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Dakota paced around his dorm room, trembling, on the verge of tears. He didn’t want to leave for winter break, especially not since his parents live so far away. He hates plane rides, especially when he has to go on them alone. The chains that were on his black leather jacket in the pattern of a ribcage and spine jingled as he paced around the cluttered room.
Then there was a knock at the door, with it opening shortly after.
“Kota? You alright man?” A familiar voice spoke, grabbing him by the hand, getting him to stop pacing.
“Mapicc?” Dakota quickly looked over, immediately pulling him into a hug. “Just… stressed.”
“Stressed about what, exactly?” Mapicc slowly hugged his friend back, a look that was a mixture of confusion and sympathy on his face.
“I don’t wanna go home. I have plane tickets to fly back on Saturday. I might be flying home then, but I’m not going home.” He buried his face in Mapicc’s shoulder. “Everything I thought I knew has proven to be wrong.”
“What do you mean by that?” Mapicc tilted his head, rubbing Dakota’s back gently.
“My dad isn’t my bio dad, I don’t… I don’t know who it is or how to explain it.”
“Do you think your mom had an affair?”
“I don’t know what happened, all I know is that about 20 years ago my mom did something that made it so that my dad isn’t my bio dad.”
“Is there anything else bothering you? You only get super shaky like that when there’s at least two things on your mind.”
“My name just… doesn’t feel right. Like Dakota doesn’t feel like me anymore. I wanna pick a new one but I just can’t think of anything.” He dropped his arms, letting out an exhausted and distressed sigh.
Mapicc let go of his roommate when the hug was dropped. He sat on his bed, patting a spot next to him, nearly immediately being leaned on. He pulled out his phone, setting the bag he carried all of his stuff for his classes in down, kicking it to the side.
“Two questions,” Mapicc started, looking at his friend instead of his phone.
“Fire away,” Dakota replied, shrugging.
“One, where do your parents live? Two, do you just wanna test out random names to find what fits?”
“One, Manhattan, I’m a New Yorker, I know. Two, honestly, why not.”
“Wait, wait, hold on. Remember that one night when we were both too drunk to function and just started calling each other random names, like the night I decided to change my name to Mapicc because you kept slurring words together and making what you were calling me sound like Mapicc?”
“Not… fully. I remember getting really happy at one of the names you kept calling me. What even was that one?”
“It wasn’t even a proper name, I was just calling you the word spoke over and over for literally no reason at all!”
“Is it because I talk a lot? It’s probably because I talk a lot.”
“Likely, yeah. You wanna try that as your name?”
“Honestly, why not? I’ve got no better ideas.”
“Alrighty then!” Mapicc cleared his throat, acting as if he’s introducing Dakota to someone. “This is my best friend, Spoke! He’s super awesome and one of my favorite people ever. Spoke is such an unpredictable person, but honestly, you’ve gotta love him for it.”
Dakota- no, Spoke sat up for a moment, playing what Mapicc had just said over and over in his head. He stared at his own bed for a moment, not noticing what Mapicc was doing. He stared at the wall of his side of the dorm, the details of the colorful posters and decor blurring together as his vision got less and less focused. The pinned up drawings from his younger brother on the cork board appeared less like crayon and more like blobs of color. Meanwhile, Mapicc had his phone out, it looked like he was booking a flight.
“Give me your phone,” Mapicc stated, setting his own phone down. Spoke absentmindedly handed over his phone, still looping what Mapicc had said in his mind. He unlocked it, cancelling the flight that was already booked. Then Spoke realized what happened.
“Did you just- Did you just cancel my flight!?” Spoke wore a look of pure shock, shoving Mapicc off the bed.
“Yes, but I booked you a new one! We’ll go together,” Mapicc stood up, grabbing his suitcase from the corner of the room.
“But- Bro my mom’s gonna freak! I told her I was coming alone!” He sounded frantic, quickly grabbing his phone to update his mom on what happened.
“You know my relationship with my parents, your mom can’t possibly overreact more than mine would.”
“Yeah… yeah you’re right. That doesn’t mean she won’t freak out though.”
“You have a point, but it still can’t be that bad.”
Spoke sighed, shaking his head. Mapicc kept packing.
That Saturday, Spoke drove them both to the airport. They made their way through security to their gate. They grabbed snacks and drinks, sitting quietly so that they didn’t disturb others. They were each on their phones, sharing earbuds to play music. Spoke hummed along, zoning out. The ambience of others talking and flights being boarded blended together. Mapicc opened a bag of chips, holding one out to Spoke, causing him to stop zoning out.
“No thanks bro,” he paused for a moment, “Y’know nobody else ever really stopped to think, I might be flying home today, but I’m not going home,” Spoke added, officially breaking their silence.
“‘Cause everything you thought you knew has proven to be wrong?” Mapicc chimed in.
“Mhm, I was desperate to the point of nearly going straight into an overdrinking night that’d leave me feeling torn.”
“But we’re leaving.”
“We’re leaving?”
“Yeah, for New York, duh bro.” Mapicc grinned, leaning against Spoke to continue scrolling on his phone before their flight.