He could pretend to be normal.
He could pretend that he had choices.
Adrian could pretend to have a bigger and better dream waiting for him.
But in the end, it was just pretend.
That wasn’t his reality.
Adrian knew that somewhere along the line, he’d have to tell Aria about everything. Because as liberating as it was to play pretend, it also suffocated a pretty integral part of who he was.
Of what he was.
Adrian didn’t want to think of the worst-case scenario or anything, but it was a truth he might have to face one day.
Aria was human. She didn’t even have to know him to live her life without any inhibitions. She wasn’t tied down to him like he was to her. It was pretty mentally exhausting to think about what he could and couldn’t say.
A big part of his life dealt with his family and the community. They were probably the only reason he was willing to go through all the training with his dad. Adrian couldn’t imagine a life without them. Everyone was practically family. A massive extended family that would see each other at least once a month over a barbeque or a pig roast. That familial atmosphere was too good for him to just let it go.
As much as he wanted to integrate Aria into his life, he knew that he could only go so far. He couldn’t introduce her to his other friends amongst the community because it was risky. He couldn’t bring her to big pack gatherings in fear that someone would expose him. He couldn’t even explain what his dad did for a living because of how much that work involves the community.
It was complicated.
“Adrian?” his mom called from downstairs.
He sat up from the bed and walked towards the bedroom door.
“Yeah?”
“What do you want to eat for dinner?” she yelled from the kitchen.
“I thought you were making curry?”
“I was going to, but we don’t have cinnamon.”
“Oh,” he replied as if he didn’t know where it went.
Stupid delicious cake.
“Yeah,” she hummed. “So, what do you want to eat?”
“Not sure. What does Dad want?”
“He’s still in a meeting, but he should be done soon.”
“What do you want to eat?”
“We haven’t had Italian for a while.”
“Eh . . . pass.”
“Why?”
“American, Italian, and Americanized Mexican food are all they serve at the cafeteria.” Adrian sighed.
She then suggested Korean and he was all for that. If anything was a mood booster, it was a good Korean BBQ. Something about grilled meat always made him smile.
It wasn’t too long before his dad finished up his meeting that they headed off towards the restaurant. Thankfully it wasn’t busy once they arrived, as they narrowly avoided the dinner rush.
As he set the beef brisket on the grill, he decided to ask a responsible question.
“So, what’s new?”
“Just the usual.” His dad shrugged. “What about you? Did the project went well?”
Adrian nodded. “After I kicked out Mira and Nick, everything was just peachy.”
“Are they that bad?” his mom asked as she ate a piece of kimchi.
“We ran out of ingredients because they kept messing up,” he scoffed. “How do you mix up a teaspoon with a tablespoon?”
“So that’s why there was so much flour in the trash,” she muttered.
“Did the class like it?” his dad asked.
“I think so, they didn’t complain or anything.” Adrian added thickly-cut pieces of pork belly to the grill.
“You’re quiet,” his mom pointed out. “Something wrong?”
Adrian wasn’t sure whether to tell his parents about Aria or not. As far as they knew, she was just a normal, regular, basic friend. Would they react negatively if he told them that he found a human soulmate? He hoped not, after all they seemed like they would understand how these relationships get complicated.
Right?
“Adrian?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you okay?” his mom asked again as his dad attempted to appear uninterested by cooking the meat on the center grill.
Am I okay? Probably not. He blinked. Should I just tell them? What if it gets all awkward though?
“If you need to talk, we’ll always be ready to listen,” his dad said fairly. “No pressure.”
He nodded and his mom swiftly changed the topic. Suddenly, a large flame burst from the grill because of the bacon grease. Needless to say, the server came by immediately and snatched the tongs away from his dad and lowered the flame considerably.
***
Days turned into nights and nights into days. Time was going by so quickly that Adrian could hardly keep track. Now it was nearing Thanksgiving and the daylight faded faster than he could spell onomatopoeia.
Adrian had an honest talk with his parents about Aria a little over a week ago, and all of his irrational fears were put to rest. Oddly enough, it was his dad that took the situation a little more humorously than he expected, while his mom commended him for letting Aria keep her peace until the time was right.
The best part was that he could tell that his dynamic with her dramatically improved. Awkward moments were a thing of the past and silence didn’t need to be filled with idle chatter.
It was comfortable.
Suddenly, his phone went off, and her name popped on the screen.
Without hesitation, he picked up the phone.
“Hello?”
“Hey Adrian.” She sounded rather chipper.
“What’s up?”
“Are you busy?”
“Uh.” He looked at his desk. The only real assignment left were the last few slides for his history project. “Sorta?”
“Like sorta busy or sorta not?”
“Depends, what’s up?”
“I was wondering if you wanna go to the game tonight?”
“Game?”
