necessary considering his parents had never wronged him.

He didn't wish for them to suffer or feel any type of pain they didn't deserve.

"How was your day?"

That dreaded question.

"Oh, fine."

Same tone every day, same smile every day, and his parents always smiled back.

If only they knew tha this day was not... good.

If only he wouldn't feel guilty for telling them that he indeed did not have a good day, and his friends were scripted, just like the scripts he reads.

And he gets backed into a corner.

The lies spiral, and he adds more detail to this world and these ideas to make them more believable a real.

A partner, now he had a partner.

They met on the roof, a few months ago, at lunch time.

They gave him some daisies they'd picked from the school field...

And then his mother says...

"I'd love to meet them, I'm sure I'd love anyone who can make my son happy."

He had to oblige, he was a nothing if not a people pleaser at the end of the day.

And so he finds an acquaintance, a word he didn't use much, and yet was a low bar for him.

Anyone that didn't so much as grimace of turn away counted as one.

At least they knew he existed...?

He couldn't speak these humiliating words, they got stuck in his throat.

So he pens them down, in writing on the neater side compared to the usual rushed mess.

'If you could pretend to be my partner for dinner at mine on Wednesday...'

Theres a few scrribbled out words, and then a small, scruffy smiley face.

'I'd be in your debt. -Rui.'

And he looks away.

He already felt shame for this, and you hadn't even reacted yet.

How pathetic could he be...