what better way

Liz was down in the laundry room finally getting to her laundry. She'd put it off forever, but she was down to her last undies. She hadn't worn a bra in days. Everything was dirty. And everyone was gone, except Ravi.

She'd heard him on the phone earlier. But it was quiet now and she was down to her last load. Thank God, she didn't have a lot of stuff. Really, she felt so blue. Maybe it was just winter. Maybe it was the fact her parents were mad that she hadn't wanted to finish her degree and get that high paying job with that big shot cooperate place in Dallas. The pressure was on, and she didn't want to have anything to do with it. Really, she was quite depressed, but she kept it under wraps pretty well. She hadn't dawdled like her sister with her silly LARPing. She'd always been quite an achiever, she guessed, but it hadn't gotten her anything she really wanted.

Most of her classmates had started families or at least engaged. They had someone. She had no one. And it had grabbed a hold of her like a cold spell. She felt physically ill. It was true. She didn't know how to have real friends. And the more she was alone, the more she felt so far from what she really wanted. Maybe she was too smart for her own good.

Her clothes were dry and so warm. She put them in the laundry basket. As she went out in to the hall, she noticed Ravi's door. She'd never been to his room. Funny, how they'd kind of met. She didn't really know her sister's boyfriend, now he was her ex. Bridget had gone back to the dude who had started this habit of hers to begin with. Liz hoped her sister knew what she was doing, but she wasn't going to dare talk to her about it. Instead, she knocked on Ravi's door.

"Hey," Liz smiled when she saw him. He was so fresh faced and innocent, she thought. Definitely, sweet. Not her type at all. "What are you doing?"

"Uh, some dumb video game I used to play when I was a kid."

He had DOOM on his TV.

She peaked in.

"I used to play that." She almost laughed. "My favorite game, ever."

"Really." Now Ravi laughed. "You want to play?"

"Of course, I do." She gave him an open smile. Video games. She could deal with that. "I might be a little rusty."

"That's OK." Ravi just nodded.