The present or the future

This is story is a work of fiction. Similarities to persons living or dead in the world are purely coincidental...

Dizziness became Magnolia's newest enemy as the booming vocals of Glee's cover of My Life Would Suck Without You had finally overcome her senses. Gripping the controllers with determination to not lose, she inevitably experienced the crushing defeat that came with playing Beat Saber - the VR game that can best be described as Star Wars meets Guitar Hero - for the first time. Iris' adorable laughter, often the loudest amongst others, took over the room following Magnolia's loss. She took off the headset, blinking rapidly at the sudden influx of physical lights and remembered where she was… surrounded by the best group of friends she could ask for. “The three musketeers,” as Paul likes to stubbornly call them, were gathered in a living room together. Any 12 year old looking in, seeing the colourful cake, matching paper plates, and stringed up happy birthday banner would assume they were missing another child’s birthday party; in reality, Paul had just turned 21 and this was the best they could afford after getting such an expensive place. They were celebrating his infamous birthday weekend, and with that split-second realization, Magnolia shallowly laughed with the rest of the group and released the death grip she had on the game.

“That was really good, Lia! Until it wasn’t.” Iris, letting her more competitive side ooze out, clearly wanted to use what she’d just learnt in school to get in Magnolia’s head. Both being aspiring psychologists, Lia quickly caught on -

“Nice try, Iris, you’re kinder than that -”

“I don’t know Lia, as nice as she is, once a game starts she’s a whole different person,” A cake-filled Paul joked from across the room. He tried to form another coherent sentence but ended up almost choking, if they hadn’t grown up with annoying brothers themselves then maybe a bit more concern would’ve been shown instead of the reaction - “Did a pretty girl just walk by or something?” - That Magnolia blurt out with little to no hesitation. it only made matters worse though because Paul ended up laughing so hard that he did actually end up choking.

His life out of danger, the game was set to continue. “Alright, it‘s my turn!” Iris jumps up and in one swift movement grabs the headset and gets Magnolia out of the way, subconsciously showing her natural concern for the safety of her friends. In what can only be described as a cat who’s been forced to wear little boots, Iris’ natural athleticism wasn’t able to save her from the game‘s brutality. Paul, standing behind both Lia and Iris during this whole ordeal let out a small sigh and suddenly had exactly two butterflies in his stomach - One being birthed from the realization that the fact that Magnolia never failed to make him smile throughout the night was nothing short of amazing and the other coming from seeing Iris look absolutely silly but still perfect in his eyes.

She would never think this of herself but if Iris' smile lights up a room, her words of encouragement would blind(side) everyone in it. It came from the fact that life had just begun to make sense again after a terrible past - Lord knows how many nights were spent wondering whether she was good enough and how many more nights spent asking herself if her partner thought of her as anything more than just an accessory in his eyes. Even though it now seems like a lifetime ago, she still gets a little surprised every time she receives a compliment; to combat this she uses a God-given gift to inspire people around loving life themselves. Speaking of love she's kind of indifferent to the idea of a romantic relationship, she does, however, cherish the friendships she falls into. She's always excited to share her newest song she wrote or maybe the vlogs she gets paid to make... getting paid didn’t mean making good decisions afterwards though. Generosity was a guilty pleasure of hers, even giving what she didn’t have sometimes to those that didn't know they need it.

Magnolia, named after an obscure-sounding but instantly recognizable flower, was the type of person that's everyone's friend but no one's best friend. Even though that's the case, she would absolutely do anything for any of those friends. Even during her rants about why houses are the biggest life hack, she never failed to make people laugh or feel comfortable. Surprisingly athletic, though she didn’t look it, she was able to pull off anything she had to in order to meet a goal. Now Magnolia, or Lia to close friends, wasn’t perfect, she‘s friendly but not outgoing; challenge her to go talk to someone new and she’d do it but feel like crawling into a sock drawer after. That being said, in her friend group she surely thrived, but even more so when she got the chance to talk to someone alone. It’s like all the anxiety and thoughts of what people think was suddenly nothing but a bad dream and she was able to focus fully on making sure she properly connects with, helps, and makes happy whoever happens to be listening to her at any given moment. You know when you're talking to someone and you fall more in love with them the more they talk? Yeah, that was her specialty. Love, what a concept, now she was more than aware of was that of her flirty nature. She definitely wasn't afraid to go for it… as long as she was confident it wouldn't end too badly. Be that as it may, when she did find someone who was worth it, she instantly felt like they deserve more than she could possibly ever give them, but everything she had was theirs.

Iris and Magnolia had been friends their whole life, they initially bonded over both having been named after flowers by nature-loving moms, then they found out they had the same taste in boys, what else do you need to know before you're friends with someone? At some point, after high school, they decided to both go to the same university, where one's passion for showing kindness and the other's passion for authentic conversations led them to both major in Psychology. In those classes that taught them everything from the driving forces behind making decisions all the way to how to properly get someone to like you, they met Paul, or McCartney when they wanted to annoy him. The 3 of them became inseparable, whether it was the constant teasing of Paul being named after a Beatle or Lia's weird obsession with anime, they always knew how to have fun.

The fun part about their friendship - they both are interested in that mutual friend, Paul. They both know it, you and I know it, but none of the 3 of them will ever admit it, until today.

It's Paul's 21st birthday, the youngest in the group - lucky for him it fell on a long weekend - he all but forced the 3 of them to book an exquisite Airbnb that emanated the lifestyle that he had imagined for his future. His personality had always been that of the humble but confident friend who'd never start a fight or argument but is far from afraid to be in one. His kinder side of himself would show every now and then during the long and deep conversations he wasn't scared to have with absolutely anyone. He's also very attractive, knows it, but never cares to show that he knows. He has the most comforting laugh and isn't afraid to laugh at himself either. Whether it's his inability to focus or his speaking before he thinks, his personal shortcomings don't get in the way of him being everyone else's cheerleader, maybe it was his attempts to connect with everyone on at least one level or maybe it was just a stroke of luck, either way, his demeanour always exuded kindness. A closet Hufflepuff, Paul's as kind as he is cute. He has a beautiful soul and for some reason values others' happiness over his.

The night is over, the three of them are far from done with their adventure though.

"I love you guys."

Iris and Lia both simultaneously felt their heart skip a beat and had a calmness wash over them when Paul let out those words. They've both thought about it at some point, thought about what it would be like to have a relationship that had a good chance to flourish. To be with someone who knew everything about them. It was perfect, in their heads - the only way to know for sure was to actually go for it. This is where a fork in the road is made and a decision follows shortly after.

"Alright I'm done. Lia, you're the champion. Paul, happy birthday. I'm going to sleep and hoping to wake up not remembering tonight."

Following Iris' early retirement Magnolia and Paul found themselves in a unique but not unfamiliar position. See between the three of them, Iris and Paul actually have more of an opportunity to talk, compared to Lia and Paul. Lia is always busy with volunteer work so whenever class was done, Iris and Paul would naturally be able to talk a bit before either of them went home. Lia and Paul, however, would intentionally have long conversations with each other, the longer they are the easier it is to actually connect with each other. It was a quality vs quantity thing.

Anyway, two hours later, a conversation is had and nothing is exposed, to the thankfulness of both Lia and Paul, but they are feeling more connected. They hug and agree it's time to call it a night. Paul goes first and Lia hangs around a bit, afterwards, she walks up the stairs, heart thumping with each step, mind going a thousand miles a second trying to decide one thing. Who's room should she walk into tonight. It goes without saying that if she opens Paul's door, she will not be able to leave without saying her true feelings and risking the strength of her friendship with Iris. Why is that friendship being risked? Because Iris had let Magnolia know that the next morning, she plans on telling Paul how she feels. If she opens her and Iris's bedroom door, her friendship with Paul lives to see another day and she lets tomorrow's Lia deal with her feelings pf her two best friends dating each other.

Lia is standing facing these two identical doors, standing right in the middle, she finds herself evenly split between these two decisions, each risking changing the future of her most important relationships. Her adrenaline spike is over and she takes a moment to think it through, after what seems like an eternity, she lets out a breath, smiles, and opens a door.

The end.