16d • Fiction
Short Story
So I'm hungarian. I've written a short story which I decided to translate via ChatGPT. I hope you enjoy!
Bzzzz… bzzzz…Two messages came in on the phone, then a call.Piper didn’t want to get up from the couch. She listened as the ringing stopped and fell back asleep.
Five minutes later the phone started ringing again. She slowly began to get up, hoping it would stop before she fully woke up, but it just kept ringing.
She headed toward the bedroom. She already had her hand on the doorknob when the caller gave up.
Shit.
Now she walked over to her phone to check it.
It couldn’t have been Miles. She’d told him she wanted to sleep.
She looked at the screen.
Vince
He had already called twice, but before that he’d texted.
She opened the SMS.
you hearing me Pierce!
She asked what he wanted.
Another call.
-Hello!-Hey, Gavin here! Don’t pay attention to Vince, he’s really drunk.-Okay. – said Piper, and hung up.
Bzzzz…
Vincent had sent another message.
And Vince is NOT in love with you.
Piper knew Vince had written that, and she knew he was lying. How could she not know? The guy didn’t hide it very well, but she had gotten herself a boyfriend, someone who made her feel safer about the future than Vince did, who was pretty reckless.
Bzzzz…
I’m gonna kill him, she thought.
Now he’d sent a picture on Snapchat. In the photo it was pretty obvious the shaved-head boy was drunk.
She figured she’d send one back. What could go wrong?
That seemed to be the end of it. Since she’d already given up on sleep, she sat down on the white couch in the living room and started playing PlayStation.
Two minutes later a call interrupted her.
Vince
She picked up.
-Yeah?-Hey! I don’t trust Miles. – Vince said from the other end of the line.-What do you mean by that?-There’s no such thing as a person who’s smart, funny, good-looking, and a good person. That just doesn’t exist.-Miles.-That’s exactly what I’m saying. You can’t fake the first three. So he can’t be a good person.-Don’t say things like that. You know I overthink everything.-Sorry. I’m sure he’s really nice and if I get to know him, I’ll like him.
You’re not going to get to know him, Piper thought, and hung up.
Thirty minutes later another message, this time from Tony, one of Vince and Piper’s mutual friends.
yo Vince said he’d fuck you
Another message, this time from Vince.
Whatever Tony says don’t listen to him, he’s lying
Piper didn’t even bother replying. She felt deeply hurt.
Vince knew she had a boyfriend. Miles and Piper had only been together for three weeks, but she already felt like they would stay together for the rest of their lives.
The next morning Piper was sitting on the couch, sipping a glass of hot tea. Vince had pissed her off so much yesterday that she’d blocked his number.
Even today she was still thinking about having a cigarette, but she hadn’t made it to the store yet.
Vince had tried to explain everything in a pretty incoherent message, but he hadn’t managed it.
She’d run out of coffee, but before she could carry the empty mug to the sink…
Knock-knock-knock.
-I’m coming! – Piper shouted.
She set down the empty mug, jumped up from the couch, walked to the door, and opened it.
Vince was standing there.
She wanted to slam the door in his face immediately, but the guy didn’t let her.
-I don’t want to get with you. I’m trying to save our friendship, just hear me out! Please! – said Vince.
Piper nodded.
-We talked about whether you believe in friendship between a guy and a girl. I do too, and that’s exactly why I never did anything to get us together. Because we’re good friends, and it doesn’t have to be more than that. This all would’ve blown over quietly. Maybe even what I said would’ve. What I still don’t get is why you got so offended over something you heard from a third party, something that, knowing me, was obviously meant as a joke.-You said you’d fuck me.-And? I always say shit like that and it never bothered you before.-I have a boyfriend.-I don’t care. I wasn’t trying to take you away from him.-You couldn’t anyway.-Because after these three weeks you’re suddenly unbreakable?-Yes.-Pink fog.-Fuck you!-We’re friends. It didn’t bother you that I tried flirting with you, but this does? That I said I’d fuck you?-So you did do something to try to get us together, then, didn’t you?-Flirting doesn’t mean anything. If it did, you would’ve told me to go to hell a long time ago.-I have a boyfriend, and you said you’d fuck me.-But I didn’t mean it.-People are honest when they’re drunk.-Well, I’m not. I spent my whole night trying to convince you I never said I’d fuck you and that Anthony just made it up. That was the lie.-So it’s a lie that you wouldn’t fuck me.-The fact that it was a lie that I said I never said I’d fuck you doesn’t necessarily mean I’d fuck you.-Would you?-No.
A small silence settled between them. Piper knew the sentence wasn’t finished yet.
-Not under these circumstances.-What circumstances?-The fact that you have a boyfriend.-So otherwise you would?-If someone’s into you, generally yeah, you’d fuck them.-Fine, but then why did you say you didn’t trust Miles?-I told you, it was probably just because you’re into me, which, relax, isn’t true anymore.-You’re lying again.-You seriously can’t accept that I’m only doing this to save our friendship?-You’re the one who tore it apart.-Anthony did. By passing along a bad joke at the worst possible time.-It’s amazing how you always have an answer for everything.-Of course I do. You know me.-I get it. I knew you. I should know what you’re like. It wasn’t you who made the mistake with what you said. It was me, for letting you get close to me.
Vince said nothing. Piper figured she’d said everything she wanted to.
She grabbed the door and tried once again to slam it shut.
Vince caught it again and stepped into the apartment.
-I’m not done yet. – he said.-I am.-Hear me out!-I did. I didn’t hear anything except bullshit.-If I still have something to say, then you didn’t hear me out.-What, you’re going to tell me again that this is my fault because I think you’d make a move on me?-Yes. I wouldn’t make a move on you. I just want to be your friend.-I don’t want anything from you.-Please, Pierce!-Do you regret what you said?-I always say shit like that. What I regret is saying it to Anthony.-You regret what you said.-How many of Miles’s friends do you think he’s told about how hot you are and how much he can’t wait for you two to finally fuck?-There it is again, fucking. Not sleeping together, or making love. Fucking. Why are you so afraid of using a more emotional synonym for sex?-Because emotions are irrational.-But they’re what make us human.-And look how well that’s working out. – said Vince, turning in a circle, gesturing at the whole situation.-This would’ve been over a long time ago if you didn’t feel anything.-If I didn’t feel anything, we’d still be friends.
Silence. Piper had nothing to say to that.
Finally Vince spoke.
-You still overreacted.-You’re a selfish asshole, Vincent. Have you ever considered that maybe you’re not the one who’s right? Maybe I can’t answer every one of your arguments, but if you look at it morally, is what you did justified even a little?-I don’t care about morals. Most of them are bullshit anyway. Just think about what your reaction would’ve been if you were single when I said it.-But I’m not.-That doesn’t matter. Why does everything have to be judged in light of the circumstances?-You were the one talking about circumstances.-That’s completely different.-How?-In that one of them is something society as a whole looks down on, while the other is a tiny joke you blew way out of proportion.-You don’t get it.-THEN EXPLAIN IT! – Vince had already been speaking loudly, but now he was outright shouting.
Piper recoiled. Vince was always irritable and impulsive during arguments, but now he was feeling something, and just like a person can’t know what alcohol does to them, Piper didn’t know what emotion did to Vince.
The emotion disappeared from Vince’s face.
-Explain it. – he said coldly.-This isn’t about what what you said means. It’s about what you said.
Vince stayed silent. He walked toward the door.
-If that’s really how you think, then you’re dumber than I thought.
He opened the door, looked back at the woman he loved, walked out, and slammed the green door behind him.
Something burned inside Piper. She walked to the smoking table, grabbed the mug, and threw it at the wall. Plaster cracked loose where it hit.
Her eyes filled with tears. She collapsed onto the couch and started crying.
Her shoulders were shaking violently when Vince’s footsteps, which had been fading away, began coming closer again.
The boy opened the door and was standing in her apartment once more. The one place where she truly felt safe.
-You know what? I’m not done after all. – Vincent began.
Piper didn’t want to continue the conversation, but she felt like she had no other choice.
-The problem isn’t what I said, and it isn’t when I said it either. The problem is that you love me. – Vincent said firmly.
He was right. Or only partly. She did love him. But he’d come at her too hard, and Piper got scared. She was disappointed in Vincent. In more ways than one.
She tried to speak, but couldn’t.
-The reason you want to cut off all contact with me is because you feel something for me. Good news! I feel something for you too. Let’s ride off into the sunset!
An unnerving smile froze on Vincent’s face without him realizing it.
-I loved you. – Piper began. – Then I met Miles, and I love him too. But I love you more. With you, though, my future isn’t certain. With Miles, it is. And to tell you the truth, after this performance today, not only are we not going to become lovers, I don’t even want to see your face ever again.
Pause. The air in the white room froze solid.
-So get the fuck out! – Piper ordered.
Vincent started walking toward the door.
He stopped.
He looked at the wall.
He clenched his hand so tightly his fingers turned white.
He punched the wall. The drywall caved in with a loud crash.
Note: I've written it in one day and even the translation can make it messy.
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