i ⋮ Getting Settled

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲:

after living in the same small town

for his whole life, 20-year-old

gren finds himself looking for new

adventures and moves to the

beautiful city of Katolis.

what he finds instead are many

friendly and... attractive faces.

gren must make a choice between

the charming trainer, the dorkish

baker, or the sweet volunteer.

i. getting settled

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 878 words

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: none

hi! welcome to the first chapter of

my interactive story!

how it works is that a chapter will

be posted, and the community will

vote on how what gren will do based

on polls.

each poll will last 3 days and

hopefully the next chapter will be

posted 4 days after it ends (meaning

a new chapter is posted every week).

happy reading!

A gentle melody floated through the now fully decorated apartment, bouncing off the orange walls and into his ears. Gren swayed along with the music as he finished taking out the last few picture frames from their packaging. Inside the frames were pictures of his family; one where it was just him and his parents, and another with his 4 other siblings. They were all lined up comically, wearing similar pyjamas in front of a massive christmas tree.

Gren smiled at the frames, setting them down on a table next to the miniature potted plants. He took a few steps backwards, iring his now fully-decorated apartment and purposefully ignoring the many, many empty boxes, packaging peanuts, and bubble wrap scattered around.

‘I’m glad that’s done,’ Gren thought to himself, dusting his hands off on his pants. He walked towards the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water, ready to take a break, when the doorbell rang. With a sigh, Gren moved to the door and opened it curiously.

Before his mind could who was there, he was caught in a death grip. Gren blinked at the side profile of whoever was hugging him, but he relaxed once he noticed the familiar short hairdo and arm strength.

“Amaya!” he beamed, quickly returning the hug but without as much power; he didn’t think anyone could beat Amaya in a hugging contest. Gren pulled himself away far enough so his friend could read his lips since his hands were still a little occupied. “God, it’s been so long!”

Amaya wore the biggest grin he’d ever seen on her. <I know!> she signed. <You’re lousy, Gren. You never came to visit.>

Gren chuckled. “Sorry… But hey! I’m visiting now… permanently!”

Amaya whacked Gren’s arm and stepped through the door frame. She looked at Gren’s apartment and let out a long, drawn out sigh. A twinge of worry pinched his guts; was that a good sigh or a bad sigh?

<You finished unpacking all this in a week?> she asked, and Gren nodded confidently.

“Yeah!” he answered, then switched to sign. <No thanks to your help,> he teased, dodging another one of Amaya’s playful slaps. He laughed, then took Amaya’s wrist and tugged her towards the couch.

The two of them plopped down, Amaya swiping at a few stray packing peanuts, and Gren spoke up. “Okay Amaya, give me updates,” Gren said, crossing his legs on the couch and giving Amaya his undivided attention. Amaya seemed amused by his antics, and began g.

<Well, you know how Janai and I have been seeing each other since graduation?> Amaya continued once she got a nod of understanding from Gren. <Well the other day, we decided to have a friendly football game like back in high school; Xadian Dragons versus the Knights of Katolis. I accidentally tripped her and she sprained her ankle.>

“Oh my god,” Gren said, stifling a laugh. “Sounds like you two are still in high school. I’d be terrified to play against you and your… brute strength.”

Amaya made a soft laughing noise. <Judging by how quickly you moved around boxes, I’m pretty sure you could play offensive just fine.>

Gren took a moment to look around his new apartment. He guessed he did have something to be proud of; all that time he spent helping his siblings organizing their rooms had him ready for these kinds of things. It was humourous to think that even after he’d moved out, his parents still asked him to come over to fix things--a leaky faucet, broken molding, the list could go on and on.

Being in a completely different city, however, made it trickier for Gren to rush over to his parents’ side. In fact, he wasn’t even sure if he could fix his own leaky faucet without knowing where anything was around town.

Amaya suddenly clapped her hands together, wearing her ‘I’ve got a genius idea’ look. <Why don’t I show you around the city?> she asked, already getting up before Gren could give an answer.

<I… still have to clean up! There’s peanuts and bubble wrap everywhere…> Gren replied, truthfully not wanting to go walk around after working so hard all morning. <Besides, Google Maps exists.>

<Shush! I want to spend time with you. We can grab something to eat on our walk!> Amaya began pushing Gren out the door. Even though he felt exhausted from unpacking, food did sound like a good idea.

“Okay! Okay, you don’t need to push me,” Gren said between fits of laughter. He locked the apartment door before walking with Amaya to the elevator, pressing the down button and waiting for the doors to open.

A warmth spread as he glanced over at his friend. He missed this deeply. Sure, he and Amaya spent many hours a week texting each other or video calling each other, but to have her besides him now felt as if they hadn’t been separated for three years.

The doors to the elevator opened and the two of them walked inside, reflections of themselves echoing their movements. They waited until they reached the lobby and stepped out, walking towards the exit door.

<Where do you feel like going first?> Amaya asked before adjusting the shirt tucked into her pants.

choose what happens next!