by Alyssa Kress
~~~
"I'm so excited you're spending the night!" Nelson's heavily freckled face split into the widest smile Liam had ever seen on his fellow student. "I've never had a friend over before."
They were sitting on the green carpet of Nelson's large bedroom. It wasn't easy, but Nelson managed to be even more of a nerd than Liam was. In one corner sat a two-foot high model of Optimus Prime, the Transformer hero. In another lurked an authentic Japanese G1 Star Saber, a collectible Liam frankly envied.
But Nelson wasn't actually a friend of Liam's. Seeing the other kid's obvious joy now made Liam feel a little bad about using his fellow student to avoid going home. Once he and Nelson had finished their project for history, Liam had felt a serious disinclination to be with Erica.
His sister...frustrated him. Okay, she made him angry. So when Nelson's mother had so hopefully asked if Liam wanted to spend the night, he'd said yes.
Even if Erica had hated Dad, couldn't she believe that Liam loved him? Couldn't she let Liam have his own feelings? But, no. She didn't even want to hear about it.
"You won't fit into any of my pajamas," Nelson mused, regarding Liam's much taller self doubtfully. "And I don't think you would fit into my Dad's, either."
Nelson was a pipsqueak while his father was the size of an NFL linebacker.
"I can just put on my PE clothes." Not terribly hygienic, but it was only for one night, and Liam could wash them tomorrow when he got home. Luckily, he'd brought his whole backpack with him this afternoon, so the sweats and T-shirt were inside.
"Do you want to play Minecraft?" Nelson asked, glancing up toward his enviable PC system. "Or maybe Assassin's Creed?"
"Your mom lets you play Assassin's Creed?" The player went around murdering people, complete with gore.
Nelson leaned forward and whispered, as if anyone were around who could hear. "I convinced her it was educational. All the history, you know. Every assassination accurate."
Liam laughed. "Good work." Nelson wasn't actually so bad.
Particularly now when he was looking pleased. "So, you want to play?"
"Sure."
As Liam watched Nelson happily rise to open the application on his computer, Liam thought how little it had taken to make his new friend happy. It wouldn't have taken much from Erica to make Liam feel the same way. All she'd had to do was listen. But she hadn't been able to give even that much.
So Liam had been left with his unresolved sorrow.
"You want to use your laptop or my second computer?" Nelson turned from his chair to grin down at Liam.
"Your computer is better for gaming," Liam had to admit. He did feel a little cheered as he got up to take a seat in front of Nelson's second PC. Maybe he could lose himself in the game for a while.
At the very least, he was going to make Nelson happy.
